Chapter 67 The Earth Beat Me for You "In my heart, you will always just be..."
Jiang Yueming's voice grew softer and softer, each word seeming to be squeezed out with difficulty from his throat. He kept his head down, his gaze fixed on the concrete floor, refusing to look Li Leshan in the eye.
"I really..." Jiang Yueming's voice was hoarse, "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to say those things, I was wrong, I didn't mean to hurt you..."
He was just too hasty and spoke without thinking. Even Jiang Yueming only realized what he had said later.
Finally, he realized that he wouldn't know what Li Leshan said if he didn't look at him, so no matter how Jiang Yueming tried to avoid him, he still glanced at Li Leshan.
“I know,” Li Leshan said in sign language.
In an instant, something inside him collapsed. Jiang Yueming's throat tightened. He slowly lifted his foot and gently tugged at the hem of Li Leshan's clothes. The moment his fingertips touched the fabric, he felt it was somewhat hot.
Holding onto Li Leshan's clothes, Jiang Yueming followed him through the dark alley. He walked in Li Leshan's footprints, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welling up inside him.
A light slowly appeared in the distance, and Jiang Yueming realized that the road had come to an end. The road that he had been so terrified, worried, and afraid of was actually only a hundred meters or so long.
The streetlights shone on the two of them, and Li Leshan glanced back. Jiang Yueming still had his head down, as if he had done something wrong. He was so tall, yet now he looked like a neighborhood kid who had made a mistake; the scene felt strangely incongruous.
Li Leshan lowered his head slightly and glanced at Jiang Yueming. The man was clearly embarrassed and quickly raised his head again.
“I’m sorry…” Li Leshan gestured lightly with his fingers, “I made you walk such a dark road alone that day.”
He hadn't realized how dark the road would be. When Li Leshan reached the alley entrance and realized it, he immediately turned back, but Jiang Yueming was nowhere to be seen. He assumed Jiang Yueming had gone home first. Actually, at that moment, Jiang Yueming had no time to worry about being scared; he could only keep walking forward.
Jiang Yueming was taken aback, then shook his head, realizing something was wrong, and nodded. In the chaos, he grabbed Li Leshan and buried his burning cheeks in the other's shoulder.
"I promise I'll tell you everything from now on... I'll do whatever you say, and I won't even think about what you forbid me from doing." Jiang Yueming's shoulders trembled. "I swear, Lele..."
Feeling Li Leshan gently pat his back, Jiang Yueming hugged him even tighter.
“If I can’t do it…” Jiang Yueming was about to make a grand vow, like “I won’t get into university” or something like that, when Li Leshan suddenly pulled away from him.
"Hiss..." A sharp pain suddenly shot through his arm. He glanced at the wound on his arm, and sure enough, the scab on the wound had broken open again at some point, and blood was flowing out.
Jiang Yueming subtly tried to hide his arm behind his back, not wanting Li Leshan to see. But before he could, Li Leshan used a little force to pull his wrist and lift his arm forward.
Seeing his brow furrow, Jiang Yueming forced a silly grin to ease the tension, "Lele, are you still angry? Dadi hit me for you, so don't be angry anymore, okay?"
Li Leshan was visibly taken aback. He slowly released his grip, gestured with his chin toward the steps not far from the roadside, indicating that Jiang Yueming should sit down.
He knelt on the ground, took out the medicine he had bought at noon from his bag, and carefully wiped it on Jiang Yueming.
"Besides my arm, is there anywhere else?" Li Leshan looked up.
Jiang Yueming looked into his eyes, but was so focused on his face that she didn't see his gestures. She guessed what Li Leshan had said based on her memory and quickly shook her head.
"Be more careful next time..." Li Leshan slowly raised his hand, his fingertips still stained with iodine. "I can't hit you, and neither can the earth."
Jiang Yueming laughed heartily, "Who dares to hit me..."
A pang of sadness shot through him. Aside from you hitting me and not fighting back, there was no one else... not even a thought.
He walked side by side with Li Leshan, their shoulders touching. There were few people on the street late at night, and the few who occasionally rode by on bicycles didn't pay any attention to the two of them.
Jiang Yueming guiltily hooked Li Leshan's finger around.
Li Leshan shook his hand in return.
On the silent road, the occasional meows of cats and dogs could be heard. The karaoke bars along the street were still wide open, their colorful lights shining, and songs drifted on the evening breeze from somewhere.
Finally, they saw the entrance to the third alley. Jiang Yueming stood downstairs in the tenement building. He wanted to continue escorting them, but Li Leshan told him not to go any further.
He took the pile of medicine out of his bag, handed it to Jiang Yueming, and told him one by one how many times to apply it a day, which one to apply first, and which one to apply last.
"I'll check it tomorrow morning." Li Leshan's expression was very serious.
Jiang Yueming stood at attention, back ramrod straight, and saluted Li Leshan. "Yes, sir! I guarantee I will complete the mission!"
Perhaps feeling helpless at his overreaction, Li Leshan chuckled softly, waved to Jiang Yueming, and then walked alone into the depths of the alley.
