We ordinary people also need to fall in love.

"Friendship first, competition second."

We still lost, but not as badly as we thought.

"Not bad for those two shots, but I hope you didn't break anything," Chen Qiuhe asked with concern.

"He's not dead. I'm going to eat now."

"Okay, goodbye."

After finishing basketball, it was almost time for get out of class to end. Li Mubai went to the cafeteria for dinner, then went back to his dorm to check on himself. Luckily, he landed on his back and didn't scrape his skin.

I gave him a quick clean-up. Hopefully, there won't be any more basketball games. If it were a table tennis game, he could at least show off his skills. Unfortunately, I haven't heard of any table tennis tournaments at the school.

Back in the classroom, it was almost seven o'clock. Xie Shu told him that he needed to go to the club during the first evening self-study session to discuss the recruitment for tomorrow. She had already asked for leave for him.

"OK."

Li Mubai returned to his seat, fortunately he had already done some of his homework.

"What club did you join?" Chen Qiuhe asked.

"What club did you join?" Li Mubai asked in return.

"You're mimicking me!" Chen Qiuhe originally wanted to punch him on the back, but remembering that he was injured today, she gently touched his arm: "However, I joined the art club."

"Do you like drawing that much?" Li Mubai asked curiously. He remembered that Chen Qiuhe had been very serious about portraits last week and wouldn't let him draw stick figures.

"It's kind of an extracurricular hobby."

"Oh, oh."

"But apart from the president, most of the people in the art club are just coasting along and don't have much drawing skill."

That's normal. Middle school students are already exhausted from studying, so they don't have the energy to do anything else.

"You still haven't said what club you belong to."

"Literary Club."

"So you're an artsy guy."

Li Mubai gave a fake smile. It was time for evening self-study, and he was going to the club activity room.

He went out through the back door, and when he got to the front door, he suddenly hesitated, wondering whether to wait for Xie Shu. Remembering that Xie Shu had waited for him the day before yesterday while he was cleaning, he decided to wait. He leaned against the railing.

The setting sun had not yet faded, but stars were already hanging on the horizon.

"Let's go." The voice was cold, which made Li Mubai's heart skip a beat. He looked away and nodded.

There were two other girls in the class who were also in the literature club, and Li Mubai walked behind them.

Upon arriving at the activity room, which is essentially a small library, we found quite a few people already waiting at the door.

Xie Shu took out his key, opened the door, and turned on the light. Many microorganisms were floating in the air, making it look like a dusty classroom.

There was a rectangular conference table in the middle of the classroom. Li Mubai quietly opened the window to let the air circulate, and then found a seat at the end of the table.

Do you have any suggestions for recruitment?

"No, President, you can arrange it as you see fit. We'll do as you say."

The speaker was a boy. In previous years, the literary society was mostly female, but this year the number of boys and girls was equal. If there were no limit on the number of people, Li Mubai estimated that the number of boys would exceed the number of girls.

However, everyone knows why many boys come here; pure literature lovers like Li Mubai are rare these days.

Xie Shu waited a moment, and seeing that no one had any suggestions, continued, "Alright, let's do it the same way we did in previous years. Next is the work arrangement. I'll hand out a form for everyone to fill out in turn; participation is voluntary."

Xie Shu took out a form and passed it down. The literary society usually maintains twenty people. After the seniors dropped out, there are currently only twenty seniors in the society, but there is not much work. Li Mubai guessed that by the time it was his turn, all the members would have been selected.

When it was Li Mubai's turn, he took the form. There wasn't much work to do, but not many people filled it out either. Perhaps they didn't want to waste their study time, or maybe they wanted to wait for Xie Shu to fill it out before they filled it out themselves. Most of the work was done in pairs.

Li Mubai thought that Xie Shu had asked him to help, and he felt embarrassed not to write anything, so he filled in his name on the desk that only needed one person.

He handed the work schedule to the others.

The final schedule was returned to Xie Shu, who glanced at it and said, "That's how it's arranged then. Remember to be on time for the last class tomorrow afternoon."

"President, isn't there still a section for moving books that no one has filled out?" said the last boy to receive the form.

"Moving the books was my responsibility, along with that of another classmate."

"...Could it be me? It shouldn't be. There's no reason for someone to do two jobs," Li Mubai thought to himself.

After the meeting, Li Mubai prepared to return to the classroom for evening self-study.

He went over and closed the window, since he was the one who opened it.

Looking back, almost everyone had left, even the two girls from my class.

"Li Mubai," Xie Shu suddenly said.

Li Mubai was taken aback; this was the first time Xie Shu had formally called him by his name.

"What's wrong, class monitor?"

"Remember to come help me move the books tomorrow."

Li Mubai felt a slight jolt in his heart, a little flustered, but he tried his best to appear calm on the surface.

"Don't I have to work regular hours?" he muttered.

"Huh?" Xie Shu looked at him in confusion, not having heard clearly.

"I did agree to that."

Back in the classroom, he sat down in his seat.

Li Mubai was lost in thought, while Chen Qiuhe was engrossed in watching the news broadcast, one of the few forms of entertainment available to middle school students.

After the first evening self-study session ended, Li Mubai said, "Why are you watching the news so closely?"

"There's not much to see at school anyway."

"Too."

"Moreover, the evening news can also show scenery from various places."

"Too."

"You'll say that's true, won't you?"

"……really."

"Are you doing this on purpose? Are you really talking like that?" Chen Qiuhe asked.

"Is that really what you're saying?"

"You won't make any friends if you talk like that."

Li Mubai thought about it and realized that it was indeed the case. He always used words like "okay," "yes," and "ok" when he spoke, and people said that he was quite serious and that chatting with him felt like talking to a superior.

But it doesn't matter anymore, I don't need friends anyway.

There's a saying that goes, "If you blossom, butterflies will come."

"I think you can express it in a different way," Chen Qiuhe pondered.

"Change it to what?"

"Replace 'good' with 'good', 'yes' with 'yes', 'ok' with 'good', and add more ending words."

...Are you trying to turn me into a little Nanliang, Chen Qiuhe?

After evening self-study ended, Li Mubai returned to the dormitory, where Jiao Yong and the others were still reviewing the gains and losses of today's basketball game in PE class.

"Sigh, I made a mistake today!"

"Hey Chicken Bro, aren't you the best basketball player? Why aren't you putting in any effort?"

"I've already done my best."

Li Mubai pushed open the door and went in.

"Lao Bai is back. Was the fall serious?"

"fine."

"Your two free throws today were good, otherwise we would have been down by two points again."

"Fortunately, it's mainly Jiao Yong and Wang Rui who scored big points."

"It still has to be your brother Yong."

Seeing that his attention had been diverted, Li Mubai went to wash up by himself. Lying in bed, he first checked his phone and saw that Xie Shu had posted a notice about a meeting in the literary society a few hours earlier.

Not all students bring cell phones, but those who do will notify others, like Han Xiaowei.

He put down his phone and opened the book...

"Love, too, is bound to contain a certain creative desire, transforming feelings into a kind of imprint, giving importance and symbolism to the past. Material things are the stable support for illusory emotions; material and spiritual are never opposites, but rather each other's redemption."