However, she suddenly recalled all sorts of details from before, starting from the first day of school, then to Vincent Smith, and finally to the day of the monthly exam, when Henry Howard stood at the stairway and asked her, "Is it just because my grades are bad?"

Chelsea Shaw didn't dare think any further, her cheeks a little hot.

The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt.

She didn't linger, put the file on Mr. Wayne's desk, and turned to leave.

"Chelsea Shaw's expression at that moment, you guys didn't see it, it was so satisfying!"

Wanda slipped back from the office door and immediately pulled Luke Carter along, one playing Old Thompson, the other playing Chelsea Shaw, walking with unsteady steps and shouting exaggeratedly, "Ah, I heard your class—"

Luke Carter calmly waved his hand, "Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."

The group from Class Three was making a racket.

Ethan Young changed positions, but still couldn't sleep because of their noise. He sat up, and looking at the silly grins on Wanda and the others' faces, he couldn't even get angry. After a pause, he asked, "What are you guys doing?"

Wanda saw he was awake and planned to act it out again. A cause for national celebration.

But as he walked over, he felt something was off.

Ethan Young's collar wasn't buttoned properly, especially since he had just been lying down, and after sitting up, the collar slipped down a bit. Wanda thought to himself, who knows what his bro Yu was up to last night, such a rich nightlife, he looked so tired, like he had no bones.

As Wanda was thinking this, he vaguely saw a very obvious red mark below Ethan Young's collarbone.

But it was only for a split second.

"Bro Yu, did you forget to close your dorm window?"

Ethan Young pulled his collar back up, "Window?"

Wanda thought of last time and figured Ethan Young must be type O blood, especially attractive to mosquitoes, and said, "Summer's coming, better check the screens."

""

Ethan Young had no idea what he was talking about.

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

104. Chapter 104

The group from Class Three formed a circle in the back row.

Ethan Young reached for the bottle of water at the corner of the desk, watching Wanda act out the scene again in an extremely exaggerated way.

Henry Howard was as supportive as ever, "Not bad, not bad, your acting is pretty good."

"You're too kind," Wanda clasped his hands together, "It's all thanks to the support of the folks."

Ethan Young originally thought it was boring, took a sip of water, screwed the cap back on, but their laughter was so over the top that in the end, he couldn't help but laugh along with them, "Aren't you guys bored?"

Actually, before his grades improved, Ethan Young had hesitated a bit.

But he gradually realized that, whether his grades were good or bad—whether he was dragging down the class average so much that people wanted to close their eyes and jump off the building, or now, being '4.6 points above', the attitude of this group hadn't really changed much.

At first, he wanted to beat them up, but after a while, he got used to it.

When Luke Carter came to ask Henry Howard about a problem, he could still joke, "I really admire you two, you guys are truly the top two in our school, whether you count from the top or the bottom."

"What do you mean, is that a compliment or an insult?"

Henry Howard was looking at the problem, the one Luke Carter brought was assigned by his tutor, pen in hand, he said casually, "I'll give you two minutes, reorganize your wording."

Luke Carter finally understood what it meant for the tables to turn. In the past, when Henry Howard offered to let him copy homework, he acted like he'd seen a ghost, but now, it was really a case of "can't reach your level".

He closed his eyes and gave a round of awkward flattery, "You guys are awesome! Men among men! The pride of No. 2 High! So how do you solve this problem?"

After Luke Carter finished his flattery, he heard Henry Howard say, "There are a few ways to solve this. Do you prefer the simple and direct way, or something more creative?"

""

Luke Carter thought, bro, give me a break, I just want to solve the problem in a normal way.

Ethan Young couldn't take it anymore and directly snatched the exercise book from Henry Howard's hand, "Which problem?"

Ethan Young's explanations were concise and clear, and in just a few sentences, Luke Carter felt like he'd been struck by lightning—enlightened.

Henry Howard pointed at himself, "Was my explanation really that bad?"

