Chapter 157 It turns out that a lifetime is only ten years long.
Life gradually became busier. After their junior year, although they had fewer classes, various practical activities and internships kept them extremely busy. Despite this pace, Li Leshan still persisted in traveling back and forth between the north and south.
They contacted each other less and less via text message, and a quick glance revealed that almost all of them were sent by Li Leshan alone. He wasn't good with words and couldn't write anything nice, so he didn't know if Jiang Yueming would ever see them, and it didn't really matter whether Jiang Yueming saw them or not.
Li Leshan's time is packed every day, shuttling between the school and the campus, leaving him no free time to think about this or that.
Han Jiang isn't going back to Shengping for Chinese New Year this year. He said he'd just get criticized if he went back anyway—people saying things like, "So-and-so's son found a high-paying job," "So-and-so's son got married," "So-and-so's son has a son now"... Isn't that nonsense? If a man has a child at 20, the woman would have to be pregnant by at least 19. Can someone get married at 19? They should get married as soon as they reach the legal marriage age.
Anyway, he called Li Leshan and complained for a long time. He could only vent his frustrations to Li Leshan, who, as mentioned before, was indeed the best listener.
Han Jiang complained about this and criticized that, basically recounting everything his mother told him. In short, he said he could never go back to this home.
He asked Li Leshan if he wanted to go back.
Li Leshan is going back; he wants to go home to see his grandmother and put up Spring Festival couplets.
This year, Shengping was unusually deserted. Familiar people were all gone for various reasons. He walked alone through the familiar places once more, as if walking through them again would deepen his memories of the past, because he had forgotten too much over the years.
As the Lunar New Year approached, Li Leshan went to Han Jiang's house with lots of bags and packages. Although Han Jiang hadn't asked for anything, he still went to check on the house for Han Jiang.
"Oh my, Leshan, what brings you here!" Yang Su's eyes lit up when she saw Li Leshan. She grabbed Li Leshan's wrist and tried to invite him in. "Look at Leshan, you're already here, why did you bring anything? Han Dahai! Hurry up, look who's here!"
Han Dahai—Han Jiang's father.
No wonder Hanjiang is called Jiang (river).
"Come in and sit down, come on in, it's so cold outside," Yang Su said.
Li Leshan waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to sit down. He then quickly took out his phone and showed it to Yang Su. He had anticipated this scene before coming, so he had written down what he wanted to say in his memo beforehand. "Thank you, Auntie and Uncle. Han Jiang is a bit busy over there, so he asked me to come back and see you. I won't sit down; I have some things to do back home. I wish you a Happy New Year and good health."
Upon hearing this, Yang Su was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes. She held Li Leshan's hand tightly, unwilling to let go. She had watched Li Leshan grow up since she was a child. Although their relationship was not as close as Lin Cuiqin's, she liked Li Leshan from the bottom of her heart. "You too, take good care of yourself, Leshan, stay healthy."
Li Leshan nodded and waved goodbye to Yang Su and Han Dahai.
He went downstairs and went to Xu Qing's house again. Actually, he hadn't been in contact with Xu Qing for a while, and could only know about her recent situation from Han Jiang's snippets of conversation. Xu Qing studied journalism in college and was busy with an internship at a TV station at the end of the year, traveling to various places, and she didn't go home.
In the middle of the year, while shopping at the market, I ran into many familiar uncles and aunts. They remembered Li Leshan and called him by his name affectionately, asking why Jiang Yueming wasn't with him.
That's how it is when you grow up together. Even if you separate and go to college, other people will still think that you have to get together to do something.
Li Leshan smiled politely at them. In the past, Jiang Yueming would always be by his side in such situations, acting as his...translator. Actually, with Jiang Yueming around, he didn't need to use sign language anymore, because Jiang Yueming would say what he wanted to say.
"Leshan?!" A voice suddenly interrupted Li Leshan's thoughts.
Li Leshan turned around and saw Yin Guiying standing not far away, looking at him with surprise and joy in her eyes.
Teacher Yin? Li Leshan's eyes widened slightly. He quickly took two steps forward, wanting to say something but unable to, only his eyes revealing joy and excitement.
Yin Guiying is somewhat different from the one I remember. Time has left its mark on her face, and the few wrinkles make her look very gentle.
"It's been a long time," Yin Guiying looked him up and down, patted his shoulder, and said with great emotion, "You've really grown up. You're free tonight, right? Come over to my house for dinner and have some fun. Let's invite Yueming too. You two don't have any plans, do you?"
Upon hearing "Moonlight," Li Leshan felt a little lost. How should he tell Teacher Yin? How should he answer when asked about his recent situation? Should he just say he didn't know? Could he really be that direct?
“He didn’t come back this year.” Li Leshan showed his phone to Yin Guiying. Actually, he didn’t come back last year either; he hadn’t been back for a long time.
Yin Guiying paused for a moment, then realized, "Oh, Yueming, Yueming is still in the south. Oh, I had forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. The south is nice, the winters are warm. It's just that I haven't seen him in so long, I miss him terribly, it's been three...three years, hasn't it?"
Counting the time, they haven't seen each other since Jiang Yueming went to the south. At that time, Jiang Yueming was a senior in high school, and now they are juniors in college. It has indeed been three years.
“It’s alright, then go to your teacher’s house for dinner. I’m a good cook, I’ll make you something nice, don’t be shy, Leshan.” Without waiting for a reply, Yin Guiying took the dishes from Li Leshan’s hands and said with emotion as she walked, “I thought I was seeing things just now. You all have grown up so much. I still remember when you were in elementary school. It’s been more than ten years.”
"Has it been more than ten years?" Li Leshan wondered to himself, then suddenly realized that this year marked the tenth anniversary of his acquaintance with Jiang Yueming.
