Zoe Young nodded. “Of course.”

“She... do you know about her early relationship with a student from the branch school?”

Thomas Chase knew himself that he was basically just making conversation, but he could only force himself to keep going.

Zoe Young seemed to be guessing his intentions and just nodded.

“Teacher Yu has talked to her many times, but nothing has come of it, so she wanted me to try. On Sunday, I invited her out for milk tea and talked all afternoon, but didn’t get a single result.”

As he spoke, he remembered Summer Carter’s clear, bright eyes at that time. She stared at him so stubbornly, and it suddenly reminded him of that scorching afternoon more than two years ago, the first day of school.

It was still those same eyes. Back then, she looked at him shyly to say thank you, her gaze dodging and uncertain, far less determined and brave than now.

Summer Carter was one of the outstanding students recruited to Zhenhua from various county towns outside the provincial capital, in response to the “sharing of excellent educational resources” initiative. A shy and sensitive girl coming alone from a remote small town to board at Zhenhua, so young and away from home, was bound to be a bit fragile. Then she met the cynical, privileged second-generation rich kid Randall Lewis at school, and it was only natural that she couldn’t resist. Under his sugar-coated offensive, she fell, got lost, and in the most crucial year of senior high, remained stubbornly unrepentant.

That was the homeroom teacher Dana Yule’s summary of Summer Carter’s early relationship, but at that moment, as Thomas Chase looked at the unusually bright and determined look in the eyes of the girl who always used to avoid his gaze, he felt more confused than ever.

Even more confused than when he saw those two figures resolutely run out of the classroom during the recommendation exam.

“She told me that being with Randall Lewis didn’t make her grades drop; not being with Randall Lewis wouldn’t make her grades improve. She said she’s already reached her limit in studying, can’t break through anymore, and grades shouldn’t be an excuse to break them up.”

Zoe Young listened, her expression growing more puzzled, but she didn’t interrupt.

Thomas Chase didn’t really know what he wanted to say, either.

He just kept following his train of thought.

“Actually, I really didn’t want to be Teacher Yu’s lobbyist and try to persuade her. You know, it’s not like I haven’t...

Haven’t liked someone before.”

Zoe Young smiled silently.

Thomas Chase extra: “I just wanted to ask her, Jianxia, you’ve worked so hard, got the chance to come from your hometown to Zhenhua, became your parents’ pride, made them stop favoring your younger brother. Don’t you think... it’s all for nothing?”

There wasn’t a trace of persuasion or reproach in Thomas Chase’s tone, only pure confusion. For some reason, Zoe Young’s expression softened at this blunt, almost frighteningly direct question.

It was as if she’d glimpsed something, and a gentle kindness appeared on her face.

“She said, everything you do has consequences. Once you make up your mind, you have to accept the outcome. Randall Lewis told her that the love between parents and children should be unconditional and without reason. She came to Zhenhua, working so hard to use ‘being successful’ to compete with her naturally favored younger brother for everything—it’s all so ridiculous, and so sad.”

It seemed he was finished, but also as if he had more to say. In fact, Thomas Chase had just acted on impulse, not even sure why he stopped Zoe Young to say all this mess.

“Actually, when I was in tenth grade, I had a little question.” Zoe Young smiled slyly. “Why do you pay special attention to Summer Carter?”

Thomas Chase was about to wave his hand and explain that he had no ulterior motives toward Summer Carter, when he suddenly realized what she really meant by that question.

Thomas Chase’s excellence showed in every aspect of his EQ and IQ. He was admired but never envied, got along with everyone, but was never too close to anyone. Everyone had their own little circle; sometimes Thomas Chase’s circle was big enough to include everyone, sometimes it was so small it was just him.

How could Summer Carter, with her ordinary family, looks, and personality, manage to maintain a nearly genuine friendship with him throughout three years of high school? He’d never thought about it.

