Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 27: Try Scoring 700 Points?

With a grand wave of his hand from Julian Carlton, the entire class started moving books and swapping chairs.

Some people had better chairs and, naturally, didn’t want to sit on their classmates’ rickety ones.

Anna Willow gathered her books, grumbling, "Ellie, Holly, I don’t want to move at all. Old Calder is so annoying. He’s splitting us up on purpose."

"Sigh, you have it better than me. My new deskmate is Lily Chandler. I must have the worst luck in the world," Iris Kensington said, sounding exasperated.

While sympathizing with her friends’ complaints, Holly Winslow felt a pang of pity for herself. "You guys can trade with me. I think I might suffocate from the silence."

Mina Shaw was normally quiet, and Sean Hayes was in charge of class discipline. Holly figured she’d probably have to be a mute in class from now on.

It wasn’t that she planned on talking in class, but she didn’t want to have no one to talk to, either.

In comparison, both Anna Willow and Iris Kensington felt she had it worse, which cheered them up a bit.

Iris Kensington patted her on the back. "Holly, good luck."

Sean Hayes’s and Mina Shaw’s books were piled on the left and right, creating a barrier down the middle of the desk, as if to say, ’Don’t bother us.’

Holly Winslow: "..."

If she didn’t know their personalities, she would have thought they hated her.

She finished organizing her desk and glanced at the clock. There were still twenty minutes until one-thirty. Forgetting about her nap, she pulled out her math workbook and started grinding through problems.

Mortimer Quincy had said you had to do a lot of math problems to get a "feel for it."

Everyone around them was starting to get to know their new deskmates. Only their section was silent, with everyone quietly working on assignments.

Julian Carlton knew they wouldn’t be able to nap after changing seats. "Keep your voices down. Don’t get so carried away getting to know your new deskmates that you end up selling the classroom."

He stood there for a few more minutes before leaving the classroom with the grade reports.

Suddenly, the desk vibrated. Both Sean Hayes and Mina Shaw looked toward Holly Winslow.

Holly Winslow gave them an apologetic look, then took the phone out of her desk drawer, turned off the vibration, and switched it to silent mode.

Only then did she open the message. It was from Mortimer Quincy.

Are the scores out?

She texted back, feeling a little smug: They’re out. I got in the four-eighties. Quick, praise me.

On the other end of the line, Mortimer Quincy was hunched over, looking at the phone on his desk. He let out a low chuckle. Just as he was about to reply, Zeke Zane leaned over. "What movie are you watching? You look so happy."

In reality, the honors class wasn’t like what others imagined—all grinding problems and reading books. They occasionally played on their phones or watched movies.

Mortimer Quincy tilted his phone away and shot him a look. "Something you singles wouldn’t understand."

"????"

A strange expression crossed Zeke Zane’s pale, chubby face. After a dozen seconds, he swore, "Fuck."

’I want to strangle him.’

Mortimer Quincy ignored his "fuck" and tapped on his dark phone screen a few times.

Amazing, honey. Keep it up.

Seeing the message, Holly Winslow giggled. Then, with a masochistic streak, she typed out a line.

Honey, what did you used to get on the monthly exams?

’A score in the 740s might be a bit discouraging for my girl,’ Mortimer Quincy mused.

Let’s say 700.

"..."

Holly Winslow finally understood why Mortimer Quincy was so likable. That score was just too considerate.

She texted back doubtfully: Honey, are you still up to it now?

Mortimer Quincy raised an eyebrow. Her words seemed to be questioning some of his... other abilities.

Wanna try?

At first glance, Holly Winslow didn’t get it. ’Try what?’

’Try to score a 700?’

She typed out four words—’I can’t even imagine’—but just as she was about to send it, her brain caught up.

’That bastard Mortimer Quincy!’

She deleted the message. Her eyes darted around as she typed out five new words: Tried it. You’re no good.

Just as she was about to hit send, a tapping sound came from her desk. Startled, Holly Winslow quickly blanked her phone screen.

She turned her head to see Sean Hayes in his black-framed glasses. He pushed them up his nose, his tone flat. "Holly Winslow, Mr. Carlton said no phones in the classroom."

Plenty of students used their phones in class, and Sean Hayes usually turned a blind eye. But with Holly Winslow right under his nose, he’d be derelict in his duty if he didn’t say something.

"..."

Holly Winslow quickly put her phone in her drawer and went back to grinding through her workbook.

When Mortimer Quincy didn’t get a reply from his girl, he assumed she was just shy.

He smiled, lips pressed together, and was about to type an apology when a shadow fell over his screen. He immediately blanked the phone and looked up calmly, meeting the overly amiable gaze of his homeroom teacher.

Gabe Chaucer smiled. "Miles, looking up some information online?"

Without a hint of guilt, Mortimer Quincy nodded. "Yeah."

Beside him, Zeke Zane: "..."

’Teacher, I’m reporting him! He’s in a relationship!’

"I have a computer in my office. Why don’t you come with me and use that?" Gabe Chaucer offered thoughtfully.

"Thanks, sir."

Mortimer Quincy put his phone away, shot a sideways glance at Zeke Zane, then grabbed his Math Olympiad problems from the desk and followed Gabe Chaucer to the office.

Watching the two of them leave one after the other, Zeke Zane was suddenly reminded of a saying that perfectly fit their barefaced-lying act.

Life is a play, and it’s all about the acting.

「...」

The three afternoon classes were all spent going over the exam papers. The fourth period was a study hall.

Holly Winslow copied all the questions she got wrong from the six subjects into her error notebook. Then, she redid the problems the teacher had gone over.

She got them all right.

Feeling a sense of satisfaction, she took a sip of her milk.

Her deskmate, Mina Shaw, glanced at her. "Holly Winslow, are you free right now?"

This was the first thing she’d said since they’d switched seats. Holly Winslow nodded. "What’s up?"

"Could you explain this problem to me?"

Mina Shaw moved her books aside, placing a math test between them. She pointed to the second part of the final word problem—a real killer question.

The teacher had advised "average" students like them to not waste time on it and instead spend more time checking their work on the earlier questions.

Mortimer Quincy had explained this problem to her four or five times before she finally understood it completely.

But that jerk Mortimer Quincy had said the problem was only of average difficulty.

’I’d love to trade brains with him,’ she thought, then looked at Mina Shaw. "Which step?"

"This step here. The radius r = 1/2|FQ| = a."

Holly Winslow grabbed a pen and a scratchpad and began to explain in detail. "From part (1), we know that 2b² = 3ac..."

Sean Hayes pushed up his glasses, interrupting their discussion. "Can I listen in?"

Hearing this, Holly Winslow moved the test paper onto her own desk. "You guys can pull your chairs over a bit."

When Julian Carlton reached the back door of the classroom, he saw the three of them with their heads huddled together. Holly Winslow would occasionally look at Mina Shaw and Sean Hayes. The scene looked just like a teacher explaining a problem to students.

He did that often himself.

He walked quietly into the classroom and gave Beau Sullivan, who was dozing off in the back row, a little "lollipop."

Beau Sullivan tilted his head and saw it was him. Instantly, he was wide awake and gave an embarrassed smile.

When the other students in the class saw him, they immediately started alerting each other with back scratches, chair kicks, and hair tugs.

After that, phones were put away, novels were hidden, and mouths were shut.

The trio of Holly, Mina, and Sean noticed the classroom had gotten too quiet. They turned, saw it was Julian Carlton, and then turned right back to continue discussing the problem.

Julian Carlton: "..."

He stood beside the three of them, watching quietly for a few minutes, then quietly left.