Chapter 87 Growing Pains (Part 2) "Then I'm pathetic enough, for..."
As the weather gradually warmed up, Jiang Yueming took off his thick coat. Now, a school uniform jacket was just right—neither too cold nor too hot. His hair had grown a little longer, and his bangs slightly obstructed his eyes when not swept back.
"I've grown quite a bit taller lately, haven't I?" Cao Fan said excitedly, her eyebrows dancing with delight.
Jiang Yueming looked him up and down and said honestly, "It's not that long."
"You've grown three centimeters!" Cao Fan exclaimed. Three centimeters wasn't enough? It was three centimeters! For someone like him, not even a millimeter was precious. "Compared to someone like you who's always been tall since childhood, there's nothing to say!"
Jiang Yueming was someone he'd played with since childhood. They'd been deskmates since elementary school, and Jiang was the tallest person in the class, a height he maintained even in high school. Cao Fan recalled his arduous journey to grow taller; it was truly a story of growth intertwined with blood and tears.
“Okay, that’s fine,” Jiang Yueming said.
“No way,” Cao Fan’s goal is 1.8 meters. Although this goal seems ambitious now, as the saying goes, a man’s 1.8-meter height will show in his eyes even if he covers his mouth. “You can give me… but I won’t let you give me more. Three centimeters is enough.”
Jiang Yueming readily agreed, "Okay. So you're 1.76 meters tall now."
"Damn it, why did you tell me my height?" Cao Fan quickly gestured for him to be quiet, with so many people around. "Keep your voice down, is this something to be proud of?"
“Speak louder,” Jiang Yueming said indifferently, “It’s already dishonorable anyway.”
"I don't know if it's because I've grown taller recently, but my legs have been hurting a lot." Cao Fan pointed to his knees and calves. "Right here, it's aching. It feels like the pain is going deep into my bones."
Jiang Yueming touched her knee. "You bumped it, didn't you?"
"Is it okay to grow taller?" Cao Fan said, "Haven't you ever been in pain? You've grown so fast, it must have hurt a lot."
Jiang Yueming pondered for a moment and shook his head. A long time ago, his legs would occasionally ache slightly, but the feeling was so mild and weak that he hardly paid any attention to it. It seems that he was quite blessed by fate, at least he did not feel the pain, or he forgot about it.
"Will this hurt a lot?" Jiang Yueming asked, a little curious.
“Of course!” Cao Fan said, quite interested in the topic. He had personally experienced the excruciating pain. “Those that grow particularly fast experience even more intense pain. You know about bone development, right? It’s like being torn apart. You’ve probably felt that pain too, but you’ve forgotten it. You’re quite resilient, aren’t you?”
"A little," Jiang Yueming said, rubbing her knee along with him. "But it doesn't hurt anymore."
“You don’t need to grow any taller,” Cao Fan said. “Where else would you grow? You’d just hit the ceiling. You’re just right now, 185 cm tall, everyone envies you.”
“I don’t have 185…” Jiang Yueming said, although he would have it sooner or later, because he is still growing.
He turned his head away, the pen still in his hand. Cao Fan's words had touched him; Li Leshan must have been in a lot of pain.
Years ago, Jiang Yueming watched him grow from a tiny little thing to this tall. That kind of pain probably swept through his body on many nights, but now when Jiang Yueming thinks about it, that painful growth period is long gone.
He must be in a lot of pain, Jiang Yueming thought. The growing pains that accompany him have continued to this day, but he still wants to grow up quickly. Is it to get rid of this pain, or for some other reason?
"Hey," Cao Fan patted his shoulder, "Asleep?"
"I'm doing my homework," Jiang Yueming said irritably.
"You've only done half of it after so long." Cao Fan glanced at his exam paper.
"..."
"Because it's difficult." Jiang Yueming was momentarily speechless.
"I heard from other classes that we'll be choosing between arts and sciences soon." Cao Fan was a know-it-all; he had connections in every class and even every high school, so his information was top-notch, and he could spread any news accurately. "Are you choosing arts or sciences?"
