He Chao paused for a while after speaking. Not hearing the sound of running water at the door, he simply pulled the door open: "Are you still going to shower or not?"

Ethan Young had just pulled on his T-shirt.

Who knows what kind of trouble they'll get into at the field; when he comes back, he'll have to shower again. Too much hassle.

The hem of his shirt was stuck just under his ribs. He was about to reach down and pull it when he bumped into Henry Howard's hand.

This person's hand, seemingly unintentionally, slid up along the exposed spine.

Ethan Young was about to say, "Don't fucking touch me," but the person behind him behaved, helped him straighten his clothes, and then lowered his head to kiss his neck: "Let's go."

Henry Howard wanted to let him go, but Ethan Young was the one who got an idea. He turned around, just leaning against the sink, looking at him: "Want to kiss?"

The two of them were the last to arrive. By the time they got there, Logan Wright was already leading the group in warm-ups.

The class sports rep from Class 3 was very excited: "Come on, let's warm up! I bet it's night running! Old Tang is really trendy!"

Ethan Young was ready to run a thousand meters, but instead, Old Thompson had them line up, and at his command: "March!"

""

Logan Wright was just about to take off on the track, but hearing the word "march," he was completely stunned: "Teacher, what are we doing?"

Old Thompson was in a great mood too, putting his hands behind his back: "I'm taking you all for a walk."

Logan Wright completely lost the ability to think.

After going back, Old Thompson was still worried about their state, so this middle-aged man racked his brains, thinking over and over, and chose an unbelievable and not-at-all-youth-friendly way to help them de-stress.

Boys and girls split into two lines, and the two lines just walked a lap around the field like that.

Ethan Young was thinking as he walked about which route to take back to the dorm later. Henry Howard glanced at him and immediately knew what he was plotting, quietly reminding him: "Give the middle-aged man some face. Just watch, he won't make us walk more than two laps anyway."

"Who's the one not giving the middle-aged man face, really?"

Old Thompson really didn't make them walk for long. Not even two laps before he got tired, and finally sat down on the track to have a heart-to-heart with them.

The sky was completely dark.

The wind blowing head-on carried a chill.

Maybe it was the night that set the mood. Unable to see each other's expressions clearly, the emotions everyone usually wanted to say but kept hidden started to bubble up again.

To say they're not nervous about the college entrance exam, about their not-so-high and even precarious city rankings, would be a lie.

Old Thompson sighed softly: "Maybe some of you feel you didn't do well this time. No, it's not that you didn't do well, it's just that you didn't work hard enough. There's no such thing as not doing well. I think you're all great, and you can be even better."

Quinn Shaw's mood, which had just calmed down, suddenly surged up again for some reason, and she started crying again, feeling a bit useless.

But it wasn't sadness—more like someone ruffling your hair after you fall down.

"Some students have told me they feel lost about the future, unsure of themselves," Old Thompson continued, "But that's not being lost, silly kids. Your future has endless possibilities."

No one spoke for a while.

Only a few rows of streetlights outside the field's iron fence were lit, their gentle light slowly shining in from the roadside.

Ethan Young propped his hand on the rubber track, and someone tugged at his shirt hem.

Henry Howard was lying directly on the track, one hand behind his head, silent, raising his chin to signal him to look up.

Ethan Young followed his gaze and looked up.

What he saw was a sky full of stars.

Dots of starlight, twinkling, scattered across the night sky.

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

110. Chapter 110

After the silence, it was Quinn Shaw who wiped her tears first, stretched out her hand, and shouted with heroic spirit, "Let's go!"

The people around her put their hands on top of hers one after another.

Palm to the back of the hand.

Wanda: "That's my Qing-ge, tough as always!"

Luke Carter: "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Henry Howard sat up and joined in, putting his hand in: "Let's go."

Ethan Young was the last one, silent, placing his hand on the back of Henry Howard's hand.

His fingers were long and slender, with distinct knuckles.

Henry Howard couldn't help but stare for a while, then looked up at Ethan Young.

