We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

Thank you for your letter.

Xie Shu, with her hair in a ponytail, stood under that familiar tree. Every time she waited for him, she was in the same spot.

Pingyang is located in the mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest zone, where the leaves remain green all year round. When the night wind blows in early autumn, the leaves make a soft rustling sound.

Xie Shu wasn't wearing her glasses today. She puffed out her lips slightly, then stretched out her finger and gently tapped Li Mubai's left shoulder.

"You're several minutes late, did something happen?" she asked.

"No, it's just that I haven't listened to Teacher Wu's lectures in a long time, and I got so engrossed that I didn't realize it was almost eight o'clock." Li Mubai chuckled.

"Then you can come to Class 3 and sit next to me. You can listen to his lectures anytime."

Not knowing whether Xie Shu was serious or joking, Li Mubai smiled and waved his hand:

"No need, if our love is meant to last..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Shu interrupted him.

"Why should we care about being together every day and night? You seem to really like this poem."

They turned around together and walked towards the library.

"I just felt that this poem was very suitable for people like us who are often separated," he said.

"The delicate clouds weave patterns, the shooting stars convey sorrow, the Milky Way stretches far and wide in secret..." Xie Shu recited the entire poem from memory.

"You actually memorized it?"

"Because someone kept reciting these two lines, I looked them up. Actually, there aren't many words; I memorized them after just a few glances."

"Wow, that's amazing. I might need to look at it a dozen times to remember it," Li Mubai exclaimed.

Xie Shu suddenly stopped at the library entrance and turned to face him.

"What's wrong?" Li Mubai asked.

Xie Shu didn't answer. She took a small step forward, getting a little closer to him.

Li Mubai felt her heart skip a beat. She raised her hand and, without his permission, placed her palm on his forehead.

"He doesn't seem to have a fever, but why is he talking nonsense all day?" Xie Shu said with some surprise.

Li Mubai chuckled to himself; she had already lowered her hand.

"He's not sick, he might have awakened."

"What did you awaken?" Xie Shu's confusion deepened.

"Awaken your memories of your past life. Cherish and hold on even more to what you lost in your previous life."

After he finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze, not because time stopped, but because of the awkward silence.

"Are you really okay?" Xie Shu tilted her head slightly. "Should we go to the school clinic?"

"No problem." Li Mubai smiled, quickly taking back his jokes. "Let's go inside and start studying."

Xie Shu looked him up and down carefully, making sure he was no different from usual, before finally nodding.

At the library, I still spend the first hour doing homework and the second hour discussing.

The discussions weren't limited to Xie Shu tutoring Li Mubai in English and math; Xie Shu would also discuss some tricky Chinese and humanities problems with Li Mubai.

She noticed that Li Mubai seemed unusually focused on his studies today, not even a little distracted...

I left the library at 10 o'clock and returned to the classroom. Actually, it was almost the end of evening self-study. Returning to the classroom felt like just participating in the process of finishing evening self-study.

Li Mubai was walking downstairs after evening self-study when he ran into Xie Shu, who was walking upstairs.

"Thank you for your letter?"

"Are you in a hurry to get back to your dorm?" she asked.

"No rush."

"Let's go to the rooftop and take a look."

The rooftop... it seems like it's been a long time since I've been there. Li Mubai nodded.

They walked against the flow of the crowd to a quieter floor above.

The moon tonight is not full, but it is bright, and it stands there quietly.

Li Mubai and Xie Shu stood by the railing on the rooftop, looking up at the black night sky.

"There's a star over there." Xie Shu raised his hand and pointed in a direction.

Li Mubai wasn't wearing his glasses; he squinted to barely make out the dim star.

He glanced at Xie Shu beside him and noticed that she wasn't wearing glasses either, so he asked curiously:

"This star doesn't seem bright, how did you see it?"

"Captured with the naked eye."

Li Mubai thought for a moment, then said:

"Our eyesight seems about the same."

Xie Shu smiled slightly upon hearing this:

"Actually, it's because your gaze is drawn to the moon, while I'm always looking for the stars beneath the moon."

That's really true... Every time he looked up, the first thing he saw was the moon. The moonlight was so bright that it completely covered the light of the stars.

Only Xie Shu would overlook the moon to find those tiny specks of light.

A soft warmth enveloped the back of his hand, which was resting on the railing. He turned his head and saw Xie Shu staring intently at the star, as if he were silently greeting it.

She gently flipped her hand over and grasped his hand in return.

"Xie Shu," Li Mubai called her softly.

"Yes, I'm here."

Like the artificial intelligence built into a mobile phone...

"Your dad came to see me today," he said.

"What did he say?"

Xie Shu's tone remained calm, as if he had already guessed it.

Just as she suspected that Li Mubai might be sick, his lateness and unusually diligent study all proved that something had happened to him, even though his expression didn't change.

He said I couldn't give you happiness in the future and told me to stay away from you.

Despite his suspicions, Xie Shu still paused slightly when he heard those words.

"So what did you answer?" Her breathing slowed down a little.

"I told you that you are happy every day now, and that if you go abroad, I will wait for you in Pingyang." Li Mubai said slowly, his gaze fixed on her.

As the wind gradually subsided, Xie Shu shifted her gaze from the dim star in the sky. She turned her head to look at him and saw her own reflection in his eyes.

"What was your impression of me before?" she asked curiously.

"You used to be like the moon in the sky, unattainable and always quiet and indifferent, as if you had no expression other than a cold face."

Was I cold before?

Xie Shu touched her cheek with her other hand, but stopped abruptly as soon as her hand touched her face.

Li Mubai gently pinched her other cheek with his free hand, then quickly withdrew it.

"Yeah, it was pretty cold." After he finished speaking, he glanced at Xie Shu again, "But it's not cold now."

Xie Shu lowered her gaze. Of course, she wasn't cold anymore; her face was slowly warming up after being suddenly attacked by Li Mubai.

After a long while, she murmured, "You're the epitome of a bad kid."

"What?" Li Mubai didn't hear clearly.

"I say the night sky is really beautiful tonight." Xie Shu raised his head again and looked at the night sky.

"Yes, the night is beautiful."

A year ago, when he came down from the rooftop, Xie Shu said the same thing to him. At that time, he vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but he was not sure at the time.

"You're fine too," he added.

Perhaps in another time and space, his retreat and inferiority complex had already caused him to lose Xie Shu, so now, he must cherish her all the more.

"Study hard," Xie Shu said. "I'll always be there for you."

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the dim star in the distance seemed to be slowly brightening.