“You live alone, so you must be careful. Public security isn’t very good these days.”

“Got it.” David Foster smiled more sweetly than anyone, but felt more bitter than anyone inside, thinking that the fat principal’s reputation for being long-winded was well-deserved.

“The school’s scholarship applications for next semester have started. Don’t forget to apply.” The chubby principal was still kindly maintaining his amiable image.

“Thank you for the reminder, Principal. I’ll go home and write my application tonight.”

“Remember to have your local neighborhood committee director write a certificate and stamp it with the official seal.”

……

In the end, it was David Foster’s homeroom teacher, the one with the triangular eyes, Mr. Foster, who couldn’t listen any longer. He coughed several times, then asked, “The principal is here today because the security guard reported that you were involved in a brawl with some hooligans at the school gate last Saturday. We want to ask if it’s true.”

David Foster looked at Mr. Foster’s glasses and didn’t speak for a while. Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows and said, “To be precise, I successfully stopped a case of hooligans causing trouble at an educational institution.”

Mr. Foster was furious, his face turning red as he scolded, “If hooligans come to make trouble, do you really think you could stop them?” Then he turned to the principal and said, “See? I told you, this kid isn’t bad at heart, but he’s lived at the bottom of society for years, and he’s always involved in those kinds of things. I think he was the one who called people over for that fight.”

The fat principal grunted, looking puzzled.

The more David Foster listened, the more off it sounded. He gave a faint smile and said, “Are you the court? Judging me guilty just like that?”

The principal also smiled and said, “Kid, be more polite when talking to your teacher.” Then he turned to Mr. Foster and said, “Little George, you may have your own judgment, but you can’t be too arbitrary.”

Mr. Foster insisted, “But you did fight, right? That at least deserves a demerit.”

“Go ahead.” David Foster replied indifferently.

“What do you usually do at home?” the principal interjected.

David Foster was taken aback and answered instinctively, “Read, study, and collect junk.”

The young female teachers, who were pretending to work hard while eavesdropping, couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The principal also chuckled, “That’s quite a simple life.”

Mr. Foster was a bit dissatisfied with the principal’s gentle attitude. He tapped the glass paperweight on the wooden desk and said sternly, “If you really read at home every day, why are your grades always so bad?” He pointed at David Foster’s nose and said loudly, “I’ll only believe you read every day if you make it into the top ten in this exam!”

The principal frowned, thinking this young Mr. Foster was a bit too impulsive. He was about to speak, but David Foster calmly replied, “Alright.”

Everyone was shocked.

David Foster smiled slightly and said, “Since we’re done, may I leave now?”

“Let’s go together.” The fat principal sighed.

※※※

Walking along the second-floor corridor of the teachers’ office building, the principal called out to David Foster, who was about to rush downstairs.

“Are you confident?”

David Foster looked at the principal’s kindly, chubby face, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, just wait and see.”

The principal shook his head with a smile, walked up to him, and patted his shoulder, saying, “The student council submitted the list for Saturday’s quiz competition. I only asked you about it because I saw your name—not because of the exam. After all, I know a bit about your childhood. If you’re willing to work hard, making the top ten will be tough, but not impossible.”

Only then did David Foster realize the principal was asking about the weekend quiz competition. He smiled, “I thought principals only handled big things. Didn’t expect you to do investigations too.”

The principal looked at the young man in front of him and nodded to himself, thinking that a high school student who could talk to a principal so calmly and confidently was indeed impressive. “I’m not good at investigations, but Mr. Sullivan is an old classmate of mine. At our thirty-year reunion a few days ago, he mentioned you.”

“Mr. Sullivan?” David Foster said in surprise.

“That’s right.” The principal looked into his eyes, then suddenly said with a hint of mischief, “That’s all. But in the future, be careful not to hug and cuddle on the playground. It doesn’t look good.”

Only then did David Foster realize that the fat principal had seen him hugging Emily Sullivan earlier, and he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

※※※

Saturday came quickly. Next to the bike shed, in the county’s largest multimedia classroom, the place was buzzing with noise. David Foster, Emily Sullivan, and Henry Carter were waiting under the plane trees outside the classroom as their class’s representative team.

It wasn’t unusual for Emily Sullivan to represent the class—she’d done it more than once. Henry Carter, though a bit shady outside of school, had good grades and read a lot of miscellaneous books, so no one objected. The only surprise was the selection of the always quiet and withdrawn David Foster, which really shocked the whole class. Some of the more gossipy girls even started whispering about Sullivan and Foster.