We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"We've arrived." Mr. Li bent down, glanced at the school through the car window, and said calmly.

"Oh, oh." Li Mubai snapped out of his half-asleep state, unbuckled his seatbelt, and prepared to open the car door.

"How did you do on the city's first mock exam?" Mr. Li suddenly asked.

"It's alright, probably about the same as last time."

Mr. Li nodded, his gaze lingering on the man's face for a moment. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he simply waved his hand gently.

"Alright, let's go back to school and study hard."

"Okay, Dad." Li Mubai picked up his bag, got out of the car, and waved back into the car from the roadside.

He took a few steps toward the school gate, then suddenly slowed down.

Did his dad see the video Lan Shiyu showed him yesterday? He glanced back, but the car had already driven far away, turned a corner, and disappeared from sight completely.

He withdrew his gaze, turned around, and walked into the school gate.

Some classmates still recognized him, but compared to a few days ago, there was much less discussion and attention.

Li Mubai silently walked into the dormitory. The dormitory building was on the fifth floor, and he had to climb up the stairs to get into the corridor.

"Brother Yi, I just need a bottle of Coke later."

"One bottle isn't enough! If the other students see us, they'll think we can't afford it! Ten bottles! Ten bottles each!"

Wow! Yi-ge is awesome, getting a scholarship is really impressive.

"Unfortunately, we only got second place; we're still a ways off from first..."

Xing Yi's voice carried a hint of regret as he caught sight of a figure walking up the stairs, and his voice abruptly stopped.

"What's missing?" my friend asked.

Xing Yi gave him a look, and the people around him followed his gaze and quieted down.

They kept their heads down, keeping a considerable distance from Li Mubai.

Only when his figure disappeared around the corner of the building did they seem to regain their breath.

"I went there, so Xingyi, why did you fight with him back then?" my friend asked in a low voice.

Xing Yiqian chuckled but didn't answer his question.

He looked up at the azure sky, as if he had been thinking for a long time. After a few seconds, he suddenly patted his friend on the shoulder: "Wait here for me, I'll go buy you some oranges."

"What the hell?"

Before his friend could react, Xing Yi had already turned around and walked back, his footsteps disappearing hurriedly into the stairwell.

The sound of someone climbing the stairs echoed through the quiet stairwell, loud enough for even Li Mubai, who had reached the third floor, to hear.

He moved to the side against the wall to avoid being accidentally injured by some reckless person.

"Li Mubai, wait a minute."

He paused for a moment, recognized Xing Yi's voice, and then took two more steps uphill.

"I'm here to apologize," Xing Yi caught up, still out of breath. "Sincerely."

Li Mubai stopped, turned around and looked at him without saying a word.

Xing Yi bent down, his tone sincere: "What happened before was my fault. I was ignorant and caused you a lot of trouble. I'm sorry."

"Oh," Li Mubai replied, his tone indifferent and devoid of any extra emotion. He walked past the other person and continued upstairs.

"Li Mubai." Xing Yi's voice came up from behind, "You are indeed amazing. I wish you and Xie Shu happiness."

Li Mubai didn't turn around, nor did he stop walking; he went straight up the last few steps.

His and Xie Shu's future has always been in their own hands.

When I opened the dormitory door, the afternoon sun was shining in through the window, casting a warm glow on the gray floor tiles, and the wooden bed made a soft creaking sound.

"Want some? Please."

Yang Kun weighed the bag of potato chips in his hand. Zhao Feng was packing his luggage to go back to school. Wang Rui was sleeping in bed. Feng Wanli was reading a book. Jiao Yong's bed was still empty.

"No need." He smiled and placed the bag on the table in the middle of the dormitory. "I bought some things for each of you."

"Holy crap, really? Mr. Bai is so generous!" Zhao Feng immediately stopped what he was doing and came over.

Li Mubai opened the bag and took out five self-heating hot pots and five packs of AD calcium milk.

"A real dynasty! So generous?" Yang Kun patted the potato chip crumbs off his hands and came over.

Li Mubai distributed them one by one.

When it was Feng Wanli's turn, he put down his book, raised his hand, and declined, saying, "I don't need it, thank you."

"Take it, everyone gets one."

"Yes, Wanli, this is a token of my sincere appreciation. We may not have the chance to see each other again after graduation," Yang Kun added, trying to persuade him.

Feng Wanli was silent for a moment, then finally nodded: "Okay, thank you."

"What are you doing?" Wang Ruicai asked sleepily as he sat up.

