The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat-Chapter 57: A Bolt from the Blue

Unfortunately, the original owner of Hua Manman’s body was not one for books. Despite studying with a Tutor for a few years, she was still a dabbler at best and didn’t recognize some of the more obscure characters.

As a result, Hua Manman was now semi-illiterate.

Li Ji took the book and glanced at the cover, discovering it was a medical text.

He couldn’t help but ask.

"You know medicine, too?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Hua Manman explained, "I don’t know anything about medicine. I once heard someone say that massage can clear the meridians and help a leg injury recover faster, so I wanted to find a medical book to learn some massage techniques."

After speaking, she lowered her head bashfully, appearing quite shy.

In reality, she wanted to use massage as a way to secretly apply the Broken Jade Ointment to Prince Zhao’s leg.

Li Ji extended his right hand.

His well-defined fingers grasped her chin and lifted it.

Hua Manman’s face tilted up with the motion, revealing her beautiful, shy, and timid eyes.

Li Ji stared fixedly into her eyes, his gaze piercing.

It was as if he wanted to pierce through her beautiful facade and see into her very soul.

Her thoughts rang in his ears—

’As they say, you can never have too many skills. Once I learn how to massage, even if I can’t stay in the Prince’s Mansion in the future, I can still open a blind massage parlor. I’m such a clever little cutie~’

Li Ji: "..."

He didn’t know whether he should mock her for wanting to open a blind massage parlor or for being so narcissistic.

And what was that about not being able to stay in the Prince’s Mansion?

As long as she behaved herself and didn’t scheme against him like the others, why would he ever kick her out?

Sometimes, Li Ji really wanted to crack her head open and see what sort of bizarre nonsense was rattling around in there.

He withdrew his hand and asked nonchalantly.

"Which character do you not recognize?"

Hua Manman immediately leaned down, her upper body drawing near, bringing with her a faint, sweet scent.

Her small finger tapped the page several times.

"I don’t recognize any of these characters."

Li Ji clicked his tongue. "How do you not even recognize these? Didn’t Elder Zhong’an hire a tutor for you?"

Hua Manman blushed, embarrassed.

"Father hired a Tutor for me, but I was too playful as a child and didn’t learn very well."

Li Ji first explained the meaning of each character, then ordered someone to bring a brush and ink.

He used a vermillion pen to circle the characters and write notes beside them.

This way, Hua Manman wouldn’t have to worry about forgetting.

Hua Manman never expected Prince Zhao to be so thoughtful and was deeply moved.

"Thank you, Prince. You are so wonderful to me. I absolutely adore you!"

Li Ji set down his brush and said languidly.

"I have never taught anyone before. You are the first."

Hua Manman was overwhelmed by the favor. "I am deeply honored!"

Li Ji said, "I have always believed in seeing things through to the end. Since I’ve started teaching you, I must see it through."

Hua Manman’s heart skipped a beat. She had a bad feeling.

Li Ji pointed to the circled characters. "Copy these a hundred times. I will personally check your work tomorrow. If you do a poor job, you don’t get to eat."

Hua Manman: "..."

It was a bolt from the blue!

’To think she had survived years of grueling exam prep, only to fall into Prince Zhao’s demonic clutches!’

Hearing her thoughts, Li Ji’s smile grew even more delighted.

"Are there any other characters you don’t recognize?"

Hua Manman frantically shook her head. "No, no more!"

Li Ji casually flipped to another page, pointed to an extremely obscure character, and asked with great interest.

"How is this character pronounced? What does it mean?"

Hua Manman’s eyes widened. She stared at the obscure character for a long while before finally saying, with the look of someone who had lost all will to live.

"That’s probably the character for ’death.’ It means I should just hurry up and die."

Li Ji couldn’t help but laugh out loud.