We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

Xie Shu then arranged the debater assignments in the group chat: Li Mubai would be the first debater, Lan Shiyu the second debater, Xie Shu herself the third debater, and Chen Qiuhe the fourth debater.

Li Mubai glanced at the tasks for each debater and found that the third debater seemed to have the hardest job, as they had to ask the opposing team's first, second, and fourth debaters a question each, and also give a summary of the cross-examination.

Xie Shu: "You can search for debate competitions online and familiarize yourself with them first."

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "No problem!"

Li Bubai: "Okay, class monitor."

Exit QQ, open Bilibili, and type "debate competition" into the search box. The first result is "Love is the fall of free will".

He paused for half a second, then swiped down and tapped on another video—"Is money the root of all evil?"

……

At seven o'clock on Saturday morning, Li Mubai got up early. After washing up and eating breakfast, he sat at his desk waiting for the competition to begin.

Yan Shu: "Were you nervous during the competition?"

Li Bubai: "A little, but it's alright."

Yan Shu: "Because it's online?"

Li Bubai: "Hmm."

Yan Shu: "It's almost nine o'clock, believe in yourself."

Believe in yourself...

[The First Springtime Middle School Poetry Competition of Xiyue Province]

Tang Tao: "All contestants, please be prepared. You may use some auxiliary tools, but your work must be original. You cannot use AI or plagiarize. If you are found to have done so, you will be eliminated immediately and the matter will be announced."

As soon as the time on the phone reset to zero, the poetry competition group immediately released a QR code and a couplet theme—clouds.

This is a classic question.

With only one hour left, he and Yan Shu had already agreed that he would provide the first line, Yan Shu would provide the second line, and the latter would submit the final line.

Half an hour later, Li Mubai sent the first line of his poem to Yan Shu: "Floating in the air, it shrouds the verdant mountains in layers."

In less than twenty minutes, Yan Shu had already come up with the matching line: "Fluttering across the fields, leisurely shrouding the green waters in a wisp of smoke."

Yan Shu: "Is that alright?"

Li Bubai: "Okay."

I can't think of anything better right now.

It started at 2 PM, which felt similar to an exam, except the "exam" didn't last as long.

At 2 p.m., Tang Tao announced the theme for the poetry competition: early spring.

Li Mubai spent an hour writing it, and another half hour revising it before he felt it was barely satisfactory.

Li Bubai: "I've finished writing. Have you finished?"

Yan Shu: "Yes, I've just finished writing too. Let's take a look at each other's work."

Li Mubai sent over his five-character quatrain, and Yan Shu also sent over a seven-character quatrain.

... (Some of the poems can be found online, but I have omitted them for confidentiality.)

Yan Shu: "How is it?"

Li Bubai: "Yes, that's fine."

Yan Shu: "Then it's submitted."

The submission was still done by scanning a QR code. Li Mubai scanned the code and was taken to a page similar to a questionnaire. He filled in his information, pasted his poem, checked it carefully, and submitted it only after confirming that everything was correct.

That's all for now. We'll just have to wait until next weekend to release the results.

Yan Shu seemed to have something to do and quickly went offline.

After the competition, Li Mubai realized that Chen Qiuhe had added him to a group chat, which seemed to be for the debate competition.

He Lin: "@Has everyone been added?"

Li Mubai glanced at the number of people in the group: thirty-eight. There were really few people. Each team had four people, so it didn't seem like there were many people.

He Lin: "Now that everyone's in, let me briefly explain the debate competition schedule and rules..."

In short, the first match will be held next Monday, the semi-finals will be held on Wednesday, and the finals will be held on Thursday.

Except for Thursday, which is during evening self-study, the other two sessions are from 6:00 PM to 6:50 PM.

He Lin: "After the competition, we will announce the winner on the spot and give the advancing teams the topic for the next round of debate."

He Lin: "Except for the first and semi-final rounds, which were held in our debate club activity room, the final round was held in the school auditorium."

"Hmm~ The auditorium, that's a bit too impressive. There might be school leaders and students from other classes coming to watch," Li Mubai thought to himself.

He Lin: "We will draw lots at 8 pm tonight. Teams that draw the same debate topic will be the opponents in the first match."

He Lin: "In addition, since there are only seven teams, one team will have a bye in the first match, and the team with the bye can also come to watch the first match of the other teams."

Seven teams, or twenty-eight people, is fewer than Li Mubai had expected. It seems this debate competition is really not very attractive.

Li Mubai switched to the [All-Female Debate Team] group.

Qinghe: "I'll draw the lottery tonight, I'm lucky."

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "My luck isn't bad either."

Qinghe: "Are you Lan Shiyu?"

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "Yes."

Qinghe: "Everyone, remember to change the group name to your own name."

It seems to be addressed to the God of Rice Noodle Rolls, since Chen Qiuhe has personal notes for both Xie Shu and Li Mubai.

Lan Shiyu: "I was just kidding [grinning face], is your name Chen Qiuhe?"

The god of rice noodle rolls has fallen.

Chen Qiuhe: "Yes, I've heard Li Mubai mention you. Are you in the science class?"

Know yourself and the enemy, a hundred battles will never end.

Lan Shiyu: "I'm in Class 2, next to your class."

Lan Shiyu: "By the way, should we meet in person for some practice and communication?"

This is a problem. Li Mubai also agreed to meet before the match, since team matches definitely require mutual understanding and discussion of tactics and cooperation.

Xie Shu: "Is it convenient for you to arrive at school at 2 PM tomorrow?"

It seems Xie Shu wants to come to school after lunch, which is fine with Li Mubai.

Li Mubai: "It's convenient, class monitor."

Lan Shiyu: "Convenient, convenient."

Chen Qiuhe: "Of course, Shu Bao."

But where should they communicate? Lan Shiyu wasn't in their class, Li Mubai pondered, but then decided to wait until he got to school the next day to see how things went.

Ding dong.

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "My mom told me to go with you tomorrow; she's already arranged it with Aunt Yang."

Living close by is a hassle. Although Lan Shiyu and he don't live in the same neighborhood, their homes are less than a kilometer apart.

Li Bubai: "My dad only drives me around in the afternoon when he has free time. If I leave at noon, it's right when they're busy."

It was lunchtime.

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "Then let's take the subway."

Li Bubai: "There is no subway."

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "If Uncle Li doesn't drive you, how will you get back to school?"

Li Bubai: "Walk there."

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "Walking?! That's twenty kilometers! Do you think I'm stupid?"

Li Bubai: "I need to exercise more, because I might have a physical test next month."

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "Then you can walk there tomorrow, I'll take a taxi."

Li Bubai: "A taxi would cost forty or fifty yuan."

Don't ask Li Mubai how he knew. One time he left a little late, and his father wasn't home, so he had to take a taxi.

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "I'll have my driver follow you, and I'll watch you walk to school from the car."

Li Bubai: "I'm taking the bus, so you should tell the driver to follow the bus."

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "Hehe, the bus is fine too. We'll come to your house at 11 a.m. Remember to get ready. We need to arrive early tomorrow and can't be late."

Li Bubai: "Aren't you going to eat lunch?"

The God of Rice Noodle Rolls: "Eat on the go."