Chapter 98 Offering Myself in Return "Aren't we being incredibly foolish?"...

"Your attitude in admitting your mistake is good." Liu Xijun took the self-criticism from his hand and sighed, "You should have done this earlier. You're such a stubborn kid."

Jiang Yueming didn't reply, but bowed to Liu Xijun and then turned and left the office.

The self-criticism was made up on the spot, just writing down whatever came to mind from his dream. It incorporated the essence of all the self-criticisms he had written over the years, from elementary to high school, and the only mistake he admitted to was disrupting school discipline. Anyway, Jiang Yueming wouldn't admit that it was wrong of him to fight with that idiot; he'd learned his lesson and would wait until he was out of school next time before making a move.

"Have you apologized?" Cao Fan glanced at him and saw his gloomy face.

Jiang Yueming gave a curt "hmm."

“You need to change your temper,” Cao Fan advised him earnestly, “I’m not trying to criticize you, but you’re too impulsive. Imagine a large meeting with school leaders standing on the stage, and you punch them without them even stopping you. It’s not like you’re performing a show.”

Jiang Yueming hummed in agreement again.

"How did Lao Liu convince you to apologize?" Cao Fan really wanted to know. "Did he kneel down and beg you?"

"They're making a movie." Jiang Yueming admired his ability to make up stories. Anytime, anywhere, at any moment.

He would do anything for Li Leshan. Whatever Li Leshan asked him to do, he would do. If Li Leshan wanted him to apologize, he would apologize. The person he could least resist in his life was Li Leshan. Once that man looked at him with a helpless yet painful gaze, Jiang Yueming felt that his heart no longer belonged to him.

"Alright, let's put this behind us and be heroes again." Cao Fan laughed heartily. "But you've become quite famous at school. This fight has made you quite well-known."

"What would I do with this reputation?" Jiang Yueming said indifferently. "It's not a good reputation anyway."

After the matter was put behind them, Jiang Yueming's self-criticism was posted on the bulletin board below the teaching building for a month. When it was finally taken down with Liu Xijun's permission, he went to look at it again and found that it had long since disappeared.

Maybe it was blown away by the wind, or something else. It's unlikely that someone took it; who would have the time to take someone else's self-criticism?

The incident of fighting on the first day of school was used as a negative example and discussed under the flagpole for a whole month. The "culprit" felt no remorse and continued to live his life as usual. On the contrary, the boy who was beaten felt a little ashamed.

The locust tree is lush and green, and the stone bench beneath it bears new scars from the years. Neither the tree nor the people beneath it have changed much over the years.

"Xu Qing is going to the provincial capital for a competition next week." Han Jiang said excitedly, looking as if he wanted to go with her.

"What are you getting so worked up about?" Jiang Yueming nudged Han Jiang with her elbow.

Since that argument, all four of them tacitly agreed not to mention it again. The sudden confession and the unexpected heartbreak seemed as if they had never happened.

"Tch, I'm not coming back if some arts troupe takes a liking to me," Xu Qing muttered.

"Aren't you taking academic subjects?" Jiang Yueming asked.

"I can go wherever I want." Xu Qing raised her eyebrows and reverted to her big sister demeanor.

"Then you can take quite a few days off, right?" Jiang Yueming envied this the most—a legitimate reason, the kind that brings honor to the school. It wouldn't require going through all the layers of bureaucracy, all the way to the United Nations, would it?

“There aren’t that many days,” Xu Qing said, resting her chin on her hand and looking at the tree trunk in front of her. “Three or four days, including the weekend. I already have the weekend off.”

Jiang Yueming glanced at Li Leshan, who sat quietly to the side; he usually didn't participate in these kinds of situations. Xu Qing was telling Han Jiang that she wanted to learn sign language, having learned it since childhood, but her current level was only at the stage of "thank you" and "sorry."

The four of them gathered together, their homework so plentiful that it couldn't all fit on the stone table; they had to write it on their laps. After the division into arts and sciences tracks, two arts students and two science students sat at the table, each with their own worries.

Han Jiang and Xu Qing kept writing, their pens never stopping.

Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan hardly wrote anything down; they spent most of their time thinking. One didn't need to write anything; he would skip over what he knew from beginning to end. The other also didn't need to write anything; he would skip over what he didn't know, and he would also skip over what he didn't know from beginning to end.

