OBS Chapter 27 I'm Very Serious
Chapter 27 I'm Very Serious
If you can't concentrate on studying, just wash up and go to bed.
Song Che closed his book and prepared to wash up. There was no room for luck when it came to learning. Hoping to cram knowledge back into one's head overnight was no better than letting Xia Li evolve into a magical girl directly.
"Xia Li, remember to brush your teeth."
He called out towards the living room.
……
After washing away his fatigue with warm water, Song Che walked out of the bathroom, drying his half-dry hair. He saw Xia Li brushing her teeth at the sink, engrossed in reading a magazine. Hearing the door open, she turned her head blankly, her lips dimpled with foam. Xia Li subconsciously raised the back of her hand to wipe it.
How long have you been scrolling?
"...I forgot." Xia Li puffed out one cheek, bit the toothbrush, and thought seriously for a few seconds. "I've been brushing it since you took a shower."
"Then rinse your mouth and go to sleep." Song Che turned to the side and picked up the hair dryer. "You still have the scar on your leg. Wait until it heals before taking a shower. I'll tell you how to use the water heater and hair dryer then."
"it is good."
"Don't read while brushing your teeth. Read after you're done." Song Che pressed the switch, and the sound of the airflow immediately attracted Xia Li's attention. This kind of thing, without magic or spells, was probably what the books called science.
Xia Li rinsed her mouth and cleaned the corners of her lips. She put down her toothbrush, her gaze lingering on the hairdryer. Even without the help of a wind sprite, air was constantly coming out of the nozzle. She asked, "This is science, right?"
"Yes, it needs electricity, just like the living room chandelier; it works when it's plugged in."
Xia Li looked puzzled and bit her lip, speaking softly.
"Electrification...this is science, not magic at all."
It's magic, it doesn't make any sense at all!
Song Che silently corrected her. He understood that perception couldn't be changed overnight. Besides basic common sense, Xia Li had a lot to learn, from astronomy and geography to interpersonal relationships, from social rules to the unspoken meanings in everyday conversation.
Fortunately, the writing system in this other world is not much different from the one here. Xia Li can read and write, so there is no need to teach her to read and write again. Otherwise, Song Che's head would have exploded.
With his hair feeling clean, Song Che turned off the hairdryer and said, "Electricity is very useful, but it's also very dangerous. Don't touch it out of curiosity, or you'll end up like a roasted meat. You can look at the things in magazines, but you need to think critically and not believe everything you read."
"...Yes, my comprehension is fine."
"Generally, it's fine, but human language is incredibly complex. Magazines use official terminology, which you can easily distinguish. But when you're online or in everyday conversation, you need to be discerning." Song Che wanted Xia Li to understand some differences in human spoken language. He said, "Let me test you and see how well you understand it."
"Okay, go ahead and take the test."
"If I say 'yes' to something, what do I really mean?"
"I acknowledge this."
"So what does it mean when I say 'yes, yes, yes'?"
"I completely agree with this."
"No, 'Yes, yes, yes' strongly disagrees with this, and is even a little impatient."
"...?" Xia Li held the magazine in her hands, tilting her head slightly. "So if someone says 'okay, okay, okay,' does it mean something bad?"
Is Your Highness perhaps... a genius who understands things instantly?
"That's right."
"..." Xia Li's face suddenly became unusually calm. She touched the toothbrush and pressed hard with her fingertips. Her eyes made Song Che feel that she might use this thing to hit his head.
"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly angry?"
"When you're eating, if I want a drink of water, you say 'Give me, give me, give me,' which means 'No.'" Xia Li's blue eyes were filled with accusation.
"You have to consider the context. It's not that I don't want to give it to you; it's that I want to give it all to you."
Xia Li's toothbrush stopped beside her, lost in confusion. She looked just like a high school student struggling to understand classical Chinese, knowing each character individually but unable to decipher their meaning when put together.
Song Che comforted her, "Take it slow, this can't be rushed. There are many examples like this. Last time we ate fish, [fish] and [with] were interchangeable characters, homophones with the same meaning. This is the charm of language."
"...The charm of language." Xia Li repeated, then, as if remembering something, her ears suddenly turned red. She lowered her eyes and said softly, "I have a question for you."
"Ask away."
