Chapter 160 How can it support both North and South? A place with only memories, nothing...
In the summer of 2018, the Lijiang Bridge, which had witnessed the city's rapid development and changes, ended its mission of carrying north-south traffic between Shengping for more than 20 years.
The Lijiang Bridge, in a sense, has become a part of the memories of Li Leshan's generation. They witnessed its birth and are now witnessing its demise.
From a young age, Li Leshan would run back and forth on the bridge with Jiang Yueming, listening to the rushing river beneath their feet. This was the only way home. Below the bridge was an ice rink. He still remembered Jiang Yueming and Han Jiang playing there. Li Leshan wasn't used to it and wasn't good at it. He would sit on a bench nearby doing his homework, the swishing sound of wheels on the ground and Jiang Yueming's clear voice occasionally calling his name.
For one year in junior high, the school, for some unknown reason, organized a race across three bridges, ostensibly to improve physical fitness and academic performance while also cultivating character. As for what kind of character cultivation or physical fitness it was supposed to do, everyone was quite enthusiastic at first, but by the end, everyone was exhausted as if they had done something terribly.
Those three bridges, I almost ran down them back then. If I had run any further, I probably would have gone straight to the underworld. Later, when Jiang Yueming was in high school, he would ride his bicycle across these bridges every day to visit him at Shishi High School. Sometimes he would walk home with him; sometimes he would hold his hand and say a few words; but most of the time he would just glance at him.
In their final year of junior high, the two watched fireworks from a bridge, shoulder to shoulder. Amidst the dazzling displays, Jiang Yueming grasped his icy hand. The warmth from his fingertips was hotter than any firework. From that moment on, a passionate yet bittersweet romance began.
More than a decade has passed in the blink of an eye.
When Li Leshan reached the Lijiang Bridge, a large crowd had already gathered around him, sweat pouring down his forehead. Most of them were people from Shengping, some around his age or a little older. They were in small groups, pointing and whispering, their voices and sighs mingling with the river breeze. Many people were holding up their phones, taking pictures of the bridge from various angles, as if it were a collective farewell ceremony.
Is the bridge going to be demolished?
What about all the memories he and Jiang Yueming had here? If the places they walked and saw together are gone, how will they find those traces that once existed?
He stared blankly at the sign in front of him, at the warning signs. He finally realized that for him, every glimpse of this scene was one he would never see again. Vehicles could no longer cross the bridge; pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles could still pass, but soon even pedestrians would be unable to cross.
However, Jiang Yueming has not returned yet.
This thought, like a fine thorn, pierced the softest spot in his heart. Li Leshan stood there, looking ahead, wondering if he would regret that his return to Shengping was the last time he would see this bridge.
Many thoughts surged through Li Leshan's mind, lingering and refusing to leave. Where had he gone? Why was he nowhere to be found in the South, the North, or Shengping? Why was his name not on Nanjing University of Technology's website? And what about that "forget it" from back then? Why was it said so easily, yet so resolutely?
So many years have passed, so long that Li Leshan has almost forgotten what happened back then, so long that he can barely remember Jiang Yueming's silhouette, even so long that he has forgotten the heart-wrenching pain he felt then. How many years has it been? He really can't remember. It's as blurry as if it happened in a past life.
Was it God telling him to let go? Li Leshan thought and thought, and the inner struggle and pain surged up again. Maybe he should have let go long ago, maybe he should have forgotten long ago, because Jiang Yueming should be happier after leaving him.
He has one less burden, one less responsibilities, and one less source of pain; he should be living a better life. Therefore, whether the bridge is demolished or not is irrelevant to Jiang Yueming, because there's nothing worth remembering. There's no need to preserve or seek out this memory anymore.
"And what about me?" Li Leshan asked himself silently.
Should I... forget it too? Tears streamed down his cheeks without warning. He looked at the gradually blurring crowd in front of him, then looked up at the sky. How blue the sky above him was! He had never seen such a blue sky before.
"Should I forget too?" Li Leshan thought. Forget his past with Jiang Yueming, and move on?
After all, how can a bridge that only contains memories and has no future connect the north and south?
He gazed at the old bridge that was about to disappear, as if he could see his youth crumbling away bit by bit. The memories etched on the bridge, the years he had spent with Jiang Yueming, would all turn to dust with the deafening explosion.
The river breeze ruffled his clothes and also dispersed the tears in his eyes. Gazing at the mottled marks on the bridge, he suddenly understood—some things cannot be held onto by clinging tightly.
Perhaps one day, when memories no longer sting, when longing no longer burns, he will truly understand. And this soon-to-disappear bridge will forever stand on the river of his memory, witnessing that innocent yet passionate youth.
Forgetting is painful, but remembering is just as difficult. So what should he do? Can he just live his whole life clinging to those few remaining memories in his mind?
He took one last, deep look at the Lijiang Bridge that had witnessed his entire youth, then turned and left. He knew the bridge would be demolished, and people would scatter, but he also knew that some things—like youth, like first love, like the boy running towards him in the sunlight—would remain on this bridge forever, never to fade away.
However, just as he was about to step out of the crowd, a familiar scent, so familiar it made his heart stop, brushed past his nose. Li Leshan abruptly stopped and almost instinctively turned around—
On the other side of the bridge, across the crowded flow of people, a slender figure stood quietly at the bridgehead.
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Author's Note: Who was the last figure? [Let me see] If you guess correctly, you'll get a bunch of compliments from Xiao Hui [Sunglasses] (Such an enticing reward, isn't it? (Looking up at the sky))
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