We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Snapped!"

Just as Li Mubai was about to bend down to pick up his pen, the teacher slapped him on the head with a book.

"Stop arguing, stop arguing! Did your parents send you to junior high just to waste your time?"

…Others might have been assigned to junior high school after the primary school entrance exam, but Li Mubai was admitted through connections.

He needs to get up early every day to catch the first bus so he won't be late. He can't go home for lunch and can only go to his relatives' houses. But he doesn't like the feeling of being dependent on others, so he often goes to his friends' houses.

His friends often stay at home alone, so he doesn't have to worry about being restricted by their parents.

"If you don't learn, plenty of others will! Don't hold others back!"

The English teacher beside him continued to berate him, while Li Mubai kept his head down and remained silent.

"Ring ring!"

The old-fashioned alarm clock rang, but the teacher didn't even glance at it, grabbed his book, and left.

"Li Mubai, come to my house to play games at noon."

"it is good."

"Damn it, our English teacher started yelling at us."

"Indeed, I was the one who got hit."

……

"Li Mubai, want to try this?"

"What is this? Smoke?"

"Yeah, I used what my dad left over."

After saying that, he skillfully lit a cigarette for himself.

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

Li Mubai followed his friend's example, lit a cigarette, and took a puff.

"Ahem!"

"Haha, you're inhaling too fast. Inhale gently and don't let the smoke get into your lungs."

Li Mubai tried again.

"Ahem!"

It's still very pungent; I don't know why the other person doesn't feel any pungentness at all.

"Looks like you're not cut out for this. Give me the cigarette."

"You still want the ones I've already smoked?"

"What else? I only have a few left, and every one I smoke is one less."

What's so great about this? He handed the cigarette back to his friend.

Fortunately, Li Mubai didn't learn to smoke, otherwise he would never have been able to quit.

"Class, before class begins, we'll randomly select some students to try reciting the classical poems at the back of the book."

"Mei Yulu, recite 'Written at the Zen Temple Behind Broken Mountain Temple'."

"Good teacher, inscription on the Zen monastery behind Broken Mountain Temple, by Tang Changjian..."

After Mei Yulu finished reciting, the teacher clapped: "Not bad, I didn't even ask you to recite it, and some students have already memorized it."

The teacher paused for a moment, then said, "Let's find someone else to memorize the poem 'Farewell to a Friend' and see if they can."

After scanning around, I finally settled on a boy.

"Li Mubai, you give it a try."

"Farewell to a Friend," by Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty...

Li Mubai was quite interested in classical Chinese poetry and prose, especially Li Bai's poems. Whenever he received a new textbook, he would flip through it to see what classical Chinese poems and prose he would be learning next.

"Good, very good! Let's give Li Mu Bai a round of applause!"

"Clap clap clap!"

Li Mubai was somewhat surprised; this was the first time he had received praise.

The teacher hadn't expected that one of the weaker students in the class could recite it. She had originally planned to wait until Li Mubai couldn't recite it, so she could use that as an excuse to have the students go home and practice reciting before starting the class.

"Wow, bro, you're amazing! You're secretly studying behind our backs," his friend and deskmate exclaimed in surprise after class.

"No, I just memorized some poems."

That's true. He only memorized some poems and classical Chinese texts, and he didn't have the interest in learning anything else.

"Li Mubai, the teacher is calling you," said Mei Yulu, who had just finished reciting poetry.

"Okay, sure."

Mei Yulu was a top student in her class and also the class representative for Chinese. When she first entered the school, many boys in the class wanted to pursue her, not only within the class, but all of them failed.

Li Mubai had no interest in that; who would be interested in someone who wasn't on the same wavelength?

"Teacher, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, it was quite good that you recited Li Bai's poem just now."

After the teacher finished speaking, she pulled out a Chinese language test paper: "I looked at your previous papers. You got high scores on classical Chinese poems and prose, which shows that you are not a stupid student. You just haven't been focusing on your studies."

After she finished speaking, she glanced at Mei Yulu beside her and said:

"If you study hard, getting into high school shouldn't be a problem at all. Here's what I'll do: I'll arrange for you to sit next to Mei Yulu so she can tutor you. I asked her opinion, and she agreed. Now it's up to you, are you willing?"

Li Mubai thought of his parents, who worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk; he thought of his brother, who was studying at a vocational school; he thought of that winter night…

At that time, Li's parents were still street vendors. As a primary school student, he braved the cold of the dark night to help push the cart. Snowflakes gradually fell from the sky, and that was the first time he had ever seen snow.

