Genius Idiot!

Cui Xiaoxin stood at the doorway, pondering for a moment. Just as she was about to raise her hand to knock, the door to the room was pulled open from the inside.

A pretty girl with bangs framing her forehead, her head tilted forward, widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing someone at the door. Her beautiful eyes stared fixedly at Cui Xiaoxin.

Cui Xiaoxin was also sizing up Li Sinian. She knew Li Mu Yang had a sister, but she had never imagined he would have such a beautiful one—

Are they really related? The thought inexplicably popped into Cui Xiaoxin's mind.

Then, she immediately dismissed the thought. Li Mu Yang was her savior; how could she insult him like that?

"Cui Xiaoxin?" Li Sinian was the first to break the silence between them, asking aloud.

"Li Sinian?" Cui Xiaoxin felt a flicker of joy upon hearing Li Sinian call her name so readily. She felt it was a form of recognition, even though she had never cared about being recognized before.

"It's me," Li Sinian nodded repeatedly and said with a grin, "I knew it was you too."

"I came to see Li Mu Yang," Cui Xiaoxin felt Li Sinian's gaze was a bit strange, but she had already envisioned this scenario on her way there. She had even expected a more complicated situation, with Li Mu Yang's parents and other important relatives present, looking at her with scrutiny or admiration.

A pretty girl visiting a sick classmate alone was bound to cause misunderstandings. Undoubtedly, if the classmates knew, rumors about them would quickly spread throughout Fuxing Middle School.

Having only Li Sinian in the ward undoubtedly saved her a lot of trouble.

"Oh, Li Mu Yang is my brother—" Li Sinian said with a smile. She affectionately took Cui Xiaoxin's hand and said, "Sister Xiaoxin, please come in."

Cui Xiaoxin wasn't accustomed to such intimacy, nor had she ever held hands with another girl like this.

But Li Sinian was such a lovely girl. Her smile was so pure, and her enthusiasm so genuine, it felt almost sacrilegious to refuse—

Cui Xiaoxin hesitated for a moment, allowing Li Sinian to lead her to Li Mu Yang's bedside.

"Brother, Sister Xiaoxin, whom you've been mumbling about, is here," Li Sinian called out. She winked at Li Mu Yang, putting on a wronged expression. "As soon as you opened your eyes, you asked how Sister Xiaoxin was and forced me to find out if she went to school today— Look, look, isn't Sister Xiaoxin alright? Is she hurt anywhere? Did she lose a single hair or a piece of flesh?"

"I just—"

"Alright, don't explain. Explaining is just covering up," Li Sinian cut him off before he could speak. "You two chat? I'm going out to eat something. I'm starving."

Li Sinian squeezed Cui Xiaoxin's hand and smiled, "Sister Xiaoxin, I'm entrusting my brother to you?"

Cui Xiaoxin's expression froze, but she still nodded and said, "Okay."

She could tell Li Sinian's words had a double meaning. But if she didn't answer, wouldn't others think she was overthinking things?

Li Sinian secretly gave her brother a thumbs-up gesture before bidding farewell to Cui Xiaoxin and leaving.

Li Mu Yang gave an awkward smile and said to Cui Xiaoxin, "That's just her personality, don't mind her."

"She's very cute," Cui Xiaoxin said earnestly.

Li Mu Yang nodded and looked into Cui Xiaoxin's eyes, asking, "Are you alright?"

Cui Xiaoxin's skin was fair and delicate, her features exquisite and flawless. She wore a purple-painted hibiscus cross-collared, waist-cinching long dress, without a belt, but it made her waist appear soft and slender, like a willow swaying in the breeze. The whole person gave off a simple and clean impression.

In Li Mu Yang's memory, Cui Xiaoxin seemed to have been injured during the attack at the Beast-Faced Pavilion— but now there were no visible wounds, as if that day's events were just a clear and painful nightmare.

"I'm sorry," Cui Xiaoxin lowered her eyelids, her long eyelashes casting a shadow, like seductive fans. "You risked your life to save me, but I fled the scene—"

"You were rescued, weren't you?" Li Mu Yang said with a smile. "The person who shouted 'beast' was yours, and the red orb that incinerated the crow was also cast by your people. You left after confirming the assassin was gone, right?"

Cui Xiaoxin blinked and asked, "How did you know that?"

"I think—" Li Mu Yang grinned, revealing a dazzling row of white teeth. "This is what you should have done."

"Thank you," Cui Xiaoxin was deeply moved. "Thank you for trusting me so much."