Jiang Yueming stared intently at his retreating figure, instinctively taking a few steps forward before stopping again. He shouted towards Li Leshan's back, "Lele! In my heart, you'll always just be Li Leshan—"
The sound was carried further and further away by the wind. Li Leshan paused slightly, turned his body slightly, but did not turn around.
Jiang Yueming stood still. He knew Li Leshan must have heard him.
Jiang Yueming looked down at the ground again, and when he thought of Li Leshan's words, "Even the earth can't," he felt inexplicably amused. He then looked at the purplish-blue wound on his arm that was stained with iodine and carefully blew on it.
"Brother, give it your all tonight and you'll be fully recovered by tomorrow. If you dare let Li Leshan worry, you'll be sorry," Jiang Yueming muttered to himself, rubbing his arm.
Earth: ?
Arm: ? ? ?
/
That incident wasn't a rift between them; it was just a minor incident. Life continued as usual, and before they knew it, it was late summer. Only Xiuli, who was oblivious to what was going on, noticed that the two of them were getting closer and closer.
Jiang Yueming cut his hair short. He hadn't had time to cut it since the beginning of his final year of junior high, and his summer job only added to the workload. Now he finally had some free time to get it cut. After all, now every high school, regardless of whether it's a top-tier or regular one, treats everyone equally and doesn't allow boys or girls to have excessively long hair.
His hair looked neat after it was cut shorter. Before, he looked like a literary youth, refined and melancholic. But when he opened his mouth, everyone was stunned; the literary youth instantly turned into a silly boy. Now he looks like a cool and handsome man, so handsome that you can't find another one like him for miles around. Of course, the premise is that he can't open his mouth. Jiang Yueming talks too much, which doesn't match his handsome face at all.
"How was it?" Jiang Yueming said with a smile, sitting in his chair. He blew a kiss to Li Leshan from afar.
Li Leshan looked at him quietly, gesturing lightly with her fingers, "You're so handsome."
...
Holy crap!
What, what...
Jiang Yueming's previous arrogance vanished instantly. She was completely dumbfounded. Li Leshan was just too honest; he said whatever came to mind. Could such words really be said so openly and matter-of-factly?!
"Little Jiang," the barbershop owner said with a smile as she emerged from behind the curtain, "how was the haircut? Why is your face so red?"
Jiang Yueming stammered and gave a vague answer.
How dare he say he blushed because someone praised him with just one sentence? Just one sentence! Three words! Not a single word more, not even half a word more.
Hurriedly pulling the "culprit" out of the barbershop, Jiang Yueming was still immersed in the words "You're so handsome" he'd just heard. That confident gesture—he must be incredibly handsome in Li Leshan's eyes. Just how handsome must he be to warrant Li Leshan saying that?
It's not narcissism, it's just shock.
"Have you said those words to anyone else?" Jiang Yueming's voice was softer than a mosquito's buzz, almost like a hum.
Li Leshan, as expected, didn't hear clearly and moved closer to Jiang Yueming.
Have you... told anyone else?
Li Leshan thought for a moment about what he had just said, "If I tell it to other people, they won't understand it either."
"Did you say that? To whom did you say it?" Jiang Yueming asked hurriedly.
Seeing his anxious look, Li Leshan quickly explained, "No. I don't think anyone is better looking than you."
"That's because you haven't seen them yet." Jiang Yueming thought to herself, "Can't you just look in the mirror and see someone prettier than me?"
“Shengping is so young, and there are so many talented people around him. Once he goes to university, there will be at least three people who are better looking than me at a glance…” Jiang Yueming continued, “You definitely won’t be able to keep up with all the looks then.”
Li Leshan stared at his face for a long time, so long that Jiang Yueming felt something on his face. He waved his hand in front of Li Leshan's eyes and asked, "What are you looking at?"
“No one is prettier than you,” Li Leshan said sincerely.
"Tch..." Jiang Yueming said, embarrassed.
“Really,” Li Leshan emphasized.
"Oh..." Jiang Yueming felt even more embarrassed.
“Really,” Li Leshan continued to emphasize.
"alright!"
"I know! I'm the most handsome, okay? Nobody in the whole world is more handsome than me!" Jiang Yueming couldn't stand Li Leshan staring at him for so long; if he kept staring, he'd get chubby.
He shouted at the top of his lungs in the noisy street so Li Leshan could hear him clearly. You know, someone shouting "I'm the most handsome!" on the street gets way more attention than someone herding sheep on horseback. Everyone wants to see which narcissistic kid is so shameless.
Sure enough, the whole street became quiet, and the rate of people turning their heads to look was as high as 120%. Why 120%? Because another 20% were dogs on the street.
Even the loudspeaker next to them, which had been blaring "Five Hami melons for ten yuan," suddenly stopped.
Jiang Yueming looked around and saw faces about to look this way. She grabbed Li Leshan's wrist and ran, shouting as she ran, "Lele, if I get chased down because of this, you have to protect me."
As the late summer breeze brushed past their ears, Jiang Yueming, holding Li Leshan's hand, skillfully navigated through the crowds and bustling traffic on Shengping Street.
He didn't know where he was going, or where he would stop running.
Lijiang Bridge, the skating rink, or Third Alley?
At that moment, everything around him was blurry, except for Li Leshan's hand, which he was holding tightly in his palm, the feeling of which was both hot and clear.
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