Chapter 146 You Like Me or Not "Lele...you always like me..."
On New Year's Eve, Han Jiang and Xu Qing knocked on Jiang Yueming's door. They were carrying a lot of bags and packages, mostly from home, including vegetables, meat, and beer, making it seem like they were visiting relatives.
"Knock knock knock," Han Jiang stood at the door carrying a bunch of things, "Handsome guy and beautiful girl have arrived!"
Jiang Yueming leaned against a nearby cabinet and teased, "I've seen the beautiful lady, but where's the handsome guy?"
He only dared to tease Han Jiang; he didn't have the guts to talk about Xu Qing. They used to be close, but now that they hadn't seen each other for a long time, he wanted to leave Xu Qing with a good impression.
"Why are your eyes so big?" Han Jiang couldn't hold back any longer. He handed the things to Li Leshan next to him and started complaining, "Leshan, you be the judge. Am I not handsome? Not compared to the two of you, but compared to your average classmates, isn't my face pretty good?"
It was the Lunar New Year, and Li Leshan didn't want him to be sad, so he nodded.
Jiang Yueming was quick to take action and immediately took the things from Li Leshan's hands. This time, she didn't object and told the two of them to come in quickly.
It was warmer inside than outside, perhaps because of walking; it was a bit hot. Xu Qing took off her scarf and put it aside. She was quite satisfied with what Jiang Yueming had said earlier and was in a good mood.
"Hey, Leshan," Xu Qing asked, "Is Beijing fun?"
Jiang Yueming answered for Li Leshan, "You never thought it would be more fun than Shengping."
"How could I not know that?" Xu Qing pouted. "Sheng Ping's only fun thing is his cell phone."
"And you," she continued, "how's the South? Are you having a great time there? You must have lots of girls chasing after you."
Jiang Yueming's mind went on alert instantly. He dared not say that, he dared not say that. He quickly glanced at Li Leshan and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Li Leshan had no reaction. "That's all. I'm busy studying every day. Don't slander me."
"Tch," Xu Qing said, not believing a word of it. "I don't believe you!"
With the arrival of these two, the house immediately became lively, and there was indeed a festive atmosphere. Although he also wanted to spend time alone with Li Leshan, he couldn't resist Han Jiang's shameless pleading, and besides, they hadn't seen each other for quite a while. He had at least seen Li Leshan once during the National Day holiday, and he and Han Jiang rarely video chatted.
Sure enough, the New Year's Eve dinner turned into a denunciation meeting.
While drinking, Han Jiang shouted, "Jiang Yueming, you're the most disloyal one of us! Where has your heart been? Where are you usually? You've been dazzled by the glamorous world of college, haven't you? You haven't contacted us at all. What, are you the only one who's busy while we're all bored to death?"
Jiang Yueming was indeed in the wrong. He didn't want to cause trouble during the New Year. His mind was indeed wandering far away, covering most of China. How could it not be far? But Jiang Yueming didn't care about the allure of the outside world. He didn't have the time or the guts for that.
"Okay! Han Jiang, is that what you say?" Jiang Yueming stood up confidently. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was about to pull off something big. He hadn't done anything yet, but he had already startled Han Jiang.
"Then I'll drink it!" Jiang Yueming raised his glass, tilted his head back, and finished the whole bottle.
Li Leshan quickly patted his leg, saying, "You're drinking too fast."
Jiang Yueming grabbed his hand in return, and he winked at Li Leshan, as if to say, "It's the New Year, don't worry about me."
"Fine!" Han Jiang was a troublemaker, easily provoked. He jumped up, startling Xu Qing, who was standing next to him. "You've got guts, I'll do it too!"
However, Jiang Yueming's alcohol tolerance was indeed quite good, slightly better than Han Jiang's. As if he was looking for an outlet, he and Han Jiang drank back and forth, with whoever passed out first being the grandson. In order to keep the title of "grandfather," neither of them would admit defeat first.
