Chapter 614: A New Posture for Learning English

To avoid disturbing their children's evening study and rest, Li Guohong and the others tidied up the living room and kitchen, then left early.

After hearing the sound of the door closing as they bid farewell and departed, Ying Chanxi, pinned to the desk by Li Luo, finally exhaled in relief.

Her toes, clenched tight from tension, gradually relaxed, and she collapsed limply onto the desk, letting Li Luo do as he pleased.

"I didn't tell you to stop—keep going," Li Luo smiled, lowering his head to trace his lips along her delicate neck skin.

Ying Chanxi breathed lightly, her face flushed crimson, yet whispered softly: "neck, neck, n-e-c-k."

"No wonder you're top of the grade," Li Luo chuckled, moving lower, as Ying Chanxi then named each spot he kissed with its English word.

They'd agreed this was for learning English—Li Luo was determined to follow through.

Eventually, Ying Chanxi gave in first; seeing his mouth nearing her toes, she yanked her legs back and scrambled off the desk.

"That's dirty! I haven't even bathed today!"

"Cough…" Li Luo snapped back to reality, a hint of embarrassment on his face.

It was just that Ying Chanxi, while being teased, reciting words, looked so adorable—he'd gotten too carried away and followed instinct all the way down.

Still, Li Luo felt a pang of regret, his eyes unconsciously stealing two glances at her soft, white, pudding-like toes.

Ying Chanxi noticed his gaze; her toes twitched as if kissed by his stare, instinctively curling cutely.

She shot him a glare, quickly slipped on slippers: "I'm going to take a bath."

"Bath so early?" Li Luo raised an eyebrow. "It's only seven-something."

"Your saliva marks are all over me—so gross!" Ying Chanxi complained, though her face burned red as she bolted for the bathroom.

Li Luo followed her to the hallway, teasing: "You're not trying to wash clean so I can kiss your little toes again, are you?"

"No way!" Ying Chanxi's head popped out from behind the bathroom door, pouting. "Pervert!"

Watching Ying Chanxi shut the bathroom door, Li Luo stretched, then wandered into Xu Youyu's bedroom.

But Xu Youyu was still writing that night and had no time for him.

After being kicked out, he walked to the piano room, knocked, then pushed the door open.

Yan Zhusheng was playing the piano.

Tomorrow was the English exam, but for Yan Zhusheng, it held no difficulty.

English was her strongest subject.

Having been raised abroad since childhood by Yuan Wanqing, with English-speaking tutors, Yan Zhusheng's English scores had always been among the highest in class.

Playing piano now was simply a way to relax mentally before the exam.

"Teacher Yan, are you teaching tonight?"

Yan Zhusheng paused, looked up at Li Luo, and blinked.

"Where's Xixi?"

"In the bath."

"So you only come to me when sister's busy?"

Li Luo: "..."

Yan Zhusheng stood, took Li Luo's hand, and led him to the bathroom door in the hallway.

Ying Chanxi was already inside, water rushing loudly from within.

Li Luo didn't understand what Yan Zhusheng meant to do—until she stopped beside the wall and shoved him hard against it.

The next second, he felt his mouth sealed.

"Sister," Yan Zhusheng suddenly spoke, addressing the bathroom.

Li Luo jumped, pressed against the wall, heart pounding.

"Huh? What's up?" Ying Chanxi replied from inside, unaware of the scene just beyond the wall.

"Can I come in and bathe with you?" Yan Zhusheng asked.

"I guess so," Ying Chanxi hesitated, "but I'm almost done—wait till I finish, okay?"

After all, if Yan Zhusheng bathed alone afterward, she could have more private time with Li Luo.

Then, reluctantly, she could let him kiss her toes… but if Yan Zhusheng was there, Ying Chanxi would never dare.

"Oh." Yan Zhusheng didn't intend to enter—she'd just used it as an excuse to speak to Ying Chanxi.

After speaking, she rose onto her tiptoes again.

