Nothing, why are you visiting people so early in the morning.

Damn.

Ethan Young put on his long pants. Casual clothes aren’t as loose and shapeless as the school uniform, so after putting them on, his legs looked straight and long. The zipper wasn’t pulled up yet, his fingers resting on it, just hanging at his waist like that.

Ethan Young slowly zipped up, casually asking, “Are you still going to sleep?”

“I was planning to,” Henry Howard said, “but now I can’t sleep anymore.”

Henry Howard and Ethan Young went to the cafeteria to eat, and when they went upstairs toward their classroom, Logan Wright was on duty.

Ethan Young walked to the back door, not really wanting to go any further: “What’s he doing now?”

Logan Wright was holding a rag, wiping the windows while shaking his hips, recalling the dance moves he learned yesterday, humming the rhythm: “La la, la la la, la.”

Henry Howard: “”

“You guys are here,” Logan Wright was the first to spot them, stopped shaking his hips and said, “Morning.”

People were coming and going in the hallway.

Ethan Young really wanted to unilaterally cut off his classmate relationship with Logan Wright.

But Henry Howard adjusted quickly, smiled and said, “PE rep, nice dancing. Such graceful moves, if I were a girl I’d be charmed by you—”

Ethan Young: “Cut the act, that’s enough.”

First period was English.

After the dictation, Ethan Young lay on the desk for a while, found he couldn’t sleep, and reached out to fish his phone out from under the desk.

Now that he was awake, he felt that the two sentences he shouted in Quiz Masters Clash this morning were a bit much.

There was really no need to get so worked up. That “Quiz Master” was probably a hardcore nerd with glasses thicker than beer bottles—what, were they going to meet up and do test papers face to face?

Ethan Young clicked in and found the chat area had exploded several times, and it still wasn’t over.

“Study Study My Life Only”: Damn, are they really going to face off in person?!

“Top Ten in Grade”: x-god, you’re awesome!

“Tsinghua and Peking University Are Not a Dream”: That’s hardcore!

“985211”: x-god, remember what you said! I took a screenshot, whoever doesn’t show up is a dog!

Ethan Young: “Damn.”

------------

72. Chapter Seventy-Two

They were all too hyped up by x-god’s public challenge, couldn’t calm down. These pillars of the nation’s future were secretly typing on their phones during class.

After a while, things finally quieted down.

“Conquer Peking University”: No, class has started, I have to focus, nothing can distract me from listening.

“985211”: I’m holding my phone right now, and with every word I type I feel I’m letting down my school and my teachers, deeply ashamed of their expectations. Goodbye. Let’s chat after school.

“I Love Studying”: This is the first time since elementary school that I’ve looked at my phone during English class, I really feel guilty.

Ethan Young now felt like his foggy brain had dug a pit for himself, and now he had no choice but to keep squatting in it.

The English teacher first led everyone in reading the new vocabulary for the lesson, then had everyone read to each other a few times to get familiar. After speaking, she turned to write the lesson topic on the blackboard.

Taking advantage of the noisy class reciting words, Ethan Young turned off his phone and tossed it back into the desk with a “thud”.

It was muffled, not too loud.

Henry Howard was bowing his head, playing a game at a critical moment. Hearing the sound, he thought Ethan Young was annoyed by the noise and couldn’t sleep, so he instinctively freed one hand to cover his deskmate’s ear.

Henry Howard was fighting monsters with one hand, using five fingers as if they were ten, and casually asked, “Too noisy?”

Ethan Young was lying down, Henry Howard’s palm pressed against his ear, fingertips gently threading into his hair. The voice was slightly muffled, sounding a bit distant.

Ethan Young wanted to say, “No, I’m not sleeping,” but when the words reached his mouth, they turned into a single “Mm.”

The skill buttons were on both sides, and no matter how fast Henry Howard’s hand speed was, he couldn’t manage with just one hand.

When the other students finished reciting the words and the class quieted down, Henry Howard forgot to move his hand, and Ethan Young forgot to remind him.

He often did these unconscious little things.