Things are different now. There's no such thing as a new college entrance exam or a "three-plus-two-plus-one" system. There's only the fixed "physics, chemistry, and biology" and "politics, history, and geography." Even decades ago and decades later, the world still revolves around "mathematics, physics, and chemistry." After all, "Master mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and you'll be able to go anywhere in the world without fear" is a well-known saying from elementary school, almost a famous proverb.
"Let's do it." Jiang Yueming looked down at the test paper. He didn't have any ideas. After all, there was nothing for him to think about. He wasn't good at either humanities or sciences. If he were good at humanities and could score 230 or 240, he might consider it. He couldn't choose either of them, so what was there to choose? He should just choose the one with less memorization.
Furthermore, Li Leshan will definitely choose the right path. Jiang Yueming can just follow him.
“I’m also choosing science,” Cao Fan chuckled. “Although I’m terrible at science, I’m not good at humanities either. My mom said…”
He rambled on and on, but Jiang Yueming didn't understand much of it. He was the kind of person who liked to daydream about the future, things that were far in the future, things that wouldn't be considered for many years. After all, he'd been thinking about university since before he even graduated elementary school, skipping three levels altogether.
Jiang Yueming didn't want to think about the future right now. He was already feeling somewhat lost in the present, so he couldn't afford to think about things so far in the future. Although the road ahead was blank, the thought of Li Leshan by his side, and that Li Leshan was still ahead of him, gave Jiang Yueming the feeling that he could still make it this far.
"Why don't you rush out after school anymore lately?" Cao Fan didn't want to do his homework, he just wanted to chat. "You've changed your ways. Didn't you say that if you're not enthusiastic about coming home, there's something wrong with your thinking?"
In the past, Jiang Yueming would pack his schoolbag half an hour in advance and sling it over his shoulder. As soon as the bell rang, he would dash out and no one could catch up with him.
Jiang Yueming felt annoyed when he brought this up. He wanted to rush there before, but now he didn't need to rush anymore because he couldn't see Li Leshan anyway.
"Old Liu said that being too eager to go home is also a problem," Jiang Yueming said, because he had been called in for talks many times because of this.
"Yeah, I'd think you were in a rush to meet your girlfriend." Cao Fan hit the nail on the head. It has to be said, this guy has an exceptionally good sixth sense in certain areas; he gets right to the point.
"Then why can't I be in a hurry to meet my partner?" Jiang Yueming asked subconsciously, without thinking of a rebuttal.
"Are you stupid?" Cao Fan started acting as a love strategist at this point. Although the "target" seemed a bit unclear, he didn't care and started talking. "You're in such a hurry, it makes you seem too eager. These days, you know how to play hard to get?"
“I don’t understand,” Jiang Yueming said.
“That’s fine if you don’t understand. If you did, what would I be saying?” Cao Fan leaned closer, speaking with great conviction, “People crave novelty. You can’t just keep pushing forward; what if they get annoyed? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive? So you have to…”
"bother?"
“Yeah, think about it, if someone is always sticking to you, following you everywhere you go, and you can’t shake them off, wouldn’t you get annoyed?” Cao Fan gave an example.
"I..." Jiang Yueming was speechless for a moment. He was definitely not annoyed. He wished Li Leshan would stick to him like this every day. But the problem was that even if he thought that way, Li Leshan would not do it, because he was not that kind of person.
"What if you annoy them but they do?" Cao Fan said seriously, lowering his voice. "What will you do if they avoid you and refuse to see you?"
The atmosphere had built up to this point, and Jiang Yueming felt inexplicably nervous. "What should I do?"
"There's no other way!" Cao Fan bluffed. "You have to date, you can't force it. So we have to solve the problem at its root. We have to play hard to get from the beginning."
"Don't..."
Don't scare me.
Jiang Yueming felt as if this person was referring to him, as if he saw his own reflection in every word. Had he pressured Li Leshan? Had he done so? But recalling the events of the past few days, he realized that he hadn't had much time to see Li Leshan, but he had important matters to attend to and wasn't deliberately avoiding him. Li Leshan needed to attend classes and study, and it wouldn't be right for him to keep bothering him.
