Chapter 338 - 186: Drawing on Your Face
Once they actually started on the homework, Li Zhi’s "bad girl" mode vanished.
Li Zhi’s standards for Shen Yuan were already quite high, so when she noticed he was a little slow with his homework, she’d let a flicker of disdain show.
"I see this same type of problem in your error notebook, but you still can’t get it right. What’s the deal? Is that notebook just for flexing your wealth?"
"Tsk. If this multiple-choice question was on an actual answer sheet, even San Geng would have a higher chance of getting it right just by stepping on the page."
"You do the test with your mind, but write the data with your feet. The one on top is multiplication, the one below is addition. Were you propping up the paper with your foot? Is that why you read it crooked?"
"Tsk. According to your calculations, this electron must know Magic."
"Now I get why a brain might attack its own eyes. If they made me look at this garbage every day, I’d get rid of them for sure!"
Li Zhi’s barrage of insults shot over like machine-gun fire, every word a direct hit to the bullseye.
Shen Yuan felt his back tense up, her snarky comments buzzing in his ears.
He wanted nothing more than to bury his face in the worksheet, his forehead nearly pressed against the scratch paper. The previously sluggish gel pen in his hand suddenly seemed to have a turbocharger.
Shen Yuan didn’t dare look up at Li Zhi’s expression. He could only desperately pick up his pace, his left hand subconsciously clamping down on the edge of the worksheet, as if he were afraid it might actually get knocked crooked by a "foot."
He was like a tightly wound doll, with nothing left but the tip of his pen scrambling across the worksheet and a heart lodged in his throat.
At ten-thirty in the morning, amidst Li Zhi’s constant expressions of disdain, Shen Yuan finally finished his tasks for the morning.
"HUUUU..."
Shen Yuan let out a long sigh, his body feeling completely drained of energy. He collapsed into his chair, sliding down limply, even the fingers that had been clutching the pen were trembling slightly.
The gel pen rolled to the side, as if declaring a complete ceasefire in this battle.
His previously tense shoulders slumped. Shen Yuan stared blankly at the desktop, his mind still buzzing.
Li Zhi caught sight of his limp, vacant-eyed state, and the corners of her lips curved into a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
She reached out and patted his shoulder lightly, her tone teasing. "Reached your limit already? Just half a day’s worth of homework and you’re this exhausted?"
Shen Yuan wearily lifted his head. "Technically speaking, half a day is twelve hours. We’ve only been at this for three."
"And even if we go by the common use of ’half a day,’ that’s at least from 6:00 AM to 11:30 AM. That’s five and a half hours."
"Or if you compare it to a standard exam, a single math test is two and a half hours, and physics is..."
Shen Yuan was listing various examples of "normal time" to justify his exhaustion, trying to make Li Zhi understand just how grueling those three hours of high-intensity homework had been.
But suddenly, his words died in his throat, as if an invisible hand had clamped around it.
Because at some point, an unnervingly kind and dazzlingly bright smile had appeared on Li Zhi’s face.
The young woman tilted her head slightly, her dark eyes curving into crescents, the upward arc of her lips so perfect it looked painted on.
But instead of making Shen Yuan feel any warmth or relief, the smile was like a basin of ice water dumped over his head in the dead of winter, instantly freezing his tongue and throat.
The air seemed to freeze in that moment. Even the little kittens stopped their meowing.
That familiar, scalp-tingling pressure, like a prey animal facing its predator, was far more terrifying than the earlier machine-gun barrage of insults.
Shen Yuan clearly felt a cold sweat instantly break out across his back.
Shen Yuan’s survival instincts kicked into overdrive.
Almost instantaneously, he shot both hands up in surrender and said decisively, "I was wrong! So, so, profoundly wrong! Okay, I’ll shut up! I’ll do the afternoon homework! Right now! Immediately!"
Shen Yuan frantically snatched the chemistry worksheet from beside him, spreading it open with a RUSTLE. He stared intently at the page, as if it were a life-saving talisman.
Seeing him act this way, the brilliant smile on Li Zhi’s face receded with the astonishing speed of a turning tide.
In its place was a cold serenity. The eyes that had been crescents of mirth now held no trace of a smile, leaving only a bottomless scrutiny and a barely perceptible hint of scorn.
She watched his cowering-quail act—the way he looked like he wanted to nail himself to the worksheet—without speaking or looking away, only narrowing her eyes slightly.
A moment later, the young woman’s calm voice broke the silence in the study.
A soft click of the tongue, tinged with impatience.
"Tsk."
Shen Yuan froze. The tip of his pen jabbed an ink blot onto the paper, and his heart leaped into his throat.
’Is it starting again? A new storm?’
However, the anticipated verbal assault never came.
"Alright, Shen Yuan," she said, her voice laced with a faint weariness and an all-seeing insight. "Stop acting."
Li Zhi’s hand rested gently on Shen Yuan’s shoulder as her gaze swept over his still-trembling fingers and pale face.
"...A balance of work and rest, you get me? Now."
She jutted her chin nonchantly toward the bedroom. "Go. Rest. Drink some water, zone out, or... go flop onto the bed and be a slime for a while."
Shen Yuan was stunned for a full three seconds.
His mind buzzed, barely able to process the sudden twist.