Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 59: The "Puppy Love" Supported by the Math Teachers
When they got back to school, it was third period: math class.
After the three of them took their seats, David Lewis resumed his lecture. Once class was dismissed, he summoned Holly Winslow and the other two to the office, telling them to bring their tests.
Holly Winslow had the lowest score of the three. Sean Hayes scored a 101, and Mina Shaw a 98.
David Lewis looked over their tests. Considering the difficulty, their scores weren’t bad at all. He looked up at Julian Carlton, who was preparing for a class. "Mr. Carlton, are you taking the afternoon study hall?"
At this, the other teachers laughed. Julian Carlton was famous for commandeering study halls, which was why Class Eight’s physics scores were always the best among the classes in their grade.
Julian Carlton laughed along, not the least bit embarrassed. "I was planning on it, but if you want it, Mr. Lewis, I’ll just take tomorrow’s study hall."
The chemistry teacher, Vivian Sheffield, chimed in with a smile, "Mr. Carlton, I need that study hall for a test tomorrow. Could you switch to another day?"
Julian Carlton was very agreeable. "Then I’ll take the day after tomorrow. I can work around you all."
Three straight days of study hall were gone, just like that. Holly Winslow was speechless.
Sean Hayes pushed up his glasses. Mina Shaw remained expression-less.
Julian Carlton remembered something and asked Holly Winslow kindly, "Holly, how did your cousin do this time?"
They still didn’t know the results of the math competition.
The other teachers all perked up their ears, looking very interested. Holly Winslow said, "150."
The math teachers, more than anyone, knew how difficult that test was. A score of 150 was truly excellent.
COUGH...
To be honest, they doubted even they could get a perfect score on a competition test like that.
Teachers have a genuine soft spot for high-achieving students. David Lewis smiled and joked, "Holly, you should bring your cousin around campus more often. Maybe his good study habits will rub off on everyone at Jarton Second High."
The other teachers all smiled and nodded in agreement.
Little did they know that after graduation, they would discover they had personally facilitated—and been very "supportive" of—this case of puppy love.
Feeling a pang of guilt, Holly Winslow touched the tip of her nose and nodded obediently.
The fourth-period study hall was turned into another math class, and the students of Class Eight groaned endlessly. David Lewis pretended not to hear. He got the projector and displayed the math competition test. "I’m going to go over the questions from the competition with the whole class. Don’t copy them down. I’ll find time in the next day or two to print them out for you to try again."
"This test is very difficult for you. If I just had you do it blindly, most of you would be scoring in the twenties or thirties."
"Pay attention. If I’m taking the time to go over this test with you, it’s for a good reason."
After another round of groaning, the students resigned themselves to their fate and looked up to listen to him explain the problems.
A few boys in the back were sleeping—the usual troublemakers. David Lewis sighed to himself but still had to call them out. "You in the back, stop sleeping. If you’re going to sleep, you can come do it up here at the front."
Once they were all awake, David Lewis began his lecture. "The first problem is a classic. A variation of it has appeared on the college entrance exams for the past seven years. The difficulty level isn’t high—it’s essentially a gimme. Everyone should pay close attention to this type of problem..."
He only managed to get through eight multiple-choice questions before the period was over.
Knowing the students needed to get in line for lunch, David Lewis dismissed the class right on time. After Holly Winslow finished eating, Mortimer Quincy called to continue tutoring her, starting with the ninth problem. "This one’s a little tough. If there’s any part you don’t understand, wifey, just tell me to stop."
Pen in hand, Holly Winslow nodded as she replied, "Okay."
Mortimer Quincy said, "Let g(x) = 2√(1-x²), with the domain defined as -1 ≤ x ≤ 1..." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
He lectured her all the way until it was nearly time for study hall, at which point Scholar Quincy finally stopped. "Wifey, copy all the freshman-year math formulas twenty times each. I’ll quiz you on them after school."
Holly Winslow’s grasp of the freshman-year material still wasn’t very solid.
Holly Winslow: "..."
She protested silently. If she kept copying them, she was genuinely going to have nightmares. She had already dreamed about math formulas three times.
