Logan Reed immediately dashed over with the report card in hand and presented it with both hands.

Ethan Brooks snatched the report card, slapped it onto the table, picked up another pen, and with a few swift strokes, wrote his own name above Ethan Grant's. Then he put the pen down, pushed the report card in front of Ethan Grant, and said, "You got lucky this time. Next time, your big brother will rightfully be above you."

Ethan Grant hooked the pen back with his fingertips, spun it around, and smirked, "That might be a bit difficult."

"Sorry, but 'difficult' isn't in my vocabulary. And with your science score..." Ethan Brooks pointed at the 276 mark with his pen. "Not impressive enough."

Ethan Grant chuckled, "Your Chinese—same goes for you."

Chinese was Ethan Brooks's only weak spot. Actually, he was above average; he always got full marks on the basic questions, but his answers to subjective questions were a bit too unique, so his Chinese score was always up to fate.

Meanwhile, Ethan Grant's Chinese, Math, and English were all excellent. He got a perfect score in Math just like Ethan Brooks, scored two points higher in English, and a full eighteen points higher in Chinese.

But this gap was closed by Ethan Brooks's science score alone.

When it comes to science, people who are reasonably smart and work hard can usually get above average, but to score over 290, you need talent. The harder the questions, the more obvious the talent gap becomes.

Ethan Brooks had always been quite proud of this.

And with Ethan Grant provoking him again and again, it was hard not to get riled up.

He turned sideways to face Ethan Grant, one hand resting on the back of his chair, the other holding a pen upright and tapping it twice on the desk. He pulled out a lazy yet cocky grin, "Alright, then. Next exam, whoever ranks lower has to call the other 'daddy.'"

Ethan Grant gave a light, mocking laugh, "You're really not holding back on yourself."

Ethan Brooks raised an eyebrow, "I'm only not holding back with you."

Ethan Grant wasn't sure how he had managed to provoke him like this, but he found it pretty interesting.

He also turned sideways, one hand on the back of his chair, the other unbuttoning the top button of his shirt, loosening it a bit. His Adam's apple bobbed as he let out a low, cool laugh, "Alright then."

The whole class fell silent, holding their breath.

For some reason, this bet sounded kind of exciting.

And for some reason, just imagining one of these top dogs calling the other 'daddy' was oddly thrilling.

Is this how both of these A-types play now?

But their Mr. Ethan isn't even an adult yet!

The two of them just stared each other down like that, when Ethan Brooks's phone, hidden under the desk, lit up.

Little Logan: [Mr. Ethan, it's not that I don't trust you, but I think you might have acted a bit impulsively.]

Little Logan: [That day, I habitually checked the liberal arts system, and when I saw it was Ethan Grant, Old Bai brought him into the classroom, so I didn't notice anything off. I just realized now...]

Little Logan: [Ethan Grant was the top scorer in the last Beicheng joint exam for liberal arts.]

Ethan Brooks: ?

Author's note:

Ethan Grant's little notebook, entry one: Wife said I was too fast today, need to correct his misconception, it's on the agenda.

Ethan Grant's little notebook, entry two: Whoever's on the bottom calls the other 'daddy,' also on the agenda.

Chapter 6

Ethan Grant used to be a liberal arts student.

And now he scored first in science at the best school in the whole southern city.

The rest of Class One gradually learned about this, and the way they looked at Ethan Grant changed from admiration to fear.

Geniuses are to be admired; freaks are to be feared.

Ethan Brooks finally understood why ever since he met Ethan Grant, this guy had been constantly working on science problems without a break. He had thought Ethan Grant was just a hardworking type, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.

Ethan Brooks suddenly found it kind of interesting.

The Ethan Grant in his memory was a rational and sharp-tongued person, not the type to pull off something as wild as transferring from Beicheng back to Nancheng in senior year, and switching from liberal arts to science.

Even if he was wild enough, his dad—who was determined to have his son study liberal arts, go into politics, and inherit the family business—shouldn't have agreed.

As a neighbor and deskmate, Ethan Brooks felt he should show a bit of human concern.

He exited the chat with Logan Reed and opened a certain white-avatar contact.

[Why did you suddenly switch from liberal arts to science?]

Before he could send the next message—[Did you have another fight with your dad?]—a reply came back.

[Got bored.]

...

No way to get along.

This guy was a total beast; he really shouldn't have worried that Ethan Grant had any hidden troubles or difficulties.

He didn't deserve it.

Just then, the class bell rang. The physics teacher walked in with a stack of papers, and Ethan Brooks smoothly shoved his phone into the desk, giving himself a perfect excuse not to reply.

The physics teacher for Class One, Charles Stone, was a very young Alpha who usually got along well with the students. After entering the classroom, he had the class rep hand out the test papers.

Ethan Brooks's perfect paper was, as usual, used as the example for the class.

From the podium came Charles Stone's slightly exasperated voice: "Ethan Brooks, your handwriting on this paper, I really... Even my nephew does better than you."

Charles Stone's nephew was three years old this year.

Ethan Brooks was completely unashamed: "Physics doesn't give extra points for neat handwriting. What's the point of making it look good? Are you going to give me a 101?"

"..."