Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 117: A Typical ’Girlfriend-First’ Dictation
Gabe Chaucer, of course, didn’t forget to praise a good student like Mortimer Quincy. He also had a few words of praise for Holly Winslow. "Parents, I’m sure you’ve all seen the scores. The students in first and second place are cousins."
"This goes to show that a good family atmosphere can influence a child’s studies. I hope all of you parents will do your best to provide a good learning environment for your children."
Later, when he learned the truth, every time he thought back to this moment, he would wish he could find a hole to crawl into.
How could he have even uttered the words "family atmosphere"? How did he have the gall to use students in a relationship as a positive example in front of all the parents?
Wyatt Winslow pressed his lips together.
Andre Quincy’s expression was impassive.
After speaking for over half an hour, Gabe Chaucer had the parents look through their children’s homework and other assignments to get a general sense of their progress.
Holly Winslow’s English book was on her desk. Wyatt Winslow picked it up and flipped it open. When he saw two names circled by a heart, he furrowed his brow.
Andre Quincy caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and unnaturally averted his gaze.
Wyatt Winslow closed the book and didn’t look through it any further.
There were sounds of discussion from the other seats, but not a peep from Andre Quincy and Wyatt Winslow. Gabe Chaucer found this strange, but he could have racked his brain and never guessed that this was the first meeting between the two fathers-in-law, for whom silence was only natural.
After a moment’s thought, he walked down from the podium.
Wyatt Winslow placed the English book in the desk drawer.
Gabe Chaucer said amiably, "You can take a look at the children’s assignments to get a better idea of how they’re doing. Mortimer Quincy and Holly Winslow are both excellent kids, very diligent in their studies."
Andre Quincy nodded politely and pulled out a workbook. Probably to avoid the earlier awkwardness, he skipped the first page.
He said politely, "Teacher Chaucer, we’re grateful for all the effort you put in with him on a daily basis."
Gabe Chaucer waved his hand. "It’s no trouble at all. Mortimer Quincy’s performance at school is excellent. We teachers generally don’t have to worry about him much."
"He just needs to maintain his current performance, and he’ll have no problem with the college entrance exams."
After speaking with Andre Quincy for a moment, he turned to Wyatt Winslow. "Holly Winslow is doing fine in her other subjects, but her math is a little weak. You could have Mortimer tutor her a bit. But there’s no need to worry too much; Holly’s grades are already quite good."
Wyatt Winslow was silent for a few seconds. "Alright. Thank you, Teacher Chaucer."
Half an hour later, the parent-teacher conference was over. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
Holly Winslow cautiously studied her father’s face. It seemed like everything was fine. She breathed a sigh of relief and, with a beaming smile, handed him a bottle of water. "Dad, have some water."
"Mm."
Wyatt Winslow took it but didn’t drink. He looked at her with a complicated expression for a long moment before saying, "Holly, don’t scribble in your books anymore."
Holly had already forgotten about the heart in her English book and was a bit bewildered, but she nodded obediently.
"Mr. Winslow, Holly, I’ll be taking my leave now."
Andre Quincy looked at Holly, his expression full of fatherly affection. "Come over for dinner when you have time. Your Aunt Jarvis keeps asking about you."
Holly glanced at her father before nodding.
Wyatt Winslow’s expression was neutral. He said, "Holly is often a bother to you all. If she does anything out of line, please be patient with her."
"Holly is a wonderful girl. She doesn’t cause any trouble at all. Aunt Jarvis and I are both very fond of her. Mr. Winslow, you’ve raised her very well," Andre Quincy said with a sincere smile.
’Honestly, as long as Mortimer likes her, they, as his parents, will like her too. But after spending time with her, they’ve found that Holly really is a great kid.’
Hearing someone else praise his own child, the stern expression on Wyatt Winslow’s face softened slightly. He returned the compliment, "Mortimer is very outstanding."
It was the first time Mortimer had ever heard his father-in-law praise him. He raised an eyebrow at Holly. ’See that, wifey? Dad praised me.’
