We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"dad."

Li Mubai squeezed into the crowd and waved to his father.

"Where is your classroom?" Mr. Li asked as he approached.

"It's on the fifth floor of the senior high school building. I'll take you there."

Friday afternoon was the first parent-teacher meeting for the senior students.

However, as a class monitor in name only, Li Mubai did not receive any instructions. No one told him what to do, and no one assigned him any tasks, so he simply came to the back gate of the school to wait for his parents.

"You can sit here, it should start soon." Li Mubai pulled out his chair for his father to sit down. "I'll go out now."

Mr. Li nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the new classroom. Compared to the previous Class 3, Class 18 was indeed much emptier, with more space between the seats, and even the chalk boxes on the teacher's desk were neatly arranged.

"Li Mubai, you're really not going to be the class monitor anymore?" Zhao Feng approached Li Mubai as soon as he stepped out of the classroom.

"I'm quitting."

Li Mubai glanced back at the classroom. Zhang Hao and Lin Xinle were busy. Perhaps his position as class monitor would be removed during next week's class meeting.

"It's alright," Zhao Feng suddenly said in a low voice, trying to comfort him. "It's a good thing not to be Zhong Gou's dog."

Li Mubai smiled but didn't reply.

"Laobai, are you going back to your dorm?"

"No, I've been sitting in the classroom for too long, I need to wander around."

Zhao Feng glanced in the direction of the classroom. Wang Rui was lying listlessly on his seat. His parents couldn't come, so he had to attend the parent-teacher conference in his own name.

"Alright." Zhao Feng didn't say anything more and turned to walk towards the dormitory building.

"Are all the parents here?"

A hoarse voice came from behind; without turning around, one knew who it was.

Li Mubai didn't even turn his head; he simply lifted his leg and walked away.

"Everyone except Wang Rui's parents is here." Lin Xinle respectfully handed the sign-in sheet to Zhong Jianjun.

Zhong Jianjun glanced around quickly and stepped into the classroom. The thirty seats were filled with parents, and only Wang Rui's youthful face stood out among the group of middle-aged people.

His gaze finally settled on the middle-aged man sitting in Li Mubai's seat.

"This is our class's first parent-teacher conference, so let me start by introducing myself..."

Should we go find Xie Shu? Li Mubai glanced at the stairs leading downstairs.

Never mind, Xie Shu, as the class monitor of Class 3, should be helping out in the classroom. Besides, I don't know if it was her dad or her mom who came. I just hugged her in front of so many people this morning, so it would be a bit awkward to run into her parents.

His gaze shifted from the stairwell, and he turned to walk upstairs.

As I walked from the dimly lit stairwell to the rooftop, the light suddenly brightened.

A sound suddenly entered my ears.

"Didn't I tell you already? This is the first parent-teacher conference for seniors. The homeroom teacher said it's very important, and it's best to come unless there's a special reason."

Chen Qiuhe?

Li Mubai stopped and looked over. She had her back to him, her wrist pressed against her ear, talking on her watch, her hand gripping the rusty railing.

I didn't know who was on the other end of the phone, but her tone was full of barely suppressed frustration.

Li Mubai paused for two seconds, then turned around to quietly retreat.

"Tsk!"

A muffled reply came from the other end. Chen Qiuhe frowned and hung up before she could finish listening. She turned around and then paused for a moment.

"Li Mubai? When did you arrive?"

"Uh—" Li Mubai stopped in his tracks. "Just arrived."

Chen Qiuhe was silent for two seconds. She looked at him, slowly approached, and suddenly said:

"You impersonate my parent and go to my parent-teacher conference."

"Huh?" Li Mubai was clearly taken aback. "I'll help you attend the parent-teacher conference?"

"Yeah, right." Chen Qiuhe spread her hands, her tone light and casual. "Look how much I've helped you, shouldn't you help me this once?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Li Mubai was speechless. "How could I possibly attend your parent-teacher conference?"

Chen Qiuhe smiled faintly, and the somewhat tense atmosphere from before was dispelled by her smile.

"So..." Li Mubai glanced at her still smiling face and tentatively asked, "Aren't your parents coming?"

"...Hmm." Chen Qiuhe stopped smiling and looked down at the ground.

"Why don't you call your cousin? She could have come."

"Never mind," Chen Qiuhe shook her head. "I don't want to trouble others too much."

If she could, she wouldn't want to call her father, but that would mean explaining the reasons to Wu Changguo, and she didn't want anyone to know about those family matters.

"I'm going back now." Chen Qiuhe suddenly looked up, her tone returning to its usual lightness. "I still need to tell Xie Shu."

After saying that, she quickly walked downstairs, her footsteps making a few soft thuds before fading into the distance.

Li Mubai stood still, pursing his lips.

He stood on the rooftop for two seconds, then walked to the railing. The sun had been out for a while in the morning, but now it was covered by dark clouds. But that was fine; at least he wouldn't be in the sun.

He gazed into the distance for a while before pulling out a political memorization book from his pocket.

"Let me tell you, all the teachers are at parent-teacher conferences now, so there's absolutely no one coming to the rooftop."

A voice came from behind him, tinged with smugness. Li Mubai didn't turn around and continued reciting his poem.

Footsteps sounded, and the group of people walked to the entrance of the rooftop. They paused for a moment, but after a few seconds, they lowered their voices and walked to the other side of the rooftop.

"Hang-ge, you've gone to the honors class now, and you haven't contacted the brothers at all."

"Who said that? Aren't we calling you now?"

"Haha, Brother Hang is so generous, even his cigarettes are black Liqun."

"Stop shouting, one for each person."

A faint smell of smoke drifted over on the wind, and Li Mubai held his breath uncomfortably, shifting to the side.

"Hang-ge, how's it going in Class 3?"

"It's alright."

One of them suddenly chuckled:

"Hang-ge, didn't you used to like Xie Shu? How's it going now?"

Li Jiahang's expression stiffened, and before he could speak, another person spoke first:

"It seems Xie Shu has a boyfriend. I saw his name on the confession wall last semester, but I don't know if they've broken up yet."

Li Jiahang glanced at the other side of the rooftop, where the figure leaning against the railing with his back to them seemed to have remained motionless from beginning to end.

"What's there to be afraid of? We should carry on the legacy of Prime Minister Cao."

"Alright, that's enough." Li Jiahang quickly spoke up to stop the unrestrained jokes.

"By the way, what's Xie Shu's girlfriend's name again?" asked the boy who had been clamoring to carry on her legacy.

"His name seems to be Li Mubai."

"Same surname as Brother Hang, huh?" the boy clicked his tongue. "I wonder if he's half as strong as Brother Hang? Should we go teach him a lesson?"

Li Jiahang's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately looked to the other side of the rooftop. The figure that had been standing by the railing had disappeared at some point.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"What are you talking about?" He stubbed out his cigarette, his tone neither too loud nor too soft. "Do you think I'm that kind of person? You're in your final year of high school, so focus on your studies."

Although the family had some money, there was no exemption for fighting in a top-tier high school.

"Haha—" The boy laughed, patted him hard on the shoulder, and wisely stopped talking.

It's just friends bragging to each other; nobody takes it seriously.