Mother Kong looked at us and laughed. "Miss Nan, Fifth Young Miss, you don't need to be so nervous. Young Master Huo won't snap at you. If you're this nervous, though, he'll feel awkward."
Huo Ni rubbed her hands against her knees and smiled. "We're... not nervous."
Mother Kong laughed even harder. Leaving us be, she walked out.
"Nan Xing, are you nervous?" she whispered.
I nodded. "A little. After all, my grades aren't that great."
"Me too," Huo Ni gave a wry smile.
"Nan Xing, I heard you're going to be my future eldest sister-in-law?" Huo Ni clearly wanted to change the subject and distract herself.
"No," I said firmly.
Huo Ni froze, looking at me in confusion.
I sighed. "Look, I'm the most hopeless one in the Nan family. Why would your eldest brother pass over my brilliant sister and choose to marry me instead? Even if he were blind, do you think your eldest aunt is?" I shot back with a question.
She looked at me and stammered, "But you're so pretty. I've never seen a girl prettier than you."
I smiled faintly. "That's just because you haven't met many girls. Haven't you heard that 'pretty faces are a dime a dozen, but interesting souls are one in a million'? The soul matters more than the face."
Huo Ni laughed. "Your soul is pretty interesting, too."
I gave her a light slap. "You saw my soul at a single glance?"
Then, turning serious, I said, "No matter what, I'm not going to be your eldest sister-in-law."
Huo Ni nodded. "That doesn't matter. What matters is that I want to be friends with you."
I smiled. "All right, let's start over. My name is Nan Xing. Like a medicinal herb, I come with poison."
Huo Ni burst out laughing. The way she laughed was truly pretty.
Nan Xing had her poison, but Huo Jingchuan was the antidote.
Huo Jingchuan had changed into casual wear. In one hand, he used a towel to dry his damp hair, while the other hand carried a stack of test papers as he walked in.
My breathing caught for a second.
Huo Jingchuan like this was simply too sexy.
I averted my gaze, suppressing the little deer leaping wildly in my chest.
Huo Jingchuan tossed the papers he was holding onto the wide desk. "Sort the test papers yourselves."
Huo Ni and I hurried over to find the papers for our respective subjects.
Huo Jingchuan's aura was intensely strong, making people obey him instinctively.
He draped the towel around his neck and picked up the papers the two of us had brought, flipping through them.
Huo Ni and I exchanged glances, both of us seeing worry in the other's eyes.
After a long while, Huo Jingchuan put down the papers and turned on his computer. A moment later, the printer spat out a single sheet of paper. He handed it to us. "You have ten days left of summer vacation. This is the schedule for those ten days. Daytime is for self-study and doing homework; evenings are for answering questions and tutoring. If you need to go out, have Mother Kong arrange a car and report it to me. At home, you are free to go anywhere except my study and bedroom."
The two of us listened respectfully.
Huo Jingchuan looked at us. "Any questions?"
We froze, then shook our heads in unison. "None."
"Then go back to sleep. If you can't sleep, you can go to the terrace and count the stars." Huo Jingchuan's voice lacked warmth, but it didn't carry the impatience he showed in front of others.
Just like that... it was over?
Huo Ni tugged at the corner of my shirt, and we quickly retreated from Huo Jingchuan's study.
Huo Ni patted her chest. "That scared me to death."
I looked down at the papers in my hand. "Didn't they say there were a lot of rules?"
Huo Ni nodded. "I heard my eldest cousin and the others have all been dealt with by the Young Master, and they're still afraid of him. It looks like he actually listened to Grandpa's words." Huo Ni looked rather pleased.
I glanced back at the door to Huo Jingchuan's study. Whatever, we had a long time ahead of us.
Now I could finally focus on studying in peace, without worrying about being discovered by Nan Yang, without worrying about her coming to disturb or sabotage me, and I wouldn't have to hide my abilities anymore.
I let out a breath and set my sights on my third target!
For three days straight, apart from eating and sleeping, Huo Ni and I spent all our time studying, following our respective plans, leaving each other undisturbed while keeping each other company.
Early on the fourth morning, Mother Kong came to wake us up. "Miss Nan, Fifth Young Miss, Young Master Huo wants you to gather downstairs."
Gath—ered?
Huo Ni and I blinked our sleep-heavy eyes at each other. What on earth?
The two of us had stayed up until two in the morning, and it was only six-thirty now.
"Young ladies, if you're late, be careful the Master gets angry," Mother Kong said, her voice carrying a mix of smiles and helplessness.
Huo Ni and I instantly woke up, jumping out of bed to wash up at top speed.
Mother Kong brought over two sets of clothes. "The Master said you must wear athletic gear."
What was this about?
Huo Ni and I threw on the clothes without a word and went downstairs to gather.
