We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"The six kings were defeated, the world was united, Mount Shu was leveled, and the Epang Palace was built... The rumbling sound could be heard from afar... The rumbling sound could be heard from afar."

Zhang Hao listened for a long time but couldn't say anything more.

"Alright, sit down. Go find the class representative or class monitor to memorize it. If you don't finish it by today, copy it ten times and hand it in to me the day after tomorrow."

Zhong Jianjun issued the punishment in a calm tone. He glanced at the class, and everyone who saw him lowered their heads and pretended to be reading.

"You must complete your daily memorization assignments on time. If you can't finish, copy them ten times on your own." He paused for a moment. "Learning is your own responsibility. Teachers can only guide you through the process. You should ask Li Mubai for advice on how to be self-disciplined."

Li Mubai suddenly looked up, almost thinking he had misheard.

He looked towards the podium, but Zhong Jianjun's gaze did not fall on him. However, several faint glances drifted over from all around.

Zhong Jianjun rested his hands on the edge of the podium, his face still expressionless, and continued to criticize.

He paused, glanced at his watch, and saw that there were less than two minutes left before class started.

"In addition, I would like to briefly mention two things: the students who applied for financial aid last semester have passed the review and their names have been posted on the school's bulletin board."

Zhong Jianjun's hoarse voice was like a stone thrown into the sea; it seemed no one was paying attention to the poverty relief efforts.

Li Mubai thought of Chen Qiuhe, wondering if her name was on the list.

"Secondly, you will have regular self-study sessions in the evenings from now on."

Normal evening self-study? What does "normal" mean? Several people in the classroom looked at each other, not quite understanding.

Zhong Jianjun didn't offer any explanation; he had already lowered his head and opened his textbook to prepare for class.

"Teacher," Lin Xinle hesitated for a moment before raising her hand, emboldened by her recent scholarship, "what does 'normal evening self-study' mean...?"

Zhong Jianjun looked up at her, his gaze indifferent, which made Lin Xinle feel uneasy, and she unconsciously lowered her eyes.

After a two-second pause, he finally spoke: "Do your own thing at 6:30, and go to evening self-study on time at 7:00."

As soon as he finished speaking, a slight commotion arose below. He did not stop it, but turned on the multimedia screen on his own.

"Damn, finally I don't have to rush back to the classroom without even washing my hair after dinner!"

"Sometimes I don't even have time to eat, and there are long queues in the afternoon."

Ring ring—

The urgent ringing of the bell interrupted the hushed chatter in the classroom.

"Attend class!"

"stand up!"

"Hello, teacher!"

The class meeting was also a Chinese class, and the forty-five minutes passed quickly.

Li Mubai tidied up her desk and went outside. Under the familiar tree, there was no familiar figure. Today, Xie Shu said that Deng Yi had asked her to have dinner with her.

He walked straight past, surrounded by students heading to the cafeteria.

Suddenly, Li Mubai stopped at the school bulletin board. He found the list of applicants for poverty alleviation and scanned the names one by one.

Zhang Zhijie, Zeng Junzi, Tang Rongrong, Li Ting, Chen Qiuhe...

As his attention was focused on the name Chen Qiuhe, he was suddenly gently patted on the right shoulder.

He did not turn around.

I was patted on the left shoulder again.

He turned around and looked at her with a hint of helplessness.

"No, why did you turn around so suddenly? That's not how you turn around! You should turn your head to look to the right first, then turn your head to look to the left."

Li Mubai looked at her without saying a word.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you deaf? Is your phone off?" Chen Qiuhe waved her hand.

"You seem like a primary school student. Who plays this kind of thing anymore?"

"What?! You're saying I'm like a primary school student? I'm way more mature than you guys. While my peers play games and go out to play, I'm studying and making money, which is just..."

Li Mubai didn't reply but sighed softly. He pointed to the notice board behind him: "I checked for you, your name is there."

"That's good, that's good..." Chen Qiuhe slowly stopped joking and lowered her gaze.

"I'm going to eat, do you want to come?" Li Mubai asked.

"Let's go." Chen Qiuhe nodded, then looked up and followed him. "By the way, where's Xie Shu? Why aren't you with him?"

