We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Xiaobai, don't just sit there, get a cup and pour yourself a drink."

Li Mubai put down his phone, picked up the large bottle of orange juice with pulp, and filled several plastic cups with it.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

"Why aren't you drinking?" Lan Shiyu leaned over and asked in a low voice.

Minors are prohibited from drinking alcohol.

"It's okay, you just turned eighteen this year~"

Li Mubai glanced at her, said nothing, and continued to pick up food for himself.

"Here, have two 'Top Scholar' mooncakes. One for each of you. I wish you all the best in your college entrance exams next year and hope you get into Tsinghua or Peking University." Aunt Lan walked over with two mooncakes.

"It's all wrapped up." Lan Shiyu tore open the plastic bag and started putting it in her mouth. "I'll make a name for myself in Beijing someday."

"Top Scholar Mooncake?" Li Mubai picked it up curiously and examined it through the transparent plastic. It seemed no different from the ordinary ones, except that the words "Guangdong Style" on it had been replaced with "Top Scholar".

He thought for a moment, then looked up at Aunt Lan and said:

"Aunt Lan, can I have another one?"

"Oh! You silly child, if you like it, we'll go buy it for you again," Li's mother chimed in from the side.

"It's alright, it's alright, we have plenty of mooncakes, we can't finish them all." Aunt Lan waved her hand with a smile, then turned around and took another one.

Two mooncakes, one to share with Xie Shu, and one to keep for myself.

After dinner, Li Mubai didn't stay at the Lan family's house for long before going home with his parents.

Hey.

"Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me."

Qinghe: "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!"

A photo of a mooncake followed.

Li Bubai: "Happy, happy."

Speaking of which, Chen Qiuhe's application for poverty assistance has also been submitted. The parent's signature was completed when her mother was sober. Now we just have to wait for the review and public announcement.

It seems like everything is moving in a positive direction...

dong dong.

"Xiaobai, when are you going back to school?" Li's mother's voice came through the door.

October 2nd.

"Oh—it was only left for three days." The footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Li Mubai looked up at the moon in the sky. It was as round as in previous years. The flowers were similar year after year, and today seemed no different from before. He was just repeating the same life every year.

He looked away, preparing to pick up his pen and do his homework while he still had some time, when his phone on the table vibrated again.

Yan Shu: "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival."

People change every year.

However, Xie Shu's message was sent in a three-person group chat. He then switched to the WeChat interface, and his chat with Xie Shu was still stuck on the five words "at Lan Shiyu's house" that Xie Shu had sent. The conversation between the two seemed to be stuck there.

Li Mubai's fingers hovered above the keyboard for a moment before he finally put his phone down.

Never mind, I'll do my homework first.

The full moon slowly rose in the west. When Li Mubai looked up again, it was already past ten o'clock. It was very quiet outside the window, with only the occasional rustling of the wind through the leaves.

"Xiaobai, we're going to sleep now. Don't stay up late tonight, go to bed early and get up early."

"Okay, Mom."

He quickly washed up, turned off the light, and lay down. After a moment of silence in the darkness, he picked up his phone and glanced at it; there were no new messages.

Is Xie Shu busy? It's getting late, the banquet should be over by now.

Li Bubai: "What are you doing? Have you finished eating?"

The "Yanshu" icon at the top of the screen quickly changed to "The other party is typing," flashed twice, stopped, and then flashed once more.

Yan Shu: "I'm reading, and I've finished eating."

The reply was brief. Li Mubai stared at the five words for a while, feeling that something was not quite right.

Li Bubai: "I just finished my homework and am about to go to sleep."

Yan Shu: "Hmm."

Li Mubai held the phone up to his eyes, looked at it again, carefully considered his words, and then typed and sent another line:

Li Bubai: "Did something unpleasant happen today?"

After the message was sent, there seemed to be silence on the other end of the phone. The screen switched back and forth between "Yan Shu" and "The other party is typing" several times, as if the message had been typed and deleted repeatedly.

Li Bubai: "If you're unhappy about anything, you can tell me, and I'll help you share your unhappiness."

