We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Chen Qiuhe, you should top up your meal card too."

Chen Qiuhe was at the end of the line, and he was right behind her.

"Oh, what a coincidence."

The two then fell silent. Li Mubai thought that if they were talkative people, the atmosphere might not have become so cold, but he couldn't think of any topics to discuss.

After topping up her meal card, Chen Qiuhe did not leave, but stood quietly to the side.

"What's up?" Li Mubai put the recharged meal card into his pocket, then looked at her.

"Hehe." Chen Qiuhe chuckled, "Let's go to the convenience store and buy some things together."

"I'm not going." Li Mubai turned around and made as if to leave.

"Please."

"Let's go."

"Tsk tsk, you change your tune so quickly." Chen Qiuhe scoffed.

"I just remembered that I also needed to buy some things," Li Mubai explained.

"Then I won't invite you."

……

On the afternoon of the day students returned to school, there weren't many students yet, and the convenience store wasn't as crowded as it had been last time.

He couldn't help but recall the scene of his "fleeing in disarray" last week; this was the place where he had suffered his defeat!

It's really embarrassing to think about it now; it would have been better to just pretend I didn't notice them...

Chen Qiuhe handed him a shopping basket, saying, "Could you help me carry these? Thank you."

"How much are you buying? And you're even bringing a basket."

"not much."

"Is it too much? Not at all." Li Mubai thought of this sentence for no apparent reason.

"You've really caught my eye."

Chen Qiuhe first took five packs of Want Want candy, then two boxes of Oreos and a strip of AD calcium milk.

Reaching the potato chip shelf, Chen Qiuhe looked at him and asked, "What kind of potato chips do you like?"

"No need," Li Mubai waved his hand.

"What do you mean no need? I'm just asking what you like to eat so I can experience what guys like to eat." Chen Qiuhe grinned mischievously.

Li Mubai remained silent to himself as he picked up a package with a light green packaging.

"Then let's have Lay's lime, that's tastier."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qiuhe tossed four packets into the basket.

Afterwards, she wandered around the convenience store and bought some snacks before Chen Qiuhe was finally satisfied.

"You're buying a week's supply?" Li Mubai asked.

"Yes, that way we won't have to queue anymore."

After paying, Chen Qiuhe filled two bags with snacks, and then gestured for Li Mubai to carry them.

To avoid blocking the cashier, Li Mubai picked up two bags of snacks from the counter.

Why don't you mention it?

"Because I want to eat candy."

Chen Qiuhe pulled out two Alpenliebe strawberry lollipops from a bag, opened one and put it in her mouth, and stuffed the other into Li Mubai's pocket.

"Here's one for you."

"Thanks."

"Oh, you're thanking someone after helping them?"

"...I'm just being polite, but you don't want me to help you carry it up to the girls' dormitory."

"What are you thinking? Will you be allowed into the girls' dormitory? Please just escort me to the dormitory building."

Fortunately, the convenience store wasn't far from the dormitory, and we arrived in no time.

Li Mubai felt a little awkward. This was his first time coming to the girls' dormitory. Usually, when boys come to the girls' dormitory, they are escorting their girlfriends upstairs.

He looked around and thankfully there weren't many people.

"Here you go, I'm leaving." Li Mubai handed the bag to Chen Qiuhe and prepared to leave.

"Look, you're in such a hurry again."

Chen Qiuhe put the bag on the ground and took out two bags of lime potato chips and a bottle of AD calcium milk for Li Mubai.

"This is for you, and this is AD calcium milk. It might save your life if you choke on potato chips."

What kind of genius can choke on potato chips?

"Thank you, I'll head back to my dorm now."

"Um... I should be thanking you. See you tonight."

See you tonight.

Watching Li Mubai leave, Chen Qiuhe realized that she hadn't given him the straw for the AD calcium milk. Oh well, boys can just bite a hole in it with their teeth and drink it anyway.

Back in the dorm, most of the boys had already arrived, except for Wang Rui.

He put the potato chips and calcium milk in his drawer, intending to eat them whenever he felt like it.

Tonight's evening self-study session was led by our homeroom teacher, Wu Changguo. He didn't stay long before calling Xie Shu and Li Mubai to his office.

Have you noticed any cases of early romantic relationships in your class lately?

Li Mubai's heart skipped a beat.

"No," Xie Shu replied without hesitation.

