We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"The exam is over. Please stop writing immediately. If any candidate continues to answer, the invigilator should stop them in time and give them a public warning. If they continue to answer, it will be considered a violation of the rules, and the candidate will be disqualified from this subject's exam."

The loud announcement from the loudspeaker was jarring and piercing. Li Mubai slowly put down his pen, silently wondering to himself, "Won't such a loud noise disturb the high school seniors who are preparing for their exams?"

"What are you thinking about, high school senior?"

After collecting all the exam papers, Xie Shu made no attempt to hide anything and went straight to Li Mubai, who was sitting in the second-to-last row.

"I was thinking, it'll be our turn to take the college entrance exam in a year." Li Mubai snapped out of his reverie, not noticing the teasing in her tone.

"Haha, I feel like I'm about to improve again." Chen Qiuhe and Deng Yi also chimed in.

"Actually, feelings are often quite different from reality," Li Mubai said calmly.

"Are you getting impatient?"

Am I in a hurry?

"Alright, hurry back to your dorm, pack your bags, and go home!" Deng Yi quickly raised her hand to interrupt.

Is her driver picking her up today? If so, perhaps she can let the driver go home alone while she takes the bus, even if her mother questions her, she wants to try.

Xie Shu opened his phone, found the driver's number, and dialed it.

"Uncle Cheng, did you drive here today? If so, you can drive back. I'm going back with my classmates."

"Excuse me, miss, it's your mother who's here to pick you up today."

……

She dragged her suitcase to the back gate of the school, where the familiar BMW was parked steadily in the most conspicuous spot, visible as soon as she stepped out.

Xu Ting rolled down the car window, her smile still gentle.

Xie Shu opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat. The window slowly rolled up, completely shutting out the noise from the outside world.

"Why are you here?" she asked in a flat tone.

Hearing Xie Shu's rather impolite words, Xu Ting was not angry; she remained smiling.

"Before, your parents were busy and neglected you, only thinking about making you do everything. From now on, Mom will pick you up whenever you have time after school."

Is that really the case? A doubt quietly crept into Xie Shu's heart.

"By the way, Xiao Shu, last Sunday I went to the company and asked Driver Cheng to take you back to school, but he said you didn't get in the car. Did something happen?" Xu Ting's tone sounded particularly concerned.

"I went to buy art supplies with some of the girls in my class," Xie Shu replied calmly.

"Oh, next time I'm not around, I'll have Driver Cheng come along, and let your classmate hitch a ride too."

Xie Shu stopped speaking, and silently turned his head to look at the scenery rushing past the window...

"Dad, Mom, I'm home."

The Jixiang Restaurant was completely empty, with not a single customer. Normally, there would be at least a few tables of customers even though it wasn't quite lunchtime yet.

Mr. Li was sitting at the table scrolling through his phone when he heard the sound and looked up.

"Your mom is behind you."

"Dad, stop scrolling through your phone all the time, it's bad for your eyes. Every time I come back, I see you scrolling through Douyin," Li Mubai casually reminded him.

"Hmm," Li's father replied perfunctorily, clearly not having taken it to heart.

Li Mubai walked into the kitchen and found his mother preparing ingredients for tomorrow.

"Little White's back? Has he eaten?"

It seems that every time he comes home, Li's mother asks him if he has eaten dinner.

"I didn't eat."

"Perfect timing! I brought a free-range chicken from my hometown; I'll make you some nourishing soup."

"What did you go back to your hometown for?" Li Mubai asked curiously.

"An elderly person in my hometown passed away, so I'm going back to help."

"Oh...do I know him?"

"Your great-uncle."

He doesn't recognize them; he's unfamiliar with most of his relatives, unless they're people he sees frequently over the years, in which case he might have some recollection.

He walked to the dining table, sat down, and waited quietly for the meal to be served...

The restaurant was deserted, with only the occasional sound of cars passing by outside. Looking at Li Mubai, who was engrossed in his meal, Li's mother hesitated for a long time before finally speaking:

"Xiaobai, is 300 yuan a week enough for your living expenses?"

"That's enough. We can still save a hundred every week."

"Business hasn't been good lately, fewer people are coming to eat, and the rent has gone up..." Li's mother said with some difficulty, "I'll give you two hundred and fifty next week, okay?"

It turns out they wanted to reduce his living expenses.

"Sure, we won't use up 300 anyway, and 200 is enough for a week's food expenses."

Li's mother breathed a sigh of relief and gave a forced smile, but quickly sighed again:

"Xiaobai, as your parents, we haven't been able to take you on trips or provide you with good conditions. Don't you feel that we are not good enough parents?"

Mr. Li also put down his phone.

"No, Mom, what are you talking about?" Li Mubai chuckled dryly, trying to break the heavy atmosphere. "Actually, if things are tough at home, two hundred a week is fine too, it's enough anyway."

"Let's go with 250. Use the extra 50 to buy some snacks and drinks, and sometimes I might need to buy some stationery."

"By the way, Mom, has business only recently gotten worse?" he asked curiously.

"The number of people has gradually decreased over the past few weeks. The police academy next door has also been stricter recently, and they rarely let students out."

Fewer diners and higher rents—it's truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly.

Ding Dong!

His phone beeped softly.

Yan Shu: "Are you home yet? Have you eaten? Shall we do a dictation now?"

Xie Shu changed her WeChat name from solitudo to Yan Shu.

Li Mubai looked up at his parents sitting opposite him, then put his phone under the table to reply to Xie Shu.

Li Bubai: "Still eating."

Yan Shu: "What did you eat?"

Li Bubai: "Make chicken soup."

Yan Shu: "I want to see it and take pictures."

Is this okay? Li Mubai glanced up again. His father was still looking down at his phone, while his mother was looking at him.

"Haha, this chicken soup is delicious. I'll take a picture to commemorate it."

After he finished speaking, he picked up his phone and took a picture from a specific angle, which he then sent to Xie Shu.

Yan Shu: "Could you pack it up and bring it to me?"

Li Bubai: "That won't do, it won't be fresh tomorrow."

Yan Shu: "Okay, then you go eat first."

Only after seeing this did Li Mubai put his phone away.

"noob."

"What are you doing?"

"Are you in a relationship?"

"How could that be? I'm studying like crazy every day, I don't have the energy for dating." Li Mubai laughed it off.

"If you really get together with another girl, your dad and I won't object, and we won't deduct your allowance, as long as it doesn't affect your studies."

"Really?" Li Mubai was a little incredulous.

"So you're really dating a girl?"

"I'm dating a rich and beautiful woman. I feel like I don't need to work hard anymore." He said this jokingly.

"Then you need to work even harder so that people will even look at you." Li's mother was amused by him and seemed not to believe his words. The worry on her face finally faded a little.

As the conversation turned to this half-serious, half-joking topic of romance, the oppressive and heavy atmosphere in the restaurant gradually eased.