We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"How about we find a girl to play Nasus?"

Back in the dorm that evening, Chen Qiuhe suggested.

"What's wrong, Qiuhe? Doesn't Li Mubai want to?" Deng Yi asked.

Chen Qiuhe nodded.

"Then forget it. How about we find another girl to play the role, Shubao?"

Xie Shu remained silent for a while before speaking softly, "I'll go ask."

……

"Shubao, why don't you just forget about it and not bother yourself too much? Qiuhe has already asked, and if others are unwilling, then let it go," Deng Yi advised.

"No trouble at all. If you really don't want to, then... let's find a girl to play the role."

Seeing that Xie Shu had said so, the others had no objections. After all, it was Xie Shu who proposed the play, and she wrote the script on her own.

Chen Qiuhe pinched her chin thoughtfully.

That's how unrequited love is, especially when you fall for someone who is out of reach. The distance between you is like a person on earth looking at the moon in the sky—you can see it, but you can't touch it because of reality.

But now Li Mubai only wants to stay away.

Class 3 has signed up for three programs this time, including a drama. Seeing that the others have already started training, Liu Ting and the others are a little anxious. Xie Shu told them that rehearsals will start after Wednesday, and they can start memorizing their lines first.

"Li Mubai, come listen to a math problem," Chen Qiuhe said.

"I...I will," Li Mubai lied.

On Wednesday at noon, Li Mubai ran into Xing Yi in the cafeteria. Xing Yi was chatting and laughing with his friends, but his smile vanished the moment he saw Li Mubai.

"What's wrong, Xing Yi? You instantly switched to a fighting expression."

"It's alright, it's alright, I'm performing Sichuan opera."

"Watch out, your butt might get sticking out."

……

Another club class in the afternoon, every minute he spent with Xie Shu seemed to remind him of the insurmountable chasm between them.

Can I leave the club? ... Probably not. Clubs only automatically terminate membership in the senior year of high school. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone voluntarily leaving a club.

Li Mubai found a corner where Xie Shu couldn't see him or see Xie Shu, and sat down. He took out his homework and started writing.

The light in this corner was not bright, and the overcast sky outside the window made it even darker.

He thought to himself, "I should make the most of my time to study."

A figure made the light even dimmer. Li Mubai didn't look up and continued doing his homework.

"Li Mubai, I need to discuss something after class."

...Can we not discuss it? You decide. Maybe he shouldn't have been the vice class monitor in the first place; he's not cut out to be a class committee member.

The words of refusal stuck in his throat, as if he had returned to the beginning, when he still couldn't bring himself to say no to her.

Li Mubai didn't speak, and Xie Shuquan took it as his tacit agreement. She returned to her seat and continued revising the script.

Listening to the others' quiet conversation, Li Mubai felt a sudden surge of anxiety. He held his pen but didn't move, lost in thought.

He stood there in a daze for the entire club class, until the bell rang, each ring like a blow to his heart.

Bang.

After everyone had left, Xie Shu closed the door, and the noisy laughter outside abruptly stopped.

The empty activity room was now empty except for Li Mubai and Xie Shu, just like when she had persuaded him to participate in the essay contest.

He had a vague suspicion in his heart, but he didn't say anything to break the silence. Xie Shu was still revising the script with his pen.

Li Mubai sat there in a daze, letting his stomach rumble with hunger.

After a while, I heard the sound of a pen being placed on the table.

Xie Shu came to his side, placed the script she had been revising on his desk, and said:

"have a look."

Li Mubai glanced at the notebook on the table, and then he began to speak with difficulty:

"Class monitor, I...I'm not participating."

Xie Shu remained silent for a long while before asking, "What did Xing Yi tell you?"

...Sometimes he really suspected that Xie Shu had some kind of mind-reading ability.

"No, it's nothing."

Xie Shu moved a chair over and sat down next to him, while Li Mubai kept his head down the whole time.

"Li Mubai, I understand you. You always keep your inner thoughts hidden, not wanting others to know your hobbies or your vulnerabilities," she said softly.

"You always feel lonely, but in essence, we are the same kind of people."

"No."

Li Mubai interrupted Xie Shu, who then stopped and listened patiently.

"No, we are not...the same kind."

"Why aren't they the same type?" Xie Shu asked.

His eyes were lowered, as if trying to push her out of his sight. Li Mubai spoke:

"Whether in school or outside of school, we are not the same kind of people. In school, you are always number one, while I struggle to even get into the top ten; outside of school... the candy you casually give me is one-fifth of my living expenses."

And yet Xie Shu casually gave away two boxes of this candy. How could they be the same kind of people?

Xie Shu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and said, "How can you think that getting the so-called number one title will make someone happy? How can you believe that this is the life I want?"

What Li Mubai didn't know was that Xie Shu's parents originally wanted her to choose science, and she used to have no rest time on weekends.

"Li Mubai, although we are different in form, we are the same in essence. I feel lonely just like you. People always like to place all kinds of expectations on outstanding people, but they never ask for that person's opinion."

"But at least you have everyone's approval... while I'm just an ordinary student," Li Mubai retorted.

He was just an average person, who managed to get into a top high school and was lucky enough to be assigned to an honors class due to the overall decrease in the number of students in the humanities. His luck seemed to have run out, and his efforts seemed to have come to an end.

"Li Mubai, turn around and look at me," Xie Shu said.

The eyes are the windows to the soul, so Li Mubai never looks people directly in the eye, and even now, he remains stubbornly still.

Xie Shu seemed to sigh. She gently grasped his wrist, and Li Mubai's body suddenly stiffened.

Do you always feel like you're not good enough? Not smart enough? Not good-looking enough? Not interesting enough? Not needed enough? Even if someone compliments you, you subconsciously feel like they're just saying it casually.

"You downplay your strengths and magnify your weaknesses. You watch others' glittering lives and feel like you're just a supporting character living in the shadows."

"But as I said before, you're actually not bad. You're fighting against yourself, using self-doubt as an excuse to constantly deny your efforts and value."

"You're afraid of being seen through, so you don't dare to show yourself; you're afraid of failure, so you don't dare to try."

"Most people in the world are too busy dealing with their own anxieties to really notice how imperfect you are. It's not that you're not good enough, it's just that the world won't stop for us."

"You can't see the shadow of your own efforts, but you can always see the radiant figure of others."

"If you can do one thing and tell yourself, 'I can do it, I don't have to be perfect, even if it's weak or timid,' you've already fought against your own inferiority complex."

"You're not bad, you're just too used to doubting yourself, and courage is about affirming your own worth even in uncertainty."

After Xie Shu finished speaking, she stopped talking. She released her grip on Li Mubai's hand, got up, and opened the door. The light and the students' laughter poured in again, waiting for his answer.

"Can I...take another look at the script?"

"Let's go eat first."