Chapter 36 A Trivial Matter

In the past, Lianyi would spend her weekends happily eating, drinking, and having fun.

After all, with a secondary account constantly keeping her in check, if she didn't relax a bit more, it would be disrespectful to this cheat system.

But this weekend, Lian Yi quickly lost the initial pleasure and wicked sense of humor in teasing Xie Ling as his threshold gradually increased.

Even later on, Xie Ling would tap the table with a serious expression, her tone equally cold and indifferent.

"Lian, paying attention in class is the most basic respect you can show yourself."

"..."

Who on earth wanted to play this teacher-student role-playing game?!

As Lian Yi listened to the knowledge points that she already knew by heart, her eyes gradually became dull. Sitting on the sofa, her cat-like eyes slowly turned into cross-eyed eyes, and she had to be reminded by Teacher Xie's occasional warning taps on the table.

"The problem I just mentioned involves repeatedly using inequality bounding, rigorously considering whether the equality signs can hold simultaneously, and adding some functional isomorphisms..."

"Xie Ling!"

Lian Yi exclaimed in frustration, interrupting him. Meeting Teacher Xie's calm and indifferent gaze, she took a deep breath and tugged at the strands of hair that fell across her chest, looking somewhat aggrieved.

"I'm so bored! Learning should be fun, right? These past two days my brain has been filled with Taylor series, this inequality, that inequality, ugh—"

She decided to playfully fall to the other end of the sofa.

The reason he didn't do anything indecent to Xie Ling anymore was simply because he had become increasingly adept at playing the role of 'teacher' these past two days. It would be one thing to be frivolous.

But he really did have an air of sacred inviolability, and now when Lian Yi saw his face, she had lost all interest in the handsome young man with pale skin and dark hair.

All that could be heard in my mind was Xie Ling's indifferent voice as she spoke about the problem.

Xie Ling paused, watching Lian Yi roll around on the sofa without any regard for her image.

He lowered his eyes, suppressing the slight amusement in his heart, and said coldly, "The final exams start the day after tomorrow, and there are less than half a year left until the college entrance examination. Although you learn very quickly, your learning progress is too far behind."

"If you can't stand the boredom and want to relax right now if you don't work hard, then when will you ever start to get serious?"

After two days of tutoring, Xie Ling gained a better understanding of another aspect of Lian Yi's personality.

She has a bad temper and little patience, and she's always only enthusiastic for a short time. But when it comes to things she's promised, even if she's impatient, she'll surprisingly stick to them.

Even this persistence quickly turned into frustration and a desire to give up.

Xie Ling stared coldly at her with her clear black and white eyes, her mind racing through her limited experiences with her relatives' children. After a long while, she sighed helplessly, "If you can solve this problem, I can promise you something within my ability, okay?"

If Lianyi continues to linger like this, it will only delay her learning progress.

Xie Ling was used to doing things well once he had promised to do them. He knew that Lian Yi's personality could only be appeased, and he also knew what kind of attraction could motivate her.

Sure enough, the girl on the sofa suddenly sat up the next moment, looking at him with sparkling amber eyes.

"real?"

"Hmm." Xie Ling lowered his eyes and created a new question below the one he had just discussed. If Lian Yi had listened carefully to what he had said, it wouldn't have been too difficult for her to solve this question.

"The premise is that you can solve this problem."

Lian Yi became interested, glanced down at it, and then raised her eyebrows in surprise.

They even secretly increased the difficulty and buried a trap in the question. If you just follow the previous approach and solve the problem by rote, you will only end up in a dead end.

Ha, she knew Xie Ling wouldn't be that kind.

But she still had to put on an act. Lian Yi snatched the pen and notebook, pushed Xie Ling aside, and bent over, almost lying on the coffee table, ready to solve the problem. Before putting pen to paper, she gave Xie Ling a confident look.

"Once I solve it, you're not allowed to renege."

Xie Ling almost laughed. She propped herself up on the sofa to get up and boil water, saying calmly, "Okay, I won't cheat."

He took the kettle to the balcony to fill it with water, watched the water flow from the tap, and then looked back into the living room as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

The house is always very quiet; my parents leave early and return late every day.

In Xie Ling's memory, the only thing he saw when he returned home was the meal his parents had prepared when they had a spare moment. He would only see his parents, looking tired and weary, when he came home after evening self-study or after he had finished studying and taken a shower.

Even when they returned, they only spoke a few words to him before urging him to rest early and move around gently, fearing that his physical strength, accustomed to manual labor, would affect his studies and rest.

Since my father fell ill, the house has felt eerily quiet and lifeless.

He watched as Lian Yi practically lay on the table, her expression gradually becoming blank as she scribbled and drew randomly. The dim, yellowish sunset shone into the living room from the balcony, making it appear even darker. Yet, in this somewhat oppressive and cramped environment, her expression was vivid and full of spirit.

