My aunt is a magical girl, and so am I.

Chapter 11 Are you feeling quite smug?

In the study on the third floor, Chu Sheng sat upright with a copy of "Anna Karenina" in front of him.

Gu Yanru personally selected this book, suggesting that we start with simpler books.

Chu Sheng didn't find it easy at all; these past few days, just reading books and taking notes had driven him crazy.

This hardcover copy of "Anna Karenina" has slightly yellowed paper, making it look unlike anything you'd find in a store. On the title page is Gu Yanru's handwriting from her youth—delicate and neat, yet powerfully forceful, much like her own personality—appearing gentle, but actually breathtaking.

"What are you spacing out for?"

Gu Yanru's voice came from behind the desk.

Chu Sheng immediately sat up straight, placing his hands neatly on his knees: "No, no, I was just savoring Tolstoy's great words."

Gu Yanru glanced at him but didn't reply.

Tonight she wasn't wearing a formal suit, but rather a dark purple silk blouse with a thin, smoky gray cashmere cardigan draped over it. The soft fabric of the blouse was stretched taut by her ample bosom.

The neckline of her silk shirt wasn't low, but because she sat upright, Chu Sheng could still see her elegant neck and collarbone illuminated by the table lamp with a layer of creamy white light.

She wore a high-waisted, dark-colored long skirt that reached her calves. But the skirt was too demure; when she sat down, it clung tightly to her waist and hips, emphasizing her exaggerated silhouette. She gently crossed one leg over the other, the soft flesh of her plump thighs being slightly deformed by the pressure, revealing a section of her fair calves peeking out from the slit in the skirt, her slippers hooked at the toes.

Chu Sheng silently looked away.

Gu Yanru sat behind the large mahogany desk, on which were piled several books, a green-shaded copper lamp, and Chu Sheng's messy reading notes.

She picked up her notebook, flipped through two pages, and her beautiful brows furrowed slightly.

Chu Sheng's heart skipped a beat.

This is bad news.

"Your reading notes are divided into two parts: the first half is about Anna, the second half is about Levin, and you use the phrase 'Your circle is a mess' three times in between." Gu Yanru lightly tapped the paper with her pen. "Xiao Chu, do you consider this literary criticism?"

Chu Sheng scratched his head awkwardly: "Aunt Gu, young people these days like to write like this."

Gu Yanru raised her eyes, her expression calm.

Chu Sheng immediately tried to cover it up, saying, "I was wrong, Aunt Gu. I didn't mean anything by that."

"Tell me," Gu Yanru said, putting down her notebook and placing her hands on the table. "How do you understand the relationship between Anna and Vronsky?"

Chu Sheng took a deep breath: "I think their relationship reflects the hypocrisy of the marriage system in 19th-century Russian high society. There was no real love between Anna and Karenin; she saw passion and freedom in Vronsky, so she chose to rebel..."

Gu Yanru did not interrupt him, but listened quietly.

She listened intently, her eyelashes lowered, her red lips slightly pursed, and she absentmindedly twirled the pen in her hand. This was the patience unique to mature women.

"continue."

Chu Sheng swallowed, feeling his mouth dry. "But this kind of resistance is also very fragile. After Anna left her marriage, society didn't give her a new place, and Vronsky couldn't give her stable recognition either. She thought she had grasped love, but in reality, she was just betting everything on one man."

Gu Yanru stopped twirling her pen, and Chu Sheng keenly noticed that her brows relaxed a little.

There is a play!

He quickly added: "So Anna's later suffering was not only due to being blinded by love, but also because of the collapse of her identity. She could neither return to the position of Mrs. Karenin, nor could she openly become Vronsky's partner. The social circle did not accept her, and the law was not on her side. The more she wanted to confirm that she was loved, the more she suffocated Vronsky."

"Um."

Gu Yanru finally nodded.

Chu Sheng was secretly delighted. What does it mean to be a player who can perform well under pressure?

"You've got a bit of an idea, but it's still very rough," Gu Yanru said calmly. "You've read Anna as a modern case study of a romantic relationship, which isn't wrong, but it's too superficial and too detached. Tolstoy didn't simply portray her as a victim, nor did he portray Vronsky as a purely unfaithful man, nor did he portray Karenin as a husband who only gets in the way."

She got up and walked around the desk.