The two of them met each other's eyes for a few moments, and suddenly it was as if they saw themselves when they first entered high school. Back then, Henry Howard always had a cigarette in hand, infamous, with a rebellious look in his eyes, always getting into trouble.

And Ethan Young, as the boss of the West Building, was even more untouchable.

Who would have thought so much would happen later.

Getting into Liyang No. 2 High was pure chance, and they didn't have much expectation, but it was just like what Old Thompson said—"endless possibilities." Like a miracle, it brought them together.

There will be more in the future.

More miracles to come.

No one knew who started laughing first, then Ethan Young looked away, unable to hold it in, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Luke Carter and the others started imitating Henry Howard, bragging: "My future is limitless."

"I'm definitely going to do great things. When we get back, I'll give each of you an autograph. When I'm famous in the future—"

"Sign it big, A4 paper is too small for my signature."

""

After bragging for a while, their voices faded again.

Everyone lay down on the track, scattered in several rows. Arms spread wide, feeling the breeze, closing their eyes.

They meant to just relax with their eyes closed, but before long, several of them had actually fallen asleep, and Logan Wright even started snoring.

The snoring mixed with the faint sound of cicadas.

Ethan Young half-opened his eyes again, glancing at the night sky.

No other thoughts in his mind, just that it was so bright.

After the walk and heart-to-heart with the middle-aged man, the atmosphere in Class 3 eased up a lot.

Facing the intense study schedule for half the summer vacation, everyone adjusted their mindset, got used to being seniors in advance, and managed to finish the first round of review before the holiday ended.

When the day of school finally arrived, there wasn't much of that new semester excitement.

A large group of freshmen entered in the first year, and the school broadcast gave them a warm welcome for a long time. These new students were all confused and curious about everything.

The other teaching buildings also regained their usual liveliness, noisy as ever.

Their building, being for seniors only, was unaffected by the noise outside. Only occasionally, groups of girls would sneak over to catch a glimpse of the two "legendary figures" from Class 3.

William Warren was especially annoyed, having to open the door and chase people away several times: "Which grade are you from?"

But every time, before William Warren could finish yelling, those people would run downstairs like startled animals.

William Warren could only close the door and grumble: "Ethan Young, Henry Howard, you two, stop flirting around. These freshmen, school just started and they're already coming here."

Ethan Young was still doing problems, completely baffled by being accused of flirting: ""

Henry Howard was even more confused: "Huh?"

William Warren: "Don't 'huh' me. Did you solve that problem just now? Go do it on the board."

Henry Howard wanted to say, what does this have to do with me and Old Young, but then remembered the girls at the window pointing their way, and for once, he got it. He picked up his scratch paper, got up, and muttered, "We're not flirting, it's just you."

Ethan Young laughed: "Get lost, will you."

The problem wasn't hard, and Henry Howard solved it quickly, but his method was so unconventional that William Warren only figured out what he was doing halfway through: "Can you solve this problem like a normal person?"

Henry Howard: "Normal method? That's boring."

William Warren: "Well, your way is really interesting. Is one blackboard enough for you?"

The whole class burst out laughing.

William Warren learned his lesson and thought, better not call this guy up to solve problems again. Too wild, can't control him.

"Yu-ge, I didn't quite get that problem just now," after class, Wanda came over with his exercise book, "Up to this step, then draw the function graph, I get that, but after that—"

The last few homework problems William Warren gave them were a bit tough, and Wanda was stuck on them.

Ethan Young took a look: "What do you mean you get it? The graph is wrong."

Wanda quickly fixed the problem, closed his exercise book, and his gossipy side flared up again: "Did you guys know our school is holding a coming-of-age ceremony next month?"

All the schools in the city have the same format for the coming-of-age ceremony.

It's pretty grand, held far away, and altogether they take them out for two days, staying overnight at a hotel.

To say they're looking forward to this so-called ceremony is a stretch—it's more about wanting to go out and have fun.

Ethan Young: "Coming-of-age ceremony?"