Chapter 8 is not yet very familiar, but the future is bright!

Although he had his grandmother's presence, Jiang Yueming was still a little embarrassed when he was caught red-handed. He just thought the nickname was cute and didn't mean anything else. Besides, Li Leshan could call him Yueming, although it wasn't as cute as "Lele."

Li Leshan didn't react any further, which made him a little nervous, but then he thought, what if Li Leshan meant that he accepted him calling him that? Did this mean that his relationship with Li Leshan had gotten a little closer?

Grandma busied herself preparing food in the cramped kitchen. She said she had to make something nice for Mingyue, and unusually, she brought two extra eggs and a small piece of pork belly wrapped in oil paper, which she unwrapped and placed on a chipped plate. Old calendar paper was pasted on the kitchen windowpane, its edges curled up.

Jiang Yueming sat with Li Leshan at the kitchen door, picking vegetables. He had never picked vegetables before, so he just copied what Li Leshan threw away and what Li Leshan kept.

Seeing Li Leshan's practiced manner, Jiang Yueming was truly impressed. Li Leshan was exactly the kind of child that Cui Cui envied. He was no match for Jiang Yueming, who was a troublemaker. He was both capable and reliable.

As he was picking vegetables, Li Leshan suddenly stopped what he was doing. He glanced at the vegetables that Jiang Yueming had picked out, remained silent for a while, and then frowned.

"W-what's wrong?" Jiang Yueming felt a little guilty, even though he didn't think he had done anything wrong.

“You’ve chosen the wrong thing; you’ve thrown away the good one.” Li Leshan said in sign language.

Holy crap!

Jiang Yueming felt like he wanted to disappear into a crack in the ground. He stared blankly at the vegetables in his hand. He had been picking them according to Li Leshan's instructions. Li Leshan had removed the yellowed leaves on the left, so he had removed the yellowed leaves on the left as well. He was incredibly obedient, picking exactly where Li Leshan pointed.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'm sorry." Jiang Yueming apologized hastily, almost kneeling down.

He was fully prepared for Li Leshan to look at him like he was crazy, but when he secretly glanced at Li Leshan again, he found that the man was actually smiling slightly. He had picked out the part that Jiang Yueming had chosen incorrectly.

However, the smile was fleeting and vanished immediately.

Just like that flower... the epiphyllum! It's gone in the blink of an eye.

So Jiang Yueming thought he was seeing things. He carefully compared the quality of the vegetables in his hand, afraid of accidentally throwing the wrong one again. What if Li Leshan thought he was deliberately causing trouble?

Jiang Yueming grew increasingly frightened. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he quietly moved closer to Li Leshan, his shoulder almost brushing against the other's arm, and whispered, "Are you angry?"

Li Leshan didn't even lift his eyelids, deftly prying off a rotten leaf with his fingers.

Silence means acquiescence, so Li Leshan is angry! Jiang Yueming thought to himself.

He then asked, "Is it because I picked the wrong vegetables?"

Li Leshan shook his head.

He wondered why Li Leshan seemed so strange. Just as he was about to ask more questions, he heard his grandmother's voice from the kitchen, "Wash your hands and get ready for dinner." Her voice was accompanied by the clinking of spatulas.

So the topic had to be put aside for the time being. He figured Li Leshan wasn't the kind of person who held grudges, so he could just go to the market tomorrow and buy a bag of vegetables to apologize.

Although Grandma only cooks simple home-style dishes, they smell incredibly delicious. Jiang Yueming got hungry just from the aroma. She had initially been a little reserved, but now she was completely satisfied and didn't need to be reserved anymore.

Grandma shakily picked up a golden-brown, shiny fried egg with her chopsticks, intending to put it in Jiang Yueming's bowl. Seeing this, Jiang Yueming quickly lifted her bowl to avoid it, saying urgently, "Give it to Le and Li Leshan first!"

The word "Lele" came to an abrupt halt in his throat, taking a sharp turn. He was already annoyed by Li Leshan over the vegetable-picking incident; what would it do to upset him further?

"Oh dear, Lele has plenty to eat. You're still growing, so eat more," Grandma said with a smile.

Jiang Yueming insisted on giving the fried egg to Li Leshan. Although there was no difference between eggs, once they were fried, their appearances became clear. The one that Grandma had just given him was obviously the biggest, with crispy, golden edges that looked delicious.

“Grandma, look, I’m almost half a head taller than Li Leshan,” Jiang Yueming said.

