Chapter 583: Like you

ndium of Knowledge Points for Grade 8 English."Carrying the thick three or four books out of the bookstore, he looked back at the myriad of study aids, Hao Ren couldn’t help but feel that middle schoo...Chapter 583: Like You...

Hao Ren pushed the door open and walked in. Zhao Yanzi was already wearing her favorite pink nightgown, with her ponytails loosened, her black and lustrous hair covering her small face.

Sitting at the desk, she was indeed doing homework.

"Hn! Hn!" Hao Ren made some sounds through his nose.

Zhao Yanzi ignored Hao Ren. Lowering her head to look at her exercise book, she pursed her lips slightly and held a ballpoint pen in her right hand as she rapidly calculated the problems.

Hao Ren walked over quietly, pulled out a chair, and sat beside her.

Zhao Yanzi paused for a moment, thought about it for a few seconds, then continued working on the homework.

The curriculum in Grade 9 was quite tight. In preparation for the high school entrance exam, the most effective method was to go through countless practice tests. Over this weekend, various subject teachers had assigned mock papers. Zhao Yanzi did not plan to copy answers from Xiao Ling anymore and decided to do her own work.

Seeing how she was working so diligently yet sulking inwardly, Hao Ren smiled helplessly. He rested his right hand on his cheek, supporting his head as he watched Zhao Yanzi solve problems.

Zhao Yanzi's eyelashes were long; her black pupils resembled two black gems. Even the clearness of her eyes reflected the questions in the test papers.

When she encountered difficult problems, biting on the pen was a habit of hers. Her fine white teeth looked like little pearls, as she bit down on the pen tip and pouted her rosy lips slightly while frowning with brows knitted together, which was rather amusing to watch.

Hao Ren didn't bother her but watched silently as she gradually immersed herself in solving the problems.

Zhao Yanzi paid no heed to Hao Ren watching her and continued working on the test questions bit by bit. Inside her heart, she felt a stifled resentment—Xie Yujia was perfect in every way, even scoring near full marks across all subjects. Could it be that Zhao Yanzi couldn't win against her

What Zhao Yanzi didn't know was that Xie Yujia envied the speed of her cultivation progress and felt somewhat不甘心緊追趙焰紫的境界。 resentment too, trying to keep up with Zhao Yanzi's realm.

"Ah Zi! Time for dinner!" Zhao Hongyu shouted from downstairs.

"Oh! Coming!" Zhao Yanzi threw away the ballpoint pen and ran towards the stairs.

She completely ignored Hao Ren, expressing her displeasure this way. Zhao Hongyu favored Xie Yujia, and even Hao Ren was concerned about Xie Yujia as well.

"Hao Ren, come eat!" Seeing that only Zhao Yanzi ran out, Zhao Hongyu called out again.

“Alright…” Hao Ren walked out to see Zhao Yanzi had already run downstairs and sat at the dining table.

Zhao Guang, who was reading a newspaper on the living room sofa, put it down and headed for the dining table.

"Uncle," Hao Ren greeted.

“Hmm How is school going” Zhao Guang asked.

“It’s good. Uncle, how was your trip to Jade Emperor Mountain this time” Hao Ren inquired.

Zhao Yanzi gave a slight snort when she saw Hao Ren chatting amicably with her parents.

"The discussions went well; I was led by Cloud Dragon King Ci Yun and visited over ten dragon palaces in the southwestern region," Zhao Guang said.

The recent visits were very important for the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. One could say that Xie Yujia’s pills had instantly opened up a new situation for them.

Zhao Guang telling Hao Ren about these matters was also regarding him as an important figure within the Eastern Sea, informing him of significant dragon palace news.

Zhao Hongyu nodded slightly. In fact, she invited Xie Yujia to dinner at home because she wanted to thank her. Regardless of how one viewed it, although Xie Yujia was not a cultivator from the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, she had indirectly helped them a great deal.

"Ah Zi, try to get along better with Xie Yujia in the future," Zhao Guang said seeing that Zhao Yanzi was pouting again.

“Oh!” Zhao Yanzi answered unwillingly.

"Let's eat, we can talk while eating," Zhao Hongyu suggested when she saw Zhao Guang and Hao Ren chatting enthusiastically.

"Good idea! Let’s eat!" Zhao Guang said excitedly.

This time going to the dragon palace in the southwest for an exchange, those elders were all praising Hao Ren. This made Zhao Guang feel very honored, so seeing Hao Ren now naturally put him in a good mood.

"Father... there’s something I need your help with," Zhao Yanzi suddenly interjected as dinner was coming to an end.

"What is it" Zhao Guang's face turned cold when he saw Zhao Yanzi speaking up.

This daughter, disobedient and irresponsible, made Zhao Guang seem to like Hao Ren more in comparison.

Feeling the change in her father’s attitude, Zhao Yanzi bit her lip. "Hao Ren got a punishment at school, can you help him get it removed"

"Oh There's such an incident" Zhao Guang looked at Hao Ren with surprise.

The East Sea University was managed by Lu Qing; considering Hao Ren’s personality, he should not cause trouble. How did he end up getting punished

“It’s fine, Uncle!” Hao Ren didn’t expect Zhao Yanzi to bring this matter up for him and shook his head.

