We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

Li Mubai had just changed into his slippers when his phone vibrated in his pocket. The screen lit up; it was a message from Xie Shu:

Do you have any plans for the May Day holiday?

With his fingertip hovering above the screen, Li Mubai paused for two seconds. Hmm? What was she going to do?

Li Bubai: "No."

Yan Shu: "Are you free tomorrow night? I'd like to check your homework and see if you've studied well during the two weeks I was away."

Li Bubai: "Okay, where to?"

Li Mubai readily agreed.

Yan Shu: "I haven't decided yet. I'll let you know when I do."

Li Bubai: "Hmm."

Ring ring—

The shrill ringtone of the cell phone suddenly interrupted Li Mubai's thoughts.

He picked up his phone and saw that it was Li's mother calling. He could hear a lot of noise and the roar of the range hood on the other end of the line, which meant she was in a restaurant.

"Little White, are you home yet?"

"I'm home now."

Are you doing your homework now?

"Not yet, I just got back and plan to rest for a while before writing," Li Mubai replied truthfully.

"Then come to the restaurant and help your dad and me out. We can have lunch there."

"it is good."

I never imagined that at such a young age he would have to experience the life of a beast of burden, and without pay at that.

The Jixiang Restaurant was packed with people. It was lunchtime, and being close to the airport, it was naturally crowded.

Li Mubai walked in, and his mother immediately saw him and waved to him.

"Xiao Bai, take this to table number five."

Li Mubai walked over quickly, took the dishes from his mother's hands, and steadily carried them to table number five.

The guests at the table saw him and said "thank you." He nodded slightly in response, then turned and quickly walked to the kitchen to help serve dishes and clear the table.

After working for half an hour, the number of customers gradually decreased, and Li Mubai was finally able to catch his breath. He found a stool in a corner, sat down, and drank some water.

"Xiaobai, your dad and I will be running the restaurant during the May Day holiday, so we won't be taking you out to play. If you have any places you want to go, just tell us and we'll give you some pocket money."

As Li's mother spoke, she transferred two hundred yuan to Li Mubai.

"I saw that Shiyu's family said they're going to a neighboring province for the May Day holiday. They're leaving tonight. If you want to go, you can go with Aunt Lan and the others. I'll transfer you some money later. Bring some extra things with you. Be careful."

"No need, Mom." Li Mubai waved his hand and declined with a smile. Although traveling out of the province was something he had always dreamed of, he had an appointment for tomorrow.

Moreover, he has some savings, all of which he has saved up.

Just as Li's mother was about to say something, she was interrupted by a voice:

"Boss, one order of stir-fried shredded pork with garlic sauce and one order of Mapo tofu."

"And another tomato and egg soup," the girl standing between the two adults added.

"Alright, please have a seat. It'll be ready in a minute." Li's mother immediately stood up, her face regaining its warm smile. She turned to Li Mubai and said, "Xiaobai, go and help tidy up that table over there."

"it is good."

He took the rag and turned to walk towards the table piled with plates.

The girl in the seat glanced at him, then quickly looked down, pretending not to see him.

Ah... the world is full of coincidences. The thing that Li Mubai had always felt embarrassed about finally happened—he ran into his classmate at his own restaurant.

"Let's grab a quick bite here first, and then we'll go to Xi'an and really enjoy the local delicacies," said the man at the head of the group, presumably Huang Lingling's father, leaning back in his chair with a relaxed tone.

"Lingling, didn't you always say you wanted to go to Xi'an to eat roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) and yangrou paomo (mutton stew)?" The woman beside her, Huang Lingling's mother, looked at Huang Lingling kindly, her tone full of affection.

"Uh—uh—" Huang Lingling looked up after Li Mubai finished clearing the dishes and left. "I've made a plan. I'll follow the plan when the time comes."

"Alright, alright." The woman smiled gently.

"Xiaobai, take this shredded pork with garlic sauce to table number 4," Li's mother called out.

Li Mubai silently accepted the gift and placed it on Huang Lingling's table. Since the other party had no intention of greeting him, he pretended not to see it.

Huang Lingling kept her head down, playing with her phone.

Her father looked up at Li Mubai, sized him up, and then lowered his voice to say to Huang Lingling:

"Lingling, you need to study hard, otherwise you'll end up working as a waitress like this boy."

"...Dad, is it possible that she's the boss's child, and she's home on vacation helping out?"

Huang Lingling's mother nodded in agreement, saying:

"Yeah, don't say that. Maybe he really is the boss's child, coming back to help out during the holidays. There aren't many sensible kids like that these days."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Huang Lingling's father disagreed. He looked at Li's mother, "Hey, ma'am, is this little boy yours?"

He pointed to Li Mubai, who was serving the dishes.

"It's our family's. The kids are on holiday for May Day, so they came to help out at the store."

"Wow! Your child is quite well-behaved, unlike mine..."

"Dad," Huang Lingling called out softly, interrupting her father. She felt like she could dig a three-bedroom apartment out of her toes right now.

"Where does your child study?" Huang Lingling's father was clearly a talkative person.

When Li Mubai's school was mentioned, a proud smile appeared on Li's mother's face, and her tone became much lighter:

"I'm a second-year student at Pingyang No. 6 Middle School."

The couple came from ordinary families and had little education, but Li Mubai, through his own efforts, was admitted to Pingyang No. 6 Middle School, a key provincial high school, which was the greatest pride of their whole family.

"Oh my, what a coincidence!" Huang Lingling's father suddenly put down his chopsticks, his tone full of surprise. "My Lingling also studies at Pingyang No. 6 Middle School, she's also a second-year student. Isn't that a coincidence? Could they be in the same class?"

Upon hearing this, Huang Lingling felt a pang in her heart, and she quickly urged in a low voice:

"Dad, hurry up and eat! We'll be late to board the plane!"

"Yes, hurry up and eat, stop chatting," Huang Lingling's mother urged as well.

"Okay, okay, okay."

The man picked up his chopsticks again.

Huang Lingling ate quickly, and her father nagged her halfway through for not eating politely enough, but she didn't care.

After the storm had passed, Huang Lingling ran out of the store.

"How much?" the man asked, scanning the QR code with his phone.

"Fifty-three, just sweep fifty."

"Okay, the taste is alright. I'll come back to try it next time I have the chance." The man smiled.

"You can come alone," Li Mubai thought to himself.

Huang Lingling's father walked out of the restaurant and subconsciously glanced at Li Mubai standing in the store. He felt that the boy looked familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

But having been in business for so many years, he encountered all sorts of people every day, so he didn't take it to heart and turned to catch up with Huang Lingling and his wife who were waiting ahead.

Huang Lingling and her parents left, and Li Mubai breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lingling, was that boy in your class? He looks kind of familiar, like I've seen him somewhere before," Huang Lingling's father suddenly asked, a hint of doubt on his face.

Huang Lingling paused for a moment, then quickly shook her head, gave an awkward laugh, scratched her head, and said perfunctorily:

"No, I haven't seen him much either. He's probably from the next class."

Huang Lingling's mother didn't ask any further questions, only saying:

"Alright, stop thinking about it and let's go, or we'll really miss our flight."

Huang Lingling nodded, looked away, and quickened her pace to catch up with her parents. She still felt a little embarrassed, and the scene in the restaurant earlier and Li Mubai's silent figure clearing away the dishes kept replaying in her mind.