Chapter 83 The Graveyard of Youth I will protect you all, I promise. ...

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Li Leshan felt his legs and feet were going numb. He slowly stood up, leaning against the wall, and looked at the dark stairwell. He took a deep breath, and then, as if he had made up his mind, he started walking upstairs.

After returning home and comforting his grandmother as if nothing had happened, Li Leshan locked himself in his room.

He looked out at the dark sky, took out his phone from his pocket to check the time. On the screen was a photo of him and Jiang Yueming. He looked at Jiang Yueming's face and suddenly realized something.

...

!!

Li Yong...did you see that?

Did he see Jiang Yueming?

To what extent did he see it?

Will he go to find Jiang Yueming?

One question after another came crashing down on Li Leshan like a storm. The fear didn't spread slowly; it exploded suddenly, making his ears ring. This forced him to think, to consider, what would happen if Li Yong found out about Jiang Yueming's existence?

Would he force himself to ask Jiang Yueming for money? Or would he just go directly to Jiang Yueming to ask for money? Whatever it is, he's definitely capable of doing it.

Li Leshan struggled to control his emotions. He couldn't drag Jiang Yueming into this bottomless pit, this unfathomable whirlpool, where once he drowned, there would be no escape. He couldn't let Li Yong realize Jiang Yueming's existence. Even more importantly, he couldn't ruin Jiang Yueming's current life, couldn't drag him down with him and make him sink into the mud.

Two messages flashed on the phone screen.

It was posted by Jiang Yueming earlier, when he was probably confronting Li Yong.

Jiang Yueming: Are you home yet? :-)

Jiang Yueming: Are you asleep?

Only at this moment did Li Leshan's highly tense emotions begin to ease a little.

He leaned against the door and typed a message: I'm home. I didn't see the message earlier.

Li Leshan: I have to go out with my grandma tomorrow and won't be home until tonight, so don't come looking for me.

He had to avoid that time and tell his grandmother tomorrow morning not to go out today; at the very least, he absolutely couldn't let Li Yong meet with them.

Jiang Yueming replied to the message quickly, as if he had been holding his phone in his hand the whole time, waiting for a reply.

Jiang Yueming: Oh, okay.

A while later, another message popped up.

Jiang Yueming: I'll stay home obediently :-D

Li Leshan subconsciously curled the corners of his mouth, able to imagine Jiang Yueming jumping up happily, then replying to the message with a look of disappointment, even through the screen. He slowly slid down to the ground, pressed the phone to his heart, and closed his eyes.

Grandma, Yueming...

Li Leshan closed his eyes and silently recited in his heart, his eyelashes trembling slightly in the darkness.

I will protect you.

must.

...

It was midday at the end of the Third Alley. The end of the Third Alley actually bordered a dilapidated old food street, which used to be bustling with activity, the air often filled with the aromas of fried and spicy dishes. But in recent years, for some unknown reason, the vendors all moved to the newly planned market, and the street gradually lost its former charm, leaving only some tattered signs creaking in the wind, making it particularly desolate.

When Li Leshan arrived, Li Yong was smoking a crumpled cigarette. He was wearing an old black cotton-padded jacket and was impatiently kicking pebbles to the side, which sounded particularly jarring in the empty, abandoned street.

"You're here?" Li Yong glanced at Li Leshan, skipping the pleasantries and getting straight to the point. He held out his hand. "Where's the money?"

Li Leshan pursed his lips, took out a not-so-thin envelope from his schoolbag, and handed it to Li Yong.

The moment he received the money, Li Yong's eyes lit up. He quickly counted the banknotes, making a rustling sound. After getting the exact amount, his face suddenly darkened. He was clearly dissatisfied, and even the old scar on his face looked particularly fierce.

"You think this is enough to feed a beggar? Is this all you have?" Li Yong cursed, slamming his cigarette butt on the ground and crushing it with his foot. "I'm your father!"

“That’s all,” Li Leshan said without changing his expression. “Grandma’s savings are fixed deposits and can’t be touched. Once you withdraw them, the interest is gone. This is all I have.”

"Fuck your mother!" Li Yong suddenly sprang up like an enraged beast. He grabbed Li Leshan by the collar and slammed him against the wall behind him.

Li Yong's face loomed closer, his swollen, distorted face contorted with rage. "Let me tell you, my patience has its limits! Where's the money? Where's that old geezer's retirement savings?! Hand it over!"

His back throbbed with pain, and his shoulder felt like it was about to split open. Li Leshan endured the excruciating pain in his shoulder, glanced up at the man before him, and a cold, mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips. "No. Go ahead and kill me if you dare."

