He wasn’t sleepy at first, but after lying there with his eyes closed for a while, he actually fell asleep in the end.

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37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

It just so happened there was a PE class that afternoon, so Logan Wright said, “Sorry, sorry, I got a bit too excited. How about we talk more during PE? Anyone interested can come find me anytime.”

Ethan Young was sleeping lightly and vaguely heard someone talking, but couldn’t make out the words.

When it was almost time for class, William Warren passed by their class on his way and handed the homework to the class monitor. The class monitor handed out the homework in a flurry, tossing it out with great enthusiasm, and wouldn’t let anyone help him.

“Xie—c—Xie Yu,” the class monitor muttered the name, then looked up and instantly locked onto his target.

The next second, the exercise book landed next to Ethan Young’s head.

“”

Ethan Young opened his eyes.

The class monitor made a “sorry” gesture. Ethan Young didn’t say anything, didn’t even look, just stuffed the exercise book into his drawer.

Henry Howard was sitting next to him, head down playing on his phone, wearing earphones with the cord trailing out of his pocket.

When the class monitor got to Henry Howard, he called out, “Chao ge!”

Henry Howard cooperatively raised his hand to “catch the ball,” and after catching it, he tossed out some English: “Wow, nice.”

“Awake now?” After catching the exercise book, Henry Howard turned to look at Ethan Young and asked, “Where’s your homework?”

Ethan Young said, “What for?”

Henry Howard decided to help himself, leaning over sideways to peek into Ethan Young’s desk drawer: “Just want to take a look.”

Ethan Young didn’t stop him, nor did he throw anything at his head. He just reached in, took out the exercise book, and slapped it onto Henry Howard’s desk: “Take it and admire it, now get lost.”

If you flipped through either Ethan Young or Henry Howard’s homework books from start to finish, you’d hardly find any big red check marks.

Henry Howard flipped to the problems assigned last weekend and confirmed that Ethan Young hadn’t solved a single one. Satisfied, he closed the book and put it back: “Seeing yours puts my mind at ease.”

Ethan Young was still lying down, half his face covered by his sleeve, only his eyes showing. The warm breath he exhaled all landed on the fabric, making him look like some kind of animal—one that made you want to reach out and ruffle him, though you’d better be ready to get scratched to death first: “What the hell?”

Henry Howard pointed at the line of writing on the blackboard, which was in William Warren’s handwriting—neat and bold.

—To the two students who got all their homework wrong: PE class, office, don’t be late.

“”

“While you were sleeping,” Henry Howard couldn’t help it and reached out to ruffle his hair, “that’s life—endless surprises.”

Ethan Young didn’t really care. He just replied, “Oh.” He was still cold, from his expression to his voice, cold from every angle. But Henry Howard felt like he must be under some kind of spell, or maybe it was just that Ethan Young’s hair was too soft—he actually thought the killer looked a little cute just after waking up.

Henry Howard added, “Don’t worry, you still have me.”

Ethan Young couldn’t keep up the “oh” act anymore.

That notice stayed on the blackboard for two whole periods. Even though it used code words, everyone knew who it meant.

Wanda was itching to bet: “Wanna bet?”

Luke Carter: “Is there even a need to bet? ‘The two students’—who else could it be?”

Quinn Shaw: “Can you even find a third person in our class who got everything wrong?”

Ethan Young glanced at Henry Howard’s homework and saw that he’d just copied the questions, then stylishly written “Solution:” on the left—and that was it.

“Didn’t you get someone to do it for you?” Ethan Young stuffed his own book back in the drawer and asked offhandedly, “They did it like this?”

Henry Howard said, “Didn’t bother. Thanks for reminding me, I realized no one in this world can write as cool as me. Look at my bold, majestic strokes, the flow—”

Ethan Young cut him off mercilessly: “You can dress up dog crap all you want, it’s still dog crap.”

“Liam Harris, you’re doing sprints and relays, right? I heard about your heroic deeds—your explosive power is amazing. As for the girls, I’m not too sure about their situation. Sister Qing, can you help out and see which girls want to participate?”

