We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Shubao, what are you writing down?"

Upon hearing Deng Yi's voice, Xie Shu closed his notebook and casually replied:

"Take notes from today's class."

Seeing that Xie Shu had put the notebook away, Deng Yi didn't press the matter. She walked over to Xie Shu and asked in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft:

"Shubao, what about you and Li Mubai now?"

She didn't finish her sentence, but I believe that with Xie Shu's intelligence, he should be able to guess what she meant.

The chatter that had been taking place in the dormitory suddenly stopped as everyone pricked up their ears to listen. Chen Qiuhe quietly took out her notebook and pen.

"Me and Li Mubai?" Xie Shu turned around and looked at Deng Yi in confusion.

"Uh—everyone in the class is saying you two are together, is that true?" Deng Yi simply asked directly.

"No." Xie Shu replied calmly, as if she weren't the woman in the rumors.

Deng Yi stared intently at Xie Shu's expression, trying to find a flaw, but the latter's cheeks and ear tips did not turn red or show any shyness. She simply spoke calmly, like a still lake.

"Really? Xie Shu?" Liu Ting couldn't help but ask immediately.

"Um."

"I knew it! My Shubao is so outstanding, how could she possibly be in a relationship so early?" Deng Yi's worried expression turned into a smile.

"Let me clarify the rumors for those gossipers." She took out her phone, ready to send a clarification message to the ringleader who was spreading the gossip.

"No need." Xie Shu was silent for a moment before gently stopping Deng Yi's actions.

"Why not use it? It will affect your reputation, Shu Bao." Deng Yi looked at her in confusion.

"Because rumors stop with the wise. Even if they are clarified, people will only believe what they want to believe." Xie Shu closed his eyes slightly.

"Hmm—" Deng Yi hesitated for a moment before continuing, "We should at least say something to clarify our stance, otherwise the rumors will only get more outrageous."

"Let me explain." Xie Shu opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Okay, Shu Bao, what you say is more convincing," Deng Yi said with a grin.

Not together? But not right now, Chen Qiuhe thought to herself.

"Then Xie Shu... you and Li Mubai... you're not together, but you must have a good relationship, right?" Ye Manqi asked cautiously.

Upon hearing this, everyone else stopped what they were doing. Who wouldn't want to hear gossip about the top student in the grade?

"Yes, we are friends." Xie Shu nodded gently and said earnestly.

Friends? There are different types of friends: ordinary friends and close friends. As for Xie Shu and Li Mubai's friendship, they tend to prefer the latter.

Furthermore, if you take a close friendship to the next level, it would probably become a romantic relationship. As for pure friendship, that's really rare.

"That's normal. Shu Bao sits in front of Li Mu Bai, so there's bound to be some interaction." Deng Yi said matter-of-factly.

Other girls have also had the experience of sitting around male classmates to varying degrees. It is indeed difficult to remain completely silent at school. Moreover, Xie Shu and Li Mubai, as the class monitor and vice class monitor respectively, must discuss class affairs, so it is normal for them to communicate.

"Get some rest, you have class tomorrow." Xie Shu said this before going to bed to rest.

"Shu Bao, remember to send a clarification message to Huang Lingling," Deng Yi reminded her.

Xie Shu gave a soft "hmm" and said nothing more.

Chen Qiuhe put away her notebook full of notes and prepared to wash up and rest.

On Monday, Li Mubai was still the first person to arrive at the classroom. He pushed open the classroom door, and thankfully, the locks on the school classroom doors were all broken, so he didn't have to wait for the class monitor to bring the key to open the door every day.

Sometimes he would deliberately not turn on the lights. Before the day was fully bright, he would hide in the dim light of the classroom and quietly enjoy a moment of peace.

Perhaps this is what people online call "a crawler in the shadows," he thought to himself with amusement.

Snapped.

The lights came on, and Li Mubai's eyes were momentarily blinded.

"Oh my god! Vice squad leader, you scared me!"

