Hank panicked and said, “Hey, w–what are you doing? Do you want me to sue you for invasion of privacy?” Madison replied, “This is a public place, and it’s legal to make a recording. Feel free to sue me, but I’m just a concerned citizen of Jandersville.”

“You–you guys…” Hank was so angry that he resembled a puffed-up bullfrog. Yasmine noticed that Madison was indeed recording on her phone and frowned. She snapped, “Hank, are you out of your mind?”

Hank looked confused. “What?” “Shut up if you don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re splitting the bill for this meal. There’s nothing to reimburse! Now stop blocking the door. Let’s eat and head back to campus quickly!”

Hank was reluctant to back down. He shot Miranda and the others a venomous glare before walking away grudgingly. However, Theodore didn’t move. Were they going to split the bill? “I’m sorry, I just remembered something I need to do back home. You guys can go ahead and eat!” With that, he fled like a startled rabbit.

“That country bumpkin’s just scared of spending money!” Hank scoffed. Yasmine waved it off. “Just forget about him.”

As Miranda and her group left the restaurant, the car they had called pulled up. Madison and Sebastian got in first. Miranda was about to take the front passenger seat when she noticed a figure out of the corner of her eye. She stopped in her tracks. After a moment’s thought, she walked over to him. “Theodore, right?”

A tall figure stepped out of the shadows around the corner. He scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. “Yes, I’m Theodore.” “If you’re heading back to campus, you can ride with us. We’ve called a car.” “Really? Can I?” Theodore was pleasantly surprised, but he mostly felt apprehensive.

The distance from here to the campus was quite far. Hank had paid for the ride earlier, and it had cost more than 20 dollars. Theodore had planned to take the bus, but the bus service had already stopped at this hour. Then, he placed a carpool request on a ride-hailing app for 5 dollars back to campus, but no one had accepted the ride for some time. Miranda appeared just as Theodore was debating whether to cancel his request. “Of course, it’s on the way,” she said. “Then, thank you very much!”

Theodore was tall and had long limbs, so Miranda offered him the front passenger seat. Madison was already sitting in the backseat, and adding him would have made things too cramped at the back.

The driver exclaimed in surprise when he saw Theodore, “Whoa, you’re quite a big guy. My car felt like it shrank once you got in.” Theodore was unsure of how to respond. He only scratched his head and flashed the driver a grin, showing off his pearly whites.

Fifteen minutes later, the car pulled up at the campus entrance. Theodore got out of the car. He looked at the three, puzzled when he saw they weren’t getting out. “We’ve arrived. Aren’t you guys getting out?”

Miranda answered, “We don’t live on campus.” “Oh, is that so… Thank you so much for the ride,” he said. Scratching his head, he pulled out a bill from his pocket. Then, he handed the folded bill to Miranda through the car window before running off.

Miranda was surprised when she saw what he had given her. It was a 20-dollar bill. In the technologically advanced world of mobile payments, most people only went around with their phones in hand. It had been a long time since Miranda held cash in her hands. Sebastian glanced at it and remarked, “He’s such an honest guy.”

Indeed, Theodore was being overly generous. The total fare was 25 dollars. After splitting among four persons, each person should only have to pay six to seven dollars. However, since Miranda and the others did not live on campus, Theodore decided to contribute 20 dollars as they went out of their way for him.

Madison sighed. “He just ended up with the wrong professor. Why did he choose Sophie?” Sebastian said, “Theodore and Joli are from the same hometown and know each other. Who else would he choose but Sophie?” “Really? How do you know that?” “Joli came over specifically to look for him at the opening ceremony.” “Ah, so he has some connections… Well, that explains a lot.”

Many people these days pretended to be clueless and feigned ignorance, but genuinely honest people like Theodore were few and far between.