Chapter 106 You always say, "You're not ugly, you're cute."
The midterm exam was a city-wide joint exam, with about ten schools participating together. They used the same test papers, and the exam was over on Friday. We got a long-awaited two-day holiday.
Jiang Yueming waited at the gate of Shishi High School early for Li Leshan to be dismissed, ready to take him home for dinner. Besides Jiang Yueming worrying about him, Lin Cuiqin also asked about Li Leshan's situation every day. She asked Jiang Yueming, but to be honest, Jiang Yueming didn't know either, and could only reply each time, "Nothing's wrong."
Because even if he asked, Li Leshan would probably give the same answer.
"Lele!" Jiang Yueming finally spotted Li Leshan in the crowd, and her eyes lit up instantly.
"I'm here!" Jiang Yueming waved.
Without a word, he took Li Leshan's schoolbag and slung it over his shoulder. Before Li Leshan could refuse, he smiled and said, "I didn't bring much back, just two sets of test papers. I can only do two sets at most."
Compared to Jiang Yueming, Li Leshan brought far more books. Various must-do practice questions, joint exam papers—basically, all the questions available on the market—they had to do them several times, and even that might not be enough.
"Your auntie made you something delicious at home," Jiang Yueming said, riding his bicycle with Li Leshan on the back. He glanced back and asked, "Did you have lunch? Are you hungry now?"
Li Leshan shook his head; he wasn't hungry.
“It’s alright,” Jiang Yueming grinned. “Just eat a little something then. I told her you just finished lunch and there was no need to cook so much, but she insisted and went to the market early this morning to buy groceries…”
He was talking as he rode, and the next second, Li Leshan hugged his waist from behind and gently rested his head on his back.
Jiang Yueming's heart tightened, and he couldn't speak. He looked down at the hands wrapped around his waist; Li Leshan's hands were very fair, and the veins were clearly visible.
He felt a faint burning sensation in his waist. Jiang Yueming deliberately slowed down, wishing that the road could be walked even slower so that Li Leshan could hold him a little longer. He just didn't know how slow he had to walk to make this road last forever.
Lin Cuiqin was already waiting at the door early, the dishes in the kitchen still warm. She was wearing a red checkered apron and looked worriedly towards the stairwell, wondering how long it would take for them to return. When she saw Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan, her expression changed instantly.
"Quick, quick," Lin Cuiqin ordered Tian Tian, patting her head, "Help your brother Leshan get his schoolbag."
Sweetie is very sensible; she knows when to be naughty and when to be well-behaved, and she knows what to say and what not to say. She quickly came out and hugged Li Leshan's schoolbag, and to be honest, it did feel a bit heavy.
"Why don't you take mine?" Jiang Yueming joked.
"Your backpack doesn't even have much in it, why do I need to carry it?" Sweetie muttered under her breath. She knew her brother's character perfectly well.
"Come in, wash your hands, and get ready for dinner," Lin Cuiqin called them in. She cautiously glanced at Li Leshan, not daring to be too obvious.
"Thank you, Auntie." Li Leshan gestured to her.
"Oh, you're welcome, you're welcome." Lin Cuiqin closed the door.
Five dishes and a pot of soup were laid out on the table. It was chicken soup; she had been wanting to give the children some nourishing soup for a while.
“I learned a new dish at Zhenhua Restaurant a couple of days ago,” Lin Cuiqin pointed to the dishes on the side and gestured to Jiang Yueming to quickly put a piece of food on Li Leshan’s plate. “Leshan, try it and see how it is.”
Jiang Yueming immediately understood, and quickly picked up the food and put it into Li Leshan's bowl, jokingly saying, "If it's delicious, say it's delicious; if it's not delicious, say it's delicious too."
Li Leshan's lips curled up slightly. He used sign language to express his heartfelt sentiment, "My aunt's cooking is delicious."
Jiang Yueming, keeping up with current events, translated, "Auntie, don't worry. From childhood to adulthood, Lele has eaten so many meals, and every single one of them has always said it was delicious."
Lin Cuiqin breathed a sigh of relief. She had watched Li Leshan grow up since he was a child and had always felt sorry for him. After his grandmother passed away, she felt even more heartbroken. At such a young age, he had no relatives left, and he was Yueming's best friend. She had to treat this child extra well.
"That's good, that's good." Lin Cuiqin put another chicken leg on Li Leshan's plate. "Leshan, eat more. You're at the age where you're growing and you're under a lot of pressure from your studies."
Li Leshan looked up, about to put down his chopsticks and say thank you, when Jiang Yueming quickly stopped him.
"Alright, Auntie, his bowl is piled high with food." Jiang Yueming gestured to Li Leshan with her chin, indicating that he should continue eating.
After dinner, Lin Cuiqin tried her best to persuade Li Leshan not to help her wash the dishes, but Tian Tian was perceptive enough to pull him to the living room to see her recent paintings. There were all sorts of things—flowers, grass, trees, and of course, Jiang Yueming. Jiang Yueming appeared very frequently; almost anything with two eyes and a mouth was him. Although he absolutely refused to admit that the paintings were of himself.
