"Bro Henry, do you need anything?" Sean Parker turned on the desk lamp and sat up. "In the dead of night, are you craving some thirteen-spice crayfish, or those famous pan-fried buns from Yangyuan Road? Or maybe just some company for a chat?"

""

Sean Parker was already prepared to go through fire and water, but his Bro Henry only said, "I want to ask you a question."

"Ask! Go ahead!"

"Do you think, Ethan Young, the one you know," Henry Howard didn't even know how to put it. He scratched his head, hesitated for two seconds, and finally asked a question that would keep Sean Parker up all night, "Would he agree to let me hold him while sleeping?"

Sean Parker felt completely shocked. "Huh?"

He just hadn't been visiting Class Three as often lately—had he missed something important?

Why were things developing in such a strange direction?

Was he dreaming, maybe not fully awake?

"Bro Henry, I think, whether it's the Ethan Young I know or the one you know, neither would agree." Sean Parker answered in a daze. "I can't even imagine how many ways you could die."

Henry Howard said, "Is it really that absolute?"

Sean Parker: "Absolutely. More than absolute."

After saying this, Sean Parker felt his Bro Henry hang up the phone in deep disappointment. And it wasn't just ordinary disappointment—it was mixed with all sorts of complicated, indescribable emotions, making it impossible to read.

The next day, Ethan Young didn't wait for Henry Howard to come knock on his door to ask him to breakfast.

Before leaving, he deliberately glanced at the dorm across the hall. The door was tightly shut, no sign of movement. He hesitated for a moment, but in the end didn't go over to knock, and just went straight to the classroom.

"Speaking of our school's dorm building, it's really weird," as soon as he entered the classroom, he heard Wanda spreading more bizarre rumors, "Didn't I say I heard knocking on the second floor a few days ago? Last night there wasn't any. It's really strange—a lot of people heard it, it definitely wasn't just in my head."

Luke Carter doesn't live on campus, so he wasn't fazed by these ghost stories. "Stop scaring yourselves, there's nothing to it. Believe in science, okay? Repeat after me: believe in science."

Quinn Shaw: "Know-it-all, once or twice is enough, but you just keep going on and on. Why hasn't anything like this happened in our girls' dorm? If someone really comes knocking on my door, I'll just open it and bash their head in."

Just then, a boy below slowly raised his hand. "I-I heard it too, it's real. Last night, there was knocking on the third floor."

Henry Howard didn't show up, but Sean Parker was running to Class Three quite often.

Sean Parker sat down at Henry Howard's desk. "Where's Bro Henry? Still not here?"

Ethan Young gave him a look, letting him figure it out himself.

Sean Parker got the message—it was calling him out for stating the obvious. But he was really curious whether Henry Howard had actually carried out some weird and dangerous idea last night, so he asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"

The rumor about the third-floor knocking was spreading like wildfire. Ethan Young just classified him as a gossip-monger and shot back, "What do you think?"

"I think maybe you suffered some, um, harassment?"

When Henry Howard arrived, half the morning classes were already over.

"Bro Henry, Mr. Thompson asked you to go to his office at noon," Luke Carter had just come back from the teachers' office and saw Henry Howard strolling into the classroom. After saying this, he paused, "—Your dark circles are pretty bad."

Henry Howard had gotten up in a hurry and hadn't tidied up. He was bowing his head, tucking a red string necklace into his uniform collar. "Got it."

Thomas Thompson had already received complaints from teachers that morning: why is your class always missing people? Do you think the school is your home, coming and going as you please? He politely apologized on behalf of the absentee, trying to calm the teachers' anger. "Yes, I'll definitely have a good talk with him. This is really out of line."

By the time the absentee finally showed up, Thomas Thompson had prepared a long speech, ready to have a serious talk with this student.

"Henry Howard, have a seat."

It was the first time Henry Howard had met a teacher who invited him to sit down. He sat, half-believing, and then heard Thomas Thompson continue, "Because our conversation today might be just a little bit long."

