After finishing the bow, William Reed finally stood up, then respectfully stood to the side.

Brian Ford coughed: “Oh, there’s one more thing you need to remember. From now on, don’t refer to yourself as ‘the humble one’ in front of others. That’s not good, people will think you’re mentally ill.”

“Mentally ill? What does that mean?” William Reed didn’t understand.

Brian Ford felt powerless. How did he end up with someone like this today, with so many ‘whys’? Might as well write ‘One Hundred Thousand Whys’?!

“A mentally ill person is a Japanese devil… ah!” Brian Ford made up an explanation, but then his arm was pinched by Emily Carter.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense, William Reed. A mentally ill person means someone whose mind has problems, in other words, abnormal, crazy, or demented.” Emily Carter explained to him.

“Thank you, Master, for your teaching! The humble one understands…”

“Didn’t I just say not to use ‘the humble one’?” Brian Ford frowned.

“But, how should the humble one refer to the humble one?”

“‘I’.”

“‘Zai xia’ would be good.” Emily Carter smiled at William Reed, “It sounds very interesting, like an ancient hero.”

“Yes, zai xia understands!”

※※※

An hour later, Emily Carter had tidied up the empty room Brian Ford mentioned, then brought William Reed inside.

“This will be your home from now on. How do you like it?” Emily Carter wiped the sweat from her forehead.

William Reed turned his head, looking around at many things he had never seen before. He only barely understood after asking Emily Carter about them. He touched the sheets and quilt on the bed—these were much better than what he used at home, and from the feel, he had no idea what material they were.

“That’s synthetic fiber, haha, nothing fancy. Just make do for now, it’s the middle of the night and there’s nowhere to buy you anything else.”

“Synthetic fiber?” William Reed turned his head, and Emily Carter knew the ‘one hundred thousand whys’ had started again.

She pulled herself together and explained to William Reed what ‘synthetic fiber’ was.

William Reed nodded, half-understanding. “No, zai xia already feels it’s very good. To have a place to stay, zai xia is already very satisfied, so it doesn’t matter what I use. Thank you very much, miss, for going to the trouble of preparing the room for me.”

No matter how she looked at him, Emily Carter felt that this William Reed had nothing to do with the roughness of football, but was more like a bookworm. But hearing this silly boy always say ‘zai xia’ was quite amusing to her.

Brian Ford appeared at the door, looking at the somewhat excited William Reed. “This isn’t bad, I have company now, haha. But, William Reed…”

“Zai xia is here!” Just a moment ago, William Reed had been bouncing on the Simmons mattress, but now he jumped down like a soldier and stood straight in front of Brian Ford.

Brian Ford was a bit at a loss whether to laugh or cry. “What I mean is… during the day, Emily Carter and I aren’t home, we have to go to school. So if you’re home alone and want to watch TV, go ahead. There’s bread, instant noodles, and milk in the fridge. If you’re hungry, just help yourself.”

“School? TV? Fridge? Bread? Instant noodles? What are those?” William Reed stared with wide eyes, firing off five questions in a row.

Brian Ford had a splitting headache. He patted Emily Carter: “Master, you explain to him…”

“Ah, haha!” Emily Carter also forced a smile, “Well, in modern society there are many things you haven’t heard of. Because technology is advancing…”

Emily Carter explained, while William Reed stood in front of her, listening intently.

And so, a small stone was thrown into the calm waters of Brian Ford’s life—a new tenant moved into his big house, a tenant who had fallen from the sky.

Chapter 003: Drawing Lots

On the second day after William Reed arrived, both Brian Ford and Emily Carter were late.

Actually, it wasn’t unusual for Brian Ford to be late, but for Emily Carter, this was the first time since she started high school. Both of them looked a bit out of it, tired early in the morning.

The homeroom teacher curiously asked them separately, and here are their different situations.

“Emily Carter, why are you late?”

“Sorry, teacher, I overslept. I was tutoring Brian Ford too late last night.” Emily Carter lowered her head to admit her mistake.

“Hmm, you’re honest. Go in, but be more careful next time.”

Emily Carter nodded and left the office, then flashed a ‘V’ sign at Brian Ford.

Brian Ford went in next.

“Brian Ford, why are you late?”

“Oh, teacher, I overslept. I was reviewing my homework too late last night…” Brian Ford lowered his head to admit his mistake.

The homeroom teacher glanced sideways at the downcast Brian Ford, “Why are you lowering your head? Feeling guilty? Brian Ford, to be honest, if you say you stayed up late reviewing homework and overslept, I absolutely won’t believe it. I already know very well that you only read comics in class and copy Emily Carter’s homework at home… How about this, today you’ll clean the blackboard all day as punishment. Remember, being late is being late, don’t make up excuses like this.”

The homeroom teacher waved his hand, and Brian Ford slumped out of the office like a fly that had been swatted, his head drooping.