Ethan Young was a little stunned—it wasn’t the Bentley she usually drove. Black, a very common model, and in this long line of cars, it looked completely unremarkable compared to the others.

“Changed cars?”

Grace Miller took off her sunglasses and said, “This one belongs to Uncle Wang. Have you packed up all your things? Don’t leave anything behind.”

Ethan Young walked to the back and put his things in the trunk.

They were stuck in traffic for a long time on the road in front of No. 2 High School before the car finally turned out slowly.

The whole way, no one spoke.

When they were almost home, Grace Miller finally asked, “When do the report cards come out? How do you feel about the exam?”

Ethan Young looked down at his phone. On the message screen was a lame joke sent by Henry Howard. Before he could even mock how dumb the joke was, the guy had already sent a long string of “ha”s himself.

“It was just so-so,” Ethan Young didn’t know how to answer, “The report cards won’t be out for a while.”

Grace Miller clasped her hands together on her bag, then let them go a little helplessly.

No. 2 High always released report cards late. The first few days of vacation, everyone went wild, still chatting in the class group in the middle of the night. Only after they’d had their fun did they start to settle down and wonder how they’d actually done this time.

[Wanda]: Haozi, why did you leave the team? We agreed to wait for you in the wind, rain, and in the game, and now you’re just abandoning me?

[Luke Carter]: Go ahead and play. My right eyelid’s been twitching these past two days, I have a feeling I’m doomed when the grades come out.

[Wanda]: And what’s the connection between those two things!

[Luke Carter]: Starting today, I’m going to put on an act in front of my parents, pretend I love studying, maybe when the grades come out they’ll go easy on me and spare my life.

[Wanda]:

[Logan Wright]: You’re a genius, Haozi.

[Luke Carter]: You flatter me, you flatter me, Bro Henry gave me the idea.

Ethan Young had just showered, his hair still wet, listening to Henry Howard talk about the class group on the phone.

Henry Howard had a piece of candy in his mouth, his tone a little lazy and amused: “Haozi came over and asked me how I’ve survived all these years. I just made something up, and he actually believed it. He hasn’t logged into the game for days, no matter how much we call him.”

Ethan Young put the phone on speaker and tossed it by the bed, getting ready to put on his clothes.

The room was warm, so even barefoot Ethan Young didn’t feel cold. He’d just gotten one arm through his shirt, hand gripping the hem, hadn’t had time to pull it down yet. Henry Howard heard the rustling on the other end and casually asked, “Kid, what are you doing?”

Ethan Young: “Changing clothes.”

“”

When Ethan Young finished getting dressed, he realized Henry Howard had gone silent. He bent down to look at the screen. The call hadn’t dropped, the timer was still ticking, so he tentatively called, “Ge?”

It had been almost a week since they’d seen each other, and now just hearing his voice was almost too much. Henry Howard nearly hung up, but couldn’t bring himself to, and muttered, “Did you do that on purpose?”

Ethan Young could tell, the corners of his mouth lifting in a surprisingly bright smile: “Want to see? Turn on video, ge.”

Henry Howard cursed.

After a moment, Henry Howard really did send a video call invite, acting all tough.

Henry Howard was in his bedroom, half-lying on the bed, wearing only a thin sweater, the collar loose, pretending to be calm: “Go ahead. Should I take off the top or the bottom first?”

Henry Howard’s bravado didn’t last long. Watching Ethan Young’s hand slowly lift the hem of his shirt up his waist, the boy’s figure was slim, a red string still tied around his wrist. Even though the lighting wasn’t great, the image on the screen still hit him straight in the eyes.

Ethan Young got halfway and couldn’t keep going, thinking this was getting a bit out of hand.

Just as he was about to let go, Henry Howard had already cut the video.

The phone screen returned to the chat window.

One “fuck”.

One “you win”.

One “I’m going to shower”.

Ethan Young tossed the phone aside, not caring that his hair was still wet, and lay straight down on the bed.

Earlier, he’d had dinner downstairs with Jack Cooper. Jack Cooper had kept steering the conversation toward finals, mentioning grades countless times, until Mrs. Gu couldn’t take it anymore and stepped in: “The grades aren’t out yet, let’s just eat.”