Li Mubai looked over and saw Huang Lingling, who was patting her chest lightly, still shaken.

"Sorry, I arrived too early this morning and was a little sleepy. I wanted to close my eyes and rest, so I didn't turn on the light," Li Mubai apologized, making an excuse for his quirk.

"It's alright, vice squad leader. Remember to turn on the lights next time."

Huang Lingling was good at math and ranked eighth in the class. She put down her schoolbag, glanced at the classroom, and saw that there were only her and Li Mubai there.

It seems that every morning when she arrives at the classroom, she is always the second one, while Li Mubai is always the first.

"By the way, Vice Class Monitor... I'll still call you Li Mubai. Vice Class Monitor feels a bit distant. I hope you don't mind?" Huang Lingling said.

"I don't mind."

Li Mubai turned around and looked at her in confusion. Huang Lingling was sitting in the third row of the second group.

In the past, they would each do their own thing when they came to the classroom, but today, for some reason, the other party suddenly broke this unwritten rule.

Huang Lingling glanced at the classroom door and then at the clock. The other students wouldn't arrive for a while, so to make sure Li Mubai could hear her, she whispered:

"Li Mubai, if I may ask, are you and XS together?"

Not only boys like to refer to someone using pinyin, but girls do too.

"no."

"So, are you developing in this direction?"

……

"Why would you ask that?" Li Mubai didn't answer, but instead asked in return. Only by keeping the direction of the question in his own hands could he conceal his true thoughts.

"It's been many times, I've felt that your relationship with XS is more than just ordinary."

"For example?"

"For example, the drama performance last semester, the lunch break at No. 1 Middle School last Friday, the time I saw you two coming from the club building together after dinner one time, and how you and Xie Shu always exchanged snacks."

Huang Lingling counted on her fingers the events that had happened between him and Xie Shu.

"The class monitor and I are just friends," Li Mubai said calmly.

"Friends?" Huang Lingling clearly didn't believe it.

"Are many people in the class talking about this?" Li Mubai didn't dwell on the question and instead asked her.

"Quite a lot... I guess." Huang Lingling looked away unnaturally.

"Actually, it's not a big deal if you two actually get together. Although the school says early relationships are prohibited, it's like not allowing cell phones—the more you prohibit it, the more people bring them," she added.

"Um, if you hear other classmates discussing this, please help clarify: the class monitor and I are not dating, nor are we developing in that direction. We are friends, thank you."

It's good enough that they're friends now; there's no possibility of them getting together right now...

"Okay." Huang Lingling nodded reluctantly.

Li Mubai turned around, not caring whether Huang Lingling believed him or not. The more the person involved explained, the less others would believe him, because they believed that any explanation was just a cover-up.

"Then Li..." Huang Lingling was about to speak when she shut her mouth because a classmate had arrived in the classroom.

Without Xie Shu and Chen Qiuhe, Li Mubai did feel much more lonely. During breaks, not knowing what to do, he simply lay on his desk to catch up on sleep, just like Wang Rui.

"Class, today we're going to read two Song Dynasty poems: Liu Yong's 'Wang Hai Chao' and Jiang Kui's 'Yangzhou Man.' Before we begin, let's have two students each recite one of them."

In the first Chinese class, Ms. Yang stood on the podium and spoke slowly, glancing around the room.

"Thank you, Shu." A student suddenly said in the quiet classroom.

Teacher Yang paused for a moment, then spoke:

"Then please have Xie Shulai recite Liu Yong's 'Looking at the Tide,' and as for the other poem..."

"Li Mubai!" The voice rang out again.

"Oh~" Many girls immediately started making noise, and everyone understood each other without saying a word.

"Quiet down."

Teacher Yang spoke loudly, looking at Li Mubai and Xie Shu, the two students who won provincial essay competition awards last semester.

"Li Mubai, do you want to give it a try?" Teacher Yang asked.

"Okay." He stood up without changing his expression, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"Looking at the Tide, Liu Yong..." A clear voice rang out behind him.