Charles Johnson suddenly heard Charlotte Lee beside him say “boring” with an unhappy expression.

“You’re going to study liberal arts?”

He took the opportunity to ask quietly amid the commotion, flipping through pages, pretending to be nonchalant.

Charlotte Lee probably hadn’t expected him to ask this out of the blue. She was stunned for a long time before saying, “Yeah, I think I’m the only one in our class who’s going to study liberal arts.”

Then why didn’t you tell me?

Charles Johnson held it in for a long time, but still couldn’t say those words out loud.

“When did you decide?” In the end, he could only compromise with this question.

“Last night. I talked with my parents for a long time, and they finally decided. After all, there are few people studying liberal arts, and we’ll have to merge with students from the branch school, so they didn’t agree at first, but I convinced them in the end.”

So it happened last night. Charles Johnson felt a little better, and when he turned his head, he saw Charlotte Lee gently stroking the cover of a book called “Sternstunden der Menschheit,” looking very cherishing.

“What’s that?”

Charlotte Lee didn’t try to avoid Charles Johnson at all.

“Thomas Chase lent it to me. He heard I was going to study liberal arts and said I should read more social sciences and humanities books like this, that I’d probably like them. It’s by Zweig, I… I really like Zweig.”

Charles Johnson didn’t know who Zweig was, nor did he want to know.

The sudden anger finally gave him the courage to blurt out, “You’re going to study liberal arts, why didn’t you tell me? It’s one thing that Andrew Lane knew before me, but even people from other classes knew before I did. If I hadn’t asked, were you not going to tell me at all?!”

Charlotte Lee looked at him in surprise, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes full of confusion. She seemed to have never considered facing such a question, and didn’t give any explanation for a long time.

Charles Johnson had never blamed Charlotte Lee for anything.

In kindergarten, she clung to Andrew Lane every day to play.

In elementary school, she insisted on sitting with Andrew Lane, and when she had math problems she couldn’t solve in Olympiad class, she only asked Andrew Lane.

In middle school, when she was ostracized by the girls in class, the two of them stood up for her, and she cried and threw herself into Andrew Lane’s arms.

Charles Johnson had never been angry.

He unconditionally followed and supported Charlotte Lee, making Andrew Lane so exasperated he’d shout, “Charles Johnson, is even Charlotte Lee’s fart fragrant to you?” Then Charlotte Lee would grab the big broom used for cleaning and chase him around the classroom. In Charles Johnson’s heart, those were the best times.

But now, he didn’t know what was wrong.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Charlotte Lee grinned, blushing, and said, “Sorry.”

She just apologized.

This time, it was Charles Johnson’s turn to be at a loss.

Maybe because they were too familiar and close every day, Charles Johnson hadn’t even realized that the little princess he’d always pampered and coaxed had also learned to apologize.

The protective layer the three of them had formed since childhood, isolating them from the outside world, seemed unable to contain them as they grew older.

The outside world’s encroachment taught the princess to bow her head, and made the knight no longer selflessly devoted.

Until one day in the cafeteria, he saw Andrew Lane sitting across from Zoe Young, his face a mix of shamelessness and anxiety.

Until one day in the water room, he saw Charlotte Lee and Thomas Chase washing their cups side by side, their careful glances full of humility and joy.

Charles Johnson suddenly felt sick, as if someone who had lived in a sterile ward since birth was suddenly abandoned in a chemical plant, surrounded by dust, powerless to resist.

Charles Johnson’s phone hadn’t rung in a long time; he couldn’t remember how long it had been since anyone had checked in on him.

Charles Johnson extra story “I heard from your homeroom teacher a couple of days ago that Qianqian is in puppy love?”

The fish ball Charles Johnson had finally picked up fell back into the hot pot with a splash. His mom shot him a look and quickly got up to grab some napkins.

“Do her parents know?” Dad chimed in from the side.

“I don’t know either,” Mom still kept her old habit of treating Charles Johnson like a child, wiping his mouth for him, not minding at all when he turned away in annoyance. “Even if they don’t know, I wouldn’t go tattling. Why make people dislike you?

Besides, you know as well as I do, Qianqian’s parents don’t get along, and her mom’s personality and illness… Why would I remind them, why do something so annoying?”

