We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

That outing in early winter was like a fleeting dream; thick clouds obscured the sun and took away the last bit of warmth.

The classroom windows and doors were all tightly closed, making the whole space feel like a closed box—suffocating and even the air felt thick.

"Cough cough cough!" Someone coughed several times, the sound clearly coming from the back row, piercing everyone's ears.

Li Mubai felt a tickle in his throat. He raised his hand to cover his mouth, but the tickle subsided and he didn't cough it up.

No way? Didn't I already have a fever this year? He looked down at the collar of his coat and pulled it tighter.

With a creak, the door was pushed open, and a cold wind rushed in from the corridor, instantly waking up some of the drowsy people who had been dozing off and causing them to straighten up.

"Why are you all keeping the windows and doors closed?" Zhong Jianjun stood at the door with a stern face. "Aren't you all afraid of getting infected? Those sitting by the window, open the windows to ventilate the room."

As the doors and windows opened, the oppressive atmosphere was replaced by a slight chill, the air began to circulate, and even the mind became a little clearer.

Zhong Jianjun walked up to the podium and glanced around: "Mao Zhouzhou, come up and check the attendance. Is everyone here?"

Mao Zhouzhou, sitting below the podium, paused for a moment. She quickly glanced at the row behind Li Mubai; Lin Xinle's seat was empty.

She stood up and counted them one by one. After a moment, she looked up and said, "Teacher, everyone is here except for Lin Xinle."

"Okay." Zhong Jianjun nodded. "Lin Xinle is on sick leave. Take care of yourself during this seasonal change. If you feel unwell, take your medicine and report to your teachers and parents promptly. Don't try to tough it out, understand?"

"clear."

"Make the most of your time to study, don't waste it." Zhong Jianjun pulled up a chair, sat on the podium, and began grading the weekly exam papers.

After self-study ended at five o'clock, Li Mubai packed up his books and stood up. He walked out of the classroom and down the stairs. A girl wearing a mask walked towards him. She coughed lightly twice as she passed him and moved away.

Xie Shu was already standing under the familiar tree, waiting for him.

"Thank you, Shu." Li Mubai walked over quickly. "It seems like there are more people getting colds and sick lately."

"Yes." Xie Shu nodded. "Some students in our class have also taken sick leave, and quite a few people are wearing masks."

"Then be careful not to catch a cold. Remember to cover yourself well at night, and wear thicker clothes if you feel cold." Li Mubai frowned slightly.

Xie Shu smiled gently: "Don't worry, I have a very good constitution and rarely get sick."

"We can't be careless," he insisted.

"Okay, I'll definitely listen to Xiaobai's advice." Xie Shu turned to look at him. "First and foremost, eat well to boost your immunity."

Li Mubai looked up and saw that the two of them had already reached the entrance of the cafeteria...

"After we finish eating, can you come with me to the convenience store?" Xie Shu asked.

"Sure, what are you planning to buy?"

"My notebook is finished, I need to buy a new one."

Come to think of it, it seems like he hasn't been to the school store in a long time.

The convenience store wasn't less crowded on the weekend afternoon, even though students hadn't fully returned to school yet.

Xie Shu quickly picked out the notebooks, but instead of paying, he went around to the other side of the shelf.

Li Mubai followed her and turned around. Out of the corner of his eye, he vaguely sensed a figure shrinking behind the shelf as they approached, as if deliberately avoiding them.

"Li Mubai, would you like some red bean milk tea?" Xie Shu picked up a cup of Xiangpiaopiao and turned to ask him.

"Red beans?" Li Mubai thought for a moment, then nodded.

She held the notebook, while Li Mubai carried two cups of Xiangpiaopiao (a type of Chinese liquor). Together, they walked to the cashier and lined up. There were already six or seven people ahead of them, and the line wasn't moving very fast.

"We'll soak here for a bit, then slowly head back to the classroom," Xie Shu said, turning around.

"Okay." A cup of hot milk tea is just right for winter.

He looked up at the front of the line; the cashier hadn't moved for over ten seconds.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get some change," the cashier's voice came through.

The person paying the bill sounded somewhat familiar, with a hurried tone, as if they were in a rush.

Half a minute later, the cashier returned with a stack of change, counted it twice, and handed it over: "Here's your change: seventy-six."

"Okay, okay." The person quickly took the change, grabbed what they had bought, turned around hastily, and almost ran out of the convenience store, as if fleeing some scene.

Li Mubai looked at the figure from behind and recognized him—Xing Yi.

Unexpectedly, the tables have turned now. Back in his second year of high school, it was also at the convenience store. In order to deliberately avoid Xie Shu, he ended up awkwardly running back to his dormitory.

He looked at Xie Shu's downturned ponytail and gently touched the ends of her hair with his fingertips.

"What's wrong? Aren't we at school right now?" Xie Shu turned to look at him.

"I see your hair is split, let me straighten it for you."

"Oh," she turned back, "then check if my hair is messy and tidy it up for me too."

He chuckled dryly. Xie Shu's hair was smooth and silky, with no split ends or messy hair whatsoever.

"Xie Shu, do you think it will snow this year?" Li Mubai asked, holding a hot bottle of Xiangpiaopiao.

"You like watching snow?" Xie Shu bit the straw, took a small sip, and the sweetness of red beans melted on her tongue.

"fine."

In my memory, it only snowed twice in Pingyang City: once when I was a child, and once when I was in my first year of high school.

"If you go to the north in the future, you will be able to see snow every year," Xie Shu said.

He would see snow every year when he went to the North... He slowly savored her words.

"You..." Li Mubai opened his mouth, but didn't say anything. They always deliberately avoided the topic of the future, as if it wouldn't happen if they didn't mention it.

"It will snow in London too," Xie Shu said, her voice a little softer. "What we'll see then might be snow falling from the same cloud."

"Has it been decided yet?"

"Yes, I'm getting ready to go to the London School of Economics."

"So Peking University... they said we'd go together."

"Going abroad to study is a promise I made to my mother." Xie Shu lowered his head, looked at the road beneath his feet, and walked forward step by step.

"A promise?" Li Mubai suddenly realized something and paused. "So that's why Auntie said that the other day? Going to the library for evening self-study was also part of a promise?"

Xie Shu did not answer; she simply nodded slowly in the cold wind.

Is it really worth it to exchange the time spent together during evening self-study sessions every day for eight years of separation in the future?

If he had known that it would be trading his evening study time for eight years of separation, he probably wouldn't have agreed in the first place.

Even without that promise, there's still room for maneuver.

"It's okay," Xie Shu said softly. "I'll also have winter and summer vacations. Wait for me in Pingyang then."

Perhaps he had only vaguely sensed that Xie Shu would go abroad before, but now it was clearly in front of him.

"Okay, I'll wait for you in Pingyang."

A breeze blew in from the other end of the street, carrying the chill of early winter, and dissipated the steam from the rim of the milk tea cup.

The wait will be a long and barren winter...