"Li Mubai used his scholarship money to treat us; the food is all on your seat," Zhao Feng explained on Li Mubai's behalf.

"Wow! Thank you so much, now I've got dinner sorted." Wang Rui jumped out of bed.

"Not the King of Prisons, are you short of money?" Yang Kun asked.

"We don't need it."

"You're making it sound like you can't afford to eat."

"How can that be the same? When someone else pays, you don't have to pay for it yourself."

"That's right, that's right. We'll have a hot pot feast when everyone comes back tonight." Zhao Feng laughed twice.

"Li Mubai, are you going back to the classroom?"

As soon as Feng Wanli's voice rang out, everyone in the dormitory immediately stopped talking and looked in the direction he pointed to the door. Li Mubai was already carrying his backpack and had his hand on the doorknob.

The afternoon sun streamed in through the window, and dust motes floated slowly in the light, making the figures of everyone in the dormitory seem to be outlined with a pale golden edge.

He smiled, didn't say anything, nodded, then opened the door and went out.

The dormitory was silent for two seconds.

"Hiss—" Yang Kun spoke first, "Why do I have a feeling that Lao Bai is gone for good? He was sending things and standing at the door with a mysterious smile."

"Where could he go?" Zhao Feng had already opened a pack of AD calcium milk, inserted a straw, and taken a sip. "XS is still here. Given Lao Bai's pure love, they definitely won't separate."

"Is it possible that they're just about to graduate?" Feng Wanli interjected.

"Is it possible that it's just because graduation is approaching?" Feng Wanli interjected.

"Yeah, I almost forgot if you hadn't reminded me. We'll be separated in less than three months. When that time comes, let's all be rich and powerful, and not forget each other."

"I'll always remember the grudge you guys made against me by calling me Chicken Bro."

"No, Brother Chicken, I still want to work as the security captain at your factory in the future."

"Security captain? That must be a top-tier police dog."

Feng Wanli watched Yang Kun and Zhao Feng joking around, smiled inwardly, then packed his books, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and went out the door...

"Excuse me, I want to borrow this novel. How long can I keep it?"

"Normal books can be kept for two weeks. If you need more time, you can renew it online."

After Li Mubai finished reading, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked up. Xie Shu, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly covered his mouth and laughed.

"What's wrong? Did I read it wrong?" He put down the listening material, somewhat confused.

"Mostly correct, but the pronunciation of the words is not quite accurate, and there's a slight accent." Xie Shu stopped laughing and pointed to one of the words, "For example, this one, kept."

She slowed down her speech and demonstrated, her pronunciation clear and standard.

"Ka... Kopt."

"It's not 'kept,' it's 'ka.'" Xie Shu read it again, "kept."

"Kaptor".

She paused for a moment after listening, as if seriously judging whether the pronunciation was acceptable, then slowly nodded and pointed to another word: "This one, online."

"Come on."

"The 'line' should be pronounced with more emphasis, while the 'on' should be pronounced lightly," Xie Shu corrected.

Li Mubai tried again, and it was a little better than last time, but not by much.

Xie Shu tried to correct every single one of his non-standard pronunciations, but the effect didn't seem to be very good, so he thought about it and gave up.

"I'll stop practicing pronunciation for now. As long as my spoken English is passable, that's fine. Besides, it's not needed in many majors."

"Hmm." Li Mubai looked down at the listening comprehension textbook in his hand.

The next moment, he felt something soft covering his head.

"Alright, you're not going out either..." Xie Shu's voice paused slightly, "Go away, spoken English isn't actually that important to you."

Xie Shu actually touched his head? That's what he was thinking at that moment.

Li Mubai raised his hand, removed her slender fingers, and was about to let go when she gently grasped his hand in return.

Xie Shu slowly moved closer, her fingers changing from a grip to a light interlock, enveloping his fingers in her palm.

Then she tilted her head slightly and rested it on his shoulder, her hair brushing against his neck, tickling him, and she carried a faint floral scent.

"Go study now," Li Mubai said with a hint of helplessness.

"I'm studying." Without looking up, she simply held up her audiobook with her other hand and began reading a new line, "What are you going to do this weekend?"

Li Mubai remained silent.

"It's your turn, hurry up and read," she urged him, leaning on his shoulder.

"...I planned to climb mountains, but the weather report says it will rain." He spoke slowly, and his voice was lower than usual.

A soft breath came from the person leaning on my shoulder, and a light laugh quickly disappeared into the air.