We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Xie Shu, if you're not feeling well, rest your head on the chair for a while."

I'm not feeling well either; I have a condition that makes me sleepy in class, so I asked to lie down for a while too.

Li Mubai felt his eyelids drooping, and he barely managed to stay awake during math class.

hiss~

He was suddenly jolted awake by a gentle twist to his ribs.

"Take your books and stand at the back to listen," came Teacher Chen's voice from the podium.

Li Mubai thought they were talking about him, but then Yang Kun stood up. He didn't know what time Yang Kun had stayed up all night, but he had just collapsed.

"Thank you," Li Mubai said to Chen Qiuhe after class.

"What time did you stay up yesterday? You're so sleepy this morning."

"It's almost one o'clock."

"Playing on your phone so late?"

"Don't talk nonsense, I'm catching up on my homework."

"Alright, then be careful not to wear glasses like I did at such a young age." Chen Qiuhe took off her black-rimmed glasses.

"It's alright, she looks quite good with glasses."

"Really?"

Chen Qiuhe put her glasses back on and asked him to take another look.

"I mean, I wear glasses."

"Then let me show you." Chen Qiuhe said, and was about to put her glasses on Li Mubai.

"No, no."

What kind of behavior is this, pulling and tugging in public?

I thought seven days would be hard to get through, but it ended quickly. I was probably so immersed in the learning atmosphere that time flew by.

Taking the bus isn't always a guaranteed seat; you might have to stand for two hours, which is unpleasant to think about. So when will the subway be built to this area?

Fortunately, there weren't many people...

"Those in front, move back a little, don't all stand in front," the driver shouted.

Okay, he's overthinking it. There are always a lot of students leaving school.

Li Mubai and Chen Qiuhe were squeezed into a wheelchair area, so there was no face-to-face drama.

Chen Qiuhe was leaning against the partition with her phone in her hand, while Li Mubai stood sideways in front of her, holding onto the handrail and staring blankly out the window.

"Hold on to the handrail, be careful not to fall," Li Mubai whispered a reminder.

"If I fall, won't you catch me?"

They used him as a tool.

Stab it--!

"Ouch."

The bus stopped at a traffic light, and the inertia caused Chen Qiuhe to fall forward uncontrollably. Fortunately, Li Mubai used his left hand to hold her shoulder, otherwise she would have fallen on him.

"Thank you," Chen Qiuhe said shyly.

"Stand still, or I won't pull you next time."

Chen Qiuhe agreed verbally, but still refused to pull the handrail. Instead, she adjusted her position and leaned against the angle between the baffle and the window. This position was indeed less likely to tip over, as long as her lower body was stable.

To be honest, Chen Qiuhe wasn't short, only five or six centimeters shorter than him. If he hadn't made a move just now, her head might have been resting on his shoulder. Luckily, luckily.

……

"Little White is back."

"Um."

Have you eaten?

"Not yet, let's eat together with Mom and Dad."

"Okay, then you go and read your book first, and we'll finish what we're doing here."

After Mr. and Mrs. Li finished their chores and were having dinner, Mrs. Li suddenly said, "By the way, Xiaobai, your brother is coming back tomorrow. Let's have a family meal together. Is there anything you'd like to eat?"

…A family?

"Ding-dong!"

That night, Li Mubai was lying in bed when Yan Shu sent him a message.

Yan Shu: "Should we post the previous cat-themed project on the confession wall?"

Li Mubai suddenly realized that he hadn't posted on the white wall for over a month, but he figured it wasn't necessary.

The first reason is that he felt there were no works that satisfied him in these two issues.

The second reason is that a comment section can replace a confession wall for feedback. To be honest, most people on confession walls just say "Wow, that's awesome," and there are relatively few valuable comments.

Li Bubai: "No need."

Yan Shu: "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Because I met you, I don't need to anymore. Objectively speaking, that's how Li Mubai felt, but he wouldn't say it out loud, as that would be too ambiguous.

Li Bubai: "It's nothing. I'm not really satisfied with what I wrote, and I'm afraid I'll be laughed at if I post it."

Yan Shu: "I think it's pretty good."

Li Bubai: "It's alright, I want to reflect on this further."

Don't let yourself sink to the bottom.

Yan Shu: "Okay."

……

"Xiaobai, come and eat!" Li's mother called out on Saturday noon.

Li Mubai put down his pen, opened the door, and went into the living room.

A young man in his early twenties, Li Muyong, was already sitting at one side of the dining table.

He didn't call him "brother," and Li Mubai didn't call him "older brother." The two sat together in silence. His relationship with his brother was always so strained. They had never argued, but there was no brotherly greeting between them either.

"Xiao Bai, eat more fish to boost your intelligence." Li's mother placed a piece of fish in Li Mubai's bowl.

"Xiaoyong, have some too," Li's mother said again.

"I can do it myself."

"Speaking of which, Xiaoyong, why did you suddenly come back?" Li's mother asked casually.

"He's still a good-for-nothing, unable to make a name for himself anywhere." The usually taciturn Mr. Li spoke without hesitation.

Tsk…

Li Muyong didn't say anything, but his expression was a little impatient.

"Alright, Xiaoyong finally came back, so say less."

The family ate the unpleasant meal in silence.

After clearing the table, Li Mubai returned to his room to continue doing his homework.

"Yes, yes, Li Mubai is your son, I am just an outsider."

"You give him all the good stuff you have, have you ever thought about me?!"

"We've already bought you a car, what more do you want? When you and Li Mubai were in elementary school, didn't we give you the same amount of pocket money every day? You say we're biased, but where are we biased?" Li's father's voice came from behind.

...Li Mubai took out his headphones, put them on, and randomly played a song with lyrics, turning the volume up to the maximum until it drowned out the noise outside.

What can he do? Rush out and tell his brother it's not like that? Advise him not to overthink it? He probably won't listen to him.

Bang!

The sound of banging on the door came from outside, so loud that it startled the ostrich that had buried its head in the ground.

Li Mubai carefully pushed open the door. The living room was not a mess; everything was as usual.

On the sofa, Li's mother was silently wiping her eyes with her hand, while Li's father sat sullenly.

"Mom, don't be sad."

"Mom's fine, she just has a bit of a cold. You should go and study."

Li Mubai was never good at comforting people, and at this moment he didn't know what to say, so he could only repeat that blank sentence over and over again.

He sometimes doubted himself, thinking he was a bookworm who never knew how to handle interpersonal relationships and only knew how to buy and read books.

"By the way, Xiaobai, your dad and I have some things to do tomorrow. Go back to school by yourself and be careful on the way."

"OK."

At night, Li Mubai stared blankly at the night view outside the window. There wasn't much to see, really. The October sky was no longer as clear as in summer; it was always misty and rainy, making it look gloomy.

He felt a chill and pulled the open window shut a little; autumn had arrived.