"What formula do we use for this problem?" Jiang Yueming asked Li Leshan.

Li Leshan glanced at the questions and first drew two auxiliary lines on his test paper.

"When did the Opium War begin?" Han Jiang asked as well.

Xu Qing was annoyed and didn't even look up. "1840. Han Jiang, can you recite the timeline of major events? It's at the back of the textbook. You've forgotten that."

Han Jiang scratched his head, looking embarrassed.

Jiang Yueming can empathize with this. You memorize a ton of formulas—the tangent function, the sine and cosine theorems—and then forget them completely. Sometimes you get confused while studying, looking at cos, cos, and suddenly forget what it means.

Jiang Yueming got tired of writing, glanced at Han Jiang, and coughed softly.

Han Jiang glanced at him, and their eyes met. Jiang Yueming then began to give him a meaningful look, roughly meaning, "Aren't you leaving yet? Is it really written here?"

Han Jiang sighed heavily and winked at Jiang Yueming, "What can I do?"

"Take her away, and hurry up," Jiang Yueming mouthed.

“Hey, Xu Qing. It’ll get dark if we write a little longer, and we still need to pick up Xiaobai.” Han Jiang suddenly stood up. “Xiaobai doesn’t want to leave without you picking her up.”

Xiao Bai was taken for a bath, and no one could handle it, not even Xu Qing. Last time Jiang Yueming gave it a bath, it ran, jumped, and made a huge fuss, almost killing both of them.

"Alright then." Xu Qing packed her schoolbag, and she glanced at Li Leshan unintentionally, feeling a little disappointed for some reason.

"We're leaving," Xu Qing said.

Jiang Yueming waved to them, and Li Leshan waved back as well.

The two-kilowatt light bulb was finally gone. Jiang Yueming was tired of pretending, and since he had already done quite a bit of homework, he could finish it by working overtime that night.

"Lele, are you finished writing?" Jiang Yueming asked. "We still have to go to the market."

His aunt told him to do it, and his grandmother told Li Leshan to do it. If they go any later, the market will close.

Li Leshan nodded. In fact, he had finished writing it hundreds of years ago. Doing homework was not a difficult task for him. He had been looking at the mock exam papers of No. 5 High School.

Walking side by side with Li Leshan reminded Jiang Yueming of her elementary school days, when school ended at five o'clock and they could still see the sunset. After junior and senior high school, they couldn't see the sunset together anymore because classes ended late and they went to different schools. Thinking about it, the days when they walked together like this seemed so distant.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve walked on the Lijiang Bridge,” Jiang Yueming said. Counting the days, it’s been almost two years. Although he has to cross three bridges every time he goes to Shigao High School to find Li Leshan, he only stops briefly when he passes by the Lijiang Bridge. “I used to walk on the bridge every day when I was a kid.”

I never imagined that one day I would miss those youthful days walking on that bridge.

“So,” Jiang Yueming suddenly laughed, her eyes narrowing, “that bridge can be considered a ‘witness’ to our love.”

Li Leshan smiled after hearing this. He pursed his lips, as if he remembered something, and smiled a little shyly.

The Lijiang Bridge has stood for a long time above the Lijiang River, with the water flowing gently westward beneath it. This bridge has witnessed so much: the history of Shengping, the changes in the county town, their growth, and the innocent love of young people.

It silently watched over the people of Shengping, without uttering a word or making a fuss. For ten years, it endured everything day after day.

The market was less crowded now; it was usually bustling around four o'clock. Jiang Yueming mentally prepared a list of things his grandmother and aunt needed. Luckily, he was quite sharp in other areas besides studying.

"Damn it!" Jiang Yueming felt something slip away from him. Startled, he looked down and saw several chickens darting past his trouser leg, clucking and flapping their wings, seemingly heading in the wrong direction.

"Where are they going?" Jiang Yueming asked.

Li Leshan shook his head; this scene was strangely amusing.

"Yueming! Help your aunt catch it, please!" The voice came from Sister Ting. Actually, it was inappropriate for a seventeen-year-old boy like them to call Sister Ting "aunt," but Jiang Yueming was used to calling her that.

