PAMPERED

63

After dinner, Penny dragged Slater to the library for a briefing. Seated on the chair, Slater’s jaw hit the floor at the stacks of books in front of him. This sight was too overwhelming for him.

“This…” Slater scoffed, averting his dilated eyes at the little sister standing behind the table. “I have to read all of this?”

1

“There’s more. Don’t worry.” ~

“There’s more?!” his face drained of colors as his face twisted in dismay.

Looking at him, Penny wondered if she even made the correct

decision. These books were just too basic. Even Penny in the first life understood them quickly.

“Penny, I can’t do this,” Slater confessed, while shaking his head vigorously. “This is too much for me! I can’t do it like this or I’ll die – ack!”

–

Slater nearly bit his tongue when her hand struck the back of his head. He gasped in disbelief, looking at her with dilated eyes.

“Did you

—

did you just smack my head?”

“I did. So what?”

“Penny!”

“You said you want to die or just be Keith’s slave for the next year until he mysteriously goes missing.” Her expression died and her tone was cold. “You hadn’t even opened one book and you’re saying you can’t do it? Goodness.”

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63 1+1=?

He wouldn’t need to be a slave if she didn’t bring it up!

Slater rubbed the back of his head as he sulked. “I don’t want to be

a slave,” he mumbled. “Fine. I’ll read.”

“Good. Start with this one.” Penný casually picked up one book from the stack and dropped it in front of him. “Go, chop chop!”

He thought once she said that, she would leave. But Penny sat right next to him and started writing on a piece of paper.

‘She isn’t even studying. Does she even know these lessons from this book?‘ he mentally grumbled, opening the book to start some reading.

Getting smacked in the head by his little sister was scary, but he had to do this as well. If he didn’t, then he should start accepting his fate of being Keith’s dog. Although Slater wasn’t spared from Keith’s deathly glares all day, Keith didn’t step into his personal space. For Slater, that was already freedom, and after having a taste of it, he wanted to live like that.

Silence quickly hung in the air with only every flip of the pages resonating every few minutes. Penny quietly skimmed through the lessons Slater’s grades were focused on.

With her achievements in her past life, Penny could remember a

lot of lessons. She was often invited to teach in universities or take

on a class as a professor. But this was junior secondary. Fortunately, her subjects and Slaters aren’t that far since she is in grade 7 and he’s in grade 8, so she could easily follow the stages.

Half an hour later, Penny fully grasped Slater’s lessons from the previous semester and the current one.

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63 1+1=?

She drew her head back a little to check on him. The stacked books

in front of him blocked her view, so she had to tilt a little. When she saw him, her face twisted in an ugly way.

Slater was just sitting there like a statue, staring blankly at the open book in front of him. It was as though his brain went into overdrive and he automatically went into default mode.

“Are you still alive?” she asked quietly, watching his blank eyes veered in her direction. “I see. You’re not.” 2

“Penny! This is insane!” Slater slapped the book as he harrumphed. “My brain’s not functioning! I couldn’t understand a word from it!”

“Not even the first lesson?”

་

“Not even the introduction!”

“…” Penny pinched the bridge of her nose in distress.

She confidently took this challenge not just because she believed in Slater, but because the adult Slater she remembered was very clever, humorous, and a critical thinker. Or so what she knows from his interviews and the shows he appeared in.

Was that just a PR thing?

Truthfully, Penny wasn’t that sure because when they were adults, she rarely met Slater. She might try to visit him or reach out to him, but he was too busy to give her a minute of his time.

‘But then again, after that bullying incident, he didn’t end up at the bottom of his class in his new school. Although not at the top, he wasn’t on the last.‘ Penny peeked at the distressed Slater and sighed. “This is gonna be a piece of work.‘

16:22 C

63 1+1=?

“Fine. Tell me what you don’t understand.”

“Everything!” Slater didn’t even have the slight reluctance to

admit. He dragged his chair closer to her and said, “Penny, this isn’t gonna work.”

“Then do you want to be a slave?” because if he did, Keith would have to go. Where? That would be her darkest secret in this life.

“No, of course not.” His tone calmed down, but still in great distress. “I don’t want that, but I also know this is not gonna work.”

Penny observed him and was slightly pleased there was still a fighting spirit left in him. “Got it.”

After saying that, Penny grabbed the paper and pen and wrote

down something. Curious, Slater glanced at it. He only had a glimpse of it before she slid it in front of him.

“Answer it,” she said as she placed the pen on top of the paper. “Try to analyze it and answer. I want to determine what grade you left your brain. This is an example problem from last year.”

Slater looked at it up close and then back to her. “I don’t know how

to answer this.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen this problem ever in my life.”

Penny quietly retrieved the paper and flipped it to the clean page. She wrote in big size;

[1+1= ?]

This time Slater frowned. “Are you mocking me? I know that. It’s All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.

two!”

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417

63 1+1=?

“Good!!” Penny sighed in relief. “At least we know that’s not the grade we’re starting! Then how about this one?”

Instead of quickly jumping to the next level, she did subtraction, multiplication, and division. She started from one digit to two, three, and then more. Slater felt like she was mocking him, but he still answered diligently.

“Here.” After the ten–digit division problem, Slater slid the paper back to her. “Is it correct?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?! You’re making me answer all of that and you didn’t even know?”

Penny glanced up at him and said, “Do you think I’m a calculator? These problems are just to stimulate your brain so it can slowly enter study mode.”

She clicked her tongue and looked at the answer. Of course, she knew the answer. It was just that she was checking his method, as it was most essential.

“Oh.” Slater was taken aback, only realizing now that he felt less pressured.

“It’s correct.” Her satisfied smile was akin to a drop of confidence back to him. She then pulled out one book near her. “Since you remember the basics, let’s move on to this topic.”

As she explained, Slater quickly pulled his chair close to hers and listened to her instructions. Since doing it alone could easily confuse him, Penny showed him a few examples and answered them step by step. After that, she gave him one exercise for him to

16:22

do it himself.

While the two were busy, they didn’t notice that peeking by the door were Allison, Charles, Haines, and Hugo. They knew Penny and Slater would have to study together because of the bet, and that Atlas had to focus on his own.

Watching Slater be this focused on his studies and how he was listening to Penny so attentively brought a smile to their faces.

“I think… Slater will be fine; Haines whispered, earning a nod from the three.

“Let’s not disturb them for now” Allison suggested, and they all reluctantly agreed,

As the four of them walked away from the library, their steps slowed down and the silence building up between them grew palpable.

“Just another peek; said Charles and in a flash, all four of them found themselves back in their spot, peeking at the library to watch the two.

Putler len, who saw them walking away from the library, only to run back and continue spectating, couldn’t help but laugh.

“I guess everyone’s gonna stay up late tonight. Fortunately, it’s the weekend. Should I serve them some tea?”