Half an hour later, Henry Howard finally understood just how long "a little bit" could be.

"I know you young people all have your own ideas, and it's normal not to love studying," Thomas Thompson paused to take a few sips of water, then continued, "I totally understand, but if you're not interested in a subject, avoiding it isn't the best solution. A man should have fighting spirit, be brave enough to take on challenges, and strive for the top."

Henry Howard interrupted, "How much longer are you going to talk?"

Thomas Thompson glanced at his outline and answered honestly, "We're only three-fifths through. There are still several major points left."

""

In the end, it was the class bell that finally made Thomas Thompson stop. "Well, that's all for our talk today."

Before he finished speaking, Henry Howard stood up, ready to leave, but Thomas Thompson changed the subject again, "Your dark circles—"

Henry Howard leaned on the door, for the first time feeling that being called in for a talk by a teacher was such a hassle. "We young people have a pretty lively nightlife."

After coming back, Henry Howard collapsed onto his desk and fell asleep.

His shirt collar was unbuttoned, wide open, and the red string around his neck slipped out a bit. Ethan Young accidentally caught a glimpse and thought it was really indecent.

Several girls were standing in the hallway, pointing at them, covering their mouths and whispering excitedly.

Since the start of the semester, this group of girls had often gathered together, each with a water bottle, coming to get hot water after every class, then standing in the hallway with their bottles, doing who knows what. Some classmates bet on who they were there to see. Wanda put in fifty yuan, but finally couldn't wait any longer and boldly went to ask Henry Howard for help figuring it out.

At the time, Henry Howard said, "Of course they're here to see me," walked to the window, leaned on the sill, and before he could say anything, the girls covered their faces and ran away.

Wanda immediately jumped up and shouted, "I won! Yay!"

Henry Howard was still confused. "What did you win? Who were they here to see? Running away without saying anything is so rude."

Wanda came back to his senses from his excitement and realized something was off. "Bro Henry, your understanding of girls' thoughts—"

"Hey."

Ethan Young called out.

Henry Howard didn't respond.

Ethan Young leaned back, picked up his English book, rolled it up, and smacked Henry Howard on the head.

"" Henry Howard opened one eye. "What are you doing?"

Ethan Young pointed at his chest. "Your clothes. Button up."

Henry Howard still didn't get it. "Huh?"

Ethan Young said, "It's an eyesore."

Henry Howard, muttering "Are you blind? Bro's got a great body," buttoned up, and then heard Ethan Young say, "Didn't sleep last night?"

Henry Howard looked up. "After all these days as desk mates, you're finally showing some concern for me?"

"Yeah," Ethan Young didn't hesitate to mock him, "I'm concerned whether you were so scared by last night's knocking that you couldn't sleep."

""

Henry Howard thought to himself he was nearly scared to death.

He really wasn't afraid of much—except ghosts.

With a mom who told horror stories like fairy tales, he hadn't developed any immunity, just a deep childhood trauma. It was almost a conditioned reflex by now.

But he was proud.

"No way."

Henry Howard repeated, "No way."

"What are you guys talking about?" Wanda came over and picked a nearby empty seat. "So, to be honest, I have something to ask you guys."

Luke Carter also wandered over slowly. "Can we take a look at your cheat sheets?"

Next period was an English dictation.

Their English teacher was strict about vocabulary. If you failed the dictation, you'd have to go to her office and redo it.

The classmates had already prepared "notes" on their desks. Most of them had done a little cheating, the only difference being how much. Wanda and Luke Carter argued for ages about whose cheat sheet was better. "Look at mine, absolutely undetectable. Yours is nothing, totally outdated—"

Luke Carter covered his desk notes with a book, feeling quite pleased. "You don't get it, mine is timeless."

As they argued, they accidentally noticed that the two worst students at English dictation in the class—one was sleeping, the other was playing on his phone—both looking completely unbothered.

"Maybe the two of them have already finished their cheat sheets?"