Zoe Young suddenly thought, if it were Brother Joe saying this, he would probably have already been knocked down and coughing up blood by Uncle Jack with a single slap, right? This uncle is really gentle, just like... just like Alan Carter.

In short, she felt like she didn’t belong to the same world as everyone around her. Mr. Lane, who was driving, smiled silently. How did his precious son become so awkward?

From the moment she entered the door, she followed the teachings of Mom—never look around. Still, she could sense the “high-end” feel of Andrew Lane’s home—not as luxurious as Alan Carter’s, just simple and bright. But the scent of fresh fruit and fabric softener mingled in the air, creating a truly cozy atmosphere.

Zoe Young looked up and gave a gentle smile to the refined and gentle Mr. Lane, and obediently said, “It was my fault, I’m sorry.” This made Andrew Lane, standing to the side, almost drop his eyeballs in shock. She’s faking it, she must be faking it! He moved his lips, wanting to say something back, but when he saw Zoe Young lowering her head slightly and smiling at the Donald Duck mug on the white wooden table, his heart suddenly felt as if it was brushed by a soft feather. Fine, fine, he’d let her off this time. He didn’t know that Zoe Young, staring at the Donald Duck mug, was secretly grumbling inside. Why is his house so big, why is his dad so gentle, so handsome, so elegant, why, why, why... Zoe Young was lost in her own thoughts, the “cozy” scent in the air attacking her nerves as she tried to stay calm. She had to keep her head down and stare at the mug, or she would cry. “So you deserved it, deserved to be hit by my lunchbox.” Zoe Young thought, considering it an act of justice.

They got back into Andrew Lane’s family car and headed toward the school. Mrs. Lane, sitting in the front passenger seat, sighed, “With all this fuss, the flag-raising ceremony must be over by now.”

Zoe Young lowered her head again, feeling uneasy. “I’m sorry.” Mrs. Lane turned around and smiled, “It’s okay, does your leg still hurt?” She shook her head, almost bursting into tears, her emotions welling up, when suddenly Andrew Lane beside her yanked her sleeve hard. She turned her face and saw his fierce expression, waiting in surprise, but all he did was grumble, “I don’t even want to go to the flag-raising ceremony, hmph.”

Huh? Zoe Young stared at him in a daze.

Even when comforting others, he was so awkward. Mrs. Lane frowned slightly, sighing with a bit of worry.

They had just spoken to Andrew Lane’s homeroom teacher, so missing the flag-raising ceremony wasn’t a big deal, but since it was the first day of school, it was a bit of a pity. The original plan was to take the little girl to the infirmary and then hurry home to change Andrew Lane’s clothes, but the infirmary teacher hadn’t arrived yet. Her own precious son insisted on bringing this “homeless” little girl home to treat her wound—she had hesitated, since Zoe Young’s parents weren’t around, and it wasn’t really appropriate to take the child away without permission.

The little girl Zoe Young seemed very sensitive and sensible. Noticing their concern, she said her wound was fine and there was no need to rush, apologizing repeatedly and urging them to take Andrew Lane home to change clothes.

Unexpectedly, her own son suddenly blurted out loudly, “You want to run away again? No way! You got my clothes dirty, you have to take responsibility, come home with me!”

Thinking of this, Mrs. Lane couldn’t help but glance back at the little girl in the back seat being pestered by her son, sighing with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

“By the way, which class are you in?” Andrew Lane stared with wide eyes, looking at her expectantly. Zoe Young was speechless. If she said she forgot, this guy would definitely make fun of her. So she put on an impatient face and said, “Not telling you.” Andrew Lane grinned slyly, “Ha, you forgot, but I know.”

Zoe Young clenched her little fists, glanced at Andrew Lane’s parents in the front seat, and thought, I’ll endure, I’ll endure, a gentleman’s revenge is never too late.

“I’m in Class One, you’re in Class One too, right?” “No.” “Liar, you don’t even know which class you’re in.”