That idiot Jack Cooper, even after an extra semester of school, hadn’t gotten any smarter, and said sarcastically, “If you ask me, there’s no need to wait for grades. Doesn’t matter if they’re out or not, it’s all the same.”

Ethan Young kept repeating to himself while eating: Don’t stoop to an idiot’s level.

But another thought kept popping up: But I could beat the idiot until he can’t talk.

Thinking this, Ethan Young grabbed his phone, stared at his chat with Henry Howard for a while, then opened the class group.

The class group had been discussing grades for ages, but no one expected that Old Tang, in the name of their vacation mental health, would actually send out the electronic report cards he’d organized a few days ago.

[Mr. Thompson]: [/image].

The group chat was full of wails. They’d just been talking, but now that the grades were right in front of them, no one really wanted to look.

[Emily Shaw]: Teacher, can you recall it?

[Logan Wright]: Actually, we didn’t really want to know our grades that much.

[Luke Carter]: t-t I thought I could live a couple more days.

The most eye-catching thing on the report card wasn’t Quinn Shaw’s top English score in the grade, nor was it Xavier Stone being first in the class. It was a certain someone who always claimed he could only get twenty points if he was lucky.

Henry Howard said twenty, but in reality, his average across all subjects was close to fifty. The class group was even more excited than if they’d gotten good grades themselves.

[Luke Carter]: Bro Henry, this is like you’re flying!

[Quinn Shaw]: I’m so touched, I actually want to cry.

[Wanda]: Get online, I’ll throw some grenades to celebrate!

[Logan Wright]: Bro Henry actually got forty-nine in math this time! Such a high score!

The group was excited for ages, tagging him several times, but Henry Howard didn’t respond.

[Luke Carter]: Henry Howard, Bro Henry? Where are you?

Then the whole class watched as another “master” who always lurked and killed the conversation sent four words.

[Ethan Young]: He’s in the shower.

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

85. Chapter Eighty-Five

Ethan Young’s ability to kill the conversation was top-notch. Ever since that especially cold smiley face, every time he showed up, no one but Henry Howard could keep the conversation going.

The group immediately went cold, several minutes passing with no one saying a word.

[Luke Carter]:

[Wanda]:

[Logan Wright]:

Only Emily Shaw didn’t really get why the group had suddenly gone quiet after chatting so enthusiastically, and asked: Yu-ge, how did you know?

Ethan Young didn’t think much when he replied. Seeing everyone so excited over Henry Howard’s grades, he relaxed and replied politely, only realizing something was off after he sent it.

“”

Ethan Young raised his hand to cover half his face, cursing himself under his breath.

Wanda had just finished chatting and was about to go back to his ranked match, but when Ethan Young’s message popped up, his hand shook and he accidentally hit exit.

He stared at Emily Shaw’s message, roaring inwardly: Of course he knows!

Maybe they even showered together!

Can these two pay a little attention to appearances? This is way too blatant.

After a long silence, Luke Carter was the first to react. Logan Wright followed right after.

[Luke Carter]: Because they’re good brothers.

[Logan Wright]: That’s right. I know Haozi’s shower schedule too—on average, once every two days, ten minutes each time, usually between 8 and 9 p.m.

[Ethan Young]:

[Wanda]: You guys are something else.

[Emily Shaw]: ⊙0⊙.

The topic circled around “showering” for a bit, then very awkwardly shifted back to “final grades.” By the time Henry Howard finished his shower and came back, the class three students were already discussing how to celebrate.

[Henry Howard]: Celebrate what?

Ethan Young looked down and typed, thinking the reason for celebrating was a bit odd, but still replied: To celebrate you getting forty-nine in math.

[Luke Carter]: Round it up, that’s fifty! Bro Henry, you’re amazing, this is a new high in your life.

[Henry Howard]: If you want me to treat you, just say so.

[Luke Carter]: That’s the spirit!

[Luke Carter]: I hadn’t even started hinting yet, and you already got it.