We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Go to No. 1 Middle School, Li Mubai and Xie Shu."

After dinner, Chen Qiuhe appeared exceptionally excited, unlike the silent Li Mubai and Xie Shu who remained quiet on the side.

"Mm." Li Mubai nodded slightly.

"No, how can you be so calm?"

"You should learn from the ability to remain calm even when Mount Tai collapses before you."

Actually, he didn't have much expectation about going to No. 1 High School. It would be great if he could go and see it, but it wouldn't matter if he didn't go.

"What about Xie Shu? Xie Shu, why are you so indifferent?" Chen Qiuhe looked at Xie Shu again.

"I went to see it once after the high school entrance exam," Xie Shu replied softly.

"Could it be... Xie Shu, you originally planned to go to No. 1 High School after the high school entrance exam?" Chen Qiuhe pressed.

"Um."

"Class monitor, why didn't you go to No. 1 Middle School, but instead came to No. 6 Middle School?" Li Mubai asked curiously.

Xie Shu remained silent for a moment before finally raising his head. He glanced at Li Mubai's classmate who hadn't returned yet, and after confirming that no one had heard, he whispered:

"Because it's a bit easier at No. 6 Middle School."

Indeed, despite being a key provincial high school, the environment of No. 6 High School is still jokingly referred to as a retirement home.

But he was still puzzled, wondering how Xie Shu's parents could agree to her reason. Most parents would probably blame their children for not being able to endure hardship and then force them to go to No. 1 Middle School.

He didn't press the matter further.

After evening self-study, Teacher Yang made a round of inspections and then spoke:

"During the first evening self-study session, everyone should do their homework. During the next evening self-study session, we will discuss the final exam paper."

After saying that, he called Xie Shu and Li Mubai to his office.

"Excellent, Xie Shu and Li Mubai, you two have brought honor to the school this time. Here are your prizes."

Everyone received an award certificate, but the difference was that Li Mubai received a cultural and creative product from his hometown, while Xie Shu received a book.

Li Mubai looked at the cultural and creative item in his hand. It seemed to be a refrigerator magnet, probably worth only a few yuan. Come to think of it, forty second-prize winners wouldn't be given something of high value.

"Teacher, can I change the prize?" Xie Shu suddenly asked.

"What's wrong, Xie Shu? Is there a problem with the prize?"

"No problem, it's just that I already have this book."

"The prizes are all fixed and can't be changed," Teacher Yang said helplessly.

Only Xie Shu dared to make such a request; anyone else would have been kicked out long ago.

"Teacher, can I exchange prizes with other students?" Xie Shu offered a solution.

Teacher Yang glanced at Li Mubai standing beside her, then nodded:

"Sure, but you two should discuss it privately."

"OK."

Leaving the office, sensing his prize was about to be lost, Li Mubai decided to speak directly:

"Class monitor, would you like to trade prizes with me?"

"Hmm, what's yours?" Xie Shu nodded slightly.

"A refrigerator magnet may not be as valuable as your book."

"It's okay, would you like to change?"

"Sure." Li Mubai handed over the refrigerator magnet in his hand.

"Thanks."

Li Mubai took Xie Shu's prize book, opened it, and saw it was "The Little Prince." The little man with golden hair and green clothes on the cover looked quite familiar.

"Is this your hometown?" Xie Shu held up the refrigerator magnet in her hand and looked at him.

"Yes."

These are refrigerator magnets made in the county town, but his home is not in the county town, but in a small mountain village within the jurisdiction.

"It looks pretty good." Xie Shu smiled gently.

Li Mubai scratched the back of his neck somewhat embarrassedly, unsure whether the other person was saying the fridge magnets were nice or that his hometown was nice.

He suddenly remembered Xie Shu's hometown and asked:

"Class monitor, is Jiangnan really as ethereal and beautiful as described in the textbooks?"

Two lines of poetry came to mind for Li Mubai: "Four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties, how many pavilions and terraces are shrouded in mist and rain."

"Only by experiencing it firsthand can you truly know the reality," Xie Shu said, offering this answer instead of giving a direct reply.

He doesn't know if he'll have the chance to go. Maybe after the college entrance exam, he can apply to that university.

As they approached the classroom, Xie Shu suddenly turned her head to look at him, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said:

"I'll go there in the future."

……

Without climbing high mountains, one cannot know the height of the sky; without standing by deep streams, one cannot know the depth of the earth.

This statement illustrates the importance of practice.

Tuesday's practical labor class allowed students to experience firsthand the farming labor described in the textbook.

The plantation was put into use this semester and renamed "Gengjia Garden" as an open-air classroom for the second-year high school students' labor practice classes.

"Now, there's a plot of land in the Farming Garden that belongs to our class. Everyone, please suggest what to plant?" Wu Changguo stood on the podium with his hands behind his back.

"Grow strawberries!"

"What's so great about strawberries? I suggest growing apples!"

"cantaloupe!"

"pitaya!"

Hearing the increasingly outrageous suggestions, Wu Changguo directly spoke up to stop them:

"You can only choose from these three."

After saying that, Wu Changguo wrote three vegetable varieties on the blackboard: water spinach, edamame, and sunflower.

Water spinach, doesn't look good, pass. (Eliminated)

Edamame doesn't look good either, so it's a pass. (Eliminated)

Sunflower, photogenic, pass.

"Everyone, line up and go to the farmland," Wu Changguo shouted.

The labor practice class was not held in the same period for all second-year high school students. The school implemented staggered scheduling, and Class 3 came with three other classes.

"It's so cold! Why isn't it edamame? Edamame is delicious steamed or braised," Yang Kun complained indignantly in the group.

"I suggest planting cotton," Zhao Feng chimed in.

Why?

"That way I can cosplay as a slave owner, and you can cosplay as a cotton-picking slave."

"Password? Why shouldn't I be the slave owner?" Yang Kun retorted, unconvinced.

"Because my skin is whiter than yours."

When we arrived at Gengjiayuan, it was no longer the same as it was when it was still under construction last semester. The garden was quite large, with a big house in one corner.

The fields were divided into plots by ridges, each with a sign indicating the corresponding class, and a stream meandered through the fields.

"Li Mubai! You take the boys to the farm tool shed to register and get seven hoes. The rest of you come with me," Wu Changguo shouted.

"Okay, teacher."

The tool shed was the room on the edge, where a teacher was on duty, and various other farm tools were stored. Of course, Li Mubai didn't recognize any of them, only the hoe, shovel, and rake.

"Which class are you in?" the teacher asked immediately as soon as someone entered.

"Class Three".

"Oh, what do you need?" He flipped through the register on the table.

"Seven hoes," Li Mubai replied.

"Okay, you can go get it."

The boys wielded the hoes as if they were weapons.

"Look, I have two hoes, one for benevolence and one for righteousness," Yang Kun said, holding up the two hoes.

"Brothers, fight with me and the farmland to the last moment, then commit suicide!"

"You've been watching too much of the new Three Kingdoms series," Zhao Feng said, looking at Yang Kun, who was engrossed in the drama.

"Hehe, I can't really talk to people who don't have cell phones."

"Who said I don't have a cell phone?" Zhao Feng retorted.

"Wasn't your phone confiscated last semester?" Yang Kun asked, puzzled.

"You said it was last semester, and you returned it to me at the end of the semester."

"Alright, let's hurry up and go. Our teachers and classmates are waiting for us," Li Mubai reminded them.

Zhao Feng and Yang Kun looked up and, sure enough, saw Wu Changguo standing with his hands behind his back, looking in their direction.