We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

Half an hour later, Chen Qiuhe's mother was sleeping soundly in the ward and showed no signs of agitation. Chen Yushan breathed a sigh of relief and, after confirming that the nurses would take good care of her, she took the three of them back to the dessert shop.

The atmosphere in the car remained somewhat somber. Chen Qiuhe had already wiped away the tears on her face, her eyes gazing blankly at the rapidly receding scenery outside the window, lost in thought.

Sunlight streamed through the car window onto her face, making her look like a withered sunflower, devoid of her usual liveliness and cheerfulness, only revealing an unconcealable weariness and loneliness.

Li Mubai sat in the back seat, his gaze fixed on Chen Qiuhe's back. If Chen Qiuhe's mother suffered from moderate mental disorder and her father did not provide financial support, then where did she get her daily income?

He had always assumed that Chen Qiuhe's mother was supporting Chen Qiuhe's expenses, but now it seemed that this was clearly not the case.

Considering that Chen Qiuhe was working as an assistant at Chen Yushan's dessert shop, he had a vague guess in his mind.

The car came to a smooth stop on the side of the road in front of the dessert shop, and the familiar warm yellow signboard came into view.

Li Mubai pushed open the door and went in. His previous desire to study vanished, leaving only a heavy feeling. Li Mubai lost the will to study and silently packed his schoolbag.

Chen Yushan parked the car, walked into the store, and saw him packing his schoolbag. She asked softly:

"Xiaobai, are you leaving already? Won't you stay a little longer?"

"Well, we've bothered you too much today, so we'll head back now." Li Mubai looked up, his tone tinged with apology.

Chen Qiuhe snapped out of her daze, looked at Li Mubai and Xie Shu, forced a smile, and joked:

"I've shown you my ugly side today, so I'm punishing you by making you forget about this as soon as you get back."

Xie Shu looked at her forced composure, smiled gently, and nodded: "Okay."

The somber atmosphere in the store was slightly dispelled.

"Qiuhe, why don't you rest for a bit? I'll go see Xiaobai and Xiaoshu off," Chen Yushan said, looking at the drowsy Chen Qiuhe.

Chen Qiuhe was indeed feeling physically and mentally exhausted. After relaxing her tense nerves at the hospital, she was instantly overcome with drowsiness and felt sleepy even while sitting in the chair.

She nodded reluctantly, said to Chen Yushan, "Thank you for your trouble, cousin," and then rested her head on the table.

Chen Yushan led Li Mubai and Xie Shu out of the dessert shop and stood by the roadside. She turned around:

"Xiaobai, Xiaoshu, the shop is still busy, so I won't take you home. Be careful on your way."

"Okay, cousin."

Chen Yushan hesitated for a moment, then suddenly gave a serious instruction:

"There's one more thing, Xiaobai and Xiaoshu. Please keep what you saw at the hospital today a secret and don't tell anyone else at school."

"Don't worry, cousin, we understand."

Chen Yushan smiled, turned around and hurried back to the store.

Li Mubai and Xie Shu walked side by side toward the subway station, remaining silent the entire way, a faint sense of oppression filling the air.

Upon suddenly learning about Chen Qiuhe's family situation, he, as a good friend, seemed helpless.

As I boarded the subway, his image was reflected in the glass window opposite me. He was young and full of energy, but he had nothing.

A slightly cool hand gently took his hand, easing his agitation. Xie Shu whispered comfortingly:

"Don't worry, Qiuhe was like this before we arrived."

Li Mubai nodded. Yes, Chen Qiuhe had already shouldered all the pressure alone before she even met them, so why should he worry unnecessarily? But...

"Xie Shu, does our school offer financial aid to students from impoverished families? Chen Qiuhe should qualify, right?" Li Mubai suddenly asked.

Xie Shu pondered for a moment, then spoke:

"Yes, there are national student grants, tuition and miscellaneous fee waivers, and special subsidies for impoverished students. However, the application period for these subsidies has already passed. Under normal circumstances, applications can only be submitted in batches next semester."

"Did Chen Qiuhe apply last semester?"

"no."

Li Mubai fell silent; he could roughly guess the reason.

After a student's application for financial aid is successful, it is usually publicized at the school. For someone like Chen Qiuhe, who has a strong sense of self-esteem and is emotionally sensitive, having the whole school know that her family is poor and having to accept other people's sympathy and strange looks is undoubtedly a difficult hurdle to overcome.

"Actually, it's not that there's no way." Xie Shu looked at his frowning face and added, "You can apply for a supplementary application, but the process is quite complicated. You need to get the homeroom teacher's signature, and then have the teacher in the school's student aid office submit a report to the education bureau to apply for special approval."

It does sound complicated. Wu Changguo should be fine, but the school's student aid office might have more trouble.

"I can have my family call the school to inquire, so that the application process will go more smoothly," Xie Shu suddenly said.

"No," Li Mubai firmly refused. "I can't trouble your family. I'll go ask Teacher Wu first."

Xie Shu paused for a moment, then nodded and reminded her, "Let me discuss it with Qiu He first, don't force her."

The subway was quiet. Xie Shu slowly leaned on Li Mubai's shoulder...

When he returned from the holiday, the senior students were gone, and the school suddenly became deserted. Li Mubai felt as if he had been in another world. He pushed open the dormitory door, and only Wang Rui was still there.

"Didn't you go home?" Li Mubai asked curiously.

Hearing someone come, Wang Rui rolled over in bed and sat up, replying, "No, my home is too far away, and it would be a bit of a hassle to go back."

Where do you live?

"Iwakawa."

"Within the province, things are going well."

"The main problem is that there are no high-speed trains or regular trains; you can only go back by bus or private car."

"It sounds similar to the situation in my hometown," Li Mubai thought to himself.

He chatted with Wang Rui for a few more minutes before returning to the classroom. Students gradually returned to school, and Yang Kun excitedly discussed his travel experiences.

"You're almost a senior in high school, and you're still thinking about going out to play," Huang Lingling complained.

"So what! If we don't play now, we won't have the chance later," Yang Kun retorted immediately.

Li Mubai paid no attention to Yang Kun and Huang Lingling. He glanced at Chen Qiuhe and found that she was still joking with Xie Shu without a care in the world.

"Qiuhe is unwilling."

During lunch, Xie Shu told Li Mubai about Chen Qiuhe's opinion.

"Why wouldn't she want to? Isn't this a good thing for her?" Li Mubai frowned, not understanding why she wouldn't agree.

"Because she doesn't want to be treated specially, and she doesn't want to trouble us."

Li Mubai remained silent. Chen Qiuhe never seemed to ask for help from others when she encountered difficulties; she always thought of solving them on her own.

"Don't worry, Qiuhe said she'll consider it when the applications are submitted in the next semester. We'll just help her prepare the materials then," Xie Shu comforted her.

Li Mubai nodded. He would write this down on his phone so he wouldn't forget.