Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
Hao Ren pushed the door open and walked in. Zhao Yanzi had already put on her most favorite pink pajamas, and her pigtails had already been loosened, making her black and shiny hair covered her little face.
She sat in front of her desk and was actually doing homework.
“Um! Um!” Hao Ren made some noises from his nose.
Zhao Yanzi didn’t talk to Hao Ren. She looked at her homework, pouted, and held a ballpoint pen as she tried to solve the problems.
Hao Ren walked over lightly, pulled over a chair beside her, and sat down.
Zhao Yanzi stopped for a bit, thought for a few seconds, and continued to solve the problems.
The Grade Nine courses were more intense, and the best strategy for getting good marks on the high school entrance exams was answering loads of questions.
The teachers of every subject had handed out many mock exam papers this weekend, and Zhao Yanzi stopped copying answers from Ling and decided to solve the questions herself.
Seeing her being serious and angry at the same time, Hao Ren couldn’t help but smile, and he rested his head on her hand as he watched Zhao Yanzi solve the questions.
Zhao Yanzi’s eyelashes were long, and her black pupils were like two black gems. Hao Ren could even see the reflection of the questions from her crystal-clear eyes.
When she encountered difficult questions, she had a habit of biting the top of the pen, and she pouted her pink lips and frowned at the same time. It was very interesting watching her.
Hao Ren didn’t bother her and watched her work hard on the exam papers.
Zhao Yanzi didn’t care that Hao Ren was staring at her and continued solving the problems. She held her anger to herself and thought, “Everything about Xie Yujia is great. Even her grades are close to perfect. But can’t I win against her?”
Zhao Yanzi didn’t know that Xie Yujia envied her cultivation speed and was unwilling to accept that as well. Xie Yujia had been trying her best to get to Zhao Yanzi’s realm.
“Zi! Dinner time!” Zhao Hongyu yelled downstairs.
“Okay! Coming!” Zhao Yanzi dropped her ballpoint pen and ran toward the staircase.
She completely ignored Hao Ren to express her dissatisfaction. Zhao Hongyu favored Xie Yujia, and Hao Ren also cared about Xie Yujia.
“It’s dinner time, Ren!” Zhao Hongyu yelled again when she only saw Zhao Yanzi running out.
“Okay…” When Hao Ren walked out, Zhao Yanzi had already run downstairs and sat beside the dining table.
Zhao Guang, who sat on the sofa, put down the newspaper in his hand and walked toward the dining table.
“Uncle,” Hao Ren greeted.
“Um, how’s school?” Zhao Guang asked.
“School’s alright. Uncle, how was the trip to Yuhuang Mountain?” Hao Ren asked.
Zhao Yanzi snorted lightly when she saw Hao Ren chatting with her parents.
“We had a great conversation. Ciyun Dragon King led us to a dozen other dragon palaces in the Southwest,” Zhao Guang said.
The visits over these few days were very crucial to East Ocean Dragon Clan. They could say that Xie Yujia’s elixir pills helped out the East Ocean Dragon Palace right away.
Zhao Guang told Hao Ren these because he treated Hao Ren as a core member of East Ocean, and Hao Ren should know the important news.
Zhao Hongyu nodded slightly.
In fact, she wanted to call over Xie Yujia for dinner because she wanted to thank her. No matter what, Xie Yujia had helped East Ocean a lot indirectly despite her not being a cultivator of East Ocean.
“Zi, I hope you and Xie Yujia will get along better from now on,” Zhao Guang said when he saw Zhao Yanzi’s pouting, oily lips.
“Oh!” Zhao Yanzi replied unwillingly.
“Let’s start. Eat and talk at the same time,” Zhao Hongyu said when she saw that Zhao Guang and Hao Ren had been chatting for a while.
“Ok, let’s start eating!” Zhao Guang said with enthusiasm.
He went to the dragon palaces in the Southwest, and the elders there kept on praising Hao Ren. This made Zhao Guang very proud, and he was pleased when he saw Hao Ren again.
“Dad… can you help me with something?” Zhao Yanzi suddenly interrupted when they were almost done with dinner.
“What is it?” Zhao Guang face suddenly fell when he heard Zhao Yanzi speak.
This daughter of his didn’t listen to him and was also immature. In contrast, Zhao Guang seemed to like Hao Ren more.
Sensing Zhao Guang’s change of attitude, Zhao Yanzi bit her lip and said, “Hao Ren got probation as a punishment at school. Can you help him get rid of it?”
“Oh? There’s such a thing?” Zhao Guang looked at Hao Ren in astonishment.
“Lu Qing is in control of East Ocean University, and Hao Ren isn’t someone who would get in trouble. How come he got a punishment?” he thought.
“It’s nothing, Uncle!” Hao Ren didn’t expect Zhao Yanzi to plead for him, so he quickly shook his head and tried to minimize this.
Zhao Yanzi looked at Hao Ren and knew that he wouldn’t take the initiative to mention the probation.
She said this because she hoped that Zhao Guang could help Hao Ren resolve this. She tried to mock Hao Ren on purpose when they were in front of the bulletin board at East Ocean University, but she didn’t want to see Hao Ren get punished.