Zhao Yanzi looked at Hao Ren and knew that he wouldn’t mention the punishment himself. She took advantage of the atmosphere to say it in hopes that her father would help resolve it. She gloated maliciously when seeing the bulletin board announcement, but she didn't want to see Hao Ren get punished deep down.

"Father! Please help him out! He got a punishment because some hooligans came to the school gate to harass me, and he beat them up for me…" Zhao Yanzi explained.

She was indifferent towards Hao Ren earlier but became anxious when talking about this incident, fearing that her father wouldn't care about it.

"You really know how to make trouble!" Zhao Guang glared at his daughter.

Seeing Zhao Yanzi speak as if Hao Ren had no fault, Zhao Guang immediately thought that she was the one causing problems and dragging Hao Ren into it.

Zhao Yanzi felt wronged but put up with it. Being scolded by her father was worth helping Hao Ren get his punishment removed.

Actually, she knew how much Hao Ren had done for her, making her heart full of gratitude, yet seeing him together with Xie Yujia made her uncomfortable.

"This matter seems to be without Arin’s responsibility. Lu Qing must be busy with dragon palace affairs and not paying attention to school matters. Or... why don’t you call the principal" Zhao Hongyu suggested.

Had it not been for Zhao Yanzi bringing this up, she wouldn't have thought that Hao Ren would receive such a serious punishment.

"That's right, Father! Please make a phone call! Isn’t East Sea University funded by us Make a phone call and help Hao Ren get his punishment removed!" Zhao Yanzi urged.

Her eyes were full of water as she pleaded innocently.

"All the trouble you’ve caused! I can make a phone call, but first you need to copy out all 100 articles from ‘A Selection of Ancient Prose’!" Zhao Guang sternly rebuked.

“Oh...” Without much resistance, Zhao Yanzi nodded in agreement.

Zhao Hongyu was rather surprised at her daughter voluntarily accepting punishment for someone else. It was the first time she had seen such a thing from Zhao Yanzi.

Copying out 100 articles would take half the night.

Hao Ren didn’t expect Zhao Yanzi to take responsibility for him and was surprised at first, then quickly said, “Uncle, it’s not like that! I got into a fight with my classmates in the school cafeteria; it has nothing to do with Af Zi…”

Zhao Yanzi saw Hao Ren taking back his responsibility and looked at him blankly, puzzled.

Seeing them competing to take the blame for each other, Zhao Guang smiled. His daughter had grown up. Previously, even when she lost her most important dragon pearl, she refused to admit her mistake.

But now, in order to revoke Hao Ren's disciplinary action, she was willing to copy ancient texts all night...

Zhao Yanzi saw Zhao Guang smile and thought that there might be a turn for the better. She thought her father would show some mercy this time. However, Zhao Guang said, "Alright then, Ah Zi, you need to copy 100 pieces from 'A Collection of Classical Chinese Prose.' After dinner, I'll give the school principal a call and ask about the situation."

He looked at Zhao Yanzi and asked, “Ah Zi, is there no problem”

"No problem..." Zhao Yanzi shook her head.

She knew that being placed on academic probation was quite a serious punishment. If she could have Hao Ren's punishment revoked for him, it wouldn't matter if she stayed up all night copying ancient texts. Of course, it would be even better if she could avoid punishment altogether.

"Uncle, about this matter..." Hao Ren tried to explain further, but Zhao Guang waved his hand and said, "Alright then, I'm not necessarily going to help you revoke the punishment; I just want to inquire about the situation."

Zhao Hongyu gave him a look. Hao Ren had no choice but to keep quiet.

Since Zhao Yanzi was willing to take on the punishment for his sake, Hao Ren couldn't bring himself to speak more and waste her sincere efforts.

"A hundred pieces, all must be written in regular script with neat handwriting. You’re not allowed to write sloppily or let Ah Ren help you. I will carefully check each piece." Zhao Guang glanced at Zhao Yanzi before getting up and heading towards his study room.

Zhao Yanzi pursed her lips, looked at Hao Ren, finished the last two bites of rice, then headed upstairs.

"This is Ah Zi's father punishing her. It’s not necessarily related to this matter." Zhao Hongyu glanced at Hao Ren and smiled as she spoke.

"Mm..." Hao Ren nodded. Just as he was about to head upstairs, Zhao Hongyu said, "Actually, Ah Zi cares a lot about you."

Hao Ren thought back to the earnest expression on Zhao Yanzi’s face when she bandaged his palm and couldn't help but smile.

"Ah Zi is just a bit temperamental; she's not bad at heart." Hao Ren said.

"It's good that you know," replied Zhao Hongyu with a gentle nod.

“Then... shall I go up and keep her company” Hao Ren asked Zhao Hongyu.

"Go ahead!" Zhao Hongyu smiled.

Hao Ren happily chuckled, then ran towards the stairs. He quickly reached the second floor, pushed open the door to Zhao Yanzi’s room.

“Alright, you’ve eaten our family's dinner; why don’t you go back now” When she saw Hao Ren enter again, Zhao Yanzi’s somewhat sharp words immediately came out.