"If a girl says 'No, no, I don't want to,'" Xia Li paused, as if choosing the right words, "doesn't it... actually mean 'yes'?"
"...Probably." Song Che paused. "But with girls, it depends on the situation. Sometimes they really don't want it, and sometimes 'don't want it' means 'yes.' Wait, you're a girl asking me? But then again, you're not exactly a girl..."
"..." Xia Li snapped the magazine shut, tossed her silver hair, turned and left, the bedroom door slamming shut behind her.
Inside the door, Xia Li leaned against the door panel and slowly slid down to sit on the ground, burying her burning face in her knees, her silver hair falling loose and covering her reddened ears.
That book—it's just not serious.
Song Che also started acting inappropriately.
Xia Li turned her head to the side, got up and lay on the pillow. One hand secretly reached for the mattress. She pulled out a book, glanced at it carefully, and immediately put it back. Her breath was hot as images uncontrollably popped into her mind.
"...Witches wouldn't watch this."
She covered her head with the blanket, leaving only the tips of her silver hair showing.
……
"What's wrong with her?"
Song Che was left standing there, increasingly confused. Before he could finish speaking, the person had vanished. Even this prince had to maintain his manners, so he scratched his head, went to the living room, and turned off the lights.
Snapped--
Darkness gently entered the room. Song Che returned to his bedroom, closed the door, and instead of lying down immediately, he leaned against the headboard and looked out the window.
Snowflakes drifted down, covering the opposite rooftops in a layer of white; everything felt so real.
My mind is always active before I go to sleep.
Song Che had a premonition that he would have trouble sleeping tonight.
He traveled through time, then traveled back again, and the witch descended with him. She broke her leg and was picked up by him. He taught her to wash dishes, cook, brush her teeth, and wash her face. Now, that stubborn witch is sleeping next door.
By the way, she blushed just now, right?
Song Che didn't see it clearly and thought he must have seen it wrong.
His Highness's most frequent expression is calmness, followed by blank stare. All other emotions are expressed with a calm expression. At most, he might tap someone's head when he's angry, or purse his lips and remain silent when he's sad.
I wonder if Xia Li will have trouble sleeping tonight.
Song Che lay down and looked around the room aimlessly. There were two bedside tables on either side of him. The right one contained some medicine, and the left one contained... what was it again?
He couldn't remember for a moment.
……
Xia Li took off her pajama pants, crawled into bed, and hugged the sunflower on the bedside table, her eyes constantly glancing at the mattress where she had just placed the book.
She bent her knees, leaned against the headboard, and looked away, her gaze falling on her calves.
The scars on her calves were starting to fade, and her knees were still slightly red and swollen, but her attention wasn't on them; she wanted to see what was drawn on the back of the book.
Last time, Song Che grabbed her hand and called her "Mom," and didn't let go until midnight. Xia Li wandered around the room, eventually reaching the bedside table. Feeling itchy, she opened it and took a look. It was a book with blurry pictures.
She thought that reading was a good way to understand a world, so she randomly turned to a page and read for a while by the moonlight. She could vaguely make out the words. As the story unfolded, a girl was shouting, "No, no!"
Xia Li felt sorry for the girl and thought the boy was awful.
...I can't think about it anymore.
Xia Li crawled under the covers, pulled them over her head, and forced herself to sleep. This kind of immoral behavior was heartbreaking to even look at. His Highness's manners were quite different from those of that little rascal.
She's always been very serious!
……
The snow fell silently all night.
When Song Che woke up, a smile still lingered on his lips. He suspected that the scent of the magic potion on Xia Li's body must have a sleep-inducing effect. He had been having trouble sleeping, but after getting into bed, the fragrance quickly lulled him into a dream.
I get up and glance at my phone.
7:00
The exam is still a while away.
morning:
7:30-9:30 speech
9:45-11:45 counting
in the afternoon:
2:00-4:30 Science Comprehensive Exam
4:45–6:45
I got out of bed, put on my socks, and searched for a long time, but all I found were Xia Li's lace stockings.
Song Che went barefoot, wearing sandals, to brush his teeth and wash up.
Xia Li was already at the washbasin, her face even more tense than usual.
"Good morning, Your Highness. Did you sleep well last night?"
"……fine."
Xia Li answered faster than usual, her voice ethereal and somewhat detached from reality.