Xavier Stone walked in from the doorway, wearing thick glasses and holding a stack of extracurricular exercises in his hand.

Quinn Shaw passed by and was startled when she bumped into him: "Class rep, those dark circles under your eyes."

Xavier Stone's steps were unsteady, and he looked a bit over-exhausted. He raised his hand to adjust his glasses and said, "It's fine, I can keep studying. Good luck on the monthly exam, Quinn Shaw."

"Go-go-good luck." Quinn Shaw didn't know what to say and replied blankly.

Luke Carter: "What was that catchphrase the mad dog always says, something like 'if you can't study yourself to death, then study as if you could'? I think our class rep is the perfect spokesperson for that."

Wanda was simply stunned: "I didn't know dark circles could get that deep."

Henry Howard wasn't late today. He and Ethan Young entered the classroom one after the other: "Morning."

Wanda: "Morning, morning, morning."

"What are you looking at?" Henry Howard slung his backpack over one shoulder and leaned in.

Luke Carter said, "We're looking at our class rep's dark circles."

"Whoa, that's really dark." Henry Howard was also startled.

Ethan Young was about to walk around them to his seat to catch up on sleep, but Henry Howard, without even turning his head, grabbed his wrist and pulled him over: "Old Young, look. These dark circles—how long has it been since he slept?"

Xavier Stone had made himself a cup of coffee early in the morning and was holding it while memorizing English words.

Ethan Young wasn't interested in dark circles at all. All he wanted was to catch up on sleep, so he reached out to pry Henry Howard's hand off.

Henry Howard was still watching the "panda," but since his brain worked differently from most people, he suddenly changed his line of thinking: "What if he drew them on himself? When I was a kid, I used this trick to fool my mom into thinking I was studying hard."

Ethan Young sneered, "Do you really think there's another person in the world like you?"

Henry Howard: "You're praising me so much, I'm a little embarrassed."

Ethan Young thought to himself, I'm praising your grandma's legs.

Henry Howard, as usual, didn't catch the sarcasm and shamelessly continued, "Your Bro Henry, one of a kind."

Wanda clapped at the side: "Impressive."

Luke Carter also applauded: "The flower of excellence."

The morning self-study was math.

The math teacher told everyone to take advantage of the morning clarity to memorize all the formulas they needed to.

After speaking, he found a chair and sat on the podium to grade today's homework.

Ethan Young lay on the desk sleeping, sunlight streaming in from the window.

He vaguely felt a sudden brightness in front of him, frowned in his half-asleep state, and then, after a while, that annoying c, like light through a sheet of paper, disappeared again.

"And for the homework handed out yesterday, if you haven't corrected it, hurry up. You need to understand your mistakes every day, or they'll just pile up."

"If you don't understand something, come ask me, or ask your classmates. Once you've corrected it, show me. I need to keep records, so don't wait for me to come find you. If I really have to come find you one day, you're done for."

The math teacher nagged for a bit, then lowered his head to grade homework.

The classroom was very quiet.

Aside from the faint sounds of pages turning, pencil cases bumping, and correction tape being set down, there was also the sound of recitation drifting in from other classes.

Henry Howard propped his elbow on the desk, holding a random exercise book, which he used to block the sunlight coming in from the window onto Ethan Young's face.

Ethan Young slept soundly, completely unaware that someone was blocking the sun for him.

"Ah, how could there be such a good deskmate as me in this world," Henry Howard switched arms when one got tired, muttering softly to himself, "Even I feel moved watching myself."

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25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Henry Howard was so moved by himself that he couldn't snap out of it, moved himself but not the math teacher.

The math teacher was halfway through grading homework and wanted to send the class rep to Class 5 to fetch the triangle ruler set for the next lesson. As he looked up, he saw Henry Howard holding up an exercise book to block the sun for his deskmate.

He put down his red pen, didn't say anything right away, and watched for a while. Other students who noticed something was off also followed the teacher's gaze.

""

It was truly a scene full of classmate love.

