Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 146: Luna Lynch, Look, They’re Holding Hands in Front
The first period the next day was Chinese class. Ten minutes in, the entire class was, by unspoken agreement, reciting classical Chinese texts—all except for that rascal Mortimer Quincy, who was working on a chemistry worksheet.
Holly Winslow flipped from one passage to another, feeling like she could be called on to recite any of them.
It was so overwhelming.
After she’d flipped through the book several times, Mortimer Quincy noticed and let out a mischievous chuckle.
He reached over and flipped through her Chinese textbook, stopping on a classical text—"The Epang Palace Rhapsody." "Memorize this one," he said.
Holly Winslow turned to look at him and asked earnestly, "Are you sure?"
"Just memorize it." Mortimer Quincy raised an eyebrow, projecting the confident air of a top student. "If I’m wrong, I’ll give you one Mortimer Quincy as compensation."
Holly Winslow was speechless.
’You infuriating tease, Mortimer!’
’Why not just say you’ll give me yourself as a husband?’
She immediately began reciting "The Epang Palace Rhapsody." "The Six Kings’ reigns end, the Four Seas are one. The mountains of Shu are bare, and Epang Palace appears. It spreads over three hundred li, shutting out the sun. From Mount Li it extends north and turns west, running straight to Xianyang. Two rivers, vast and placid, flow within the palace walls..."
Gabe Chaucer arrived in the classroom five minutes early. Seeing the students studying so diligently, he nodded in satisfaction and began preparing his lesson materials.
When the class bell rang, he clapped his hands to get them to stop. "Looks like this method of mine works well," he said, half-joking.
The whole class groaned, their faces long.
Seeing the students’ crestfallen looks, Gabe Chaucer, their teacher, felt a strange sense of glee. After a dozen seconds, he announced, "Alright, enough chitchat. I’m going to call on someone to recite."
Instantly, the students all buried their heads like ostriches, daring not to meet his gaze. They all chanted silently in their minds: ’Don’t pick me, don’t pick me...’
Gabe Chaucer thought to himself, ’It’s the first day of this. I should pick a student who’s normally diligent. I can’t just call on someone who can’t recite it; that would crush the class’s morale.’
His gaze swept over the classroom a few times before finally landing on Holly Winslow, who sat next to Mortimer Quincy. Holly inadvertently met his eyes, and her heart skipped a beat.
’Don’t pick me, don’t pick me.’
’Even though I know it, there’s no guarantee I won’t get stuck.’
From the corner of his eye, Mortimer Quincy saw her shrink down so far her neck practically disappeared. The grin on his face widened.
Sure enough, after his gaze lingered for three seconds, Gabe Chaucer called out, "Holly Winslow, you recite ’The Epang Palace Rhapsody.’"
"The Epang Palace Rhapsody" was the classical text they were studying that day.
The students who weren’t called on let out a collective sigh of relief, feeling like they’d just dodged a bullet. They then turned to look at Holly Winslow with pity.
Holly Winslow, whose name had just been called, was speechless.
As she stood up, she kicked the gloating Scholar Quincy beside her. "’The Epang Palace Rhapsody,’ by Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty. The Six Kings’ reigns end, the Four Seas are one. The mountains of Shu are bare, and Epang Palace appears. It spreads over three hundred li, shutting out the sun. From Mount Li it extends north and turns west, running straight to Xianyang... Why did they take every last coin from the people, only to spend it like mud and sand! Making the supporting pillars more numerous than the farmers in the southern fields; the crossbeams in the eaves more numerous than the weaving maids at their looms..."
"...the weaving maids..."
She paused for a moment. ’What came after "weaving maids" again?’
’I’m stuck.’
She shot Mortimer Quincy a pleading look out of the corner of her eye.
Right under Gabe Chaucer’s nose, Mortimer Quincy quietly prompted her, "The nail heads, gleaming."
As it dawned on her, Holly Winslow immediately continued, "The nail heads, gleaming, more numerous than the millet grains in the public granaries. The uneven roof tiles, more numerous than the threads of silk on a person’s body..."
Zeke Zane looked at Gabe Chaucer, who still had an amiable expression on his face up at the front of the room, and was left speechless.
’He’s wearing glasses and still can’t see them cheating?’
A few minutes later, she finally managed to finish reciting "The Epang Palace Rhapsody."
Feeling like she had just survived an ordeal, Holly Winslow sat down.
