Eric Bennett was handsome, his slender build making him appear tall and elegant. Just standing there without moving, he already looked like a beautiful Jiangnan figure in a painting. Human perception of beauty is universal, and someone as striking as Eric Bennett easily drew attention.

As long as he stood or sat for a while, letting those foreigners paint a picture of him, he could receive ten or twenty US dollars in cash. If he went a bit farther from home to sell some novel trinkets, the tourists would also be happy to buy them.

By the end of such a holiday, he could save up quite a bit of money.

He never resented the land that raised him because of his parents’ harshness. On the contrary, he liked this ancient town.

Driving from the city to this old town took almost an hour because of some traffic jams, and by the time they arrived, it was already getting dark.

Steven Martin dropped Eric Bennett off at his doorstep. Seeing the tightly closed door, she looked a bit worried and asked in a low voice, “Will you be okay by yourself?”

Eric Bennett nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

Steven Martin didn’t say anything more. She turned the car around and drove away.

Eric Bennett watched her leave until the car was out of sight, then turned to knock on the door.

The door opened quickly. It was Adam Bennett who answered. Unlike his usual noisy self, he just stared straight at Eric Bennett.

Eric Bennett met his gaze for a moment, then quickly looked away and walked inside.

Adam Bennett said, “Mom wants you to fetch water. The water tank is empty.”

Eric Bennett didn’t say another word. He put his backpack in the small room off the balcony, found the carrying pole and buckets, and turned to go outside.

As soon as he left, Adam Bennett went into his little balcony room.

The balcony was very small, probably less than four square meters, with a bed made from wooden planks and a long bench. The blue-and-white sheets and thin quilt on top, thanks to the damp weather, were probably already clammy even without touching them.

Adam Bennett curled his lip, his gaze falling on the backpack. He reached out, grabbed it, and started rummaging through it.

Inside were textbooks and some clean test papers, probably weekend homework.

But aside from these, Adam Bennett didn’t find a single test paper marked by a teacher—so clean it seemed odd.

Adam Bennett's Heart was pounding.

He couldn’t help biting his nails. If Eric Bennett was really that good, why didn’t he say so!?

Why was he hiding his grades?

If Mom and Dad knew Eric Bennett’s grades were so good, would they still dislike him?

Would Eric Bennett then replace him and become their favorite?

No, that can’t happen!

Adam Bennett took a deep breath and told himself he couldn’t let Mom and Dad know how good Eric Bennett’s grades were!

He quickly tidied up Eric Bennett’s backpack and turned to leave, only to find Eric Bennett standing at the door. He jumped in fright.

Eric Bennett looked at him quietly. “What are you doing here?”

Adam Bennett patted his chest and snapped, “Why do you care what I’m doing here? Did you stand there on purpose to scare me? You’re so mean!”

Eric Bennett said, “This is my room.”

Adam Bennett sneered, “This crappy balcony, only you would call it a room. Who would want it anyway!!”

With that, he shoved past Eric Bennett and left.

Eric Bennett returned to his room, took out his change box and opened it for a look. The few coins inside were still there.

He stood there for a while, then opened his backpack. With just one glance, he knew someone had gone through it.

What could he do, Eric Bennett wondered.

*

The weekend ended, and Eric Bennett returned to school.

Steven Martin came to the classroom to find him right away, asking with concern, “Did your parents give you a hard time?”

Eric Bennett shook his head. Adam Bennett hadn’t stirred up trouble, and Samuel Bennett and the others couldn’t even be bothered to talk to him, so for once, the weekend was peaceful.

Steven Martin let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. If nothing happened, go to morning reading.”

Eric Bennett returned to the classroom. He had just sat down when he heard Steven Martin talking to someone outside.

Eric Bennett glanced at the door. From his angle, he could see a very tall boy talking to Steven Martin, but he couldn’t see his face clearly.

Eric Bennett didn’t pay attention and lowered his head to focus on silently reading his textbook.

But soon, the classroom was filled with the sound of people gasping, followed by a flurry of whispered conversations.

The discipline committee member banged on the desk to restore order. “No talking! Everyone, do your morning reading.”

The murmurs finally died down.

Eric Bennett closed his eyes and silently recited English vocabulary, paying no attention to the commotion.

As soon as the bell rang for the end of class, the classroom erupted like a pot of boiling oil.

“Damn, the transfer student really joined our class!”

“He stands out even sitting in the back row!”

“Grace Harris, what do you mean, who are you calling a chicken! He’s not even that tall. Our last classmate, Daniel Cooper, was 185 cm, and he’s only a couple centimeters taller than Daniel Cooper!”

“Well, now that Daniel Cooper isn’t here, doesn’t that make the transfer student the tallest?”