“Yueming…” Lin Cuiqin said softly, tugging at Jiang Yueming’s sleeve, “Come with me for a moment.”
Jiang Yueming's gaze remained fixed on Li Leshan's face. Seeing him happy made her happy too. Fortunately, Tiantian was a lively character; just sitting there, she exuded comedic charm, and making Li Leshan happy was a good thing.
"Hmm?" Jiang Yueming's gaze remained fixed on the living room as she took a step back.
He doesn't have eyes in the back of his head, and he's tall, so when he stepped back like that, the back of his head hit the kitchen door directly. Only when he felt the pain did he come to his senses.
"Hiss..." Jiang Yueming gasped.
"Are you alright?" Lin Cuiqin asked hurriedly.
"No, nothing." Jiang Yueming rubbed the back of her head and asked softly, "What's wrong, Auntie?"
She hesitated for a moment, then secretly glanced at Li Leshan through the kitchen door. "How's Leshan been lately? Is he alright?"
“No,” Jiang Yueming glanced over there, her voice lowering as if she were talking to herself, “Actually, he keeps everything to himself and won’t tell me anything.”
Jiang Yueming knew Li Leshan best. He didn't want to trouble anyone or burden anyone. Jiang Yueming desperately wanted to tell him that they didn't need to talk about trouble or burden; it wasn't something they needed to consider, and there was no need to discuss it. If they had to say something, wouldn't discussing this be too hurtful to their relationship?
"Oh, I'm really heartbroken," Lin Cuiqin sighed. She still vividly remembered the scene at the hospital. "I watched that child from Leshan grow up. He was such a good, obedient, and wonderful child."
She carefully took out a thick stack of envelopes from her apron pocket and handed them to Jiang Yueming.
"You should find a way to get Leshan to accept this money." Lin Cuiqin knew that if she went to give it to him in person, Li Leshan would definitely not accept it, and it might even put him in a difficult position. "It's not much, it's just a token of my aunt's goodwill. He's so young and all alone, he might need money in some places, so please help him out."
Jiang Yueming was taken aback and quickly declined. It wasn't that he didn't want to accept it, but the problem was that Li Leshan wouldn't accept it. "No, this... Aunt, he won't accept it."
“You’re close to him, so if you give it to him, he might accept it.” Lin Cuiqin stuffed it back into his hand. “Leshan is such a pitiful child. Besides this, I don’t know what else I can do to help him.”
Jiang Yueming hesitated for a moment, but couldn't resist Lin Cuiqin's persistence, so he had no choice but to accept it on behalf of Li Leshan.
“Auntie,” Jiang Yueming’s waist bent down immediately, “I’ll thank you on his behalf.”
"Get up quickly, what are you doing?" Lin Cuiqin quickly pulled him up. "Leshan is good to you, and he is sincere. He is good to you, so it is only right that I am good to him. I have seen it all these years, and I feel better when I help him."
Jiang Yueming clutched the wad of money tightly in his hand. Li Leshan always said there was no need to spend money, but Jiang Yueming felt there were always places where money was needed. High school tuition, book fees, living expenses, and the cost of college—it all added up to a considerable sum. So, whenever he had a little money, he wanted to save it for Li Leshan.
"Brother Leshan, guess who this is?" Tian Tian pointed to the little figure in the picture book.
Li Leshan looked at the simple stick figure, hesitated for a moment, and then wrote on the paper with a pencil, "Your brother?"
"How did you figure that out!" Sweetie asked in surprise. "Wasn't my drawing very lifelike?"
"What's so lifelike about me?" Jiang Yueming could hear her praising herself from afar. "And you, in your eyes I'm just an ugly stick figure?"
Li Leshan looked up at him, then looked down again after a while. "Not ugly, very cute."
Jiang Yueming's words of complaint stuck in his throat. He stared at the stick figure for a while and said, "You're just spoiling her. If she takes this piece of paper to a drawing competition tomorrow, it'll all be because you've indulged her."
After being criticized by Jiang Yueming, Tian Tian was unhappy and unwilling to breathe the same air as her brother, so she went to find Lin Cuiqin.
"Complaining again." Jiang Yueming sat down next to Li Leshan. The wad of money was still in his pants pocket; he estimated how much it was.
"Are you going home to sleep tonight?" Jiang Yueming said softly. "Sleep here."
"No," Li Leshan refused. "I'll go home."
“Okay…” Jiang Yueming was already used to his answer. He touched the money in his pocket and felt it was burning hot.
He hesitated, unsure of what to say. What would Li Leshan think if he spoke? Would he think he was pitying him again?
Jiang Yueming didn't know how to explain it. What reason could he give to make Li Leshan accept the money with a clear conscience? He never thought about whether Li Leshan was pitiful or not. He only felt sorry for him from beginning to end, so he wanted to be as good to Li Leshan as possible.
Why?
Jiang Yueming looked at his profile and asked herself: Why are you always like this?
Why do you never ask me for help with anything?
Why are you always so far away from me?
Why do you have so many worries, yet never tell me?
Lele, Jiang Yueming's heart had long been covered by a layer of ice, leaving him feeling foggy inside. How exactly can I help you?
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