Chapter 10 Rocket Car Xiaoming: "Are you going to be Li Leshan's dog?"...
"Damn it! Jiang Yueming! My dog's been stolen! Did you steal it?" Han Jiang's booming voice shattered the tranquility of the alley; his voice rang out even before he appeared. Like Wang Xifeng, he could be renamed Han Xifeng—his voice preceded his arrival.
"Shh—shh! Ancestor!" Jiang Yueming jumped out of bed with a start and whispered to Xiaobai, who was perking up its ears and trying to jump to the windowsill at the sound of its owner's voice, "Don't shout! Don't shout!"
It was quite a feat for Han Jiang to come over in the middle of the night. Jiang Yueming scurried downstairs in her slippers and saw Han Jiang striding towards her menacingly. He had clearly just arrived, wearing an old vest with a blurry cartoon print and shorts.
"Wow, you're acting like I'm going to hit you." Jiang Yueming took two steps back. If Han Jiang had been this ruthless when Wang Hao bullied them back then, they wouldn't have had to run away.
"Where's my dog!" Han Jiang roared.
"Heaven and earth bear witness! I didn't see it." Jiang Yueming lied through his teeth. "Whether it went with Xu Qing or not... you know, your dog is just like you."
"...Then, I'll ask Xu Qing tomorrow." Han Jiang thought it made sense, after all, there was a precedent. His dog was just like him, it couldn't resist Xu Qing, and several times it followed her home with longing eyes.
When Xiao Bai first "disappeared," Jiang Yueming and Han Jiang searched for her for a long time. They started from the dark, dingy food stalls at the north end of the street, ran all the way to the old, un-demolished housing area on Haihe Road, then circled around to Liaohe Road, and finally even searched under the huge, peeling-painted sculpture in Leshan Square. They searched every place they could think of; any further and they'd be in the next district. Their voices were hoarse from calling out, and they almost broke down in tears.
To their surprise, when daylight arrived, Xiao Bai wagged its tail and ran up to the two of them. They learned that Xiao Bai had been at Xu Qing's house, and had even spent the night comfortably sleeping on her sofa with its floral-patterned sheets! Jiang Yueming and Han Jiang were both unhappy about this. Jiang Yueming was unhappy because Xiao Bai hadn't even stayed at his house yet, but had gone to Xu Qing's first. Han Jiang was unhappy because he hadn't even stayed at Xu Qing's house yet, but Xiao Bai had already moved in.
"Damn, are you even a buddy?" Jiang Yueming suddenly realized and said, "How come it's not considered stealing when Xu Qing takes it, but it's considered stealing a dog when I take it? Your favoritism is off the charts!"
"You still have the nerve to talk to me about being buddies? Li Leshan is your buddy now, and I'm just a stranger, a passerby, a..." Han Jiang was at a loss for words.
"Are you three years old this year?" Jiang Yueming asked.
"I...I'm eleven! Twelve by the traditional Chinese age reckoning!" Han Jiang suddenly punched Jiang Yueming. "You don't even know how old I am anymore?"
"..." Jiang Yueming was speechless. Listening to Han Jiang sobbing and rambling on, accusing him of being "ungrateful," "heartless," and "forgetting the old for the new"... he sighed and sat down on the cement curb by the roadside.
“Han Jiang,” Jiang Yueming said, looking at the slogan marks on the wall in the distance, her voice lowered, “I think Li Leshan… seems quite similar to me.”
His words seemed a bit nonsensical. Sure enough, Han Jiang stopped his "lament," sniffed blankly, and sat down beside him: "Huh? Similar? How so?... Oh, the height is about the same... But," he tilted his head and thought seriously for a moment, "Li Leshan seems to be a bit more handsome than you?"
Jiang Yueming decided not to return Xiaobai tomorrow either.
"That's true." Jiang Yueming himself admitted.
Yes, they do have some similarities. They're about the same height, similar age, both boys, and their family backgrounds... well, neither is a complete picture. But they're also so different. Their personalities are worlds apart, and their academic achievements are worlds apart. Li Leshan is sensible, quiet, and reliable, like a tall, straight poplar tree; and Jiang Yueming himself? Mischievous, troublesome, and academically failing, like a crooked willow branch. To say he's like Li Leshan feels like a toad trying to eat swan meat—no, more like an ugly duckling trying to get close to a swan.
But he still felt a resemblance. Because Li Leshan, like him, had been abandoned, scorned, and bullied, and was just as stubborn. He couldn't remain unmoved looking at Li Leshan. However, Jiang Yueming wouldn't tell Han Jiang; he only said Li Leshan resembled him, but didn't explain in what way. That silly boy Han Jiang probably wouldn't understand anyway.
"Do you think Li Leshan has no friends, so you want to be friends with him?" Han Jiang asked.