"I'm willing, thank you, teacher."

Back in the classroom, Li Mubai packed up his textbooks.

"Dude, you got expelled?"

"No, the homeroom teacher asked me to move next to Mei Yulu."

"Holy crap, this is so comfortable, I want to sit next to Mei Yulu too."

He went to ask the homeroom teacher to switch seats, and Li Mubai and Mei Yulu's deskmate switched places.

"The teacher has already shown me your Chinese test paper, but I don't know how you are doing in your other subjects. I'll give you this question; try it first, and then give it to me for checking."

Without uttering any unnecessary words, Mei Yulu quickly took on the role of tutor.

"You're bad at everything except Chinese. And even in Chinese, you're only good at reciting poems and classical Chinese. Let's take it one step at a time, starting with the areas where it's easiest to improve."

She did not belittle Li Mubai, but patiently guided him in his studies step by step, and Li Mubai devoted himself to his studies.

It was in the second semester of the second year of junior high school that the school underwent a major change, and lunch could be provided at noon, and students could stay in the classroom to rest.

Li's parents paid for Li Mubai's lunch, so he wouldn't have to go to other people's houses for lunch anymore.

But he also drifted apart from his friends, who talked about games and society, while he talked about studying.

"Li Mubai, you can ask me any questions you don't understand during lunchtime."

"Okay, there are a few math problems that I'm not very good at."

……

When the plums ripen and the rain falls: "Li Mubai, are you free this weekend?"

Li Bubai: "Besides doing homework, there shouldn't be anything else. What's wrong?"

Plum Rain: "Okay, I'll find a place this weekend where you can bring your homework and I'll continue to tutor you."

That's incredibly responsible. In reality, he's lacking in so much and really needs to make good use of his free time. Li Mubai readily agreed.

Mei Yulu chose Pingyang City Library. This small library didn't have any fancy, trendy designs; everything was ordinary, but it was quiet and cool, and not many people came.

They sat down in the study room on the first floor, took out their homework, and finished writing explanations. Everything was the same as at school, except that the classroom had been moved to the library.

"Ugh, I'm so tired." Mei Yulu stretched.

"Thank you for your help; you even thought of tutoring me on the weekend."

"There's nothing I can do. The homeroom teacher assigned you to me, so I have to do my job properly," she said helplessly, shrugging her shoulders.

"Then I'll treat you to milk tea later." Li Mubai thought for a moment, and it seemed that he didn't have any other way to repay the favor.

"Okay, but let's go to the fourth-floor reading room and look at some books first."

Does reading books...does reading novels count? Li Mubai has only read online novels.

"Hello, bags are not allowed in the reading room. Please store your bags before entering."

"Oh, okay, I forgot about this while I was tutoring you." Mei Yulu gently patted her forehead.

After storing her bag, Mei Yulu re-entered the store and skillfully navigated the bookshelves, eventually stopping at the literature section.

"Don't follow me. Go see if there are any books that interest you," Mei Yulu said helplessly to Li Mubai, who was following behind her.

"oh oh."

Li Mubai still didn't know what books he was interested in. He looked around the literature section, then went to the history section next to it, and finally pulled out a book.

"Romance of the Three Kingdoms? You like reading historical novels?"

"Yes, I'm interested. I used to play a lot of Three Kingdoms games and read a lot of novels."

"Okay, I'm going to read."

"it is good."

Li Mubai glanced at Mei Yulu sitting next to him, who was holding a copy of "Three Hundred Song Poems".

"Let's read the book," he said, turning directly to the first page of the text.

"You can look at the cover and back cover of the book before you start reading. There may be important information that will help you read the book," a soft voice reminded me from beside me.

Okay, he flipped back to the book cover.

Li Mubai felt peaceful and comfortable here, not knowing whether it was because of the library environment or the presence of Mei Yulu.

"Let's go, bookworm." She gently patted Li Mubai's shoulder.

He checked the time and was surprised to find that he had been reading for three hours. He could only concentrate on fast-paced novels for such a long time.

"Hello, I'd like a jasmine milk green tea."

Li Mubai readily paid the money, considering it tuition.

"Don't you want it?" Mei Yulu turned around and asked him.

"I don't need it."

Although he had never tried it before, he didn't have high expectations for milk tea.

"Alright."

Mei Yulu led him to a seat.

"The jasmine milk green tea is ready," the shop assistant announced loudly.

