We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Do I know him?" Li Mubai put down his schoolbag and pulled out a chair to sit down.

"Chen Qiuhe."

"Chen Qiuhe?"

Two questioning voices rang out in the dormitory. Li Mubai glanced at Jiao Yong, then looked away.

"If it's not Brother Yong, are you still harboring wicked intentions?" Zhao Feng leaned against the bed railing, his tone mocking.

"I let it go a long time ago, now I'm focused on my studies." Jiao Yong waved his hand, then turned to look at Yang Kun. "So who did she argue with?"

"Liu Xiaoqing".

"Liu Xiaoqing? Who is that?" Zhao Feng asked, looking confused.

Li Mubai lowered his head and thought for a while before finally matching those three words with a blurry face in his memory.

"I'm close to those few girls in my class who are fans of celebrities. I have a round face and wear glasses."

"Oh—I remember now." Zhao Feng suddenly realized.

"What are they arguing about? When did this happen?" Li Mubai asked.

"It seems that Liu Xiaoqing was talking badly about Chen Qiuhe behind her back, and when Chen Qiuhe found out, she confronted her, and then they started arguing. It started yesterday."

"What did Liu Xiaoqing say about her? What kind of conflict do they have?" Jiao Yong pressed.

"I don't know about that." Yang Kun shrugged. "Anyway, Liu Xiaoqing pulled her fan club together to isolate Chen Qiuhe. Yesterday, everyone posted a message with the same caption to mock her."

"Isn't this a primary school student?" Zhao Feng couldn't help but chuckle.

"And then?" Li Mubai asked.

"When Deng Yi saw it, she went to ask Liu Xiaoqing what was going on. It seemed that Liu Xiaoqing wanted Deng Yi to isolate Chen Qiuhe as well, but Deng Yi was unwilling, so they had another argument."

"Wow! This is so abstract?" Zhao Feng couldn't help but exclaim.

"I also think that Liu Xiaoqing from BYD is too abstract, isn't she?" Jiao Yong chimed in.

"Are they still arguing?" Li Mubai asked.

"The online arguments have mostly died down," Yang Kun said with a hint of uncertainty. "They probably won't argue face-to-face offline, but I doubt the atmosphere in the class will be too good."

Li Mubai thought for a moment: "So now it's Liu Xiaoqing and her group on one side, and Chen Qiuhe and Deng Yi on the other?"

"Pretty much. Some of the girls who are close to Deng Yi are also on her side. Basically, the two sides are ignoring each other."

"Wow, your Class 3 is going to split the world evenly, aren't you going to choose a side?" Zhao Feng said.

"What side should we boys take? Huang Lingling just asked me which side I supported. I said I don't support anyone, I just want to study hard." Yang Kun pointed to his phone watch.

"Wait, let me see if anyone is looking for me." Jiao Yong took out his phone, turned on the screen, and swiped a few times.

Li Mubai lowered his head and thought for a moment. Did Xie Shu know about this? Or had she already been dragged into it?

He stood up, didn't say much, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and left the dormitory.

As March gradually progressed into the middle, tender green buds sprouted from the branches that had been bare all winter along the roadside.

The midday sun wasn't too scorching. Looking up, the sky was a clean, light blue, with loose clouds floating around—everything looked like springtime.

Students in the ivory tower should be quietly reviewing their studies during this season, gradually stepping into their summer, but some people don't think that way.

Xie Shu had already arrived at the office on the third floor of the library. She was sitting by the window, holding an open book, but not reading it.

"You're late. I arrived first this time." She looked up at him.

"Sorry for taking a few minutes." Li Mubai put his schoolbag on the chair.

Xie Shu didn't reply. She stood up from her chair, walked to his side, and gently wrapped her arms around his neck while he was still bent over. Li Mubai's body stiffened slightly.

"You silly little thing," her voice was low, right next to his ear, "do you want me to apologize to you?"