“I don’t know if others can see it, but at least I think, the care and understanding you show her sometimes really goes beyond... beyond the effort you usually put into maintaining relationships and being everyone’s favorite,” she finished her rather complicated sentence, scratched her head, and smiled with squinted eyes. “Can you tell me honestly?”

Honestly.

Thomas Chase’s gaze followed a black trash bag downstairs, swept along by the cold wind across most of the playground, and he was silent for a long time.

“Maybe because...”

He just stopped there.

Maybe because after she fainted during military training and he carried her to the infirmary, when he took off her shoes, he saw there was a hole in her sock.

Maybe because after the final exams, when everyone went out for Western barbecue, she picked up a knife and fork for the first time, looking lost and helpless, but still trying to act calm, careful and a little vain.

Maybe because she carried all her burdens alone, fighting a lonely battle, with no way out.

Maybe because they were both the same in their misfortune.

Thomas Chase really couldn’t explain how all the panic, awkwardness, and pettiness of that small-town girl was so much like himself.

He knew Zoe Young wouldn’t believe it. No one would.

He also knew that if she and the others ever did believe it, they’d look at him with pity, silently and a little happily thinking, oh, so that’s how it is.

So this is what Thomas Chase is like.

So Thomas Chase once tried so hard to make himself into someone calm and poised, so Thomas Chase’s skill at smoothing things over and changing the subject all started from avoiding topics he didn’t understand and was afraid of being laughed at for. So Thomas Chase wasn’t a privileged young master after all. So Thomas Chase was actually quite poor.

“Zoe, what do you think is the difference between me and Andrew Lane?”

Zoe Young was startled to hear the long-silent Thomas Chase suddenly speak, and let out an “ah” in surprise. Then she just smiled, waiting for him to answer his own question.

“To put it a bit mushily,” he smiled, staring at the trash bag flying wildly in the wind, but not at her, “if fate is a river...

“The difference is, if fate is a river, then he goes with the current, and I go against it.”

“This child, born into our family, what a waste.”

Thomas Chase always remembered that sentence.

Thomas Chase extra: That’s what his grandfather said, when he was just starting to show promise. Half admiring, half regretful.

Back then, Thomas Chase could only hear the praise, and felt a little proud. It wasn’t until he grew older that he heard the deep bitterness in it.

His parents weren’t good-looking, nor were they well-educated. His father gave up on the college entrance exam because of poor mental resilience; his mother had only a junior high diploma and a sharp, petty face.

Yet Thomas Chase looked like a prince—handsome, smart, polite, gentle. He stood out wherever he was, so outstanding that he couldn’t blend in even if he wanted to.

He had nothing, and he had everything.

So his grandfather would say, if only he’d been born into a family with even a little background, he could have been lifted to the skies.

If only.

After the “Cultural Revolution,” his grandfather was left broken and traumatized, but he’d once loved writing, and even later spoke in a literary way.

So he named his grandson Thomas Chase, unlike his son, who was named Gregory Chase.

When Thomas Chase was in fourth grade, his grandfather suddenly died of a heart attack, with no warning, leaving him with so many questions he’d been saving for “later” that would never have a later.

For example, why his name was Thomas Chase.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore.” He seemed to snap out of it, quickly putting the brakes on his messy thoughts.

“You haven’t said anything.”

Zoe Young pointed this out mercilessly. Thomas Chase gave an apologetic smile, even thinking she’d say, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll go back to self-study now”—his behavior today really was quite odd.

But Zoe Young didn’t leave. She stood with him for a long time before finally speaking, unhurried.

“You know, I actually noticed you a long time ago.”

Thomas Chase was a little surprised. From the very beginning, what made him notice Zoe Young was that she was the only girl he’d ever met who, the first time they met, looked him straight in the eye without any hesitation.

That kind of scrutinizing gaze, for once, didn’t make him uncomfortable.

“How?”

“I think it was when I was in fifth grade. One day, I was flipping through my college-aged brother’s newspapers and magazines, and suddenly saw a big advertisement on one page—a boy wearing a red scarf, sitting in front of a computer, showing most of his profile.”