We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Mom, we won't be coming for lunch. We're going out." Li Mubai pressed the voice button and sent the message.

Anyway, Xie Shu had already met his parents, so even if she sat next to him listening, he wouldn't feel too awkward.

Not long after, his phone vibrated. His mother had sent him a voice message that was about ten seconds long. Li Mubai instinctively tried to convert it to text, but his mother was speaking in dialect, and the recognized sentence was incoherent and incomprehensible.

He hesitated for a moment, turned down the volume, and then turned on the voice message.

"Have you finished your homework today? You're going to be a senior in high school soon, so stop thinking about going out to play all the time. You should be home by four or five in the afternoon." Li's mother paused for a moment. "If you don't have enough money, just tell me."

Li Mubai was being lectured... He secretly glanced at Xie Shu sitting next to him. She looked perfectly normal, staring intently at his homework, as if she hadn't heard a thing.

Could it be that Xie Shu doesn't understand dialects? This possibility flashed through his mind.

"That's enough." Li Mubai turned his head and replied to his mother in a low voice.

With the red envelope Yu Nan gave him earlier, he still has more than a thousand yuan in hand. Fortunately, he doesn't go to the supermarket three times a week to buy snacks like Lan Shiyu, otherwise he would have spent all the money long ago.

"Xie Shu, when are we leaving?" He looked up at her.

"Wait until you finish correcting your homework." Xie Shu held a mechanical pencil in his hand, his eyes fixed on the test paper.

The curtains were fully drawn, and the small room was filled with bright sunlight.

Li Mubai glanced at Xie Shu, who was focused on her work. A few strands of hair fell from her temples and rested gently on her notebook on the table.

Time was so quiet that only the chirping of cicadas and the occasional bird call outside the window could be heard.

He reached out as if possessed and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. His fingertips accidentally brushed against her cheek, feeling cool as if touching a piece of warm jade.

"noon……"

Suddenly, indistinct voices came from downstairs, startling Li Mubai so much that he quickly withdrew his hand.

He carefully observed Xie Shu's expression. She didn't stop moving and remained focused on her homework, as if nothing had happened.

"This question is wrong," Xie said abruptly.

Li Mubai's attention was drawn back to the exam paper.

A bird flew in from outside the window and landed steadily on the security window frame. Tilting its head, its small black eyes stared at the girl inside, whose ear tips were gradually turning red...

"What are you carrying?"

As they prepared to leave, Xie Shu watched in bewilderment as Li Mubai picked up his backpack.

"Hmm—nothing much." He just habitually carries a bag when he goes out.

"Then bring a parasol, it's hot outside."

The climate in Xiyue is quite good. Although the highest temperature in summer can reach 30 degrees Celsius, it is not as high as in other provinces.

Today's high temperature is only 28 degrees Celsius, a mere 28 degrees, so he doesn't need an umbrella at all.

But he still found his parasol and put it in the side pocket of his backpack.

"Little White, let's go." Xie Shu said with a light laugh.

They also call her Xiaobai... Does Xie Shu have any nicknames? Li Mubai thought for a moment, and it seemed that Deng Yi and Chen Qiuhe both called her Shu Bao.

"Shu..." The two words stuck in his throat, he couldn't utter them no matter what he did, "schoolbag."

"What's wrong with the backpack?" Xie Shu looked at him, puzzled.

"Is my backpack zipped up?" Li Mubai quickly made up an excuse.

"Let me see." She went behind him and carefully checked it over. "It's fixed."

"Um."

He opened the door first and went out, with Xie Shu following him.

Xie Shu knew she was going to see Chen Qiuhe in the afternoon, so Li Mubai bought her a subway ticket.

July 21st, Friday, a weekday, wasn't too crowded. But tomorrow, a non-working day, the subway will likely be packed with people taking their kids for a walk or having weekend get-togethers with friends and colleagues.

"You sit down, I'll stand." Li Mubai pointed to the only empty seat in the corner.

"I'm standing too."

Once outside, Xie Shu seemed to become a bit colder and spoke less. This change was subtle, and if Li Mubai hadn't spent the whole morning with her, it would have been almost imperceptible.

The subway gradually increased its speed, and blurry figures were constantly reflected in the glass of the doors. A cool breeze permeated the subway.

He glanced at Xie Shu beside him. Even tigers don't eat their cubs. Aren't Xie Shu's parents worried at all that something might happen to their daughter?

Moreover, Xie Shu is a young girl. Although social order has improved a lot, crime has not disappeared from the world.

If Xie Shu hadn't come to his house, but had been outside with nothing, how dangerous would that have been?

Are Xie Shu's parents really indifferent? Or... have they already called the police? Li Mubai wondered to himself.

After hesitating for a long time, he decided to send a message to Xie Shu's family as Li's mother had suggested.

If they care, it at least proves they still love Xie Shu; if they don't care... then Xie Shu can stay at their house for a few more days.

He took out his phone. Wu Changguo had previously asked Li Mubai to compile information on every student in the class, including their parents' contact information.

He flipped to Xie Shu's line, where there was a number, unsure whether it belonged to Xie Shu's father or mother.

Li Mubai thought through his words, copied down the number, typed a text message, and hovered his finger above the send button, hesitating to press it.

"Xie Shu, may I... tell your parents about your current situation?"

Let's ask for her opinion first.

Xie Shu paused for a moment, then lowered her head and remained silent. Li Mubai thought she disagreed and was about to delete the message when she slowly raised her head.

"Well, it would be good to mention it."

Dreams will end, and reality will come. She can't stay in Li Mubai's house like this forever; it will only cause trouble for Li Mubai and his family.

She watched as Li Mubai picked up his phone again, typed something, and then slowly pressed the send button.

"Let me see." She wanted to see who he had sent it to.

Li Mubai turned his phone screen towards her, and Xie Shu saw the number at the top—it was her mother Xu Ting's number…

Xie Shu remained silent throughout the journey, perhaps pondering how Xu Ting would capture him, or perhaps awaiting a storm.

"It's okay. If your parents are coming to pick you up, I'll go with you." Li Mubai raised his hand and gently rubbed her head.

Xie Shu suddenly hugged him and rested her head on his chest.

The surrounding subway passengers cast strange glances at him, but Li Mubai tried his best to ignore them.

"Beep! Yongxing Road Station is approaching. The left door will open for you."

Li Mubai patted her shoulder lightly.

"We're almost at the station, let's go out."

Xie Shu nodded, then released him, and the strange looks from those around them stopped.

Things are different now. Even through the glass wall, you can see that there are quite a few people sitting in Chen Yushan's dessert shop, and Chen Qiuhe's busy figure is moving around among them.

As if sensing something, she suddenly looked up and saw Li Mubai and Xie Shu standing outside, and excitedly waved to them.

"Let's go in."

"it is good."