…

When Ying Chanxi stepped out of the bathroom, the hallway was empty.

Dressed in her pajamas, she approached the piano room door and said: "I'm done. You go now, Zhusheng."

"Mm." Yan Zhusheng nodded, acknowledged, then watched Ying Chanxi leave.

Meanwhile, Li Luo, pretending to write at the master bedroom desk, heard Ying Chanxi enter—he rose, grabbed the hairdryer, and pinned her to the chair to dry her hair.

After drying her hair, Ying Chanxi climbed into bed, quietly hopeful, and turned to look at Li Luo.

But Li Luo sat seriously back at his desk and actually started typing.

"There's an exam tomorrow—why are you typing?" Ying Chanxi stretched out her soft, pale foot, tapping his thigh with her toe. "Didn't you say you had plenty of drafts?"

"Well, I've got nothing else to do," Li Luo said, eyes fixed on the screen, ignoring her. "Might as well write a bit—English doesn't need much review anyway."

"How can you say that?" Ying Chanxi grew anxious, thinking Yan Zhusheng would finish bathing soon—she pushed her right leg harder against him. "Didn't we just review English?"

As soon as she spoke, she felt guilty and flushed, her gaze darting away, unable to meet Li Luo's eyes.

Li Luo suppressed his grin, fingers tapping randomly on the keyboard: "You mean how we reviewed English? Be specific—I won't know what you want unless you say it."

But Li Luo's words were too obvious—Ying Chanxi instantly realized he was teasing her.

Her face burned crimson; she huffed, retracted her leg, rolled over, and gave him her back, ignoring him.

Seeing this, Li Luo knew not to press further—he set down the keyboard and slipped quietly under the covers.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you say you were going to write? Don't touch me."

"Even writing needs rest and work balanced. I came to take a break."

"If you're taking a break, then why are you groping me?"

"I'm helping you relax too. This is a new massage technique I learned—comfortable, right?"

"Not… not comfortable at all…"

"You're disrespecting my skills? Then I'll have to use my best technique."

"Ah! Don't—"

……

The night, no different from usual, passed quickly.

Early the next morning, after eating breakfast made by Lin Xiuhong, Li Luo and the others returned to Fuyi High School for the final exam.

In the classroom, they collected their exam admission tickets, listened to Kong Junxiang's endless reminders, and then the Class Eight students set out toward the examination halls.

The long yet fleeting two hours vanished in the blink of an eye.

Li Luo sat at his exam seat, watching the countdown clock at the front of the classroom tick second by second.

Soon, the moment the hour hand stopped at 11 a. m., the bell signaling the end of the exam rang out.

Some students, realizing what the bell meant, couldn't help but exhale deeply, even shouting out loud.

The proctor had been about to stop them, but then fell silent, smiling helplessly.

"Alright, wait for us to collect the papers—everyone, stay calm," said another proctor from the back of the classroom.

Watching the two proctors carefully gather and organize the English exam papers felt like watching their own high school years ticking away, second by second, toward their end.

Many students, from their initial racing heartbeats, gradually calmed down, finally allowing their bloodshot, feverish bodies to accept the reality that high school was over.

But when the proctors finished collecting the papers and announced the exam was over, and everyone could leave in order—

The teaching building erupted.

Many students who could no longer hold back stood in the corridors, wailing and screaming, "The Gaokao is over!"

Some even sprinted out in full run, shouting and cheering as they released long-suppressed voices.

In comparison, most students still appeared calm on the surface.

Li Luo walked out of the exam hall and exchanged a smile with Zhao Rongjun, who had just exited the neighboring hall.

"How do you feel now?" Li Luo slapped his buddy on the shoulder.

"Not bad," Zhao Rongjun scratched his head. "I feel like today's exam… the questions all seemed… how to put it… strangely smooth? I didn't hit any especially hard ones."

Of course not… Li Luo silently laughed in his mind.

He had quietly slipped some of the Gaokao's toughest questions into his daily review material—not without effect.

