Chapter 3
Her New Home Tutor
"Why are you bringing me all the way to Fengxian District to have lunch?" Lei Zhang asked as they took a seat in the restaurant.
"That's because I love eating stir-fried home-style dishes. I told you to eat on your own, but you insisted on having lunch with me," Xu Jin said as a waitress arrived at their table.
"What can I serve you?" the waitress asked.
"We'll have the fish-fragrant eggplant and rice," Xu Jin said.
The waitress nodded before leaving.
A few minutes later, their meals were served. Xu Jin immediately picked up his chopsticks but noticed that Lei Zhang was just staring at his food without making any move to eat.
"You aren't waiting for me to pep-talk you into eating, are you? In fancy places, eggplant is rarely served this oily and home-style," Xu Jin said.
Lei Zhang exhaled before using his chopsticks to take a piece or two of eggplant from the shared plate. He placed it on top of his rice and then put a little into his mouth, chewing slowly.
Xu Jin raised a brow, waiting for a reaction from Lei Zhang, but the soulless specimen just kept eating. He sighed and went back to eating his own meal.
Lei Zhang watched Xu Jin lift his bowl to his mouth and scoop up a nice amount of rice. He tried doing the same, but the sauce ended up pouring onto his suit.
"Argh!"
Lei Zhang exclaimed as Xu Jin sighed and dropped his bowl.
"Seriously, how old are you, nine?" Xu Jin said, standing up and walking over to him. He helped him take off his suit jacket.
"I'll go clean the stains off for you at the restroom," Xu Jin said.
"I'll be leaving for the industry event in an hour. I can't go smelling like fish fragrance. Go get me a new suit," Lei Zhang said.
"There aren't any quality boutiques here in Fengxian District. Unless you want to go meet high-ranking CEOs in a lower-quality suit," Xu Jin said.
"Then drive back to Central Shanghai and get me a suit."
Xu Jin raised a brow.
"I'm sure the words you meant were, 'Let's head for the industry event and get a suit on the way,'" Xu Jin said.
"No. I came here in a suit jacket, and I'm leaving here in a suit jacket."
Lei Zhang said it so seriously that Xu Jin's eye twitched.
"A drive from here to Central Shanghai takes over two hours, making it a four-hour drive in total, going and coming," he said.
Lei Zhang ignored him.
Xu Jin rubbed his temples, trying not to get angry with this guy. He then exhaled.
"I'll just drive to Minhang District. It's a forty-minute drive, and they've got quality boutiques," Xu Jin said.
"Don't make me wait," Lei Zhang said.
Xu Jin rolled his eyes before walking out of the restaurant.
Getting into the car, he angrily stepped on the accelerator and drove off. He took in a deep breath, not wanting to get angry with Lei Zhang, knowing his father's death was still probably getting to him.
With his speed, he arrived at Minhang District in thirty minutes. He immediately entered a quality boutique and began looking around for a suit.
He knew Lei Zhang only loved wearing Armani suits, but he couldn't find any black ones.
"Would you need any help?" a sales assistant asked as she approached him.
"Do you have any Armani suits?" Xu Jin asked.
"We should. Over here," the sales assistant said, walking over to another section with Xu Jin following behind.
"Here are some Armani suits," she said.
But the colours he saw were navy, pinstripe, medium gray, ivory, and white.
"I need black," Xu Jin said.
"Well, I'm not sure we've got any more black ones, but there could be some.
Let's keep checking," she said.
They continued looking, but more colours kept appearing—velvet shades, forest green, burgundy, and so on.
Meanwhile, Lei Zhang was beginning to feel uncomfortable waiting outside the restaurant. He took out his phone and called Xu Jin.
"I'm hoping you're already close by," he said the moment the call went through.
"Close by? Do you know how long it took me to find a black Armani suit? Some people would think I was picking out a suit for a groom. I just got into Fengxian," Xu Jin said.
Lei Zhang gritted his teeth.
"You'd better get here fast!" Lei Zhang said sternly before ending the call.
"What a jerk," Xu Jin muttered, putting his phone away as he increased his speed.
Suddenly, a child ran across the road out of nowhere.
Xu Jin quickly stepped on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt. However, the sudden stop caused mud to splash onto a motorcycle and its rider that were parked where he had stopped.
"What in the world!" the biker shouted.
