We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"This Chinese language exam is over. Please put down your pens immediately and stop answering. Continuing to answer will be considered a violation of the rules. Please..."

Before the female voice on the loudspeaker had finished reading, a chorus of pens being put down filled the classroom.

Li Mubai placed the answer sheet face up and rested his hands on the table.

"Alright." The proctor counted the exam papers and answer sheets.

He stood up and followed the crowd out.

"Damn! This is too difficult. I don't think I can get over 110 in Chinese."

"Stop talking, I haven't even finished my essay."

"What did you choose for the second question?"

"B."

"I chose C!"

"We're doomed."

Li Mubai walked to the end of the corridor and stood sideways at the edge of the crowd, unable to squeeze in.

Mei Yulu also came over and placed her schoolbag in the cabinet in the same row.

The two stood a few steps apart, neither of them speaking.

Half a minute later, the crowd dispersed a little. Mei Yulu went over first, took out the pink backpack from the cabinet, put the pencil case inside, and zipped it up.

She turned around and glanced at him.

"goodbye."

Li Mubai paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, goodbye."

She didn't say anything more, turned and walked towards the stairwell, quickly disappearing into the crowd...

"Li Mubai, why are you so slow! Xie Shu and I have been waiting outside for ages!" Chen Qiuhe held up an umbrella in one hand and put her other hand on her hip.

"There's nothing I can do. I'm on the third floor, and it's so crowded. I can only get my bag after things have calmed down a bit."

"It's okay, take your time."

Xie Shu is still the best; he's always very patient and waits for him.

"Just keep spoiling Xie Shu!" Chen Qiuhe said, pouting.

Xie Shu smiled softly and said nothing.

"Where are you planning to go at noon?" Li Mubai didn't answer her question, but looked at Xie Shu.

"I'll go with you," she said.

He nodded and then looked at Chen Qiuhe.

"I might go home," Chen Qiuhe said hesitantly. "The exam isn't until 3 p.m., so there are still more than three hours in between."

"Your home is quite far away, isn't it?" Li Mubai thought for a moment, "I know there's a library nearby, I can go there to study after lunch."

"Okay." Xie Shu agreed without hesitation.

Li Mubai then looked at Chen Qiuhe.

She hesitated for a while with her head down, then finally looked up and said, "Fine, it takes me more than an hour to get home and back, so I might as well cram and review my math at the last minute."

"Did you bring your math materials?" Xie Shu asked.

"I brought it."

"I brought it too. I was planning to read it on the bus." Chen Qiuhe patted her backpack.

"Let's go eat first, then go to the library."

"Let's go!" Chen Qiuhe looked eager to review.

The library Li Mubai mentioned was the city library he used to frequent. Not many people knew about this library, and it was also quite a distance from the Sixth Middle School.

The rain continued to fall, and a cool breeze blew through the empty hall.

"The city library? Can I study here?" Chen Qiuhe asked, looking around.

"Sure, I remember there's a study room on the first floor." Li Mubai pointed in a direction.

"That's good."

"Did you come here often before?" Xie Shu suddenly asked.

"Hmm." Li Mubai paused for a moment, then looked out the window. "I used to come to the fourth floor to read on weekends when I had nothing to do, but bags aren't allowed inside."

Xie Shu didn't press further, but simply gave a soft "hmm".

The study room was quieter than I had imagined, and the air was damp from the rain. Nevertheless, quite a few people discovered this library and chose to study here.

Li Mubai quickly scanned the area and then found a corner with a lot of empty seats.

"Let's stop here and learn two things before we set off," he said, controlling his volume.

"Okay." Xie Shu nodded and sat down next to him.

With four seats side by side, Chen Qiuhe naturally sat down next to Xie Shu.

Xie Shu took out her glasses and put them on. She then took out two notebooks from her bag and handed one to Chen Qiuhe.

"What is this?" Chen Qiuhe took it and looked down to flip through it.

"The framework of mathematical knowledge that I've organized," Xie Shu said.

"Wow—" Chen Qiuhe's eyes lit up. "Then I'll have to take a good look."

She flipped through a couple of pages, then looked up, puzzled, and said, "But it seems there are only two copies?"

"I'll watch it with Li Mubai," Xie Shu said, gently lifting his chair closer to Li Mubai.

"That's good." Chen Qiuhe looked away and turned her attention to the notes in her hands.

Xie Shu's long hair hung down, with a few strands falling on Li Mubai's shoulder, carrying a faint jasmine fragrance.

She spread the notebook out on the table between them.

Li Mubai unconsciously slowed his breathing and looked down at his notebook.

1. Sets and Logic, Set Operations, A∩B, Common Parts...

"Fortunately, there aren't too many people."

"Shh—" Mei Yulu gestured to Yuan Na and lowered her voice, "I usually come here to study."

Yuan Na shut her mouth and gave an OK sign.

They randomly found an empty seat and sat down.

Mei Yulu took out the documents from her bag and gently placed them on the table. She opened them, thought for a moment, then took out her phone, put on her earphones, and played some soothing instrumental music.

She repeated the simple instrumental music countless times until Yuan Na gently poked her with the tip of her pen, at which point Mei Yulu finally looked away from the documents on the table.

She looked at Yuan Na with a puzzled expression, and the latter raised her chin to indicate that she should look in a certain direction.

Mei Yulu looked over and saw two people sitting in the corner.

Immediately afterwards, Yuan Na tapped her phone screen, indicating that she should look at her phone.

"Is that Xie Shu?"

"Probably." She typed three words and clicked reply.

The name Yuan Na above keeps changing, ignoring the "typing is in progress" message, suggesting that Yuan Na is carefully choosing her words.

Study hard.

Finally, not knowing what to say, she simply sent these four words.

Mei Yulu couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Let's hurry up and study, it'll be 2 o'clock in an hour."

After reading the sentence, Yuan Na put down her phone. She glanced at Mei Yulu beside her with some unease, and only breathed a slight sigh of relief when she saw that the latter did not react much and was focused on her study materials.

It seems she shouldn't be so conflicted anymore...

Yuan Na lowered her head again and looked at the documents.

In the quiet study room, the occasional sounds of pages turning and pens scratching on the table could be heard, but they were all insignificant against the sound of rain outside the window.

Rumble—!

The clouds churned, and a deep rumble of thunder sounded.

Li Mubai looked up at the window; the rain seemed to show no signs of stopping or letting up.

The timing of the provincial mock exam was too coincidental; it just happened to coincide with the rainy season.

He looked away, rubbed his sleepy eyes; people are most prone to drowsiness in quiet, humid environments.

7. Analytic geometry, conic sections: You're guaranteed to get points on the first part of the big questions, specifically the square of a/x of an ellipse…

Before he could finish reciting, his shoulder suddenly felt heavy.

Xie Shu had taken off her glasses and placed them on the table, then leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'm a little sleepy, I'll rest for a bit, wake me up at 1:40." Her voice was a little slurred.

"...Mmm." Li Mubai responded. He hesitated for a few seconds, then reached out and gently placed his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from falling asleep.

Xie Shu moved slightly, shifting a little closer to him, her forehead touching his chin, and then remained still.

Li Mubai glanced to his right and saw Chen Qiuhe slumped onto the table, her fingers still clutching the notebook.

It seems like I still need to take a nap at noon; many people in the study room are slumped over their desks.

Li Mubai withdrew his gaze and continued reading the documents.

The study room was quiet, and the sound of rain outside the window gradually subsided...