We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Look how serious this is!" On Sunday, when Li Mubai returned to school, his mother turned around from the passenger seat, held up her phone and shoved it in front of him, her tone serious, "Xiaobai, if you don't take care, you'll get infected."

Li Mubai glanced at the screen; it said something about germs and pneumonia.

"I know, I only get sick once a year, and I've already had this year's illness," he replied perfunctorily.

"Don't take this lightly. The experts said that seasonal changes are a high-risk period for this disease."

Li Mubai let it go in one ear and out the other.

He opened the car door as soon as the car came to a stop in front of the school.

"Mom and Dad, I'm going back to school to study hard. Goodbye."

Then he slipped away without looking back.

"Don't you think Xiaobai is becoming more and more rebellious?" Li's mother put her phone away.

"Xiaobai isn't young anymore, he's eighteen." Li's father watched his son's retreating figure. "When we were this age, we would have already started working."

"How can that be the same?"

Mr. Li did not argue, silently shifted gears, turned the steering wheel, and drove away.

……

In the office on the third floor of the library, the two jasmine plants on the windowsill were more stretched than last week, with new leaves sprouting from the branches, tender green, and glistening slightly in the afternoon light.

Several report cards were spread out on the desk by the window, and Xie Shu was holding a pen and drawing circles on them.

"Your Chinese and humanities scores are okay, keep it up, and don't get complacent." She spoke slowly and deliberately. "Your math and English scores are showing signs of improvement, but they are still a bit weak. Just keep improving steadily, there's still time."

Xie Shu circled his math and English scores and handed the report card to Li Mubai.

He took the forms, glanced at them, and saw three sheets in total: the results of the opening exam, the September monthly exam, and the recent October monthly exam.

Li Mubai looked at it carefully and it seemed to be a joint entrance examination ranking, but only the top fifty were printed.

From the first to the third, Xie Shu's ranking fluctuated between first and third, and he ranked second in the October monthly exam.

Shen Nianning ranked first, while Mei Yulu ranked fifth.

His gaze continued downwards, and finally he saw Chen Qiuhe's name in the forty-sixth place.

There has been progress, Chen Qiuhe ranked fifteenth in the school rankings.

"What are you looking at?"

"Let's see how other people's scores are." Li Mubai put down the joint entrance examination score sheet.

"You should pay more attention to yourself." Xie Shu stretched out a finger and gently poked his arm.

"Understood, Teacher Xie."

"You're welcome."

Li Mubai was stunned for a moment, and it took him two seconds to react. He smiled helplessly, while Xie Shu's lips curled up slightly, with a hint of smugness.

"What if I said I was looking at your grades?" Li Mubai asked.

"Caring for your teacher is something you, as a student, should do," Xie Shu said calmly, his expression natural.

Do you do cosplay?

"Teacher, I improved in this monthly exam. Is there any progress award?" Li Mubai continued, following her lead.

"An award for improvement?" Xie Shu rested his finger on his chin, as if seriously considering the question. "Is there anything you want?"

It seemed that Xie Shu was actually starting to think about what reward to give him, but he was just joking.

"I was just kidding." Li Mubai smiled faintly. "Even without a reward, I will continue to work hard."

Xie Shu didn't speak. After thinking for a while, she finally spoke:

"I've got it."

"No need," Li Mubai waved his hand.

Xie Shu is just as stubborn as her father; once she's made up her mind, it's very difficult to change it.

"As a reward, I'll let you touch my face."

"what?"

"You can pinch it lightly, but not too hard." She turned her head slightly and tapped her right cheek with her finger.

"Are you... serious?"

Xie Shu didn't speak, just looked at him quietly, his pupils behind his glasses as bright as jewels.

Li Mubai looked away, his voice trembling.

"Forget it, I only moved up one rank."

"If you don't want me to touch you, then close your eyes and let me touch you," Xie Shu said.

This put him in a truly difficult position...

"Then... close your eyes," he said with difficulty.

He glanced at Xie Shu; she had already closed her eyes and taken a deep breath. He slowly raised his hand, his heart pounding.

The last time I touched him was while Xie Shu was asleep, but this time it's different, Xie Shu is wide awake!

Li Mubai's trembling hand slowly approached Xie Shu's cheek, his fair skin still showing a hint of red.

"Did you move?" Xie Shu asked softly.

"Hmm." His voice was a little hoarse.

He stared at her face so close to his, at the thin blush on her skin, at the slight trembling of her closed eyelashes.

Li Mubai didn't touch her, but Xie Shu seemed to sense something. She tilted her head slightly, turned her face, and gently pressed her cheek against his hovering hand. It was cool, like leaves washed by autumn rain.

He paused for a moment, then gently pinched her cheek, so lightly that it left almost no mark, before withdrawing his hand.

Xie Shu opened her eyes, the blush on her cheeks was even deeper than before, and the moment their eyes met, she looked away.

"Okay...you just touched my face, so I want to touch yours too," she said.

"Huh? Isn't this my reward?"

"I've improved too, my ranking went from third to second in the league, so I deserve the improvement award too," she said confidently.

"..."

Li Mubai resignedly closed his eyes; the feeling of losing his sight was always unsettling.

He strained his ears to listen to the sounds around him, feeling a warm breath slowly approaching and gently brushing against his cheek. Just as he sensed something was wrong, a gentle hug came down on him.

He opened his eyes and found Xie Shu already nestled in his arms, her chin resting on his shoulder, her arms loosely wrapped around him.

Thankfully, it wasn't what he thought...

"Didn't you say you wanted to touch my face?" His voice was a little soft.

"I've changed my mind. I want a hug as a reward, is that not allowed?" Xie Shu asked back.

"It's okay." Li Mubai raised his hand and gently placed it on her back, his fingers running through her long hair, pausing when he touched the ends.

The early autumn breeze blew in through the window, carrying the faint fragrance of jasmine.

"Xie Shu," he suddenly called out to her.

"Um?"

Xie Shu waited for a long time but didn't hear Li Mubai speak. He seemed to be pondering a question.

"You..." Li Mubai paused, "After your college entrance exam, are you still going abroad?"

He could feel the person he was hugging stiffen slightly.

Xie Shu didn't speak, and the jasmine flower lay quietly in his arms.

Li Mubai saw a flock of white birds circling freely over the green mountains opposite.

He suddenly remembered that in his first year of high school, he seemed to have seen a flock of white birds soaring on the rooftop, and he wrote a short poem about it:

Birds

I wish I were a bird.

It hovers low over the ground.

When spring comes,

A bunch of peach blossoms are held back by the flowing water.

When autumn arrives,

It carries a fallen sycamore leaf.

To live a life accompanied by green mountains

It shines brightly alongside the moon.

Gone with the wind

And go with the wind.

The aurora borealis in the Arctic

Antarctic ice and snow,

All captured by the starry night.

Heading east,

As dawn breaks,

I will spread my wings to reach even farther.