Although over half the exam content had changed, Li Luo's efforts still fully paid off.

The two walked downstairs together and met up with Ying Chanxi and Yan Zhusheng; Qiao Xinyan and Xu Yinghuan also came over.

But Xu Yinghuan looked uneasy; seeing this, Qiao Xinyan couldn't help whispering, "Yinghuan… are you… okay?"

Xu Yinghuan shook her head, but still wore a worried expression, finally blurting out, "I think I messed up the exam."

Hearing this, everyone turned to look.

Li Luo asked in confusion, "You haven't even checked your answers yet—how do you know you messed up? What question did you fail to solve?"

"No, it's the opposite," Xu Yinghuan quickly shook her head. "I feel like I did too well on this Gaokao… I didn't encounter any hard questions at all."

"But I never perform like this in regular exams… Either this year's paper got easier, or—"

"I missed something. I thought I got the answers right, but I actually got them all wrong."

Li Luo: "…"

Thought it was something serious.

With my secret prep work, it'd be a miracle if you didn't find the questions smooth.

"Now that you mention it, I feel the same," Qiao Xinyan realized, prompted by Xu Yinghuan. "Some questions on this Gaokao paper felt familiar—I solved them easily."

"That proves our study group's efforts weren't in vain," Li Luo waved his hand. "Since it's already over, obsessing over it now is pointless. Let's just go home and relax."

The six of them chatted as they walked toward the school gate.

Kong Junxiang stood at the exam exit, watching Class Eight's students emerge one by one. His face carried a smile tinged with reluctance, greeting, encouraging, congratulating, comforting, and bidding farewell to each.

When he saw Li Luo and the five others walking out, his smile widened: "How did it go?"

"Perfect," Li Luo grinned. "Teacher Kong, if I become the Gaokao top scorer, will the school give you a bonus?"

Hearing this, Kong Junxiang burst out laughing, clapping Li Luo on the shoulder. "If I'm counting on you, I'd better count on Ying Chanxi."

"You're welcome to beat me," Ying Chanxi glanced at Li Luo, unable to resist adding, "If you don't outscore me, I'll make you write more chapters with your report card."

Li Luo froze at those words: "Wait… how can you be so cruel?"

"I know some classmates from Zhenhai and Xuejun," Qiao Xinyan chimed in, smirking as she covered her mouth. "Once the scores come out, I'll have them come report their results to you."

Other Class Eight students nearby overheard and joined in the teasing; Zhang Guohuang shouted even louder: "Boss, don't worry—I've got tons of friends at other schools. This summer, I'll make sure you get forced to write nonstop!"

"Get lost!" Li Luo snapped. "After all I've done for you, is this how you repay me?"

Class Eight burst into laughter; the cheerful mood instantly dispersed the faint melancholy after the Gaokao.

"There's still the school graduation ceremony at month's end," Kong Junxiang said, moved. "After it's over, let's have a farewell dinner. Don't you dare skip it."

"No problem," Li Luo smiled. "As long as you don't bring me report cards, I'll treat you all."

After parting at the school gate, Class Eight's students went home with their parents.

Li Luo and the other two were picked up by Xu Youyu, who waited at the gate. Back at Bihai Lanting, they ate a meal cooked by Lin Xiuhong.

After the kitchen was cleaned and Lin Xiuhong had left, Xu Youyu eagerly pulled the three of them downstairs, wearing a mysterious expression—no one knew what kind of birthday surprise she had planned.

"Senior, so what are we going to see downstairs?"

"Hey, don't ask anymore, you'll see for yourselves when you get there." Xu Youyu chuckled, leading them around two corners in the residential area until they finally reached an open parking spot.

After turning another corner, a massive object suddenly came into view.

"Deng-deng-deng-deng~" Xu Youyu rushed excitedly to the front of the Motorhome and showed it off to Li Luo and the others. "What do you think? What do you think?! I just rented this Motorhome today!"

(End of Chapter)