Henry Clark searched his mind for a moment. “Yeah, I know him. We played basketball together not long ago.”

“Which one?” Brian Brooks tilted his head and asked, “Have I met him?”

Henry Clark: “Of course, we’ve played several times. But you usually play with William Grant and his group, so you probably don’t remember him.”

Emily Carter’s eyes lit up. “He must be a top student at your school too, right?”

“Not really, but he studies pretty hard. He’s the diligent type.”

Can’t really compare to the person next to him.

Emily Carter retorted, unconvinced, “So you’re saying you’re a good student? What was your score on the college entrance exam?”

“Over four hundred, but not quite five hundred.”

“And you’re still bragging?” Emily Carter scoffed.

“I’m an art student. That score is enough to get into the top eight art academies, okay?” Henry Clark replied.

Emily Carter and Ethan Turner exchanged a glance, didn’t ask further, and automatically grouped Brian Brooks and Henry Clark together as art students.

The barbecue place gradually filled up with more customers. Brian Brooks checked several times to make sure Ethan Turner was full, then picked up his phone and stood up as if to go pay the bill. Ethan Turner, quick on her feet, followed right after him.

Only Henry Clark and Emily Carter were left at the table, still gnawing on the last bits of bone. Emily Carter couldn’t help but ask, “So, does Charles Webb have a lot of girls hanging around him?”

“Girls? I haven’t noticed,” Henry Clark shook his head at first, then suddenly had a flash of insight and said, “He has a girlfriend at another school, I think.”

Emily Carter smiled mysteriously.

Henry Clark, oblivious, sucked the marrow from the bone and mumbled, “I think her name is Jenny.”

Emily Carter rolled her eyes. Jenny, Emily—how could he not tell the difference?

Emily Carter patiently gave him a hint, “Think about it, isn’t her name a lot like mine?”

Henry Clark suddenly saw the light. “Right, it’s Jenny Chase, from No. 8 High School.”

Emily Carter’s smile froze: “……”

Ethan Turner doggedly followed Brian Brooks to the front desk, pulling out her phone and getting ready to fight him for the bill—she even had the QR code open in advance.

But Brian Brooks just grabbed a pack of tissues at the counter. When he turned and saw her following, he looked down at her with a meaningful gaze.

There were lots of people coming and going at the front desk, the noise a jumble of voices, but he looked only at her. Those eyes, clear and bright like the moon hidden behind a sparse fence, made her heart race a thousand miles. There was a vastness in them, as if he could weather all the storms of the world, or be a still pool hiding a young man’s secrets.

Brian Brooks casually picked a fruit candy from the candy box at the counter and handed it to her as if it were the most natural thing, grinning, “Why’d you follow me? Thought I was going to pay?”

Chapter 6 Barbecue · Sweet Potato

In that moment, Ethan Turner learned from him what it meant to be natural.

The barbecue place was buzzing with people. Ethan Turner’s ears were filled with the clinking of beer bottles, the exaggerated boasting among friends and family, and the sycophantic flattery of subordinates bragging about “one apartment in the city, one in the suburbs.”

Brian Brooks stood there, completely out of place with the world around him. When he smiled, he looked like a dewy pine needle in the morning forest—fresh and sharp with a radiant energy.

Ethan Turner thought of a line from a movie.

“Cowardice imprisons the soul; hope can set you free.”

Though his sharpness was undeniable, he really was someone who filled people with hope.

Just not someone easy to fool.

Ethan Turner quietly put away her phone, took the candy, and made sure her fingers avoided the part he’d touched. “…You art students really go through a lot of tissues. That whole pack was used up by you two.”

Brian Brooks chuckled, not denying it, and gestured back with his eyes. “Want to eat more?”

Ethan Turner unwrapped the candy, popped it in her mouth, and shook her head.

So, without hesitation, he tapped the counter with his finger. “Then you pay the bill.”

Even though it was agreed that Ethan Turner would treat, the cashier, unaware of the situation, couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his shameless tone.

After saying that, Brian Brooks turned and walked away. Ethan Turner watched him stroll back and carelessly toss the tissues onto the table, saying something she couldn’t quite catch, except for his teasing tone toward Henry Clark, “Save some, bro. If you really can’t, just have your dad start planting trees instead.” Then he picked up the jacket he’d left on the chair at some point and headed out.

It was said that Henry Clark had repeated a year, so he was probably older than the rest of them. Calling him “bro” made sense, but somehow it still sounded a bit sarcastic.

Henry Clark bristled, “Come on, look at all this stuff in front of you. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were up to something shady here!”

“……”

Ethan Turner paid the bill and headed out too, just as a WeChat message from Old Turner popped up on her phone.

Guangji is a good doctor: Your grandma says to bring back a roasted ground rat tonight?

Gardenia doesn’t want to bloom: ??

Gardenia doesn’t want to bloom: Are you using a question mark because you also think that thing’s hard to catch?

Guangji is a good doctor: Oh, it’s roasted sweet potato. Have you had dinner yet? About what time will you be back?

Gardenia doesn’t want to bloom: Em is still having a late-night snack, not sure when we’ll be done.