The gloom had reached the point where Grace Howard had almost forgotten—if not for that sudden letter two days ago, Grace Howard wouldn’t have remembered David Bolton’s name at all, let alone connected the once top-scoring student in the city’s high school entrance exam who entered Beichen No.1 High School with the chubby, awkward guy in front of her, grinning foolishly.

When David Bolton reached his fifth sit-up, he was already at his limit. His legs and upper body strained to meet in the middle, his chubby face flushed bright red, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t sit up from the mat. At that moment, he saw a tall, graceful girl slowly walk up to him.

Grace Howard wasn’t just passing by. She looked down at the struggling chubby boy on the mat with a cold and disdainful gaze. Her curiosity outweighed her anger—who on earth gave this little fatty so much courage that he dared to publicly hand her such a baffling letter?

Grace Howard hadn’t wanted to read the letter, but in the end, her curiosity got the better of her. It turned out to be a love letter—a shallow one, filled with pretentious passages copied from Tagore and Xi Murong. Far from moving her, it made her feel as if she’d swallowed a fly—utterly disgusted.

At first, she wanted to pretend nothing had happened and let the matter quietly pass. But David Bolton’s blatant way of delivering the letter had already created countless witnesses.

David Bolton still didn’t know that the letter he’d helped Zhou Liangmin pass to Grace Howard at the bus stop had become the talk of the town, thanks to some busybodies. Even Grace Howard herself had become a laughingstock among the students.

Grace Howard stopped in front of David Bolton, then lightly tossed the letter onto his face.

In fact, she’d wanted to reject him publicly yesterday, but David Bolton had actually skipped class. After enduring a whole day of people whispering and pointing at her, Grace Howard finally got this perfect opportunity to strike back in front of all the students in the gym.

David Bolton was still struggling to sit up, and just as he was about to succeed, the letter fluttered down from above and landed right on his face. All his previous efforts were undone by that thin letter. The strength he’d gathered in his abdomen suddenly burst out uncontrollably, and he let out an earth-shattering fart right in front of Grace Howard.

The sound was like thunder, echoing throughout the gym. Not only was Grace Howard stunned, but even the teachers and students nearby stopped their training, drawn by the commotion.

Thanks to the powerful recoil of that fart, David Bolton actually managed to complete his fourth sit-up smoothly. With a silly, satisfied grin on his face, he didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed by the fart. He beamed at Grace Howard, as if he could see right through her attempt to regain face in front of everyone.

Grace Howard was caught completely off guard by this sudden turn of events. It was so awkward—far too awkward. Her first instinct was to get away as quickly as possible, to avoid being contaminated by the “toxic gas” this guy had released. Around them, the other students could no longer hold back their laughter.

David Bolton grinned, showing a seemingly honest but mischievous smile, then said in an unusually loud voice, “It wasn’t me!”

Grace Howard hadn’t had time to get away, and David Bolton’s desperate words seemed to freeze her in place. She stared at him in shock—if it wasn’t you, was it me?

Of course Grace Howard knew it wasn’t her, but there were only two people nearby. In this situation, it was impossible to explain. How could this fatso be so shameless? How could he have the nerve to frame an innocent girl, and in front of everyone, after such an embarrassing incident?

Grace Howard’s mind went blank for a moment, then she was suddenly consumed by a wave of shame and anger like never before.

David Bolton knew his behavior was lacking in class, but he just couldn’t stand Grace Howard’s superior attitude. The way she looked reminded David Bolton of his own misfortunes in the heavenly court, when everyone turned against him after he fell from grace.

Besides, this girl had just slapped him in the face with a letter in front of dozens of teachers and students. They say a real man doesn’t fight with women, but holding it in was just too damn hard. If you start it, I’ll finish it.

After being banished to the mortal world, Elder David Bolton had become a cynical, vengeful person.

Grace Howard’s pretty face turned bright red, her beautiful eyes glistening with tears. The light in her eyes was from the tears she fought to hold back. Her anger level was rising at an astonishing rate, shooting up to 1000 in less than five seconds.

David Bolton felt a bit of heat in his chest, mistakenly thinking it was his conscience making him feel guilty.

Chapter 8: A Sunny Day

When Grace Howard’s anger level reached 2000, it suddenly stopped. She abruptly calmed down. Reason told her that arguing with this fat guy over what had just happened would only lower her own image. The innocent need not explain themselves. Why bother? She nodded, her voice trembling with anger: “David Bolton, I’ll remember you.”

David Bolton’s past experience told him that being remembered by a woman was never a good thing.

As soon as Grace Howard left, he felt the heat in his chest again. Suddenly remembering something, he reached in and pulled out the fire source stone. On the dark stone, one of the circles was faintly glowing red.