“I think it looks good too, and it even feels a bit familiar. Maybe they're from our school as well, hehe. How about... we say hi next time?”

　　“Add them as a friend too?”

　　“Hmm?”

　　The two of them exchanged a glance.

　　So the two girls, who kept looking back, slowed their pace. When William Carter and Helen Reed walked up beside them, they turned around, waving at Helen Reed with shy, pretty smiles: “Good afternoon, Minister Reed!”

　　“G-Good afternoon.”

　　Helen Reed didn’t react at first. He looked at them a couple more times before recognizing the two girls as being from the neighboring class, so he gave a bashful smile as well: “You’re not wearing your uniforms today—I almost didn’t recognize you.”

　　“Hehe, where are you going, Minister Reed?”

　　“Heading home. Where are you two going?”

　　“To the movies.” The girl was bold, and even added, “Do you want to come?”

　　“Uh, n-no thanks.” Helen Reed declined politely. “I’m exhausted from playing basketball, and I’m all sweaty. I need to hurry home, take a shower, and lie down for a bit.”

　　“Okay, that’s fine. Then can we add you as a friend?” The girl looked at him expectantly.

　　“Sure! On QQ?”

　　“Yeah!”

　　“My number is...”

　　The two girls immediately pulled out their phones, entering the QQ number while sneaking glances at William Carter. One of them quickly asked, “Is that your friend?”

　　“That’s my brother,” Helen Reed said.

　　“Your brother?”

　　“Oh! The one from Class 2, Grade 12?” one girl’s eyes widened.

　　“That’s right.”

　　At this moment, the other girl seemed to remember something too, blurting out, “Isn’t he the one...”

　　She stopped herself as soon as she started, sneaking a look at both Helen Reed and William Carter.

　　William Carter didn’t seem to catch what she was about to say, which made her feel a bit better, but Helen Reed pressed his lips together. After the girls sent their friend requests, he noticeably quickened his pace as he left.

　　The two girls deliberately slowed down.

　　Not long after, Helen Reed said, “Bro, don’t listen to their nonsense.”

　　“What?”

　　“It’s nothing.”

　　“Let’s slow down a bit,” William Carter said.

　　“Okay.”

　　When they got home, Aunt Harris was already cooking. Helen Reed went to shower first—he always took a long time—so William Carter got ready to go to his room and tackle some math problems. There were two questions he hadn’t solved before; he thought maybe after some exercise, with a refreshed mind, he might find a new approach and finally crack a tough one.

　　He opened the door to his room and was stunned to see someone sitting in his chair.

　　“Emily Thompson! How are you...”

　　He stopped mid-sentence. Emily Thompson couldn’t possibly be in his house.

　　But Aunt Harris still heard him. She ran out of the kitchen, spatula still in hand: “What’s wrong, William Carter?”

　　“Nothing.”

　　“Oh...” Aunt Harris gave him another look, and only relaxed a bit when she saw him walk into his room as usual. She said gently, “Dinner will be ready soon.”

　　“Okay.”

　　William Carter closed the door and looked at the ‘Emily Thompson’ in front of him.

　　Ethan Miller also sensed something was off and asked, “Did I cause you trouble?”

　　“It was just a little misunderstanding, it’s fine. But why did you turn into Emily Thompson?”

　　“I think she’s pretty.”

　　“Do you always turn into other people?” William Carter took out his phone and started listening to the message Emily Thompson had sent him at noon.

　　“Yeah, but sometimes I make some improvements based on others. The two you saw before were both improved versions. Aren’t they much better looking than you humans?” Ethan Miller looked at the phone by William Carter’s ear and marveled, “You humans have become so smart. I can’t even imagine you made things like that.”

　　“So what do you really look like?”

　　“I forgot.”

　　“You forgot?”

　　“Yes. If I’d known, I should have looked in the mirror after I woke up, but I didn’t.” Ethan Miller fell silent for a moment. “But maybe the way I looked when I woke up wasn’t my real appearance either—just how I looked before I went to sleep.”

　　“Then you...”

　　William Carter looked at Ethan Miller, not knowing what to say for a moment.

　　After a long while, he finally said, “You’ll remember. Little by little, you’ll remember. But in the future, it’s best if you don’t turn into people I know. I might get confused.”

　　“I just wanted to try something new. I’ll change back in a bit!”

　　“Okay. Where did you go yesterday afternoon? Why are you only back now?”

　　“I went over there.” Ethan Miller pointed in a direction.

　　“The south.”

　　“Yeah, I sensed a powerful being waking up over there. Very aggressive, constantly spreading its aura to announce its presence, so I went to take a look,” Ethan Miller said.

　　“And?”

　　“It was indeed terrifying.”

　　“So you...” William Carter paused, “Were you in danger?”

　　“No way!” Ethan Miller flashed a confident smile. “I can run super fast—faster than a rocket!”

　　William Carter smiled at that too.

　　Then, recalling the way kids talked when they were little, he asked, “Faster than Sun Wukong?”

　　Ethan Miller nodded vigorously. “That’s right, that’s right!”

　　He actually knows about Sun Wukong.