"No, I just want to make a deal with you. Try this." Ye Qianning tossed the red fruit over.

The Honey-sucking Parrot’s small eyes lit up. Seeing the fruit, it seemed to forget its fear. It took two steps to the front of the cage and started pecking, its bird face transforming from tense to blissful.

In all its long life, it seemed it had never eaten such a delicious fruit. They certainly didn’t grow in the mountains.

After eating its fill, the Honey-sucking Parrot fell over and went to sleep. Ye Qianning shook the cage a few times, but there was no reaction. She remembered that this wasn’t the typical behavior for a Honey-sucking Parrot.

’Did its instincts change here?’

Although she received no response, Ye Qianning was one hundred percent confident. The little honey-sucker had pretty much fallen for it. When it woke up, it would come looking for her on its own.

In any animal’s mind, food was the most important thing. Even for the most ferocious beasts, there was always an opportunity to negotiate.

"Oh? It died of anger that quickly?"

Dean Chen finished a book and entered the room, his eyes immediately falling on the bird lying motionless.

"...It’s sleeping."

Dean Chen smiled without a word. ’He was afraid it was a sleep it wouldn’t wake up from.’

—

The class bell at Lou Mountain Academy rang. Only then did Ye Qianning drag herself out of bed, remembering what she had told the tutor yesterday. With no time for breakfast, she grabbed a plate of pastries, put it in her dimensional space, and rushed to the classroom.

By the time she reached the classroom, the lesson was already halfway over. Ye Qianning had arrived fashionably late.

"Late for class. Copy the Disciple’s Rules ten times."

"Yes, Tutor."

"Come in."

Ye Qianning had been up late the previous night, messing with herbs in her dimensional space. Her feet felt unsteady, and she was still half-asleep. She walked to her desk, slumped into her seat, crossed her little hands, and resting her head on them, fell asleep.

The tutor couldn’t bear to look. He was crying tears of despair in his heart. ’Who was it yesterday that promised they would behave?!’

Sang Zhi frowned as he watched her, unable to resist giving her a little push.

Ye Qianning merely lifted an eyelid, then fell asleep again.

In the entire classroom, while the tutor lectured at the front, half the students paid attention to him, and the other half paid attention to the back. Sleeping so openly in class... she was truly the Dean’s personal disciple.

"Ye Qianning, sleeping in class! Copy the Disciple’s Rules another ten times." The tutor sounded utterly exasperated, disappointed in her wasted potential.

Without lifting her head, Ye Qianning raised a small hand. "Yes, Tutor. I accept the punishment."

The tutor was about to explode with frustration. ’Of all the classrooms in the academy, why did this little terror have to choose his? Sigh... what rotten luck!’

The lesson ended. As soon as the bell rang, Ye Qianning woke up, yawning and stretching lazily.

"Twenty copies of the Disciple’s Rules. If you don’t finish today, you’re not allowed to leave." The tutor shot her a glare, then left the classroom with his books.

As soon as the tutor left, the classroom erupted into a clamor. Most eyes turned to Ye Qianning at the back.

"Twenty copies of the Disciple’s Rules! You’re doomed. Last time I copied them for you, the tutor saw right through it," Qian Zhuye said, immediately leaning over.

"The tutor isn’t blind."

Ye Qianning took out some Xuan paper, picked up the brush on the desk, and prepared to start copying.

"You’re actually going to copy it?" Qian Zhuye was a little surprised.

"Of course. The academy’s rules are ironclad. If you make a mistake, you naturally have to do the punishment." Ye Qianning put her brush to paper. The traditional characters had many strokes, and brush calligraphy was already large by nature. With the sprawling traditional characters, a single sheet of Xuan paper couldn’t hold more than a few lines.

PFFT.

Seeing Ye Qianning’s handwriting, the other students couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Qian Zhuye picked up the sheet and blew on the ink. "This is going to use up a lot of Xuan paper."

Ye Qianning was completely unaffected. It took her ages to write a single character, stroke by stroke. ’Some of these traditional characters are just murder.’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"At this rate, you won’t finish twenty copies even by next year," Sang Zhi said, unable to watch any longer.

"It’s not like I want to."

’This is the best I can do for now.’