Actually, that's not the case. It's just that Jiang Yueming felt it was already quite remarkable that Han Jiang could think of something this far.
“Actually, Li Leshan is a very good person,” Jiang Yueming said.
“It’s just that none of us know him very well yet.” This “we” includes both Han Jiang and Jiang Yueming.
"Oh..." Han Jiang nodded as if he understood, but suddenly his eyes lit up as if he had grasped the key point, "Then, so you've become friends with Li Leshan, will he... will he let you copy his homework?" This was the core question he was most concerned about!
"I think so." Jiang Yueming had never copied anything. Because he never wrote anything. Those who could write didn't need to copy, and those who couldn't write didn't need to copy either.
"Then, if you become friends with Li Leshan, can I borrow his homework to copy?" Han Jiang was clearly more concerned about this topic, his eyes brightening as if he had seen a savior.
"I... I guess so too?" Jiang Yueming asked, forcing a smile as she looked at his eager eyes.
"Alright then. He really is a nice guy." Han Jiang propped his chin up, watching the stars twinkle in the sky. "You can be friends with him, and remember to let me copy your homework."
Jiang Yueming's heart stirred. He glanced at Han Jiang beside him. Perhaps Han Jiang had compromised for the sake of the assignment, or perhaps it was something else. Maybe it was because Jiang Yueming had said that Li Leshan was a good person, so in Han Jiang's mind, he was also a good person.
"Is it difficult to be friends with him?" Han Jiang then asked.
Jiang Yueming didn't know. Li Leshan's heart was more resilient than he had imagined. But at this moment, he still shook his head, "It's not difficult."
Han Jiang is kind-hearted and simple-minded. He's been naive since childhood, always agreeing with whatever Jiang Yueming says. It's rare for him to talk to Han Jiang about these things today; their usual conversations revolve around "games," "game cards," or Han Jiang rambling on and on about "Xu Qing's new hair accessory today," or "Xu Qing smiled at me"...
"I still have you all, and I still have Xiaobai," Jiang Yueming said softly, as if summarizing, or perhaps reminding himself. Thinking about it this way, he realized he wasn't really like Li Leshan. Because he was a little luckier than Li Leshan; he still had his aunt, Tiantian, Han Jiang, and… Xiaobai, who was temporarily detained. What about Li Leshan? He only had his grandmother.
"Xiaobai, doesn't it look like my dog?" Han Jiang blurted out abruptly, wondering why Jiang Yueming was describing it as his dog.
"Tsk, getting all sentimental." Jiang Yueming rolled her eyes. "Don't stir things up. Li Leshan has nothing, he has nothing, if only..."
"You want to be Li Leshan's dog?" Han Jiang interrupted him abruptly, his words utterly shocking.
"Damn, no wonder you only got 28 points in Chinese. I thought you were just guessing, but it turns out you really don't know anything!" Jiang Yueming said, his thought process so peculiar, and what he said made sense. Luckily, Yin Guiying didn't teach Han Jiang, otherwise she would have been driven to the point of exhaustion.
He got 68 on his Chinese test, but Yin Guiying was still dissatisfied every day.
"Where did I go wrong..." Han Jiang scratched his head.
"Do I have to be a dog?" Jiang Yueming said coldly, knowing that saying another word to this silly boy would lower his IQ. "Can't I be a person? Be his friend! Do you understand what a friend is? Like the two of us!"
Mentioning the dog, Han Jiang's face fell again. "I came out to look for Xiaobai, but I couldn't find Xiaobai, and I've been talking to you for half the night..."
"What's wrong? You're acting all aggrieved just talking to me?" Jiang Yueming said. He was a little guilty, but he couldn't show it. "Don't worry, Xiaobai is very smart, even smarter than you. I don't think it could get 28 points on a Chinese test... It's probably living the high life somewhere, eating and drinking well and sleeping comfortably."
At this moment, Xiao Bai, who was being "detained," was indeed sleeping very comfortably in the cardboard box lined with an old towel under Jiang Yueming's bed.
"Is 28 points low?" Han Jiang asked knowingly.
"What do you think?" Jiang Yueming countered. He didn't even want to answer this question, but it was an answer in itself. After all, a rhetorical question implies certainty...
"What scores did Li Leshan get?"
"You still ask...you still insist on asking." Jiang Yueming was puzzled. Why didn't Han Jiang have any idea? "98, I guess."
Han Jiang exclaimed in surprise, his mouth agape, clearly astonished. "He's taller than me, by 660 points!"
"..." Jiang Yueming glanced at Han Jiang with a complex expression, a mixture of pity, speechlessness, and a hint of resignation—"whatever makes you happy." He stood up, dusted himself off, and said, "I'm leaving! Tomorrow... tomorrow Xiaobai will definitely be home—" He drew out the words, a hint of guilt he himself didn't realize, and quickly slipped back into the building's entrance. Han Jiang was left alone on the curb, repeatedly calculating the "6660-point" gap on his fingers.