No wonder they got along so well; their ignition point was even lower than white phosphorus. They got into a frenzy while drinking, and nobody could stop them. You see, even Li Leshan and Xu Qing couldn't stop them; they were truly drunk, completely disregarding the consequences, only wanting to get each other drunk.
“You can’t drink anymore,” Li Leshan tugged at Jiang Yueming’s clothes. “At least sit down and drink, you still have an injury on your leg.”
Jiang Yueming watched him use sign language in a daze, then gave Li Leshan a silly grin and said, "I don't understand, Lele."
Li Leshan withdrew his hand somewhat helplessly. He gestured to Xu Qing with his eyes, and Xu Qing instantly understood. Compared to Li Leshan, she was quite fierce. She grabbed Han Jiang's shoulder and made him sit down.
"Brother, aren't you going home?" Xu Qing took the wine bottle from his hand. "This is Jiang Yueming's house. If you go back and get beaten up, I'm not Xu."
Han Jiang was about to jump up and retort when he suddenly realized that the person lecturing him was Xu Qing. He immediately swallowed his words, "Then his house is my house. I've been playing with him since I was wearing open-crotch pants..."
Jiang Yueming raised an eyebrow. "Who's family with you? I'm family with Lele."
He put his arm around Li Leshan's shoulder, their cheeks touching and their hair almost touching, they really looked like a family.
Li Leshan knew he was drunk, and you couldn't take what someone said when they were drunk seriously, even though these might genuinely be Jiang Yueming's true feelings. But probably no one would believe him.
"Jiang Yueming, you son of a bitch!" Han Jiang roared.
"Han Jiang, you second uncle!" Jiang Yueming shouted as well.
"I don't have a second uncle!" Han Jiang retorted.
"Then I don't have an old man either." Jiang Yueming really didn't.
He was so happy that he was practically out of it, and he didn't care about the people on the field anymore. He couldn't help but lean over and try to kiss Li Leshan on the cheek.
Just as their lips were about to touch, Li Leshan forcefully pressed down on their shoulders, pulling them apart.
Jiang Yueming hadn't reacted yet, but the corner of her mouth turned down, her eyes filled with, "Why did you push me away?"
Li Leshan took a deep breath. To prevent him from doing anything further, he kept his hand on Jiang Yueming's shoulder and used his other hand to send a message to Xu Qing, asking if she could take Han Jiang back. If not, he would let Han Jiang sleep there and then he would take Xu Qing home.
Xu Qing glanced at the message and nodded. "It's okay, I can deliver it. Our houses are just steps apart. Han Jiang will sober up after a bit of cold air."
Li Leshan nodded. He glanced at Jiang Yueming and gestured to him, "You, sit still."
Jiang Yueming sat obediently.
"I'll take you." Li Leshan helped them with their clothes.
After seeing Xu Qing and Han Jiang into a taxi, Li Leshan stood downstairs until the car was out of sight before slowly turning around and walking upstairs. He sent Xu Qing a message, telling her to let him know she got home safely.
Jiang Yueming was acting strangely tonight; he had never been like this before. He pushed open the door and saw Jiang Yueming sitting on the sofa, grinning foolishly at him.
It really looks just like a puppy.
"Lele, why didn't you kiss me just now?" Jiang Yueming squinted and sniffed himself. "Did I drink too much? I smell of alcohol on me."
Li Leshan shook his head, then lowered his head to clear the table—beer bottles, leftover food, various plates and bowls…
Feeling that the person next to him hadn't spoken for a long time, Li Leshan glanced at him lightly, thinking he had fallen asleep. However, his eyes met Jiang Yueming's directly, but before he could ask anything, the man looked away on his own.
"What do you want to say?" Li Leshan paused in clearing the table and asked Jiang Yueming in sign language.
Jiang Yueming sat cross-legged on the sofa, his head down, without saying a word.
Li Leshan thought he was tired; it was unusual for him to be so quiet, a stark contrast to the man who had been drinking himself into oblivion just moments before. So he picked up the four or five empty plates he was carrying and headed to the kitchen.