“I... I don’t know, but I remember it’s not Class One or Class Two.” Andrew Lane bit his lip, as if someone had unplugged him, and sat quietly without another word. Andrew Lane’s house was actually very close to the school; in less than five minutes, they arrived at the back gate. The flag-raising ceremony wasn’t over yet—the flag was up, but students and teachers were still standing on the playground listening to the moral education director’s speech, and then the weekly duty students would announce the new hygiene competition standards...

The director spotted them from afar and came over with a smile. Zoe Young stood quietly to the side, watching them exchange pleasantries. Mrs. Lane pushed Andrew Lane in front of the director, and the group chatted and laughed, apparently with the director promising to take good care of Andrew Lane.

Their smiles all looked so fake and stiff, Zoe Young thought, tilting her head. She remembered Mom saying that smiles are always shown to people who are useful to you. So, seeing how hard the director was smiling, it was clear that Andrew Lane’s parents must be very useful people, right? But to Andrew Lane, the director was obviously not useful at all—because Andrew Lane didn’t even smile, and even looked a bit impatient. The director turned and called, “Xiao Zhang, come here, this is your class’s new student.” Another fake smiling face floated over. At this moment, Andrew Lane pointed at Zoe Young and asked the director, “Teacher, which class is she in?” The director seemed to notice Zoe Young for the first time, paused, and asked, “Child, what’s your name?” “Zoe Young.” The director let out a sigh of relief and turned around, “Xiao Yu, the student your class lost is right here!” Zoe Young was mortified, watching a young woman in a dark gray suit walk toward her. She nodded at the director, but didn’t take Zoe Young’s hand or squat down to ask, “Little one, how did you get hurt?”... This Mr. Hughes didn’t ask anything, didn’t smile, just said in a flat voice, “Come with me.”

Zoe Young was about to follow when she caught a glimpse of Andrew Lane’s panicked face out of the corner of her eye. The adults were still laughing together, but the main character in the middle was stubbornly turning his head to look at her. Zoe Young suddenly felt a softness in her heart. Everyone else treated her like air, but he seemed to see only her.

She looked up and asked in the sweetest, most obedient voice, “Mr. Hughes, which class am I in? Sorry, I forgot.” A hint of a smile appeared on Mr. Hughes’s cold face as she glanced down at her, “Class Seven.”

There were seven first-grade classes in total, he was at the top, she was at the bottom. Zoe Young immediately turned her head and saw Andrew Lane looking like he was about to break out of the circle of adults, his face full of “Where do you think you’re going, monster?”

impatience. She couldn’t help but laugh and called out loudly, “I’m in Class Seven!” The adults were startled by her clear voice, stopped talking, and all looked at her in surprise. Zoe Young blushed instantly, turned her head, and hurried to catch up with Mr. Hughes. Behind her, she heard a joyful yet still awkward shout, “Ha, I knew it! Let’s see where you run this time!”

Back then, Zoe Young really looked down on Andrew Lane’s arrogance. Maybe it was because she didn’t yet understand that when someone is destined for you, there’s truly nowhere to run.

A teacher came over and whispered a few words to the director and homeroom teacher Xiao Zhang, and the two of them smiled at Andrew Lane’s parents, “Please wait a moment, Teacher Zhang has something to deal with in her class, I’ll just take a call and be right back.”

As soon as the teachers walked away, Andrew Lane let out a long sigh of relief. Mr. Lane put his hand on his fuzzy head and smiled, “So impatient? Once you’re at school, it’s not like home or kindergarten anymore, you have to behave and listen!”

Andrew Lane nodded, when suddenly a shrill, overly sweet voice called from behind, “Ah, Irene, I knew we’d run into you today!”

Andrew Lane groaned inwardly. Walking toward them were two women, one was Mrs. Lee, the other was Mrs. Johnson.

The two moms he couldn’t stand the most. “I was just telling Mrs. Johnson, we looked through Class One’s line from start to finish and couldn’t find you, why are you only just arriving?” The two women joined his mom and started chattering away, and Andrew Lane looked up to see even his dad’s mouth twitching.