Chapter 8: Today Only
The air conditioner continued to blow cold air. Mo Yixia sat at her desk, silently working on the solution problems on her exam paper. Two freshly poured glasses of ice water sat on the table.
The tip of her pen lightly touched the paper, the ink in the refill slowly being consumed. Several times, she wanted to pull back the curtains and look outside, but her rationality repeatedly told her that his method couldn't possibly succeed. Reality wasn't a novel; there was no need to hold onto expectations.
She had understood a principle long ago: the best way to avoid disappointment was to never have any expectations. Living like that was the easiest.
Moreover, if she pulled back the curtains for no reason, it might displease her suspicious mother, and then she might even be deprived of the freedom to pull back the curtains whenever she wanted in the future.
But for some reason, even though she knew it was impossible, Mo Yixia's heart was still stirred. Before, she could talk to him without affecting her studies, but now she couldn't concentrate at all.
It had been almost ten minutes since he entered the bathroom. She was considering whether to call him out, otherwise, besides the title of “Persistent Eater,” he might also be saddled with the reputation of being constipated.
Lost in thought, Mo Yixia suddenly noticed that the brightness in front of her seemed to have decreased. She looked up and realized that it was no longer so bright outside the window; instead, it was a bit gloomy.
She paused, then stood up and pulled back the curtains.
As she had expected, although she could still feel the rolling heat waves, the sun had disappeared. The sky had become incredibly gloomy, seeming to portend rain.
Unlike the gloomy sky, Mo Yixia's mood brightened considerably, because such a sky meant she had a reason to pull back the curtains.
She sat back down in her chair, propping her chin on one hand, secretly glancing out the window from the corner of her eye.
Just then, she saw a rope shoot out from somewhere, hurtling towards a safe on the distant wall, about to “bite” the handle of the safe's lid.
Unfortunately, the aim was just a tiny bit off. The hook on the rope didn't successfully catch the handle and was pulled back.
However, despite the failure, this scene was still impactful enough to make Mo Yixia's gaze become blank.
In her estimation, he should have found it difficult to even throw the rope, let alone from a position like the bathroom window where it was hard to exert force. Even throwing it with full strength from other positions, it would be difficult for an ordinary person to throw a rope that far.
“I'm more professional than a cowboy.”
Suddenly, his words before leaving echoed in her ears.
So, for the rest of the time, Mo Yixia completely lost interest in her studies.
She merely pretended to write, but in reality, all her attention was focused on the rope outside the window, which was constantly being thrown out and pulled back in.
Once, twice, thrice…
She silently counted the number of times the rope was thrown, watching his repeated failures, and surprisingly found it quite enjoyable. Although no expectations meant no disappointment, sometimes a little anticipation didn't seem like a bad thing.
Ultimately, if a person is alive, it's impossible to truly have no expectations.
Maybe it really can succeed…
Just as this thought arose, Mo Yixia's heart suddenly trembled. At the eighth throw, the hook on the rope finally firmly caught the safe handle. With a strong pull, the safe's lid successfully opened.
She was stunned.
But what made her even more dumbfounded came next. With the first success, Han Zhou seemed to have opened his Ren and Du meridians. His next throw precisely hooked the circuit breaker, and the rope tautened, pulling it down directly.
At the same time, the lights in the room suddenly went out, and the air conditioner, which had been running all day, abruptly fell silent.
It succeeded?
Mo Yixia abruptly turned around, looked up at the no longer working camera, and suddenly felt a sense of relief.
Not long after, Han Zhou suddenly rushed in, looking drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked. He held the “flying claw” in his hand.
Mo Yixia watched him walk towards the window and asked curiously, “You've already succeeded, why are you still holding that thing?”
“To tie you up, of course.”
Han Zhou first gave her an exasperated look, then said while stretching his sore arms, “Why are you suddenly being foolish? The safe lid has to be closed again for it to be considered a success, otherwise your mom will definitely suspect something. It's too hard to exert force in the bathroom; it's easier to operate here.”
Despite his “barely breathing” physical fitness, he was still exhausted. He had somewhat underestimated the difficulty of this operation and had almost dislocated his arm, but fortunately, he had finally succeeded.
Mo Yixia didn't speak, just quietly watched Han Zhou open the window and then repeatedly throw the rope again. On the fifth try, he successfully hooked the safe handle and pulled it diagonally to close it.
“I'm exhausted.”
After doing all that, Han Zhou plopped down on the floor. Because of the power outage, the air conditioner naturally couldn't be used, so he was now tired and hot, feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
Mo Yixia came to his side at some point and handed him a glass of ice water, not knowing if it counted as praise: “You are indeed more professional than a cowboy.”
Han Zhou was panting, too tired to even speak: “Good that you know. But do you remember what you said? I won this time, hurry up and give me ten smiles.”
The sky suddenly boomed, followed by the patter of rain. It was raining.
Unfortunately, even with the rain, the temperature hadn't dropped much; instead, it became even more muggy.
Mo Yixia looked at him for a while, then slowly took off her mask. Then, as if doing facial exercises, she quickly squeezed out ten smiles, looking quite perfunctory.
However, Han Zhou was satisfied. Whether the smiles were genuine or not, at least the task was completed, and he had to admit, she looked really good when she smiled.
