Tao Fengche froze for a moment, his hand holding the scooping soup paused, causing the scooping soup and the porcelain bowl to clink loudly.

Fortunately, he snapped back to his senses within half a second, placing the bowl of soup back in front of himself and maintaining a calm demeanor. “Oh, how did you know, Ge?”

“I received a notice from the school this afternoon.” Sui Yuesheng looked somewhat surprised, as if he didn’t understand why Tao Fengche would ask such a question.

Tao Fengche: “……”

What a blunder!

Who invented this utterly useless software? What was the point of it?! Just to make sure students have no privacy in front of their parents?!

For the first time, Tao Fengche experienced the frustration of struggling students. He had forgotten that he had previously been upset with Sui Yuesheng for not checking the school notices. His mind was now filled with resentment towards the school notice app and a hint of grievance towards Sui Yuesheng—why are you so eager to use the software now?

He grumbled inwardly but forced himself to appear nonchalant, nodding slightly and trying to change the subject. “Would you like some more soup? The bamboo fungus is very fresh today.”

It was as if he was ready to help serve food if Sui Yuesheng just nodded.

But Sui Yuesheng shook his head, “No, I’m full.”

How could he be full? Tao Fengche was puzzled.

Sui Yuesheng had only drunk one bowl of soup and eaten half a bowl of rice. He hadn’t touched much of the dishes on the table. Compared to him, who was in his teenage years, it seemed so little.

Tao Fengche remembered the thin waist he had seen at the shooting range a few days ago. During their sparring, there had inevitably been some physical contact, and he had felt that he could easily pick Sui Yuesheng up with a single stretch of his arm…

He instinctively opened his mouth, wanting to persuade Sui Yuesheng to eat more.

But childhood memories stubbornly returned at this moment—on this familiar dining table, he had seen Sui Yuesheng, despite being full, still desperately shoving food into his mouth.

Eating as if he hadn’t had a meal in ages, it had startled the eight-year-old Tao Fengche, who thought he was witnessing a scene from a book about starving ghosts.

…Although Sui Yuesheng ate less now, at least he knew when he was full.

Tao Fengche sighed inwardly and ultimately stayed silent. He lowered his head, drank a few mouthfuls of soup in silence, and found himself inexplicably lacking in appetite.

“I saw on the school notice that you’re going to Z University this year?” Sui Yuesheng suddenly spoke up, his expression somewhat nostalgic. “It’s quite close to my alma mater, and there’s a great restaurant nearby. If you have time, you can go try it out.”

Tao Fengche’s breath caught.

When Sui Yuesheng first spoke, Tao Fengche had planned to directly tell him that he didn’t intend to attend this summer camp, but as Sui Yuesheng mentioned his own school, Tao Fengche’s denial somehow got stuck in his throat.

He was intensely curious about Sui Yuesheng’s experiences over the past ten years but didn’t know how to ask. Unexpectedly, Sui Yuesheng opened up today.

The long-sought treasure chest, with its heavy iron lock, was finally showing signs of loosening; Tao Fengche couldn’t let this opportunity slip away.

“Yes, I’m going to Z University.” He nodded, following up on Sui Yuesheng’s words, “Which university did you attend, Ge?”

Tao Fengche held his breath, and Sui Yuesheng gave him the answer he wanted.

“X University.”

Tao Fengche knew that university; it was famous for its business programs. He nodded in satisfaction, intending to press further to inquire about Sui Yuesheng’s university life, but suddenly heard Sui Yuesheng ask, “Do you need any help?”

“Huh?” Tao Fengche didn’t react immediately, making a puzzled sound.

“Like, with the summer camp quota, I could talk to your principal…”

“No need!”

Tao Fengche quickly refused, even failing to control his volume, causing an echo in the empty dining room. Sui Yuesheng looked at him with surprise, but Tao Fengche couldn’t care less at the moment.

Tao’s family was in business, and Sui Yuesheng’s discussion with the principal about the summer camp quota was not as effective as having Jiang Jingyun, an official, intervene. Tao Fengche didn’t want Sui Yuesheng to go out of his way to help, especially not by involving Jiang Jingyun.

…As if lowering Jiang Jingyun’s status for no reason.

It was just a summer camp, a matter that could be resolved by taking a final exam. Did Sui Yuesheng not trust him that much?

Moreover… Why was Sui Yuesheng so eager to send him abroad? Was there something he didn’t want him to know? Tao Fengche narrowed his eyes, a faint voice in his mind quietly emerging.

—Or was it that he wanted to free up a spot for Jiang Jingyun after he left?

Do you like him that much? So much that you don’t even want your own brother?!

We haven’t seen each other for nearly ten years, and it’s only recently that our relationship has warmed up a bit. How can you act like you don’t care about me at all…

Tao Fengche was irritated and aggrieved by the imagined scenario, wanting to question Sui Yuesheng, but remembering his promise to himself not to lose his temper with Sui Yuesheng, he ultimately chose to give up.

