Chapter 39 Holy crap! "Then stop carrying your backpack!"...
"Wh-what?" Jiang Yueming was so focused on the diagnostic test that she didn't notice the parent signature requirement.
No wonder Li Leshan threw the test paper aside and went to work on other questions after finishing the test; he wanted Jiang Yueming to take a look! Jiang Yueming naively thought that there wasn't enough space on the table, so he thoughtfully moved his books to the side.
He felt like the sky had fallen. It seems that people really can't be so upright and self-disciplined. If it's necessary, then just copy a little bit! Even in the college entrance exam, you can at least glance at other people's papers. What's with all this pretense of modesty?
Jiang Yueming slammed his head on the desk. He was at his wit's end, so he decided to take the failing test paper back to Cuicui and show it to her. Cuicui was easygoing and there shouldn't be any problems.
Li Leshan reached out and rubbed his forehead, comforting him, "It's okay, at least seventy percent of the questions are ones you've studied."
That means Jiang Yueming still has at least 70 points to go. Her chances of winning are still very high.
Jiang Yueming felt no comfort whatsoever. "Is it possible that after a summer vacation, I've already forgotten everything I learned?"
He'd be doing really well if he got 50% on the whole test. He was stunned for a few moments when he saw binary code; he had no idea what it was.
Li Leshan remained silent for a while, then thought it was very likely.
"It's okay, even if something happened, it's okay now." Jiang Yueming felt incredibly stupid. "My aunt won't say anything to me."
Lin Cuiqin had only one requirement for Jiang Yueming: to grow up healthy. She turned a blind eye to everything else. Sleeping in class? Maybe the child wasn't getting enough sleep. Skipping class to play games? Maybe the child was under too much academic pressure. Being at the bottom of the class? There weren't any good students in their generation... In short, Lin Cuiqin would comfort herself that she didn't have many requirements, as long as Jiang Yueming grew up healthy, that was enough.
On the way home, Jiang Yueming rode the bike and Li Leshan sat on the back seat. Just as Jiang Yueming had said, the back seat was like a five-star car seat. It was incredibly comfortable, with two cushions on it.
The school has a parking lot for electric bikes, bicycles, and occasionally tricycles. There are no cars; there's a separate parking lot for cars, but only a few. Next to the school is a residential compound for teachers and their families, about 20-30 meters away, so there's no need to drive there.
The way there was a narrow alleyway, and only by passing through this alley could one reach the third alley. It was dark, and the alley was dark too. The streetlights were dim, almost nonexistent. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered him; back then, school ended at five o'clock, and everywhere was brightly lit. Looking at the pitch-black alleyway entrance before him, Jiang Yueming felt a little apprehensive.
He is genuinely afraid of the dark. It's not fake, it's not made up, and it's not an attempt to gain sympathy!
Kids their age can't openly admit what they're afraid of, like cats, dogs, or the dark. It would be laughable to say it. Ghosts are something to be afraid of, and even when you're in your twenties or thirties, you can still be afraid of them.
Jiang Yueming had forgotten why he was afraid of the dark; it was too long ago. Anyway, he had been afraid ever since he could remember. He didn't think it was anything to be ashamed of. Everyone has something they're afraid of. Otherwise, if you're fearless, what's the point of living?
When they were still fifty meters from the alley entrance, Jiang Yueming swallowed hard.
With thirty meters to go, Jiang Yueming slowed down.
As they approached the alley entrance, Jiang Yueming steeled his resolve and called out, "Li... Li Leshan!"
It wasn't that he necessarily wanted Li Leshan to respond; it was just a way to boost his morale. He felt that saying something would make him less afraid. Although he had never called out to Han Jiang or Xu Qing, he had only ever called out to Li Leshan.
He felt that shouting "Hanjiang" was a bit silly, not a bit silly, but extremely silly. He couldn't imagine himself shouting "Hanjiang, Hanjiang" into a dark alley; the image was a bit eerie.
Thinking about it this way, Jiang Yueming wasn't so afraid anymore.
"It's alright, I was just shouting," Jiang Yueming said, trying to save face.
It was pitch black all around, and you never knew when a stray cat, a stray dog, or some other thing might suddenly jump out from somewhere.
Suddenly feeling something moving behind him, Jiang Yueming was so startled that he wanted to scream and run away, but then he realized that Li Leshan had grabbed his schoolbag.
He felt Li Leshan's hand touching his back, and vaguely sensed that the spot being touched was getting warm.
The alley isn't long; if Jiang Yueming hadn't been so startled, it would have taken twenty seconds to get out, but now it takes half a minute.
As the light gradually cleared and the streetlights shone in, Jiang Yueming finally breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, Li Leshan's hand also slipped from between the backpack and Jiang Yueming's back, as if the twenty or thirty seconds of close contact had lasted only a moment.
Jiang Yueming insisted on walking Li Leshan to his apartment building, just like a young couple who have just started dating insists on taking their girlfriend home. In fact, it's pretty much the same. It's only a few steps, and Li Leshan could have walked home himself. But Jiang Yueming was unwilling. Everything should be based on mutual consent, and Jiang Yueming was unwilling.
"I'm off then. See you downstairs at 6:30 tomorrow." Jiang Yueming put her feet on the ground and waved to Li Leshan.