It wasn't until water droplets splashed onto her hand from the nearly overflowing kettle that Xie Ling's somewhat dazed and aloof eyes snapped back to reality. She lowered her gaze and turned off the tap.

"Ugh, Xie Ling, why are there mosquitoes in your house in the middle of winter? Kill them quickly, they're interfering with my problem-solving!"

The girl complained in a clear voice, turning her head to look at Xie Ling as she walked out from the balcony.

"If you really can't solve it, you can ask me for help."

Xie Ling bent down, placed the kettle down, and turned it on, saying calmly, "Don't let the mosquitoes carry such a heavy burden."

"Who said that!"

Lian Yi angrily reached out and waved her hand at him. She had thought she had acted enough and it was time to answer the questions. She was looking forward to seeing Xie Ling's reaction.

Suddenly, my arm felt a sharp, prickling sensation, and as the red, swollen bump rose, an unbearable itch followed.

She was used to being bossy and domineering. If Xu Qingyao were around, she would have already applied the ointment with tears in her eyes by now, and after finishing, she would have wanted to wipe out all the mosquitoes within a ten-mile radius.

Therefore, he treated Xie Ling with an attitude that took it all for granted.

"Wait a moment." Xie Ling noticed the strikingly large swelling on her arm and softened her tone. "I'll go get some floral water."

"I don't want floral water!" Lian Yi looked at him, blinking her eyes, her mind, which hadn't been full of troublemaking thoughts, suddenly turned mischievous.

"Scratch me, it's so itchy."

Xie Ling's ears turned slightly red, and she frowned, saying, "Applying floral water can relieve the itch, and you can do it yourself."

"I don't care, it's your mosquitoes' fault for biting me. I still have homework to do, where am I going to find the time to scratch an itch?" Lian Yi adopted a shameless attitude, looking up at him with her face upturned, refusing to back down.

The redness around the bump on her arm, spreading from the initial swelling, contrasted sharply with her pearly white skin, making it look quite alarming.

Xie Ling obviously didn't realize that it was such a trivial matter as being bitten by a mosquito, why make such a fuss?

But Lian Yi's stubbornness left him no time to think too much. He felt a little helpless and lowered his eyes to think for a moment. "I'll go light a mosquito coil first."

"Oh, remember to put it far away, it smells awful," Lian Yi said irritably.

"knew."

After returning from lighting mosquito coils, Xie Ling ultimately didn't scratch her itch.

Lian Yi was leisurely waiting for him to serve her when she saw Xie Ling calmly walk over with a wet towel that he had wrung out. He folded the towel and placed it on the swollen bumps from the mosquito bites on her.

"Scratching can easily break the skin and doesn't work very well. Applying a damp towel will make it heal quickly."

Xie Ling said calmly, "Next time I'll make sure to light mosquito coils first to drive away the mosquitoes, so can you concentrate on answering the questions now?"

"……snort."

Lian Yi glanced at him, then looked away. As expected of a true heiress's fishpond, it was so compliant with male virtues.

I miscalculated.

With a hint of reluctance, Lian Yi quickly wrote out the entire solution process, then sat up straight with confidence, her chin held high. "Here, please check it, Teacher Xie."

She wrote so quickly that Xie Ling was still wiping the water stains off her hands with a tissue, looking down at the notebook.

The process was correct, and the answer was correct.

Xie Ling glanced at it calmly, then pointed her long, slender fingers at one of the steps. "Your thinking is very clear on this verification. It seems you know how to do it."

"..."

Lian Yi looked in the direction he was pointing and blinked innocently.

Is this the keen insight that one must possess to become a true goldfish pond?

When she was solving the problem, she didn't pay much attention to the difficulty of the question and for a moment overlooked the fact that the proof was beyond the scope of her learning ability.

Even if you know how, you shouldn't be able to use it so skillfully.

"Okay, I admit it. I asked Xu Qingyao to explain the key points of the homework you assigned last night." Lian Yi showed no embarrassment at being caught. She smiled and readily admitted her feelings.

"That way you won't think I'm too stupid."

Xie Ling thought of the 'pursuit' she had mentioned, and her brows relaxed slightly, a hint of helplessness in her eyes.

He was somewhat unaccustomed to such a serious and unpretentious pursuit.

Between Lian Yi and him, due to various factors, even polite rejections and subsequent attempts to maintain distance became ineffective under her unbridled sabotage.

For a moment, Xie Ling couldn't deny that he really had no way to deal with Lian Yi.

"At least you're willing to try, which is a good thing."

He paused, then said, "I promised you earlier, now you can make a request that I can handle."

Lian Yi's seriousness about this matter was indeed beyond Xie Ling's expectations, but she would not go back on her word.

Therefore, even if Lian Yi takes advantage of the situation to make some strange requests, he will agree to them as long as they are not too outrageous.

"How about we go on a date after the final exams?"

Lian Yi had been waiting for this moment. With a bright smile, she leaned forward slightly and said to him earnestly, word by word, "Teacher Xie, is that alright?"