The entire CEO's office fell silent for a few seconds. Ji Ting seemed to read his expression. "What are you planning to do?"
Ji Yanzhi gave a cold laugh. "Since you chose Lu Yanchu, I assume you're prepared to be taught a lesson."
"I..."
Ji Yanzhi gave him no chance to explain and pressed the intercom. "Tell Liao Kai to bring his men up."
The bodyguards and secretary arrived shortly. Ji Yanzhi pointed at Ji Ting. "Confiscate his phone and car keys. Starting today, he is not to set one foot outside the house without my permission."
"Yes, sir."
The old scene played out again. Two bodyguards stepped forward, took Ji Ting by the arms, and swiftly escorted him out of the CEO's office.
"Find a few tutors from prestigious universities. Have them teach Ji Ting every day according to a senior-year high school timetable," Ji Yanzhi instructed his secretary coldly.
Wasn't he worried that his education wasn't good enough? Fine. He could prepare for the college entrance exam all over again.
Knock, knock-
After the knock came the butler's soft voice. "Young Master Ji Ting, it's time for your lesson."
Ji Ting came out of the bathroom and cast an indifferent glance at the door.
This was the fourth day since Ji Yanzhi had locked him up. He had originally thought the man simply wanted to punish him by grounding him, but clearly, he had underestimated Ji Yanzhi's childishness.
...The mighty CEO of the Shili Group kept finding different tutors to give him lessons.
At first, Ji Ting hadn't understood how this counted as punishment. But considering how intensely the original owner of this body had hated studying, it was undoubtedly hellish torture.
At that thought, Ji Ting's fingers curled slightly at his sides.
Not only was Ji Yanzhi emotionally immature and extremely controlling, but he also had an endless supply of ways to retaliate.
It seemed the job search would have to wait. Escaping Ji Yanzhi's control came first.
When he failed to respond for some time, there was another knock at the door.
Ji Ting got up and walked to the door. The moment he opened it, he saw the butler and two black-clad bodyguards stationed outside.
On top of that, the front door downstairs was heavily guarded too.
Smiling, the butler nudged the person beside him forward. "Young Master Ji Ting, this is your new tutor."
Ji Ting glanced at the new tutor and was about to speak, but the butler continued with a smile. "Your elder brother told me to inform you that if you drive this tutor away today as well, you'd better consider how much your bones can take."
As well?
Beside him, the tutor's throat suddenly tightened, and his hands clutched at the seams of his trousers.
"I didn't..."
Ji Ting had barely begun to speak when the butler withdrew.
Denied even the chance to speak, Ji Ting found the door shut once more. He stood where he was, his gaze slightly lowered.
He was seriously considering a way out when the tutor beside him suddenly bowed deeply, then stammered, "H-hello. I'm your new physics tutor. My name is X-Xu Ren."
Ji Ting's gaze swept over his exceptionally nervous face. He had no intention of making things difficult for him. "All right. Let's begin."
With that, he turned and headed toward the small sitting room. The tutor hesitated, then hurried after him.
After they sat down at the table, Xu Ren began, "Um, your guardian said your foundations were very... somewhat weak, so let's go over the key concepts together first." Then he watched Ji Ting's expression. "Would that be all right?"
Ji Ting was silent for two seconds. "Did you bring any test papers?"
"Y-yes."
Ji Ting nodded. "I'll do one first. Once I'm finished, you can work out a teaching plan based on my score."
Xu Ren hadn't expected him to be so cooperative. After a moment of surprise, he quickly pulled some test papers out of his bag. He carefully sifted through them before choosing one with more questions on the basics and placing it in front of Ji Ting.
Ji Ting picked up a pen. "You can work on your own things. You don't have to sit there waiting for me."
"Oh, all right." Xu Ren suddenly felt a little more confident. From the looks of it, this young master from a wealthy family wasn't that difficult to get along with.
That thought lasted just one minute before it was shattered in his chest.
Out of the corner of his eye, Xu Ren saw Ji Ting answering a multiple-choice question every three seconds. Whether or not a question required equations and calculations, he simply filled in A, B, C, or D.
Several times, Xu Ren wanted to say something but stopped himself. In the end, he could only sigh inwardly.
Forget it. Getting him to put pen to paper was already something.
A little under half an hour later.
Since Ji Ting wouldn't let him watch, Xu Ren had begun reviewing his master's thesis. Now he was staring at his laptop, his eyes full of frustration and confusion.
Someone help me. What exactly is the physical mechanism here...
"Coupled-mode theory."
Xu Ren jolted and turned his head in a daze. "W-what?"
Ji Ting pointed at his screen. "For this continuous tuning method, the physical mechanism behind its absorption can be described using coupled-mode theory."
"...Huh?"
Xu Ren was utterly dumbfounded. He had never expected those words to come out of the mouth of someone who needed tutoring in high school physics. Even more absurdly, the answer was actually correct.
Ji Ting didn't repeat himself. He reached out and used the touchpad to scroll up. "This temperature-field distribution map should be based on your experimental data. But you should know that macroscopically smooth metal surfaces have low emissivity, so using thermal imaging to measure their surface temperature will introduce enormous errors."
"Your research topic is good, but your experimental approach is completely wrong. If you want to measure local photothermal temperatures accurately, you could try using SERS Technology."
Ji Ting spoke calmly and fluently, so smoothly that it was as though an old professor's core had been tucked inside a teenager's shell.
Xu Ren's mouth hung half-open. He looked at Ji Ting as though he were seeing a living dinosaur. "S-SERS..."
Ji Ting withdrew his hand. "Look at the computer, not me. Think it through yourself along the lines I just suggested."
As though following a command, Xu Ren turned back. After repeatedly reviewing his experimental data and graphs, he suddenly cried out, "Embedded SERS probe measurements!"
Ji Ting asked evenly, "What material should you use for the probe?"
Xu Ren froze at first, then his breathing quickened again. After struggling for a long moment, he blurted out, "C-carbon nanotubes!"
It was still a little off, but he was already very close.
Ji Ting gave a slight nod, as though granting permission. "Go back to your university's lab."
Xu Ren completely forgot what he had come here to do. He packed up his laptop and ran out, his face alight with excitement.
There was a bang, as though something had struck the door.
The bodyguards outside turned at the sound. A second later, the door was yanked open.
The new tutor burst out clutching his bag and sprinted toward the stairs without a word, looking for all the world as though he were fleeing for his life.
One bodyguard raised a hand. "Hey, you..."
"Something came up at my university, so I'm leaving! Sorry, thank you, thank you, thank you-"
The two bodyguards exchanged a look. Great, he had driven off another one. This one was so frightened he couldn't even speak properly.
They already had plenty of experience handling this sort of thing. One picked up his radio to tell the guards at the gate to let the tutor through, while the other took out his phone to report to Ji Yanzhi.
That evening, just as dinner was set out in the dining room, Ji Yanzhi's car pulled into the underground garage.
Before you continue