"This is a true story, with countless examples of young couples right in front of us. One generation plants the trees, another enjoys the shade. I call this being prepared for a rainy day," Cao Fan said proudly.
Jiang Yueming remained silent for a long time. Would he be annoyed with me? Would he think I was always nagging, making trouble for no reason, and stubborn? But I just wanted to say more, and a little more. Because we hadn't seen each other for so long, once I started talking, I couldn't stop. He wanted to ask Li Leshan how he was doing, and he also wanted to talk about how he was doing. But mainly, he wanted to ask about Li Leshan. He was afraid he wasn't doing well, afraid he was unhappy, afraid he was being bullied…
Will he get annoyed by this?
What should I do if he gets annoyed with me?
Jiang Yueming felt a heavy weight in his heart, as if it had been submerged in water. He slowly buried his face in his arms, silently repeating in his mind: I'll change if I'm being annoying, I'll talk less, but I will never give up...
/
The Third High School is currently holding its spring sports meet, and they've put up a lot of banners, which are prominently displayed on the playground. It's supposedly the xxth edition, but Jiang Yueming didn't pay attention to how many editions it was; he'd forgotten.
As one of the few boys in the class who seemed to have decent physical fitness, Jiang Yueming was always at the forefront of all competitions, almost sweeping all track and field events.
But Jiang Yueming didn't sign up for things like the high jump or triple jump. Let whoever wants to sign up, sign up. In today's parlance, a good jump is a highlight, a bad jump is a disaster. Those are things for professionals. Jiang Yueming, being a half-baked amateur, wouldn't be good at them; going would only be embarrassing, like running naked.
And he did indeed have ulterior motives. To encourage sportsmanship, the Third High School offered a 200 yuan prize for breaking a school sports meet record, which was not a small amount. To put it bluntly, Jiang Yueming was after that 200 yuan.
Jiang Yueming does indeed have some talent in sports. He successfully broke records in the 100, 200, and 3,000 meters. The 3,000-meter record was reportedly set by the first cohort of senior students, and no one had broken it for over ten years until Jiang Yueming did.
Cao Fan was full of admiration. He signed up for jump rope but was eliminated in the first round. According to him, the others in his team were jumping like lightning, they were definitely cheating, their jump rope speed was so fast that they were invisible.
Jiang Yueming didn't rest after finishing the 3,000-meter race. Several physical education teachers went to other places in a group, so he had to work part-time as a referee. He wore the sports team's special referee uniform, which was blue and white and had a much better design than the school uniform. He looked incredibly handsome and eye-catching.
"It's a good thing there aren't any talent scouts in our little town, otherwise you'd probably have debuted by now." Cao Fan clicked his tongue, his handsomeness was dazzling.
"I won't be going out either." Although Jiang Yueming doesn't follow celebrities, Xu Qing does, and she's always nagging him about her idol. Anyway, she can't be in a relationship, so of course he can't be one either, and he'd be letting his fans down.
"You made a few hundred yuan?" Cao Fan didn't quite catch what the broadcast was saying. The sound system and voice were like something from the last century; even Empress Dowager Cixi would have heard it. Is this something that should exist in the 21st century?
"Six hundred." Jiang Yueming touched the money in his pocket. "No, seven hundred. Old Liu gave me an extra hundred."
Old Liu was overjoyed to have broken three records in one fell swoop, as if he had broken them himself. He insisted on giving Jiang Yueming a hundred yuan, and Jiang Yueming couldn't refuse, so he accepted it.
“Brother,” Cao Fan said, praising him with great admiration, “this seven hundred yuan is well worth it. Someone in this life risked their life for it.”
“Then I’m pretty pathetic,” Jiang Yueming laughed, “risking my life for seven hundred yuan.”
Anyway, he was going to leave the money in his pocket to Li Leshan, take some out to buy some delicious food and fun things for Tian Tian, and he didn't think about using it for anything else.
