We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"This exam is over. Please put down your pens immediately and stop answering. Continuing to answer will be considered a violation of the rules. Please..."

Li Mubai arranged the Chinese test paper and answer sheet in order, then placed his hands on the table and waited quietly.

"You may leave the examination room now."

He stood up, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked out of the classroom. The corridor was already crowded with people, gathered in twos and threes, exchanging answers.

"How did the Chinese exam go?"

"I don't know, I almost didn't finish my essay, this one was so difficult!"

"Oh no, is our autumn outing going to be canceled?"

"I've burned out; the rest is up to fate."

Li Mubai withdrew from the noisy crowd and leaned against the wall on one side of the corridor.

Not long after, Xie Shu walked out of the examination room. His eyes, hidden behind his glasses, swept over the stack of books on the desk by the door, as if he were looking for his schoolbag.

She looked around but couldn't find him, then she saw Li Mubai, paused for a moment, and walked over.

She walked over, and Li Mubai handed her the schoolbag he was carrying.

Li Mubai handed over the schoolbag in his hand. Xie Shu reached out and took it, took off his glasses and put them in the side pocket, and rubbed his eyes.

"I thought someone had taken my backpack." She looked up, her voice soft.

"I saw there were a lot of people, so I just grabbed it for you."

"Thank you, Xiaobai," Xie Shu said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Let's go to the cafeteria."

Li Mubai was already used to her calling him that, so he nodded and followed beside her.

"How did you do on the Chinese exam?" she asked.

He thought for a moment and said, "It's alright, I performed as expected."

"Perform normally? Can you score 130?"

Li Mubai chuckled and shook his head. The myth of 130 was over. His Chinese language scores had consistently been between 120 and 130 in all his official exams since his senior year of high school.

"Xie Shu, do you really think I'm a god of literature?"

"Yes, you taught me how to write poetry." Xie Shu finished speaking and then looked at him, "Also, why do you call me by my full name?"

That's because everyone around him had finished their exams, and it would be too inappropriate to call each other by nicknames in public. Li Mubai gave a dry laugh and made some perfunctory "uh uh ah" to brush it off.

Poetry? It's been so long since Li Mubai wrote any; it's even a bit rusty for him now. He suddenly thought of a question:

"By the way, Xie Shu, I suddenly remembered, how did you find out I can write poetry?"

Xie Shu thought seriously for a while before speaking:

"To find out what happens next, you need to score 130 on your Chinese exam."

Li Mubai couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Xie Shu really was... becoming more and more "cheerful"...

"What if I don't pass the exam?" Li Mubai asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Xie Shu looked at him.

"Hmm." He nodded.

"Then you..." Xie Shu paused, turning his gaze back to the ground, "call me the same as Deng Yi."

"Call you the same as Deng Yi?" Li Mubai didn't react for a moment.

"Mm." She nodded slightly. "Just call me whatever she usually calls me, and I'll give you the answer."

How does Deng Yi usually address Xie Shu? Li Mubai thought for a moment. Since the class division, he hadn't seen the other person for a long time, only during physical education class.

"Hmm—that?" he gradually remembered.

"Yes, that's the one."

"Can I call you just once?" Li Mubai continued to ask.

"no."

"Is it okay when it's just the two of us?"

Xie Shu thought for a moment, then nodded.

Li Mubai looked up and glanced around at the dwindling number of students. Only he and Xie Shu were strolling leisurely towards the cafeteria. He slowly approached her and lowered his voice:

"Shubao, could you tell me how you found out I write poetry?"

"Okay, but we'll talk about it after the exam this afternoon." Xie Shu's lips curled up slightly.

Xie Shu... he wouldn't be playing a trick on him, would he...?

When Li Mubai looked at her again, Xie Shu had already walked briskly into the cafeteria, and Li Mubai quickly followed...

Xie Shu didn't play a trick on him. After the exam in the afternoon, Xie Shu took a book out of his bag and handed it to him.

"What you want to know is right here."

Li Mubai took it and glanced at the cover—"Selected Poems of Gu Cheng: The Storm Makes Me Sleep."

He had never bought this book either, which made Li Mubai even more puzzled. He raised his hand and turned to the first page, where it seemed that a crumpled draft paper was tucked inside the title page.

The draft paper was the same size as the small notebook he often used. He picked it up and flipped to the other side...

It was "Flying Birds," but it was only a first draft. He had only written a little bit and was not satisfied with it, so he tore it out, crumpled it into a ball, and put it in his pocket. He intended to find a trash can to throw it away after going down from the rooftop, but he forgot about it.

He only remembered it when he was cleaning up after evening self-study, but by then the crumpled paper was nowhere to be found.

"Where did you find it?" he asked.

"That day, after PE class, Deng Yi and I were just heading back to the playground from the classroom when you hurriedly came down from the rooftop. When you saw us, you lowered your head and pretended not to recognize us. When you took your hand out of your pocket, a crumpled piece of paper fell out."

How embarrassing... He meant to lower his head and pretend he didn't know about it.

He coughed twice: "I thought it would be thrown into the trash can as waste paper."

"Well, Deng Yi originally told me not to pick them up, but I was curious about what you were doing on the rooftop, so I told Deng Yi that this is our class's environmental protection area and we should keep it clean."

"..." Li Mubai put the paper back in its place. "Don't pick it up randomly next time. What if it really is trash?"

"I know." Xie Shu looked at him, his fingers pressing on the draft paper. "So, great poet Li, could you please copy this complete poem for me?"

"Of course, as long as you don't mind that my handwriting isn't great."

"How could I mind?" Xie Shu looked at him, her eyes bright. "I've kept your first draft for so long."

The autumn wind swept in from the end of the corridor, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead.

Honestly, Xie Shu is so kind... Li Mubai raised his hand to help her straighten her messy hair, but then put it down again.

Leaves are falling one by one on campus, the roadside is covered with a layer of withered yellow, and the sunset is orange-red in the distance.

A week later, after school, the midterm exam results were finally released. Li Mubai stared at the score sheet posted by Zhong Jianjun in the class group, took a deep breath, and clicked on it...