Then, to the sound of Ah Jie’s regretful cries, Shen Yuan opened the vocabulary notebook.
He took a look and was completely floored.
In just two days, that fucking idiot Zhou Shaojie had managed to rack up another thirty words to copy.
’So that’s why he’s been showing up later and later recently.’
’Looks like he’s back to his old habits.’
"Zhou Shaojie, you’re toast! Slacking off, are you? Fine! I’ll teach you to slack off! Get him!"
With that, Zhou Shaojie was hoisted up by a few burly guys and carried toward the back door of the classroom.
"This Emperor admits his fault! Grand Tutor! Spare This Emperor!"
"AHHH!!"
The evening study session passed as usual, filled with the sounds of howork and laughter as they gave Zhou Shaojie an Aruba.
Shen Yuan was quick with his howork, finishing all six test papers before the end of the school day.
He had even finished a quarter of the Huanggang comprehensive science test Li Zhi had given him.
"Impressive, huh?"
As Li Zhi leaned against the doorfra and glanced up, Shen Yuan was holding the formula-covered Huanggang test paper high above his head.
"Impressive, huh? And I was super fast, right?"
Shen Yuan stood in the doorway, proudly showing off his work to Li Zhi. He intentionally rustled the paper, his voice lilting with unconcealed glee.
The boy’s neck was tilted back slightly, the line of his jaw and collarbone forming a proud curve. Like a triumphant general displaying his spoils of war, he thrust the calculation-covered paper another half-inch forward.
In the warm, yellow glow, Li Zhi’s lowered eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows beneath her eyes.
She unconsciously tightened her crossed arms, the knit cardigan over her pajamas wrinkling at her elbows.
Watching Shen Yuan’s ecstatic display, Li Zhi ntally gave him a massive eye-roll.
’A mont ago, Shen Yuan had called, saying in a rush that he needed to see her about sothing. He’d sworn it was incredibly important and refused to video chat. Li Zhi had thought sothing was wrong, but she never imagined it would be *this*.’
"For such a small thing..."
The pretty girl’s voice trailed off as she glimpsed the ink stains on Shen Yuan’s hand. A soft sigh escaped her, which she quickly masked with a deliberately cold tone:
"There was no need to co all the way here at this hour."
"No way!"
Shen Yuan looked at Li Zhi with a serious expression, the test paper in his hand rustling again as he gestured.
"But I finished it ahead of schedule!"
Li Zhi pouted. "And?"
"I seriously thought you weren’t going to eat with us. I’ll treat you so other ti, just the two of us!"
Shen Yuan chuckled, referring to the pizza from earlier that night.
But his chuckle died when he saw that Li Zhi’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest. The pretty girl’s face remained cold.
"All this for such a small thing? Do you know what ti it is? You sounded so urgent, I thought it was sothing important. I didn’t even have ti to dry my hair."
Under the warm yellow hallway light, Li Zhi’s loose, dark hair was still damp.
Her light-apricot nightdress rippled with her movents. The gray-blue knit cardigan hung loosely on her shoulders, forming lazy creases where she held her arms crossed.
Shen Yuan’s hand holding the test paper suddenly froze in mid-air, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed.
Only then did he realize the girl was barefoot in her slippers.
Her rounded, pearl-like toes were a pale pink, forming a subtle contrast with the faint blue veins visible on the top of her feet.
The nightdress fell perfectly to her calves, her ankle bones appearing semi-translucent like jade in the light and shadow.
"You..."
Shen Yuan opened his mouth, suddenly feeling his mouth go dry.
Only now did Shen Yuan belatedly realize that the citrus scent floating in the air was quite strong.
Clearly, Li Zhi had just gotten out of the shower not long ago.
This realization made the tips of his ears burn. His previously proud smile suddenly felt hollow, as if soone had pulled the solid ground out from under his feet.
Li Zhi followed Shen Yuan’s suddenly frozen gaze downwards, and her rounded toes instinctively curled, gripping her slippers.
She clenched her fists, leaving deep creases in the cuffs of her gray-blue cardigan as the tips of her ears turned pink.
"Shen! Yuan!"
Li Zhi practically squeezed those two words from between her teeth.
"No! I was looking at... at the test paper!"
Shen Yuan frantically unfurled the Huanggang test paper, the sharp RUSTLE of the paper piercing the silence of the hallway.
He randomly pointed to a major problem on electromagnetism, his throat making a strained motion as he swallowed. "You use the right-hand rule for this one, right? I-I was just thinking about the steps to solve it..."
Before Shen Yuan could finish, Li Zhi suddenly took a half-step forward. The scent of citrus, mingled with the fragrance of a closet sachet, rushed toward him.
"Solving it?"
Li Zhi sneered, her nose wrinkling cutely. Her slipper landed precisely on the toe of Shen Yuan’s own.
"A problem that requires you to stare at soone else to solve?"
As she leaned in, the hem of her nightdress brushed against the boy’s hot knees. Sweat instantly beaded on the back of Shen Yuan’s neck, and he gripped the test paper so hard its edges began to curl.
For a mont, Shen Yuan was too flustered to even notice the pain in his foot, and he scrambled to explain.
"I really wasn’t looking at your feet!"
Li Zhi snatched the test paper, quickly rolled it up, and smacked Shen Yuan hard on the head with it.
The pretty girl lowered her voice and hissed, "Did I say you were looking at my feet?! You’re just gonna expose your kink right out in the open like that?!"
"Whoa, sis, you’re not supposed to say words like that at this hour."
Li Zhi’s brow furrowed, but she quickly realized Shen Yuan’s aning.
Instantly, a shiver ran through her entire body.
The pretty girl quickly retreated inside her doorway, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"Fucking idiot Shen Yuan! You just love scaring !"
Seeing Li Zhi’s wary look, Shen Yuan chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head. "I really wasn’t looking at first."
"So you admit you looked later, huh!" Young Master Li shot him a husky-like warning glare.
Under Li Zhi’s interrogating gaze, Shen Yuan blinked, then nodded in confession. "I did. But hear out."
"I’m not listening, Selaan! I’m going to bed!"
With that, Li Zhi started to close the door.
"Hey, wait!" Shen Yuan caught the edge of her door. "Just one thing, then I’ll go."
Before Li Zhi could reply, Shen Yuan blurted out, "You look really beautiful today!"
Shen Yuan’s voice was a frantic whisper, as if the night had shattered it and he’d hastily pieced it back together. The final syllables trembled with a distinct, nervous hoarseness.
His Adam’s apple bobbed rapidly as he spoke, the taut line of his neck betraying his boyish panic in the interplay of light and shadow.
His slippers made a sharp scraping sound on the floor. Even his "good night" was left a shattered ss in the hallway.
Li Zhi’s back was pressed flat against her door. She could hear the frantic sound of the door across the hall slamming shut.
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