We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

Xie Shu gently pushed open the door and walked in, immediately seeing Li Mubai standing there in a daze.

"Teacher Zhong, Teacher Wu asked me to come and see the class monitor." Her clear voice broke the tense atmosphere in the office.

Zhong Jianjun was clearly taken aback, probably not realizing who the "squad leader" she was referring to was.

Once he came to his senses, he waved his hand and said calmly, "Go."

Xie Shu glanced at Li Mubai, who was still in a daze, and walked out of the office first. Seeing this, he followed him out.

"What did Zhong Jianjun say to you?"

"Nothing...

He was suddenly tapped lightly on the shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Xie Shuzheng looking directly at him with a serious expression.

"Didn't you say you'd tell me if anything happened in the future?"

"I'm sorry," Li Mubai apologized immediately.

"So what did Zhong Jianjun tell you?"

"He...Teacher Zhong told me to think carefully about my future."

"What future?" Xie Shu pressed.

"It's just..." After hesitating for a moment, he finally decided to tell the whole story, "I was told not to have a relationship too early, because it would distract me and affect my grades."

The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds, then a soft laugh rang out. She smiled, her eyes crinkling, and looked at Li Mubai, saying earnestly:

"We're not dating, we're just...very good friends."

Close friends? Li Mubai's gaze fell on their clasped hands. Xie Shuqing's cool fingertips slowly gripped his palm. Is this something close friends can do?

"Li Mubai, let's go to the rooftop and take a look," she suggested.

"Didn't Teacher Wu want to see me about something?"

"It's nothing, I was just kidding him," Xie Shu said matter-of-factly.

"what?"

Li Mubai suddenly realized that Xie Shu seemed to have often used the excuse of "the teacher is looking for you" before. At the time, he did not distinguish between truth and falsehood. Now, looking back, it was all a suspicious "trap".

"Squad leader, come with me to the rooftop for a stroll."

As soon as Xie Shu finished speaking, he pulled Li Mubai upstairs without saying a word, leaving Li Mubai with no choice but to follow.

In May, darkness falls late, and the setting sun is slowly sinking, weaving a beautiful tapestry of reddish-brown sunset clouds across the sky.

It was almost time for evening self-study, and the rooftop was already empty, so there was no need to fight with anyone for the right to use it.

Xie Shu stood by the railing. She loved standing by the railing, letting the evening breeze tousle her hair, while her left hand tightly held Li Mubai's hand.

"The sunset in Pingyang in early summer is beautiful; I never seem to get tired of it," she said, feeling the warmth of her hands.

The orange sunlight shone on their faces, concealing all their excitement.

"Li Mubai," Xie Shu suddenly turned his head, looking at him with a firm gaze, "No matter how others doubt you, you must believe in yourself, believe in yourself, you can do it."

"Okay." Li Mubai nodded emphatically, the gloom in his heart dissipating considerably.

"I wish I had done everything on earth with you," Xie Shu suddenly murmured in English.

"Um?"

Xie Shu turned her head to look at the dazed Li Mubai, who seemed not to have understood the English she had just recited.

"You should practice your English listening skills."

"Could you copy down the sentence you just said? I want to translate it manually."

"I won't copy." Xie Shu suddenly smiled mischievously. "Once your listening comprehension is better, I'll read it to you, you write it down, and then translate it and read it back to me."

"All right."

The bell rang for evening self-study. Wu Changguo walked into the classroom and, as usual, said:

"Class monitor, please count the number of students."

After waiting for a long time, Li Mubai still didn't come up.

"Teacher Wu, the class monitor isn't here," someone replied.

"Then the deputy squad leader should count the number of people."

"The vice squad leader isn't here either."

He looked up and found that two seats at the bottom of the classroom were empty. Just as he was hesitating, a sound came from the front door of the classroom.

"Report."

Li Mubai called out, followed by Xie Shu.

Everyone in the classroom glanced at each other furtively, then looked away. They were used to it by now. But given how strict Teacher Wu was, they probably wouldn't allow early romantic relationships...

"Don't be late next time. Go back to your seats. Li Mubai, take a headcount," Wu Changguo criticized, downplaying the seriousness of the situation.

After evening self-study ended, Yang Kun was incredulous in his dormitory:

"No, has the Wuchang fish changed its species? The difference between Lao Bai and XS is so obvious, how come he can't tell?"

"Maybe this is the preferential treatment given to top students," Zhao Feng joked.

"I don't believe it! The emperor is subject to the same laws as commoners!"

"Because we didn't have a relationship in our early years," Li Mubai suddenly said.

"Not together?" Everyone was immediately puzzled.

"We got together, but we weren't in a relationship. We're good friends." Li Mubai repeated his original words.

"We're good friends~" Yang Kun mimicked the line in a strange way, "Do you even believe that yourself?"

"I believe you." Li Mubai nodded.

"You're unbeatable, Lao Bai. Love really does lower IQ. I'll quietly rise up and take your top ten spot, hehehe."

Li Mubai ignored Yang Kun's cackling laughter and turned to look at Wang Rui:

"Wang Rui, when will you teach me?"

"Well--"

Wang Rui realized that emotional intelligence is not easy to teach, especially the ability to understand women's thoughts. Should he let Li Mubai try it out on a few girls?

"Wang Rui, what are you going to teach Lao Bai?" Jiao Yong asked curiously.

"I understand," Yang Kun suddenly interjected. "Wang Rui wants to teach Bai Fen Jue, you old bastard, hand over the Fen Jue right now!"

"Go see your Xiao Huohuo!"

After Yang Kun's interruption, they didn't press Wang Rui any further.

"Never mind," Wang Rui thought for a moment and said to Li Mubai in a low voice, "I feel like this might work. Maybe she likes this way of getting along. Of course, you can't be confused about important matters. You have to care about her more. Generally, when you're in a relationship, you want to possess the other person completely, that's how it is."

Li Mubai nodded, but he wanted to correct one point:

"We're not dating, we're just good friends."

Wang Rui had a "whatever makes you happy" expression on his face.

Regardless of whether they believed it or not, Li Mubai was going to continue working on his novel. Since he couldn't use electronic devices at school, he had to write it down by hand.

The dormitory lights went out, and he turned on the desk lamp to continue refining his outline. He still couldn't solve the ending, but he could start writing the beginning.

When I put down my pen and looked up again, I had no idea what time it was.

After confirming that Wu Changguo would not raid the men's dormitory at night, he carefully took out his phone; it was 11:51 PM.

Yan Shu: "What are you doing?"

The message was sent half an hour ago, and I don't know if Xie Shu has rested yet.

Li Bubai: "Just finished writing the outline, getting ready to rest. Goodnight."

Yan Shu: "[Moon jpg.]"

A scene that seems familiar...

Yan Shu: "Hmph, goodnight, get some rest, don't stay up too late."

Xie Shu's soft laughter seemed to travel through the words.

See you tomorrow, thank you.

"Hey guys, are you all asleep? A girl said goodnight to me. 'Goodnight' is a homophone for 'I love you,' and 'goodnight' is a homophone for 'I love you.' Does she like me?"

In the quiet dormitory room, Yang Kun's voice suddenly rang out. After a long silence, with no one responding, he could only leave the female streamer's live broadcast room in frustration, turn off his computer, and go to sleep.