[What's up with this guy?! How did he get even more handsome?! My eyes are pregnant today.]

[Are you guys for real? Even if Ethan Grant is back, what does it have to do with you?]

[There's one less spot for independent admissions at Beicheng and Huaqing this year. I'm off to do practice questions, goodbye everyone.]

[I'm going too.]

"Ahhh, why did the male god go to Nanwai! Is it still possible for me to transfer to Nanwai now?!"

……

[Why didn't Ethan Grant return to No.1 High?]

The hundreds of comments in the thread came to an abrupt halt because of that last question.

It was like some kind of unspoken taboo.

Ethan Brooks exited the thread, giving a slight sneer. Just that trivial matter, and these people still haven't forgotten.

And is it really that big a deal? Ethan Grant was only fourteen when he left, just a little kid—where did all this supposed charm come from? A bunch of people blindly hyping him up, calling him the most "A" in Nancheng, huh.

Is he more "A" than me?

Thinking of this, Ethan Brooks couldn't help but open the thread again, clicked on that photo, and stared at it for three seconds.

Hmm, definitely not as "A" as him. The people at No.1 High, just like Logan Reed, have no taste.

As he looked, he suddenly remembered something and raised an eyebrow.

Didn't that guy bring an umbrella?

It must have been swiped by some shameless brat, and as a result, he got mocked for being short for no reason.

Young Master Brooks's lips pressed into a thin, slightly displeased line.

Ethan Grant glanced at the rearview mirror, then turned his head to look out the window.

Dark clouds pressed down on the city, the daylight dim, and the huge raindrops pounded on the buildings and streets, soaking everything in deep hues. The whole city flowed with a misty, grayish splendor.

All just as he remembered.

-

The The Brooks Family and The Grant Family families have been close since their great-grandfathers, brothers-in-arms from the same trench.

Later, Ethan Brooks's grandfather and Ethan Grant's grandfather were both assigned to Nancheng, moving their families from the north and becoming neighbors.

After that, the old master of The Brooks Family passed away, their house was reclaimed, and Ethan Brooks's father chose to go into business, while Ethan Grant's father returned to Beicheng, rising rapidly with the foundation of the The Grant Family and the support of Old Master Grant.

Originally, the two families should have gradually drifted apart, but Ethan Grant's aunt also went into business with Ethan Brooks's father, and together they monopolized Nancheng's real estate and retail. Old Master Grant, nostalgic as he was, refused several promotions and transfers to Beicheng, so the two families simply bought houses next to each other again.

In the city center's mansion district, European-style villas shaded by plane trees, separated by a tree-lined path and two lawns, facing each other—window to window, door to door.

Ethan Brooks and Ethan Grant grew up together in this environment, running around in split-crotch pants.

But The Brooks Family doted on their son, sending him to the best private schools from elementary to high school, afraid he'd suffer even the slightest grievance. Ethan Grant's father, on the other hand, valued his reputation and sent Ethan Grant to public school for all nine years of compulsory education, then transferred him to Beicheng in ninth grade. So, in reality, the two didn't have many direct confrontations.

Ethan Brooks thought that if Ethan Grant were a girl, maybe they could have become a legendary pair of childhood sweethearts and rivals.

But unfortunately, Ethan Grant is just...

Tsk.

He looked at the plane tree leaves knocked down by the rain outside the window, sighed a little, pushed open the door, and got out of the car.

After Ethan Grant transferred schools, he and his father never returned to Nancheng. Only during the New Year would Old Master Grant go to Beicheng for a gathering, so over the past three years, Ethan Brooks actually spent more time with Old Master Grant than Ethan Grant did.

Entering the The Grant Family felt just like being at home. Even at meals, he kept reminding Old Master Grant about what foods to avoid for his high blood pressure, and after dinner, he would remind him to take his medicine.

It made Ethan Grant, the legitimate young master of the The Grant Family, seem like an outsider.

But a grandson is still a grandson. Holding Ethan Brooks's hand, Old Master Grant still talked about Ethan Grant: "Xiao Yi, Grandpa knows you have good grades. Now that Xiao Huai has transferred to your class, help him out when you can, or I'm afraid he won't be able to keep up."

Ethan Brooks glanced at Ethan Grant sitting on the sofa opposite, thinking he needed to regain the ground he'd lost today in the height department.

He curled his lips: "Sure, Grandpa, leave it to me. But you know, I don't have much patience. If I keep teaching him and he doesn't get it, I might get annoyed and argue with Ethan Grant. Don't blame me then."

As he finished, he raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over to Ethan Grant.

He had those fox-like eyes, and with that glance, the provocation was obvious.

He never really intended to tutor Ethan Grant, and with Ethan Grant's peacock-like personality, would he even let him?

Impossible.

He just wanted to embarrass him.

But unexpectedly, Ethan Grant just lifted his eyelids and gave him a calm look.

"Your place or mine?"

"...?"

How did it turn into "your place or mine"?

-

When Ethan Brooks sat at the desk in Ethan Grant's bedroom, only a book's width away from his elbow, he looked up at the cedar outside his own bedroom window in the building across the way, and fell silent for a moment.

Was he the crazy one, or was Ethan Grant?

How did they actually end up tutoring for real?