The black helmet covered the biker's face entirely, but Xu Jin could tell she was a woman from her shape and voice.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," he apologized.
But she already seemed furious.
She took off her helmet, revealing her face. She climbed off the motorcycle, walked straight to the front passenger door, and slammed her helmet against the car so hard that Xu Jin felt his heart skip a beat.
"What?! Have you gone bonkers?" Xu Jin said, getting out of the driver's seat and walking over to the other side.
Was she just called bonkers? she thought to herself, ready to show him just how bonkers she could be.
But she paused when he walked over to her.
He was tall. It was rare to see guys that tall. Adding to that, he was handsome. His brown hair suited him, and his unique silver eyes sparkled.
But still, handsome guys like this are arrogant, especially toward women. I'm not going to let him treat me the same. I'll show him that not all ladies fall at the feet of handsome guys like him.
"Did you just call me bonkers?" she asked.
"I'll pretend you're not deaf and repeat myself. Have you gone bonkers? Do you literally know how much this car costs? You'll pay for any damage," he said sternly.
She gave a mocking chuckle before taking a few steps closer to him, making sure they were only a few inches apart. She looked directly into his silver eyes without caring that she had to raise her head to look him in the eye.
"Are you threatening me? Do you really think knowing how expensive it is is going to scare me off?" she asked.
"If you aren't scared of paying, then do your worst!" Xu Jin said, not believing she could do a thing.
But in the next second, the girl used her hard, heavy helmet to hit the front passenger window so hard that it cracked.
Before Xu Jin could react, she hit it again.
The glass shattered.
Xu Jin was shocked.
He grabbed her by the arm, ready to make sure she had enough yuan in her account to pay for the damage.
But she reacted quickly. She stepped on his foot with her hard boots, and he groaned in pain, accidentally letting go of her.
That painful distraction was all it took.
She jumped onto her motorcycle and zoomed off.
Xu Jin gritted his teeth, still groaning in pain as he tried shaking his foot. It felt as though his veins had changed positions.
He heard his phone ringing inside the car but ignored it.
At this point, he was angry enough not to care whether Lei Zhang made it to the industry event or not.
"Is he seriously ignoring my calls?" Lei Zhang said to himself, trying again.
*****************************************
Xiao Yanran ran as fast as she could while still on a call.
"I'm coming. I'll be there soon," she said.
"Soon? We agreed to meet here by 4:00 p.m., but it's getting close to 5:00 now," an angry male voice said through the phone.
"I'm sorry. I'm actually almost there," she said, running past some girls and accidentally upsetting them.
"How do I spot you? What are you wearing?" she asked as she got closer to Mrs. Gao's restaurant, where she had arranged to meet the home tutor.
Mrs. Gao would be coming by 6:30, so she could still meet with the home tutor and get things sorted before she arrived.
"I'm wearing a white shirt and black suit trousers," he said.
Xiao Yanran increased her speed, finally arriving in front of the restaurant.
"I don't see you," she said, her eyes darting around.
"I'm at the left end of the restaurant," he said.
Her eyes moved toward the left end.
She saw a tall, handsome guy wearing a white long-sleeved collared shirt tucked into black suit trousers.
He had platinum-blond hair that suited his face perfectly, making him look like some comic-book male lead.
One hand was shoved into his pocket while the other was held against his ear, holding his phone.
He stood there elegantly, definitely not like someone in need of money.
"I see you," she said.
She finally ended the call and ran over to him, not noticing that her phone had switched off because of its low battery.
Lei Zhang lowered his phone and angrily began typing a message to Xu Jin when a girl in a school uniform suddenly stopped in front of him, shocking him.
She bent down, gripping her knees as she panted heavily.
Lei Zhang could only stare at her with creased brows, wondering what was wrong with this girl.
She finally straightened up, bowed respectfully, and stretched out her hand for a handshake, surprising Lei Zhang even more.
He didn't return the handshake, so she slowly brought her hand down and exhaled.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I got into some little problems at school. I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting," she said.
Without even giving him a second to speak, she grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the restaurant.
She wanted to get things done with him before Mrs. Gao returned and failed to notice a man standing only a few feet away from Lei Zhang, wearing a white shirt and black suit trousers and angrily tapping his foot on the ground as he waited for someone.
Lei Zhang looked at his hand, which was being held by Xiao Yanran.
He was quite confused.