"Be good. There’s a reward when you’re finished," Mortimer coaxed softly.
Holly Winslow obediently replied, "Okay."
After hanging up, she took her pen and went over the problems Mortimer Quincy had just explained, making sure she had digested them all.
Once she was sure she understood everything, she took out her math notebook and prepared to copy the formulas.
Just then, she happened to notice Mina Shaw looking at her. "Is something up?"
Mina Shaw looked a little embarrassed. "Holly, could you explain this problem to me? I didn’t get it when the teacher was going over it earlier."
"Of course," Holly Winslow smiled.
Sean Hayes, who was sitting nearby, pushed up his glasses and chimed in, "Mind if I listen in?"
And so, the three of them ended up with their heads huddled together once more.
When Julian Carlton came by to check on the evening study session, he found the three of them huddled together, discussing a problem. He stood and listened for a moment before moving on to check on the other students.
...
「After Evening Study, in the Dormitory」
Holly Winslow pulled the trophy from Scholar Quincy out of her pink backpack to show off to Anna Willow and Iris Kensington. "My cousin’s trophy."
Anna Willow stroked it several times, full of envy. "If I ever won a trophy like this, my mom would probably put me on a shrine and burn incense for me every day."
Iris Kensington chimed in with her agreement, "Same here."
Just then, Mina Shaw returned from outside and gave Holly Winslow a carton of milk. "Thanks for explaining that problem to me."
Mina Shaw’s family wasn’t very well-off; Holly had almost never seen her eat snacks, and she always got her food from the three-yuan meal window in the cafeteria.
Holly Winslow thought for a moment before accepting it. Then she grabbed a bag of potato chips from her cabinet and offered them to Mina, saying with a grin, "Here, these are for you."
"You don’t have to."
Mina Shaw shook her head, but Holly Winslow just grinned, took her hand, and pressed the bag into it. "They’re for you. Good deskmates aren’t allowed to say no, okay? Otherwise, I’ll get angry."
Mina Shaw froze for a second. Looking at Holly Winslow’s sincere expression, a warmth spread through her heart. She knew her family was poor, and many of her classmates looked down on her behind her back, even calling her a country bumpkin.
That was why she tried to avoid interacting with her classmates as much as possible.
"Thank you." She accepted the chips.
...
That week, Holly Winslow’s life consisted of nothing but practice tests and copying math formulas. But surprisingly, all that copying really did help deepen her memory of them.
The old "Iron Triangle" had often been missing a person, but now Anna Willow and Iris Kensington had stopped messing around and started to study hard as well. The two of them would occasionally ask Holly Winslow for help with problems, and Holly would always explain things to them in great detail.
Influenced by Holly Winslow, Anna Willow and Iris Kensington gradually grew more interested in studying. In particular, they found a joyful sense of accomplishment in being able to solve problems they previously couldn’t.
When school let out on Friday, Holly Winslow, Anna Willow, and Iris Kensington made a plan: they would practice their dance routine at Holly’s house and have a sleepover.
Both Anna Willow’s and Iris Kensington’s parents were easy-going. Once they knew their daughters were staying the night at Holly Winslow’s house, they gave them a few reminders and readily agreed.
Wyatt Winslow was even more permissive. He took the three girls out for dinner, then dropped them off at home. To keep them from feeling awkward with him around, he then left to do some work at the factory.
The moment they heard the door close, Anna Willow flopped onto the sofa with an expression of someone who had just survived a disaster. "I was about to suffocate."
Holly Winslow poked her arm, amused. "Uncle Winslow is very gentle."
"Uncle Winslow is gentle with you, Holly. With anyone else, he completely ’changes his tune’—just like your cousin," Iris Kensington teased with a smirk.
Her words made Holly Winslow laugh. ’Now that I think about it, that does seem to be true. Both Wyatt Winslow and Mortimer Quincy are the type to be cold and aloof toward strangers.’
’As for how they were with family, she couldn’t comment on Wyatt Winslow. But as for that rascal Mortimer Quincy... he was just a huge flirt.’
’Utterly shameless and a total show-off.’
’But only with her.’
