Henry Webb took the stage, first bowing to the leaders on the platform, then walking toward the microphone. He stuffed the speech that had been pre-approved by the homeroom teacher into his pocket, his expression calm:

　　"Hello, classmates. Everyone has been standing for over two hours, so I'll keep it short. I'm very glad that we are here at Meizhong at this moment, one step closer to our original dreams. I hope we can all study well and live well here, as always, living up to our youth. Thank you, that's the end of my speech, sorry for taking up your time."

　　After finishing, the boy gave a slight bow and stepped off the stage.

　　The entire playground fell silent for a moment.

　　No one had expected that, as the freshman representative, Henry Webb would completely ignore the prepared speech and improvise for a minute, leaving the leaders and teachers on stage staring at each other, along with the bewildered students.

　　No one knows who started it, but someone shouted "Good!" and immediately, a thunderous wave of applause followed. It was in this applause that Brian Clark suddenly went limp and fainted.

　　This was destined to be an unforgettable opening ceremony: the first place freshman at Meizhong giving an unconventional speech, the scorching autumn sun, restless emotions, and a fainting girl—all together forming the first scene of this cohort's life at Meizhong.

Chapter 3: That day, Brian Clark wasn't the only one who fainted...

　　That day, Brian Clark wasn't the only one who fainted. After standing for almost three hours, it was said that a boy from Class Twelve collapsed straight to the ground. In the teachers' eyes, this was just more proof that kids these days have poor physical fitness.

　　But as for daring to bypass the teacher, abandon the prepared speech, and improvise on the spot—only Henry Webb had the nerve.

　　Now, there was no one who didn't know who he was.

　　As for whether he was criticized by the teachers, no one knew. But according to high school logic, for a top student, making a harmless little mistake wouldn't even be pursued by the teachers. What's more, in the eyes of Meizhong's new freshmen, Henry Webb suddenly became a symbol of individuality. At this age, everyone wants to show their uniqueness, and when someone does what others don't dare to do, he becomes an idol.

　　Not to mention, Henry Webb had the aura of a top student.

　　The weather forecast said it would be sunny all week—not just no rain, but not even a cloud in the sky.

　　Under the blazing sun, with cicadas still chirping, everyone was sweating so much their faces were oily, and their bangs stuck together in strands. They had to wash their hair every day. The drill instructor was fierce and liked to launch surprise attacks, suddenly kicking the back of your knee from behind to see if you were really standing straight. Unfortunately, out of every ten he kicked, nine would have their knees buckle and almost lose their balance.

　　The first reaction after being kicked was shock, followed by secretly cursing the instructor in their hearts.

　　Everyone's faces were red and tanned. On the huge playground, if you saw another class already resting in the shade, you couldn't help but be envious.

　　Brian Clark sat alone on the side in her military training uniform. Because of health reasons, she couldn't participate, but insisted on staying on the field until dismissal.

　　"I'm dying from the heat, I'm really afraid I'll drop dead," Jason Walker said, running over to sit next to Brian Clark during a break. As soon as she sat down, Ryan Miller came over carrying several bottles of water, handing one to Brian Clark and another to Jason Walker.

　　"So generous," Jason Walker said, twisting off the cap and gulping it down.

　　"Just passing along a favor, no big deal," Ryan Miller said, lifting his chin to signal them to look south. Over there, a girl with slightly dark skin, a bit of an overbite, but beautiful eyes, was handing out water to everyone.

　　It was Grace Bolton.

　　Jason Walker remembered that during introductions, when this name was announced, everyone laughed. Grace Bolton wasn't tall, but her teeth were especially white. Seeing everyone laugh, she remained calm and unbothered. On the blackboard, she wrote three beautiful characters in pink chalk and told everyone, "I'm the 'qiang' from 'rose' (qiangwei), please don't misunderstand."

　　She was the top student in Class Two, with entrance scores second only to Henry Webb. After she wrote that and flashed her confident, bright smile, everyone immediately felt it was their own lack of culture.

　　Little Foster had already assigned her as the class study monitor.

　　But at this moment, Grace Bolton was acting like the class president, methodically taking care of her classmates.

　　Jason Walker clicked her tongue twice. "Did she buy the water with her own money?"

　　"Yeah, Grace Bolton is generous. Our roommate knows her. Her family is well-off—her dad's an official, her mom's a university professor, both pretty important people." Ryan Miller seemed to know everything, even the secrets of the mouse holes, and looked delighted when gossiping.

　　Jason Walker looked down on this attitude. She curled her lip. "You're such a gossip for a guy, and so snobbish. Tell me, do you boys really like to talk about girls' family backgrounds behind their backs? What's it to you? Are you all trying to suck up to Grace Bolton?"

　　"Hey, why are you scolding me for no reason? Grace Bolton just has good conditions, are you jealous?"

　　The two started bickering, Jason Walker cursing Ryan Miller out thoroughly. He wasn't angry, just laughed, which made Jason Walker even more riled up, calling Ryan Miller a little rascal.

　　They'd only known each other for two days, but their friendship advanced rapidly through this war of words.

　　Brian Clark kept quietly smiling, shifting her position a bit, afraid that if Jason Walker chased after Ryan Miller, she'd get caught in the crossfire.

　　"Brian Clark, how are you feeling? Are you okay?" Grace Bolton came over, her tone full of concern—this was a task assigned to her by Little Foster.