Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 78: Mortimer Quincy Has a Foul Temper

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Mortimer Quincy Has a Foul Temper

As the movie’s end credits rolled, Gabe Chaucer came in. After turning on the lights, he shut off the multimedia projector and casually asked the students, "Did you enjoy the movie your teacher picked?"

The students all gave half-hearted replies about how good it was.

Gabe Chaucer swept his gaze over the students. He could tell at a glance they were just humoring him, but he pretended not to notice. He said with a chuckle, "As long as you thought it was good. I want a film review from each of you by Wednesday. At least 800 words." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The entire class groaned in unison, clearly reluctant.

"Groaning won’t get you out of it."

Gabe Chaucer urged them on mercilessly. "You still have ten or twenty minutes. Get started now."

Just as Holly Winslow was picking up her pen to brainstorm, she saw that Mortimer Quincy had already written a couple of lines. She was a little curious. ’That guy Mortimer didn’t even watch the movie. How can he write a review?’

But he was actually writing one.

"Have you seen it before?"

Mortimer glanced at her and replied lazily, "Nope. It’s easy. Just expand on the main theme."

Seeing Holly Winslow’s look of disbelief, he raised an eyebrow. "I’m *very* good at this, you know. Hmm, if you beg me, I’ll help you."

The truth was, she didn’t know Gabe Chaucer very well. When grading essays, he basically just read the beginning and the end. As long as the middle wasn’t too outrageous, it would be fine.

Holly Winslow: "..."

She shot him a glare and muttered, "Good at this, my ass. If you’re so good, how come you couldn’t even write a decent love letter?" Then she ignored him.

Faced with his girlfriend digging up old dirt, Mortimer was speechless. "..."

’My girl just loves bringing up old scores to shut me down.’

’If I don’t write her a proper love letter, she’ll probably nag me about it until we’re old.’

He then took out another notebook.

After study hall ended, Holly Winslow needed to go back to her dorm to change her bedsheets, so she turned down Mortimer Quincy’s suggestion to duck into the woods. Looking displeased, Mortimer walked her to her dorm entrance.

He waited until she went inside before turning back to his own dorm. When Pantheon saw him return, he sidled up to him with a mischievous "Heh heh" grin. "Mortimer, not bad. Getting busy in the classroom, huh?"

Mortimer shot him a look, tossed out a single sentence, and went to wash his face. "No use being jealous."

Pantheon’s grin vanished. "..."

’Mortimer, give me a break!’

Zeke Zane laughed without reservation. "You deserved that."

Paul Powell eyed them. "What are you guys talking about? I wanna know."

"Know my ass. Can you even score a 130 on your math test?" Pantheon redirected his "fury" at him.

Paul Powell: "..."

’You don’t have to attack my grades like that.’

His gaze shifted from his math test paper to Pantheon. "Can *you* score a 130 in English?"

Pantheon: "..."

Zeke Zane roared with laughter. "Hahaha! Mortimer, come look! These two are about to lose it."

"I can hear them," Mortimer called back from the balcony.

...

That night, it suddenly started to rain. Holly Winslow was startled awake by a clap of thunder. Listening to the sound of the rain, she remembered that Mortimer Quincy didn’t have an umbrella.

Because his was with her.

Huddled under her blankets, she started typing a message to Mortimer: *Hubby, I’ll come get you for class tomorrow. Wait for me at your dorm entrance.*

Before she could send it, a message from Mortimer came in: *You awake?*

Holly Winslow giggled and added a reply to the front of her message: *Awake now.*

The two of them chatted for a minute or two before Holly Winslow put down her phone and went back to sleep.

The next morning, it was still raining, and it was coming down hard.

To be on the safe side, Holly Winslow grabbed two umbrellas. As she was about to leave the dorm, she heard Valerie Walsh and the others saying they didn’t have an umbrella and couldn’t get to class.

She hesitated for a moment before giving one to them. There were three of them, and her own umbrella was small and definitely wouldn’t cover them all, so she gave them Mortimer’s.

The moment she handed it over, she felt a pang of guilt.

’That guy Mortimer has such a foul temper. If he finds out I gave his umbrella to other girls, he probably won’t even want it back.’

Back then, she’d really hated that about him.

