We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Don't be too sad. Mr. Chen (our math teacher) is just that kind of person. He taught our class when we were in the first year of high school, and he often did this," Chen Qiuhe comforted her in the afternoon.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Li Mubai felt that he had no talent for mathematics and couldn't like it, probably because he was physically punished by his teacher in elementary school for not doing his math homework well.

Whether or not one can learn math well also depends on the teacher's personality. He met a very good math teacher in his third year of junior high school. He often asked math questions and enjoyed solving math problems. Unfortunately, this didn't continue in his first year of high school.

"Vice squad leader, may I ask you a question?"

After history class, Li Mubai felt someone tap his back. He turned around and saw Zhang Chun, a little girl wearing glasses, sitting behind him.

"Sure, but I'm not sure I can answer that."

"It's okay, it's okay! I heard from other classmates that you're good at history, but I didn't quite understand the point the teacher just made."

Li Mubai followed her finger and saw a question about "authoritarianism".

"A scholar once proposed a definition of despotism, arguing that it is characterized by a highly centralized power structure, the personal dependence of all subjects on a single monarch, and the concentration of wealth and resources in the hands of the monarch or his family. From this definition, the Chinese emperors fall into this category. However, if we define every period of ancient history as despotism in a general way, we will lose sight of the political characteristics of that period of history..."

As Li Mubai spoke, Zhang Chun took notes in the book.

"This is my understanding, but it may be incorrect," Li Mubai said.

"Thank you, you're really amazing," Zhang Chun said with a smile.

Amazing, right? I was thoroughly "humiliated" by math this morning.

"No, I just happened to have read a book about despotism."

"Vice squad leader, may I call you by your name from now on?" Zhang Chun asked cautiously.

"Sure, just call me by my name. I don't feel comfortable being called vice class monitor all the time."

"Hehe, Li Mubai."

"Wow, you're so good at this. Why don't you teach me too?" Chen Qiuhe interrupted.

She pushed a notebook towards him; the notebook had grids drawn on it.

"I'm not playing," Li Mubai refused.

"Fine, then we won't play. Zhang Chun, let's play a round. I just figured out a new tactic."

"Hmm... okay."

In art class, the teacher assigned another assignment.

"Class, in the first week we drew portraits of our deskmates. This week, we'll draw a self-portrait and see how it differs from how our classmates see us versus how we see ourselves. Also, please remember not to hand in your first week's assignments yet, as I have photos of them saved. And don't just scribble a few lines and hand them in! As always, hand in your assignments to the class monitor next Monday."

Is it how I see myself?

Looking at the excited Chen Qiuhe beside him, Li Mubai thought to himself, "She's given me another chance to show off."

"Do you want me to let you use my drawing as a reference?" Chen Qiuhe said smugly after class.

"No need, I want to draw a true version of myself."

"What do you mean? You're saying the drawing I did isn't the real you?"

"Hehe." Li Mubai smiled without saying a word.

"What are you laughing at? Why aren't you laughing like that?" Chen Qiuhe punched him.

……

"Hehehe, I don't know how, you teach me."

"Hehehe."

"His smile doesn't resemble that of a respectable person."

During evening self-study, this is the third week, and the geography teacher is on duty. During the first evening self-study period, the teacher showed the students "Aerial China," and the first episode was about Xinjiang.

"Xinjiang is so beautiful!" Chen Qiuhe exclaimed after watching the video with great attention.

Li Mubai nodded in agreement; in Pingyang City, there were only mountains.

"Have you traveled to other places before?" Chen Qiuhe asked again.

"without."

He's never even been to a province, let alone a prefecture-level city within that province, except when he goes back to his hometown.

"I must visit our beautiful motherland when I have the chance!"

"No need to wait until later, I remember there's a week of study tours next semester," Li Mubai said.

"Really?!"

"Seriously, I don't know where our class will be going, but it'll probably be within the province."

"Then let's look forward to a huge waterfall."

Li Mubai wasn't particularly looking forward to it. He wasn't very interested in traveling, but the saying "read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles" held true; what one saw and felt firsthand was ultimately different from what one learned from books. Philosophically speaking, this was the difference between direct and indirect experience... Oh right, time to do my political science homework. Sigh, I have to visit my political science teacher on Saturday.

After evening self-study, it was their group's turn to be on duty again. Li Mubai dutifully cleaned up. Only on Sundays was mopping required. Today, he only needed to sweep and take the trash bags to the landfill to dispose of them.

Li Mubai waited until the very end. He didn't understand why Xie Shu also had to wait until the very end to leave. Maybe it was because the group leader wanted to check the hygiene one last time. How thoughtful of him.

He and she walked on the dimly lit road; the school's streetlights were not bright to begin with.

When they reached the fork in the road, Li Mubai said, "Class monitor, why don't you go back to the dormitory first?"

Let's go together.

……

The two remained silent the whole way, just like last time. Xie Shu waited in the distance while Li Mubai threw away the trash and slowly walked back. Fortunately, they didn't run into any other couples like last time.

"Class monitor, I'm going back to the dormitory."

"Okay, goodbye."

"Okay, goodbye," Li Mubai replied politely.

Back in the dorm, Yang Kun and the others were still discussing which girl was pretty. Li Mubai washed up and went to bed. He opened his phone and saw that the girl from yesterday had sent another friend request. She was really persistent.

"Hello, senior, I'm Zhou Ruo."

Zhou Ruo? Should he say it was originally Zhou Ruo, or that it was actually Zhou Ruo? After thinking about it, Li Mubai still didn't agree. If he agreed now, wouldn't he be revealing that he had ignored the junior yesterday? He would agree after he got home tomorrow.

"Buzz!"

Yan Shu: "It's time to submit your manuscript. Have you been creating anything lately?"

Li Bubai: "Wait, why is there a 'chasing the manuscript' segment?"

Having become quite close to Yan Shu, Li Mubai gradually became less reserved in his speech.

Yan Shu: "[Hehe emoji]"

Yan Shu: "It's been a week already, don't be lazy."

Li Bubai: "Submitting the manuscript is impossible. Why don't you write it yourself? You've been studying for so long, and you can use the pen name Qiu Ke."

He joked.

Yan Shu: "Okay, I'll give it a try."

Li Bubai: "...I was just kidding."

Yan Shu: "After studying for so long, it's time to put it to the test. I'll send it to you first so you can check it out."

Li Bubai: "Okay, I'll definitely take it seriously then! [Serious cat image]"

Yan Shu: "Then I'll go read some books to find inspiration. Get some rest, goodnight."

Li Bubai: "You should get some rest too. Goodbye."

Turning off his phone, Li Mubai rubbed his eyes. Could it be that he was about to find a kindred spirit? This was something Li Mubai was happy to do. As the saying goes, "Among three people walking together, there must be one who can teach me." It would be best to have more people to discuss things with, provided, of course, that they didn't open the box on him.

The dormitory lights went out, and Li Mubai turned on the small desk lamp to prepare to read.

"Brothers, what do you think is the end of the universe?" Yang Kun murmured.

……