We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

In order to make it back to the morning self-study session last Wednesday, Li Mubai reluctantly took a taxi back to school.

Sitting in the back seat, watching the numbers ticking on the meter, he felt a chill run down his spine. He figured only he would be the one to pay the fare and come back to suffer the consequences.

Actually, he could have stayed home leisurely; he had taken two days of sick leave, so it wouldn't have mattered if he didn't come on Wednesday.

But staying at home was so boring that I tossed and turned in bed, and finally decided to go back to school.

Li Mubai first ate breakfast in the cafeteria, ran into several classmates, greeted them one by one, and then returned to the classroom just in time.

As soon as he entered the classroom, Zhao Feng immediately approached him:

"Hey, you're back! Where did you go yesterday?"

"I had a fever and took a sick day." Li Mubai put his schoolbag down, pulled out a chair and sat down. "I'm almost better now."

"So that's how it is." Zhao Feng suddenly realized, then lowered his voice and leaned closer, "We thought you were being targeted by Old Man Zhong and had been sent home."

Li Mubai gave a dry laugh but didn't reply.

"Take out the required texts for Chinese class. Today we'll memorize 'Exhortation to Learning,' until..." The Chinese class representative paused on the podium, glancing at Li Mubai, "...and Lin Xinle and I finish here."

Li Mubai was slightly taken aback. Now he didn't need to check the recitation anymore? Then, his position as class monitor... had he been removed from his post?

He was puzzled, but then he thought, this should be a good thing! It's all beneficial and without any harm. Who wants to be the class monitor anyway? He certainly doesn't want to be.

If he could, he would have preferred to resign voluntarily; now, things have been much easier for him.

However, having just argued with Zhong Jianjun, it was inevitably a bit awkward during Chinese class.

Li Mubai kept his head down the whole time, pretending to be looking at the secretary's notes. Zhong Jianjun seemed to ignore him and continued lecturing without even glancing in his direction.

Ring ring—

Chinese was the last period on Wednesday, and as soon as the bell rang, I heard the sound of people sprinting and running at the door.

"Study in the classroom for twenty minutes before class ends, and digest the knowledge I just taught you."

Zhong Jianjun closed both the front and back doors of the classroom, and the noise outside immediately subsided.

With his head down, Li Mubai felt his neck getting a little uncomfortable. He raised his head slightly and rubbed his sore neck.

Zhong Jianjun scanned the classroom.

"Zhao Feng, Wang Rui, Zhang Hao, the three of you come up here in order and recite 'Exhortation to Learning' for me."

Li Mubai paused for a second, then resumed reciting "Exhortation to Learning" on his own.

Wang Rui recited it smoothly, while Zhao Feng stumbled over his words, and Zhang Hao got stuck halfway through.

"When there's no evening self-study session, Zhao Feng and Zhang Hao, wait for me on the playground." Zhong Jianjun said with a stern face.

"Okay," Zhang Hao replied obediently.

"Okay...okay."

Zhao Feng probably didn't understand why he had to go too, since he had already memorized it.

The twenty minutes passed quickly, but since Zhong Jianjun hadn't said get out of class was over, no one dared to move.

Seeing this, Li Mubai stood up. Anyway, Zhong Jianjun didn't care about him, and he hadn't violated any rules. He should go eat after class.

"What are you still sitting there for? Are you waiting for me to treat you to dinner?" Zhong Jianjun suddenly said.

The other students immediately packed their bags, stood up, and left.

Li Mubai was the first to step out of the classroom and saw Xie Shu waiting for him outside. He quickly grabbed Xie Shu's wrist and left.

The other students watched with gossipy expressions. Although they were used to it, they still found it novel to see a boy holding another girl's wrist, especially at school.

Li Mubai pulled Xie Shu into the stairwell, and then immediately let go of her hand.

"Xie Shu, you don't actually need to wait for me anymore."

"I've come to see if you're truly cured."

