We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

That's unreliable. Li Mubai has flexible standards; when he speaks well of someone, he's idealistic, but when he speaks ill of someone, he's materialistic.

"How did you interpret it?" The wisdom line is quite accurate; he could learn it. It's always good to have more skills.

"This is a closely guarded secret. If I tell you, how can I continue pretending?"

"All right."

"Give up for now. Sincerity is key. If you persist a little longer and beg Sister Chen a few times, maybe I'll talk to her."

"Then tell me, how did you figure that out?"

"This is a closely guarded secret."

What does this person mean? He's just putting on airs again.

Li Mubai turned away and ignored her.

"Look at you, in such a hurry." Chen Qiuhe's voice drifted from beside her. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you."

Li Mubai didn't react, and took out his homework on his own. He had only done part of it during club class.

"In palmistry, you need to look at the hand you don't use often; that's called the 'innate hand.'"

"So professional?"

"What do you think?" Chen Qiuhe said with a hint of smugness. She continued, "The line that covers your thumb is your lifeline. A clear and complete line indicates a relatively stable long-term condition; a shallow, broken, or blurry line indicates that your health has not been very good recently."

"and then?"

"On the life line, there is a line that extends horizontally from the base of the thumb to the center of the palm. This is the wisdom line. If the line is relatively straight, it indicates that you are more inclined to rational analysis and logical judgment; if the line droops slightly, it indicates that you rely more on intuition, imagination and feelings."

"I see."

"The line that extends horizontally from below the little finger to below the index or middle finger is the heart line. If the line is clear and stable, it usually represents... or... let me take a look first."

Chen Qiuhe took out her notebook, looked at it, and continued, "It means that the expression of emotions is relatively direct. If the lines are broken or wavy, it indicates that the emotional experience is more complicated, or that the emotional fluctuations are greater."

"Where did you copy this from?" Li Mubai was starting to doubt the authenticity of the palm reading.

"What do you mean by copying! Can you call it copying when it's a scholar's business? This is called learning!" Chen Qiuhe immediately retorted.

"So where did you 'learn' that from?"

"On Douyin (TikTok)."

……

I thought it was some kind of family secret technique, and it almost revived its spiritual energy.

During the last evening self-study session, Li Mubai slung his backpack over his shoulder and prepared to go to the activity room. Xie Shu said he would ask for leave for him.

"Where are you going? You haven't finished evening self-study yet," Chen Qiuhe asked, puzzled.

"I'm going home. I'll be a day student from now on," Li Mubai casually made up.

"Really? Then please bring me some xiaolongbao when you come tomorrow morning."

Haha, still eating? Think more about studying!

Sure enough, the club activity room was empty and quiet. He opened the door, turned on the light, and felt that the bright white LED light was particularly eye-catching in the dark night. He closed the door.

Between a hard wooden chair and a soft office chair, Li Mubai chose the latter. After sitting on a wooden chair for so long, couldn't he enjoy it a bit?

Take out the notebook; it has Xie Shu's handwriting on it. Make the changes according to her instructions.

"Respected teachers, dear classmates, good morning..." Li Mubai began to read in a low, monotone voice.

The sound is a bit low; even a microphone might not be able to save it.

He tried reading it aloud.

"zu——"

It's a bit stuck, let me try again.

"Respected teachers, dear classmates, good morning!" He tried hard to imitate the tone of the speech under the Chinese flag, but it felt a little strange.

The character is out of character! I'm not like that at all! This is a problem.

"Ta, ta, ta."

Someone's here? Is it a teacher or a classmate? Turn off the lights, lest we get caught; it'll be troublesome to explain later.

Li Mubai tiptoed to the switch.

"Smack."

The lights went out, plunging the room into darkness, with only a few rays of moonlight seeping in.

The footsteps outside the door didn't stop; instead, they grew closer.

They came towards me?! Did a teacher see the light on and decide to check? Turning off the light would make me look guilty.

Since things have come to this, we'll just have to take it one step at a time. At worst, I'll get a scolding, but I already asked for leave, so it doesn't count as skipping evening self-study.

The footsteps stopped outside the door.

Oh no, it's really here. I'm doomed. Should I shove it under my desk?

"Click".

The door was opened.

"Class...class monitor?"

The light from the corridor outside the door outlined a slender figure.

"Why aren't the lights on?" Xie Shu turned on the lights, dispelling the darkness from the activity room.

"I thought it was a teacher."

"So what if the teacher comes?" she said as she closed the door.

"I just don't feel comfortable using public classrooms," Li Mubai muttered to himself.

Xie Shu walked towards the president's seat.

Li Mubai picked up his schoolbag.

"Please sit down," Xie Shu said.

"Class monitor, you sit down. I'll just sit on the wooden chair." Li Mubai found a wooden chair and sat down.

Why did Xie Shu suddenly come?

"Squad leader, what brings you here?"

"I've come to check on your practice."

With you around, I dared not speak at all.

Xie Shu didn't sit in the president's seat. She moved a chair and sat next to Li Mubai, took his speech notes, and took out her phone to take a picture.

Class monitor, why don't you try to hide it?

"Read it to me once?" she said softly.

"it is good."

Xie Shu gave him this place to practice, and not refusing her request was Li Mubai's way of repaying her.

"z——"

Worse still, he cleared his throat and started again.

"Respected teachers, dear classmates..."

Two minutes later, he finished reading the speech, albeit haltingly. Although it was meant for Xie Shu, Li Mubai kept his face turned towards the window, only showing her his side.

"Turn around and face me, then read it again."

This... isn't a good idea.

The air quieted down as Xie Shu waited for his move.

Li Mubai turned around like a rusty robot, and she was sitting less than half a meter away from him.

He lifted the notebook, trying to cover his face, but just like in the afternoon club class, a hand barged in and pressed the notebook down.

"Don't get too close, or you'll become nearsighted."

Xie Shu's voice was soft and gentle as she pressed the notebook down to be level with Li Mubai's chest.

Li Mubai had an absurd idea: to stretch out his hand and raise the notebook to cover his face, thus satisfying Xie Shu's request.

But it would make Xie Shu think he was a fool.

"That's fine," Xie Shu said.

Fine, I'll just go for it and let this ordeal end sooner rather than later.

He focused his gaze on the notebook, pondered for a moment, and after a dozen seconds, slowly read aloud.

"...That concludes my remarks. Thank you everyone."

He lowered his head, not daring to look at Xie Shu.

"It's alright, but his voice is a bit soft and he doesn't seem very confident when he speaks," Xie Shu commented.

"Look up at me."

How could I dare...

Xie Shu was waiting for him to make a move.

Helpless, Li Mubai could only slowly raise his head, his eyes darting around aimlessly without looking at the other person.

"Look at me."

Is this really necessary? Is it too much of a sacrifice to find a quiet place to practice? Actually, practicing at home is also an option.

Li Mubai began to have second thoughts.

"Class monitor... why don't we go back? I can practice at home too."

"Do you have someone to practice with at home?"

It seems not; he doesn't have any friends back home.

"Okay, look at me, don't look anywhere else. Use your peripheral vision to look at the manuscript in your hand. Be confident and read it aloud. It's okay. Don't care about what other people think. No one in the world cares whether we read it correctly or not. As long as you read it aloud, you've succeeded."

But I care about what you think of me...