Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Settling the Score
’I knew it. Mortir and his fake aloofness. He was bound to get even with .’
Holly Winslow felt his warm breath on her cheek and subconsciously swallowed. She tried to squirm down and slip out from under his arm.
But he only held her tighter. The boy’s eyes lifted slightly. "Feeling guilty?"
He stared, unblinking, at her fair, blushing face, his own limpid eyes shining brightly.
At seventeen, Holly Winslow was the epito of innocence—exactly the type of girl most popular with boys in high school.
Holly Winslow raised her hand as if taking an oath. "I didn’t know Xavier Jennings would be there, really."
"From now on, you’re not allowed to accept milk tea from him. If you want so, your husband will buy it for you." Mortir Quincy’s expression softened a little.
Holly Winslow nodded eagerly and added a condition, "And double-skin milk pudding, too."
’She was just too cute.’
Mortir Quincy’s pupils darkened. He wrapped an arm around her waist, lowered his head, and kissed her.
Holly Winslow let out a little "mmph" and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.
A few minutes later, he released her. He saw that her cheeks were flushed crimson, with a trace of youthful shyness.
For a mont, he felt as if he were having an affair with a shy high school girl.
He chuckled, bent down to pick up the test paper from the floor, and led her by the hand to the desk. "Co on, your husband will go over the problems with you."
He first graded Holly Winslow’s test paper. A quick estimate put her score at just over sixty points.
That was pretty bad.
Math was a notoriously difficult subject for most students. If soone had bad grades, math was usually the main culprit.
He gave a simple analysis. "Your score on the multiple-choice section is decent, but the long-answer and fill-in-the-blank questions are poor. I noticed you can’t even apply basic formulas to the long-answer problems. You’re even mixing up the formulas."
"Your foundation is too weak. Just going over this test probably won’t be much help."
"Wait here. I’ll go find my first-year math textbooks and give you a simple rundown of the common formulas."
He left for a few minutes and ca back with two math textbooks. After sitting down, he opened one to the table of contents. "The key topics in first-year math are sets, functions, sequences, plane vectors, and trigonotric functions. You need to really focus on mastering sequences and plane vectors..."
The tutoring session stretched on for two or three hours. Neither of them noticed the ti passing. One tirelessly explained the sa formulas over and over, while the other listened intently, occasionally shaking her head to show she didn’t understand.
Just then, Wyatt Winslow called. Holly Winslow finally noticed it was already six o’clock and quickly answered her phone.
After a brief conversation, she hung up and hastily packed up her textbooks. "I have to go ho."
"Okay. Take the first-year textbooks with you. My copies have notes in them."
Mortir Quincy helped her pack, handing her the two textbooks as well. Finally, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.
"Don’t study too late."
"Okay." Holly Winslow hurried ho.
Wyatt Winslow was already in the kitchen cooking. The aroma of food filled the air. Hearing the door open, he ca out of the kitchen and glanced at the math textbooks in Holly Winslow’s hands. "Where have you been?"
"I went to a classmate’s house for help with my howork. The exam is on Friday, and my math is terrible," Holly Winslow said fretfully as she changed her shoes.
This was the first ti since she’d started high school that Holly Winslow had ever brought up her academic problems with Wyatt Winslow. Previously, he had only heard about her situation from Julian Carlton.
He had always known her grades were poor, which had been a source of both frustration and helplessness for him. He never knew how to guide her.
He had tried encouraging her with kind words, but they would always end up red-faced and arguing within a few sentences.
Wyatt Winslow said in a deep voice, "How about I sign you up for a tutoring class on the weekend?" Although he had graduated from a prestigious university, he had forgotten most of his high school knowledge by now. Tutoring her himself was out of the question.
"I was just about to talk to you about that, Dad. My foundation from first year is too weak. I need to catch up as soon as possible."
Holly Winslow couldn’t let Mortir Quincy tutor her all the ti; it would interfere with his own studies.
Wyatt Winslow hadn’t expected Holly to say that. He was stunned for a mont, then quickly nodded. "Okay. I’ll ask around tomorrow and see which tutoring centers nearby are good."
...
After cramming first-year formulas all night, Holly Winslow’s head felt heavy. She glanced at the gray, dusky sky outside, got up, and flopped onto her bed, falling asleep instantly.
She slept until ten o’clock. Holly Winslow got out of bed, yawned, and left her bedroom. Seeing Wyatt Winslow on the sofa, she asked in a sleepy voice, "Dad, you didn’t go to the factory today?"
"I have so business to take care of over by Jarton Second High this afternoon, so I’ll drop you off at school."
Wyatt Winslow’s gaze shifted from his newspaper to her. "Don’t stay up late studying anymore. It’s bad for your eyes. Breakfast is being kept warm in the kitchen."
"Thanks, Dad. In that case, I’ll call Iris and ask her to go to school with ."
"Mhm."
Holly Winslow suddenly realized sothing. It seed that whenever she was ho, Wyatt Winslow was ho too.
The family factory was in a growth phase, and there was a lot to do. Wyatt Winslow didn’t have any free ti.
’Co to think of it, he must be deliberately making ti to look after .’
She walked over to Wyatt Winslow, sat down beside him, and hugged him. Grinning, she said, "Thanks, Dad. I’ll definitely study hard so I can support you in your old age."
"Go on, eat." Wyatt Winslow was a little exasperated by her childish behavior, but a part of him cherished it.
"Okay, Dad."
Holly Winslow gave him a playful salute, then skipped lightly into the kitchen to eat.
While she was eating, her phone rang. It was an unknown number, so she habitually hung up. But the person called back three tis in a row.
She answered. "Hello?"
"Holly Winslow, it’s , Xa... Xavier Jennings," a boy’s voice said from the other end of the line.
’I don’t even have to think to know Iris Kensington gave him my number.’
’Iris Kensington, you just wait. I’ll make you "pay" when I get back to school.’
Holly Winslow took a big bite of her stead bun. "Is there sothing I can help you with?"
"Soone... soone gave
two movie tickets, and I was wondering if you... if you wanted to go see one with ?" Xavier Jennings stamred, completely betraying his nervousness.
He hadn’t explicitly said he liked her, so Holly Winslow couldn’t just co out and say "I don’t like you." She gave a more tactful refusal. "I can’t. My dad’s taking
to buy clothes later. You should ask soone else to go with you. Sorry about that."
Wyatt Winslow glanced up at her.
Xavier Jennings sounded disappointed on the other end. "It’s okay."
Holly Winslow quickly hung up and sent a text to Iris Kensington while sipping her congee.
Iris Kensington, prepare to "die" when you get back to school!
P.S. We’re taking your Uncle Winslow’s car to school this afternoon.
A long while later, a reply ca back, the words clearly trying to curry favor.
Holly, my mom packed
a jar of fernted tofu. I’ll give you most of it.
Holly Winslow laughed and typed a quick reply.
Too late. Just be a good girl and prepare to "die"!
After that, she put her phone away.
After finishing her al, Holly Winslow curled up on the sofa with Wyatt Winslow. She took out a book of required classical Chinese texts for high school and began quietly reciting them.
Suddenly, Wyatt Winslow put down his newspaper and said, "Co with
to buy so clothes."
Holly Winslow was still muttering, "Alas, how perilous, how high! The roads of Shu are harder to climb than the path to the blue sky..."
Hearing his words, she didn’t react at first, looking a bit dazed.
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