“Is this enough?” Mo Yixia put her mask back on.
“Daily Task 1 (Mo Yixia): Obtain ten smiles from the target 10/10, earn 1 point.”
“That's enough.”
Han Zhou rested for a while, then suddenly asked, “Alright, now that the camera isn't working, what are you planning to do next?”
Mo Yixia was silent for a moment, then replied, “Do my homework.”
“Do your homework?” Han Zhou's eyes widened. “What was the point of me working my butt off to turn off the circuit breaker, and you still want to do your homework?”
Mo Yixia shook her head: “No camera just means my mom can't see what I'm doing, but it doesn't mean she won't check my papers when she gets back. So I still have to finish them.”
Han Zhou thought for a moment: “So she only looks at the results, not the process?”
“At least when it comes to studying, you could say that.”
“I knew it… Good thing I anticipated it.”
Han Zhou sighed and pondered, “Alright, I'll help you with the rest of the papers. But I have to leave at four o'clock. Before then, you can do whatever you want. How about going out to play?”
Mo Yixia was visibly startled: “What?”
Han Zhou thought she had some concerns and explained earnestly: “Our handwriting is quite similar. I just need to imitate it a bit, and your mom probably won't notice.”
“I mean, why would you help me?”
“Like you said, we have common interests, so I'll help you this one time, but only for today.”
Han Zhou stretched his muscles and bones, “Starting tomorrow, I'll be your tutor. While I can help you slack off a bit, it's impossible to just casually get through your studies. Let's make that clear first, otherwise your mom will probably fire me.”
The air conditioner was no longer running, and the temperature in the room was steadily rising. He was sweating all over, so he simply took out a book and fanned himself.
Mo Yixia also took off her school uniform jacket, looked at him for a long time, and then suddenly said, “I thought you were a good student who only studied hard.”
“Someone who studies hard isn't necessarily a good student, and a good student doesn't necessarily only study hard. I'm actually not much of a good student.”
Han Zhou shrugged, stood up, and sat at the desk. Looking at the math test paper on the table, he was too lazy to hide it now and exclaimed, “Your math is really hard to describe. So I'll have to answer in the wrong direction… Do you want to go out and play?”
“Going out is definitely not an option. Just because my house has no electricity doesn't mean outside has no electricity. There are cameras all over the complex.”
Although she said that, it sounded like he probably really wanted to go out and play. Han Zhou remembered Mo Yixia's eyes when she pulled the curtains earlier.
Mo Yixia didn't know what he was thinking. She put her homemade “flying claw” into a different box and was about to say something when she suddenly heard the doorbell ring outside the door.
Hearing the doorbell, Han Zhou instantly tensed up, quickly stood up straight, his heart in his throat. He swallowed and asked, “Could it be your mom is back?”
After all, he had just turned off the circuit breaker in her house, so it was false to say he wasn't feeling guilty.
Mo Yixia glanced at him and unhurriedly walked out of the room to open the door: “My mom has a key; she wouldn't ring the doorbell when she comes back.”
Han Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and quickly followed her, then suddenly warned, “What about your dad?”
Mo Yixia ignored him.
The door opened, and outside stood a fat man, bowing and scraping, claiming to be from the property management of the complex.
Wiping his sweat, he said, “I'm sorry, Miss Mo, the power system near the complex suddenly had a problem just now. The power will probably be out for a while. I suggest you don't stay inside; it's best to go out and find a cool place…”
Han Zhou's heart tightened. Fortunately, he was wearing a mask, so he wasn't afraid of the other person seeing his strange expression. He shot Mo Yixia a look, and she shook her head slightly, indicating that this had nothing to do with what he had just done.
She explained, as if no one else was present: “I rarely get to use my phone, so I usually miss any announcements in the complex. That's why property management specifically comes to remind me.”
The fat man nodded repeatedly, his face wreathed in smiles as he introduced himself: “Yes, yes, just call me Little Wu.”
Seeing Mo Yixia not react, Han Zhou quickly expressed his thanks and smiled, “Thank you for the reminder, we understand.”
The fat man's smile didn't fade. He nodded at Mo Yixia, then wiped his sweat and jogged downstairs, the flesh on his face jiggling, looking quite comical.
The two watched him leave, unsure what to say.
After a long moment, Han Zhou said blankly, “Did you hear? The power went out.”
“Mm.”
“The power really went out.”
“Mm.”
“Even though I didn't turn off the circuit breaker.”
“Mm.”
“So… I just did all that for nothing?” Han Zhou was on the verge of tears.
“Yes.”
Mo Yixia nodded, her eyebrows curving almost imperceptibly.
It really was all for nothing.
Han Zhou sighed and asked, “So, are you going out?”
“Of course.”
She said calmly, “It's too hot to be without air conditioning. My mom can't say anything about me going out in this situation, as long as I finish my papers on time.”
Han Zhou heard the excitement in her voice. He turned his head, and her gaze also fell upon him. The smile in her eyes was undisguised; there seemed to be a hint of anticipation.
“You said you'd help me with my papers, that was real, right?”
Han Zhou was slightly taken aback, thinking that this smile must be genuine. If so, then it wasn't all for nothing.
Thinking this, he also smiled.
“Today only.”