Henry Howard was talking, replying with a few words, but his mind was still foggy, and he didn’t even know what he was saying. It seemed like he asked Ray Jr. how he’d been lately and what he was up to, and Ray Jr. said that for the past two years he’d been doing some small business with his cousin, and this time he came to A City on a business trip.

Ray Jr. dragged his suitcase toward the elevator. He looked up at the entrances and exits, realizing that A City had already become a bit unfamiliar: “I’ll probably stay for about half a month this time, Jay Bro.”

He hadn’t finished speaking when Henry Howard interrupted him.

“I’m sorry.”

Henry Howard repeated, “I’m sorry.”

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

87. Chapter Eighty-Seven

Felix Carter went up the escalator and stood at the entrance, momentarily forgetting which direction to go.

Actually, after a few years, the things he used to obsess over had mostly faded from his mind.

When his family and the homeroom teacher persuaded him to drop out, he felt more lost than angry. After the emotional turmoil settled, he realized he’d lost his sense of direction.

Even though his grades weren’t good at school and he was never interested in studying, at least everyone had a common goal.

Suddenly stepping out of his comfort zone, he felt at a loss.

At the train station entrance, the place was packed with people.

Standing in the crowd, he suddenly remembered the first time he met Henry Howard. But back then, he and Henry Howard were just nodding acquaintances; it was only a few days after the start of the semester, and he couldn’t even remember his name.

It was just after the start of ninth grade, and Henry Howard was the class monitor, knocking on the door to hand in some forms. He was tall and good-looking, and even while being punished to stand, Felix Carter couldn’t help but glance at him a few more times.

He and Jay Ray were the two students all the teachers at school had the most headaches over, especially Jay Ray, who was already wild in junior high, had a bunch of buddies at other schools, and whenever something happened, he was the first one people thought of.

“It really wasn’t me who hit him,” Jay Ray stood to the side, frowning, impatiently repeating for the third time, “Why would I hit him for no reason? If I did it, I wouldn’t deny it. At that time, I was at the internet café with Ray Jr..”

The homeroom teacher slapped the desk and shouted unhappily, “—If it wasn’t you, who else could it be?”

“Teacher.”

Felix Carter watched Henry Howard put the forms on the desk, then heard him say, “Isn’t that a bit much? I was there last Friday too, at the internet café in the alley across from the school.”

“What were you doing at the internet café?” The homeroom teacher choked, trying to find an excuse for this top student, “Looking up study materials?”

Henry Howard answered honestly, “Playing games.”

“”

Thinking of this, Felix Carter dragged his suitcase forward a couple of steps. There was so much he wanted to say, but in the end, he only said, “Bro Henry, let’s find a time to get together. There are some things I want to talk to you about.”

After Henry Howard finished his call and came back, he kept drinking, reaching for a third can, but the beer in his hand was pressed down by Ethan Young.

“Try drinking any more.”

Henry Howard obediently let go.

Quinn Shaw and the other girls picked some sweet songs, singing along to the music, slow and cheerful, singing two or three in a row.

Henry Howard rested for a while, and after a long pause finally said, “Ray Jr. is back.”

Ethan Young had guessed something was up, but didn’t expect it to be this. He gave a quiet “mm” to show he was listening.

“Just called, asked me to meet up,” Henry Howard raised his hand to scratch his head, “I…”

He still didn’t quite know how to face it.

Even though he kept trying to move forward.

When he asked Ray Jr. how he was doing, he was afraid to hear the words “not well”.

They happened to be changing songs, and the room was quiet for a few seconds.

Then Henry Howard heard Ethan Young say to him, “Bro. Don’t chicken out.”

As evening approached, the sky was getting a bit dark.

They’d been singing for a full three hours. Luckily, the beer was weak, so no one got drunk, and there wasn’t a repeat of last time’s drunken chaos. When it was over, they packed up and went their separate ways at the karaoke bar entrance.

When Ethan Young got home, Jack Cooper and the others had just finished dinner.

Ms. Miller brought out a fruit platter from the kitchen and called him over to the sofa, “You’re back? Come sit and have some fruit.”

Ethan Young glanced at Jack Cooper, worried that if he said anything, that idiot would blow up again. “You guys eat, I’ll go upstairs first.”