Hao Ren touched his nose and awkwardly walked over. He hadn't expected that Zhao Yanzi was hoping to have him get his punishment revoked, thinking instead that she was merely gloating about his misfortune.

Seeing Hao Ren walk up with a thick face, Zhao Yanzi’s cheeks flushed slightly. She picked up the ballpoint pen on her desk and continued doing the math test paper from earlier.

Aftr finishing both the math and English tests, she prepared to copy out the ancient texts during the late night hours so that she could submit them for review by Zhao Guang in the morning.

While he said he would just ask about it, Zhao Yanzi knew that her father’s influence was such that he could definitely have Hao Ren's punishment revoked.

"You’re not going back" Seeing Hao Ren standing beside her without sitting down or leaving, Zhao Yanzi bit her lip and couldn't help asking.

"It's still early. I’ll go back in a while." Hao Ren answered, adding, "I'll keep you company for a bit."

Zhao Yanzi was indeed quite surprised by the fact that she had taken on punishment to get Hao Ren’s disciplinary action revoked; it really didn’t have much to do with her.

The probationary punishment was quite severe, and the school wanted to make things reasonable so they included the fight outside as well.

Zhao Yanzi was very clever and should know that this punishment had nothing to do with her, but she still took it upon herself to involve herself in the matter for Zhao Guang's sake.

Turning around to look at Hao Ren, hearing his simple words of "I’ll keep you company for a bit," Zhao Yanzi didn't know why, but felt warm inside.

If it were before, she would have wished Hao Ren to leave as quickly as possible so that she could be alone in her room freely. But now, even though she said he should go, part of her hoped for him to stay and keep her company.

"I've finished it; could you please check it for me" Zhao Yanzǐ turned to look at the test paper again and said softly.

"Oh, okay." Hao Ren checked the time and found that it was not yet too late. He sat down in the chair next to Zhao Yanzǐ.

Zhao Yanzǐ focused on the test paper with her head bowed; her dark hair slipped from behind her ears to the front, revealing a patch of white neck under her pajamas.

From her serious expression, it was clear that she had been putting in real effort since entering grade three junior high.

The minutes ticked by. Zhao Yanzǐ's pale arms moved slowly across the test paper from inside her short-sleeved pajama top.

"I didn't call Xie Yujia today because... " After a moment of silence, Zhao Yanzǐ suddenly spoke up and paused again, "...because she likes you."

Hao Ren looked at her in puzzlement; he was taken aback by the honesty of what she had just said.

Seeing her pouty expression, Hao Ren couldn't help but smile.

"What are you laughing about!" Zhao Yanzǐ glared fiercely at Hao Ren.

"Have you finished the test" Hao Ren asked.

"Finished it!" Zhao Yanzǐ pushed the paper in front of Hao Ren.

Hao Ren picked up a pencil and began to check Zhao Yanzǐ's work. He had glanced at these questions when she was solving them, so he already knew roughly whether she got them right or not.

Zhao Yanzǐ leaned in closely to look over Hao Ren's corrections; soon her back was pressed against his chest.

"This question is incorrect. This should be a cube, not squared..."

"And here too. You always have this problem: don't handle absolute values too casually..."

With the air conditioning on in Zhao Yanzǐ's room and the temperature low, she was curled up inside Hao Ren's embrace, her thin pajamas barely covering her as she listened to his detailed explanations.

Hao Ren had come from a regimen of solving countless problems himself. He was especially thorough and patient when it came to grade three junior high material.

Being held in Hao Ren's arms made Zhao Yanzǐ feel very content; she found the sound of his explanations soothing as well.

"Did you understand" Hao Ren suddenly asked her.

Zhao Yanzǐ turned back, slightly tilting her face to look at Hao Ren.

Seeing her expression, Hao Ren's heart pounded violently in his chest.

Zhao Yanzǐ straightened a little and lightly, slowly bit down on Hao Ren's lips.

Hao Ren's heart rate instantly accelerated; both hands on the table were stiff.

In the quiet room, only the sound of the air conditioner and their lips touching could be heard. Zhao Yanzǐ's shoulder pressed against Hao Ren's chest as she half-turned her body, appearing somewhat seductive.

Hao Ren felt his heart about to leap out of his throat; he cautiously kissed back, still reeling from all those mathematical theorems in his mind.

Zhao Yanzǐ's little tongue tentatively touched Hao Ren's lips. He lightly kissed her back, biting gently on her small tongue.

His stiff hands carefully held her slender waist; he felt the softness of having Zhao Yanzǐ in his embrace.

"Okay." Zhao Yanzǐ gradually pulled away, her face flushed red, with a hint of moisture at the corner of her mouth.

Hao Ren looked closely at her, then leaned down to kiss the side of her mouth.

Her heart thumping wildly, Zhao Yanzǐ struggled gently out of Hao Ren's embrace and gazed nervously back at the test paper, "Oh... six mistakes...while dropping bottles of various pills from his clothes… It seemed he had stolen quite a bit in the Dragon God Temple!Bang...A figure suddenly flew out from the western gate of the Dragon God Temple....