We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Have you heard? Last Friday during the exchange program, a girl from another school fainted in the auditorium."

"That's terrible, is it low blood sugar?"

"That should be true."

"Then I'll have to carry a few candies with me from now on. If I'm not feeling well, remember to give me a candy first."

"Haha, you can just eat normally."

Strictly speaking, Sunday and Friday belong to the same week, but every time students return to school on Sunday, they are always confused about whether it belongs to last week or next week.

Li Mubai looked up at the clock above the blackboard. The hands quietly pointed to 4:40 PM, which was almost lunchtime.

Xie Shu had previously said that after dinner, we should go directly to the club activity room.

"I feel like I can give him anything, he'll just burst into tears on the spot." Chen Qiuhe's voice came before they even reached the activity room.

Li Mubai pushed the door open and entered, then quietly closed it with a soft "click," instantly silencing the discussion inside.

The atmosphere was strangely awkward, and all three of them turned their gazes to him simultaneously.

"Uh—what are you talking about?" He sat down next to Xie Shu and changed the subject.

"We were talking about how to move you to tears." Chen Qiuhe looked at him expressionlessly.

Li Mubai was completely bewildered. What strange topic? Why were they talking about this?

He looked at Xie Shu with a puzzled expression.

"Qiuhe was just joking."

I see. But no matter what, he probably won't shed a tear.

"Let's start with dictation," Xie Shu said.

……

Watching Chen Qiuhe discussing her mistakes with Deng Yi, Li Mubai secretly sighed that this activity room would no longer only house him and Xie Shu from now on.

Perhaps it won't last much longer; the leadership transition will take place at the end of June, and we can't keep "hoarding" the activity room key by then.

"How's your novel coming along?" Xie Shu leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"I just finished writing the outline."

Li Mubai adopted her suggestion and, drawing on his own life experience, carefully drafted the framework for the entire novel.

Xie Shu took the notebook he handed her and looked at it carefully. Long hair from her temples slipped down from her ears, covering half of her face.

"Is there no ending?"

"I haven't decided on the ending yet," Li Mubai answered honestly.

"It's a good ending."

"What?" Xie Shu's voice was so low it sounded like he was talking to himself, so he didn't hear him clearly.

"I want a happy ending."

He hasn't figured out a happy ending yet, probably because there's no realistic basis for it. Judging from the outline, it all seems to be heading towards a bad future.

"Take your time to refine the outline, no rush." ​​Xie Shu handed the notebook back to him. "The most important thing is to study hard."

"It's too far-fetched for a middle school student to write a novel, because they simply don't have that much time," Li Mubai nodded.

"So, which platform do you plan to release it on?" Xie Shu asked again.

"I haven't decided yet." He's currently just throwing himself into this field with enthusiasm, knowing absolutely nothing about it.

"Tomatoes aren't right for you, you should try Qidian."

"Why?" Li Mubai asked curiously.

"I specifically checked the rules of each platform over the weekend." Xie Shu said calmly, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary. "Tomato requires stable and high-intensity updates, while Qidian values ​​the quality of the articles themselves more."

"……Thanks."

If it weren't for him, Xie Shu would never have bothered to learn about these things; she never reads online novels anyway.

"You're welcome." Xie Shu smiled slightly. "But from now on, I want to be the first person to read your novel."

"Okay." Li Mubai nodded solemnly.

"What are you talking about?" Chen Qiuhe put down her pen and looked at them.

"We're talking about how to move you to tears," Li Mubai said expressionlessly.

Chen Qiuhe curled her lip in disgust, while Xie Shu chuckled softly beside her...

"Li Mubai, Teacher Zhong is looking for you."

Teacher Zhong? Does their class have a subject teacher with the surname Zhong?

"Excuse me, which Teacher Zhong are you?" Li Mubai asked the classmate who called him.

"That's the director of the teaching affairs office."

Why would the director of the teaching affairs office, Zhong Jianjun, want to see him? Li Mubai's doubts deepened.

The teaching affairs office was on the third floor, and the door was tightly closed. Li Mubai knocked on the door.

"Come in."

A hoarse, deep voice came from inside.

The moment he pushed open the door, a strong smell of smoke hit him, and Li Mubai couldn't help but cough a few times because he was choked.

Zhong Jianjun stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his face serious.

"Close the door."

The old-fashioned wooden door creaked and slammed shut with a loud thud, like a heavy wall that completely separated the office from the outside world.

Zhong Jianjun opened the window to let in some fresh air. The evening breeze rushed in, diluting the pungent smell of smoke, and Li Mubai felt a little better.

"Teacher Chung, you wanted to see me?"

Zhong Jianjun didn't speak immediately, but continued to look through the documents in his hand. Li Mubai glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, and his heart sank.

In his hand were all his exam scores from the high school entrance exam to the present.

The wind blew in through the window, carrying away the smoke, and then hurriedly left.

Li Mubai remained silent, and even his breathing slowed down.

Zhong Jianjun remained silent, his fingertips tracing the printing paper, making a soft rustling sound, and a silent pressure gradually pressed down.

After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice so deep that Li Mubai had to listen carefully:

"Li Mubai, I've looked at your grades from the high school entrance exam to the mid-term of this semester. You barely made it into No. 6 High School, and now you're in the top ten of the humanities class. That's a pretty good improvement."

"Yes, teacher," Li Mubai replied, but he was even more confused.

We called him over just to praise his grades?

"What are your learning tips?"

"...I don't have much to do but study."

This is the truth.

He comes from an ordinary family, doesn't like playing games, and doesn't have much of a social life. Besides studying, he doesn't know what else he can do.

I study as soon as I wake up, and I study right after I finish eating, but some things can't be learned by rote memorization alone, like math...

Zhong Jianjun was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked up at him, his eyes sharp:

"Aren't you doing something else right now?"

Li Mubai's heart tightened.

He tapped his fingers on the office desk and uttered two words:

"Early love".

Li Mubai lowered his head and remained silent.

"To be honest, after seeing your grades, my opinion of you has changed. You are a hard-working person." Zhong Jianjun's tone softened, but it still carried an undeniable authority. "However, learning is like rowing against the current; if you don't move forward, you fall behind. You will soon be seniors in high school, so you should understand what is most important."

"Okay, teacher," Li Mubai replied perfunctorily.

"The teacher is speaking to you kindly as someone who has been through it. If you don't let it affect you and keep up this momentum, getting a good score of 92 is absolutely no problem."

The conversation abruptly shifted, and the tone turned cold.

"But have you thought about the consequences if you let early romance drag you down? Will breaking up affect your mindset? Xie Shu can be with you without any worries because she has her family to support her, but can you? Do you think Xie Shu's family can accept you as you are now?"

A barrage of questions rained down on Li Mubai, leaving him completely bewildered and unable to utter a single word, his throat feeling as if it were blocked.

"Go back and think it over carefully. You still have time to make a decision now. Don't wait until your senior year of high school to affect your study mindset." Zhong Jianjun finally gave him the order to leave.

Li Mubai's feet were still rooted to the spot. He wanted to refute, but he couldn't seem to find a point to make. Could he really say he could do it? It seemed like an empty promise...

dong dong dong.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."