I've been looking at pictures of L. sinense and they don't look right. I still think the leaves on my plant are smaller. I'm not seeing any fine hairs on the twigs either. I need to start bringing a tape measure with me. I have no idea, but it sure looks like a privet. I just dug out a couple European hybrid gold privets and the leaves on those were much larger.

There's a reason it looks just like a privet.

I looked at all the Ligustrum species on bonap and none seem right. I can't find out what genera are in Ligustrinae. I've never seen a privet like this in any yard or public place. :(

Only Syringia and Ligustrum are in ligustrinae according to https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligustrinae

Thanks for the info! Looks just like a privet, so it must be a privet. I just have no idea which species? I'll try to get a comparison pic with a L. vulgare branch to prove I'm not crazy, and maybe there's just things about privets I still do not know? I thought maybe there might be a native related genus in Ligustrinae. Nope. I guess maybe what threw me off was that the small bush wasn't bulldozing down the woods the way privets usually do. Maybe the bush honeysuckles and buckthorns were keeping it restricted lol!