"We're friends now, aren't we?" Li Mu Yang smiled. "Just like you believe I can still be saved academically, I believe in your character and that you didn't intentionally abandon me alone on the battlefield—"

"My family carried me out," Cui Xiaoxin explained. She felt she owed Li Mu Yang an explanation, which was one of the reasons she insisted on visiting him. "I had already lost consciousness when we left and had no power to resist."

"I understand," Li Mu Yang waved his hand casually. "I can imagine the scene."

"Then—" Cui Xiaoxin thought it was time for her to say goodbye.

No matter how brave and strong Li Mu Yang had been at the Beast-Faced Pavilion that day, he was, after all, just an ordinary person.

Since those people had found her whereabouts and their ambush had failed, they would likely employ more methods and face even harsher environments.

She didn't want to drag Li Mu Yang into it again, because no one could guarantee he would be as lucky as he was this time.

"Is our agreement still valid?" Li Mu Yang suddenly spoke.

"What?"

"You said you'd help me with my studies starting today— what you said that day at the Beast-Faced Pavilion," Li Mu Yang looked into Cui Xiaoxin's eyes and smiled.

"Oh," Cui Xiaoxin brushed a stray hair from her forehead. "I did say that, if you're still willing."

"Of course," Li Mu Yang smiled. "I really want to attend Xifeng University. I heard there's a Weiming Lake there where you can see the most beautiful sunsets in the world."

"Then please work hard with me," Cui Xiaoxin smiled, pursing her thin lips.

—

From that day on, Cui Xiaoxin visited Li Mu Yang every day and spent four hours tutoring him.

She was a renowned all-around top student, and no subject could stump her.

She explained each subject one by one, then had Li Mu Yang read and answer questions. If Li Mu Yang didn't understand something, she would re-explain it in simple, easy-to-understand terms until he fully grasped the concept.

Perhaps it was because working together made things easier, or perhaps beautiful women had a refreshing effect, but Li Mu Yang slept less in the following days, and his reaction speed increased. Many extremely difficult problems, after being explained by Cui Xiaoxin once, he could quickly understand and master.

Cui Xiaoxin was greatly surprised and deliberately found several difficult problems to test him, only to discover that Li Mu Yang could still solve them quickly. Sometimes, he even used methods that she hadn't taught him.

This made Cui Xiaoxin very confused. The previous Li Mu Yang had never paid attention in class, which was why he always ranked last or got a zero in exams.

Now, how could he find other ways to solve problems that she had only explained to him once?

Was he able to infer other methods from one example?

Could he be a hidden genius?

Cui Xiaoxin gazed at Li Mu Yang's dark face and found him more and more pleasing to the eye. Although Li Mu Yang's skin was dark, he had clear and deep facial features. What was most special were his eyes – those bright, intelligent eyes that seemed capable of devouring one's soul.

"Li Mu Yang—" Cui Xiaoxin called out.

"Yes?" Li Mu Yang looked up.

"Did you really not know anything before?"

"I suppose so," Li Mu Yang replied, nodding. "But recently, I don't know why, but strange things keep popping into my head, as if I've experienced them before. These problems are like that too. I'm hearing you explain them for the first time, yet I can find many ways to solve them."

Cui Xiaoxin's eyes widened as she looked at Li Mu Yang. "Are you saying—you can find many solutions for every problem?"

"I think so," Li Mu Yang nodded. Then he scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed. "Some only have one solution. The others are pseudo-solutions because if you continue solving them, you'll find a completely wrong or opposite answer. Those are academic depth traps, and it's easy to waste too much time on them."

Cui Xiaoxin didn't believe him. She immediately took out a problem from the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, pushed the draft paper in front of Li Mu Yang, and said, "Solve this problem. Use all the methods you know."

Li Mu Yang nodded, then bent over his desk and started working.

Five minutes passed, and Li Mu Yang was still solving it.

Ten minutes passed, and Li Mu Yang was still solving it.

Half an hour passed, an hour passed—

During the solving process, Li Mu Yang changed his pen and asked for twelve more sheets of draft paper.

After more than an hour, he handed the dozen or so sheets of paper to Cui Xiaoxin, saying sheepishly, "This is all I know—"

Cui Xiaoxin quickly took the papers, her expression growing more solemn as she read. Finally, she closed all the papers and looked at Li Mu Yang, saying, "You used eleven methods?"

"Yes," Li Mu Yang nodded. "Actually, there's one more. But I can only figure out the beginning of that method. The rest of the calculations are still a bit stuck, and I can't perfect the chordal theory in it—"

"But—" Cui Xiaoxin bit her lip, looking at Li Mu Yang with complex eyes, and said with great difficulty, "I only know two methods."

"—"