Like sunlight streaming in from the window, quietly smoothing out all the restless thoughts.

The English teacher finished writing the topic, then summarized the meaning of each paragraph, dividing them into sections. She put down the chalk, patted the dust off her hands, and said, “Is everyone done reading? I’ll pick someone—”

She looked around, then her gaze landed on the last row.

The English teacher was speechless.

“I see our class is so loving, this classmate affection is truly touching,” the English teacher tapped the desk with the eraser, finished her sarcasm, then called out Ethan Young and Henry Howard by name, “You two, stand up. Both of you, stand up straight—read the vocabulary for this unit, and no one else is allowed to help.”

Ethan Young stood up slowly, opened his book, and directly said, “I can’t read them.”

He deliberately mispronounced the words, and even when he got them right, it sounded awkward.

“Fine, can’t read them. What were you doing during class just now? Now you tell me you can’t read them,” the English teacher said, then turned her attention to the classmate next to Ethan Young who was still flipping through the book, “Henry Howard, then you read them.”

Henry Howard: “Teacher, which page?”

English teacher: “”

The English teacher didn’t make things hard for them. If she really took it seriously, she’d faint from anger every class. She let them stand and listen to Quinn Shaw read the words, then let them sit down.

Quinn Shaw held her book, reading according to the phonetic symbols, every word pronounced perfectly. It was obvious she had previewed at home.

Henry Howard was standing, and from that height he could see Logan Wright diagonally across, secretly eating cookies.

“Old Young,” Henry Howard nudged Ethan Young with his elbow, “look.”

“Look at what.”

Ethan Young was getting tired of standing, hands in his pockets, looked over and saw Logan Wright carefully pinching a cookie out of the box with a delicate gesture, waiting for the right moment, and when the English teacher wasn’t looking, stuffed it into his mouth at lightning speed.

Ethan Young watched for a while: “Did he not eat breakfast?”

Henry Howard said, “He told me he ate six meat buns this morning, maybe he’s hungry again?”

When Quinn Shaw finished reading, Henry Howard sat down while flicking the pen cap on the desk, and threw it at Logan Wright’s back.

Logan Wright hadn’t swallowed the cookie yet, almost choked, and turned to see who threw it.

Henry Howard leaned back with a smile, hinting, “Share some?”

Logan Wright’s cookies were passed over from the first group just like that.

When they got to Wanda, he grabbed two pieces right away, and by the time they reached their row, only some crumbs were left. Not because they were hungry, just itchy hands, and wanting to have some fun sneaking food in class.

A box of milk peanut cookies was passed around half the classroom like it was being smuggled.

Just as it was about to reach their row, Luke Carter spotted it and waved at Wanda: “What, I want some too!”

The English teacher was still writing sentence structure on the blackboard, while little tricks continued below.

By the time it was passed back to their row, the cookie box was already empty.

Ethan Young took it: “Animals, huh.”

Henry Howard leaned over to take a look: “Damn, not a single piece left?”

Logan Wright watched his cookies disappear with wide eyes, totally unable to focus on class: “”

Screw those damn cookies.

“Where are we practicing our dance today?” After class, Galaxy Dreamstars gathered at the back of the classroom to discuss.

“Later during PE? Just do it on the field.”

“No way, we can’t reveal our strength so easily.”

“”

Ethan Young didn’t really pay attention to what exactly they were discussing.

He sat on the side, bored, and tapped the Knowledge Orb icon again, logged in and saw two lines on the public screen.

“Quiz Master” said to “jsdhdax”: Okay.

“Quiz Master” said to “jsdhdax”: If you don’t come, you’re a dog.

Ethan Young kind of understood why Ray Jones could go out and fight over a purple weapon.

Because of dignity.

Galaxy Dreamstars originally planned to practice on the field, but when they got there, there were too many people around, and more importantly, their group had two very eye-catching members.

Just Ethan Young and Henry Howard standing there was enough to make them feel like celebrities before even debuting.

The music had barely started when they couldn’t stand being watched and filmed from all sides, so they decided to go back to the classroom to practice.