This was just a close call—he still managed to control his emotions well, though he spoke with an impatient look, “Mom, give me some money.”

“Heh~” Mrs. Carter immediately chuckled, helplessly patting her forehead. “You child, can’t you say something different when you see me?”

Though exasperated, she still pulled a few hundred-yuan bills from her bag and stuffed them into Brian Carter’s hand. “Spend it sparingly, and don’t tell your dad.”

“I know, I’m not stupid.” Only then did Brian Carter grin and slip the money into his pocket, then turned to look around. “Where’s the food?”

“In the car.”

Mrs. Carter pointed to a sedan parked not far away and jogged toward it. “Little Brian, wait here for me, I’ll bring it over right away. I kept it warm in the car, and I made your favorite dishes…”

Watching his mother run to get the food, the familiar and deeply etched scene made Brian Carter quickly turn away and wipe the corner of his eye before standing there as if nothing had happened.

His mother didn’t bring him food every day, but she did it at least once a week, letting him enjoy all his favorite dishes.

When his mother jogged back with several insulated containers, Brian Carter took them and immediately said, “I’m heading back to school, you should go home early too.”

“Alright, take it slow on the way, and eat slowly when you get back.” Mrs. Carter nodded with a smile.

Brian Carter nodded, turned, and walked toward the school. Just like before, only when his figure disappeared around the corner of the dormitory building did Mrs. Carter at the school gate turn and leave.

Timing it just right, knowing his mother should be far from the school by now, Brian Carter came out empty-handed, walked quickly toward the school gate, and left without any trouble. Only then did he randomly pick a small road and head toward the street.

Standing by the roadside, he hailed a taxi and went straight out of the county town. When he reached a desolate field, he told the driver to wait by the road. Only then did Brian Carter drop to his knees and burst into tears.

He cried so hard that at first the driver kept glancing over, and in the end, he seemed to be infected by the inexplicable sadness, his own eyes turning red for no reason. The driver couldn’t figure out why this rather handsome young man would come all the way out to the wilderness just to cry, and cry so bitterly.

“Back to the county, near No. 1 High School.”

After crying for more than ten minutes, Brian Carter finally patted the snow off his knees and got up, speaking even more calmly as he got into the taxi.

This calm, almost indifferent demeanor startled the driver again, and the cigarette between his fingers nearly fell.

Chapter 3 Remembrance

“Reporting in.”

When Brian Carter returned to school, it was still lunchtime self-study. Only in summer would this period be changed to a lunch break; in other seasons, the homeroom teacher would usually sit at the podium supervising the students’ self-study.

When he stood outside the classroom, it was already quiet inside. A middle-aged man in his forties sat at the podium, wearing large black-framed glasses on his nose.

His call of “reporting in” startled quite a few people.

When the man at the podium turned to look at him, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He looked Brian Carter up and down a few times before beckoning him in. Brian Carter entered the classroom naturally, without a trace of awkwardness.

Not many people at County No. 1 High knew his identity. Whether the principal and others knew about Brian Carter was unclear, but he knew for sure that the man at the podium, David Miller, the homeroom teacher of Class 3-5, definitely knew.

Because Brian Carter had told him personally.

When he told David Miller, his attitude was rather unpleasant. Back then, he was a typical rebellious teenager, loved to act cool, and often looked nonchalant. His homeroom teacher, who had been with him since the first year of high school, found him a real headache. He’d lectured him many times, especially about Brian Carter’s long hair that always covered his ears and nose, urging him to cut it several times.

At first, Brian Carter ignored him, no matter what was said. Later, David Miller got angry, slammed the desk, and told him to call his parents. Brian Carter’s expression changed, and he slammed the desk right back, staring at David Miller and arrogantly saying, “My dad is the county party secretary, go ahead and call him!”

From then on, for three years, Mr. Miller never tried to discipline him again. Whether he slept in class, read extracurricular books, wore headphones to listen to music, or dressed sloppily, he never said another word.

The only thing was that Brian Carter would occasionally catch a trace of hidden dislike in his eyes.

But as a teenager, he didn’t care at all. Sometimes he’d even curl his lip or raise his eyebrows at David Miller right to his face.

He was indeed a bit arrogant back then, but ninety-nine percent of the time he was actually quite ordinary. The only time he revealed his background was when Mr. Miller slammed the desk and told him to call his parents. The rest of the time, he was just a regular student. In front of his classmates, aside from loving to act cool and dress up, he didn’t talk much, had no bad habits, and never caused trouble. He was just a stylish, cool kid in the corner of the classroom, never picking fights.

And as he walked, he seemed to understand why Mr. Miller was surprised when he first saw him.

Because his long hair that used to cover his ears had been cut into a neat, clean short style.

Back then, Brian Carter kept his hair long enough to cover his nose because he thought it looked cool and stylish, and he could try out many hairstyles. So he always took care of it and never cut it too short, only trimming it a little, nothing more.