Han Jiang's impression of Li Leshan changed very quickly.
Iron Pagoda Elementary School, as its name suggests, is located near an Iron Pagoda Park. Its ranking in the city isn't particularly high; it can't compete with the city's top two elementary schools. However, while it may not be able to compete, it certainly studies quite well. The Third Elementary School had just finished its exams, and those exam papers immediately ended up in the hands of its own students.
These days, there are many students, but small classes. During exams, there isn't enough space between seats, so some students take exams in the teaching building, and others in the science building. Taking exams in the teaching building is relatively better; at least there are chairs and desks. The science building is a different story. Jiang Yueming thinks it should be called an unfinished building, though.
The exterior walls were covered in faded, dirty white paint, with many sections peeling off to reveal the grayish cement underneath. Several windows were broken and temporarily held together with wooden boards.
The desks inside were even more bizarre. If you were lucky, you'd get a good desk. If you were unlucky, the desk was full of holes, making it impossible to write on. You had to put the exam paper on your knees to write. That's how it was for Jiang Yueming. Her handwriting on the desk was already terrible, but now even describing it as terrible wouldn't do; it would be an insult to dogs.
However, there are some advantages, such as the view. The science building faces a row of sycamore trees, their branches and leaves lush and verdant. Jiang Yueming listlessly glanced around at the students. Hmm, very well, everyone's face screams "pain."
The test was in math. The word problem was about Xiaoming riding his bike to the Children's Palace, and Jiang Yueming didn't care what kind of bike he rode or which palace he went to. Finally, after diligently calculating, the average speed was 180 m/s.
"What a joke!" Jiang Yueming gasped. Good heavens, was that a bicycle Xiaoming was riding? It looked like a Dongfeng rocket!
To be honest, Jiang Yueming's math skills had been nonexistent since elementary school, especially with problems like the "chicken and rabbit in a cage" problem and questions about numbers of heads and feet. He even went so far as to calculate numbers to two decimal places. From that point on, math became his mortal enemy, and his math grades never recovered.
After looking around for a while, Jiang Yueming suddenly spotted Han Jiang furtively tapping on a calculator not far away. His cautious manner resembled that of an underground agent sending a telegram. Jiang Yueming was overjoyed to see a familiar face. He quickly turned around and whispered, "Let me play with it!"
Han Jiang greeted him more warmly than a new brother; if he failed the monthly exam again, he would be doomed. He quickly whispered, "Jiang Yueming...! What should I choose for options 3, 5, 7, 9, and 10...!"
Jiang Yueming glanced down at his exam paper, the multiple-choice questions a jumble of scribbles. He wanted to tell Han Jiang, but there was nothing he could. His accuracy rate was lower than winning a lottery outside a convenience store. Looking up again, he suddenly saw Li Leshan not far away diagonally across from him. It turned out that everyone in the exam hall was an acquaintance. Jiang Yueming realized then.
“Li Leshan…!” Jiang Yueming whispered.
For a moment, Li Leshan thought he was hallucinating. After all, he was doing his homework when Jiang Yueming's voice suddenly popped into his head. He stopped checking his calculations; most people had just turned the page, but Li Leshan was already at the verification stage.
He turned around and, sure enough, saw Jiang Yueming waving at him with great joy.
Li Leshan was a little confused.
Seeing that there was a chance, Jiang Yueming quickly started using sign language to communicate with him. The general meaning was which option to choose from 3, 5, 7, 9, 10...
Li Leshan saw his gesture and remained silent for two seconds. Just from his instantly pursed lips and slightly narrowed eyes, Jiang Yueming could feel a strong sense of speechlessness wash over him. Li Leshan also raised his hand, making a crisp and clear gesture: No. Cheating is not allowed. I'll teach you after the exam.
The benefits of learning sign language became apparent at this point; the entire communication was silent, and Yin Guiying didn't notice anything amiss.
"It wasn't me who wanted to plagiarize..." Jiang Yueming subconsciously defended himself, though it wasn't very credible, it really wasn't.
Li Leshan ignored his feeble excuses and turned back to look at his exam paper. Jiang Yueming inwardly groaned, "Han Jiang, I tried my best!"
Just as he was dejected and resigned to continuing his battle with "Rocket Car Xiaoming," he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Li Leshan's well-defined hand, which was seemingly casually hanging on the edge of the stool beside him. But his fingers were moving very subtly, one stroke at a time, as if signing something.
Choose B from 3 options
Choose C from 5 options
7. Choose C
9 options D
...
A note from the author:
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Li Leshan is a great buddy in China (not really).
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