Ethan Young shot back, "You really don't know?"

After listening to the explanation, Luke Carter looked up at the two who were bickering as usual.

What he hadn't said out loud was: whether they're at the top or the bottom, they're still the two legends we know—the Henry Howard who endured a false accusation to protect a girl, and the Ethan Young who rolled up his sleeves and jumped into the basketball game without a word.

From the perspective of Class Three, their impression of the two had long surpassed the realm of grades. When the classes were first divided, all they knew was that these two were the school bullies everyone feared, ruthless and merciless.

But after getting to know them, it was nothing like that.

Ethan Young closed the exercise book and handed it back to Luke Carter, catching a glimpse of Xavier Stone staring at them without blinking.

That look was quite complicated, enough to make your skin crawl.

Xavier Stone insisted on trying to discuss study methods with them every day, impossible to avoid: "It's bad enough you guys are dragging down the class average, can't you at least share some study tips with me?"

Henry Howard also noticed the class rep's wolf-like gaze and suggested, "Want to go hide out at Sean Parker's place?"

Ethan Young: "Are you sure?"

""

Ethan Young added, "That lunatic? No way."

Ever since the midterm results came out, Sean Parker had been losing it.

A guy who usually only scored so much suddenly soared to the top overnight, and even stood in front of him saying, 'Sorry, I'm just that good.'

The guy who always sat in front of Ethan Young during exams was also in Class Eight, and he and Sean Parker spent all day confiding in each other in a daze.

Before, no matter how badly he did in the last exam room, there were always two guys behind him silently supporting him, so he wouldn't hit rock bottom. Every time the results came out, he could confidently tell his parents: I'm not the worst! Mom, Dad, look, there are two even worse than me!

Now, the two guys behind him were just gone.

He'd lost the will to live, the world had turned from color to black and white.

As they were talking, someone knocked twice on the glass window.

That mad dog's face appeared at the window like a scene from a horror movie.

Usually, the shadow of being secretly watched by the mad dog at the window during evening self-study while playing on his phone was too deep, and Henry Howard felt a chill down his back.

But this time, the mad dog didn't say much. He waved at the two "hopes of No. 2 High": "You two, come out for a moment."

The mad dog kept saying along the way, "Don't be nervous later, relax" and "Show the best side of No. 2 High students." The more he said, the more confusing it sounded.

It didn't feel like anything good.

Following the mad dog all the way to the principal's office, staring at the nameplate on the door, Ethan Young's right eyelid wouldn't stop twitching, and he had a bad feeling, vaguely guessing what they were being called in for.

"Hold your test papers, stand up straight, you two get a little closer—"

"Principal Carter, please stand a bit to the side."

"Chest out, chin up, I'll count three, two, one, say cheese."

There were six or seven people in the principal's office, the school leaders lined up in two rows, all in sharp suits.

Even though the principal of No. 2 High had a bald spot, he still carefully applied some hair gel to the little hair he had left, making it shine. He put his hand on Ethan Young's shoulder, smiling, looking very pleased with himself, "Cheese."

Henry Howard: "Cheese."

Ethan Young: ""

"Smile, that student, can you smile a bit?"

"No need to be so—" the photographer crouched down, wanting to say "no need to look so gloomy," but halfway through realized that wasn't the right word, and changed it to, "no need to be so serious."

The principal had previously said he wanted to put the two of them in the school history, and Ethan Young thought he was just joking, but he didn't expect the school leaders to actually call in a photographer to take their picture.

As soon as he walked in, before he could even see what was going on, the principal hung a sash on him.

Red background, yellow characters, with two long gold borders, and on it was written: Outstanding Student.

"Into the school history! This photo must be placed right in the center!"

"Write an introduction about No. 2 High students creating miracles—"

"They're just too happy," after the photo was taken, even Manager Jensen couldn't take it anymore, and led them out, "You guys have class this afternoon, right? Go back early."

Without a word, Ethan Young took off the sash from his chest.