"Chicken, chicken?" Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan exchanged a glance for a second, then made up their minds.

The two of them simultaneously placed the vegetables they were carrying on Sister Ting's stall and ran towards the chickens that were running around.

"Lele, I'll block the left, you block the right!" Jiang Yueming pointed to the left.

Li Leshan nodded.

My goodness, Jiang Yueming felt like she could be selected as one of the top ten most touching figures in Shengping. Two such righteous people appeared in one day! Sister Ting should get them a banner to send to the school, and it would be best to hold an award ceremony for them. No need for a prize money, but could you give them a chick instead?

Catching chickens was something he was completely unfamiliar with; he'd never done it before. Jiang Yueming had only ever caught Little White Chicken before, when it struggled to avoid taking a bath. He figured the principle should be the same, except the chicken had two fewer legs. But since it had two fewer legs, shouldn't it be easier?

Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan blocked the left and right sides respectively. The two appeared at the end of the market at the same time, blocking the three chickens in the middle.

"It looks like it's about to charge at me." Jiang Yueming swallowed.

“Yes.” Li Leshan gestured briefly.

"I'll count to three, two, one," Jiang Yueming gestured, "and we'll grab them at the same time, okay?"

Li Leshan nodded.

"Three, two, one!"

As expected, they didn't catch the chicken, but the two of them bumped into each other and fell to the ground. The three culprits were successfully caught with the net.

"Sis!" Jiang Yueming was a little angry, but also found it a bit funny. She had been scratching her face and hair all the way, and she was covered in dust. "Why didn't you say you had a net sooner! We caught it empty-handed!"

He and Li Leshan made eye contact, and finally couldn't hold back. Looking at their slightly disheveled appearances, he sat on the ground and laughed so hard that he bent over, tears welling up in his eyes.

The pressures of life and studies were completely relieved in those brief ten minutes. In this noisy, chaotic corner of the market, their laughter was clearly outweighed by the loudspeaker blaring from the vendors nearby.

"Aren't we being pretty silly?" Jiang Yueming chuckled and patted Li Leshan on the shoulder.

“Hmm,” Li Leshan replied with a smile, “I think it’s a bit dumber than a chicken.”

...

"Catch chickens." Lin Cuiqin looked them up and down; their clothes were dusty and their hair was messy.

To be honest, she had never heard such an outrageous reason in her forty-plus years of life. Jiang Yueming might as well tell them they were catching thieves. Two seventeen-year-old boys, running around the streets catching chickens—the scene was truly unimaginable.

"We really went." Jiang Yueming hadn't recovered from the chicken fight earlier; his stomach still ached from laughing so hard. "Go ask Sister Ting, don't her chickens always run away? They ran into the street last year, don't you remember?"

"You two are really something," Lin Cuiqin smoothed Li Leshan's hair and patted Jiang Yueming's trouser leg, "What did I need you two for? You two really helped me with this."

“Since Sister Ting has already spoken up,” Jiang Yueming said hurriedly as he entered the house. “Besides, we are good young people of the new era.”

"Alright, alright, good young man." Lin Cuiqin said with a hint of helplessness, "Did you catch him?"

"No," Jiang Yueming said honestly. "I'm still getting used to it. I'll practice sometime and catch one for you to take home."

"You dare, you little rascal!" Lin Cuiqin laughed from behind.

She invited Li Leshan in to sit down, and then asked, "Leshan, is your grandma alright? Yueming said her back and legs hurt the other day, and I was really worried about her."

Li Leshan shook his head, patted Jiang Yueming on the shoulder, and Jiang Yueming immediately obeyed and acted as the translator.

“It’s alright,” Jiang Yueming translated Li Leshan’s sign language. “She’s not in much pain lately. It’s just that she’s not sleeping well and keeps waking up at night.”

"Oh," Lin Cuiqin breathed a slight sigh of relief, "Your grandma is getting old, please take good care of her. If you need any help, just call Yueming or your aunt, don't be shy."

Jiang Yueming glanced at Li Leshan, a wicked idea forming in her mind. Her voice laced with amusement, "He's already thanked you so much he can't help it. If you keep talking, he'll probably have to repay you with his body."

"What are you saying?" Li Leshan frowned at him.

Jiang Yueming winked at him, "It's nothing, just kidding."

