James Carter sized up this tall and burly Little Walker bastard, feeling that beating him up would only hurt his own hand, so he said, “I’ll just record this and let your homeroom teacher hear it.”

William Carter: “……”

No wonder he’s got a lawyer’s background.

James Carter said, “Your Amber godmother is back in the country. She’s been fighting with her husband over a divorce lately, the house is in chaos, and she wants to send her kid to stay at our place for a few days. Is that okay?”

“Sure, poor thing.” William Carter casually put down his backpack and agreed without a second thought.

“Amber” is a nickname; her full name is “Charles Foster”, the goddaughter of Grandma Carter and godmother of William Carter.

The two families have been friends since their grandfathers’ generation and used to be very close—when Charles Foster was little, her parents couldn’t take care of her due to work, so they sent her to live at James Carter’s house for over a year.

Later, both families had their own circumstances and ended up living far apart. In those days, travel wasn’t convenient, so they gradually lost touch, only reconnecting in the past three or four years.

Charles Foster is a great beauty, as pretty as a flower, and even in her forties, she still turns heads just like before.

Unfortunately, she’s all show and no substance. Besides being coquettish and vain, she has no other strengths, and her luck isn’t great either—she married a rich man, but he turned out to be a first-class scumbag.

Charles Foster couldn’t let go of her status as a wealthy wife, so she dragged out the marriage until she really couldn’t take it anymore. Then she did something truly bizarre—

Comrade Charles Foster abandoned her family and career, took her scumbag husband’s credit card, and ran off to the US to pray to Buddha—out of sight, out of mind!

…This whole thing, no matter the time, place, or people involved, is full of absurdities. No one but Charles Foster could pull it off.

She’s middle-aged, has no interest in a career, doesn’t care about running a household, and has gradually lost common ground with her peers, leaving her lonely and frustrated. She’s come to treat James Carter as her personal confidant—because she sees her own marital failure as something she and James Carter share.

Every time Charles Foster comes back to China, even if she doesn’t go home, she has to find James Carter first to pour out her loneliness.

James Carter can’t be bothered to commiserate with her. In fact, she’s been annoyed by Charles Foster since childhood. Whenever she has to host her, the usually eloquent Ms. James Carter turns into a mute gourd, only saying “mm-hmm” or “okay, okay,” and changes her sitting position every three seconds, always looking like she’s desperate for the bathroom.

Too bad her own annoyance doesn’t matter—her mother and son both like Charles Foster.

When Charles Foster was little, she was sweet and well-behaved. Compared to the especially rebellious James Carter, she was a true “little cotton-padded jacket” (a term for a considerate daughter). Grandma Carter raised Charles Foster for over a year and loved her like her own.

As for William Carter, his reasons for liking Charles Foster are simple: first, she’s a great beauty; second, every time the beauty visits, she never comes empty-handed—limited edition sneakers, watches, electronics… whatever he likes, she buys it.

As a real mom, Charles Foster isn’t much, but as a godmother, she scores a perfect hundred and twenty—anyway, William Carter grabs the gifts and runs, leaving his mom James Carter to listen to her crying and chanting.

“By the way, Mom,” William Carter asked casually, “how old is Amber’s kid? Boy or girl?”

James Carter was stumped for a moment: “…You know, I really don’t know. She’s never mentioned it.”

Turns out, every time Charles Foster pours her heart out in long-winded complaints, she never strays from the topic, never even mentions her kid!

William Carter shook his head, thinking that to be born as Charles Foster’s child, you must have been a real villain in your past life to have such bad luck this time around.

Just then, his phone rang—it was a local landline.

William Carter picked up: “Hello?”

“It’s me,” Henry Clark’s voice came from the other end, low and quiet. “I’m calling from a payphone. I wanted to tell you something.”

Hearing Henry Clark’s voice made William Carter happy, and he asked with a natural smile in his eyes, “How come everyone wants to ‘tell me something’ today? What is it?”

Henry Clark: “Old Howard asked me to help him organize some stuff in my spare time, you know about that, right?”

“Old Howard” is their Chinese teacher, an elderly gentleman who was rehired after retirement. He’s very kind and cherishes Henry Clark’s talent. After learning about his family situation, he always tries to find him some paid work, often asking Henry Clark to help organize manuscripts or compile books. The tasks are never hard, and the pay is generous.

William Carter: “Yeah, what about it?”

“I was in Old Howard’s office for a while, and as I was leaving, I remembered I left a math test paper in our classroom, so I went back to get it,” Henry Clark said. “In the hallway, I overheard Brother David talking to that tall guy from Class Six…”

“The track team’s Robert Thompson?” William Carter paused on the stairs. Robert Thompson had a bad reputation—last semester, he got into a fight with someone from the repeaters’ class and was disciplined for fighting off campus. “What were they saying?”

“Seems like they want to mess with Brian Cooper, and they mentioned you too,” Henry Clark said quietly. “I noticed you weren’t happy when this came up today, so I thought I’d let you know.”

Chapter 7: Group Fight

Whoever David Wright has personal grudges with is none of William Carter’s business, but using his name for it—that’s just not being a friend.