Ethan Young reached up to feel for the spare key on the door frame. “Huh? Where do you live?”

“Take a look across the hall.” Henry Howard pointed. “Right across from you.”

Ethan Young thought to himself, So you’re the idiot who stuck that ‘Sprint to the college entrance exam, do not disturb’ sign on your door?

Henry Howard took the initiative to introduce the paper stuck on his own door: “Usually teachers don’t come in for bed checks, afraid to disturb your studying. It works really well, you should try it sometime.”

“No, thanks.”

Ethan Young went inside, dragged out the box from under the bed, and started rummaging through it.

Most of what was inside was just miscellaneous stuff: a flashlight, spare batteries, tape.

Henry Howard sat on a chair watching him. “What are you looking for?”

Ethan Young ignored him.

Henry Howard, bored, looked around the room. The dorm was quite clean, a computer sat on the desk, and Henry Howard’s gaze slid past the computer to the Rubik’s cube next to the pen holder.

By the time Ethan Young found his old phone, Henry Howard had already solved the Rubik’s cube, each side a solid color, perfectly aligned.

“Not sure if it’s still here,” Ethan Young pressed the power button, “I recorded it.”

Henry Howard’s hand, holding the Rubik’s cube, suddenly froze, wondering if he’d heard wrong.

Ethan Young repeated, “That day in the bathroom, I recorded it. Everything that Vincent Smith said, I got it all. I almost forgot.”

For a high schooler, this kind of thinking might be a bit too advanced. At this age, everyone’s still reckless, and when something urgent happens, they just swing their fists and charge ahead—who would think of all these twists and turns?

But when Vincent Smith dragged Lily Morgan into the bathroom, Ethan Young’s first reaction was to turn on the recorder.

Afterwards, he’d wanted to ask Lily Morgan if she needed evidence to report it, but Lily Morgan’s urge to keep the peace and cover things up was too strong. If she’d planned to fight back, she wouldn’t have ended up like this.

What she was really afraid of was others finding out, even though she was the victim.

“Expelled, wow, the school acted that fast?”

A few days later, a new notice was posted on the school bulletin board, surrounded by a crowd. Luke Carter arrived late and could only stand at the very edge with his friends, craning his neck and squinting: “Expelled, expelled…”

When Luke Carter saw the next line, he was stunned. “Holy crap, Vincent Smith?!”

“The one expelled is Vincent Smith? What about Henry Howard?” A boy standing next to Luke Carter was also shocked. “What the heck happened?”

Things had developed beyond anyone’s imagination. Not just the students—even Chelsea Shaw was still in shock.

She’d taught Vincent Smith for a year; he was one of the top students, with a good chance of getting into a top university.

Now, thinking back to all the guarantees she’d made for Vincent Smith in front of the school, remembering the things she’d said, her mind was buzzing, the world spinning, and finally, only two words remained: It’s over.

The recording backup Henry Howard gave the school office had been specially processed to remove Lily Morgan’s voice, but every filthy word Vincent Smith said was left in, not a single one missing. Vincent Smith put on a show of changing his face on the spot, and then his whole family joined in, completely different from their arrogant attitude a few days ago, even trying to grab Henry Howard’s hand to beg for their son: “I know you’re a good kid—”

Henry Howard almost laughed. “Oh, you’re doing stand-up now? So now I’m a good kid, huh.”

The school pressed to know who the girl was, but Henry Howard shot back: Can you guarantee the victim’s privacy won’t be violated?

Only the school’s top brass knew the whole story; the information chain was airtight.

But Walter Smith’s guilt was confirmed.

On the day the expulsion was handed down, Sean Parker was so happy he bought the whole class drinks. When he went to find Henry Howard, he saw the class president of Class 3 apologizing to his Bro Henry.

Besides the class president, the entire Class 3 of Grade 2 was hiding behind the curtains, peeking out.

Quite the spectacle.

Luke Carter blushed. “Sorry, Henry Howard, I didn’t get the facts straight—”

Henry Howard patted Luke Carter’s shoulder earnestly, picking up the conversation smoothly. “It’s fine, it’s fine, life is always full of surprises. Me, I’m not just handsome, I’m also very magnanimous.”