Li Leshan nodded, then used sign language, "Just now..."
"Oh, just now!" Jiang Yueming suddenly realized. Just now, just now, did Li Leshan see that he was scared? No way? Was it that obvious? Although calling someone's name out of the blue seemed very strange.
"I was a little scared just now."
Jiang Yueming felt a buzzing in his head. He uttered "oh, oh" twice, but his mind hadn't quite processed what was happening.
"I'm leaving." Li Leshan waved to him, signaling him to hurry home as well.
Jiang Yueming put her feet on the pedals and walked half a meter when she suddenly realized what was happening and shouted, "Then, then don't carry your schoolbag anymore!"
Oh... no, that's not right.
No, no, no, no, that's not right!
That's not how it's said. How should this be said again...? Don't hug my backpack, you...
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Jiang Yueming watched Li Leshan's retreating figure, wondering if he had heard those words. He hoped he hadn't, or rather, he hoped he hadn't heard them at all. It was too embarrassing, truly, a hundred times more embarrassing than Han Jiang's slippers falling into the Lijiang River.
Is Li Leshan also afraid of the dark? Jiang Yueming wondered to himself. He stood in the stairwell and stomped his feet three times before he saw the motion-activated light start to turn on groggily, as if it had just woken up.
Jiang Yueming thought to himself, if Li Leshan is afraid, then he can't be so afraid.
He also had to ride his bike, he had to lead the charge, and, to put it another way, he had to protect Li Leshan.
Jiang Yueming convinced himself and waited until the motion-activated lights went out again. Looking at the dark corridor, he felt his heart pounding.
There's an old saying, something... whatever... whatever the saying is, Jiang Yueming's mind is completely blank, he can't remember a single one.
Yes. In the world of martial arts, speed is the only way to break through defenses. As long as he runs fast enough, fear cannot catch up with him.
"Okay, count down to three, then run when I count to one," Jiang Yueming silently recited in his mind.
"Squeak..."
"Holy crap! A ghost—!" Jiang Yueming threw down the car and shouted without turning his head. What three seconds, two seconds? He was about to die if he counted to one second! This man didn't notice at all that a tiny mouse, not even half the size of his shoe, was slowly passing by in the corner. It could be said that they both gave each other a big fright.
The rat at that moment: Holy crap! Humans!
Stumbling and almost falling every three steps, Jiang Yueming finally reached his doorstep. Judging from his last two steps, he could probably run alongside Usain Bolt and be as good as Su Bingtian.
Jiang Yueming pushed the door open, and Lin Cuiqin pulled it open; the two almost bumped into each other.
"Heavens," Lin Cuiqin looked him up and down, then glanced outside the door, "no one's chasing you."
Jiang Yueming hadn't recovered from the "battle between humans and ghosts" yet. He walked in slowly, panting. He couldn't tell his aunt that he had scared himself; saying that would be more embarrassing than dropping his shoe in the Lijiang River.
"Uh, uh, I'll practice running," Jiang Yueming made an excuse.
"Don't run so hard next time, what if you fall up the stairs?" Lin Cuiqin took his schoolbag and put it on the sofa. "Are you hungry? If you are, I'll make you some noodles."
"I'm not hungry," Jiang Yueming said, planning to take a shower. "I had dinner at the cafeteria—pie and porridge."
The school cafeteria only serves a few dishes every day, and Jiang Yueming figured it out on her first day. Soy milk, steamed buns, and fried dough sticks for breakfast; white porridge, meat pies, and savory pancakes for dinner—the same old three dishes, nothing new. The key point is that she heard from older students who went to high school that it was the same there. However, everyone says the food at university is better, so Jiang Yueming didn't ask about it.
"Oh, is it delicious? I feel hungry," Lin Cuiqin said, a little worried. "This is the time when you're growing. You know your neighbor Li Xiang, he didn't grow much in high school, he only grew taller in junior high."
“He’s not short, he’s 1.8 meters tall,” Jiang Yueming said, recalling his appearance. Indeed, in his memory, he had hardly grown in the past three years.
"Besides, if I keep growing like that every year... and finally reach 1.9 meters, that's the ceiling," Jiang Yueming laughed.
“Even the ceiling will do… that would be better than nothing.” Lin Cuiqin smiled.
After washing up, I chatted with Tian Tian for a while and kept an eye on her studies. It was almost 11 o'clock by then.
Jiang Yueming lay in bed, the window outside half-open, probably letting in mosquitoes, but he was too lazy to turn it off. He was used to sleeping with the lights on—a nightlight or a table lamp, just enough to keep it as bright as possible. He hadn't turned them off for years; it was a habit.
Today, Jiang Yueming glanced at the dim night light, and the scene from that dark alley a few hours ago flashed through his mind, along with what Li Leshan had just said to him.
It might be difficult to make him fearless immediately. Because once a habit is formed, it's very hard to change. It's ingrained in you, inseparable from you. But he can't be afraid forever, because it's better not to be afraid than afraid of the dark.
Although it can't be changed immediately, it can be changed little by little. The first step is to turn off the night light that has been with Jiang Yueming for several years.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Little Jiang, both timid and bold [Oh oh oh]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com