Gabe Chaucer completely ignored the little hiccup in the middle. He nodded in satisfaction, gestured for her to sit down, and said encouragingly, "Holly Winslow did a wonderful job reciting. Let’s give her a round of applause." With that, he began to clap.
The whole class joined in.
While clapping, Mortimer Quincy leaned over and said in a low, amused voice, "My girl did a great job reciting. Your reward is one Mortimer Quincy. Please accept him."
Holly Winslow was speechless.
’Accept *that*, you devil.’
She threw a light punch at him under the desk, but that rascal Mortimer Quincy unexpectedly caught her fist, pulled her hand onto his own thigh, and held it there firmly.
Holly Winslow was speechless.
She subconsciously glanced up at Gabe Chaucer, only to meet his gaze. He gave her an amiable look.
"..."
’Now *this* is the real thrill of a secret high school romance.’
Chase Hawkins, at the desk behind them, craned his neck to get a curious look and was nearly blinded by the sight.
He glanced at Luna Lynch, who was listening attentively to the lecture, completely oblivious to what the two in front of them were doing.
He was tempted to say, ’Hey Luna, look. They’re holding hands up there.’
While lecturing, Gabe Chaucer kept glancing at Chase Hawkins. After looking a few times, he noticed that Chase was staring intently at Holly Winslow.
He picked up a broken piece of chalk and threw it at him. He continued translating "The Epang Palace Rhapsody," but his tone grew a little sterner. "It stretched over three hundred li from Weinan to Xianyang, its high halls blotting out the sun..."
It hit Chase Hawkins square on the forehead. He sheepishly rubbed the spot.
At the same time, a THUD sounded from the desk in front. The chalk hitting Chase had startled Holly Winslow, and she’d banged her hand on the corner of her desk.
Mortimer Quincy leaned over, rubbing her hand. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.
Holly Winslow pulled her hand back and placed both hands on her desk. "I’m fine," she whispered quickly. "Move away a little, the teacher’s watching."
Seeing her act as if she’d just been caught red-handed, Mortimer Quincy chuckled and sat up straight in his seat.
When he laughed, the other students thought he was laughing at Chase Hawkins, and the whole class erupted in laughter.
From the front of the classroom, Gabe Chaucer said half-jokingly, "Chase Hawkins, you even made Mortimer Quincy laugh. That’s quite a talent. If you put that talent toward your studies, you’d have no problem getting into the top five."
Chase Hawkins was speechless.
’Old Shaw, are you blind? He laughed because of me? It was obviously because of his girlfriend.’
’Girlfriend!’
He buried his head in his textbook, silently taking the fall.
’But damn, what a heavy load of crap to take the blame for.’
Gabe Chaucer continued his lecture. After class, he called Chase Hawkins to his office. His tone wasn’t overly stern. "You’re aware that this is your senior year, right?"
Confused, Chase Hawkins nodded.
"You need to focus on your studies. As for other matters, you can think about them after graduation."
Gabe Chaucer pushed up his glasses and added, in a meaningful and roundabout way, "A boy can’t be falling behind a girl, you know. You need to bring your grades up. I’m not saying you two need to be perfectly matched, but your scores should at least be in the same ballpark. Doesn’t that make sense?"
Chase Hawkins looked completely lost. ’What does he mean, a boy can’t be falling behind a girl?’
’Is that the latest entry in the Teacher’s Book of Sayings?’
Despite his confusion, he nodded meekly, just wanting to get out of the office as soon as possible.
Gabe Chaucer sighed to himself. ’Ah, to be young is a wonderful thing.’ He didn’t say anything else, just patted Chase’s shoulder. "Go on back to class. And pay attention."
「In the classroom」
When Pantheon saw Chase Hawkins return, he stuck his leg out to block him, teasing with a wicked grin, "Quincy, what were you spacing out about in class? Thinking about your girlfriend? Come on, tell us who she is."
Chase Hawkins glanced at the two real culprits behind Pantheon, then turned back to him irritably. "Get lost."
"Oho, getting angry from embarrassment? Looks like I guessed right after all."
Pantheon was laughing so hard he was practically falling out of his chair. He accidentally bumped Holly Winslow’s desk, causing her pen to slip and leave a black streak across her paper. She was speechless.
The next second, Pantheon’s laughter died abruptly. A kick had landed on his shin. He looked up diagonally and met the displeased eyes of Scholar Quincy. "..."
He immediately sat up straight.
