Henry Howard thought that writing “world peace” was already perfunctory enough, but he didn’t expect there to be an even bigger talent sitting here: “Getting rich?”
Ethan Young said, “You got a problem with that?”
“No problem, that’s a pretty good dream,” Henry Howard said, and then remembered he still had a personal photo that hadn’t been signed for, so he knocked on the desk and asked, “Where’s my handsome photo?”
“Aren’t you annoying, what handsome photo?”
“I worked so hard posing, and you didn’t take a picture?”
Posing.
At the mention of those three words, Ethan Young felt like he was right back in that unbearably flashy and especially awkward moment: “You’ve got the nerve to bring that up?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Henry Howard said. “Wasn’t it you who couldn’t help but want to take my picture?”
Ethan Young thought to himself, screw your ‘couldn’t help it’.
Really shameless.
Ethan Young had posted that photo to his Moments, and Henry Howard insisted on seeing it, so Ethan Young found it and handed it over.
Henry Howard took a look and found it was actually pretty good: “Nice skills, though of course it’s mainly because I’m photogenic.” Halfway through his sentence, Henry Howard accidentally swiped down to the comments and discovered that, although Ethan Young usually kept to himself and was quiet, this photo had over fifty comments.
Looking at the names, there were all sorts of aunts and moms, distant relatives, and even someone noted as [Aunt Wang from the breakfast shop on the next street].
Aunt Mei: Son, who’s that young man in the middle? He’s pretty handsome.
xy replied to Aunt Mei: He’s an idiot.
Da Lei: Whoa, why does this guy look so familiar?!
xy replied to Da Lei: Generic face.
After scrolling through, Henry Howard realized this friend was roasting him quite happily: “Let’s not talk about the generic face, but you told your mom I’m an idiot?”
Ethan Young had clearly forgotten about the comments, and replied with a straight face, “That’s my godmother.”
Ethan Young rarely mentioned his family, and now out of nowhere there was a godmother. These fifty-some comments showed that this kid’s social network was pretty unusual. Henry Howard asked again, “You have a godmother?”
Ethan Young gave a brief introduction: “My godmother, local boss, mixed up in the underworld.”
Henry Howard pointed at the one called Da Lei: “And this one?”
Ethan Young said, “You’ve seen him at your station.”
In the end, Ethan Young was so annoyed he didn’t know how to explain his relationship with the breakfast shop on the next street, so he brushed it off with a few words like “You’re handsome, you’re not a generic face,” and that was the end of it.
Before giving the phone back to Ethan Young, Henry Howard quickly added his own WeChat: “How come you haven’t even activated your QQ space? Add me as a friend?”
Ethan Young said, “You already added me, why are you asking?”
Henry Howard: “Just trying to be polite.”
Aunt Mei and the others used WeChat, so he and Da Lei just got used to using it too.
Anyway, there weren’t many classmates he needed to keep in touch with. Back in first year, he was the type who’d be completely out of contact once he left school, offline all year round, couldn’t even get teacher notifications.
But now, something seemed different.
For example, the contact list with more and more friends.
Or, for instance, Ethan Young never thought he’d one day sit by the window, keeping watch for his classmates, just so they could play cards in peace.
Damn, is my temper actually getting better? Ethan Young wondered.
Wanda’s self-assessment wasn’t exaggerated at all—he not only had bad luck, but his card skills were terrible too.
“I really appreciate a noob like you,” Quinn Shaw had soon won all her money back and said contentedly, “Our friendship could last a lifetime.”
Wanda didn’t mind losing so badly, and replied, “My honor, Miss Xu.”
Henry Howard leaned against the window, sitting on the desk, and helped keep watch for a while: “How much longer are you guys going to play?”
“Bro Henry, last round, almost done,” Wanda said excitedly, glancing at the lousy hand he was holding, “I’m about to lose.”
Henry Howard clicked his tongue: “You seem pretty happy about it?”
Ethan Young casually said, “Losing every round is a skill in itself.”
“Yeah,” Wanda nodded, “that’s exactly it, I feel like I’m really talented at this.”
After watching for a while, the mad dog didn’t show up, but Sean Parker had been kept behind by the teacher for a lecture that lasted from the end of school until now. He finally got out of the office, and when he passed by Class 3, he stopped to watch for a bit: “What are you guys doing?”