He wasn't lying; he was telling the truth. His grandmother hadn't saved a single penny for her retirement. All the money she had painstakingly saved had been given to him. The thought of this caused Li Leshan a sharp pang of pain in his heart.

"You're being stubborn, aren't you? You think I wouldn't dare to hit you?" Li Yong clenched his free hand into a fist and slammed it into Li Leshan's abdomen.

……!

Li Leshan groaned, the intense pain causing him to bend over, his stomach churning violently.

Li Yong released his grip, coldly watching his son gag in pain. He was used to this sight, but he didn't care at all. "Let me tell you, this little bit of money isn't even enough to fill his mother's teeth. Listen to me, no matter what you do—steal, rob, sell your blood—next month, here again, I want to see money!"

"Don't even think about running away, and don't even think about cheating." Li Yong's finger jabbed heavily into Li Leshan's shoulder. "Since I was able to find you the first time, I can find you the second time. If you dare not give it to me..."

He suddenly grabbed Li Leshan's hair, forcing him to raise his head, "I'll go to your school gate every day and curse you, so everyone knows you have a murderer as your father!"

Li Yong paused, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "I see you're starting to look somewhat presentable now...you have friends, huh? You can borrow from them, or I can just ask them directly. What do you think? What do you think they'd do if they knew you had a murderer as a father?"

Li Leshan's pupils contracted sharply. Although Li Yong had only mentioned it vaguely, this casual remark had served as a wake-up call for him.

He endured the excruciating pain and fear, and with great difficulty raised his hand, "...I'll find a way to get the money. You're not allowed to go to Grandma, you're not allowed to go to school, and you can't touch anyone around me, not even a dog."

Li Yong laughed as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. He narrowed his eyes and said, "You dare to negotiate with me now? You've got too big for your britches?"

Li Leshan's eyes gradually became exceptionally calm, a calmness almost deathly still. He looked at Li Yong, resolving to fight to the death.

“If you dare to touch one of them,” Li Leshan looked at him and said in sign language, “I will find a way to get you back in, even if I have to quit school. I mean what I say.”

Li Yong froze for a moment, his laughter abruptly ceasing. He sized up his son, who was almost completely transformed, unable to understand why he was so different from before. That ruthlessness and calmness didn't seem like bluff; that look in his eyes reminded him of the desperados in prison. He chuckled, masking his momentary surprise and suspicion, and roughly stuffed the envelope into his pocket.

"Well, you've really grown up. Looks like you've taken after me. If you'd taken after your short-lived mother, you'd probably end up like her, long gone by now." Li Yong sneered. "Next month, I want to see the money."

He left those words behind and turned to leave the alleyway.

Li Leshan couldn't hold back any longer. He suddenly knelt down in the corner of the garbage heap and vomited. However, since he hadn't eaten anything, he just dry heaved and felt a bitter taste in his stomach.

A massive, intense wave of nausea surged from deep within him, engulfing his entire body. Li Leshan coughed incessantly, the coughing bringing tears to his eyes. He had never loathed his own existence so much; he couldn't believe that he shared the same blood as Li Yong! This blood relation felt like a shackle, and it seemed that no matter what he did, he couldn't escape it.

One month.

It's been a month now, but he understands that for someone like Li Yong, today it's a month, tomorrow it'll be half a month, a week, three days...

Li Leshan raised his head, his gaze passing through the dilapidated alley. He looked at the abandoned chimney in the distance, seemingly from somewhere in Tiedong, tall and silent. Like a giant tombstone, it stood on the graveyard of his youth.

/

The slap Li Yong gave him last night still left a slight mark on his face. Li Leshan looked at himself in the mirror and felt something was off, unsure if Jiang Yueming would notice it by evening.

He needed to find a job, Li Leshan thought to himself. When he worked at the Zhonghua Market before, Sister Xiuli told him that the Zhonghua Market was hiring temporary workers, which were night shifts and required working for several hours.

Li Leshan carefully calculated his time, wondering if Zhang Fang (his homeroom teacher) would agree if he simply took a piece of paper and asked her if he could skip evening self-study. Probably not; he'd have to give a reason.

I'm short of money?

Are they so desperate that they have to skip evening self-study to work?

Nobody will believe that.

Fortunately, Grandma doesn't usually touch that money. She keeps most of the money she gives her in a drawer in her room, so she probably won't notice if Li Leshan takes some.

But it always needs to be made up for, after all, money doesn't just disappear for no reason, it always flows somewhere.

He went to the Zhonghua Market and looked at the closed roller shutters. Li Leshan suddenly realized that it was the first day of the Lunar New Year and almost no shops were open. He had almost forgotten about it.

Li Leshan walked from one end to the other. Several shops that were still closed had "Hiring" signs pasted on their doors, already disheveled in the wind. He silently wrote down the phone numbers, planning to contact them after the New Year.