*Ahem,* because she had been on the receiving end of it before.

There were a lot of boys without umbrellas standing at the entrance of the men’s dorm. Holly Winslow spotted Mortimer Quincy, dressed in a black crew-neck sweater, in a single glance.

She ran over, clutching her books. "Mortimer."

Mortimer looked at her small, pink umbrella. "Why didn’t you bring mine?"

Guiltily, Holly Winslow fiddled with her umbrella. "I couldn’t find it."

Mortimer didn’t press the issue. He bent down to roll up his pant legs, then crouched. "Get on."

When she just stood there, he raised an eyebrow. "Want me to carry you in my arms instead?"

Holly Winslow: "..."

She climbed onto his back, wrapping one arm around his neck and holding the umbrella with the other.

Quite a few students turned to look. Even the dorm supervisor came out, thinking some students were in a puppy-love romance, but when she saw it was Mortimer Quincy, she went back inside.

Students stared the whole way. Holly Winslow was nervous for a moment, but then decided to ignore it. ’After all, if the sky falls, my man will be there to hold it up.’

She tilted her head to rest on Mortimer’s shoulder and looked at his earlobe. "Honey."

"Hm?" Mortimer turned his head slightly to look at her, signaling for her to say what was on her mind.

"Honey, I love you." Holly Winslow lowered the umbrella for a moment and gave him a quick peck on the side of his face.

Mortimer’s steps faltered for an instant, but he quickly resumed walking, the corners of his lips twitching upward slightly.

Just as the two of them reached the stairwell, they happened to run into Gabe Chaucer.

Feeling guilty, Holly Winslow slid off Mortimer’s back and said obediently, "Hello, Teacher Chaucer."

Gabe Chaucer replied with a kind "Hello," then looked at Mortimer’s pant cuffs. "Did they get wet? Do you want to go back and change?"

"They’re not wet." Mortimer shook his head.

"Do you only have one umbrella?" Gabe Chaucer added. "I’ll get one for you two later. It’s early spring, and the weather changes quickly. Be careful not to catch a cold."

The three of them chatted as they walked, only stopping when they reached the classroom.

Holly Winslow took some tissues from her desk drawer and naturally bent down to wipe Mortimer’s pant cuffs and shoes.

"Did the inside of your shoes get wet?"

"No."

Mortimer bent down as well, took the tissues from her hand, and started wiping them himself.

Just then, a sweet voice rang out. "Holly, thanks for the umbrella."

Holly Winslow: "..."

Under Mortimer’s intense gaze, she took it and said weakly, "You’re welcome."

After Valerie Walsh left, Mortimer’s eyes narrowed, his voice laced with jealousy. "You lent my umbrella to other girls?"

"They didn’t have an umbrella, so I lent it to them," Holly Winslow explained feebly.

Mortimer reached for the umbrella, intending to throw it away. Holly Winslow quickly grabbed his hand. "I’ll use yours, and you can use mine!"

Mortimer’s umbrellas were all expensive; you could buy ten of her little pink ones for the price of one of his.

Looking at her small face, Mortimer laughed in exasperation. ’My girl is really generous, isn’t she.’

He reached over, took the umbrella, got up, walked to the back of the room, and threw it in the trash can.

Holly Winslow: "..."

’That guy Mortimer’s temper is truly foul.’

Mortimer returned to his seat and said to Holly Winslow, "Recite ’Free and Easy Wandering.’ For every sentence you get wrong, you’ll copy it ten times."

Holly Winslow: "..."

’My mind is full of math formulas; all the classical Chinese texts have suddenly gone blank.’

’What was the first line of "Free and Easy Wandering" again?’

From behind them, Pantheon piped up, "In Boreas there is a fish, and its name is Gigas..."

Holly Winslow shot Pantheon a grateful smile. Just as she was about to start reciting, Mortimer cut in, "Copy it ten times."

Holly Winslow: "..."

’Son... of... a... bitch... Mortimer... Quincy.’

She was about to argue that she hadn’t even started reciting yet, but Mortimer spoke again. "You think you can recite the whole thing?"

Holly Winslow: "..."

’That’s so demoralizing.’

But it was true. She couldn’t.

’Normally, you just memorize the key passages. Who memorizes the entire text?’