Sean Parker stood at the window, peering in, and heard Quinn Shaw shout “Four with three” with great gusto, and was honestly amazed by Class 3’s creativity: “Wow, a card room?”
“What about you,” Henry Howard shot back, “aren’t you going back?”
Sean Parker said, “Wasn’t there a math test this afternoon? I had a little accident.”
Wanda had no playable cards, and said distractedly, “I know, he got caught cheating on the math test this afternoon.”
Sean Parker had planned to just gloss over it, but Wanda called him out directly, so he said helplessly, “How do you know everything?”
Wanda said cheekily, “In this world, there’s nothing I don’t know.”
“Yeah right, eavesdropping and you’re proud of it,” Sean Parker said before leaving, “By the way, Bro Henry, about what you told me this afternoon, about d-dating—”
Sean Parker still couldn’t let go of that “dating” message Henry Howard had sent him. No matter how he thought about it, it felt off, so now that he ran into him, he wanted to ask in person. But before he could even say the word “love,” he saw Bro Henry freeze up, as if he’d hit a nerve, almost jumped up, and half his body leaned out the window: “Shut up, you.”
“No, I just wanted to ask you,” Sean Parker was confused, “about that dat—”
Ethan Young tilted his head, not sure what the two of them were up to: “Date?”
Henry Howard climbed straight out the window, looking really nervous, his back tensed as he bent down to jump. As soon as he landed, he covered Sean Parker’s mouth and took over: “Talk, you wanted to talk to me, right?”
Sean Parker wanted to say of course not, it was about dating, but with his mouth covered, all he could do was make muffled “mmm mmm” sounds.
And just like that, he was dragged away by Henry Howard.
Ethan Young: “”
“What are those two doing?” Wanda’s bragging was instantly deflated, “Seems like something’s up.”
Quinn Shaw said, “Gossip king, just focus on losing your cards.”
Henry Howard didn’t even know where he was dragging Sean Parker, nowhere seemed like the right place to talk about this, so in the end he just took him back to the dorm.
Sean Parker sat on a chair, gulping for air. Not only had his mouth been covered the whole way, Henry Howard had pressed so hard he’d blocked both their nostrils too: “Bro Henry, I almost suffocated to death, you know?”
He hadn’t even caught his breath when he heard Henry Howard say, “Well, secret crush is fine too, can you tell me about it?”
Sean Parker: “Huh? What’s there to say about a secret crush? It’s all sour and tight, like a can of Fanta, especially one that’s been shaken up. Pfft, if anyone pops the tab at that moment, it’ll explode all over their face.”
Henry Howard: “”
That was actually a pretty vivid metaphor.
But Henry Howard felt like his own can of soda was so intense, it didn’t need anyone to open it—it could explode all on its own.
Sean Parker didn’t figure out what Henry Howard was up to even after leaving the boys’ dorm and walking to the bus stop, where the autumn wind made him sneeze. Instead, it just made him want a drink.
As he thought about it, he realized that in all the time he’d known Henry Howard, he’d never seen him date anyone.
If this guy wanted to get a girlfriend, it would be the easiest thing in the world.
Just that face alone made him look like he’d had a ton of romantic experience—handsome to the point of being untrustworthy.
But his Bro Henry had really managed to stay single for over ten years.
Sean Parker had personally experienced going out with Henry Howard, and when a girl shyly worked up the courage to approach them, Henry Howard would reply, “Are you selling something? I’m not buying.”
“When God opens a door for someone, he always closes a window,” Sean Parker shook his head. The bus arrived just then, and as he pulled out his transit card, he said, “Being handsome is useless.”
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48. Chapter Forty-Eight
Someone whose window had been closed by God was indeed troubled.
So troubled he couldn’t sleep all night, and even doing practice papers didn’t help.
Henry Howard realized that the strange feeling was building up bit by bit, growing more and more without him noticing, and by the time he realized it, he couldn’t control it at all.
His heart had raced countless times, and every time he was at a loss.
He didn’t know where to put his hands, didn’t dare look at the other person, but there was a voice in his heart shouting nonstop.
He liked Ethan Young.
Not that kind of like, but that kind of like.