“That would be great,” Lin Cuiqin laughed. “I agree, but people in Leshan have to be willing too, right?”

"Why don't you ask for my opinion? What if I don't want to?" Jiang Yueming continued.

"Why should I ask you? I know your cheap look all too well. You're secretly pleased, aren't you?" Lin Cuiqin knew Jiang Yueming too well. She turned and went into the kitchen to get busy. "I'm going to continue cooking. You two get ready and call Tian Tian to eat."

"Okay." Jiang Yueming pushed Li Leshan into the room, saying softly as she did so, "I told you, it's okay. Auntie is easygoing and won't overthink it."

Li Leshan sighed, looking somewhat helpless. "You can keep joking around in front of your aunt."

"So what?" Jiang Yueming rested his chin on Li Leshan's shoulder and rubbed it gently. "How about this, once I'm able to earn money, I'll tell Auntie, okay?"

"No way." Li Leshan told him not to even think about it.

“Why,” Jiang Yueming muttered, “She likes you so much, and besides, it’s not a big deal.”

“That’s different,” Li Leshan patiently explained to him, “What if your aunt can’t accept it? Have you thought about that? This matter isn’t that simple.”

Jiang Yueming looked at his serious face and didn't say anything more. He held Li Leshan's hand and thought, what's the difference? Is it because we're both men, because we're gay, or because we can't get married or have children?

“I understand,” Jiang Yueming said, patting Li Leshan’s head and speaking in a relaxed tone. “I was just saying it offhand.”

Li Leshan smiled at him, then lowered his head again, seemingly lost in thought.

After a long pause, he looked up at Jiang Yueming again and said, "I can't tell Grandma about what's going on between us."

"You actually thought about telling Grandma?" Jiang Yueming was taken aback, then laughed heartily. He put his arm around Li Leshan's shoulder and leaned closer to him. "I'm so glad you thought about it. I know everything."

Seeing that Li Leshan didn't speak, he leaned closer and quickly kissed Li Leshan's cheek. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I made you overthink again. I didn't want you to overthink, and I didn't want to put you in a difficult position."

Jiang Yueming looked at him and grinned foolishly, "Anyway, you've already given yourself to me, so I don't want anything else."

Li Leshan's heart skipped a beat. He hesitated for a long time before asking, "How could you be so kind?"

"Am I alright?" Jiang Yueming asked knowingly. "How alright?"

Li Leshan turned his head away and remained silent. Just when Jiang Yueming thought he wouldn't continue the conversation, his hand moved again.

“Is it that good…” Li Leshan gestured.

Jiang Yueming laughed heartily. After he finished laughing, he quieted down. Actually, he wasn't as good as Li Leshan thought. He was impulsive, often made mistakes, and was extremely stubborn. Over the years, he was fortunate that Li Leshan had been so tolerant of him.

Jiang Yueming lowered her head and drew circles in Li Leshan's palm, her fingertips gently gliding across his hand, making Li Leshan feel a little itchy.

"Lele, has your dad been looking for you lately?" he asked.

Li Leshan remained silent for a while, then shook his head.

Li Leshan wasn't quite sure what Li Yong had been up to lately. It seemed like he'd vanished into thin air; he couldn't be found anywhere. The only message he received was a bank account number, instructing him to transfer money into the account. So Li Leshan regularly transferred the money at set times.

He would still go to Liu Yang's place at night, but Liu Yang gave him two days off a week so he could spend time with Jiang Yueming without arousing too much suspicion.

But Li Yong's disappearance didn't ease Li Leshan's mind at all. He still felt as if a heavy stone was pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe just thinking about it. The most frightening thing was that he couldn't grasp Li Yong's movements, because he didn't know when he would return, or in what way he would reappear before him…

Just thinking about it gave Li Leshan a headache. The pain was so bad that his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, and his face slowly turned pale.

“If there’s anything wrong, you have to tell me. Don’t bear it all by yourself.” Jiang Yueming squeezed his hand. “You always like to bear things on your own, which isn’t good.”

"Come out for dinner," Lin Cuiqin's voice came from outside the door. "Yueming, see what your sister is doing cooped up in the room."

“Okay!” Jiang Yueming quickly replied.

