We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Li Mubai, Xie Shu, try the bowl-shaped rice cakes I made this weekend, hehe."

The bright smile on Chen Qiuhe's face reminded Li Mubai of Zhou Wu's aggrieved yet stubborn expression.

"It's delicious."

Li Mubai exclaimed that he actually didn't like eating bowl cakes. There were often these sold outside the elementary school, and even if they were delicious, he still thought they were just so-so.

But accepting something made by someone else and taking it seriously should make the other person happy.

"I'll try some too."

Xie Shu took a small bite, and only after finishing it did he say:

"It's pretty good, better than average."

"Hehe." Chen Qiuhe chuckled.

"Qiuhe, this is for you." Xie Shu took out a snack.

"What is this?"

"This is……"

Watching Xie Shu and Chen Qiuhe sharing snacks, Li Mubai sighed inwardly. Every family has its own troubles. As students, they couldn't do much except study hard.

He glanced at his side again; it was empty. At that moment, Wang Rui was either playing basketball with Jiao Yong or taking a walk with his girlfriend.

"Haki Bai, Xie Shu, shall we go feed the cats?" Chen Qiuhe asked, turning her head.

He went there alone on Thursday. All the cat food was eaten, and he even saw an orange cat. Unfortunately, there was no cat food left, so he only brought a few cat treats.

"Let me think about it."

Li Mubai said that he hadn't done his dictation yet, and looked up at Xie Shu to see if she wanted to go.

"I brought cat treats," Xie Shu said.

Having brought the cat treats meant he was going, and Li Mubai nodded immediately.

But why would Xie Shu have cat treats? Does she also have cats at home? Ragdolls? Of course, it's also possible that she bought them specifically to feed stray cats.

This time, Chen Qiuhe didn't make an excuse to slip away like she did last time.

Li Mubai whistled, and the orange cat immediately jumped out of the bushes.

"Li Mubai, you look like a street thug, whistling and harassing an innocent girl like Hakimi," Chen Qiuhe teased.

"Don't talk to idiots... what are you saying? This is a sign that they've been fed enough."

Li Mubai wanted to say "I won't argue with a fool," but thinking of her family's situation, he swallowed his words.

"That's certainly true once they're properly fed," Xie Shu also said.

"Xie Shu, you know about cats too?" Chen Qiuhe asked.

"Hmm." She nodded, not revealing much information.

"Give me the jar, I'll feed him." Chen Qiuhe looked at Li Mubai.

"OK."

Li Mubai handed her the jar and stepped aside.

Two girls were feeding the cat, and he, having nothing else to do, decided to take a look around.

I don't know why the school installed a long cement flower bed here. Just one meter away is the school wall, and outside the wall is a barren mountain.

Da da da—

The footsteps grew closer. Someone's coming? Should I hide?

Li Mubai hesitated, looking at Xie Shu and Chen Qiuhe who were still playing with the kitten, and decided not to hide anymore. He couldn't very well drag them behind the bushes, could he? Besides, it wasn't a big deal anyway.

"What are you doing?!" A strong voice came from behind.

Chen Qiuhe immediately stood up and looked back, while Xie Shu calmly got up.

"Teacher Lu, we're feeding the cats," Li Mubai said to Lu Zhongdao, the director of the Ideological and Political Education Department.

"Feeding cats? Don't you know that stray cats and dogs aren't allowed at the school?"

Lu Zhong's gaze shifted to behind Li Mubai, where an orange cat was happily eating, and two girls, one holding a can and the other holding cat treats.

"Xie Shu?" He frowned even more deeply after seeing the face of one of the girls.

"Teacher Lu," Xie Shu responded softly.

"Alright, hurry back to the classroom and study. Don't come to feed us anymore! If you get scratched or bitten, how will the school explain it to your parents?" Teacher Lu criticized.

What does this mean? Is the school going to expel the orange cat?

In fact, Li Mubai could understand that if a student contracted rabies from being scratched or bitten by a stray cat or dog on campus, the school would be responsible for it. Therefore, he always treated the situation with the mentality of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free."

"Teacher Lu, we don't feed other stray cats and dogs, we only feed this one. It doesn't scratch people, and it only operates in this remote area," Xie Shu said.

