Chapter 540: Chapter 250: The Academician’s Last Step

「The morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.」

The smell of fireworks filled the village air. The sounds of New Year’s greetings, firecrackers, and children playing rose and fell in a constant chorus.

Yang Qi didn’t go out. He stayed home with his grandmother, greeting several groups of relatives and neighbors who came by to visit.

The visitors inevitably brought up the matter of the Jiang father and son, their words toward Yang Qi laced with newfound politeness, even a hint of flattery.

Yang Qi just smiled and played along without saying much, steering the conversation toward the holiday and other mundane topics.

His grandmother was all smiles.

Bai Wan, Hu Zi, and Leopard became the center of attention for the children gathered around them.

Xiaojiu, meanwhile, remained aloof, sunbathing atop a wall and pointedly ignoring the commotion below.

In the afternoon, once the house had quieted down a bit, Yang Qi told his grandmother he was going out. He left carrying two boxes of nice tea and two cartons of cigarettes.

He didn’t visit anyone else, heading straight for the west end of the village to the home of Lv Jianyang—his childhood buddy and best friend.

The Lv Family home wasn’t far from Yang Qi’s, and he had come over to mooch meals countless times as a kid.

Father Lv was a junior high math teacher in the county and had taught Yang Qi as well. He was a meticulous and principled man. Unfortunately, during Yang Qi and Lv Jianyang’s senior year of high school, he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. While not fatal, it required lifelong medication that wasn’t cheap, forcing him into an early medical retirement.

Lv Mu had little formal education, so she could only do odd jobs in town to help make ends meet.

Lv Jianyang also had a younger sister in her second year of high school and a younger brother in the ninth grade.

The family’s burden had fallen on Lv Jianyang’s shoulders, as the eldest son, from a very early age.

After failing the college entrance exam, Lv Jianyang didn’t repeat the year. He went straight to a coastal city to find work. He’d been in factories and on construction sites, willing to do anything just so he could send more money home.

While Yang Qi was off studying and working in the city, the two only got to see each other once a year, during the New Year holiday.

Arriving at the Lv family’s slightly rundown, two-story brick house, Yang Qi knocked on the door.

Lv Mu opened the door. When she saw Yang Qi, her face immediately broke into a warm, enthusiastic smile.

"Xiaoqi, you’re here! Quick, come in, come in."

"Happy New Year, Auntie," Yang Qi said with a smile, handing over the gifts.

"You shouldn’t have brought anything! Just coming is enough. Jianyang! Jianyang! Get out here, Xiaoqi’s here!"

Lv Mu took the gifts as she shouted into the house.

Father Lv emerged from an inner room. He was thinner than a few years ago, his face a little pale, but his spirits seemed decent. A pleased smile appeared on his face when he saw Yang Qi. "Xiaoqi, you’re here. Have a seat."

"Happy New Year, Teacher Lv."

Yang Qi greeted him respectfully.

He had always held a deep respect for the teacher who had once taught him so diligently.

"Good, everything’s good. Sit down, have some tea."

Father Lv gestured for Yang Qi to sit. Lv Mu had already deftly brewed the tea and brought out a spread of sunflower seeds, peanuts, and candy.

Just then, Lv Jianyang came down from upstairs.

He was only a few months older than Yang Qi, but he looked like he was in his thirties.

His build was solid, however, honed by years of manual labor. His face was weathered, his skin dark and coarse, with fine lines already forming at the corners of his eyes. His hair was a bit unkempt. He exuded a solemnity—or perhaps a somberness—that seemed out of place for his age.

Seeing Yang Qi, he managed a slight quirk of his lips and greeted him.

"You’re here."

"I came to see Teacher Lv and Auntie," Yang Qi said with a smile.

Father Lv and Lv Mu chatted with him for a while, asking about his work and repeatedly praising him for being so promising.

After about ten minutes of conversation, Father Lv’s energy began to wane and he needed to rest. Lv Mu also rose and went to the kitchen to get busy.

Lv Jianyang glanced at Yang Qi, then picked up the cigarettes and lighter from the table.

"It’s stuffy in here. Want to go out back for a bit?"

"Sure." Yang Qi grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and followed him to the back of the house.

Behind the house was a small vegetable patch enclosed by a low wall. A pile of firewood was stacked in a corner.

The thin afternoon winter sun shone down, offering little warmth, but it was more open than inside.

Leaning against the wall by the woodpile, Lv Jianyang expertly shook a cigarette from its pack and lit it. He took a deep drag, the smoke slowly unfurling in the crisp, cold air.

He didn’t speak, just squinted at the distant mountains.

Yang Qi wasn’t in a hurry to speak either. He leisurely cracked sunflower seeds, his gaze resting on Lv Jianyang.

This childhood buddy—the one he’d played in the mud with as a kid, skipped school to catch fish in the river with, and sweated buckets with on the court—was now as silent as a stone.

The heavy burden of life had long since bent the back of this once-lively, cheerful youth who’d had a bit of a roguish streak.

After a moment of silence, Yang Qi spat out a sunflower seed shell and spoke.

"If I hadn’t come over, were you planning on not visiting my place at all this year?"

Lv Jianyang paused in the act of smoking. Without looking at Yang Qi, his gaze still fixed on the distance, he spoke in a slightly hoarse voice.

"You’re a big-shot expert now. We’re not on the same path anymore."

Yang Qi froze for a second, then lifted his foot and gave his friend’s shin a light kick. "The hell with that," he said with a laugh. "When did you get so dramatic? Why are you putting on this brooding act with me?"

Lv Jianyang stumbled from the kick but neither dodged nor retaliated. He just lowered his head and took two more hard drags on his cigarette, the smoke shrouding his somber face and blurring his features.

He didn’t refute it, but he didn’t say anything either.

The smile on Yang Qi’s face also faded. He didn’t speak again, just continued cracking sunflower seeds.

He knew why Lv Jianyang had changed, and he knew why he had said they were "not on the same path anymore."

’It wasn’t that they had grown apart, nor was it jealousy. It was that hard-to-describe, complex emotion you feel after life has ground down your sharp edges—a mix of pride, exhaustion, and a hint of shame—when you face an old friend who is now clearly on a completely different path.’

’The troubles at home were like an invisible mountain, trapping him, leaving him unable to breathe.’

The two of them stood there in silence, one smoking, the other cracking sunflower seeds. The only sounds were the occasional pop of distant firecrackers and the rustle of wind through bare branches.

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