The next race is the men's 400-meter final. Jiang Yueming didn't participate in this one, and Lao Liu didn't want him to sign up for so many races either. It wasn't because he was worried about him earning another 200 yuan, but purely because he was afraid he couldn't handle it. The 400-meter final and the 3000-meter final are back-to-back races with no rest time. He had to give up one of them because no one in his class signed up for the 3000-meter race, so Jiang Yueming stepped in.
"Move back a bit," Jiang Yueming gestured to Cao Fan, "and you'll be knocked out if you get in my way."
Cao Fan quickly took a few steps back.
"Bang—" With the sound of an air gun, the match began.
There was a microphone next to Jiang Yueming, specially prepared for the referees. He narrowed his eyes and bent down slightly, "First false start."
Cao Fan was completely bewildered and didn't understand anything. "How could you jump the gun?"
"What grows under the eyebrows?" Jiang Yueming joked, standing there pondering what to buy for Li Leshan with those few hundred yuan.
He definitely wouldn't accept it if you offered it to him directly. Even though it was essentially money he had earned himself, Li Leshan treated everything the same – whether it was money he had earned, money he had asked for, or how he had acquired it – he wouldn't accept it.
"Let's top up our phone credit with 100 yuan first," Jiang Yueming decided. "It's 10 cents per message, 100 yuan can send 1000 messages, no need to worry about the cost, we can send as many as we want."
Thinking of this, he finally felt a little happy. He could use another two hundred yuan to buy test papers, and he also wanted to buy Li Leshan a couple of outfits...
Jiang Yueming pondered for a while when Cao Fan's voice came from beside him, "What are you going to do next?"
"I'm going to win another two hundred yuan." Jiang Yueming walked towards the center of the playground without looking back.
"What are we comparing?" Cao Fan shouted.
"Kick the shuttlecock!" Jiang Yueming shouted.
That's what they say, but the shuttlecock kicking game was really just for fun, and no one else handed it over to Jiang Yueming. Besides, he couldn't beat the girls; it's normal for girls to be so agile and nimble, and he couldn't compete with them.
But Jiang Yueming was much better than the other boys. During the one-minute timer, Cao Fan was scrambling around, kicking one and picking it up, kicking another and picking it up again. Luckily, the referee was lenient and allowed him to get a turn.
"If Xu Qing were here, she would definitely be number one in this competition," Jiang Yueming chuckled to himself. Xu Qing's shuttlecock kicking skills were simply amazing, no doubt about it, no one could compare. Jiang Yueming and Han Jiang combined couldn't even match two-thirds of her skill.
When Jiang Yueming was playing shuttlecock, a group of students surrounded her. What attracted people was not only her skills, but also her face.
After a minute, he looked at the crowd gathered around him, somewhat bewildered, and asked Cao Fan beside him, "What's going on?"
"They're all watching you, barring any unforeseen circumstances," Cao Fan said.
"Who were they looking at when the accident happened?"
"Look at me." Cao Fan answered, though reluctantly.
"What's so interesting about kicking a shuttlecock?" Jiang Yueming didn't understand. He hadn't seen so many people watching when he ran the 3,000 meters. Actually, there were quite a few people watching when he ran the 3,000 meters, but Jiang Yueming didn't have time to pay attention. He couldn't possibly keep track of how many people were around him while running.
“What are you saying?” Cao Fan said, “Do people even see a shuttlecock?”
"It's all about looks!" Cao Fan roared, at his wit's end.
Jiang Yueming broke free from the crowd, looked down at his outfit, and asked, "Do I really look handsome in this?"
"You'd look handsome even in a snakeskin bag, okay? I'm begging you, please stop asking," Cao Fan pleaded, he couldn't take it anymore. He didn't think Jiang Yueming was faking it, because he certainly wouldn't. He really didn't know how Jiang Yueming could have such a question with a face like that.
"Really?" Jiang Yueming was amused. He took out his phone and handed it to Cao Fan. "Then take a picture of me."