Xie Shu's hair wasn't tied up, and it fell down, brushing against his cheek, causing a slight tickle. Li Mubai's heart skipped a beat, and the gloom he had felt on the way here dissipated somewhat.

"Hug..." He was about to apologize again for his habitual apology, but he quickly stopped himself from doing so.

"Then how can we make amends?" he asked.

"This is fine." She didn't let go of his hand, but just stood quietly against him for a while.

A few seconds later, she added, "Hand."

Li Mubai raised his hand, which she then grasped at his chest.

She closed her eyes slightly, savoring this moment of tranquility.

Voices could be heard from afar outside the window, while inside, a faint heartbeat could be heard.

Thump—thump—

"Your heart is beating," Xie Shu said.

"..."

"Thank you, Shu." A few seconds later, Li Mubai broke the silence.

"Um?"

"Did you know about the argument between Chen Qiuhe and Liu Xiaoqing?"

Xie Shu released her grip, took a half-step back, and looked at him: "Were you arguing?"

Li Mubai briefly recounted what he had heard from Yang Kun.

After listening, she frowned slightly: "Should we go tell Teacher Wu?"

"It's possible, but I feel it's only a temporary solution."

"Treats the symptoms but not the root cause?"

Li Mubai nodded. When teachers intervene, they can usually only get both sides to back down, especially with the college entrance exam approaching. Besides, when he fought with Xing Yi, he didn't see Xing Yi sincerely apologize.

Therefore, overt conflicts can be prevented, but the isolation that occurs behind the scenes is hard to say.

"I have to go back to the classroom this afternoon. Teacher Wu asked me to get the test papers and record the scores. I'll ask Chen Qiuhe and Deng Yi what happened then," Xie Shu said after thinking for a moment.

"it is good."

Actually, this is a matter for Class 3, and it doesn't really concern him. But as Chen Qiuhe's friend, he should still do his best to help.

Seeing Li Mubai deep in thought, Xie Shu suddenly hugged him again.

This time she tightened her grip even more, causing Li Mubai to cough twice. He reached out and patted her arm before she loosened her grip slightly, giving him a little space to breathe.

"...Let's study first."

"I want to hug you for a while; we haven't seen each other for over twenty hours," she said.

Li Mubai hadn't realized when Xie Shu had become so clingy.

"Fine," he reluctantly conceded.

"Stand up." She released her grip.

Li Mubai stood up, the chair leg scraping against the floor with a short, soft sound.

Then Xie Shu leaned back, wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her face near his shoulder, and paused quietly for a moment.

The wind outside the window made the curtains billow slightly before falling back down.

Hug me now, because opportunities will only become fewer in the future.

He raised his hand and gently placed it on her back, doing nothing more, just letting it rest...

The atmosphere in Class 3 was noticeably strange. The class lacked its usual liveliness; walking in felt like stepping into a closed coffin.

Liu Xiaoqing and her group sat together, heads close together, occasionally glancing in a certain direction before looking away.

Xie Shu turned his gaze to Chen Qiuhe, who was studying with her head down.

She then sat in the middle seat, where two forces seemed to be subtly vying for dominance.

"Xie Shu, Li Jiayi, come to the office for a moment." Wu Changguo appeared at the front door and waved to them.

Xie Shu followed another girl out of the classroom. Wu Changguo called them over. It wasn't anything important; he just wanted them to help carry the answer sheets and test papers for the city's first mock exam and to enter the scores for each question into a table.

By the time Xie Shu and Li Jiayi finished recording the last number, it was almost five o'clock.

"Alright, thank you for your hard work." Wu Changguo glanced at the recorded scores and nodded in satisfaction. "Also, with the college entrance exam approaching, report to me immediately if anything happens in the class."

"Okay, Teacher Wu," Li Jiayi replied.

Xie Shu pursed his lips, but ultimately swallowed back what he wanted to say.

She and Li Jiayi left the office and returned to the classroom, where most of the other people had already left.

Xie Shu slowly tidied his somewhat messy desk, then looked up to find only two people left in the classroom…