We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Two weeks later, on November 16th and 17th, the midterm exams for this semester will be held. This is our first large-scale comprehensive test, so I hope everyone will put in their best effort and prepare for it as if it were the college entrance examination."

Zhong Jianjun glanced at the listless crowd, then suddenly raised his voice: "Did you all hear that?!"

"I heard you—"

"No problem, let's continue the lesson."

"Teacher." A voice suddenly rang out.

"What is it?" Zhong Jianjun asked, looking at the girl who had raised her hand.

"I'd like to ask, is the midterm exam also a joint exam involving the three schools, like before?"

"The ranking format will be the same as before." Zhong Jianjun paused for a moment. "In addition, Tsinghua High School will also be included in this exam."

Tsinghua University High School? It seems to be a very good school. It's only a few kilometers away from their school. Sometimes on his way home from school, Li Mubai can see students wearing different school uniforms than those at No. 6 Middle School.

"Don't think that just because we can compare with students from No. 1 High School now, we're something special," Zhong Jianjun said in a deep voice.

"There are always mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people. Looking across the province, there are many good schools. This year, the number of students from Tsinghua High School who were admitted to Tsinghua and Peking Universities exceeded that of No. 1 High School."

The students below the stage all gasped. No. 1 Middle School was very famous in Xiyue Province, as evidenced by the previous joint examination of three schools, in which students from No. 1 Middle School accounted for more than half of the top ten.

Xie Shu is considered an SSR from No. 6 Middle School. Apart from her, there are no other students from No. 6 Middle School in the top eight.

"Therefore, the competition will only become more intense. Don't be complacent with a little success. When the province-wide mock exam comes, reality will only be more painful."

Zhong Jianjun's voice became a little louder, as if he wanted the students to better understand the difficulty of the college entrance examination.

"Continue the lesson."

Li Mubai opened his mouth, but ultimately chose to keep it closed. An autumn outing...

As soon as the bell rang, Zhong Jianjun walked out of the classroom with his books, and the once quiet space immediately became lively.

"Xinle," a girl approached Lin Xinle's desk, "I heard that if Class 3 does well on the exam, they can go on a field trip. Could you talk to Teacher Zhong about it and ask us to do the same?"

"Huh?" Lin Xinle's voice clearly showed surprise. She looked somewhat embarrassed. "This... isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"What's wrong with that? Class 3 is the top class, and so are we."

"That's right, that's right," echoed the person at the table behind.

"No... I just think it's unlikely that Teacher Zhong will agree."

To suggest such a "rebellious" thing to a rigid and rule-bound old man like Zhong, one can already imagine how badly she would be scolded.

"Why don't you go with the class representative for Chinese? You two are usually the closest to Teacher Zhong." Lin Xinle shook her head vigorously after hearing this.

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Lin Xinle shook her head repeatedly upon hearing this.

"You all know Mr. Chung." She glanced at the monitor above the blackboard, made sure it wasn't lit, and then lowered her voice to say, "He's always been very strict and doesn't easily let students go out to play."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "But it's not like there's no way, unless..."

"Unless what?" the girl asked immediately.

"Unless you ask a classmate who is good at studying to do it, I think there's still a chance."

"The student who does well in school? Wei Haiyan?"

The girl lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying the name of the top student in Class 18. Then she looked up and saw Lin Xinle raising her chin towards the front of her seat.

"Will this work?" she asked, then lowered her voice, "Isn't Wei Haiyan's grades better?"

"I think his chances of success are higher than mine, the class representative's, or Wei Haiyan's."

Lin Xinle nodded slightly. She had long noticed that Zhong Jianjun seemed to pay more attention to Li Mubai. Every day when she handed in her memorization list, Zhong Jianjun would ask her and the class representative about Li Mubai's memorization progress.

If they weren't both surnamed Zhong and Li, she would have suspected that Li Mubai was Zhong Jianjun's child, just like she was.

The girl thought for a while and finally chose to believe Li Mubai.

This wasn't because of Lin Xinle's words, but because a certain boy could have a puppy love affair right under the nose of the academic affairs office and not be punished. He must be someone with a powerful background.

"Um... Li Mubai?" she called out.

Li Mubai turned his head and looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"I'm Mao Zhouzhou, from Class 3 in my second year of high school. I don't know if you still remember me." She smiled.

Li Mubai glanced at it, then nodded. Actually, he couldn't remember, but he couldn't very well say that he had amnesia and couldn't remember the names of the girls in his class. That would make him, as the class monitor, seem too uncaring about his classmates.

"Is there something you need?" he asked.

"I just don't know if you know about Class 3's upcoming autumn field trip?"

"Yes, I know."

"It's just..." Mao Zhouzhou hesitated, unsure how to begin.

"Could you please suggest to Teacher Zhong that our class do the same thing as Class 3? That way, everyone will be more motivated to study," Lin Xinle continued.

Li Mubai glanced at Lin Xinle, who guiltily looked away.

"If it works out, I'll treat you to milk tea," Mao Zhouzhou quickly added.

Do you really want to go on an autumn outing?

"Uh—" Seeing that Li Mubai didn't respond, Mao Zhouzhou added, "I'll treat you and Xie Shu to milk tea."

"..." Li Mubai waved his hand, "No need to treat us to milk tea. I'll try my best to ask. We'll do it during the next break."

"Okay, okay, thank you for your hard work!" Mao Zhouzhou said gratefully.

"fine."

He happened to want to go too, so it was just a favor.

"Keep it up!" Lin Xinle said.

Li Mubai gave a faint "hmm" and then turned around to prepare for class.

During the break, Li Mubai slowly stood up and walked towards the Academic Affairs Office under the gazes of Lin Xinle and Mao Zhouzhou.

But when he actually got to the entrance of the Academic Affairs Office, he had second thoughts. Wasn't this just handing a knife to Zhong Jianjun so he could use it on his head?

He stood at the door for a long time, then suddenly the door was opened and Zhong Jianjun came out with a teacup in his hand. When he saw Li Mubai standing at the door, he immediately stopped in his tracks.

"What is it?"

"Uh... um..."

"Come in and talk." Zhong Jianjun frowned slightly and turned to gesture for him to come in.

Li Mubai followed him into the familiar office; he was a regular at the Academic Affairs Office.

Zhong Jianjun casually placed his teacup on the table, then sat down and looked up at him.

"What do you want?" His voice was still hoarse, and his tone was indifferent.

"Hmm—" Li Mubai hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "Teacher Zhong, the students in our class suggested that we do the same as Class 3 and go on an autumn outing if we do well on the exams. This would help boost everyone's motivation and enthusiasm for learning."

Zhong Jianjun stared at him silently with his cloudy eyes, his pupils seemingly concealing sharp swords. Li Mubai guiltily looked away, already prepared to be scolded.

"Who told you that Class 3 was going on an autumn outing?" Zhong Jianjun asked.

Li Mubai paused for a moment: "...The students in Class 3."

After a few seconds of silence, Zhong Jianjun waved his hand: "Alright, go back first and tell your classmates to focus on their studies and not to think about those other things."

"Okay, teacher."

His tone was relatively mild; if he had persisted, Zhong Jianjun might have suddenly attacked and injured someone.

"So, does this count as a failure?"

"Yes, that should be it." Li Mubai nodded to Mao Zhouzhou.

"Sigh—okay." Mao Zhouzhou slumped her shoulders in disappointment. "But thank you anyway."

"fine."