Cao Fan didn't bother looking for a single angle, because he's handsome from every angle. Heaven knows he has to try eight hundred different angles to take selfies, and even then the results are still mediocre. Just thinking about it makes me want to grind my teeth.
"Hey kid, who are you planning to send this to?" Cao Fan gossiped. "A MMS costs 50 cents, you're really rich."
"It's none of your business who I send it to." Jiang Yueming didn't say anything, just kept laughing until her face was almost stiff. "Are you done taking the picture?"
"Alright, alright." Cao Fan handed the phone back to Jiang Yueming, and when the phone screen turned on again, the wallpaper displayed was a photo of Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan.
Both of them clearly saw this scene, but Jiang Yueming was more nervous than Cao Fan.
"Damn," Cao Fan didn't think of anything else. He took another closer look at the wallpaper. "Damn, I didn't realize you were so narcissistic. You put your own wallpaper on?"
Jiang Yueming put his phone in his pocket, hesitant to speak, afraid that Cao Fan would notice something, but remaining silent would only make things more suspicious, as if he were hiding something. "What, did you break the law?"
"No," Cao Fan gave a thumbs up, "That guy next to me is handsome too. Are you still in contact with Li Leshan?"
"Is that illegal too?" Jiang Yueming said. He not only contacted them, but he also contacted them at close range. He planned to contact them not only now, but also tonight.
Although Li Leshan got out of school late, Jiang Yueming could wait for him; he was the most patient person. The weather wasn't cold, and squatting in the corner for a few tens of minutes was nothing. He looked at the sky, the ground, and the passersby, and the time passed quickly.
The main reason was that he had indeed been thinking about it. It just so happened that he had won so many awards and broken so many records after the sports meet, and he wanted Li Leshan to praise him.
“No, no,” Cao Fan quickly said, scratching his head. “I just didn’t expect you two to be so close. I thought Li Leshan was the cold, unapproachable type.”
Jiang Yueming pondered for a moment. He was indeed like that, but only to outsiders.
Since he no longer needed to go to Shigao High School, he hadn't left early for a while, making Cao Fan feel a bit unfamiliar with him. However, today Jiang Yueming really wanted to see Li Leshan, so he went back to his old ways.
"You're running away again?" Cao Fan said softly.
"Hmm," Jiang Yueming hummed in agreement. He didn't run too much, just ten minutes earlier, to buy a few sets of practice questions at the bookstore outside the school gate. Those "Five-Year College Entrance Examination, Three-Year Simulation" questions were incredibly difficult, and he would get every question wrong. These kinds of questions were perfect for Li Leshan. "Keep an eye on things for me. If Lao Liu comes, just say I went to the toilet."
"Okay." Cao Fan nodded. "Which restroom?"
Jiang Yueming was stunned for a moment. If he could, he really wanted to kick Cao Fan. "I'm not in any of the restrooms. It's not like I'm really going there. What if Lao Liu goes to look for me and doesn't see me? Wouldn't that confirm that I ran away in advance?"
“But the fact that you went to the toilet,” Cao Fan lowered his voice, sounding a little embarrassed, “has absolutely no credibility with Lao Liu.”
“No way,” Jiang Yueming glanced outside to make sure it was safe. “Never mind, if he really doesn’t believe me, just say I ran away.”
Fortunately, Lao Liu didn't come, and his escape went undetected.
Unfortunately, Li Leshan didn't come either. Not only did he not come, he wasn't even at school. Jiang Yueming had been kept in the dark for so long, and she stood at the school gate waiting and waiting with great anticipation, only to be doused with a bucket of cold water.
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Author's Note: I've unknowingly received 1000 comments! And the story is almost 300,000 words, which is... pretty fast (well, actually not really fast TT). I need to work hard to save up chapters and strive to finish this story and start my next book as soon as possible!
Double update today! (bows) Thank you all for your support >3< Thank you so much for your enthusiasm, it really gave me a lot of confidence and motivation [pats head] Thank you all for reading and commenting, and a huge thank you to all the paragraph and chapter comments! Love you all! [purple heart]
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