Most of the time, the corners of his mouth are curved, and that’s probably the gentlest part of him.

For some reason, Ethan Turner felt that he had a kind of fearless, open-hearted courage, unafraid of anything. Even when Emily Carter said that, he didn’t seem embarrassed at all, letting Ethan Turner look him over openly, and even met her gaze directly, without the slightest hesitation.

Instead, it was Ethan Turner who couldn’t help but look away from his eyes. “Right.”

Brian Brooks chuckled, leaned back with his arms crossed, unzipped his tracksuit so it hung open as he lounged in the chair, poured himself a dish of vinegar, and said, “I’m still really curious—how did you get your necklace up there?”

Emily Carter said, “Here’s what happened: she scored better than her ‘boyfriend’ on the college entrance exam, and her ‘boyfriend’ probably couldn’t handle it, so he started giving Ethan Turner the cold shoulder in all sorts of ways. It wasn’t the first time, either—every time he did badly on a test, he’d lose his temper for no reason, and Ethan Turner always had to coax him. Just now, when Ethan Turner tried to get her necklace back, he suddenly went crazy and threw it off the building, and it… got stuck in your tree.”

Henry Clark: “Is he nuts? Sis, why haven’t you broken up with him?”

Ethan Turner calmly replied, “Don’t call me sis, we don’t even know who’s older. Besides, I was planning to talk things out with him—”

Emily Carter interrupted, “But that guy, sometimes he’s actually pretty nice. His family doesn’t have much money, and in senior year he only ate one meal a day to save money. Once, when Ethan Turner didn’t have time for dinner, he gave her his only meal. He’s a complicated person.”

Henry Clark took a bite of his mushroom skewer, frowning and blurting out, “Sis, didn’t your mom teach you not to pick boyfriends out of the trash? You went straight to the recycling center, huh?”

Ethan Turner wasn’t angry, but Emily Carter was furious after hearing that. She wanted to scold Henry Clark for his mouth, wondering why he had to bring up someone’s mom. Before she could speak, Brian Brooks, who had been leaning back with his arms crossed, watching coldly, casually picked up a golden mini bun from the table and stuffed it into Henry Clark’s mouth without a word, signaling that if he couldn’t talk properly, he shouldn’t talk at all: “So, were you thrown in there, or did you go digging? Someone having a boyfriend is stopping you from picking through the trash? Is your year-end KPI at risk because of her or what?”

Henry Clark realized he’d gone too far. After all, it was their first time meeting these girls—how could he say that? So, following Brian Brooks’s lead, he mumbled, “Yeah, well, competition’s fierce these days.”

Emily Carter finally cooled off a bit, but she didn’t want to talk to Henry Clark for now, so she turned to Brian Brooks, “I heard you have a nickname—‘Celestial Herb’?”

Ethan Turner looked at Brian Brooks. She didn’t know why, maybe it was because that woman whose voice sounded just like her mom’s made Ethan Turner feel a strange sense of closeness to Brian Brooks, even though he always acted like a king who didn’t want strangers near.

Brian Brooks had a look on his face that said, “Don’t ask me, ask whoever started that. No matter how narcissistic I am, I’d never introduce myself with a nickname like that.”

Ethan Turner and Emily Carter both turned to look at Henry Clark.

Henry Clark immediately puffed up with pride. While gnawing on a bone, he explained, “Haven’t you heard? The handsome guys at No. 1 High are so competitive, it’s like a battle of the gods. He’s the one who ‘won’—the ‘celestial herb’ among the gods.”

Brian Brooks glanced at his phone, thinking, When did I ever participate in that? Whatever, acting cool gets you struck by lightning.

Only then did Emily Carter realize, looking at the two of them, “You guys are from No. 1 High too?”

Henry Clark turned to look at Brian Brooks, who ignored him completely, not caring about the school’s image at all. He lounged lazily, legs spread, while his WeChat kept pinging. It seemed someone had sent him a long essay, not even fitting in one message, and he actually read it all with great interest, looking every bit the “top-tier playboy of No. 1 High, busy as ever.”

Henry Clark quietly scooted away, deciding to keep his distance, and sat up straight to say to Emily Carter, “What, do we not look the part?”

Emily Carter looked at Brian Brooks, then at Henry Clark, not sure which one didn’t fit, just that something was off. “A little.”

Henry Clark thought, Long hair, short insight. Do you even know how impressive the guy next to you is? But he figured it was best not to bother with Brian Brooks right now.

He glanced over and realized that essay wasn’t what he’d imagined. Brian Brooks really wasn’t normal—he could actually read such a long string of insults with relish. That person was probably Olivia Lane’s simp, who’d somehow added Brian Brooks on WeChat, and the messages were downright filthy.

“You can put up with that?”

On the TV in the barbecue shop, a French movie was playing. Brian Brooks leaned back in his chair, craned his neck to see the movie’s title, then put his feet down and said to Henry Clark, “He was so sincere in cursing my ancestors, I thought he actually knew where their graves were. I was just curious, but in the end, he didn’t even leave me an address.”

“……”

Emily Carter had no idea what they were talking about and brought the topic back: “Since you’re from No. 1 High, do you know Charles Webb?”

Brian Brooks shook his head.