Luke Carter: “”

Sean Parker: “” Can’t bear to look.

Ethan Young probably couldn’t take it either. He held his phone in one hand, reached out with the other, grabbed a pencil case, and tossed it out the window, hitting Henry Howard: “Shut up.”

So-called school bullies are a bit demonized; most of what they knew about them was just rumors. After being passed around, the stories were half true, half false, and no one really knew what was real anymore.

But for the first time, the students of Class 3, Grade 2 realized clearly: these two school bullies were a bit different from the legends.

------------

18. Chapter Eighteen

A new day.

The sound of scolding pierced the last layer of morning mist, jolting everyone awake.

“Stand up straight, all of you come here, stand properly.”

“Don’t just stare at the ground, what are you hoping to find? No need to be ashamed, really, you’ve already lost all your face.”

“Chest out! Heads up! Eyes forward, look at me.”

Near the bronze statue at the gate of Liyang No. 2 High, a dozen or so people stood in two rows, heads hanging low, heavy backpacks dragging them down.

A few who hadn’t woken up were startled out of their drowsiness by the yelling, shivering in place.

One boy couldn’t help it, glanced up at the dean, then quickly lowered his head and muttered, “Mad dog.”

‘Mad dog’ Manager Jensen’s ears twitched, catching something, and he pointed into the line, raising his voice: “Who else is talking?!”

The man’s chest heaved. He wore gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, but they didn’t make him look any more refined. He held an attendance sheet, with the names of everyone late more than three times listed on the last page—the blacklist.

The nickname ‘mad dog’ had been around for years, passed down by previous students. Everyone said you could mess with any teacher but never this Dean Jiang; the legendary mad dog was scarier than a menopausal tigress.

Manager Jensen narrowed his eyes, pacing from the front to the end of the line, sneering, “—Late. The new semester’s just started and you’re already playing games with me.”

He walked from the front to the back, suddenly stopping. The other students held their breath, then Manager Jensen’s voice suddenly boomed: “Henry Howard? What’s your deal?!”

Henry Howard stepped out: “I’m late.”

“You’re living on campus this semester, and I still catch you at the gate,” Manager Jensen motioned for the others to go to class, keeping only Henry Howard. “Impressive, your ability to break school rules is really something.”

Henry Howard explained he’d gone out for a morning run and lost track of time.

Manager Jensen looked at him, seeing how fresh and clean he was, even catching a whiff of laundry detergent up close.

Morning run, my ass. More like an old man’s stroll.

Manager Jensen couldn’t be bothered to argue, checked the time—it was already ten minutes into class—and just said, “Same old rules.”

“Self-reflection, I know.” Henry Howard walked off as he spoke. “I’ll bring it to your office at noon. See you, Manager Jensen.”

Seeing Henry Howard about to disappear, Manager Jensen called out, “Wait, come here.”

Henry Howard stopped.

Manager Jensen: “What’s with that petition from your class?”

After the recent incident, Chelsea Shaw hadn’t been punished, but her transfer to the experimental school was definitely off. The administration saw she’d admitted her mistakes and, considering her years of teaching, let it go.

But what gave the school a headache was that Class 3 wanted a new homeroom teacher.

Henry Howard had first tried to bring it up, thinking no one would back him. The class was usually eerily quiet, everyone keeping to themselves, but this time, everyone’s complaints about Chelsea Shaw burst out.

Luke Carter was the first to rally his buddies for support.

“Let’s do it!” said a boy with a bright look, especially his eyes, which seemed to shine when he looked at people. “If the whole class joins in, even if we fail, group offenses usually get lighter punishment.”

Luke Carter patted the boy’s head. “Mr. Know-it-All, why are you so pessimistic? Already thinking about failing before we even start.”

The boy called “Mr. Know-it-All” said, “That’s not pessimism, that’s strategy. I can give you ten examples of this kind of thing—last year, Class 5 protested together when their teacher took over their PE class—”

Henry Howard was originally busy persuading Ethan Young to join them in going to see the mad dog.