William Reed also suddenly realized his own loss of composure. He hurriedly cupped his hands in apology, saying, "V-very sorry, I-I didn't mean to. Although Miss Emily Carter, you have taught me before, this is the first time I've seen this 'television,' and I just couldn't suppress my inner astonishment, so I acted so rudely. I beg you both, uh... I beg your forgiveness..." As William Reed finished speaking, sweat broke out on his forehead. He was terrified that his actions would make his two lifesavers dislike him. If he were thrown out, he truly didn't know how he could survive in this world...

Because they were afraid William Reed would run off, Brian Ford had described the world outside this house as terrifying beyond belief. Emily Carter didn't refute Brian Ford's way of distorting and vilifying the achievements of socialist material and spiritual civilization, but last night, as Brian Ford spoke, she pinched his thigh under the table.

Emily Carter found it amusing—this William Reed was just too cautious. She quickly smiled and comforted him, "No, of course we wouldn't blame you..."

On the side, Brian Ford interrupted Emily Carter's pointless words and got straight to the point: "I just saw how agile you were when you jumped—was that because you play soccer?"

Brian Ford lowered his head a bit embarrassed and said, "Not just that, I-I also know a bit of martial arts..."

"Wow!" Brian Ford suddenly lunged forward. "Teach me! Please, Master! Your disciple will kneel before you right now!" As he spoke, Brian Ford really started to kneel down.

This time, it was William Reed who pulled him up. "Wait... didn't you say only Japanese devils kneel?"

"Huh?" Brian Ford, half-squatting on the ground, finally realized.

Emily Carter laughed happily on the side.

Although he didn't officially become a disciple, Brian Ford was still very interested in William Reed's martial arts, pestering him with all sorts of questions. Emily Carter was also interested, listening in and occasionally chiming in with her own questions and opinions.

Just like that, by the time the two of them realized it, there were only ten minutes left before their first class was about to start...

※※※

The course schedule at the private Qiuzhi Academy was very student-friendly—in other words, quite relaxed. There were five classes in the morning, each forty minutes long, with ten-minute breaks in between. After the first two classes, there was a long break, when the whole school gathered at the stadium for group exercises, lasting twenty minutes. Lunch was usually eaten in the school cafeteria, and the lunch break lasted from 11:40 to 2:30 in the afternoon. There were only three classes in the afternoon, and the rest of the time was for self-study and free activities—since they placed great emphasis on well-rounded education, there was activity time every day, allowing students to participate in various sports and extracurricular clubs.

After the first class in the morning, the sports committee member gathered all the boys in the class, saying there was something important to announce. Brian Ford and David Clark never cared about group activities, but since they were still boys, they couldn't escape.

"Brothers, here's the deal. The higher-ups held a meeting to mobilize for the autumn sports meet. You all saw it, right? Yesterday, Olivia Smith came to find me, and that was to..." The sports committee member, Ethan Brooks, who loved to act all official, was just about to show off about walking side by side with Olivia Smith, when he was interrupted.

"Cut the nonsense, just get to the point." The speaker was one of the so-called top students in the class. In this class, there were only two types of people who didn't care about group activities: the idiot duo, and the high-achieving "top students."

Ethan Brooks shot him an annoyed look, then got to the point: "All the other events are fine, but for the 3000-meter long-distance run... who wants to sign up?" He looked up at everyone.

As soon as he finished speaking, the whole group took a step back, firmly expressing their opinion.

"I knew this would happen..." The poor sports committee member sighed. "Luckily, I came prepared!" He pulled a handful of slips of paper from his desk drawer, clutching them tightly in his hand. "Drawing lots!"

Everyone took another step back...

"Come on, you bunch of cowards... Fine, Brian Ford, David Clark, you two draw first! Set an example for the others!" The sports committee member held out his hand to the two of them.

"Okay." The two of them casually reached out and drew two slips, and everyone saw that the word "run" was clearly written on both...

The sports committee member, with lightning speed, crumpled the remaining slips into a ball, and then, showing off his skills as the class basketball team captain, tossed the paper ball precisely into the trash can. "What a pity!" he sighed. "I was hoping to show off in front of Olivia Smith. Sigh, now this great opportunity can only go to you two." As he finished, he patted the two unlucky guys on the shoulder with a look of deep regret.

The others all breathed a sigh of relief and quickly scattered, leaving just the two fools standing there staring at their slips.

※※※

At lunch, the second unlucky guy slumped in front of Emily Carter, sighing nonstop. "Tell me, Brian Ford, even if we bought lottery tickets, we wouldn't have this kind of luck, right?" David Clark listlessly poked at the greens on his tray. Just thinking about having to run 3000 meters, he didn't even have the strength to eat.