The phone remained silent for a long time. Moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, casting a small rectangular patch of white light on the floor.

A grasshopper chirped once in the grass, then stopped, and the faint sound of the stream beside the residential area drifted in.

Li Mubai turned down the brightness of his phone, making the screen less glaring. He leaned against the pillow and waited quietly.

dong dong dong dong-

Li Mubai was caught off guard when his phone suddenly rang with a WeChat call. He hurriedly turned down the volume and answered it.

"Feed." Xie Shu's voice came through the receiver, clear and crisp.

"Hmm." Li Mubai lowered his voice, "So Xie Shu, did something unpleasant happen to you today?"

"Your voice is a little soft, I can't hear you."

"Because my parents are home, I can't be too loud." He raised his voice slightly.

"Um……"

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone. Xie Shu wasn't reading anymore; she was leaning against the headboard, her right hand twirling the ends of her hair.

"Xie Shu, are you unhappy today?" he asked again.

"Mmm," she responded softly, but offered no further explanation.

"Did something happen at the banquet? Or..." He paused, "...did you have a fight with your family?"

The other end of the phone went silent again, even the breathing became very soft, and Li Mubai felt a sense of anxiety rising in his heart.

"It's okay, you can come to me..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Shu interrupted him.

"Why are you at Lan Shiyu's house?" she asked.

Li Mubai was slightly stunned; he hadn't expected Xie Shu to be unhappy because of this.

"Because my parents don't have many relatives here, and they have a good relationship with Lan Shiyu's parents, they took me to her house for the Mid-Autumn Festival." He explained honestly.

"Um……"

"Don't worry, I only like you." He thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and added, "And from what I've observed, Lan Shiyu's feelings... well, they're a bit... something."

"Which one is that?"

"Well... she's not interested in boys."

"Is she a lesbian?" Xie Shu asked directly.

"Not really, maybe I'm just not interested in guys."

"All right."

Li Mubai hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help himself: "So Xie Shu, are you jealous?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for several seconds, after which you could hear her turning over, followed by the soft rustling of fabric.

"No," she said.

Li Mubai almost burst out laughing, but he suppressed it.

"I'm not jealous, it's too sour, I don't like jealousy," Xie Shu added, his tone serious.

"Yes, yes." Li Mubai nodded in agreement. "Shall I hang up now?"

"Don't hang up." Her voice lowered, her tone soft. "Talk to me for a bit."

"Okay." Li Mubai held the phone to his ear again, as if Xie Shu were right next to him.

"I brought you a 'Top Scholar' mooncake. I'll give it to you next time we meet. I wish you success in getting into Peking University next year," Xie Shu said.

"What a coincidence! I also brought you one, but mine might be a bit ordinary."

"Then we'll exchange them and try two different flavors."

"Mine looks like it's a mixed ham and five-nut filling."

"Five-nut filling? Do you like five-nut filling? I've seen a lot of people who don't like it." A hint of curiosity appeared in Xie Shu's voice.

"It's okay. Maybe it's because I was really hungry once, and there happened to be some five-nut mooncakes at home. I ate one and fell in love with it."

"Is that how it is? In Jiangnan, there are five-nut and mixed-fruit mooncakes, made with roasted nuts, candied fruits, and sometimes with candied winter melon or osmanthus. I remember when I was little..."

Xie Shu shared stories from her childhood, and Li Mubai leaned against the headboard, occasionally responding with a word or a laugh.

"The moon is quite round tonight," he said. "We're all looking at the same moon; may we all live long and prosper..."

Li Mubai waited for her to continue, but Xie Shu's voice stopped there. He listened carefully and heard even breathing coming from the receiver.

Are they already asleep? I glanced at the time; it was almost one o'clock. It was really late. I didn't expect them to have been talking for two hours.

"Goodnight, Xie Shu," he said in a low voice into his phone.

He didn't hang up the phone, but just turned off the microphone, because hanging up the phone would make a beeping sound, which could easily wake someone who had just fallen asleep.

We share the same moon, though we are thousands of miles apart.

Li Mubai silently recited it in his mind...