We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

Upon hearing that a student had fainted, Zhong Jianjun quickly ended his meeting with the leaders of No. 1 and No. 3 Middle Schools, dismissed the students from other schools for free time, and then hurriedly took a female teacher to the school clinic.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance, he saw two girls from No. 1 Middle School standing awkwardly to the side, whispering to each other, while Xie Shu leaned quietly against the wall, looking calm.

"What are you all doing standing here?" Zhong Jianjun asked in a deep voice.

"Uh—" The two girls stammered, they couldn't just say that Mei Yulu wanted to talk to Li Mubai alone.

Zhong Jianjun asked no more questions and pushed open the door to enter the school clinic.

There weren't many people in the room, only Li Mubai standing by the bed and Mei Yulu lying on the bed with a pale face.

A man and a woman alone in a room, coupled with the scene at the door, inevitably creates an awkward atmosphere.

Zhong Jianjun's brows furrowed slightly involuntarily.

"Mei Yulu, how are you feeling now?" the female teacher who was with me asked, her tone full of concern. Judging from her appearance, she must be her homeroom teacher.

"I'm much better. The school doctor said it was low blood sugar," Mei Yulu replied softly.

It wasn't until then that the school doctor arrived late with the blood pressure measuring device, and Li Mubai quietly retreated to Xie Shu's side.

There's not much else to say. The school doctor took Mei Yulu's blood pressure and listened to her heartbeat; all the indicators were normal.

"It's probably low blood sugar caused by too much emotional fluctuation. Rest here for another half hour and observe. If there are no problems, you can leave," the school doctor instructed.

"Okay, thank you, doctor." Mei Yulu nodded.

The teachers couldn't stay there forever, so after giving a few brief instructions, they left one after another.

Zhong Jianjun glanced at Li Mubai before leaving:

"If there's nothing else, you can go home after school."

"Teacher, I'll wait for Mei Yulu to come with me," Yuan Na said quickly.

"Me too." Long Shasha had no choice; going back alone would be too lonely.

Li Mubai glanced at Mei Yulu on the bed, said nothing more, and turned to walk out of the school clinic with Xie Shu.

It was already past five o'clock, and there were still sporadic lectures coming from the teaching building, but the campus paths were almost deserted, quiet and somewhat empty.

"I'll ride the bus with you today," Xie Shu suddenly said.

"……good."

He didn't know why Xie Shu ultimately agreed to Mei Yulu's request; perhaps he felt sorry for her? It's impossible to know.

Not long after, the school bell rang throughout the campus, and Xie Shu dragged her small suitcase out of the girls' dormitory building.

"Let's go."

"Um."

The two walked side by side in silence.

I don't know if it was because of the afternoon rain or because I'm generally quiet, but there was a subtle, almost imperceptible quiet in the air.

The bus swayed and pulled up, the doors opened, and a group of chattering students poured in. Li Mubai, following Chen Qiuhe's instructions, managed to snag a double seat, and he gave up his window seat to Xie Shu.

The bus started slowly. There was no air conditioning, and the carriage was a bit stuffy. Xie Shu gently pushed open the window, and the mid-May breeze, carrying a hint of summer, blew in, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead.

She tilted her head slightly, quietly watching the street scene rushing past the window, her hair fluttering in the wind.

You sit by the window looking at the scenery, while the person looking at the scenery is looking at you.

Xie Shu snapped out of her daze, unaware that Li Mubai had somehow taken her hand.

She heard Li Mubai say this:

Mei Yulu, she was my junior high school classmate.

She didn't speak, but listened quietly.

"I used to be a very bad student, often at the bottom of the class. It wasn't until the second year of junior high that things changed. During that time, my homeroom teacher saw that I had a good foundation in Chinese, so she asked Mei Yulu to tutor me. It was with her help that I changed myself."

"And then?" Xie Shu asked curiously.

"In her third year of junior high, she left without saying goodbye."

"Transfer schools?"

"No, we're still in the same class, but... he hasn't spoken a single word to me since."

"So, you were alone throughout your final year of junior high?"

Li Mubai nodded slightly.

Xie Shu didn't ask any more questions, but simply tightened her grip on his hand.

"Were you... ever together before?" she finally asked the most crucial question.

Li Mubai remained silent, unsure how to define the phrase "together".

"I don't know, I don't know what the standards are for being together?"

"So what have you all done?" Xie Shu asked in a different phrasing.

"Like...like we are now." Li Mubai hesitated for a moment, but finally said it. Would Xie Shu hate him because of this? He was very uneasy.

"What do we look like now?" Xie Shu looked down at the two hands he was holding.

"And...you leaned on my shoulder."

As the sound faded, the noise in the carriage seemed to be separated by a transparent barrier.

All that remained was the low rumble of the bus engine and the soft breathing of the two people.

laugh--

The bus slowly came to a stop, and a voice announcement began:

"We have arrived at Jingcaotang. Passengers getting off, please exit through the rear door."

Xie Shu looked at Li Mubai and said:

"Is this your first time here?"

She gently touched the corner of her lips with her fingertip.

Li Mubai nodded with difficulty.

"Then... close your eyes." Xie Shu lowered his voice even further. "It'll be over soon."

Li Mubai's heart was pounding wildly, as if it were about to burst out of his chest. As the bus went over the speed bump, the bus swayed slightly, and his heart trembled along with it.

He knew what Xie Shu wanted to do.

He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

People are always more sensitive to the unknown when they are in the dark.

He could smell the faint scent of jasmine on her, and feel her getting closer and closer, her breath growing ever stronger.

Is it coming?

His heart felt as if it were being tightly gripped by a hand, and it almost stopped beating.

Li Mubai opened his eyes. Xie Shu's delicate and petite face filled his entire field of vision. He turned his head away and said:

"no."

"Why not?" Xie Shu stepped back and asked in confusion.

"You...we...are not adults yet." He came up with a lame excuse.

"Can you only do it if you're an adult?"

Li Mubai gave a weak "hmm".

"But I've read in books that some minors are like this too," Xie Shu said.

"That's a book."

"Okay, that's settled then." Xie Shu rested her head on his shoulder and held his hand tightly.

The fact that they were underage was just a pretext. What he really cared about was that their future was still uncertain. He didn't want to be a drop of murky ink, hastily soiling a clean and beautiful piece of paper.

"Li Mubai, I need to rest for a while. Call me when we reach Tongxin Road." Xie Shu's voice drifted gently on the wind.

"it is good."

……

"Li Mubai, I don't care about your past, I only want your present and your future."

A strand of hair drifted onto his cheek, making his face slightly itchy. He glanced to the side and saw that Xie Shu had already fallen into a light sleep.

The evening breeze wasn't too hot either.