William Carter sent a message to Emily Thompson: Emily, I'm really sorry, I went to play badminton this afternoon and didn't bring my phone. I'm starting on the problems now. Have you figured out those questions? If not, I can explain them to you again.

Emily D. replied quickly: I already asked Anna Brooks. I'm working on my essay now, can you help me check it later?

William Carter: Okay.

At this moment, ‘Emily Thompson’ was sitting behind William Carter and said, “I even took some time to check out that ‘Pearl in the Palm’ you mentioned. Some other monster has already taken it, but he’s not there during the day. I guess he only comes to sleep there at night when no one’s around.”

William Carter nodded while looking at his math problems.

It turned out those two questions were indeed very difficult, or rather, their class rarely did such problems. Even with a new brain, William Carter couldn’t solve them, and instead found two more he couldn’t tackle.

“I’ll have to ask the teacher tomorrow.”

Just then, Aunt Harris’s voice came from outside: “Dinner time!”

William Carter glanced at Ethan Miller, then pushed the door open and went out.

Helen Reed had already finished his shower and was sitting cross-legged on the sofa, his lightweight foam flip-flops neatly placed on the floor, his hair still wet.

William Carter didn’t like using a hair dryer, and neither did he.

Seeing William Carter come out, he looked up and said, “I think I heard you talking to someone in your room.”

“I was explaining problems to a classmate remotely.”

“Do you have a lot of homework?”

“A lot of worksheets.” William Carter said as he walked toward the dining table.

“Hurry up and eat!” Aunt Harris called again, then said to the two of them, “Guess what I made for you tonight?”

“What did you make?”

The two brothers exchanged a glance.

Helen Reed widened his eyes: “Mom, you didn’t go pick locust flowers from the street again, did you? The landscaping department said it’s best not to eat them, the flowers and plants by the roadside have high heavy metal content…”

William Carter said nothing.

Last year, Aunt Harris believed some article on a public account and took Helen Reed out at night to pick a big bag of locust flowers from the roadside. She stir-fried them with eggs, which happened to be William Carter’s least favorite dish, and Helen Reed didn’t like it either.

But today, Aunt Harris just chuckled, went into the kitchen, and brought out a big bowl of bright red crayfish.

“Wow!” Helen Reed exclaimed.

“I went out shopping this afternoon and saw someone selling them.” Setting down the crayfish, Aunt Harris checked the time. “Your dad will be home soon, but let’s not wait for him, let’s eat first!”

“I’ll test for poison first!”

Helen Reed sprang into action, put on gloves, and picked out a big, red crayfish from the sauce. It was so hot he had to juggle it between his hands, and after finally peeling the shell, he took a bite—so delicious his whole face twisted with pleasure.

‘Emily’ on the side was practically drooling.

But Aunt Harris ignored Helen Reed, only watching William Carter. As soon as William Carter ate one, she immediately asked, “How does it taste?”

William Carter nodded. “Delicious.”

After a brief pause, he glanced at Ethan Miller and added, “It’d be even better as a late-night snack.”

Aunt Harris smiled. “There’s still some left. I’ll leave it on the stove for you. You stay up so late doing homework, you burn a lot of energy, so having a little late-night snack shouldn’t be a problem.”

Chapter 11: Snowflakes Fluttering

“Do you know that ‘Emily Thompson’ person? She might be in the same class as your brother.” Aunt Harris caught Helen Reed, who was trying to sneak back to his room to play on his phone.

“Emily Thompson? Of course I know!”

“Is she famous at your school? Is she a boy or a girl?”

“A girl, and she’s very famous. Emily, who doesn’t know Emily at school? She used to be the head of the sports department!” Helen Reed thought for a moment. “Oh right, I think she’s my brother’s deskmate now.”

“Why did you all give a girl such a nickname!” Aunt Harris didn’t dwell on it, “So, deskmates, is she good-looking?”

“Very good-looking, and really tall! Mom, why are you asking this?”

“How’s her relationship with your brother?”

“Should be fine, I only know they’re deskmates. Emily is easy to get along with, she can chat with anyone…” As Helen Reed spoke, he suddenly frowned and glanced at Aunt Harris. “Mom, do you think Emily is bullying my brother?”

“Easy to get along with, that’s good…” Aunt Harris nodded to herself.

“Why are you asking all this!! Where did you hear about Emily?” Helen Reed was dying of curiosity, but also worried his guess might be right. If it was, what would he do? He was just a pretty boy, he wouldn’t dare mess with Emily.

“I suspect…”

……

May 6th, Monday morning.

Ethan Miller followed William Carter downstairs, saying as he walked, “People these days just love feeding cats, whether they’re theirs or not, they feed them everywhere.”

William Carter ignored him.

Strolling slowly to the campus, William Carter took out the math problems he’d copied down yesterday and started working on them. Time seemed to fly by during this process.

Emily's Desk Mate still arrived very late. She looked a bit pale, with faint dark circles under her eyes.

William Carter noticed the small plastic bag in her hand, which held two paper bags. Looking up, he saw that today his deskmate also had an ahoge, which surprised him a little.

“Here, guokui, a thank-you gift!”

Emily Thompson handed one of the guokui to William Carter, keeping the other for herself.

“Thanks.” William Carter took the guokui.

“Thank you? I should be the one thanking you!”