We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Xiaobai, you're about to enter your senior year of high school. Have you decided which university you want to attend?"

"Take the entrance exam for Peking University."

"I'm telling you the truth, I've been asking around lately, and other kids in your year have already started researching their target schools and planning their college applications. You should start paying attention too."

Looking at Li's mother, who was earnestly asking him questions, Li Mubai countered with a question:

"I'm not kidding, I really want to get into Peking University."

"Fine, fine, go for Peking University." Li's mother's tone was full of disapproval. "If you can really get into Peking University, that would be a blessing. Your father and I would be laughing in our dreams every night."

It seems that he wants to get into Peking University. Others will think he's joking or daydreaming, which is normal. To get into Peking University with a liberal arts degree, you need to score at least 670 points, which he is far from.

In previous years, it was considered very good if one liberal arts student from their school could get into Peking University; most of the time, they didn't even get one.

"Oh, right, Xiaobai," Li's mother suddenly remembered something and asked casually, "Don't you need to come to school next Thursday and Friday?"

"right."

Li Mubai nodded, then suddenly realized that Thursday and Friday, plus Saturday and Sunday, would make a four-day mini-holiday, which would be nice.

"Then next Wednesday, when you get out of school, have your dad pick you up."

"Okay, Mom, I'm going home now."

"Okay, get some rest, Xiaobai. You have to go back to school tomorrow," Li's mother reminded her.

"understood."

When Li Mubai got home, it was almost 8 p.m. Usually at this time, he would video call Xie Shu and dictate English words to him.

But ever since the first round of English review began, Teacher Li printed out a vocabulary list for each student, and naturally, he and Chen Qiuhe also received one.

As a result, the original dictation plan was scrapped, and now we're just following the group.

Open WeChat and tap on Xie Shu's chat page. The last chat message was from last week. They don't seem to rely on each other much, and most of the time they are doing their own things.

Looking at the call button below, he first sent a message; it would be too presumptuous to make the call directly.

After waiting for a long time without receiving a reply from Xie Shu, Li Mubai had no choice but to give up and take out his homework to start doing the problems...

Yan Shu: "What's wrong?" (22:15)

Li Bubai: "It's nothing, I just wanted to know what you were doing."

Yan Shu: "I was studying just now, and now I'm getting ready to wash up and rest."

Learning? It seems that some people enter a deep learning state, silencing electronic devices and putting them aside to concentrate fully.

Yan Shu: "By the way, Teacher Yang Yiyun posted a poetry contest, do you want to participate?"

A poetry competition? Li Mubai opened WeChat, opened QQ, and sure enough, saw a message sent a few hours ago.

"The first prize in the Yangcheng Cup Global Student Poetry Competition is 8,000 yuan before tax. The deadline is August 1st," he muttered to himself.

It seems to be a rather high level; can he even participate? Or will he end up with nothing to show for it? He subconsciously doubted himself.

But then I remembered what Xie Shu said when he participated in the debate competition: the significance of some competitions is not that we are successful only if we win a certain award, but that we grow along the way.

Back in his chat with Xie Shu, he hovered his finger over the keyboard, typed, and clicked send.

Li Bubai: "Let's participate together."

Yan Shu: "Okay."

As his phone chimed, Li Mubai's room fell silent again. What could they possibly talk about? It seemed like nothing.

Ding Dong!

Yan Shu: "I'm going to sleep now. See you tomorrow. Goodnight."

Li Bubai: Good night.

"Going to bed so early," Li Mubai thought to himself.

He put down his phone, turned his head to look at the dark night sky outside the window. The chirping of insects in the summer night sang along with the wind. There was an unmanaged stream nearby, and Li Mubai could hear the sound of the stream while lying in bed during the rainy season.

A bird flew to the window, searching for a light source. Finding it couldn't enter the room, it plunged back into the darkness. Li Mubai couldn't help but feel that he was like this bird, having found light along the way, but now facing new darkness.

Peking University...

Returning to school on Sunday, I was immediately enveloped in the intense atmosphere of the college entrance examination. There were encouraging banners everywhere, and I almost mistook it for their exam day.

"Great! I only have to go to class for three days this week and then I can go home. The week after next is the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday." Yang Kun lay sprawled on the bed, looking completely content.

Only Wang Rui, Yang Kun, and Zhao Feng were in the dormitory.

"It would be better if we didn't have a holiday; there would definitely be a ton of homework by then," Wang Rui complained as he did his homework.

Indeed, teachers worry that students will have nothing to do at home, so they often assign a lot of homework during the holidays.

"Hey, why are you going to the classroom so early? Aren't you going to rest a bit more?" Yang Kun asked, looking up.

"Yes, go study early."

"Lao Bai is still the best, the top scorer in Class 3 of Pingyang No. 6 Middle School."

He had nothing else to do in the dormitory, so he might as well go to the classroom to study earlier.

The empty classroom had only a few students. I glanced at Xie Shu's seat; he hadn't arrived yet. The student in front of him fell silent the moment he saw him.

"Xiaoqing, I just saw the Weibo post you forwarded to me yesterday. It's a new still from the show! He looks so handsome! My anticipation is off the charts."

The excited chatter of her deskmate pulled Liu Xiaoqing back to reality. She stopped paying attention to who was sitting behind her and continued discussing with her deskmate the leaked photos of a certain celebrity.

"Right? I also think that period costume suits my Hehe very well!"

"I love it!"

……

On Wednesday, all the walls, bulletin boards, and posters in the classroom that contained text, formulas, or knowledge points were covered with thick, dark blue blackout fabric.

Wu Changguo inspected the area thoroughly, making sure every corner was properly covered, before standing on the podium with a serious expression.

"Students who stay after school to clean up, please be careful and stick the exam number stickers on neatly in order. The homework for all subjects during the four-day holiday has been sent to the DingTalk class group. There are clear arrangements for the daily learning tasks. Please complete them on time and upload them to check in promptly. You are about to enter your senior year of high school, so don't always think about going out to play. Focus on your studies."

Seeing the dejected students, Wu Changguo raised his voice: "Now let's continue the lesson."

Ring ring—

Li Mubai carried his desk and chair out of the classroom. According to the regulations, only thirty desks and chairs could be left in the examination room, and his class had twelve extra desks and chairs.

Upon entering the classroom, I found Xie Shu struggling to lift his desk. Chen Qiuhe had disappeared, having run back to her dormitory as soon as get out of class ended.

"I'll help you." Li Mubai quickly stepped forward.

"Okay, thank you."

Li Mubai tried to lift it; it was quite heavy.

"Just put it here," Xie Shu said, pointing to the table next to him.

He gently placed the table down to avoid damaging it.

After getting ready, the two walked side by side toward the dormitory, surrounded by people coming and going, and a noisy atmosphere.

After a moment of silence, Xie Shu spoke first, asking softly:

Are you free tomorrow afternoon?

"some."

"How about we go to my cousin Qiuhe's dessert shop to learn tomorrow afternoon?" Xie Shu invited.

"OK."

He's just staying home alone anyway, so he might as well go out more. Besides, studying with someone else would probably be more efficient.

See you tomorrow.

"See you tomorrow."