We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

Ring ring—

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of evening self-study, Li Mubai abruptly raised his head and immediately turned around.

"What's wrong?" Lin Xinle was startled by his stare, her pen hovering in mid-air.

"It's nothing." Li Mubai withdrew his gaze and glanced at Zhang Hao on his left.

The person was writing something with their head down, the pen nib making a scratching sound, without even raising their head, so there was no clue whatsoever.

"Are you looking for a book?" Lin Xinle suddenly asked.

Li Mubai's gaze quickly returned to her face, and he gave a faint "hmm," but his eyes never left her expression.

He tried to read guilt on that face, but Lin Xinle's expression was natural.

"You weren't here during evening self-study just now, and Mr. Zhong came in through the back door of the classroom." She lowered her voice. "He stood on the podium, scanned the room, and then came down and collected some of the students' books."

"Isn't my book in my schoolbag?" Li Mubai frowned.

"The teacher saw it when she was standing on the podium and took it away," Lin Xinle said.

No wonder the atmosphere was a bit somber when he came back; it turns out Zhong Jianjun had been there.

"Thank you." He said those two words, slowly stood up, and walked out of the classroom.

Students came out of the corridor laughing and joking, and the rain outside seemed to be getting heavier.

Li Mubai took a deep breath and then exhaled heavily, as if to expel all the stale air from his chest.

The lights in the Academic Affairs Office were still on. Li Mubai raised his hand and knocked on the door.

There was no response.

He waited a few seconds, then knocked twice more, but still no one answered.

After hesitating for a moment, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The office was completely empty...

"Take out your books and get ready, we'll have a lesson during the next evening self-study session."

Zhong Jianjun stood on the podium of Class 1. It was his evening self-study session, and he was also the Chinese teacher of Class 1.

After saying this, he lowered his head and picked up the colorful extracurricular books on the podium: "Dragon Raja," "Ten Deadly Sins," and "The Little Prince."

"Hey, whose book is that?" Only after Zhong Jianjun left the classroom did the students in Class One dare to whisper among themselves.

"I don't know, but they're not from our class."

"I heard that Old Zhong is now the homeroom teacher of Class 18. I bet he's one of the unlucky students in Class 18."

"Ha ha--"

The laughter was mostly drowned out by the sound of rain outside the window.

Zhong Jianjun walked into his office with his hands behind his back, but stopped abruptly as soon as he crossed the threshold.

Li Mubai stood inside, his posture ramrod straight.

"What are you here for?" Zhong Jianjun asked in his signature hoarse voice, casually stuffing a few books into the drawer.

"I've come to get the book." Li Mubai's tone was somewhat indifferent, or rather, he was restraining himself.

"What books?" Zhong Jianjun asked knowingly.

"I've come to get my copy of 'The Little Prince'."

"So you admit this is yours?" Zhong Jianjun suddenly pulled open the drawer, slammed the thin book onto the table, and raised his voice abruptly. "Didn't I say in the first class meeting that we weren't allowed to bring other miscellaneous books to the classroom?"

"I have said that." Li Mubai's voice was flat.

Just as Zhong Jianjun was about to press his advantage, Li Mubai continued, "But you said we weren't allowed to bring books to the classroom, and I didn't read any."

There wasn't a trace of nervousness in his voice towards the dean of academic affairs, and his impolite tone surprised Zhong Jianjun.

Another rumble of thunder sounded; it was really thundering today. The flying insects outside the window tried to swoop into the office, whether to avoid the rain or to be attracted to the light, but they were all blocked by the hazy window curtains.

Zhong Jianjun snapped out of his daze, his eyes narrowing slightly, and demanded sharply, "You say you didn't see it, so you didn't?"

"Yes, I didn't look at it in the classroom. You can ask the other students if you don't believe me." He really didn't look at it; he just carried it with him as a psychological comfort.

"Since the book has been taken away, don't even think about taking it back. Come back for it after the college entrance exam!" Zhong Jianjun didn't argue with him about whether he had read it or not, and he stuffed the book back into the drawer.

"I didn't read it..." Li Mubai's voice finally showed a hint of change. "Why should I take my book?"

"I told you, if I want the book, wait until after the college entrance exam. Don't make me repeat it a third time." Zhong Jianjun's face darkened.

Li Mubai took another deep breath. He had already lost too much and didn't want to lose this too. He wanted to get back the book Xie Shu had given him.

Ring ring—

The bell rang for evening self-study.

"I didn't read it, so why did you confiscate my book? Which class rule did I break?" Li Mubai raised his head and looked directly at Zhong Jianjun, who was about to get up for class.

Zhong Jianjun's hand froze in mid-air.

Then he suddenly turned around and slammed the textbook in his hand onto the table with a bang.

"You've broken school rules! You've talked back to a teacher!"

"I want my book back, am I wrong?" Li Mubai's voice rose, though he himself didn't realize it. "You took my book without cause first!"

