Grace Bennett opened his mouth and started spouting nonsense: “He recommended me some self-help books for men.”

Brian Brooks’s eyelid twitched, but he said nothing.

“Nonsense, what kind of self-help book is sexist like that? And besides, since when do you even read self-help books?” David Howard looked at him suspiciously. “So what books did he recommend? Tell me, I want to hear.”

Grace Bennett: “A summary of junior high math concepts, How Beginners Learn Math, Clumsy Birds... Fly First 2017.”

The people nearby: “??”

David Howard hadn’t expected it to actually be about self-help books.

He was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement: “Those books... are actually pretty suitable for you, not bad.”

A curse was on the tip of Grace Bennett’s tongue, but he held it back at the last second.

With Brian Brooks present, David Howard didn’t make them stand for long. As soon as the bell for the first period rang, he waved them off.

A group of troublemakers walked together, making quite a scene. Boys at this age still thought it was cool to be punished as a group, so as they went upstairs, they deliberately raised their voices, drawing curious glances from students in the classrooms.

Grace Bennett walked at the front, annoyed by the noise, and sped up his pace.

Matthew Lee quickly caught up: “Grace Bennett, why is that studious guy in your class walking so fast? Is he rushing to class?”

Grace Bennett ignored him.

Matthew Lee glanced at his expression: “Damn, I wanted to teach him a lesson, but because of him, Fat Tiger yelled at me for ages. Hey, do you hate him too? How about we...”

Suddenly, the person in front stopped walking, and Matthew Lee instinctively stopped as well.

He was about to say something else when Grace Bennett turned his head and shot him a cold look.

Grace Bennett was already tall, and now he was two steps higher on the stairs. His lowered gaze carried a hidden fierceness and threat, which vanished in an instant.

Matthew Lee felt like he was nailed to the spot.

“I told you before.” After a moment, Grace Bennett spoke lazily.

Matthew Lee: “What...”

“Don’t mess with people from my class.”

The words sounded like a reminder, but also a warning.

Grace Bennett turned and walked away. Matthew Lee didn’t snap out of it until Grace Bennett’s figure disappeared from view, then muttered under his breath, “Damn.”

...

Grace Bennett walked all the way up to the fourth floor. When he saw the figure standing at the stairwell, he paused almost imperceptibly.

Brian Brooks was standing there, still holding a very familiar piece of letter paper.

Seriously, is this still not over?

Sure enough, as soon as Grace Bennett reached the top of the stairs, he heard that cold voice again: “Classmate Yu.”

Grace Bennett couldn’t take it anymore. He turned around and grabbed him by the collar: “Do you really think I won’t beat you up...”

Brian Brooks let him grab him, and with one hand, unfolded the letter paper and held it up to his face.

Grace Bennett thought, damn, there’s no way to guard against this—

“‘Learn Physics with Ease,’ ‘Must-Do Problems for Junior High,’ ‘An English Dictionary Even Elementary Students Can Memorize’...”

Brian Brooks’s expression didn’t change: “These are the self-help books I picked out for you yesterday.”

“...”

“They’re all very suitable for someone like you,” Brian Brooks paused, as if searching for the right word, “with zero foundation.”

“...”

“I hope they’ll be helpful to you.”

“...”

-

All day, Grace Bennett didn’t look toward the front rows even once.

Someone was just too tall—every time he looked up, he’d see that infuriating back of the head.

“Aren’t you tired of this stupid game yet?” Anna Walker leaned on the back of his chair with one hand. “You’ve been playing it all day.”

Grace Bennett: “Mind your own business.”

The bell for the last period rang, and Sarah Grant walked in right as the physics teacher left.

Anna Walker immediately nudged him: “Stop playing, Sarah is here!”

“Don’t touch me,” Grace Bennett said. “This is a critical moment.”

“...”

Luckily, Sarah Grant didn’t notice them.

She went straight to the computer, opened a file from her USB drive: “Before you leave today, we’re changing your seats.”

A new seating chart appeared on the projector screen.

“Damn, we’re changing seats, Grace Bennett. Our fate together ended way too soon.” Anna Walker squinted as he searched for his name. “Shit, why am I sitting with the discipline committee member! Did Sarah do this on purpose?!”

“Let me see who you’re sitting with—damn!”

“Damn! Grace Bennett! Look at your new deskmate!”

Grace Bennett paused his game and looked up impatiently: “Can you stop...”

His words cut off as soon as he saw the person in the third group, fourth row, stand up.

The whole class was craning their necks to find their new seats, but only one person stood up with his books and walked to the back of the classroom.

Anna Walker’s desk was a mess, with only one clean corner. Brian Brooks put his books on that corner and gave Anna Walker a silent look.

Anna Walker suddenly got it: “Top student, please wait a moment, I’ll clean up right away...”

Grace Bennett reached out and pressed down on Anna Walker’s wrinkled textbook.

“What do you mean by this?” He frowned at Brian Brooks.

Brian Brooks: “Isn’t this what you said?”

Anna Walker, caught in the middle, looked left and right, completely confused.

Grace Bennett: “What did I say?”

“You said,” Brian Brooks replied, “if you like watching, then sit closer.”

Chapter 8

On Wednesday afternoon, after finishing classes for the other grades, Sarah Grant carried her lesson plans back to the office.