"I'll go check on Tian Tian, ​​you go sit outside," Jiang Yueming said.

Li Leshan nodded and went out of the room to help serve the dishes and rice.

Sweetie lay on the table, oblivious to everyone around her, seemingly unaware that someone was getting closer. It seems her counter-surveillance skills were quite poor.

“Writing a love letter.” Jiang Yueming snatched the paper that Tian Tian was covering. He hadn’t even seen what it said yet, but he lowered his voice and said, “I’m warning you, Lin Yanxi, if you’re writing a love letter, you’re finished. If someone else writes it to you, they’re finished.”

She's only 10 years old! If she dares to write love letters at an age when she can't even recognize all the characters, what will she cause when she gets older? Kids these days really don't understand anything, yet they're already talking about love and romance.

Although Jiang Yueming wasn't exactly doting on Tiantian, he still treated her like a younger sister. Anyone who dared to write her a letter would be dealt with the same way, regardless of age, gender, height, weight, or appearance. The first time, he'd give her a warning; the second time, he'd go straight to the school. Of course, any man who dared to come was truly doomed.

"Hey, what are you doing!" Tian Tian kicked Jiang Yueming's shin.

Jiang Yueming held the paper high, one hand pressing on Tian Tian's forehead, the other hand unfolding the paper. You wouldn't believe it until you saw it, and what you saw shocked you.

"Damn, it's worse than a love letter." Jiang Yueming frowned, lowering his voice even further. "A report card?"

"Ancestor, what's wrong with you? You only got 38 points in math. Did you write it with your feet?" Jiang Yueming quickly closed the door. Family scandals shouldn't be aired in public, especially not in this situation.

Sweetie burst into tears instantly, sobbing uncontrollably. "Brother, the teacher needs a parent's signature, but I'm too scared to give it to Mom, waaaaah..."

"Don't cry," Jiang Yueming quickly covered her mouth, "If you bring your mother here again, what kind of trouble will this be? I'll sign it for you, won't that be enough?"

They're all parents anyway, so there's no difference.

"Really?" Sweetie wiped away her tears.

"Really, really." Jiang Yueming took the paper and signed his name directly on the report card, writing three bold characters: "Jiang Yueming."

After he finished signing, he suddenly realized something, and his mouth twitched slightly. "Damn, your homeroom teacher... isn't Yin Guiying, is she?"

If it were Yin Guiying, then it would be truly over. He and Tiantian would be completely wiped out.

Sweetie shook her head.

Jiang Yueming breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"But I still need to call my parents, sob sob sob..." Sweetie continued to cry.

"Why didn't you just say it all at once?" Jiang Yueming was at his wit's end. Since things had come to this, he had no other choice but to ask Liu Xijun for leave and then go to the Iron Pagoda Primary School, hoping not to run into Yin Guiying.

“Let me tell you, Lin Yanxi,” Jiang Yueming pointed at her nose, “I absolutely cannot protect you next time. You’d better turn 38 into 83 before the next exam, or I’ll tell your aunt on you.”

He felt that Tian Tian should at least be more successful than him. He at least got into the top high school, and he scored 600 points on the high school entrance exam, including physical education. Tian Tian's current grades are exactly the same as his back then. It would be best if this girl also had a Li Leshan by her side, otherwise it would be a complete disaster from the start.

But early romances are not allowed. Jiang Yueming thought to himself. Although his actions weren't very convincing, who said he had to impose this on himself? He would impose it on Tian Tian. Little girl, it's always better to be safe than sorry. If she were to be kidnapped by some blond, blue, or green-haired guy in the near future, Jiang Yueming wouldn't want to live anymore.

These days were as ordinary as any other day, the kind that wouldn't stand out from the 365 days in a row. At that time, he didn't expect that in the near future, every day would feel like walking on thin ice.

The sun is still the sun, the wind is still the wind, but some people are no longer some people. Such ordinary days are like a fleeting moment, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

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Author's Note: After all that Yueming and Lele have been through, sometimes I even forget they're still just seventeen-year-old boys [poor thing] (Hey, this parent surnamed Yan, don't spoil your child too much, seventeen is already quite old!)

So let's lighten things up a bit in this chapter and have Yueming and Lele put on a show for everyone! [glasses]