“I think there’s something off about the way you get along with Little William...” Owen Harris couldn’t help but say.

“What do you mean? We’ve been like this for years.” Martin Bennett replied irritably.

Owen Harris glanced upward, still uneasy.

“Don’t look, as long as there’s no crying, it’s nothing.” Martin Bennett declared confidently.

Owen Harris: “???”

Upstairs in the bedroom, William Bennett was completely unaware of his dad’s comments.

He rummaged through the snack cabinet, pulled out a pack of sunflower seeds, and curled up at the desk, cracking seeds while listening to Crab spout nonsense over voice chat.

八角Crab: “That guy got a perfect score? So what if it’s perfect, haven’t you gotten perfect scores before? Once you go through the book properly, perfect scores will be a breeze!”

William Bennett brushed the shells off his hands and replied, “Stop stuttering and speak properly.”

“Speak properly?” Crab whimpered, “If I ever get a perfect score in my life, I’ll kowtow at my ancestors’ graves. But you only studied for a day and got so many points—if you studied for a week, what would happen?”

“Are you drunk?” William Bennett asked.

“Nope.”

“Then why are you talking nonsense?” William Bennett said. “All I got were the basic points. Anyone can do those after going through the textbook. If a week of studying could get me a perfect score, why would I even go to school?”

“How come I never noticed there were so many basic points?” Crab said, aggrieved.

“You’re blind.”

“Fine, do you need any more test papers? I can go ask those juniors in the second year.” Crab was always eager to help.

William Bennett flipped through the homework he’d brought back and said, “No need for now. I bought a few problem sets, I’ll work through those first.”

He used the evening self-study period to finish two reading passages for Chinese and the basic problems for math, physics, and chemistry. The rest he planned to tackle slowly through the night. But once he started, he ended up working for two hours straight.

Crab was probably grinding through problems too, feeling a bit restless. He poked William Bennett and asked, “Brother William, how’s it going, Brother William? Are you feeling in the zone, everything flowing smoothly, like you’ve reached enlightenment?”

William Bennett snorted and said, “Can’t keep going.”

Crab: “What? No way!”

William Bennett was frustrated too.

He’d always been efficient at self-study. As arrogant as it sounded, he knew himself well. Three things were spread out on his desk: the textbook on the left, the test paper in the middle, and the problem set on the right.

He always started by reading the test question, pinpointing which knowledge area it was testing, then quickly reviewing the relevant part in the textbook, picking a couple of similar problems from the right to get a feel for it, and then doing the test question.

After that, he’d try to generalize, so that next time he saw a similar problem, he’d know how to handle it.

With this method, he quickly finished most of his homework—except for the last physics problem, which was still blank because he couldn’t find a similar type.

“Seriously? No way,” Crab said. “Send me a picture of the problem?”

“What for, you going to solve it for me?”

“Are you kidding!” Crab said, “I’m going to ask the audience for help. There are two pretty smart seniors in the dorm next door, I’ll go ask them.”

William Bennett sent him a photo and then turned on his computer to search online.

About half an hour later, Crab came back, sounding defeated: “The seniors turned on their flashlights and started working on it together, cursing me the whole time, saying I must have a grudge against them. If they can’t solve it tonight, they won’t be able to sleep.”

William Bennett was biting his lip, staring at the computer screen, and didn’t reply.

Crab sent three more messages in a row, then just called him directly.

As soon as the call connected, he asked, “How’s it going?”

William Bennett replied dryly, “Found one that’s kind of similar.”

Crab said, “Oh! Then just do it!”

“Do it my ass, it’s a competition problem.”

Crab: “...Your homework is that hardcore?”

Expecting someone who hasn’t even studied the material to tackle a competition problem—isn’t that a bit much?

“I’m hanging up, I’m going downstairs for some ice water to cool off.” William Bennett said, muttering as he ended the call and went downstairs.

The living room was already dark, with only the entryway light on. He glanced at the clock and realized it was already 11 p.m. He grabbed a bottle of cold water from the fridge and went back upstairs, leaning against the window to take a couple of gulps. Just as he was about to return to his desk, he suddenly noticed someone standing by the streetlight outside the yard.

The person had a backpack slung over their shoulder and was on the phone.

Maybe the streetlight was bright enough, or maybe his eyesight was just that good. Even through the window and across the yard, William Bennett could see the annoyance and frustration on the other’s face.

Who was he talking to that made him so angry?

William Bennett was a little curious. He saw Edward Harris tap his phone screen, then, with a cold expression, shove the phone into his pocket. But instead of coming into the yard, he stood outside alone for a while, then turned to look at the house.

William Bennett reflexively yanked the curtains to hide himself, then realized that probably made even more noise.

Forget it, that was stupid.

He thought for a moment, then pulled the curtains open again, openly looking out the window—only to see that Edward Harris had already turned away and was about to walk in the opposite direction.

“Huh?” William Bennett was stunned for a moment.

By the time he reacted, he had already opened the window and called out to the person outside the yard: “Where are you going? Can’t you open the gate?”