We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"...Returning to the Phoenix Pool to boast."

As soon as Xie Shu finished reading the last sentence, applause immediately rang out in the classroom. It seemed to have become a conditioned reflex; whenever Xie Shu stood up to read aloud or answer a question, everyone would applaud in unison.

"Okay." Teacher Yang put down her clapping hand and looked at Li Mubai. "Li Mubai, come and give it a try."

He held up the book. To be honest, he had always felt that he was not good at reading aloud and was afraid that his voice would be ridiculed. But now, in the first row, he could not see anyone else, only himself and his Chinese textbook.

"Yangzhou Slow, Jiang Kui... For whom does he live year after year?"

As Li Mubai finished speaking, no one applauded in the classroom. He had already expected this, so he had no expectations.

Snap, snap.

Soft clapping sounds came from the last row, and the others joined in.

"Good, sit down," said Teacher Yang.

In reality, the gossip in the class is just a passing fad; once the novelty wears off, people will stop paying attention to it.

So, this week, he happened to be seated separately from Xie Shu, and if he paid attention, there was nothing wrong with it.

At noon, during the routine meeting, he and Xie Shu entered the conference room. Li Mubai pulled out a chair and then pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.

"Thank you." Xie Shu sat down.

"You're welcome, class monitor." Li Mubai's face showed neither surprise nor joy, as if he had done something insignificant.

Seeing this, Xing Yi felt like his molars were about to shatter. Could he report this early romance now?

"After the meeting, please have the class monitors of Grade 11 (3) and Grade 11 (3) come and collect the quantitative scoring sheets."

This is the third week of the new semester, and he and Xie Shu are going to check the hygiene of the first-year high school students again during morning reading time.

After the meeting ended, Li Mubai and Xie Shu walked towards the cafeteria together. It didn't matter if others saw them, since they were together because of the meeting.

But if it's already spread throughout the class, what if Xie Shu finds out too? What will she think? Will she clarify things?

He glanced at her briefly, then put his hand in his coat pocket and stared intently ahead.

"Teacher Wu," she said.

Li Mubai was stunned for a moment, then quickly looked away. Wu Changguo was walking towards him, his eyes still on him. Hearing Xie Shu's voice, Wu Changguo nodded.

"Teacher Wu," Li Mubai called out.

"Hmm, where did you come from? And where are you going?" Wu Changguo asked inquiringly, his eyes narrowing slightly.

As expected of a political science teacher, even his words are full of philosophical meaning, Li Mubai thought to himself with a slight resentment.

"After the class monitor meeting, we're going to the cafeteria for lunch," Xie Shu replied.

"Oh, is there still food left if we go now?" Wu Changguo asked, but the questioning tone disappeared, and his brows slowly relaxed.

"There should still be some left," Li Mubai said. Today's meeting didn't last too long, just like before. When he arrived at the cafeteria, there were still some leftovers.

Upon hearing this, Wu Changguo took out a brown leather bag, opened it, and handed him two meal tickets.

"You and Xie Shu each get one, go eat on the third floor."

"No need, teacher, we'll just eat at the student cafeteria." Li Mubai raised his hand to refuse.

"Take it if you want. There weren't many dishes left in the student cafeteria when I went downstairs. Consider this as a contribution you made to the class."

Uh--

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Wu." After hesitating for a moment, Li Mubai finally accepted it.

"Thank you, Teacher Wu," Xie Shu also said.

"Um."

Looking at Li Mubai and Xie Shu in front of him, Wu Changguo felt a strong connection to his nephew and niece-in-law, whom he had given money to for their wedding during the Spring Festival. His brow furrowed involuntarily, and he said:

"Alright, hurry up and go eat, then go back to the dorm for a nap."

Actually, there's no need to give them meal tickets. Xie Shu probably has plenty too. I saw her Hello Kitty wallet full of red meal tickets during the first regular meeting.

When Li Mubai and Xie Shu arrived at the third floor of the cafeteria, he realized Wu Changguo's intentions.

All of them were teachers. Wu Changguo's move was a calculated scheme, using the eyes of other teachers to supervise them. If Xie Shu hadn't naturally lined up, Li Mubai might have already left.

Most teachers just glanced at it, then looked away indifferently and continued to complain about work with their colleagues.

Aside from attending the first regular meeting, Xie Shu would sometimes take him to the third floor when the meetings ended too late.

This wasn't the first time; he skillfully prepared the food and sat down with Xie Shu in a relatively quiet place.

Chinese people seem to like to chat while eating, softening the seriousness of topics that are inconvenient to discuss directly through the atmosphere of the meal.

Li Mubai picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, unsure whether to tell Xie Shu about it.

Say.

If Xie Shu didn't know, then he would have to tell Xie Shu about this "rumor".

If Xie Shu knew, she wouldn't have taken it seriously at all, which would have made Li Mubai seem like he was making a mountain out of a molehill.

Xie Shu picked up a piece of green vegetable, chewed it gently, and said as if casually:

"You probably already know what the girls in your class are talking about."

It seems Xie Shu already knows. What will she say next? Is this a rumor? Will she invite him and his classmates to clarify?

Li Mubai nodded, and the atmosphere became slightly somber.

"Don't worry about it, just focus on your studies." She chuckled softly, breaking the tension.

"it is good."

Since Xie Shu doesn't care, there's no need for him to waste his energy on internal conflict. He should just focus on his studies.

……

"Hey Li Mubai, did you come back from lunch with XS?" Jiao Yong teased as Li Mubai pushed open the door to return to his dormitory.

"Don't you eat lunch after the meeting? What else can you do?" Li Mubai asked, feigning ignorance.

"So, did you go with XS?" Yang Kun rolled off the bed.

"Yes," Li Mubai replied frankly.

"Haha, Lao Bai, you've been caught red-handed, haven't you?" Jiao Yong laughed.

"Um."

Li Mubai went to wash up by himself, then went to bed to prepare for a nap. Seeing Li Mubai like this, the others lost interest in teasing him.

In fact, those who start and tease often want to see the person being teased or ridiculed show a panicked or embarrassed expression, thus gaining pleasure from it.

However, if the other party doesn't react, they will gradually lose interest. After all, students are more focused on exams and studies and don't have much energy to keep up with gossip for a long time.

Therefore, take it easy and, as Xie Shu said, don't worry about it, just do your own thing.

During the afternoon class meeting, Wu Changguo entered the classroom through the front door with his hands behind his back. He first coughed twice to clear his throat:

"Everyone, I believe your visit to No. 1 High School last Friday must have left a deep impression on you. Why is No. 1 High School the best high school in the province? From the sound of reading aloud, from the academic atmosphere..."

Wu Changguo first praised the learning atmosphere at No. 1 Middle School, then moved on to the learning atmosphere at No. 6 Middle School, and finally pointed out the main point to be announced in this class meeting:

"The school was worried that our No. 6 Middle School's key liberal arts class wouldn't feel the competition, so they decided to maintain the joint exam model among the three schools, whether it's monthly exams, midterms, or finals, until the college entrance exam is over."

hiss~

Everyone gasped in astonishment. Three schools working together like this? How much more workload must that add to the teachers' workload?

"That's all I have to say. This week's monthly exams: are you confident that the top thirty students in your class will all rank in the top one hundred of the three schools?"

No… A silence fell over the classroom; this wasn’t something one or two students could say for sure.

"Do you have confidence?!" Wu Changguo raised his voice.

"Yes," the whole class answered in unison, though their voices were not very confident.

Is it another joint exam between the three schools? I wonder if he can make it into the top fifty this time, Li Mubai thought to himself.