"Lele, do you like me?" Jiang Yueming's voice came from behind.
Li Leshan paused, having just put down the plates and bowls, when he heard those words. He quickly turned back, squatted down in front of Jiang Yueming, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Yueming smiled and shook his head. He continued, "Do you like me?"
Li Leshan ruffled his hair, not understanding what he meant, but still patiently explained, "I like you, I like you."
He leaned closer to look at Jiang Yueming and asked again, "What's wrong with you today? Are you in a bad mood?"
Although his behavior just now seemed to have nothing to do with his bad mood, Li Leshan could still sense that Jiang Yueming was different from usual. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, nor could he really tell, but it was just a feeling he had developed over the years of getting to know Jiang Yueming.
Jiang Yueming shook his head.
Seeing that he was alright, Li Leshan assumed it was because he hadn't kissed him earlier. But in that situation, unless he wanted to come out as gay in front of Han Jiang and Xu Qing, how could he kiss him? Brothers don't act like that. The fact that he and Jiang Yueming were holding hands under the table already went beyond what Han Jiang and Xu Qing understood about brotherhood.
So he moved closer to Jiang Yueming, gently kissed him on the cheek, and then went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.
About halfway through his shower, Li Leshan felt his phone vibrate. He took it out and glanced at the message. It was from Xu Qing saying they had arrived home. Li Leshan had just typed "Okay" and hadn't even sent the "Get some rest" message when Jiang Yueming hugged him from behind.
His hands were still wet, so he couldn't touch Jiang Yueming's hands. He could only hurry up and finish washing the dishes so he could ask him what was wrong with him today. Although he often hugged him like this, he felt something was different. He wondered if he was just overthinking it.
"I miss you all so much..." Jiang Yueming whispered in his ear, her voice a little hoarse, "I miss you the most... I'm so happy today. I'm just so happy that I didn't disobey anyone."
Li Leshan put down his bowl, wiped his hands casually on his clothes, turned to look at Jiang Yueming, and frowned involuntarily when he saw his red eyes. "You...are you having a hard time over there? Have you been wronged?"
Jiang Yueming shook his head. He reached out and gently pressed his hand on Li Leshan's brow bone, smoothing out the furrowed brows. "I... am doing very well. I have my aunt, Tiantian, and my grandfather. Tiantian has grown up a bit and is much more sensible now. She can help us now. I... am just worried that you are not doing well."
“I’m doing well.” Li Leshan knew that he was still always thinking about him, always wondering if he would hurt him again, or if he would try to kill himself again. He knew that Jiang Yueming always overthought things because he was afraid of losing him.
“Really,” he wanted to prove to Jiang Yueming that he looked much better than he did in high school, that he wasn’t as tired, and that the wound on his wrist had healed. He was really living a good life. “Don’t I look great now?”
He smiled at Jiang Yueming.
Jiang Yueming nodded hurriedly, muttering to himself, "Yes...yes." Li Leshan did indeed look much better than before, which made him feel that everything he had done was worthwhile.
“I was really bad back then, I didn’t say anything.” Li Leshan looked at him. “Don’t become like me, okay?”
“Hmm…” Jiang Yueming’s eyes reddened. He buried his face in Li Leshan’s shoulder and nodded vigorously. “You were doing well back then, Lele. Don’t talk about yourself like that. You’re the best in my heart.”
Li Leshan ruffled Jiang Yueming's hair, letting him bury his face in his shoulder. Jiang Yueming was always like this, always saying that he was good at everything, but ignoring that he was the better one.
"Lele...do you like me every single time?" Jiang Yueming's voice was muffled.
Li Leshan patted his shoulder gently and then leaned down to kiss Jiang Yueming's ear.
"I will always love you," Li Leshan answered in his heart.
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Author's note: The sky has fallen! I woke up to find my drafts hadn't been published, haha (a bitter laugh).
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