During PE, Logan Wright, Luke Carter, and the others sat in a circle on the field. Logan Wright had three pens in his pocket, and after speaking, he pulled one out and handed it to Quinn Shaw: “And for the whole-class events, like tug-of-war, I’ll tell you some tips when I have time. For long-distance running, it’s Chao ge and Yu ge—hey, where are they?”

It was only then that Logan Wright realized the two long-distance runners he’d picked last week were missing.

Wanda: “You just noticed? They got called to the math teacher’s office.”

Luke Carter added, “Those two long-distance runners got everything wrong on their homework.”

Logan Wright scratched his head: “Huh? I got so excited about the sports meet notice, I didn’t notice…”

The two long-distance runners were currently suffering in the teacher’s office.

“You two, take your homework and find a seat. You can go to PE when you understand it. Not before.” William Warren said, then went back to grading papers. “You two are something else. But I will give you credit for one thing—you didn’t copy. At least you stuck to your principles.”

Henry Howard said, “You flatter us.”

William Warren hadn’t expected Henry Howard to be so shameless. His hand paused: “You really think I’m complimenting you?!”

Ethan Young took the homework and dragged Henry Howard away, explaining for his deskmate, “He forgot his meds this morning.”

“He does need some meds,” William Warren said. “He’s pretty sick.”

There weren’t many teachers left in the office. Old Tang had gone next door to teach Chinese, so his seat was empty. The other seats weren’t convenient, so the two of them sat at Old Tang’s desk to do their work.

They’d been here a few times before but never noticed that Thomas Thompson kept several small plants on his desk, each labeled with a sticky note with its name and watering instructions. He was clearly very meticulous.

Henry Howard reached out and pinched the corner of a sticky note, reading the name of a succulent: “Xiao Cui?”

Ethan Young: “”

“Do all middle-aged people give such scary names? Isn’t this species called ‘Ji Yu Lu’?” Henry Howard propped his homework under his elbow, not interested in doing any work. “He’s a Chinese teacher, for god’s sake—Xiao Cui?”

Ethan Young looked up and saw that under the glass on Thomas Thompson’s desk were lots of photos, all of the classes he’d taught over the years, neatly arranged from the early 2000s up to the year before last.

“What are you looking at?” Henry Howard asked.

Ethan Young wanted to say he was looking for last year’s graduation photo, but thought that sounded lame, so in the end he said nothing and kept working.

There was a desk between them, but after a while, Henry Howard quietly scooted his chair over, inching closer until he was right next to Ethan Young. He poked his deskmate with his pen: “Did you understand the problem Old Wu just explained?”

Ethan Young held his pen and asked, “What do you think?”

“I think I got it this time,” Henry Howard said. “Really, I did.”

The problems weren’t hard. William Warren had tutored them both, going over the formulas and steps. If they still didn’t get it, they’d have to be idiots.

Luckily, this time when Henry Howard said he understood, he actually did. Maybe he was just desperate to get to PE, so his IQ got a temporary boost. Ethan Young also relaxed his standards a bit, and the two of them spent about half a period barely managing to “figure out” the problems.

“Here they come, PE rep, your long-distance runners are here,” Wanda spotted Henry Howard and Ethan Young from afar. “The hope of our whole village—no, our whole class—has arrived.”

“What do you mean, the hope of the whole village?” Henry Howard walked over and saw the entire Class 3 of Grade 11 sitting in a big circle on the field. He sat down too, patted the track, and said, “Old Young, sit.”

“Long-distance running, three thousand meters—no one in our class wants to do it.”

“Sign me up,” Henry Howard waved his hand generously. “Put your Chao ge’s name down for anything, any event.”

Wanda: “Awesome.”

Luke Carter: “Strong!”

After asking, Logan Wright looked at Ethan Young, who replied coolly, “Whatever.”

Those two words were the gentlest thing Logan Wright had ever heard from Ethan Young—he was so moved he almost cried: “Okay, I’ll put you down. You two sign up for long-distance first, then let me see… push-ups, how about push-ups?”

The sports meet would last two days, which meant two days off from regular classes.

Even though no one was that into sports, just the thought of two days off was enough to get everyone excited. Even those not competing wanted to join in the fun.