Huo Jingchuan was also dressed in athletic wear, though it was clear he had already finished working out. In his hand were the test papers the two of us had done over the last two days.
"Run eight hundred meters to warm up," he said simply upon seeing us, before walking over to sit in the small pavilion by the house.
Eight hundred meters, just for a warm-up.
Huo Ni and I exchanged glances. Was this the start of hell mode?
Our physical stamina was probably about the same; running eight hundred meters felt pretty much like torture to us.
We dragged ourselves through about half of it walking.
Huo Jingchuan looked at us and said coolly, "With this kind of physical condition, you dare copy others and stay up late? Aren't you afraid of sudden death?"
What?
The two of us slowly chewed on those words. Was he blaming us for staying up late? Or was he blaming us for not exercising normally and having terrible stamina?
Huo Jingchuan raised the papers in his hand. "Huo Ni, continue memorizing the knowledge points I circled. Go stand by that swing over there to memorize them—you aren't allowed to eat until you're done!"
Huo Ni quickly took the papers and obediently went to stand by the swing to memorize her outline.
"Nan Xing."
"Yes," I hurried forward.
He glanced at me, then looked at the test papers, and drawled, "From now on, for every math and science problem you get wrong due to calculation errors or carelessness, you'll do ten frog leaps. Today, you need to do fifty. Go."
I stared at him in a daze.
Fifty frog leaps?
I looked at him. "Master, can we change the punishment?"
Huo Jingchuan kept his eyes on the papers without looking at me. "No other options. Go."
I bit my lip and looked at him.
He refused to look back at me.
Huo Jingchuan! Just you wait, I'm keeping a tab on this!
Thinking this, amidst Huo Ni's sympathetic gaze, I walked down the steps and started doing frog leaps.
Just as I reached the fifth one, the sound of a car engine drifted in from outside.
Following the sound, a group of young men and women walked in.
"Nan Xing! Don't you dare stop!" Huo Jingchuan raised his voice.
I turned back around, placed my hands behind my head, squatted down, and jumped up.
"Well, well, looks like you got punished by the Young Master," an unmasked, gloating voice rang out.
It was Huo Yan, Huo Ning's biological younger sister and the eldest young miss of the Huo family's main branch. On my roster of people I never wanted to see again, she easily ranked in the top ten.
"Nan Xing." It was Huo Ning. He really was like a ghost that wouldn't quit.
I kept doing frog leaps without looking back.
"Brother Huo Ning, stop disturbing Nan Xing. These are the Young Master's rules." Nan Yang stopped Huo Ning.
It suddenly occurred to me: did Huo Jingchuan already know this group was coming and deliberately make me get punished in front of them?
I didn't care about losing face. In front of them, I didn't have anything like face to begin with.
All I needed under the current circumstances was to lie low and bide my time.
Huo Yan ran right in front of me and watched me jump, laughing uncontrollably. "Nan Xing, look at you—you look so stupid! Hahahaha."
I gritted my teeth and kept jumping.
"Nan Xing, how many did the Young Master make you do?" Huo Ning walked along beside me.
I didn't want to talk to him.
"Do you all take my place for a vegetable market?" Huo Jingchuan's voice was casual, yet tinged with displeasure.
Huo Ning and Huo Yan hurriedly walked over. "Young Master, we came to see you."
Huo Yan acted coquettishly. She was the pampered darling of the Huo family; compared to her, Huo Ni wasn't even worth a servant. So when Huo Ni walked over and called her "Sister," Huo Yan didn't even spare her a glance.
"Nan Xing, how many is that?" Huo Jingchuan called out loudly.
"48, 49, 50," I said loudly.
Huo Ni hurried over to help me up.
Huo Jingchuan said calmly, "Remember: make a mistake again, and it doubles."
I lowered my head and said softly, "Yes."
Nan Yang looped her arm through mine and said sweetly, "The Young Master really knows what he's doing. This sister of mine is just too unruly; if she doesn't suffer a bit, she refuses to study properly. My parents tried so many ways, and none of them worked. This is the first time I've ever seen my sister act so obedient and sensible!"
"Nan Xing, you must listen well to Master's words, you hear?" She gently shook my arm. Looking at her, even biological sisters couldn't possibly show such deep affection.
How disgusting.
Without leaving a trace, I broke free from her hand and shifted a little to the side.
Nan Yang kept up her enthusiastic act. "Young Master, my parents asked me to bring some fruit and snacks. Thank you for your trouble in disciplining my sister, Young Master."
Nan Yang truly lived up to her reputation as a hot-property young lady of high society in this city. Every word she uttered was airtight.
She conveyed my parents' regards, thanked Huo Jingchuan, and managed to reduce my worth to absolute zero all at once.