These past ten years have truly been a period of great change, leaving him with a sense of disorientation. The wheels of time have rolled on relentlessly, leaving behind considerable marks, so much so that in the days to come, Li Leshan could only walk along the ruts. Only when he walked here did it seem as if the wheels of time had not yet strayed so far from him.
"Leshan, do I look much older?" Yin Guiying smiled at him, and wrinkles reappeared at the corners of her eyes.
Li Leshan quickly shook his head; he really didn't think that way.
“You are all so young,” Yin Guiying said, looking at Li Leshan as if she were seeing many other people. The class she had taught should all be this old now. “How could I not have thought of that back then? Even in ten years you will only be twenty years old.”
Yin Guiying led him into her home. She had only decided to come back to Shengping on a whim this year. She had been transferred to the city and was living in the staff quarters of the city's primary school. It was a rare opportunity for her to come back this year, and she had to rush back tomorrow. So her husband and children did not come back with her. She had only planned to have a simple meal, but she never expected to run into Li Leshan.
"Sit on the sofa and rest for a bit. Don't bother with all this work. I'll make you some home-style dishes. Yueming used to eat my cooking all the time when he was little. Ask him how my cooking is. Isn't it pretty good?" Yin Guiying said as she busied herself in the kitchen. She probably really missed Jiang Yueming, which is why she kept bringing him up.
Li Leshan kept his head down. Fortunately, he couldn't speak and didn't need to answer. Otherwise, how could he say that he... couldn't contact Jiang Yueming anymore? Because Jiang Yueming didn't want to have any contact with him.
Staring at the chat history for a long time, he typed a few lines with trembling hands:
I'm back in Shengping.
Ten years have passed.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of our acquaintance.
It took Li Leshan a long time after sending the message to come back to his senses. He looked at Yin Guiying's busy figure in the kitchen and thought of Lin Cuiqin. Their backs were also very similar. Actually, he was a little unsure, but he just felt that they were very similar. Thinking of all kinds of dishes that his aunt used to make, he suddenly felt a lump in his throat.
His gaze returned to the text message page, and he sent a final message: Thank you.
He really wanted to say thank you. No amount of thank you could be enough. Thank you, Jiang Yueming, for letting him meet so many good people. Because of Jiang Yueming, so many people were willing to be kind to him and help him. There was truly no amount of gratitude he could express.
A loud "bang" of fireworks broke the silence outside, interrupting Li Leshan's thoughts. He slowly walked to the balcony and looked up at the fireworks in the sky.
The fireworks caught Li Leshan's eye, dazzling and spectacular. One cluster in particular reminded him of many, many years ago. Eight years ago, in fact.
Thinking back to the wishes I made with Jiang Yueming on the Lijiang Bridge back then, he said he wanted to go to Shishi High School, he said he wanted to go for a lifetime. In the end, neither of those wishes came true.
Li Leshan and Jiang Yueming have known each other for ten years.
Sometimes he felt that these ten years had been like a lifetime. A full ten years, experiencing all the joys and sorrows of life. Love and affection filled these ten years of unspoken emotions.
Thinking about it this way, in a way, hasn't the wish you made back then been fulfilled?
Because of a lifetime, their entire life.
It turns out that a lifetime is only ten years.
In fact, by now, Li Leshan had almost forgotten why they had broken up in the first place. Thinking about it carefully, there was no entanglement, not even a final farewell; he said he was tired, so Li Leshan let go.
But thinking about it again, their breakup seemed too sudden, so sudden that he felt it wasn't worth it for Jiang Yueming. They had finally made it this far, finally about to start a new life, enduring so much hardship and traveling so far to finally reach this point.
If it had been earlier, I could have suffered less.
If it had been any later, I would have never suffered again.
In the end, he suffered all the sins and hardships, gained nothing, and left with his wounds all over his body. Li Leshan thought it wasn't worth it, or perhaps he had been too heartless to let go back then, but all of this could only remain in his heart.
"Leshan," before leaving, Yin Guiying patted Li Leshan on the shoulder, her eyes gentle yet firm, "Seeing you getting better and better makes your teacher truly happy for you."
She saw the changes in Li Leshan and was genuinely happy for his transformation. She knew, too, that those changes were the result of countless days and nights of hardship and toil. No one grows up overnight, and for children like Li Leshan, with disabilities and broken homes, the pain of growing up is far more intense than for others.
But she was very fortunate that Li Leshan had managed to break through despite such circumstances.
Li Leshan bowed deeply to Yin Guiying at a perfect ninety-degree angle, his waist bent low. He was twenty years old this year, no different from the small boy who stood bowing in front of the desk back then. The image of his childhood was briefly reflected in him again; his appearance had changed somewhat, but the light in his eyes remained the same.
Standing at the door, Yin Guiying insisted on giving him two boxes of things to take back. Li Leshan hurriedly declined, saying that he couldn't accept them anyway, and that it was unreasonable. Besides, he wouldn't be staying in Shengping for more than a few days. Yin Guiying said, "Return gift, return gift," but there was no such thing as a return gift. After declining for a long time, Yin Guiying had no choice but to give in to him.
"Please say Happy New Year to Yueming for your teacher," Yin Guiying finally instructed. "Tell him to take good care of himself while he's away, and to speak up if anything happens. That boy isn't as composed as you; he's prone to impulsive actions. I'm just worried about him."
Li Leshan nodded and waved to indicate that Teacher Yin didn't need to see him off any further. He turned and went downstairs.
"Happy New Year." Of course, this message ultimately disappeared without a trace.
He pulled his collar up to his chin. Facing the cold wind, he walked forward day after day for ten years. Li Leshan didn't know what lay ahead, but now, whatever it might be, he no longer needed to be afraid.
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