“Dad! Please help him! He got probation as a punishment because a few hooligans harassed me, and he got rid of them for me…” Zhao Yanzi explained.
She didn’t bother to talk to Hao Ren before, but she became anxious when they spoke of this matter; she was afraid that Zhao Guang wouldn’t help.
“You are good at causing trouble!” Zhao Guang looked at Zhao Yanzi in dissatisfaction.
Zhao Guang immediately thought that Zhao Yanzi caused the trouble and dragged Hao Ren in there when Zhao Yanzi said that Hao Ren didn’t do anything wrong.
Zhao Yanzi felt wronged, but she felt like she could endure it. In her mind, it would be worth it if her dad scolded her and got rid of Hao Ren’s punishment.
She knew that Hao Ren had done a lot for her and was touched by those things, but she felt jealous when she saw Hao Ren and Xie Yujia together.
“It seems like Ren doesn’t have any responsibilities. Is Lu Qing busy with the dragon clan and didn’t have time to take care of such things at school? Why don’t you give the Principal a call?” Zhao Hongyu said.
If Zhao Yanzi didn’t tell them, she wouldn’t know that Hao Ren was getting a severe punishment like probation.
“Yeah, Dad! Please give him a call! Aren’t we sponsoring East Ocean University? Give him a call and cancel Hao Ren’s punishment!” Zhao Yanzi tried to persuade Zhao Guang as well.
Her eyes were watery, and her pleading tone was very innocent.
“Look at the trouble caused by you! I can call him, but you have to copy down everything in the first 100 chapters of the Guwen Guanzhi 1 !” Zhao Guang said in a stern tone.
“Oh…” Zhao Yanzi didn’t try to negotiation and nodded.
Zhao Hongyu looked at Zhao Yanzi in shock because this was the first time she saw her daughter accepting punishment for another person willingly.
Copying the first 100 chapters in Guwen Guanzhi would take almost an entire night!
Hao Ren didn’t expect Zhao Yanzi to take the blame for him. He was a bit surprised and said immediately, “Uncle, regarding this matter, it’s not what she said! I fought with some students in the cafeteria; it has nothing to do with Zi…”
Zhao Yanzi saw that Hao Ren tried to take over the blame, and her eyes widened in confusion.
Zhao Guang smiled when he saw them trying to take responsibility and cover up for each other.
“My daughter has grown up. She wouldn’t admit her own mistake even when she lost her dragon core. But now, she would rather copy the ancient writings for an entire night to get rid of the punishment for Hao Ren…” he thought.
When Zhao Yanzi saw Zhao Guang’s smile, she believed that there would be a twist to the situation. She thought, “I didn’t think that there would be times where Dad would show leniency.”
However, Zhao Guang continued, “That’s it, Zi. If you copy the first 100 chapters in Guwen Guanzhi, I’ll give the Principal a call after dinner and ask him about the situation.”
He looked at Zhao Yanzi and asked, “Are there any questions, Zi?”
“No…” Zhao Yanzi shook her head.
She knew that probation was very serious. If she could help Hao Ren get rid of the punishment, it was worth it for her to stay up all night. Obviously, it would be better if he could waive the penalty.
“Uncle, about this…” Hao Ren wanted to explain a bit more, but Zhao Guang waved his hand.
He said, “Okay, I might not be able to waive it for you. I’m just asking about the situation.”
Zhao Hongyu looked at Hao Ren, and he could only stop talking.
Zhao Yanzi was already getting punished because of him. If Hao Ren talked more and reject Zhao Yanzi’s help, he would put Zhao Yanzi’s effort in vain.
“All 100 chapters have to be written in the standard ancient font. You can’t write carelessly, and you aren’t allowed to get Ren’s help either. I will read every chapter carefully,” Zhao Guang said as he glanced at Zhao Yanzi, stood up, and walked toward his study room.
Zhao Yanzi pouted, looked at Hao Ren, finished her rice before going back to the second floor.
“Zi’s dad is punishing her. It’s not just about this incident,” Zhao Hongyu said as she looked at Hao Ren.
“Um…” Hao Ren nodded. When he was about to go upstairs, Zhao Hongyu said again, “Zi actually cares about you quite a bit.”
Hao Ren thought for a bit and smiled when he remembered the serious look Zhao Yanzi had on her face while putting the band-aids on his palm.
“Zi has a temper, but she isn’t a bad person,” Hao Ren said.
“It’s good that you know.” Zhao Hongyu nodded gently.
“Then… I’ll go upstairs and spend some time with her?” Hao Ren asked Zhao Hongyu.
“Go!” Zhao Hongyu smiled.
Hao Ren smiled, walked toward the staircase, and pushed the door open before entering Zhao Yanzi’s bedroom.
“Alright, you just finished eating at my house. Aren’t you going back?” Seeing Hao Ren coming inside again, Zhao Yanzi spoke harshly immediately.
Hao Ren touched his nose and walked over awkwardly. He didn’t expect that Zhao Yanzi would try to get rid of his punishment for him; he thought she was just gloating over his misfortune.