Charles Johnson’s dad was stunned for a while. “That’s true. But if even Chuan Chuan’s homeroom teacher knows, the liberal arts class teacher has probably already told her parents. At this age, it’s normal for kids to have other thoughts.”

“You know, when I first heard about Qianqian’s puppy love, my first reaction was that it must be with Andy.”

Charles Johnson’s dad reacted even more strongly: “Huh? It’s not with Andy?”

Charles Johnson put down his bowl irritably. “I’m full.”

Even after closing the door, he couldn’t block out his parents’ laughter and the words, “Chuan Chuan, do you remember when you three always played together as kids? The adults joked about betrothing Andy and Qianqian, and you cried and made a fuss, refusing to agree?”

Charles Johnson leaned against the door and let out a long sigh.

During the day at school, he went to the chemistry office to find a teacher, and accidentally bumped into a lost-looking Charlotte Lee. She didn’t even notice him, just kept her head down and hurried past, leaving behind a weak “Sorry, excuse me.”

That was a Charlotte Lee Charles Johnson had never seen before—desolate, disheveled, without a trace of pride.

He would rather this girl still call him on the phone, bossy and brash, saying, “Charles Johnson, can you please stop being like a kid with a runny nose all the time? Can you? It’s so annoying to hear.”

He went to find Andrew Lane, but to his surprise, Andrew Lane was also sitting on the windowsill, looking half-dead. He looked up and asked, “Charles Johnson, remember in middle school you used to talk about obsession and karmic obstacles— I’ve always wanted to ask you, is it wrong to be obsessed?

This world tells Charlotte Lee that there are no princesses of privilege, only the proletariat; this world tells Andrew Lane that no matter how outstanding, perfect, or gifted you are, there will always be things you can’t get no matter how hard you try.

This world tells Charles Johnson that no matter how hard you chase, in the end, you’ll still lose each other.

When he was little, Charles Johnson’s biggest fear was that Charlotte Lee and Andrew Lane would get married like the adults joked—children can’t tell what’s a joke, and Charles Johnson always took it very seriously.

So many years later, when the adults gathered and reminisced about those days, they would still laugh about how Charles Johnson would cry and cling to Charlotte Lee, shouting, “You’re not allowed to get married!”

Back then, Andrew Lane would generously act like a big brother and comfort him, “Don’t worry, the three of us will get married and live together!”

And they never understood why everyone laughed so hard.

Now, when Charles Johnson thinks back, he just feels sad. He was so small, lost in the crowded classroom, under the fluorescent lights, watching the teacher’s mouth move but hearing nothing.

He started to deeply blame himself.

If he had agreed to let them get married back then, would things be better now?

At least then, they would all be happy, and he could still visit often, and the three of them would still be together, always together.

Later, Andrew Lane and Zoe Young both asked him how he managed to find Charlotte Lee.

Beicheng isn’t big, and while the other two idiots wandered around until they were dizzy and still couldn’t find her, Charles Johnson found her easily.

“It’s just the few places we used to go as kids. Check them one by one and you’ll find her. They’re all in the same area anyway.”

“How did you know she’d go to the provincial government kindergarten?”

Charles Johnson rested his chin in his hand and thought for a long time before slowly answering, “Maybe because I think she’s like me, and still feels that childhood was better.”

He looked up and saw Zoe Young’s thoughtful expression.

And Andrew Lane throwing his arm around Zoe Young’s shoulders, blushing suspiciously and loudly saying, “I think now is better!”

Like a fool.

Sure enough, after all the twists and turns, this idiot is still the happiest.

Charles Johnson extra story Charles Johnson still remembers that day, when he hung up on Andrew Lane and rushed out of the classroom as fast as he could, with a sense of certainty in his heart.

It was as if all the vague feelings of so many years had finally become clear and distinct at this moment.

He still remembers putting his down jacket over the crying Charlotte Lee squatting on the ground, and how she stared at him blankly, then suddenly threw herself into his arms.

Charles Johnson knew he was still too short. But it didn’t matter for a hug.

“I, I…” Charlotte Lee was sobbing so hard she couldn’t finish her sentence.