He held back his emotions, took a big gulp of soup, and unwillingly mumbled an “mm.”

But Sui Yuesheng misunderstood this “mm” as pre-exam nervousness and awkwardness.

The slightly pursed lips and stubborn expression were exactly like ten years ago. Sui Yuesheng, feeling a pang of nostalgia, couldn’t help but reach out and pat Tao Fengche’s head. “Don’t push yourself too hard. Balance work and rest in these few days, and everything will be fine.”

Tao Fengche: “……”

Facing the smiling Sui Yuesheng, Tao Fengche felt like he had punched a cotton ball—his frustration had nowhere to go. Seeing Sui Yuesheng’s expectant expression, he ultimately gave a reluctant nod.

…

Unable to find a good moment to refuse, communication with Sui Yuesheng didn’t go smoothly, and he ended up feeling unjustifiably jealous of Jiang Jingyun. Tao Fengche continued to fume about this even after finishing his homework.

Meanwhile, Wang Yuan, oblivious to the situation, rushed to send him a message, directly hitting a nerve.

[Wang Yuan]: [Tao Ge Tao Ge! I just checked with Yan Yi. It’s not as simple as you think.]

Indeed, they were quite the bickering pair; normally they squabbled endlessly, but now it seemed their contact after class was rather close?

Tao Fengche smirked, but he was in a bad mood today and had no interest in discussing Wang Yuan’s romantic issues. He simply replied with an emoji.

[Wang Yuan]: [Yan Yi asked Feng Hui. Apart from the slots for award-winning competition students, the remaining slots are allocated based on overall grades, in order. The top thirty must attend. It’s not a matter of whether you want to go or not.]

In other words: Tao Ge, accept your fate, don’t struggle. A trip to Country A might not be too bad.

Wang Yuan typed away, immediately sharing a bunch of travel tips and food lists for Country A. After a long time with no reply from Tao Fengche, he started to worry.

[Wang Yuan]: [Tao Ge? Tao Ge?? Are you still there?]

He hoped Tao Fengche wasn’t upset to the point of shutting himself off. Just as he was preparing to offer comfort, a new message appeared on the screen.

Tao Fengche: [Don’t worry about it, I have a plan.]

What plan could there be? Hire a bodyguard to break into the principal’s house with a gun in the middle of the night and demand either rule changes or death? Wang Yuan scratched his head in confusion.

…

Wang Yuan, who had always thought of himself as imaginative, could never have guessed what Tao Fengche’s solution would be.

With few international high school students and quick-moving teachers, the period from July 8 to July 9 was the final exam period, followed by two days of grading, and the 12th was for returning to school to review the papers and assign summer homework.

On Monday morning, Wang Yuan got up early and rushed to school, not even bothering to put down his backpack. As soon as he entered the school gate, he started sprinting, becoming the first to see the rankings.

He held his breath, not even bothering to find his own name, and went straight to the top, hoping Tao Fengche would once again slap Cai Hong in the face with his score. But the top scorer was not Tao Fengche.

No problem, maybe Tao Ge made a mistake. The second place was good, and third place was fine too… But neither of these positions had Tao Fengche’s name.

Wang Yuan couldn’t believe it. He checked each name one by one, first suspecting a problem with his eyes, then starting to doubt that Tao Fengche hadn’t participated in the exam at all…

But Tao Ge clearly came! He even greeted him several times during the exams! Did someone envy his good grades and steal his paper?

Wang Yuan’s mind was full of conspiracy theories. He scanned through over two hundred names and finally found Tao Fengche at the very bottom.

Last in the grade—Tao Fengche.

Wang Yuan: “???”

Am I crazy, or is the world crazy?!

He was furious and immediately wanted to message Tao Fengche, expressing his outrage at how people dared to alter his score, and that he would not let the teacher who did this go easily…

Wait.

Something seems off.

Wang Yuan opened the chat window, sent Tao Fengche the photo of the score sheet, and began typing furiously, but he felt like he had forgotten something. As he wrote a lengthy message in the chat box, a vague realization began to dawn on him.

Wang Yuan’s phone fell to the ground with a thud.

Seeing the score and recalling Tao Fengche’s recent confident statement, “I have a plan,” Wang Yuan suddenly had an extremely absurd thought.

As soon as the thought formed, he wanted to deny it, but as Tao Fengche’s childhood friend, he couldn’t help but think that this was indeed something Tao Fengche would do.

He picked up his phone with trembling hands, deleted the lengthy message, and condensed his words into one line—

[Wang Yuan]: […No way, Tao Ge, is this the plan you came up with?]

Moments later, the phone dinged with Tao Fengche’s reply.