"Wait here for a moment, I'll go get it," Mei Yulu said.

"Okay." Li Mubai stared blankly out of the shop, and being in a daze was also a process of letting his thoughts wander.

Before long, Mei Yulu returned.

"Why are there two cups?" he asked.

"I'll have two drinks," she said with a smile.

"oh."

"Oh what? This one's for you, you idiot! In summer, you should definitely drink a refreshing jasmine milk green tea."

All right...

"Thank you, here's the money." Li Mubai took out cash to give it to her.

But she patted his hand: "Giving money is so tacky. This is a reward for your improved grades. Of course, if you're still embarrassed, then you can be my personal errand boy and buy me milk tea from now on."

"Okay."

Li Mubai took a sip of the jasmine milk tea; it had a subtle sweetness.

Time flies. Under Mei Yulu's guidance, Li Mubai's grades improved significantly. He got good grades on the final exam, and his homeroom teacher gave him an academic progress award. He took it home to show his parents, who were delighted and gave him fifty yuan as a reward.

Plum Rain: "Don't let your guard down, the final year of junior high is just around the corner, and that's the crucial time."

Li Bubai: "I understand, you're talking just like a teacher now."

When the plums ripen and the rain falls: "I've never seen a teacher with only one student?"

Plums in the Yellow Rain: "But if you have nothing to do during the summer vacation, you can still come to the library on weekends, and I will continue to teach you."

Li Bubai: "Okay, Teacher Mei."

When the plums ripen and the rain falls: "Hmph."

After another tutoring session ended, Mei Yulu turned to him and said, "Li Mubai! How about we walk back instead of taking the car?"

Her tone revealed liveliness and excitement.

Walking back would be quite a distance; his family library is quite far.

"I mean, we walk to school, and then everyone goes home."

That's alright, the school shouldn't be too far away... He underestimated it; it was still a bit far.

After walking for half an hour, they sat down to rest on a park bench.

Mei Yulu's eyes were full of excitement.

"Why are you... so happy?" Li Mubai asked.

"Because I've always wanted to do this, and this time someone finally walked me from the library to school with me."

It turns out it was premeditated. It's also his fault for being bad at geography; he didn't know how far the two places were. He usually just takes the bus, puts on his headphones, closes his eyes, and gets there instantly.

"Is this some kind of achievement?" he asked.

"Of course! I've always thought that if a girl could walk that long with me, we would definitely be great friends."

"What if it's a boy?"

"If it's a boy... guess what?" she suddenly laughed.

"friend?"

"no."

"confidant?"

"No, not exactly."

"I can't guess."

"You're so silly, just rest up and keep going!"

...Mei Yulu always liked to take him hiking to explore some unknown places. Sometimes they would randomly take a bus to a faraway place and then walk back; sometimes they would go to a completely unfamiliar place and then walk to an unfamiliar place.

Once, they got lost and, as the sun was setting, they sat down to rest in a park.

"I'm really tired this time, let me lean on your shoulder." Mei Yulu's voice was very gentle.

Time seemed to pass slowly. Passersby were giving them strange looks, and Li Mubai felt a little embarrassed.

"Don't move, I just need to rest for a while."

"Thank you, thank you for always being there for me."

Her voice was like a dream, telling the story of a young girl.

I also want to thank you, thank you for your patience in helping me...

Indeed, as the summer temperatures rose, so did their relationship. But junior high school students are still young and naive, and it seems that just leaning on someone's shoulder is enough for them.

Mei Yulu enjoyed taking walks and reading, and Li Mubai gradually became assimilated by her.

They would often walk four or five kilometers together, step by step. He thought this relationship would continue indefinitely until one day when summer vacation was almost over.

Li Bubai: "Are we going to the library again this weekend?"

......

Li Bubai: "What's wrong? Are you busy?"

......

Li Bubai: "What happened?"

......

There was no response, as if the stone had sunk into the sea; the other party remained silent and unresponsive.

On the first day of school, the homeroom teacher separated them. He wanted to ask the other person why they were suddenly ignoring him, but the other person continued to ignore him. The relationship ended in this ambiguous way.

But he can never go back to the past. He has severed ties with his former relationships and has not built new ones. Mei Yulu is the bridge between these two worlds.

The bridge collapsed when he reached the middle, and he had to climb back up on his own.

Sometimes when he came to the library on weekends, the junior high student still hoped to bump into her by chance at some inconspicuous time and say, "What a coincidence!"

Yes, what a coincidence…