Li Mubai quickly followed up by saying no.

"That's good, but you still need to keep an eye on things. The teaching affairs office caught one last week. The second year of high school is the most important stage of high school... especially since there are only a few boys in the class. Li Mubai, you need to keep a close eye on him and report to me if anything happens."

Li Mubai, who was wondering if Wang Rui had been caught, nodded quickly when Wu Changguo mentioned boys: "Okay, Teacher Wu."

Wu Changguo scrutinized Li Mubai with his eyes, then said:

"Li Mubai, you should also be careful not to fall in love too early. I think you have a good foundation, but your English and math are a bit weak. Put more effort into these two subjects and try to get into the top ten in the midterm exam."

"Okay, Teacher Wu, I will try my best."

"Alright, if there's nothing else, you can go back and study."

Xie Shu and Li Mubai left the classroom in silence. Li Mubai thought to himself that he was really not good with words. If he were, he might have already made the aloof girl next to him smile.

Li Mubai sat back down in his seat, and Chen Qiuhe pushed a notebook towards him.

"What did Wuchang Fish say to you just now?"

"Ask if there are any students in the class who are dating early."

"Could it be that Wu Changyu found out about your early romance with Xie Shu and is using this as a warning to you?"

Li Mubai sometimes had to admire Chen Qiuhe's imagination.

"You've got quite the imagination. It's just that a couple was caught by the disciplinary office last week."

Li Mubai didn't know what Chen Qiuhe was thinking. She said the same thing last Monday, and she's still saying the same thing now.

"I see. Do you know how to play Gomoku? If you do, come over. I learned a new trick online this weekend, it's really amazing."

"bring it on."

Although it's called Gomoku (Five in a Row), I didn't actually come up with a set of Gomoku pieces. Instead, I drew grids on a notebook and used circles and crosses to represent black and white pieces.

Li Mubai played ten games with her, with each side winning and losing, and then he stopped coming.

"Why did you stop playing? Are you scared?"

Such a clumsy attempt at provocation.

"I'm not playing anymore, I need to study."

"All right."

Learning is an answer that cannot be refused at school.

After evening self-study ended, Li Mubai was suddenly told that it was their group's turn to clean today, and the groups were arranged in a vertical line.

Xie Shuzheng was assigning tasks to the other girls, and Li Mubai tactfully took the mop to the bathroom.

Each group was assigned a boy, probably so that the most tiring tasks during cleaning could be assigned to the boys. It was just a clever idea from the homeroom teacher.

After the girl finished sweeping the floor, Li Mubai started mopping it. The girl who had finished cleaning had already gone back, leaving only Li Mubai and Xie Shu in the classroom. He felt inexplicably nervous.

"Squad leader, why don't you go back first?"

"fine."

Xie Shu carried the garbage bag full of trash to the classroom door and replaced it with a new one.

After mopping the floor, Li Mubai went to the restroom to rinse the mop. When he returned to the classroom, he saw that Xie Shu was still there. He hung up the mop and picked up the trash bag.

"I'm gone."

"Mm." Xie Shu nodded.

The classroom lights went out, leaving only the corridor lights on.

Li Mubai also had to carry the garbage bags to the school's landfill.

Once outside the teaching building, it got dark all around. The streetlights at Pingyang No. 6 Middle School weren't white LED lights, but rather pale yellow light pillars.

It was supposedly designed by a physics teacher at the school; they are all solar-powered and don't actually light up.

Xie Shu followed beside Li Mubai. The summer night breeze carried a hint of a young girl's fragrance, and the rare tranquility meant that neither of them broke the atmosphere.

It was even darker when they arrived at the landfill. Xie Shu didn't follow, but stood a short distance away. Li Mubai walked over with a garbage bag, but heard whispers.

"Someone's coming."

What is this doing?

Early romance?

Li Mubai felt that this relationship had become rotten, but it was understandable, since a garbage dump was indeed a place with little light.

Remembering that Xie Shu was still standing by the roadside, he threw the trash bag into the landfill and quickly jogged back.

"The squad leader is gone."

"Was someone there just now?" Xie Shu suddenly asked.

Your hearing is that good?

"Yes, there is someone." Li Mubai nodded.

"I saw two dark figures, were they a couple?"

"I think so," Li Mubai said uncertainly.

"Isn't love supposed to be sweet? Why does it smell a bit bad?"