"Li Mubai!" Zhong Jianjun's voice boomed like lightning in the office, "Let me tell you, with your current behavior, I could easily have your parents come and take you home to reflect on your actions for a week!"

His chest heaved violently.

"Do you think I don't know about you and Xie Shu? The school admitted you here to provide a place to study, and what do you take the school for? A dating venue?!"

"I could easily use the pretext of puppy love to force your parents to come to the school and deal with you!"

Li Mubai lowered his gaze, his heart tightening slightly. Dad and Mom both know, they should be alright...

"I can also call Xie Shu's parents over and have your two families handle this mess!"

Xie Shu's parents...

Li Mubai felt as if something was blocking his chest, making it hard to breathe.

"However, I didn't do that. I didn't do it because your grades were pretty good, you were making rapid progress, and it was your senior year of high school."

Zhong Jianjun took a form out of the drawer and slammed it heavily on the table.

"But what about you? Is this how you repay me? Talking back to teachers, recklessly engaging in early romantic relationships, and look at your grades this time! Do you think you're so great?"

Li Mubai looked over and saw that the class was ranked fourth. Had they improved?

No, they've reassigned classes now. His school is ranked tenth, dropping two places. He was just one place away from falling out of the top ten.

"If you're satisfied," Zhong Jianjun's voice turned cold, "I'll return the book to you, and I won't care about you anymore. You can fend for yourself in the classroom."

The office was quiet, save for the sound of rain and the soft rustling of insects fluttering their wings against the window screen.

dong dong dong.

A soft knock sounded on the door, and Xiao Qingqing, the former student council president and now the class monitor of Class 1, pushed the door open and entered.

"Teacher, during your evening self-study session..." She paused, glancing at Li Mubai standing there, and the textbooks scattered on the table.

"Study on your own first."

"OK."

Silence returned to the office. Li Mubai kept his head down and remained motionless.

He suddenly remembered when he participated in the debate competition last semester, Xie Shu taught him how to establish arguments and how to refute others in a clear and logical manner, with evidence and reason, and not to be swayed by the other party's emotions.

He slowly raised his head.

"First of all, Professor Chung," his voice was soft, but every word was clear, "you haven't done anything for me that I should be grateful for."

Zhong Jianjun's eyelid twitched.

"Xie Shu and I didn't have a puppy love relationship. Does being together mean we're in a puppy love relationship? I also often walk with another girl, Chen Qiuhe. Does that count as a puppy love relationship?"

He didn't look at Zhong Jianjun's expression and continued speaking:

"Secondly, I did not talk back to the teacher. I was just expressing my demands and opinions reasonably. I did not violate any class rules. You can ask other students or check the surveillance footage."

"As for your grades..." Li Mubai's voice paused slightly, as if he was giving himself a last bit of courage, "I made up for it little by little through my own efforts, as well as the guidance of my classmates and other teachers. I've only been in your class for less than two weeks."

After he finished speaking, the office fell into an almost suffocating silence.

The rain suddenly became very loud, as if the sky had finally found a gap and poured out all the pent-up anger.

"roll--"

Zhong Jianjun's voice was like a thunderclap, exploding in the silent teaching building and even faintly reaching the classroom. Several students with sharp ears raised their heads, looking puzzled.

Li Mubai lowered his head and looked at the Little Prince that had been thrown to the ground. The pages were scattered, and the bookmark that was tucked inside had slipped out.

He crouched down, picked up the book and bookmark, wiped the dust off the cover, hugged it to his chest, turned around, and walked towards the door.

"If I ever see you hanging out with Xie Shu again, then I'll have your parents and Xie Shu's parents come to the school!"

Zhong Jianjun's voice sounded from behind. Li Mubai paused, then lowered his head and walked out of the office in silence.

Zhong Jianjun was the only one left in the office. He slumped in his chair, his chest heaving.

With trembling hands, he took out his blood pressure medication from the drawer, and it took him a while to find the bottle.

His fingers trembled as he twisted the cap several times before finally managing to open it. He poured out two pills, popped them into his mouth, and swallowed them with the now-cold tea on the table.

Ring ring—

The phone rang; it wasn't the end of get out of class, it was his cell phone ringing.

He took a couple of breaths, picked up his phone and glanced at it. The note on the screen made him frown even more.

"Dad." A cheerful male voice came from the other end of the phone, with a hint of flattery, "I'm out of living expenses, can you send me some money?"

Didn't I just send you two thousand at the beginning of the month?

"Oh dear, it's Xiaoxue's birthday in a few days, and she said she wants the latest iPhone... I'm still a few thousand short, Dad, what do you think?" the other person asked cautiously.

"Get lost! I have no money! Go ask your mother for it!"

He yelled, slammed the phone down, and slammed it on the table. His blood pressure, which had just been brought down, seemed to be rising again.

He closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and calmed himself down.

I really don't know how he raised such a love-obsessed son. He secretly changed his college application and gave up a good school, insisting on going to a junior college with his girlfriend. Now he wants money for his birthday, Valentine's Day, and even Tomb Sweeping Day!