“Teacher... are you apologizing to me?” Ethan Brooks asked seriously.

“Ah... well, more or less, more or less... it’s an apology.” William Reed thought it best to calm him down first.

“Teacher, please don’t apologize to me... Someone like me, who goes along with criminals, I might as well just jump and end it all.”

“Ethan Brooks, I won’t allow you to treat yourself like this!” William Reed brushed the stray hair from his forehead, his voice trembling a little.

“You’re not a criminal at all, you didn’t even go astray, it was just a moment of confusion—who hasn’t been confused at some point?” He stared intently at Ethan Brooks, ready to leap forward at the slightest sign of trouble.

Ethan Brooks lowered his head in silence for a moment, then looked up. “Teacher, do I still have hope?”

“How could you not have hope? Life is a marathon, Ethan Brooks, never give up so easily. Maybe you’ll pick up speed in the second half and run faster and better than everyone else!”

“Mr. Reed, what you said is really good.”

“It’s only good if you actually listen to it...” William Reed was anxious inside.

“Teacher, I might get expelled, and my family is in debt...”

“You’ll get through it! Everything is fleeting, everything will pass!” William Reed waved his hand, speaking earnestly.

Ethan Brooks nodded. “Mm, in gloomy days one must stay calm, happy days will come.”

William Reed: “...”

He was now certain that this Ethan Brooks in front of him wasn’t thinking straight. It seemed the repeated blows had really hit him hard—he might actually jump into the river! He wasn’t just putting on an act.

“I’ll talk to the school about the expulsion, it’s not a big deal. The police didn’t pursue it, and the school, with its focus on education, won’t really expel you.”

The old fox finally showed his true colors. Ethan Brooks said, “If the demerit goes on my record, I heard my life will be tainted, I won’t be able to get past it...”

“You didn’t actually cheat, after all. It’s just that this was a special police operation, and you happened to get caught up in it. The school’s notice about you is really just to set an example, and it’s already served its purpose. In principle, it won’t go on your record, maybe just a warning...”

Ethan Brooks continued, “Then what about the retake fee... my family is in debt...”

William Reed immediately became alert, glancing at him sideways. “Ethan Brooks, you did buy the answers, that’s a fact. Disqualification is school policy, and retaking the course is inevitable. The retake fee is set by the school, there’s nothing I can do. If you’re really in trouble, it’s best to have your parents come and talk to the school, see if they can get a reduction or exemption. That’s my suggestion too...”

If his parents really got involved, the whole thing would be exposed. It wasn’t worth it. Ethan Brooks knew when to stop, realizing that William Reed couldn’t make the decision, and it wasn’t realistic to expect any promises now.

So he just nodded. “Ten thousand yuan for the retake... I’ll have to talk to my family.”

William Reed said, “The fee was supposed to be collected this week, but I can help you apply for an extension, at most a week later. You should still discuss and prepare with your family. After all, this affects whether you can graduate smoothly in the future. None of this is the end of the world, there’s no need to jump into the river. As for heartbreak, there are plenty of fish in the sea, right? How do you know this isn’t the start of your good luck? Go back and calm down, don’t do anything rash over this! Have you eaten? If not, I can give you a few packs of instant noodles?”

William Reed opened the cabinet and showed him the food he kept in the office.

Carrying a bag of instant noodles, Ethan Brooks walked out of the office. Passing under the trees, the mottled afterglow fell across his face, and he frowned.

Where was he going to get ten thousand yuan?

Chapter Three: I’m Not Surnamed Yin

“Ethan Brooks!”

Just as he was standing there dazed with the bag of instant noodles, a voice sounded from the side, echoing across the campus.

Ethan Brooks turned to look. Over here was a shaded, terraced embankment, with the library building behind it. At that moment, a group of people came out from there. Leading them was a woman with light makeup, a deep blue jacket over a white skirt, a delicate headband in her shoulder-length hair, black stockings, and gray suede ankle boots.

Grace Sullivan.

It had only been a few days since the breakup, but it was clear that Grace Sullivan had dressed up carefully. Ethan Brooks paused, tilting his head to look behind her.

Sure enough, not far behind her stood several guys and girls. At the front was a guy in an oversized sweater, hair draped over half his face, giving off a gloomy, artsy vibe—the kind of guy who could make a bunch of girls scream just by pretending to be deep with a guitar.

That guy was Peter Lane, who held a bunch of titles that would intimidate any regular, well-behaved student: vice president of the student council, president of the school’s new media development club, and vice president of the student association council.

In Ethan Brooks’s current memory, it seemed that Grace Sullivan had gotten close to this Peter Lane, and had become increasingly picky with him.

Grace Sullivan was the kind of girl who, in many people’s eyes, was the “white moonlight” from childhood. He remembered that, back then, it was under the encouragement of Henry Cooper and a few others, hanging around the foreign languages college every day, plus the emptiness of starting university, that Grace Sullivan half-heartedly accepted Ethan Brooks’s pursuit.