Xu Shiyue's voice was somewhat casual, as if she were just joking.
Those dark eyes reflected the starlight falling from the sky. Although they couldn't express any emotion, Lu Shizhen's heart still skipped a beat.
Little did she know that the original owner's drawing skills were so terrible.
Aren't all the crazy villains in those stories really good at drawing, but always dissatisfied with their own work, and then destroying it with their own hands when they go crazy...?
Why didn't the original owner allocate skill points according to the usual pattern?
No wonder she needed someone to design her rose garden; she simply couldn't draw it! That damned original owner.
Lu Shizhen gritted her teeth and thought to herself, then tried to explain, "That's right... it's precisely because I didn't draw well that I wanted to memorize those scenes as much as possible, otherwise it would be a real shame to forget them."
Upon hearing Lu Shizhen's words, Xu Shiyue inexplicably recalled the little girl she had met in a dream, and the painting hanging on the wall that had almost deceived her eyes.
Because she had once stepped out of this square room, she remembered the window and the scenery outside. And because she couldn't go out so often, she drew her thoughts on paper until she achieved the ultimate realism. An indescribable loneliness slowly crept up Xu Shiyue's fingertips.
This wasn't the first time she'd thought of that little girl again because of something Lu Shizhen said. She didn't know why she cared about a dream; could it be that she had known that little girl before? But Xu Shiyue quickly realized that this idea was absurd.
Over the years, she has only been hospitalized for extended periods twice. Once was when she was six years old and was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, staying in the hospital for more than a year. The other time was not long ago when she was rescued from a fire and was kept in the ward by Xu Shouxian.
But if she really had any contact with this little girl, she should remember it. Even at six years old, she couldn't possibly forget. Impossible.
As Lu Shizhen spoke, she looked up at Xu Shiyue.
Xu Shiyue still had the same slightly raised eyelashes as before, showing no signs of suspicion or wariness, but her eyes were deep and she seemed to be thinking about something.
Lu Shizhen was a little unsure if mentioning painting would make her think of anything else, so she pursed her lips slightly.
Then a flash of inspiration struck her, and she boldly combined her ideal with the original owner's current conditions: "Besides, not being good at drawing can't stop me from wanting to draw. As long as I practice diligently, I will definitely be able to draw very well."
Lu Shizhen's voice floated in Xu Shiyue's ear, as vibrant as ever.
She recalled the window the little girl had drawn in her memory, wondering where this person's blind confidence came from. Sometimes talent is far more terrifying than hard work.
However, these words, though on the tip of Xu Shiyue's tongue, were never uttered.
She gazed at the shadow before her, faintly inlaid with a layer of pale golden light, and as if struck by a thought, nodded thoughtfully, saying softly, "That's right, you have plenty of time."
Xu Shiyue spoke these words lightly, calmly as if offering encouragement. Lu Shizhen, however, suddenly felt a pang of heartache upon hearing them.
The near-perfect family configuration in this world became her shade, sheltering her from the worries of life and allowing her to use this identity to fulfill some of the dreams she couldn't achieve in her original world.
The tree that belonged to Xu Shiyue has fallen; she can only be her own tree.
She had plenty of time to change her situation, but she didn't have much time left; she was even fighting against time itself. Lu Shizhen looked at the books piled up on Xu Shiyue's desk and couldn't help but sigh softly.
Then Xu Shiyue's voice interrupted her sentimentality, "Have you finished all the interaction exercises?"
The feeling of being caught by the teacher in class fell on Lu Shizhen's head again. She looked down at her exercise book, which she had already annotated and corrected with red pen, and nodded, "I just didn't get the last two questions right, and I didn't understand the answers either."
Although Lu Shizhen's words were somewhat weak in tone, Xu Shiyue was still quite satisfied. She put down her Braille pen and said, "Read it to me."
“Oh.” Lu Shizhen nodded and read the problem to Xu Shiyue, “As shown in the figure, on a sufficiently long wooden board, A is at rest on a horizontal surface…”
Lu Shizhen's voice echoed softly in the quiet, sparsely populated reading room, and Xu Shiyue listened attentively.
She didn't use a pen; she just leaned back in her chair and jotted down the key data in the question, her slightly lowered eyes conveying a sense of ease and confidence.
Lu Shizhen glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and immediately sensed the huge gap between the top students and the underachievers in the school. She even felt that Xu Shiyue's level was even more impressive than that of the top students and should be called a genius.
“The displacement ratio is 6:11,” Xu Shiyue stated naturally, then asked in a nonchalant tone, “What don’t you understand?”
Lu Shizhen felt intellectually crushed. She forced a smile, her tone even weaker than before, and said, "You don't understand anything..."
There was a moment of silence.
Xu Shiyue felt that she shouldn't have asked that question.
After a pause, Xu Shiyue gestured for Lu Shizhen to bring over the pen and paper. Lu Shizhen quickly flipped to a blank page in her notebook. Lu Shizhen uncapped the ballpoint pen, and Xu Shiyue reached out to take it.
The girl's fingers briefly touched the web of her hand, leaving a warm, tacit understanding.
Xu Shiyue gripped the pen Lu Shizhen handed her, and without pausing, focused her blurry vision on the white paper, saying, "This problem should be analyzed like this..."
A breeze blew through the open window beside the desk in the distance, causing the white curtains to flutter and dance in the wind. Xu Shiyue's voice was clear and crisp, even more so in the nearly empty reading room. Lu Shizhen sat upright, trying hard to remember the key points Xu Shiyue was explaining to her.
