Xu Qingqing skimmed through the first page, then flipped over to look at the reading questions in the back: based on her impression of these types of questions, she didn’t see a single one answered correctly.

However, she was afraid saying so would hurt Henry Howard's confidence, so she was about to offer a few casual compliments when she heard Ethan Young coolly remark from the side, “So impressive, my ass. Might as well just hand in a blank sheet.”

Yes.

Absolutely right.

Quinn Shaw even wanted to applaud.

There was PE class in the morning. Dr. Luke wrote a note for Henry Howard, and Logan Wright told him to stay in the classroom and rest.

But “resting” basically just meant sleeping.

Henry Howard lay sprawled on his desk; from any other angle, all you could see was the back of his head. Even though he was properly dressed in his school uniform, the word “slack” was written all over him. Because the hallway was too noisy, he couldn’t sleep soundly, so he turned his head to adjust his position, his hand naturally resting on the edge of the desk.

“Henry Howard and Ethan Young as desk mates, I can’t even be bothered to comment.” When the bell rang, the English teacher returned to the office, filling her cup at the water dispenser as she spoke, “The two of them handed in identical English test papers today, neat and tidy. I don’t know who copied from whom, but what’s the point of copying like that? Not a single answer was guessed right, all wrong.”

The math teacher happened to be grading homework. The only thing nice about this notebook was the beautiful, bold, and powerful “Ethan Young” written on the cover; the content inside was simply unbearable. He frowned and shook his head: “With grades like this, how did they even get into high school? They’re making mistakes on middle school material.”

An older teacher tried to console them: “At least they’re not causing trouble. If you ask me, the two of them have actually made some progress this semester. Their tempers have mellowed a bit. Looks like the school’s seating arrangement is working, but as for their grades, that’s not something that can be fixed overnight.”

After saying that, the teacher added, “Look at old Thompson, so calm. He’s not worried at all.”

Thomas Thompson transferred from a key school. Although he’d been teaching for nearly twenty years, they didn’t know much about him, except that he and Manager Jensen were old classmates and had been friends for over a decade.

Manager Jensen is such an “irritable” person, but his friend has a really good temper.

Thomas Thompson was looking down, fiddling with his phone, as if he hadn’t heard. It wasn’t until the teacher called his name a second time that he looked up: “What? Sorry, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention just now.”

“What are you doing?” The English teacher, having filled her cup, paused as she walked by and bent down to take a look. “Playing a game?”

On the phone screen was a cartoon girl with long flowing hair, wearing a dress, and a list of all sorts of clothes beside her.

Thomas Thompson immediately exited to the home screen, not knowing how to explain: “Ah, this…”

Luckily, the English teacher only glanced at it and didn’t look too closely. The class rep knocked and came in to ask for the corrected exercise books. The English teacher turned around and quickly forgot the little episode: “Class 8, right? The vocabulary books are graded, they’re on the desk. Three classes’ worth are stacked together, look for yours.”

PE class continued as usual with basketball practice.

The girls took up most of the class time. Since they basically never played this sport, their first reaction when the ball came flying at them was to cover their faces and squat down to dodge. The PE teacher simply took them aside for separate practice, while the boys grabbed basketballs for free play.

Quinn Shaw wasn’t afraid of getting hit at all. After a while, she got bored and ran over to play with the boys.

“Qiangqiang, I heard your basketball team is still short on people,” Quinn Shaw dribbled over, “What do you think of me? Can I join?”

Logan Wright was practicing his shots. His muscles were tanned bronze, and at first glance he looked a bit like a bodybuilder. He jumped up, threw the ball, wiped his sweat, and said, “Sister Qing, are you serious?”

Ethan Young was leaning against the iron gate of the basketball court, sitting in the shade under a tree, with an earbud in one ear.

The music circled around his ears.

As he listened, he suddenly reached up to press the volume button, the music getting quieter and quieter until it was finally muted.

Quinn Shaw: “I’m serious. Just think, when our class goes to compete—”

Before she could finish, Wanda came up from behind and snatched her ball, laughing as he ran off to the side: “If that really happens, our class will definitely come in last.”

Wanda ran and bumped into Luke Carter, knocking the basketball out of his hands.

