We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

The girl named Juan then took two skewers of candied hawthorn from the vendor. As she turned around, her eyes unconsciously glanced at Xie Shu, who completely ignored her.

Ms. Juan glanced at Li Mubai one last time, then walked past them and left.

Xie Shu's furrowed brows gradually relaxed. She walked straight up without asking Li Mubai's opinion, probably knowing that Li Mubai would definitely refuse if she asked, so she directly picked two of the most basic hawthorns.

"Ten yuan in total," the stall owner said.

"Let me pay, class monitor." Since Xie Shu had paid for the milk tea earlier, Li Mubai offered to take out his wallet.

"it is good."

Watching Xie Shu carefully biting into a candied hawthorn, Li Mubai hesitated, but ultimately couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked the question that had been on his mind:

"Squad leader, what about those two people from earlier?"

……

"Let's go back, it's getting late."

Xie Shu didn't answer, but instead suggested going home. Li Mubai glanced at the time; it was already 7:30 PM. He quickly nodded.

When he arrived at the entrance of the pet hospital, the bicycle was still there and hadn't been stolen. He held the bicycle steady, waited for Xie Shu to sit down, and then stepped on the pedals and rode towards the school.

Since it was already dark and the streetlights were dim, Li Mubai rode with extra caution, constantly paying attention to the road conditions.

"One of them was my junior high school classmate." Xie Shu's voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself, seemingly unwilling to mention this matter, but Li Mubai still heard him in the quiet night.

What happened in junior high? A question arose in Li Mubai's mind, but Xie Shu had no intention of continuing the conversation, and the topic came to an abrupt end.

"Oh dear, you've finally arrived! I was about to close up shop if we had been any later." The owner of the bicycle rental shop was quite anxious as he returned to the store.

"Excuse me."

Li Mubai parked his bicycle in the correct spot, and the shop owner returned the ID card he had been holding as collateral.

The two went to the security room at the school gate to retrieve their luggage. The old man joked that he thought they weren't coming back, and Li Mubai could only smile awkwardly.

Xie Shu took the bus home, just like Li Mubai. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait too long. The No. 76 bus swayed and bumped its way to the stop. Xie Shu sat in the last double seat.

The bus was now quite empty, with only two or three passengers. After hesitating for a moment, Li Mubai finally chose to sit next to Xie Shu.

From the moment she met Xie Shu's junior high school classmate until now, Xie Shu has lost her initial cheerfulness and become very silent.

Her phone vibrated; it seemed someone was calling her. Was it a family member?

Xie Shu picked up the phone and answered it, holding it to her ear away from Li Mubai. The sound of the bus also masked the questioning from the other end of the line.

"On its way," she said casually.

After a few curt "hmm"s, Xie Shu hung up the phone, not knowing what was said on the other end.

Li Mubai secretly glanced at Xie Shu's expression. The bus hadn't turned on its lights to save electricity, and the dim streetlights shone abruptly on her silent face. Her eyes were downcast, and she didn't seem very happy. As the bus moved forward, the streetlights receded, and darkness once again covered her face.

Is it her family urging her to go back? Li Mubai wondered to himself. Sometimes when he came home late, his mother would ask him where he was.

His clumsy emotional intelligence prevented him from uttering any suitable words of comfort. After thinking for a moment, he asked:

"Squad leader, was that... a call from your family?"

"Mm." Xie Shu nodded softly in the darkness.

"Let me check if my family has sent me any messages."

Li Mubai took out his phone. A ray of light appeared in the darkness, causing his eyes to sting for a moment before he gradually adjusted. His parents hadn't sent him any messages, but Chen Qiuhe had.

"It seems my family has forgotten I'm even a child," he tried to joke.

Humph.

A short, soft laugh broke the stillness of the air. She spoke, her tone less heavy than before:

Are you an only child?

"No, there's another brother." Seeing that Xie Shu was no longer dejected, Li Mubai's heart, which had been clenched with worry, was finally at ease.

"Did your brother go to university?" Xie Shu couldn't help but ask curiously.

This time it was Li Mubai's turn to be silent. Li Muyong did not go to university, or even high school. He was three years older than Li Mubai and went to work in society after graduating from vocational school.

In the past, when people asked Li Mubai about his brother, whether his brother was in college, he would sometimes feel ashamed to talk about it. Perhaps this was not a good thing; it would have been fine to just say it openly. It was all due to his inner inferiority complex.

"No, I went to work," Li Mubai replied. Come to think of it, Li Muyong's workplace is also in Jiangnan. Could it be in Xie Shu's hometown?

Seeing that Li Mubai didn't want to delve deeper into this topic, Xie Shu stopped pressing him and instead asked another question:

"So, do you think it's better to be alone at home or with someone?"

"Maybe one child is better." Xie Shu seemed to be asking whether it was better to have one child or two children. After thinking for a moment, Li Mubai replied that the family's financial burden should be less if there was only one child. He added his reasoning in his mind.

"Oh, but if it's just one person, then the family will place all their expectations on her," Xie Shu said softly.

"Actually, it's the same for both children. If the older one is not good enough, then all the family's expectations will fall on the younger one."

Most people think that if they ruin their main account, they'll start a new one.

Xie Shu glanced at him in the dimly lit carriage, then looked away.

"Was the photo on your ID card taken a while ago?" She didn't continue with this rather heavy topic for both of them.

"Uh—yes."

The photo on Li Mubai's ID card was taken when he was in junior high school. He was quite young and inexperienced back then, and ID photos are often unflattering.

So when Li Mubai handed over his ID card, he deliberately turned the side with the national emblem towards Xie Shu. Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper, Lao Liu, flipped it over and glanced at the side with the national emblem. Xie Shu caught the moment.

"You're still quite green." She chuckled twice, then asked, "You're 17, right? When was your birthday?"

How could Xie Shu know? He remembered that he had never publicly revealed his age.

"Chen Qiuhe told me." Seeing Li Mubai's doubts, Xie Shu directly betrayed Chen Qiuhe.

Ah this...

"My birthday is June 20th." After hesitating for a moment, Li Mubai finally revealed his birthday.

"Then when the school holds its coming-of-age ceremony next year, you'll still be eighteen," Xie Shu said.

Seeing that Xie Shu didn't mention anything about celebrating his birthday, Li Mubai breathed a sigh of relief. If someone suddenly said they wanted to celebrate his birthday, it might put pressure on him.

"And what about you, class monitor?"

"Just like you, I'll be eighteen next year when I have my coming-of-age ceremony."

However, the difference is that Li Mubai will be 18 years old before the college entrance examination next year, while Xie Shu will be 18 years old according to the traditional Chinese age reckoning.

Li Mubai nodded slowly. "Class monitor, actually, what I wanted to ask about is your birthday..."

Ding! We have arrived at Tongxin Road. Passengers getting off, please exit through the rear door.

"I'm getting off now. Goodbye, Li Mubai."

Goodbye, class monitor.

Xie Shu got up, picked up her small suitcase, and got off the bus through the back door.

Li Mubai sat by the window. The bus started moving again. He turned his head to look out the window. Xie Shu stood there, watching the bus gradually disappear at the end of the road.