The few remaining open shops were almost deserted. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people were either visiting relatives or staying at home. There were very few people like him wandering around outside.

"Brother...?" Liu Qi saw the familiar figure from behind, but was still a little hesitant to go forward and identify him.

She hadn't been in contact with Li Leshan since starting high school, and they didn't even have each other's contact information back then. But she hadn't forgotten him, so seeing that figure from behind today shocked her especially.

Li Leshan turned around and looked at the girl in front of him. She looked somewhat familiar. After searching his memory, he finally remembered her name.

"Do you still remember me?" Liu Qi asked excitedly. "I didn't get into Shishi High School, you must have forgotten me."

Li Leshan shook his head. His memory was actually quite good. He could basically remember people he had met twice or people he had spoken to twice. It just took some effort to recall them.

"Long time no see," Liu Qi stammered, "You've grown taller and more handsome... Are you here looking for someone?"

After asking her question, she stared at Li Leshan with her bright eyes, then quickly said, "I know a little sign language, can you tell me and I'll see? Or..."

"Are there any night shift jobs available here?" Li Leshan tried to gesture to her that he wasn't familiar with the area, but perhaps Liu Qi would know, since she lived here.

Liu Qi paused for a moment. She had indeed tried to learn from Li Leshan, but she could only vaguely discern from a few gestures that he was looking for work. She didn't know who he was looking for, but it certainly wasn't for the young man himself, right? He was only in high school, a year younger than her, only in his first year.

"A job?" Liu Qi thought for a moment. "There's an internet cafe right outside the main entrance of the Zhonghua Market. They're hiring internet cafe managers for the night shift. The owner is my brother. Who are you looking for a job for? I'll help you get in touch!"

She felt a little happy, because she could at least do something for Li Leshan and help him in some way.

Li Leshan pointed to himself.

Liu Qi was a little confused, her eyes widening. "Aren't you still in school?"

“Can’t I go to school or work?” Li Leshan asked in sign language.

"Y-yes, sure." Liu Qi was a little embarrassed. Although she didn't know the specifics, she also knew that this wasn't something she could just ask casually. She felt she wasn't that close to Li Leshan. "You're so tall, it wouldn't be surprising if you said you were an adult. I'll just say you're my neighbor in a bit..."

Liu Qi muttered to herself for a long time, "Night shifts are tiring...you can't handle it, can you?"

"Does he really need money?" Liu Qi wondered. She wanted to ask, but she was also a little afraid to, so she could only look down at the tips of her shoes.

Liu Qi led him to the entrance of an internet cafe. In the small county town around 2010, internet cafes were still rare, unlike today where they are everywhere. So, to exaggerate a bit, her brother was leading the trend of the times.

"Wait for me outside for a bit!" Liu Qi said, pursing her lips with a worried look. "Aren't you cold?"

Li Leshan didn't quite understand and wondered why she was asking that. "Are you cold?"

Liu Qi's face flushed slightly, and she quickly shook her head, "I'm not cold, I'll go in and ask first, I'll call you later."

She pushed open the glass door and felt a warm breeze inside, mixed with the smell of instant noodles and cigarette smoke, which was a bit pungent.

Suddenly, Liu Qi regretted introducing Li Leshan here. Could a good student like him adapt to this place?

"Is my brother here?" Liu Qi walked familiarly to the front desk and asked the girl there.

"They're probably playing cards inside," the girl said with a smile, asking if she wanted some fruit.

Liu Qi waved her hand, walked through the narrow alley into the shop, pushed open the curtain, and sure enough, a group of boys were playing cards. There was smoke everywhere, with one table playing Dou Dizhu and another playing mahjong.

"Liu Yang—" Liu Qi called out to the group of boys.

"Damn it." The blond guy poked Liu Yang.

"Why are you cursing at me?" Liu Yang didn't even bother to leave the card table, not even lifting his eyelids. "Did I offend you?"

“If I insult you, I’ll call you my grandpa,” the blond-haired man laughed. “Your own sister is looking for you.”

Liu Yang then looked up and saw Liu Qi looking puzzled. He casually found someone to take his place and asked, "Are you here to visit relatives?"

"I need to talk to you." Liu Qi pulled him aside. "Didn't you advertise for network administrators the other day, the night shift kind? Didn't you say that job was too tiring and nobody wanted to do it?"

Liu Yang thought for a moment, "You want to do it? That's great, it saves me the trouble of paying salaries."

“Seriously,” Liu Qi patted his shoulder, “My neighbor’s brother is looking for a job recently. Could he do this? But not for too long, just enough to give him time to sleep.”