Holly gave him a look that said, ’Wow, so impressive.’
After Andre Quincy and Wyatt Winslow chatted for a little while longer, they walked out of the school gate together.
During evening self-study, it was time for English again.
Eileen Webb had Mortimer Quincy dictate vocabulary words to the class. They had to memorize 3,500 essential words, tested three times a week, fifty words at a time.
Mortimer stood at the teacher’s podium. Seeing his girl rummaging from her own desk to his, he figured she couldn’t find her English dictation notebook. "It’s in your English book."
The entire class followed his gaze to Holly Winslow. Her face flushed red as she started searching through her English book, and sure enough, the dictation notebook was inside.
At the same time, she finally understood what her father had meant earlier.
’The heart with the names.’
"..."
Seeing she was ready, Mortimer finally began, his pronunciation perfect: "Abandon."
As he continued dictating, he walked over to Holly’s side. Seeing that she had finished writing, he announced the next word, "Ability."
Pantheon was still writing down the Chinese definition for "abandon" when he heard "ability" and hurriedly started writing that down instead.
After four or five words, a weak English student like him was already struggling to keep up.
He glanced at Mortimer, who was focused entirely on Holly. "..."
’A classic case of only caring about his girlfriend’s dictation.’
Then he turned his head and quickly said, "Sis-in-law, could you write a little slower? I can’t keep up."
Hearing this, Holly’s hand slipped, and her pen drew a long line across her notebook. "..."
She glanced at Mortimer. Ahem. She started writing the words more slowly.
The pause this time was much longer than before. The other students looked at Mortimer in surprise, but he remained perfectly calm, waiting for Holly to finish writing before he read the next word.
After they handed in their dictations, Pantheon gave Holly a bag of potato chips and whispered gratefully, "Thanks, Sis-in-law."
"You’re welcome."
Hearing the term "Sis-in-law" again, Holly felt a little embarrassed and tried to hand the chips back to him.
Pantheon didn’t take them. Behind Holly, Chase Hawkins shot them a look that screamed ’What’s going on here?’. "Yo, Forrest, how come you’re not sharing those chips with me?"
Pantheon’s eyes went wide, and he quickly waved his hands in denial. "Quincy, don’t you get any funny ideas."
"You’re not me, so how do you know what I’m thinking?"
Chase Hawkins gave him a look that said, ’You’re totally guilty.’ He added, "Forrest, you’re not being very honest, are you..."
The "you..." hadn’t even fully left his mouth before he trailed off.
Mortimer was staring at him with a dark, predatory gaze.
Chase Hawkins quickly said, "I’ll shut up."
"Serves you right," Pantheon mocked him without holding back.
The next second, a bag of chips was tossed onto his desk. Meeting Mortimer’s cold, handsome face, Pantheon shut his mouth and turned back around.
Zeke Zane gloated, "Serves you right."
When Mortimer came back after handing in the dictation sheets, Holly was furtively eating a piece of bread. She was just too hungry to bear it.
The cafeteria wasn’t open on Sunday afternoons, and because of the parent-teacher conference today, they had come to school early and hadn’t eaten dinner outside.
She was hunched over her desk, whispering, "Do you want some?"
Mortimer was amused by her secretive, thief-like posture. He mimicked her, lowering his head. "Feed me a bite."
After taking a bite, he said, "Teacher Chaucer isn’t in his office. He went to a meeting."
Holly’s eyes lit up. "Keep watch for me. Let me know if a teacher comes."
Mortimer grunted in agreement. ’His girl was so amusing to watch. She liked to take a huge bite and hold it in her mouth, chewing slowly.’
He couldn’t help but smile. Then, he pulled a carton of milk from his drawer, stuck a straw in it, and handed it to her. "Have a sip so you don’t choke."
After taking a sip, Holly felt the classroom had gotten a little too quiet. She looked up instinctively and was suddenly face-to-face with Gabe Chaucer. She stammered weakly, "T-Teacher Chaucer."
Mortimer turned his head to look. "..."