But perhaps it was because Qiuqiu could provide her with high-definition instructional videos that she lost her sense of tension, and as she listened, that familiar drowsiness once again crept into her brain.
The lazy sun slowly moved to the middle of the mountain, and before five o'clock, the sky outside the window was already tinged with a golden-red twilight. Lu Shizhen felt that the saying "spring drowsiness and autumn fatigue" was absolutely true. The sunlight passed over Xu Shiyue's straight body and shone on her face, leaving only a soothing gentleness.
Physics and autumn fatigue combined to launch a fierce attack. A cool autumn breeze brushed against Lu Shizhen's cheek. Xu Shiyue's voice, like a gentle breeze, was clear and fleeting.
Seeing that Lu Shizhen's eyes had closed for a while, Qiuqiu's anxious voice entered Lu Shizhen's mind again, "Host, host, wake up, you can't sleep!"
Suddenly, Lu Shizhen opened her eyes.
Looking at Xu Shiyue's still-writing solution steps, she realized what she had almost done and looked like she was about to cry: "Qiuqiu, what should I do? I feel like it's tempting me."
"Hang in there, host! No teacher will like your poor study attitude," Qiu encouraged. "Xu Shiyue has gone to so much trouble to explain the problems to you; you can't let her feel like she's wasting her time!"
As Lu Shizhen listened, she couldn't help but recall the time when Xu Shiyue had interrupted her thoughts.
She already has so little time, yet she's still tutoring me; it would be so rude of me to fall asleep again. Thinking this, Lu Shizhen straightened her body, which had been slumping over. The pen tip scratched across the paper, making a soft, rustling sound—a rhythm that was somewhat hypnotic. Lu Shizhen tried to stay awake, her gaze involuntarily falling on Xu Shiyue's hands.
The pen she held was Lu Shizhen's most frequently used one, its black barrel creating a striking contrast against her fair skin. Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a faint pink hue on the back of her hand, which, though slightly cool, revealed its delicate, beautiful bone structure. Lu Shizhen's attention was always drawn to these details, her gaze involuntarily following this hand.
The neat formulas were reflected in her eyes line by line, and slowly, she actually listened to Xu Shiyue's explanation.
"Do you understand?" Xu Shiyue asked, looking up after explaining. "Yes." Lu Shizhen nodded.
This time she was truly confident, and even applied what she learned to other questions: "Actually, the next question is about the same thing, which is the relationship between displacement and time, and velocity and time."
“That’s right.” Xu Shiyue nodded, acknowledging it.
Then she raised her hand and touched the watch on her wrist, saying, "It's getting late, let's call it a day." Lu Shizhen thought that she had performed well for once and that Xu Shiyue would give her a compliment, so she was a little disappointed. "Oh." Xu Shiyue looked up at Lu Shizhen upon hearing this.
Perhaps because she was packing her things, her head, which had been held high just moments before, lowered slightly.
Xu Shiyue pursed her lips slightly, and while packing up the books she was going to borrow, she added to Lu Shizhen, "Keep up the good work." Instantly, the small gap in Lu Shizhen's expression was filled.
She looked at Xu Shiyue, suppressing her joy, and nodded calmly like the original owner of the body, saying, "Don't worry, Teacher Xu." After registering the books they wanted to borrow, the two left the library.
The bookstore near the library entrance displayed many books on sale. Lu Shizhen paused curiously for a moment, then stopped. She looked around and said to the bodyguards behind her, "You two take Xu Shiyue to the car first. I'll be back shortly." "Yes, Miss." The bodyguards nodded and split up, each following behind Lu Shizhen and Xu Shiyue. Lu Shizhen's action was sudden, and Xu Shiyue, holding Yuanzi's hand, paused involuntarily.
The sun was already showing signs of setting, and its dim light, falling into the girl's eyes, suddenly felt cold. The dark car was surrounded by bodyguards, who kept strangers out, and the interior was as quiet as the outside.
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Shiyue heard the sound of a car door being opened. Upon hearing this, Yuanzi immediately got up from beside her legs, wagging its tail to welcome the newcomer.
She knew Lu Shizhen had returned.
Feeling the monotonous light in her vision being blocked by a blurry figure, Xu Shiyue asked, "What did you go to do?"
Lu Shizhen placed the item in her hand on her side and said to Xu Shiyue with a smile, "It's a secret." The girl's voice carried a hint of mystery and cunning, and Xu Shiyue didn't press further. She wasn't a gossip, and felt she shouldn't care about such things at all.
The car, dimly lit, slowly started moving. In the quiet of the setting sun, Xu Shiyue frowned slightly. Why should she care what she was doing?
You shouldn't care what she's going to do.
Just before the evening rush hour, Lu Shizhen and Xu Shiyue returned home.
As always, Aunt Sun was waiting for them at the door. Lu Shizhen was a little hungry and didn't notice that Aunt Sun seemed to have something to say to her. She quickly changed her shoes and went into the villa.
But what greeted her next wasn't the aroma of food, but a figure suddenly throwing himself into her arms. Long, curly hair, exuding a rich fragrance, enveloped Lu Shizhen instantly.
A girl's coquettish voice came from her head, buried in Lu Shizhen's hoodie, "Sister, brother is so annoying! Why did he introduce you to those women?"
"My sister promised me before that she would let me be her bride!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