"Is he your neighbor's brother or the brother you have a crush on?" Liu Yang knew perfectly well, but the problem was, did he have any neighbors of similar age? He only remembered one old man and one old woman. "Little sister, do you even know what a night shift is? If you're giving him time to sleep, can you still call it a night shift?"

“It won’t take too long,” Liu Qi glanced quickly outside, “Can we stay for a few hours?”

"Then who will cover his remaining shift?" Liu Yang followed her and looked outside, only to see a blurry figure.

"Oh dear, you can just watch for a few hours. You don't sleep at night either," Liu Qi said, sounding a little anxious.

"So I'm working for him for free?" Liu Yang felt like he was hearing a fairy tale. "What does that kid look like? How come you're so biased towards him, almost leading me astray?"

"Just tell me if it's okay or not!" Liu Qi said firmly.

“Okay…” Liu Yang agreed. His sister had never asked him for anything before, so it seemed that person was really important. Anyway, he usually spent his time in internet cafes, and there weren't many people there at night, so letting that person get some sleep was fine.

"Oh, there's one more thing." Liu Qi hesitated a bit.

"What, do I have to buy late-night snacks too?" Liu Yang raised an eyebrow.

"He is..." Liu Qi didn't know how to start, so she could only point to her mouth and stammer for a long time.

"Is he mute?" Liu Yang asked casually, but unexpectedly, he got the answer right.

Seeing the girl in front of him nod, Liu Yang suddenly realized what was happening.

"You've found me a job, haven't you?" Liu Yang was a little taken aback. "What did you see in him?"

"Anyway, it's settled then. There aren't many people around at night, and this job doesn't require any talking, right? It's just about arranging the computer, but there's no way to sell cards. If all else fails, can I get one myself?" Liu Qi said, and started to walk out to tell Li Leshan the news.

Liu Yang followed behind her, grunted twice, and then stepped outside. He was determined to see what the man outside looked like; he had completely captivated his sister.

The moment Liu Yang pushed open the door, he met those calm eyes, and his hand, which had been pushing the door open, froze for a long while. Li Leshan stood outside the door, as upright as a statue.

"Oh..." Liu Yang touched the tip of his nose and beckoned to Li Leshan, "Hey, isn't it cold outside? Come in."

The internet cafe has air conditioning, although there's only one air conditioner running, it's still much warmer than outside.

"Get me a bottle of water." Liu Yang gestured with his chin towards the girl at the front desk. "Turn the air conditioning up a bit."

His gaze returned to Li Leshan, and he glanced at Liu Qi, who was enthusiastically introducing something to him.

“You…” Liu Yang hesitated for a moment.

Are you an adult?

Is he still in high school?

Hiring a minor... that's fucking illegal.

"He's quite tall." Liu Yang handed him the water.

"Let the receptionist tell you what you need to do later, and what time you can come tonight?" Liu Yang asked.

Li Leshan hesitated for a moment.

"You, translate this." Liu Yang glanced at Liu Qi.

Liu Qi quickly said "Oh," and quietly leaned over to ask in a low voice, "Hey bro, what time do you finish your evening self-study?"

"Just follow the normal night shift schedule, I won't go to evening self-study." Li Leshan signed. Although he didn't know if the homeroom teacher would agree, he figured that part-time work should be paid by the hour, and he would have to work a certain number of hours.

"That won't do," Liu Qi hurriedly said, "Ten o'clock?"

She took it upon herself to answer for Li Leshan, "Ten o'clock!"

Liu Yang glanced at the two of them but didn't say much. He figured 10 o'clock was the time the kid would get out of class. But do high schools always get out this late? That's inhumane…

"Okay, then come at ten o'clock. If you're sleepy, you can sleep. If you don't want to sleep face down, there's a sofa inside. You can leave anywhere in the morning, just lock the door." Liu Yang tossed a key to Li Leshan.

"Are you alright now? I'm going back to play cards." Liu Yang said, then walked inside.

“I’ll stay here for a bit. If you don’t understand anything, I’ll ask Sister Qin for you,” Liu Qi said. “Don’t let his appearance fool you, my brother is a really good person. If you need anything, just ask him. Even though he didn’t go to university, he can still read…”

"Thank you." Li Leshan expressed his heartfelt gratitude.

"Oh dear..." Liu Qi was a little embarrassed, her face turning red again. "What's the big deal? You still need to focus on your studies, okay? I don't know why you're working, but don't let your studies fall behind. Your grades are so good..."

Li Leshan nodded; he wouldn't miss it, no matter what.

After Li Yong returned, "taking the exam" was the only path he could see and reach, a way to take his grandmother away from Li Yong. So Li Leshan had to seize it no matter what.