Confused as to why a high school girl was pulling him along—and why he himself hadn't pulled away from her grip.
She stopped at an empty table and finally let go of his hand.
"Please, sit," she said.
With his eyes never leaving her for a second, he sat down. She sat opposite him.
"Once again, I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting, but…"
She stopped and scrutinized him.
"You're young. Was that why you made the post anonymous? Look, an anonymous post like that would only make people suspect you're a criminal. Even I had second thoughts. I just really need a home tutor right now, and you posted that you charge low prices," she said.
Lei Zhang scrutinized her.
Her simplicity was really getting the best of his curiosity. Somehow, he had the urge to find out more about this simple girl, so he decided to play along.
"Let's cut straight to the chase. How much are you going to pay me to tutor you?" he asked.
She rubbed her palms nervously.
And indeed, she had to be nervous because the amount she mentioned really shocked him.
It wasn't like he cared about the price, though. He just wanted to find out more about this peculiar high school student sitting in front of him.
"It's just two hours of tutoring, right after school. I can come over, and you'll tutor me for two hours. You can still continue with whatever you do. Just see it as a side hustle," she said.
He exhaled.
"What's your name and age?" he asked.
"Xiao Yanran. I'm seventeen," she said.
His finger tapped against the table.
His eyes creased as he wondered if he should really do something as crazy as faking his identity.
It wasn't as bad as it sounded, though. He wouldn't change his name. That was one thing he couldn't do. He could simply pretend to be some middle-class hustler and see if this girl was really what she appeared to be.
"I'm Lei Zhang. I'm twenty-five," he said.
He made sure both his name and age were true. Then he could lie about the rest.
"So, is this a yes? Are you going to tutor me?" she asked.
He nodded.
She smiled with gratitude.
"So where would we be meeting for tutoring?" she asked.
He creased his brows.
"Can't I tutor you at your home?" he asked.
"No. Uhm, my parents wouldn't like that. How about you tutor me at your place?" she suggested.
His eyes creased even more, this time with suspicion.
If she stayed with her parents, shouldn't they be the ones getting her a home tutor?
And why would they be against someone tutoring her at home?
Was she a spy? Was she hired to pull all these strings?
He just kept getting more curious about this girl.
"I'll text you my address later. I'll give you my contact," he said, pulling out his phone.
It was her turn to crease her brows.
"But I already have your contact," she
said.
"Delete that one."
She creased her brows even more before taking out her phone.
She switched it back on and deleted the number, then quickly saved the new one before her phone could go off again.
"Alright, I'll escort you outside," she said.
He nodded.
They both stood up and left the restaurant together.
Xu Jin finally arrived back at the restaurant and took a deep breath, tired from all the stress he had just gone through.
Looking toward the front passenger seat through the window that no longer had any glass, he was shocked to see Lei Zhang walking out of the restaurant with a girl.
The girl in the school uniform bowed respectfully.
She seemed to be a high school student.
Lei Zhang noticed Xu Jin's arrival and walked over to the car.
At the same time, a guy walked out of the restaurant and immediately started a conversation with Xiao Yanran, causing her to fail to notice the expensive car her new home tutor had just entered.
Xu Jin sat in the driver's seat with his hands on the steering wheel as he watched Lei Zhang get into the front passenger seat.
He didn't even notice the shattered window.
Lei Zhang, meanwhile, poked his head out through the broken window, staring at Xiao Yanran, who was still talking to the guy.
Lei Zhang creased his brows, wondering if that was her boyfriend or if there was anything he needed to know about.
The guy finally left, and Xiao Yanran went back into the restaurant.
Lei Zhang finally pulled his head back into the car and turned to Xu Jin.
"Xu Jin, I need you to rent an apartment here in Fengxian and buy me some casual clothes," Lei Zhang said.
But he got no reply.
Xu Jin simply started the car.
Lei Zhang raised a brow, wondering if Xu Jin had really just ignored him.
Then he finally noticed the shattered window.
"Xu Jin, what happened to my car?" Lei Zhang asked sternly.
Xu Jin still didn't answer him.
He simply put on his seat belt.
"Xu Jin, aren't I talking to you?" Lei Zhang asked again.
Still, there was no reply.
Xu Jin started driving, moving onto the road and speeding away.
He was just too pissed to say a word.
He wasn't sure he'd be saying anything to this guy for the rest of the night either.
**T.B.C.**