"You're here?" Although Olivia Harris felt dissatisfied with Eric Bennett in her heart, she never showed it on the outside. She just frowned a little, and besides, Eric Bennett's appearance was somewhat amusing.

At this moment, everyone passing by who knew Olivia Harris stared at her with their mouths agape. This girl, famous as the "glacier beauty" throughout three years of middle school and even considered a school flower, had been standing at the school gate for reasons unknown. Even those who had tried to confess to her had left dejectedly after being rejected. Who would have thought she was actually waiting for a boy?

"Sorry to keep you waiting. This thing is so heavy. It feels like all the burdens of my three years in middle school have come together today!" Eric Bennett naturally thought of all the knowledge points he had missed during his middle school years, which he now had to master in just these two days—a truly daunting task.

Olivia Harris glanced at Eric Bennett with slightly puzzled eyes. Earlier, as she waited here, she realized it wasn't quite what she had imagined. She just felt that it was a bit ambiguous for her to be waiting for a boy for the first time ever. Not to mention, if Eric Bennett saw this, he might feel a sense of pride and vanity, which made her a little uncomfortable.

Olivia Harris was extremely intelligent and could see through many things, but her cold exterior made her unaccustomed to expressing her inner thoughts.

Who would have thought that when Eric Bennett appeared, his eyes showed a hint of apology, and the focus in his tone made it clear his mind was on his review materials. There was none of what Olivia Harris had expected, which made her reassess Eric Bennett.

The test papers for each subject were handed over from Olivia Harris, each one scanned and copied at the print shop. Over a dozen copies of test papers and answer keys for various subjects were now in Eric Bennett's hands.

For Eric Bennett at this stage, things like stock market ups and downs, trends of the times, or business opportunities in the information industry were all unrealistic. None of them could compare to these test papers in his hands, which could help him solve his immediate crisis—they felt like he was holding his own future.

The aroma from food stalls drifted outside the print shop, and clouds edged with gold hung quietly in the sky. Having finished copying, Olivia Harris, who theoretically had no further connection with Eric Bennett, walked out the door with him side by side. She glanced back at the school's outer wall, and a rare trace of reluctance appeared between her brows. She turned to look at Eric Bennett, "I want to go back into the school and take another look. Maybe after today, there won't be many more chances like this."

Eric Bennett looked at Olivia Harris in surprise, trying hard to recall if she had walked around the school on the day before the high school entrance exam. No matter how hard he searched his memory, he couldn't find such an event. But the fact that his class monitor, known for her coldness, was now showing even a hint of reluctance was enough to astonish Eric Bennett.

Seeing Eric Bennett's expression, Olivia Harris continued, trying to sound casual, "Are you going home? It's okay if you are."

"There's no point going home so early. It's not like I'm rushing back for dinner. Come on, I'll go with you."

……

Eric Bennett felt as if he had just accomplished a feat he had dreamed of throughout middle school but had never achieved.

Walking through the campus with class monitor Olivia Harris. Unfortunately, Eric Bennett was no longer that sixteen-year-old boy—at least not in terms of mental age. Although Olivia Harris already had remarkable looks and temperament at sixteen, it wasn't enough to make Eric Bennett's face flush and heart race like a typical middle school boy.

Strolling through the campus as it was eleven years ago, everything was so familiar. The playground, now overgrown with weeds, would change greatly in the years to come. It would be expanded, paved with cement, basketball hoops erected, a jogging track laid with cinder and marked with clear white lines, and flower beds would replace the uneven tufts of foxtail grass.

There was still a broken corner in the wall—countless people had escaped classes through there, and Eric Bennett had done it once himself. Behind it was a small fish pond; he had thrown his backpack over the wall and only discovered this secret when he climbed up.

Thinking back on all this and looking at the scene before him, Eric Bennett was filled with complex emotions, especially with Olivia Harris by his side.

Of course, Eric Bennett understood how young Olivia Harris felt now. Her grades had long surpassed the admission standards for No. 1 High School, not to mention the special privileges at the time. If you were a top student, No. 1 High would admit you unconditionally, even waiving all tuition and fees, and Olivia Harris was clearly such a specially favored student. She knew she would leave this middle school, but still couldn't let go of the three years she had spent here, so she was using this way to ease her reluctance.

On a patch of sloping grass, Olivia Harris suddenly sat down. Eric Bennett found her unusual behavior quite refreshing and sat down beside her. The wind blew, and bits of grass floated between them—a very peaceful scene.

"Eric Bennett, you're actually quite smart. If you put in a bit more effort, you would definitely get great grades. You don't need to be like that."

"Be like what?" Eric Bennett asked, puzzled.