Chapter 17: The pilot is Shuke! It's not even as good as a love letter! ...
When Tian Tian first met Li Leshan, she tilted her head high and stared at the unfamiliar older brother in front of her with great curiosity.
“This is my brother’s friend,” Jiang Yueming quickly introduced, “You should call him…”
"I know!" Tian Tian mumbled. Her brother had told her countless times that Li Leshan was coming to their house.
Jiang Yueming had given her prior notice. Li Leshan couldn't speak, afraid that the little girl might say something inappropriate.
When I told her this a couple of days ago, the little girl asked innocently, "Why can't he talk?"
“Because that older brother got sick, but he’s just like us. So you’ll have to be good,” Jiang Yueming said.
Thankfully, she still remembered. Jiang Yueming breathed a sigh of relief.
But the next second, Jiang Yueming's breath hitched again.
"Brother Lele!" Sweetie called out in a clear, crisp voice.
Le...Lele-ge?!
"I...I didn't teach her that!" Jiang Yueming hurriedly interjected. He really had nothing to say to this overly familiar and unreliable little girl, but he truly hadn't taught her that. He had thought about what Tian Tian should call him. Maybe she was shy and wouldn't call him anything, or maybe she would call him "brother" like she called him.
He looked at Li Leshan's face cautiously, holding his breath.
To everyone's surprise, Li Leshan actually smiled and gently rubbed Tian Tian's head.
“Your sister is so cute.” Li Leshan said in sign language.
Jiang Yueming now finds her quite adorable.
"Right, putting everything else aside, she is indeed quite adorable," Jiang Yueming said. "She's only five years old this year."
He was quite talkative when he talked about his younger sister. This little girl was always giving him things to do. They weren't that far apart in age, so he usually played with Tian Tian. You know, playing with a five-year-old is more tiring than running laps around the track. Things like insisting on playing hide-and-seek and "statues" with him are one thing, but then there's "eagle catching chicks"...
"There are only two of us, what are we going to do playing Eagle Catches Chickens?" Jiang Yueming said. He said there weren't enough people, but Tian Tian didn't believe him and insisted on playing.
Finally, unable to persuade her otherwise, she insisted on playing, and even insisted on being the mother hen. Fine, Jiang Yueming let her have her way, taking on the role of the eagle herself. When they turned around, their eyes met, staring at each other in bewilderment. Jiang Yueming looked at the child and couldn't help but laugh, "I haven't caught her yet. Where's your child?" This finally made Tian Tian burst into tears.
"Is that enough now?" Sweetie blurted out out of the blue. "You can be the eagle, and Lele will protect me."
Jiang Yueming secretly patted Tian Tian on the shoulder. Sometimes, the things this little girl said could startle him. Would Li Leshan really be willing to play such childish games with them? He didn't even think about it.
"Keep thinking about it." Taking advantage of Li Leshan's inattention, Jiang Yueming leaned close to Tian Tian and whispered, "Grandma, I beg you, I beg you, can you please stop causing trouble..."
Sweetie looked unhappy after hearing this. She pouted and decided that she would ignore Jiang Yueming no matter what he said this time.
There aren't many people living in the Third Alley. Most of them are middle-aged and elderly people living with their children. Although it's not as lively as the county center, the advantage is that it offers a complete range of education from elementary to high school. It's close to the schools, so grandparents often live there with their grandchildren when their parents go out to work.
Jiang Yueming's house is indeed close to Li Leshan's house, at most two or three hundred meters away, but Jiang Yueming's house is close to the street corner.
Tian Tian ran up to the stairwell in front of her house, leaving Jiang Yueming and Li Leshan standing downstairs.
This little girl runs pretty fast. Seeing this, Jiang Yueming joked, "She runs faster than Xiaobai."
Li Leshan nodded. The layout of the buildings was the same, and standing downstairs felt the same as standing downstairs in his own home, yet he still felt a little nervous. He wondered if it was because it was his first time visiting someone else's… friend's house.
Seeing him unconsciously tighten his grip on his backpack strap, Jiang Yueming understood somewhat. He walked towards the stairwell first, waving to Li Leshan as he went: "Hurry up, my aunt is waiting for you to try her cooking."
"Auntie—we're back!" Jiang Yueming called out towards the kitchen.
Lin Cuiqin dressed up specially today; the light green floral dress made her look particularly serene. Actually, Lin Cuiqin and Jiang Yueming's mother look quite alike, after all, they are sisters. Sometimes, Jiang Yueming can see a bit of his deceased mother's shadow in her.
She still had her apron tied around her waist; the checkered apron was brought from the south and had been used for many years.
"It's Leshan, isn't it?" Lin Cuiqin said with a smile, though she was more surprised than anything else. "He's really handsome."
Li Leshan smiled at her and nodded.
"Hey, quickly put your schoolbag aside and get ready to eat. The last dish will be ready soon." Lin Cuiqin hurriedly went back to the kitchen.
The old color TV in the living room was playing the animated series "Shuke and Beta," a childhood memory for many born in the 80s and 90s. Jiang Yueming also had two sets of comic books, bought when he was in kindergarten in 1998, now lost somewhere. Because of this, Jiang Yueming also liked model airplanes. But model airplanes are generally quite expensive, not something he could afford by saving up his breakfast money for a month or two.
"Shuke Shuke Shuke, Shuke who flies airplanes~ Beta Beta Beta, Beta who drives tanks~" Tian Tian hummed along with the intro on TV. Before the meal was ready, Jiang Yueming pulled Li Leshan into the room.
Jiang Yueming's room was quite different from Li Leshan's. Li Leshan's room was tidy and empty, with a bed and a table—or rather, an old sewing machine that his grandmother had handed over, which could also be used as a desk, so there wasn't much difference. Even the walls were spotless. Jiang Yueming's room, on the other hand, had colorful graffiti on the walls, but most of it was Tian Tian's work.