Seeing Hao Ren still walking over, Zhao Yanzi blushed, grabbed the ballpoint pen on the table, and continued to do the math exam paper.
After she finished writing the math and English exam papers, she planned to copy the first 100 chapters on the Guwen Guanzhi later tonight and try to hand it into Zhao Guang by tomorrow morning.
Even though Zhao Guang said that he was just going to ask the school, Zhao Yanzi knew that her dad could definitely withdraw Hao Ren’s punishment.
“Aren’t you going back?” Zhao Yanzi couldn’t help but asked when she saw Hao Ren stand there, not sitting down or leaving.
“It’s still early. I’ll leave in a moment,” Hao Ren replied and added, “I’ll stay with you for a while.”
Zhao Yanzi’s act of getting herself punished to withdraw Hao Ren’s probation indeed surprised Hao Ren. After all, his probation didn’t have anything to do with her.
Probation was more severe, so the school needed to make it sound more reasonable and had to add in the fight outside of the school.
Zhao Yanzi was very smart. She probably knew that this punishment had nothing to do with her. However, for Zhao Guang to come forward, she still put herself into the situation.
Zhao Yanzi turned around to look at Hao Ren. Simply hearing the phrase, I’ll stay with you for a while, made her felt warm inside.
If it were before, she would want Hao Ren to go as soon as possible and be the only person in the bedroom. However, she still wanted Hao Ren to stay with her when she said she wanted Hao Ren to leave right now.
“Check my answers after I’m done.” Zhao Yanzi looked at the exam papers and said in a soft voice.
“Oh, okay.” Hao Ren looked at the time, and it wasn’t late yet. He sat in the chair next to Zhao Yanzi.
Zhao Yanzi stared at the exam papers, and her black hair slid down her ear, revealing her snowy neck in the pajamas.
From the serious look on her face, Hao Ren could tell that she started to work harder since she was in Grade Nine.
Time passed by bit by bit. Zhao Yanzi’s white arms which stuck out from her short-sleeved pajamas slowly moved on top of the exam papers.
“I didn’t call Xie Yujia over today, because… she likes you.” Zhao Yanzi was silent for a while before suddenly talking.
Hao Ren looked at her and was surprised to hear her honest words.
Seeing her angry face, Hao Ren couldn’t help but laugh.
“What are you laughing at!” Zhao Yanzi stared at Hao Ren fiercely.
“Are you done with the exam papers?” Hao Ren asked.
“Yes!” Zhao Yanzi pushed the exam papers in front of Hao Ren.
Hao Ren picked up a pencil to check Zhao Yanzi’s questions. When Zhao Yanzi was doing the questions, he looked at them at the same time. Therefore, he pretty much knew if Zhao Yanzi did them correctly or not.
Zhao Yanzi rushed over to look at Hao Ren’s corrections, and her back leaned on Hao Ren’s arms.
“This question is wrong. It’s cubed here, not squared…”
“And here, it’s your old habit. Don’t be too careless about getting rid of absolute values…”
The air conditioning was turned on in Zhao Yanzi’s bedroom, and the temperature was low. Zhao Yanzi wore thin pajamas and curled up in Hao Ren’s arms while she listened to his detailed explanations.
Back in the days, Hao Ren also did loads of questions in Grade Nine. He knew Grade Nine’s material the best, and that was why he explained thoroughly and patiently.
Zhao Yanzi felt content in Hao Ren’s arms and found Hao Ren’s voice attractive.
“Do you understand?” Hao Ren asked her suddenly.
Zhao Yanzi turned her head and looked up at Hao Ren.
Hao Ren looked at her, and his heart pounded like crazy.
Zhao Yanzi slightly straightened her body and bit Hao Ren’s lips softly and slowly.
Hao Ren’s heart raced, and his hands that were on the table stiffened.
The air conditioning was turning and making noises in the silent room, and the sound of lips touching was noticeable as well. Zhao Yanzi looked cute as her body turned sideways and her shoulder leaned against Hao Ren’s chest.
Hao Ren felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat. He touched her tiny mouth carefully, and his brain which was filled with all kinds of mathematical theorems blanked out.
Zhao Yanzi’s tiny tongue tried to touch Hao Ren’s lips, and Hao Ren kissed her softly and lightly bit the tip of her tongue.
His stiff hands carefully held her slender waist and still felt the softness with his arms.
“Okay.” Zhao Yanzi pulled back her head. Her face was red, and the corner of her mouth was a bit moist.
Hao Ren looked at her closely, lowered his head, and kissed her lips one more time.
Zhao Yanzi’s heart was racing as well; this was already her limit. She moved her shoulders and gently broke free from Hao Ren’s arms. She looked at the exam papers with panic and said, “Oh… I got six questions wrong…”
Hao Ren’s arms were still around Zhao Yanzi’s waist, and he slightly put pressure on her stomach so that she leaned against his chest.
While Hao Ren was telling himself not to do anything more, Zhao Yanzi pouted and said, “It’s pretty late. You should go back.”