Gu Yanru is very tall. It's not very noticeable from a distance during the day, but as she stands up from behind her desk and walks slowly to Chu Sheng's side, her tall figure is fully revealed.

Chu Sheng sat down, his gaze falling precisely on her waist and abdomen. Her dark purple shirt was tucked into her high-waisted long skirt, the waistline cinched very narrow, then suddenly flared out, the skirt fabric stretching into a rounded curve by her full hips.

As she bent down to pick up the copy of Anna Karenina in front of Chu Sheng, her cardigan slipped slightly off her shoulder, and a strand of her hair fell next to the back of his hand.

Chu Sheng froze instantly.

Gu Yanru opened the book, her fingertip pausing on a certain page.

"Look here," she whispered. "When Anna first enters the social scene, the author repeatedly describes her vitality, elegance, and attractiveness. But the further she goes, the more this attractiveness becomes a burden. She is watched, talked about, and judged. You should pay attention to the shift in narrative perspective; Tolstoy often uses free indirect quotation to allow the character's self-justification and the author's detached observation to coexist."

Chu Sheng looked down at his book, but Gu Yanru was too close.

She rested one hand on the edge of the table, the other on the pages of a book. Her mature, voluptuous figure leaned slightly forward, her full breasts supported by her shirt, very close to Chu Sheng's shoulder. The delicate bracelet on her wrist slid down with the movement, tapping softly on the table.

"Did you understand?" Gu Yanru looked down at him.

Chu Sheng nodded vigorously: "I understand, I understand. The author didn't directly criticize her, but he put her psychology together with the perspectives of those around her, making the readers feel something was off."

Gu Yanru looked at him for two seconds, then her lips twitched slightly: "I guess you barely understood."

Chu Sheng didn't breathe a sigh of relief, because Gu Yanru's smile was too unfair.

She usually maintains the air of an elder and professor, her eyes always gentle yet distant, but when she smiles occasionally, her charm is instantly captivating.

"Let me ask you one more question." Gu Yanru closed the book, straightened up, and asked, "What is the core of the ethical issues mentioned in the book?"

Chu Sheng subconsciously wanted to say "cheating is bad," but he swallowed the words back.

That's not the right answer; that's what Gu Yanru dislikes—it's too superficial and frivolous.

He frowned and thought for a while before tentatively speaking: "The core issue shouldn't just be the extramarital affair itself, but rather the status, responsibilities, and power distribution within the relationship. There was no love between Anna and Karenin, but they had a marriage, children, and social status. She wanted to escape, but once she did, she had to face new rules of the relationship. Vronsky seemed to have given her freedom, but he also controlled her emotions and future."

Gu Yanru remained silent, and Chu Sheng, feeling uneasy, could only continue, "So the thrill of an illicit affair comes from crossing the line, but after crossing the line, people still have to live their lives. They need to eat, meet people, and explain who they are. If you only care about the pleasure, reality will come chasing after you later."

After listening, Gu Yanru slowly sat down on the single sofa opposite Chu Sheng. She sat demurely, her long dress covering her plump thighs, her toes together, and her hands gently resting on her knees.

Despite her conservative demeanor, Chu Sheng found her incredibly alluring.

Gu Yanru sighed, raised her hand to rub her temples, picked up his reading notes, flipped through a few more pages, and circled a few places on the side with her pen.

"Here, the line 'Karenin only gets stuck in the storyline like an NPC' is deleted."

"oh."

"Here, the phrase 'Vronsky is a high-end blond' should also be deleted."

"I think this is quite accurate."

Gu Yanru looked up, and Chu Sheng immediately nodded obediently: "Delete it, delete it right away."

"And here too." Gu Yanru's fingertip stopped on a line of text, and she read it aloud, "'If Anna were alive today, she should find a good lawyer first, and then start live-streaming sales to pay off her debts.' Xiao Chu, were you very proud of yourself when you wrote this?"

Chu Sheng chuckled dryly: "A little bit."

Gu Yanru looked at him for a while, but surprisingly didn't scold him. Instead, she took a pen and wrote a note next to him.

"However," Gu Yanru finally pushed the notebook back in front of him, "your last paragraph was alright."

Chu Sheng was stunned for a moment. He had written it in a half-awake state before going to sleep, and the words were almost written outside the lines of the paper.