Evelyn Lee was also a bit embarrassed. After everyone finished eating, they sat in the living room, starting from the sofa and placing chairs in a circle around the outside, forming a ring. This atmosphere made Ryan Carter feel nostalgic and warm. In another situation, would there still be such circles in the residential communities of the future? A group of kids sitting together, telling ghost stories, unsolved mysteries, discussing astronomy, geography, history, and culture—instead of burying their heads in games on iPads and phones. The world of the future is changing rapidly, and everything is quickly becoming unrecognizable.

Fortunately, all of this was truly happening right in front of him.

Shawn Hughes hurriedly pulled Ryan Carter to testify, “Ryan Carter, tell them, did we go to the internet café yesterday? Bella Yale is making things up, saying she saw us! You were at home reading the whole time!”

“Reading? Reading martial arts novels, I bet!” Bella Yale sneered. Clearly, no one really cared whether Ryan Carter was actually reading.

Ryan Carter more or less understood why the atmosphere had suddenly gone quiet when he arrived earlier. He waved his hand, “You guys keep chatting, I just came to see you all…”

As he said this, Ryan Carter glanced around at everyone. Summer Young glared at him, and when his eyes met Rose Grant's, she gave him a slight nod. He had to admit, even with his current perspective, Ryan Carter acknowledged that Rose Grant would definitely be the kind of woman who could bring down a country in the future. Some details only made him more certain of his judgment—this girl, old Jiang’s daughter, was truly mysterious and extraordinary…

Usually, when the kids from the compound gathered at Evelyn Lee's house, he hadn’t noticed any special decorations, but it seemed they had cleaned up again; the glass was spotless, no less than the big cleanings most families did once or twice a year. Evelyn Lee's mother worked at the education bureau, and her father was a businessman. With such cooperation, aiming to help their child build a good relationship with Rose Grant, it was likely that someone in Rose Grant's family—or perhaps even a direct relative—held a high position in the city’s education bureau or was a leader in the industrial and commercial bureau.

But it didn’t matter… None of that was important to her.

Then he really just sat to the side, watching everyone chat… Ryan Warren, who was with Charles Sun, looked at Ryan Carter, who had always had an old grudge with his good friend, and felt a strange unease, because he realized that Ryan Carter's gaze seemed familiar.

It was a bit like the look he had after spending a month assembling a model he’d been dreaming of, admiring it in front of him. Or like someone sitting in a theater, watching a classic play unfold. There was always a sense of transcendence in that awareness, but Ryan Warren never mentioned this discovery to anyone.

After chatting for a while, everyone suggested playing some games to test their reflexes. There was a subtle element of intellectual competition in these games.

First, they played a counting game: everyone took turns counting, and whenever it was a multiple of three, they had to clap their hands. The pace kept getting faster, and anyone who failed to clap on a multiple of three, or hesitated, would be penalized by having a white strip of paper stuck to their arm.

After a few rounds, they switched to the “counting sevens” game. For multiples of seven or numbers containing the digit seven, they had to clap instead of saying the number. Anyone who made a mistake would also be penalized with a paper strip.

After several rounds, some people’s forearms were covered in paper strips. Shawn Hughes had five stuck to him, though he wasn’t the worst—Don Shaw had seven. Among the government compound kids, Ryan Warren had one, Charles Sun had one, and Ben Rowe had two, which made him look a bit upset. Even Summer Young ended up with one. Everyone else got caught to varying degrees, but Rose Grant and Ryan Carter didn’t get a single penalty.

During the games, Rose Grant was truly impressive. Whether it was counting threes or sevens, nothing could trip her up—her margin for error was just too high. Ryan Carter also didn’t get tripped up, but he didn’t encounter as many challenges as Rose Grant, so he didn’t get any paper strips. People figured his skill was about forty percent, and the rest was probably luck. Still, Summer Young, Evelyn Lee, and the other girls glanced at Ryan Carter a few more times.

Even Bella Yale, who had originally wanted to embarrass Ryan Carter, had to shift her focus to others.

These changes didn’t escape Charles Sun's notice. Feeling a bit unwilling, he said, “How about we play an English word chain game? For example, starting with the letter ‘P’, everyone has to say a word beginning with ‘P’ in turn. If someone can’t think of one, they’re out, and the next person continues, until there’s only one left.”

This was Charles Sun's strong suit. If he could be the last one standing, he’d really outshine everyone.

Many of the girls present were also good at English, so they immediately agreed. Charles Sun looked around and said they’d start with the letter “B.” He went first with “balloon,” Summer Young followed with “bake,” and then, going clockwise, each person called out in a crisp voice: “banana,” “ball,” “banker.” When it was Ryan Carter's turn, he said “beautiful,” and Rose Grant said “bankruptcy”…

Most people were using words from their textbooks, all within the vocabulary they’d learned in class, but Rose Grant's vocabulary was clearly beyond that range.