Shen Mo watched her for a while, as she solved the problem on scratch paper, didn’t get it right, and went back to reread the question, trying a second time…
After three attempts, he began to grow impatient.
When she wrote down a formula that didn’t match the question, he finally spoke up sharply:
“That’s wrong!”
Hua Jie jumped in fright, suddenly feeling a surge of injustice inside.
Why was he so harsh?
Was it because he thought she was dumb?
She was already trying hard to find the right direction; couldn’t he be a bit more patient?
Meeting the young girl’s somewhat moist eyes, Shen Mo’s desire to scold her further was forcibly suppressed.
He pressed his lips together, grinding his teeth, facing off against her eyes that carried a hint of accusation.
“Give me the pen,” he commanded.
“…” Hua Jie clenched her teeth, showing a bit of stubbornness.
Watching her tearful yet defiant and aggrieved appearance, Shen Mo suddenly felt irritated.
Since she wouldn’t give him the pen, he simply reached out and took her small fist that was holding the pen, stared at the paper, and controlled her hand to write.
Scribble, scribble, scribble—her small hand gripping the pen, controlled by his as she wrote down line after line.
While writing, he also explained the solution to her, his tone firm, but his speaking speed had unconsciously slowed down considerably.
“…” Hua Jie stared down at the tip of the pen and the characters falling onto the paper, the shadows of her lashes resting on her eyes, her lips drawn into a straight line, her expression indescribable.
The young man’s hands were very large, completely enveloping her small ones. Each time he exerted force while writing, it made her heart flutter.
His palms were so warm, his fingers so firm and strong.
Her gaze unintentionally swept to his large hands; the way his hands moved with hers on the scratch paper, occasionally the veins and knuckles would tense up, exuding an inexplicable sexiness.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself, forcing her focus onto his explanations and the writing, but her heartbeat uncontrollably quickened, and the temperature on her cheeks recklessly soared.
Hua Jie remained silent; he was an innocent young man, just being stubborn and forcefully teaching her.
She couldn’t show any odd reactions, or it would seem like she was overly mature and fanciful, potentially making things awkward for both of them.
Indeed, when she stole a glance at Shen Mo, the young man looked natural, super focused on explaining the problem, showing no signs of being distracted or overly emotional, his words still emphatic.
It must be her, the adult, who was being inappropriate, always indulging in frivolous thoughts.
Taking another deep breath, Hua Jie focused on the lines of solution Shen Mo had controlled her hand to write, and soon said:
“I got it now!”
Her small hand gently struggled, trying to pull away from his grasp to write on her own.
“Really?” He turned his head to look at her skeptically, seemingly unconvinced.
And he didn’t loosen his grip either; his fingers remained tightly clasped, his warmth scalding her.
“Really!” Hua Jie turned to meet his eyes, nodding earnestly.
“…” Shen Mo stared at her for a few seconds, seeing her certainty, he finally let go of her hand and slowly withdrew his arm.
The area he had gripped felt suddenly chilly when exposed to the air.
Her gaze swept over her hand, noticing white fingerprints where he had squeezed too tightly.
Steadying herself, she flexed her fingers and began to write down the subsequent solution on the next line.
Shen Mo, seeing her bow her head to write, suddenly turned away, his eyes darting elsewhere, quietly exhaling a breath.
He brushed his fingers along his temples, letting the slightly longer short hair cover his ears that were beginning to feel hot and turn red.
Worried she might notice the unusual color on his flushed cheeks, he lifted his arm as if to rest his cheek on his hand, but in reality, he used it to cover the entire side of his face that was closest to her.
When he turned back to her, he had regained his calm and composed expression, but the hand that had just held hers still felt tingly and itchy inside.
Hua Jie finished the problem and pushed it towards him to check.
The young man glanced down and said, “You did it correctly.”
“Hahaha, I guess I’m not that dumb after all.” The girl immediately cheered up, her face lighting up with pride and joy, completely forgetting the frustration and grievance she felt when he had been harsh on her earlier.
Shen Mo watched her cheerful demeanor, and the itchiness in his heart eased, replaced by a warmth.
Little Potato was truly the world’s most forgiving person, carefree and simple.
The warm yellow light in the room made the girl’s short hair look soft.
She wasn’t wearing a sweater, just a school uniform jacket over her thermal shirt, the zipper pulled halfway up, exposing the small round neck of the thermal shirt cutting across her delicate and beautiful collarbone.
Her neck was slender and fair, and when she looked down at the problem, the line where her black hair met her fair skin was stark, almost shockingly beautiful to him.
He hurriedly lowered his gaze to avoid her attractive neckline, but as his eyes passed over her legs, he suddenly caught sight of a patch of fair skin.
“Hua Jie,” he said.
“Hmm?” She looked his way.