"No way! If a student is really scratched, will the school be responsible or will you be?" Lu Zhong refused firmly.

Li Mubai and Chen Qiuhe exchanged a glance, the latter showing a resigned expression. After all, as an ordinary student, it was unwise to go against the director of the Ideological and Political Education Department.

He glanced at Xie Shu again; the other man was looking down, seemingly lost in thought.

Well, every cat has its own destiny.

"good……"

Li Mubai opened his mouth, about to speak, when a voice suddenly interrupted him.

"I'll take responsibility," Xie Shu said softly.

"If any student gets scratched and needs medical treatment, I will compensate them," she continued.

……

For a moment, even Teacher Lu fell silent.

If it were an ordinary student, Lu Zhong might just think the other party was being argumentative, but Xie Shu was a different story.

"I... can share the burden too." Li Mubai hesitated for a moment, but still mustered up the courage to say it.

"Me too." Seeing that the two of them had expressed their opinions, Chen Qiuhe also said.

Xie Shu glanced at Li Mubai, smiled slightly, and remained silent.

"If Teacher Lu doesn't believe us, we can write a letter of responsibility, sign it, and give it to you," Xie Shu added.

"Hmph! You said it yourself, write a responsibility statement, sign it, and hand it to me." Lu Zhong finally relented.

"OK."

"Go back to the classroom and study now!"

Once they were away from the vicinity of the gymnasium, Li Mubai finally felt relieved, as he was afraid that Teacher Lu's next words would be, "Call your parents here."

"Shu Bao, you are my goddess!" Chen Qiuhe excitedly hugged Xie Shu gently.

"It's okay." She patted Chen Qiuhe's arm, signaling her to let go.

"hey-hey."

Chen Qiuhe released her hand sheepishly, and as if suddenly remembering something, she asked:

"By the way, how much does it cost to treat a cat scratch?"

"If the skin is broken but there's no bleeding, it'll cost between four and eight hundred. If there's bleeding, it'll cost between one thousand eight and three thousand," Li Mubai explained.

"What?! It's so expensive even though I bled?" Chen Qiuhe exclaimed in shock.

Xiao Chen, don't say "me too" anymore. Now you know it's expensive, but it's too late.

Actually, Li Mubai made a big decision when he said it, because he couldn't come up with that much money all at once. It seems he'll have to save some spare change from now on.

I remember overhearing on Friday that Chen Qiuhe's father wasn't giving her tuition or living expenses...

"It's okay, I have plenty of New Year's money," Chen Qiuhe said with a smile.

How many?

Li Mubai asked curiously, "Chen Qiuhe said she received a lot of New Year's money on her birthday last time. How come she still has New Year's money after so long?"

Chen Qiuhe didn't speak, but simply held up one finger.

"One thousand?" Li Mubai guessed.

Chen Qiuhe shook her head.

"Ten thousand?"

She nodded and said:

"A little more than that."

It turns out that it was Li Mu Bai himself who was broke...

"Actually, we can vaccinate cats for only fifty to one hundred yuan, then we don't have to worry about getting rabies from scratches," Xie Shu said.

"Really?" Chen Qiuhe asked.

Li Mubai nodded, agreeing that it made sense, but it would take time to catch the cat and then take it to the vet for a shot.

"Then let's do it this way!" Chen Qiuhe said excitedly. Saving where possible and spending where necessary has always been her principle.

"Okay, then I'll take the cat to the vet for its vaccinations the Friday after next," Xie Shu said.

"Hmm—Class monitor, I'll go with you," Li Mubai said, feeling a little bad about letting Xie Shu do all the work alone, since she hadn't fed the cat many times.

"Okay, that's perfect, you need to put it in the cat carrier too." Xie Shu said to Li Mubai.

"I have something to do the Friday after next, so I probably won't be able to come with you guys," Chen Qiuhe said apologetically.

"It's alright, Qiuhe." Xie Shu waved his hand, not caring.

"Then you guys take a taxi. I'll reimburse you for it as a small compensation for not being able to go with you," Chen Qiuhe said after thinking for a moment.

"it is good."

The Friday after next, today is Sunday. After going to the No. 1 Middle School next Friday, and then after the monthly exam the following Friday, I have to go to the vet...

Li Mubai silently calculated the time in his mind.