Deng Yi wanted to have dinner with her.

"Hmm? Why don't we go together?"

"Maybe he's just embarrassed."

"Look how greedy you are, taking up all of Xie Shu's time and not giving any to anyone else."

Li Mubai did not refute, but just smiled, and their figures gradually disappeared around the corner.

Shortly after they left, a hurried figure stopped at the notice board...

After school on Saturday, Xie Shu forcefully dragged him to take the bus.

Inside the enclosed carriage, Li Mubai's posture remained as awkward as ever.

Xie Zhiqiang, who was driving ahead, glanced at the rearview mirror and asked casually, "Xiao Shu, how's your 100-day countdown rally going?"

Li Mubai tensed up instantly. Who was secretly recording this video? Why didn't they blur his face and mute Xie Shu's name?

Xie Shu glanced at the nervous Li Mubai, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly: "It's fine."

"That's good?" Xie Zhiqiang seemed somewhat surprised.

"Hmm, that's good." Xie Shu didn't say anything more.

Xie Zhiqiang paused for two seconds, then looked away from the rearview mirror: "Little... Li Mubai, what about you? Have you decided which university to apply to?"

Li Mubai was silent for a few seconds. He knew Xie Zhiqiang was asking him about his previous consideration of studying business administration.

"Still thinking, Uncle."

"It's getting late now. You only have exactly 90 days left." Xie Zhiqiang paused for a moment. "People need to have a clear goal to have the motivation to move forward. Moving forward aimlessly will not lead to anything in the end."

His tone carried a subtle criticism, and Li Mubai lowered his head slightly, unsure of what to say.

"Dad—" Xie Shu suddenly spoke, breaking the somber atmosphere, "Li Mubai is the champion."

"Champion?" Xie Zhiqiang asked in a puzzled tone.

Even Li Mubai himself was puzzled. He looked up at Xie Shu.

When did he become a champion?

"Li Mubai won the championship in the middle school group of the 9th Global Poetry Competition." Xie Shu looked at him.

Li Mubai was slightly taken aback, then realized that last summer, he and Xie Shu seemed to have participated in some kind of poetry competition.

He's the champion? When did this happen? How come he didn't hear anything about it? All sorts of questions filled his mind.

"He can write poetry? Classical or modern?" Xie Zhiqiang asked, a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Ancient poem." Xie Shu handed his phone forward. "The prize money is four thousand."

Xie Zhiqiang reached out and took the phone, placing it on the holder, and unconsciously slowed down the car.

Xie Shu sat back down next to Li Mubai, turned his head slightly, and lowered his voice to say, "Teacher Yang posted the link in the group."

Li Mubai quickly took out his phone, and sure enough, there was an unread message in the group chat.

He clicked the link, and after a few seconds of loading, his name and work were prominently displayed at the top.

He paused for a moment, then scrolled down again. There were two runners-up, one of whom was Xie Shu.

"Xie Shu..." He looked up at her, his eyes still filled with disbelief. He thought he was just going through the motions and would at most receive an award of excellence.

"Congratulations on winning the championship." Xie Shu gently poked his cheek, her fingertips slightly cool. She seemed even happier than Li Mubai.

"Alright." Xie Zhiqiang handed the phone back to Xie Shu without turning his head. "It's just an ordinary award. Young man, you still need to guard against arrogance and impetuosity."

"This is a global competition." Xie Shu took the phone, his tone indifferent.

"The West doesn't write ancient poems. Although it claims to be a global competition, the real competition is still among a few East Asian countries like ours," Xie Zhiqiang said.

"That's still impressive. The combined population of East Asian countries like China, Japan, and South Korea is two billion, and Li Mubai learned almost everything on his own."

Xie Zhiqiang opened his mouth, but didn't refute it further.

The car gradually slowed down and finally stopped at an intersection.

"arrive."

Li Mubai looked outside and saw that the gate of Hualian Residential Area was already in front of him.

"Thank you, Uncle."

He opened the door and got out of the car.

"See you tomorrow, champion." Xie Shu rolled down the car window and leaned out slightly.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Li Mubai smiled and waved to her.

Xie Zhiqiang's fingers unconsciously began to tap lightly on the steering wheel again, slowly and deliberately.