“Yes, our Lele has always been a slow grower. While other children are already running around the yard, he’s only just learned to say ‘Grandma.’” As soon as Grandma finished speaking, the smile on her face faded, and she slowly sighed, her cloudy eyes glistening with tears. She subconsciously touched Li Leshan’s head with her rough hand.

This matter was almost never mentioned in the family; it was the deepest scar in Li Leshan's heart and a thorn in his grandmother's side. But today, with Jiang Yueming's arrival, his grandmother couldn't help but talk about it a little more.

Jiang Yueming let out a soft "Ah," his voice tinged with a hint of helplessness. He quickly glanced at Li Leshan. Li Leshan's eyes were downcast, his face still expressionless, as if he hadn't heard. He simply picked up the fried egg from his bowl with his chopsticks, took a small bite of the egg white, and gently placed the rest into his grandmother's bowl.

"Sigh! This picky eater of a child." Grandma's tone was a little reproachful.

When Jiang Yueming left, it was already dark. The stairwell was pitch black, with only a dim, motion-activated light at each corner flickering with each footstep. Li Leshan escorted him to the entrance of his building. Jiang Yueming was still wearing Li Leshan's faded blue and white striped school uniform jacket, the collar of which was slightly loose. Li Leshan used sign language to tell him, "School uniform, Monday, school, give it to me."

Because Jiang Yueming couldn't read a whole sentence smoothly, Li Leshan could only break it down into segments of a few words.

Jiang Yueming nodded, looked back with a hint of reluctance, feeling empty inside, unsure of what she was so reluctant about.

Jiang Yueming walked a few meters along the bumpy cement road, then couldn't help but turn back. Li Leshan was still standing there, the old, dim streetlight at the entrance of the building casting a long shadow on him. Jiang Yueming felt a surge of warmth in her heart and called out again, "Li Leshan!"

Seeing that the other person was looking over, he raised his voice slightly, tentatively asking, "Tomorrow... can I still come?"

Jiang Yueming was happy only after Li Leshan nodded. He grinned, waved vigorously at Li Leshan, and turned to disappear into the night.

He had informed Cuicui beforehand about eating at Li Leshan's house using the public phone at the convenience store downstairs. It was the card-operated kind, costing one yuan for several minutes. If Lin Cuiqin didn't know his whereabouts and made a call to Yin Guiying, Jiang Yueming would be in real trouble.

When he got to his building, he didn't rush upstairs. Instead, he went to the dusty, cracked full-length mirror at the entrance of the convenience store. Under the incandescent light from the store, he tilted his head and looked at himself in the mirror for a long time, not buying anything, just admiring himself.

"Jiang Yueming, why are you so narcissistic?" Zhou Xiaoyu, the daughter of the convenience store owner, a little girl with pigtails, peeked out from behind the glass counter and laughed at him in a clear voice.

Zhou Xiaoyu is a first-grader and has practically grown up with Jiang Yueming. Jiang Yueming even held her when she was little.

"Get out of here." Jiang Yueming looked at her disfigured face in the mirror, unsure how to explain it to Cui Cui so that she would believe her.

"So, she got into a car accident! That sounds serious enough to garner some sympathy. But instead of rushing home immediately after the accident, she went to Li Leshan's house for dinner. Can Cui Cui really believe that?" Jiang Yueming thought it was a bit far-fetched.

But there was nothing he could do if he didn't believe it. He had no choice but to believe it, otherwise Jiang Yueming would be completely helpless. He couldn't very well say that he was injured in a fight, could he? That would be incredibly foolish of him.

Hearing this perfunctory answer, Zhou Xiaoyu pouted and went back to argue with Tian Zige with a displeased look.

Jiang Yueming took a deep breath and mustered his strength to go upstairs. The old-fashioned stairwell was piled with old cardboard boxes and honeycomb briquettes that he couldn't bear to throw away, and a faint smell of coal smoke and dust filled the air.

He pushed open the door, and Cui Cui was playing a game with Tian Tian. When she saw Jiang Yueming return, she hurriedly asked, "Did you have fun at your classmate's house?"

"Happy." Jiang Yueming covered her face for a while and responded vaguely, wanting to hurry back to her room.

"Female or male classmate?" Lin Cuiqin rarely asked such a gossipy question, and her tone was tinged with amusement.

Jiang Yueming wondered why she was asking this, and exclaimed, "Boy! A real man!"

Seeing Jiang Yueming dash into the house, Lin Cuiqin didn't notice anything unusual, because that's just how he usually is. It would be strange if he actually sat down and chatted with her for an hour or half an hour.