So touching.

Henry Howard was considering whether to switch the exercise book for a math textbook to block more sunlight, hesitating, when a small piece of white chalk flew from the podium and hit him squarely on the head.

The chalk bounced off and landed on the floor, rolling slowly to the trash can.

The math teacher didn't know whether to be angry or amused: "You two in the last row, do you think I don't exist?"

Hearing this, Henry Howard's hand loosened, and the exercise book fell, landing right on Ethan Young's face.

Ethan Young was woken up by the hit.

He had just fallen asleep, and when he woke up, his mind was a bit foggy. He forgot it was still morning self-study, and without opening his eyes, he said to Henry Howard, "Are you looking for trouble?"

As soon as Ethan Young finished speaking, another piece of chalk came flying at them.

William Warren had been teaching for nearly ten years, and his skill at throwing chalk at people was top-notch. Usually, those who daydreamed or dozed off in class were woken up this way.

Every throw was spot on.

Very effective, and it didn't waste class time.

Ethan Young hadn't even figured out what was happening before he'd been hit twice.

Henry Howard dodged and said, "Mr. Warren, I think we should both calm down a bit—"

"Calm down my ass," William Warren almost cursed out loud, barely holding it back. Not wanting to waste more words on them, he pointed to the door, "Out. You two go stand at the door and calm down. Didn't you want to calm down? Go calm down properly."

Early in the morning, Ethan Young didn't get his nap, and he and Henry Howard stood by the window at the door of Class 3, Grade 11.

The first period was also math, and William Warren was still angry, making them wait until the bell rang before returning to their seats, so they stood at the door like doormen during the break.

People came and went in the hallway.

"While I can still control myself," Ethan Young said, "explain."

Henry Howard: "I told you, I was afraid you'd be too moved."

Ethan Young really didn't have a good temper. His lifelong philosophy was not to reason with idiots but to just beat them up. He held back and decided to give Henry Howard one more chance: "Are you going to talk or not?"

Before Henry Howard could answer, Wanda poked his head out the window, tilted his head and said, "This really is a touching story with a tragic ending. Awesome, Bro Henry, you even blocked the sun for Yu-ge, but this feeling is destined to only move yourself."

Henry Howard: "Dada, what are you saying? Listen to yourself."

Wanda: "No, really—look at Yu-ge's face. I think Yu-ge wants to twist your head off and use it as a soccer ball."

Henry Howard was still confidently saying, "Impossible. My deskmate may seem heartless, but I believe he's very kind."

From Wanda's few words, Ethan Young figured out what had happened. He let out a slow breath, rolled up his sleeves to reveal half his arm, then grabbed Henry Howard's collar and dragged him toward the restroom.

"What are you doing?" Henry Howard was quite cooperative, walking along, "Inviting me to the bathroom together?"

"So I can beat you up somewhere else."

Wanda was having a great time, hanging onto the window and laughing for a long while.

Sean Parker happened to walk by the end of the hallway, feeling for the cigarettes in his pocket, planning to sneak a couple in the restroom. When he got to Class 3, Grade 11, he habitually stopped to greet Bro Henry, but saw that Henry Howard wasn't at his seat.

He leaned over to Wanda and asked, "What are you laughing at? Where's Bro Henry?"

Wanda told Sean Parker what happened, and Sean Parker's craving for a smoke was cut in half: "Damn, I'm going over to watch."

Ethan Young said he was going to beat him up, but it was really just horsing around, nothing serious.

The two of them turned back before even reaching the restroom.

"Alright, alright, I give up," Henry Howard put his arm around Ethan Young from behind, pushing him forward like coaxing a child, "No more messing around."

Ethan Young wasn't really angry.

When Wanda said "blocking the sun," he actually froze for a few seconds.

Then his mind got all weird, and he didn't know why these strange emotions suddenly bubbled up. The more he thought about it, the more irritable he got, until finally, the only solution left in his mind was—

Beat him up.

Sean Parker looked on, troubled: "What are those two even doing?"