“Your pants have a hole in them,” he stated.
“? Ah!” Following his gaze down, she indeed saw a thumb-sized hole on the side of her school trousers.
Because she hadn’t worn leggings under her uniform, a patch of tender pinkish-white skin was visible through the hole.
The young man quickly averted his gaze, deciding not to look at her anymore.
Hua Jie wasn’t embarrassed; she had worn hot pants in her previous life, so a small patch of skin showing was no big deal to her.
Her exclamation was not because of the exposure but because she was upset about her pants.
Now they needed mending, which was a hassle.
After being reborn, she found she no longer liked her old favorite jeans as much as she loved the school uniform, which symbolized youthful invincibility. She wished she could wear it every day to emphasize her student status.
Unfortunately, with the pants torn, she would have to leave them at home to sew tomorrow, which meant she couldn’t wear them, making her feel a bit sad.
“It’s okay, the color of my wool pants is almost the same as my school trousers, so I should be able to get by at school tomorrow without anyone noticing if they don’t look closely.” She patted the hole, suddenly declaring.
“…” Shen Mo finally shifted his gaze back.
How can she not be shy?
He saw her legs, and she didn’t blush or skip a beat. Does she not see him as a boy or what?
Suddenly feeling a bit discontent, he wanted to pinch her face until she cried out…
He forcibly held back, his gaze cooling as he checked the time. It was already past ten o’clock; it was time for them to go back to their rooms.
Pursing his lips, he gathered the scratch papers, and then noticed the complex problem on the top again.
Turning his head to see her still fussing with her pants, he said:
“Although this big question isn’t beyond our syllabus, we’ve never dealt with such a complex integration of knowledge in a single physics problem before. It’s actually very difficult, and even the class physics representative might not be able to answer it.”
“Hmm?” Hua Jie looked up.
“Even though I solved the first part for you, you were able to understand the thought process and immediately write out the solution for the latter part. That’s actually very, very smart.” He praised her generously, like a wealthy man distributing grain to the poor:
“Not bad at all, worthy of being my deskmate.”
He even patted her shoulder with the demeanor of a high-ranking leader.
“Really?” The girl immediately raised her eyebrows, her cat-like eyes round and sparkling with eager light.
“Of course, have I ever lied to you?” he teased her.
The girl shook her head, then her mouth widened into a huge grin, laughing so hard that her eyes squinted shut, and she even threw her head back in laughter.
He could almost see her stomach.
Indeed, she was excessively cheerful.
“I’m super smart, haha!” She propped her elbows on the table, cupping her face in her hands, beaming like a fool.
“I just meant you’re okay compared to others,” he couldn’t help but correct her.
“To think that Shen Mo, who usually looks at the rest of the world with a ‘you are all idiots except for me’ attitude, would praise my intelligence, hahaha…” She seemed not to hear his last comment at all, completely lost in his praise, laughing happier and happier.
Such joy was so infectious that the usually quiet and serene study seemed to fill with many noisy and excited little sprites dancing around.
Shen Mo actually felt an urge to laugh along with her, as if he was under a spell.
He couldn’t help but push her head, “Stop laughing, go back and sleep.”
“…Oh, haha, okay.” Hua Jie stood up, stretched lazily, and obediently walked ahead.
She kept laughing as she walked, clearly very pleased and proud.
Watching her retreating figure, Shen Mo thought: Is she really that happy to be praised by me?
…
Back in his room, Shen Mo placed “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,” which he had taken from the study, on the bedside table to read before bed.
Entering the bathroom to brush his teeth, he suddenly paused as he looked in the mirror.
The young man’s hairstyle looked super cool, and even after a tiring day of fun, it still looked satisfying to him.
But…
Why was there a white mustache above his upper lip?!
He rubbed it with his hand, and then remembered, it must have been from the milk he drank earlier, leaving a film of milk skin.
But… it had been hours since he finished the milk…
Could it be… that during the entire time in the study with Hua Jie, he had this on his face?
While he sternly criticized her for the wrong answers, and authoritatively explained the problems to her, he had this look???
“…” Angrily wiping off the ‘mustache,’ he glared at his reflection in the mirror, growing more upset the more he thought about it.
Little Potato didn’t even remind him!
Was she really laughing so happily earlier just because he praised her?
He seriously doubted it; maybe she was laughing at him!
The young man’s cheeks in the mirror suddenly turned red, his eyes blazed with fire, and his ears burned.
…
…
Late at night, after reading a story about a seductive ghost in a ruined temple enticing a scholar to spend a spring night together, Shen Mo had a dream.
In the dream, there were fair and straight long legs, a slender neck tinged pink, delicate and beautiful collarbones, a soft waist, plump…
And the joyous laughter that unsettled him deeply.