Ke Xue Lu Ren Wang

Chapter 31 Rest

"Today is for review and practice questions."

Yuzuru pulled up a chair and sat down, with a desk's width separating him from Ooka Momiji—not too close, not too far, just right.

At the same time, Iori Muga took out the last folder from the bookshelf next to him and placed it on the desk.

Ooka Momiji skillfully picked it up and opened it.

Inside were the assignments that Yuzuru Tetsu had given her last week, as well as her personal notes.

"You can take a look at today's lesson first."

Yuzuru pushed a sticky note in front of her.

After exchanging their items, the two stopped talking and began looking at them separately.

Yuzuru was checking homework, while Ooka Momiji was looking through the timetable, analyzing the knowledge points and content to be taught today.

The study was so quiet that only the sound of turning pages could be heard.

During this time, Iori Muga came out of the door, brought the tea and coffee that the two wanted to drink, gently placed them down, and then stood behind to wait.

As a butler, his primary responsibility is to protect the young lady's safety, and only secondarily to provide services in her daily life.

In addition, he had another important criterion: to avoid the young lady being alone with anyone as much as possible.

Yuzuru flipped through the notebook, carefully checking each page.

Ooka Momiji's handwriting is neat and beautiful. The solution steps for each problem are written clearly and logically, without any ambiguity.

Twenty minutes later, he closed his notebook.

"It's perfect, there's not a single mistake. At this rate, Miss Koyo, you should be able to fully master the second-year math curriculum very soon."

"I've finished watching it too." Ooka Momiji nodded without any expression.

Yuzuru noticed that she didn't react to his praise, which made him wonder if he was praising her in the wrong way.

In fact, he and Ooka Momiji were not strangers; this way of getting along had been going on for half a year, but he had never paid attention to these details before.

For some reason, his mind was unusually clear today.

He noticed that the young lady didn't seem very happy while studying.

Of course, this isn't a new phenomenon; it's been the same in the past.

In other words, he knew all along that this young lady's studies were very busy and demanding, but he chose to turn a blind eye and didn't care about her feelings or situation at all. After all, given the girl's family background, he didn't need to worry about her. He only cared about whether his work went smoothly and met his standards.

However, after triggering the system, Yuzuru found that his mindset had changed slightly, and he was more willing to pay attention to things outside of work.

Even though he noticed, Toru Hanyu didn't say much. Instead, he began his tutoring work.

After all, Iori Muga, the burly butler, was still standing behind him, supervising.

Whether his performance is up to standard depends entirely on the housekeeper's evaluation and feedback. As long as he meets the targets, he won't be fired directly.

With an income of 1.5 million yen a month, there is no room for the slightest mistake.

The lesson begins.

Both sides cooperated well. Even though Toru Hanyu could tell that Momiji Ooka didn't want to study, she didn't throw a tantrum, which made the process go very smoothly.

He calmed down and explained carefully, and before he knew it, it was already seven o'clock.

"Young Miss, I'll go make dinner for you first," Iori Muga said, glancing at the clock above her head.

"Yes, thank you for your hard work." Ooka Momiji always treated her butler with a degree of respect, answering almost every question.

Iori Muga walked out of the study, her footsteps gradually fading into the distance.

Yuzuru pricked up his ears and listened until the footsteps disappeared at the end of the corridor before silently picking up the coffee on the table and drinking it all in one gulp.

A strong, bitter taste spread through my mouth.

He leaned back in his chair and stretched slightly.

"Miss Hongye, you can rest for a while."

"rest?"

Ooka Momiji turned her head to the side, her beautiful eyes calm and without a ripple, revealing no emotion or thought whatsoever.

"I noticed you didn't get much rest during the last class. Luckily, Butler Iori isn't here, so you can take a break."

Yuzuru's statement was perfectly reasonable.

"Time is tight. I must memorize all the key points from today before 9:30 tonight..."

Ooka Momiji spoke softly, already lowering her head to continue working on her practice problems.

"Rote memorization is ineffective."

Yuzuru interrupted her.

"If you can't remember it, I can review it with you next time. The human brain gets tired, and studying when you're tired won't be as effective; in fact, it will reduce your efficiency. That's why schools have breaks between classes."

He looked at the girl and said very seriously.

"Is...is that so...?"

Ooka Momiji opened her mouth as if to refute, but the pen in her hand hovered in mid-air, and she hesitated.

The word "rest" is too much of a luxury for her.

As soon as she got home from school, she started tutoring non-stop. Her parents had high hopes for her, and her grandfather was even more strict with her. Only by working hard to improve herself and producing results could she have her own independent rest time.

"I heard you're really good at karuta."

Just as she was lost in thought, Yuzuru reached out and snatched the pen from her hand.

Why are you asking this?

Ooka Momiji immediately grabbed the end of the pen.

Her arms were long and slender, but she was quite strong.

Yuzuru didn't exert any force; he just held the pen tip slowly and steadily, maintaining a stalemate with her.

A few seconds later, Ooka Momiji let go.

He took the pen.

Yuzuru made no other move, but looked at her hand.

It must be said, the girl's hands are indeed beautiful.

Each finger is adorned with a small tuft of manicure, and the skin is delicate and snow-white, clearly indicating that the person has been pampered and regularly takes meticulous care of themselves.

"I noticed you're wearing manicures, but not ordinary ones. Plus, I know you've had a karuta instructor, so I'm guessing you're quite interested in karuta."

Seeing that she remained silent, Yuzuru's gaze swept over her fingers.

"What day of the week did you start practicing karuta? As far as I know, you practice piano and violin on Tuesdays, and art and tea ceremony on Thursdays. So you can only have a karuta lesson on Fridays when I reschedule your classes."

Ooka Momiji just looked at him without answering or urging him to return the pen.

Do you have time off every weekend? Isn't studying like this every day tiring?

"..." The girl remained silent.

"Just consider this a casual chat. Anyway, you have almost an hour to rest. Relaxing your mind might relieve fatigue and improve your reaction time."

Yuzuru spoke with a hint of helplessness.

Chatting with this young lady is more difficult than simply doing math problems.

"I have no time to rest."

Ooka Momiji finally spoke.

"Isn't this what it is now?" Yuzuru retorted. "I'll tutor you at six, and then Iori, the butler, will make dinner at seven, which will take half an hour. You'll have twenty minutes to eat, and ten minutes to spend in the study. Isn't that a break?"

Ooka Momiji did not respond.

She simply turned her head slightly, her gaze falling on the darkening sky outside the window.

Looking at her profile, Yuzuru suddenly realized something.

He had known Ooka Momiji for half a year, and they met two or three times a week, which adds up to at least seventy times.

But he knew very little about her, almost nothing.

He knew nothing about what she liked or disliked, whether she had friends, or how she was doing at school.

"Mr. Yuzuru."

Ooka Momiji withdrew her gaze and turned to look at him.

"Um?"

"Give me back my pen."

Yuzuru looked down at the pen in his hand, then at her.

The girl stretched out her hand, palm up, fingers slightly spread.