After Ethan Young showered, there were already hundreds of new messages in the Blackwater Street group chat “No More Fighting and Killing”, with a few tagging him, so he clicked in.

[Ray's Mom]: xy, I’ve tidied up a room for you. If you have time during the holidays, come back and stay a few days. Your Aunt May and Big Ray talk about you all the time.

[BBQ Prince Ray]: When did you tidy it up? Do we even have a spare room at home?

[Ray's Mom]: Your room, I tidied it up. When the time comes, you can go sleep in the attic.

[BBQ Prince Ray]:

[BBQ Prince Ray]: You really are my real mom.

Ray's Mom said she’d tidied up a room for him so he could stay a few more days, but Ethan Young didn’t really plan to stay, just thought he’d pick a time to go over for a meal.

Unlike the Cooper Family’s lavish New Year’s fireworks show, the New Year’s atmosphere in Blackwater Street seeped in from every corner.

Ethan Young got out of the car, and a few kids in the alley were chasing each other outside, holding a couple of boxes of firecrackers in their hands and pockets, tossing them on the ground as they ran. After a “bang”, they’d laugh and run off somewhere else.

It had snowed the night before, and by now most of the snow on the road had melted, with only a patch left on the eaves, a small stretch of white.

In his memory, the last time it snowed in A City was a few years ago, when Ray Jones insisted on dragging him out to build a snowman.

Ethan Young was pretty disdainful: “What, you got a girly heart?”

“It’s snowing! I’ve never seen it in my life. Come on, let’s go build one.”

In the end, Ethan Young squatted to the side, rolled up a snowball, and smashed it right on Ray Jones’s head: “Let’s play something else.”

In the Blackwater Street neighborhood, the houses were close together, and every door had Spring Festival couplets. Other families had things like “Family Harmony and Good Fortune” or “Auspiciousness and Prosperity”, red background with black characters. When Ethan Young walked up to that familiar building, Ray Jones was standing on a ladder helping Aunt May put up couplets, and both sides had the same four characters: “Wealth Rolling In”.

The horizontal scroll: “Get Rich”.

“”

Ethan Young stopped, amused by the scene, took a photo with his phone, and sent it to Henry Howard.

Henry Howard replied quickly.

So talented.

Say Happy New Year to our mom for me, and wish her lots of money.

Ethan Young replied: How are you?

Set up for next weekend.

I’m fine. Meeting up is good.

Ray Jones saw his Boss Young coming from afar, finished putting up the couplets and came down from the ladder. Inside, Aunt May was reminding everyone, “Don’t mention grades later, okay?”

They all knew how many points Ethan Young got this time.

Ray Jones was a bit distracted as he listened.

Although Ethan Young’s grades were pretty good at Blackwater High, the teaching quality at that place was terrible, and junior high English was taught like elementary school. A City is a big city, so it made sense that he couldn’t keep up after transferring.

“Did you hear me?” Ray's Mom patted him. “Your Aunt May is talking to you.”

Ray Jones: “Yeah, yeah, I heard, but…”

Ray Jones trailed off halfway.

That stupid game called “Quiz King” or whatever—ever since he squeezed into the game lobby last time and earned the title “Stubborn Scrap Iron”, he’d wanted to uninstall it, since it was just taking up space anyway.

But unexpectedly, even uninstalling the game was a hassle. The moment he clicked uninstall, the system popped up a letter, basically telling him to think twice and not give up on studying.

So he had no choice but to wander around the game lobby again, and accidentally spectated a round of X-God answering questions.

The speed was insane, not even human, and the handwriting—

—According to the Quiz King’s answer settings, there’s a white scratchpad for short-answer questions, where you can scribble and do quick calculations.

The handwriting looked really familiar.

Ray Jones remembered that phone call he made to Boss Young.

He wasn’t sure, maybe he was overthinking it, but he couldn’t shake the strange feeling.

When Ethan Young went upstairs, there were already quite a few people at Aunt May’s place.

After dinner, everyone gathered around the mahjong table.

“You haven’t closed up shop these past two days?”

“Business has been good lately. The shops nearby all closed for the holidays, so everyone comes to mine. I’m planning to stay open a couple more days,” Ray's Mom said, tossing out a tile, “Four kongs!”