Jiang Yueming lay on the wooden bed and picked up the sign language book again. He quickly flipped through a few pages and understood the meaning of several words without looking at the explanations. He stared at the book and grinned foolishly for a long time.

He covered his face with the book, hoping to absorb the knowledge in this way. Li Leshan's face appeared in his mind. Jiang Yueming now desperately wanted to learn a phrase he would definitely call and show to Li Leshan when he arrived tomorrow.

How come you're so handsome?

Jiang Yueming wanted to ask this. Not only for himself, but also for all the men out there. Li Leshan would definitely reply with a speechless expression, basically saying that if he'd lost his mind, he should go to the clinic and see a doctor, and not delay.

He'd been looking forward to it since tonight, eagerly anticipating seeing Li Leshan tomorrow. Should he go in the morning or at noon? Noon wouldn't work; what if it coincided with mealtime? That would be awkward, making it seem like he was just there to freeload. Or should he go in the afternoon?

Jiang Yueming never considered this question when he went to find Han Jiang; he simply walked over and kicked the door open. It was because he knew Han Jiang too well. He and Han Jiang had known each other for at least five or six years, since they were in kindergarten, but he wasn't that close to Li Leshan. He wondered if he would ever reach that level of familiarity with Li Leshan.

But it doesn't matter! Comrade Jiang Yueming thought with great enthusiasm. Anyway, his feet were firmly planted on the broad road leading to "being very, very familiar with Li Leshan"! The future was bright!

The following afternoon, Jiang Yueming appeared at Li Leshan's door on time. Looking at the iron gate, Jiang Yueming felt a little nervous for some reason. Fortunately, Li Leshan's house was on the top floor; otherwise, if someone who didn't know the situation came down, they would probably think that Jiang Yueming was the kind of kid who had done something wrong and was too scared to go home.

Jiang Yueming didn't come empty-handed; he brought a bag of vegetables. They were specially brought from home, carefully selected by Cui Cui, including several tender cucumbers with their blossoms and thorns still attached. This was to make up for the mistake Jiang Yueming made yesterday, and also to avoid upsetting Li Leshan.

He's definitely not angry anymore, Jiang Yueming thought. So she mustered up her courage and knocked on the door, her voice carrying clearly through the hallway.

After waiting a while, the lock clicked, and Li Leshan opened the door. Seeing Jiang Yueming, his face showed no surprise, as if his arrival was entirely expected. However, upon seeing the groceries in Jiang Yueming's hand, he reacted slightly. His eyes visibly paused, then revealed a complex and indescribable emotion.

Of course, it wasn't a surprise either.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, these were all pre-selected." Jiang Yueming quickly handed a bag of vegetables to Li Leshan.

For the first time in his life, Li Leshan felt that being unable to speak had some advantages. Faced with the bag of vegetables and Jiang Yueming's face, which seemed to scream "Please forgive me," he genuinely had no idea what to say in sign language. Saying "It's okay" seemed a bit too casual. Saying "You don't need to do this"? The other person was clearly serious. Silence? That seemed too cold. Thus, this inability to speak became a natural, temporary shield from awkwardness. He only needed to maintain his composure.

But in his heart, he silently thought two words: How foolish.

Li Leshan stepped aside to let Jiang Yueming in.

"Is Grandma home? Did she go grocery shopping again?" Jiang Yueming asked.

Li Leshan closed the door and nodded.

Jiang Yueming followed him back into the house, where her school uniform, which had already been washed, was hanging on a simple clothes rack and was now mostly dry.

The stains, bloodstains, and dust on it had long been cleaned off. Jiang Yueming leaned over to look, and when she picked up the sleeve of the clothes, she smelled that faint fragrance again.

“You… you’re so clean,” Jiang Yueming said.

"Grandma washed it," Li Leshan said.

...

"Damn it," Jiang Yueming couldn't help but blurt out the swear word, then immediately shut his mouth as if he had burned his tongue. He was silent for two seconds before finding his voice and stammering, "Th-th-th...there's blood on those clothes..."

Grandma will think he's a bad kid then.

A clear smile finally appeared on Li Leshan's previously expressionless face. The smile carried a hint of triumph and mischief, spreading from the corners of his mouth to the depths of his eyes. He slowly raised his hand, his fingers flying across the page, making a series of clear hand gestures: "Just kidding."

A note from the author:

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Thank you, Ashu baby, for the lightning bolt! Thank you, Lanyinxuguo baby, for the nutrient solution!