We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Li Mubai, are you with Xie Shu?"

Lan Shiyu's voice suddenly broke out, abruptly interrupting Li Mubai's thoughts.

Speaking of that time, he couldn't walk any further than the last five kilometers. He felt like his legs no longer belonged to him. He and Xie Shu took a taxi and sent her home. They rushed to catch a taxi back before 10 o'clock. In their haste, they didn't even bring their coats back.

"No... I don't think so."

"Yes, it exists!"

"What business is it of yours?"

Li Mubai countered, "Does she have to tell my mother that I'm dating some girl at school? That would be quite troublesome."

"I was just gossiping casually." Lan Shiyu shrugged. "By the way, I won't be taking your family's car back to school anymore. My dad will drive me there himself when he has some free time."

"That's good." Li Mubai nodded in agreement.

"Hey—aren't you going to try to persuade me to stay? We've been riding together for a month, after all."

Li Mubai just chuckled and didn't reply.

"Alright, alright, I'm going back now. See you at school." Lan Shiyu waved her hand, got up, and left his house.

School's starting today...

As soon as I pushed open the dormitory door, a wail of agony hit me.

"Holy crap, how can there be so much math homework? Five worksheets and a workbook, is this even humanly possible?"

Yang Kun sat at the table, his pen moving rapidly.

"What did you do during all those days of vacation?! You're almost a senior in high school, why are you still thinking about playing all day?" Zhao Feng criticized Yang Kun sternly, pretending to be Wu Changguo.

"Stop scolding me, stop scolding me, I'm making up for it now..." Yang Kun suddenly changed the subject and said, "But this week, Shuangli only needs to attend classes for three days, and can go home on Saturday."

"Tell the school not to adjust the work schedule. Not only will you not have to work three days, but you can just work two days."

"That won't do, I don't have that kind of ability."

"If it were Xie Shu, perhaps it would work," Li Mubai thought to himself.

"By the way, Lao Bai, have you finished your homework?" Yang Kun suddenly turned to look at him.

"It's done."

"Look at Chicken Bro, you're always the one who has to finish all the homework during holidays."

"Alas, I am the only one who is sober while everyone else is drunk, and I am the only one who is pure while the whole world is muddy."

……

According to the school's schedule, there will be a midterm exam next week, so Li Mubai went to the classroom and began to review.

By the window, after a short holiday, several jasmine plants have quietly bloomed, including Li Mubai's double-petaled jasmine and Xie Shu's single-petaled jasmine.

Li Mubai gazed at the pure white figure, hesitated for a moment, and while there weren't many people in the classroom, he quietly took out his phone from his bag and gently typed a line of text on the screen.

Li Bubai: "The flowers are blooming; we can come back and take a look now."

The message was sent and received a reply within seconds.

Yan Shu: "Okay."

As more and more students returned to school, the once quiet classrooms quickly became noisy.

Ring ring—

When the evening self-study bell rang, it wasn't Wu Changguo who walked into the classroom, but Teacher Chen. The classroom, which had been buzzing, instantly became mostly quiet.

"Where's the class monitor? Come up and count the number of students." Teacher Chen's tone was calm, yet it carried an inherent sense of pressure.

He pulled up a chair, sat on the podium, and his gaze swept over the entire class. The oppressive atmosphere was even more tense than that of Wu Changguo.

"Teacher, forty-two people were expected, and forty people are present."

"Forty people? Which two are missing?"

"Chen Qiuhe, and..." Li Mubai paused, belatedly realizing that Xie Shu hadn't returned to school yet, and he had included her in the count. "Teacher, I'm sorry, there should be forty-one students, and forty are present. Chen Qiuhe hasn't arrived yet."

"Your attitude won't do," Teacher Chen said immediately, her face darkening with a critical tone. "You can't even handle something as small as counting heads. If you do this in the exam, you'll lose real points."

Li Mubai didn't argue, but obediently nodded in agreement.

"Okay, go study. I'll call and ask Chen Qiuhe what's going on."

"Okay, teacher."

Back in his seat, Li Mubai subconsciously looked up and noticed that the two empty seats in front of him were gone. He seemed lost in thought.

After returning to his dormitory from evening self-study, Li Mubai thought it over and over, and finally sent a message to Chen Qiuhe.

Li Bubai: "Why didn't you come to school today?"

The message was sent, but it went unanswered, like a stone sinking into the sea. A sense of unease crept into his heart. Had something happened? He could only put down his phone and go wash up.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Chen Qiuhe finally replied. Because his phone was on silent, Li Mubai was delayed for another ten minutes before he saw the pop-up message.

Qinghe: "Haha, it's nothing, thank you for your concern. I'll be back tomorrow."

Li Bubai: "If you encounter any difficulties, you can talk to me and Xie Shu. Didn't you say we are your friends?"

There was a moment of silence before a message came in.

Qinghe: "Thank you, my friend."

Qinghe: "Get some rest early, or the dorm supervisor might come and check your room and confiscate your phone!"

Chen Qiuhe clearly intended to skip the topic, so she jokingly threatened Li Mubai.

Li Bubai: "Okay, goodbye."

Qinghe: "Goodbye."

After putting down his phone, Li Mubai vaguely felt that what Chen Qiuhe was going through might be related to her family. He just hoped that what she was going through wasn't too big and that she wasn't under too much pressure.

The next morning, Chen Qiuhe sat quietly in the classroom, just like she had been at the beginning of her second year of high school.

He had barely sat down when she turned her head and gave him a knowing smile.

"Hello, new deskmate."

"Have you been reborn?" Li Mubai asked.

"Yes, I've been reborn. What I lost in my previous life, I will take back in this one!" Chen Qiuhe clenched her fist. "By the way, new deskmate behind me, can I borrow your meal card? I'm going to get some breakfast."

"for you."

Li Mubai handed her the meal card without hesitation, assuming she hadn't topped it up. But even if she hadn't, there should still be some money left on the card before the holiday. Oh well, he didn't know anything about Chen Qiuhe's situation.

"Thanks, here you go."

Chen Qiuhe tossed aside the same glass candy she had used last semester, took his meal card, and strode away.

Li Mubai picked up the candy on the table. The shiny candy wrapper glittered. If it weren't for the jasmine blooming on the windowsill, he might have thought he had traveled back to the beginning of his second year of high school.

"Everyone, take out your English books and continue reading the words."

Chinese, Politics, English, and Math—that's all for the morning classes.

Strangely, every teacher seemed to be in a particularly good mood today, speaking in a relaxed tone and even asking questions in a much gentler way.

Li Mubai wondered to himself, could it be that everyone had just returned to school after the holiday and hadn't recovered from the relaxation of the break? By the afternoon, he knew the reason.

"Oh~!"

Someone shouted first, and the whole class immediately erupted in cheers.

……