They strolled down the stairs, talking as they went.

When they reached the ground floor, there were hardly any people around. Xie Shu suddenly reached out and placed the back of his hand on his forehead.

Li Mubai was startled and paused in his tracks.

This action didn't last long. Xie Shu quickly withdrew his hand and touched his forehead again, as if comparing the temperature.

"That's fine, same as me."

"Actually, I was almost fully recovered yesterday," Li Mubai explained. "I rested at home for half a day in the afternoon, and I was basically fine."

"Okay." Xie Shu responded, put his hand down, and continued walking towards the cafeteria.

The rain stopped at noon, and the air was filled with a damp, refreshing scent.

"Why did you suddenly develop a fever?" Xie Shu asked, inquiring about the cause of the illness.

"He might have caught a chill last night."

He was too hot with the blanket on, but too cold without it, so he covered himself with only half the blanket. Then, in the middle of the night, he unconsciously lifted the blanket and caught a cold.

"You're so stupid." Xie Shu said this in a gentle tone, without any intention of scolding, but rather as if she were softly complaining, "You should cover yourself with the blanket properly when you sleep from now on."

Li Mubai nodded, glancing at Xie Shu's school uniform, which was now clean.

"Oh, right, this is your jacket. I washed it for you." She suddenly took out a folded school uniform jacket from her schoolbag.

"it is good."

Li Mubai took it; it still carried a faint floral fragrance.

The two walked to the entrance of the cafeteria. Li Mubai looked around and, after confirming that Zhong Jianjun was not there, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

When he's with Xie Shu at school, he always feels like the other person might pop out from some corner at any moment.

He might still be able to argue that he and Xie Shu weren't dating, but Zhong Jianjun has stopped being reasonable and will call his parents directly if he encounters them.

Li's parents were alright; they knew about it and at most gave him a lecture.

However, Xie Shu's parents... seem to have a lot of opinions about him. He originally thought that Xie Shu's father would be easy to get along with, but the last time had completely changed that.

Ugh--

If Xie Shu's parents don't support her being with him, can this relationship last? Will it end up like Naxos and Sefina in the play, eloping?

"Why are you eating so little?"

Xie Shu's voice interrupted his thoughts, and Li Mubai looked up and smiled.

"Because I've just recovered, I don't have much of an appetite."

"I don't want to eat this piece of fish," Xie Shu said, picking up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and placing it on his plate. "Eat this for me."

Li Mubai stared down at the piece of fish for a long time before finally picking up his chopsticks, which he had already put down, and putting it into his mouth...

"Wang Rui, where do you and your partner usually hang out so the teachers won't find out?"

"Oh my—" Yang Kun immediately poked his head out of the bed, a mischievous grin on his face. "Hey, what are you planning to do?"

"Let me look into it."

"Don't say it, I know, we all know." Yang Kun chuckled twice, then his smile faded, and he said seriously, "Actually, you can just be open about it, since everyone already knows anyway."

"Even if you know, you can't be too arrogant. Is being caught by the teacher the same as being caught by your classmates?" Zhao Feng interjected.

"That's true." Yang Kun then looked at Wang Rui, "Prince Lao, quickly teach Lao Bai a move or two."

"Uh—" Wang Rui seemed a little hesitant. Wouldn't telling him mean revealing the location of his date and walk with his girlfriend?

"Never mind, I'll take another look." Li Mubai saw Wang Rui's predicament and waved his hand.

"You're going to be a senior in high school soon, so hurry up and study," Feng Wanli, who was usually quiet, suddenly said.

"Yes, yes." Yang Kun nodded, though it was unclear whether he had truly taken it to heart.

"Li Mubai, take a look at this problem. Is my solution correct?" Feng Wanli approached with a math problem in hand.

Li Mubai glanced at it and thought, "Okay, it's a difficult problem. No wonder even a top student like Feng Wanli had to find someone to discuss it with."