Emily Carter was across from them, both amused and exasperated: “You two idiots! It’s obvious he just wants to set you up and find a couple of scapegoats. I bet every slip of paper in his hand said ‘run.’ Otherwise, why would he make you draw first, and then have you throw away the rest after you finished?”

　　David Clark tapped his own head: “You know, that actually makes sense... But the names have already been submitted. What can we do now?”

　　Emily Carter looked at David Clark’s figure—he was almost a ball of meat, and just climbing two flights of stairs left him gasping for air. For someone like him to run three thousand meters was really asking too much. She’d read some news reports; apparently, there had even been cases of students suddenly dying during school sports meets...

　　“Hmm, I have an idea,” Emily Carter said.

　　“What idea? Tell us! We’re all counting on you...” David Clark’s expression was like he’d just seen a relative giving him New Year’s money.

　　“You two start off running with the main group, do a few laps, then pretend you’re out of energy and collapse on the ground. That way, you’ll have a legitimate reason to leave the field early.” Emily Carter nodded as she instructed David Clark and Brian Ford.

　　David Clark couldn’t stop praising Emily Carter’s cleverness, while Brian Ford didn’t react at all. Emily Carter noticed his gaze had drifted out the window, where, in the sunlight, a long-haired girl passed by with her friend, smiling and capturing the hearts of who knows how many boys...

　　Emily Carter pouted.

Chapter 004 William Reed

　　Ever since William Reed had dropped from the sky into Brian Ford’s home, breaking the peaceful routine, a week had already passed in the blink of an eye.

　　During this colorful week, Brian Ford had once grabbed William Reed, wanting to learn kung fu. But when he realized how difficult William Reed’s martial arts were, he gave up. Actually, the main reason wasn’t a lack of perseverance, but because he figured out that even if he learned, he wouldn’t be able to leap across rooftops or spy on girls taking baths.

　　He still slept through classes every day, leaned on the railing after class daydreaming about his relationship with Olivia Smith—by the way, after that incident, things weren’t entirely hopeless for Brian Ford. At the very least, sometimes when he ran into Olivia Smith on the street, she would greet him first. Whenever that happened, Brian Ford thoroughly enjoyed the envious look in David Clark’s eyes. Then he’d go home, surf the web for comics and novels, chat with online friends, post nonsense on random forums, “copy” Emily Carter’s homework, and go to bed when it was time to turn off the lights. For Brian Ford, this was the happy life.

　　Throughout the week, William Reed still hadn’t left Brian Ford’s house. Luckily, the neighbors all knew that Brian Ford’s parents were abroad long-term, and Brian Ford had to go to school during the day, so no one came to disturb them. Brian Ford found a few clothes he couldn’t wear anymore for William Reed—since Brian Ford hadn’t exercised in ages, he’d put on some weight and couldn’t fit into his old clothes—so now William Reed looked no different from a modern person. The long hair was easy to deal with; tied up, he looked almost like an artist... though, are there really artists this clean and handsome?

　　Emily Carter thought it was fun and even pulled some strings to buy a cosplay club’s ancient martial arts costume for William Reed to wear, and then gave him her grandfather’s exercise sword to hold. Dressed like that, he really did look like a swordsman in white. Emily Carter loved seeing William Reed in this getup; whenever she was home, she’d make him change into it. Poor William Reed, just to satisfy Emily Carter’s desire—ah, wish—had become a cosplayer.

　　※※※

　　A month after school started came National Day. It’s a statutory holiday, seven days off, which is incredibly precious in the eyes of students. Seniors only got three days off because of college entrance exam prep, but freshmen and sophomores got the full seven days.

　　As the holiday approached, students grew more and more excited. Now, when tutoring in the evenings, Emily Carter would also discuss with Brian Ford where to go for fun. Whenever this happened, William Reed would listen intently from the side, his face unconsciously showing a look of longing.

　　How could the sharp-witted Emily Carter not notice this?

　　So, on the way home from school two days before the holiday, the two of them discussed the matter while riding their bikes.

　　“Abu, I really don’t think it’s good to keep Ajian cooped up at home,” Emily Carter said, frowning slightly.

　　Brian Ford yawned: “I know, but if we let him out like this, I’m afraid we’ll all get sent to the Center for Abnormal Human Research.” The proper term for the Center for Abnormal Human Research was “psychiatric hospital,” but Brian Ford was a fan of Stephen Chow, and after watching “Kung Fu,” he started using the movie’s lines at random.

　　“Ugh, I’m being serious here. Can’t you be a little more earnest?” Emily Carter reached out and smacked Brian Ford.

　　Brian Ford coughed and pretended to be very serious as he discussed with Emily Carter: “Alright, I know keeping him locked up isn’t a solution. But as things are now...”

　　“National Day is in a couple of days, and we’ll have plenty of time. Why don’t we take Ajian out for some fun? Isn’t Riverside Park open for the holiday? It’s free, so let’s just take Ajian there!” Even though they’d only known each other for a week, Emily Carter already had a good impression of this polite man from ancient times and was always thinking of him.

　　Brian Ford actually thought about it seriously, then nodded: “Alright. But when the time comes, you’ll have to keep an eye on his mouth. What I’m most afraid of is him pointing at something totally ordinary and shouting, or kneeling to people he meets...”