"See these two mice? She drew Shuke and Beta." Jiang Yueming pointed to a colorful but wildly drawn graffiti in the corner of the wall.
Li Leshan glanced at it and, if Jiang Yueming hadn't told him, he wouldn't have recognized what it was. It seems Tian Tian has no talent for painting.
"Which one is Shuke?" Li Leshan asked, a little curious.
Jiang Yueming hadn't considered this question. After looking at it for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out. Finally, he gave a professional answer: "The one flying the plane is Shuke." — Although the "plane" on the wall looked more like a twisted banana.
The wall was covered with posters of many celebrities, which added a touch of decoration to the otherwise plain white wall. There were posters of the Little Tigers, Jay Chou, and Leon Lai. Jiang Yueming bought them at Xinhua Bookstore for 50 cents each, and many others were brought by Han Jiang. The one of Rukawa Kaede was a gift from Han Jiang, who insisted on putting it in the center position.
There's also a picture of Kobe. Actually, Jiang Yueming wasn't that fond of basketball. At that time, she wasn't particularly fond of it; she preferred track and field, long jump, and things like that. But that picture of Kobe dunking was really cool, like he was flying, so Jiang Yueming pasted it on.
Finally, he turned to the desk, where Jiang Yueming's toy race car stood quietly, its bright colors particularly striking. Seeing Li Leshan lingering by the desk, he felt a surge of joy. He thought to himself, "No child can resist a race car..."
The next second, Li Leshan picked up a card.
Jiang Yueming nearly tripped over her own feet and fell. She finally managed to get close enough to see what was written on the card, hoping it wasn't some love letter or some random nonsense. Although Jiang Yueming had never written anything for anyone before, who knew what this unexpected card might say? Seeing it made her even more dizzy.
Damn! It's not even as good as a love letter!
The six large characters, "Learn from Li Leshan," were bold and striking, seemingly penetrating the paper. The characters were written large because Jiang Yueming's handwriting was naturally "bold," and also so that he could see them at a glance when "motivating" himself. Well, now Li Leshan saw them at a glance too.
The problem is, he only "learned" from Li Leshan, but didn't actually learn. Thinking about those 30 or 40 points in math, Jiang Yueming really wanted to collapse into a crack in the ground.
Fortunately, the awkward silence didn't last long before Lin Cuiqin's voice came from outside. She was calling them to eat, and for the first time, Jiang Yueming didn't hesitate at all; she just wanted to get away from this troublesome place as soon as possible.
The aroma of food wafted over from afar. Lin Cuiqin had gone to great lengths to ensure Li Leshan ate and drank well. She had even consulted with the owners of restaurants on this street—one that had been open for over ten years and had a considerable reputation. The proprietress of Zhenhua Restaurant wondered if Lin Cuiqin had a daughter-in-law; was such a grand gesture really necessary?
“What?” Lin Cuiqin smiled and her eyes crinkled when she heard this. “My child is only ten years old.”
"Ms. Lin Cuiqin, you really are amazing." Jiang Yueming gave a thumbs up as he looked at the table full of dishes.
"Stop being so frivolous." Lin Cuiqin served them rice, pressing down on the rice in Li Leshan's bowl so she could give them more.
"Leshan, don't be shy, okay? Make yourself at home." Lin Cuiqin handed him the food, using the sign language Jiang Yueming had taught her. Although she knew Li Leshan could understand, communicating with him in this way would make her feel closer and more attentive.
"Eat more food," Lin Cuiqin said in sign language.
Li Leshan's shoulders visibly tensed, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he quickly signed, "Thank you, Auntie."
"It's nothing, don't mention it," Lin Cuiqin said with a smile. "I should thank you. This kid is simple-minded, but he has a good heart. Please bear with him."
"Auntie, what are you saying?" Jiang Yueming said, but she was also happy inside. She looked at Li Leshan with anticipation as he picked up some food and asked, "How is it? Isn't it especially delicious?"
After receiving Li Leshan's affirmative answer, all three people at the table were happy. Tian Tian was simply grinning foolishly, Lin Cuiqin breathed a sigh of relief (thankfully, the cooking was passable), and Jiang Yueming was the happiest, his eyes filled with anticipation for more delicious food.
"Come on, Leshan, try this." Lin Cuiqin put a few pieces of braised pork on Li Leshan's plate.
This was Lin Cuiqin's specialty dish, which Jiang Yueming proudly called "Cui Cui's Signature Braised Pork," believing it tasted much better than what he'd had in restaurants. Although Jiang Yueming hadn't eaten out much.
The food in Li Leshan's bowl kept piling up. He quickly used sign language to say thank you, and then said that there was plenty of food.
Lin Cuiqin, of course, couldn't understand a single word except for "thank you." The word "thank you" was something Jiang Yueming had given her intensively; his exact words were, "Just you wait and see, Li Leshan will definitely be saying 'thank you' three sentences in a row." And indeed, Jiang Yueming was right.
Unable to understand what Li Leshan was saying, Lin Cuiqin looked at him for help. This was their secret signal, which was to have Jiang Yueming act as the translator. But it couldn't be too obvious or deliberate. Lin Cuiqin had thought it through very carefully, you could say she had thought it through a lot. She was afraid of hurting the child's self-esteem.
"Put more, put more." Jiang Yueming acted as if she hadn't seen him, and to prevent Li Leshan from refusing again using sign language, she pressed Li Leshan's hand while instructing Lin Cuiqin, "Put on some vegetables and shrimp..."
A note from the author:
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They changed to a new cover, and it looks so cute!
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