Luke Carter immediately exploded: “Get over here! Do you know how long I was preparing for that three-pointer?!”

Ethan Young was watching when suddenly something cold pressed against his cheek. He turned to see a limping Henry Howard standing next to him, holding two bottles of cold soda.

“Hey, kid,” Henry Howard shoved a bottle into Ethan Young's hand, “All the other kids are playing basketball. Why are you sitting here alone?”

The soda was peach-flavored, the bottle fogged up, water droplets sticking all over Ethan Young's hand.

Wanda saw him, but since he was being chased by both Quinn Shaw and Luke Carter, he could only shout from afar: “Bro Henry—why did you come down?”

Henry Howard said, “Came down to see my handsome deskmate.”

Wanda stumbled and almost fell.

Henry Howard twisted open the cap, the scent of peach and cold air rising up: “The classroom is too boring, and those girls outside are so noisy, I can’t even sleep.”

“They’re all there to see you,” Ethan Young said.

“How does that make sense? I still don’t get it. Last time Wanda said the same thing.”

Henry Howard sprained his ankle, and now the whole grade knew about it—especially that group of girls, who were so worried they couldn’t even focus in class.

“Why do you think they stand in the hallway every break?”

Henry Howard tilted his head back and took a big gulp, enjoying the cold drink, then said, “How should I know? To enjoy the view? Get some sun and calcium?”

“”

This guy’s EQ, in some ways, could be called disabled.

Thinking of this, after a while, Ethan Young poked Henry Howard with the still-dripping bottle: “Hey, disabled, have you ever dated anyone?”

Henry Howard was watching Logan Wright and the others play. Besides Logan Wright, the rest weren’t much good—just there to mess around—but he still didn’t hold back his praise: “Nice shot—Haozi, your snake-like moves are slick!”

Luke Carter tilted his head and made a “cool” gesture, looking full of confidence.

Henry Howard felt a chill on his elbow and finally realized what Ethan Young had just said: “I just sprained my ankle, calling me disabled is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Let me tell you the truth,” Henry Howard slung his arm over Ethan Young's shoulder, striking a boastful pose and pointing at the basketball court gate, “My exes could line up from there all the way to Jinbang Restaurant and back again.”

Without a word, Ethan Young smashed the soda into his face.

“I was just joking, just joking,” Henry Howard raised his hand to wipe his face, coming away with a handful of water, “Kid, you’ve got quite the temper.”

After PE class, Henry Howard and Ethan Young's English test papers were already posted on the little display board next to the blackboard, a public execution.

Right next to them was the highest-scoring paper in the class—Quinn Shaw's 120 points—a stark contrast.

People in the class trickled back from the court.

Luke Carter came over to take a look, speechless for a long time: “You two—why did you copy each other? Of all people, why copy each other? Don’t you know what your grades are like?!”

“Because I trust my deskmate.” Henry Howard was sitting in the last row, very close to the display board. He turned around and straddled his chair, his long legs stretched out on either side, extremely eye-catching. “And my deskmate trusts me.”

Luke Carter didn’t know what to say, wiped the sweat from playing basketball last period, and said, “You two are really something.”

In fact, Ethan Young hadn’t planned to do the test like that.

But after watching Henry Howard answer questions last night, he realized just how terrifyingly bad he was.

Ethan Young finally understood why, back in first year, he had to work so hard to fail exams and come in second-to-last in the grade—no matter how hard he tried to keep his score down, he could only manage second-to-last.

Turns out, the last-place throne was always held by Henry Howard.

So when Ethan Young did the test, he deliberately avoided the correct answers, determined to beat Henry Howard in this monthly exam and take first place.

First from the bottom.

With the monthly exam approaching, even Wanda and the others stopped telling ghost stories during evening self-study and focused on reviewing.

The mad dog came by on patrol, and seeing the thriving, studious atmosphere in Class 3, Grade 2, he was unusually satisfied: “Not bad, special praise for you all. Keep it up, your class has a great learning atmosphere lately. This is how students should be—very good.”

Thomas Thompson happened to come by after dinner to check on them, carrying a thermos in the sweltering summer heat.