"Didn't you start school? Why are you still coming to my house?"
After going upstairs, Song Mingyuan looked at Xia Jinshu walking into the kitchen and couldn't help but ask his son.
"School's out, huh?" Song Yunshen said matter-of-factly. "Isn't there only a few days left of my tutoring sessions? So you're taking advantage of the time after school to continue tutoring me."
"Then why are you cooking?"
"Since we're already here, what's wrong with cooking a meal?" Song Yunshen glanced at his father. "If you're so capable, then don't eat."
"I've already done it, what's wrong with me eating a couple of bites?" Song Mingyuan said irritably. "But you, if you haven't improved your English by the time school starts, see how I deal with you."
"Don't forget the bonus we promised," Song Yunshen reminded him with a chuckle.
"Don't worry, I remember that. It all depends on how well you perform." Song Mingyuan scoffed. "If you're so capable, get a perfect score and I'll give you a 6,000 yuan bonus."
"That's not as exaggerated as it sounds..." Song Yunshen said speechlessly, then rolled his eyes, "If my grades improve, Xia Jinshu gets a bonus, but what about me?"
"Forget about it." Song Mingyuan sneered. "You've already bought a new computer, and you make over 5,000 yuan a month just from rent. Aren't you satisfied?"
Who would complain about having too much money?
"Anyway, we agreed beforehand that I wouldn't give you any pocket money other than the rent," Song Mingyuan said. "Don't play dumb with me. Don't think I don't know that your aunt and uncle gave you quite a bit of pocket money during the summer vacation, right?" "Ahem... that's called a voluntary gift," Song Yunshen explained shamelessly.
Song Mingyuan didn't say anything, he just rolled his eyes.
Dinner was ready quickly.
After the three of them sat down, Song Mingyuan couldn't help but twitch his lips when he heard Xia Jinshu casually say, "Dinner's ready."
The food was still delicious, much better than the boxed lunches we ordered from the company.
Having gotten used to Xia Jinshu's cooking at the hospital, I've found the food rather bland and tasteless since switching to company meals for the past week.
Now, tasting Xia Jinshu's cooking again, Song Mingyuan ate two large bowls of rice before he felt full.
Unfortunately, we won't be able to eat such delicious food for many more days.
Thinking about this, Song Mingyuan actually felt a little regretful.
"Your tutoring session ends this week, right?" Song Mingyuan thought for a moment and asked the two of them.
"Yeah." Song Yunshen nodded. "It ends this Friday. What's up?" Song Mingyuan didn't look at him, but instead looked at Xia Jinshu, then asked curiously, "What score do you think Song Yunshen will get on his English exam this time?"
"I'm not sure either, it depends on the difficulty of the test." Xia Jinshu thought seriously, assuming Song Mingyuan was concerned about the effectiveness of the tutoring. After pondering for a moment, she carefully said, "If it's the same difficulty as the previous final exam, I think it could improve my score by at least 20 points."
"That's really quite good." Song Mingyuan was somewhat surprised, not expecting the effect to be so good.
So, if you calculate it this way, it's equivalent to a tutor's salary of 6,000 yuan for two months during the summer vacation. Each point increase is 300 yuan.
If this were the college entrance exam, let alone 300 yuan to improve one point, even 3000 yuan for one point, there would be plenty of people willing to spend that money.
Although the school entrance exams haven't been held yet, and the extent of her improvement will depend on the results of this exam, Song Mingyuan still has a lot of faith in Xia Jinshu's judgment.
After thinking for a moment, he suggested, "In that case, why don't you continue being his tutor?"
"Huh?" Xia Jinshu was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. After regaining her composure, she couldn't help but ask, "Uncle Song... what do you mean...?"
"You guys have to go to school during the week, so you definitely can't give him individual tutoring," Song Mingyuan said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But you have time on weekends, right? You can continue to tutor him. I don't expect to improve his scores by much, but at least we can stabilize his current English level."
Upon hearing his suggestion, Xia Jinshu's eyes lit up instantly, and her heart pounded faster. "W-is that alright?"
"That depends on whether this guy agrees or not," Song Mingyuan chuckled, glancing at his son.
Song Yunshen was a little surprised that his father would actually bring this up himself. He had actually thought about it before, but he felt that if he brought it up first, his father might misunderstand.
Now that Song Mingyuan had brought it up himself, Song Yunshen was naturally willing to go along with it, nodding in agreement. "Of course, but how should we arrange the specific class times?"
"Isn't that simple?" Song Mingyuan waved his hand and said, "Two hours of class each day over the weekend, Saturday from 2 pm to 4 pm, and Sunday from 9 am to 11 am, how about that?"
"I'm fine with it." Xia Jinshu quickly calculated and confirmed that there was no conflict in terms of timing before nodding in agreement.
Song Yunshen didn't think there was anything wrong with the time. He did a quick calculation of the specific salary expenses: 4 hours a week, that's 400 yuan, which is about 1600 yuan a month, not too much.
Seeing that Song Yunshen nodded, Song Mingyuan continued, "If Song Yunshen has any English problems at school, he can ask you for help. So, let's calculate it at 2000 yuan a month. What do you think?"
Compared to Song Yunshen's calculation, Song Mingyuan gave an extra 400 yuan, nominally as payment for Song Yunshen's tutoring from Xia Jinshu at school.
But in reality, it was compensation for Xia Jinshu cooking for their family.
After all, he specifically scheduled his class before mealtime, so it was perfectly reasonable for Xia Jinshu to cook a meal after class.
But it's a bit unreasonable to keep taking advantage of a young girl's labor like this.
So it's better to spend a little more money.
Xia Jinshu was initially tempted by the price, but then realized something was amiss. A quick calculation revealed that Song Mingyuan had overpaid. Just as she was about to politely decline and negotiate a lower price, Song Yunshen nodded in agreement, saying, "It's settled then. We'll sign a new contract this weekend. I'll Teacher Xia from now on."
Upon hearing his words, Xia Jinshu pursed her lips and didn't say anything more at the dinner table.
After the three of them finished eating, Song Mingyuan stood up and said, "Alright, you guys go to class first, I'll clean up here."
Xia Jinshu was a little embarrassed and wanted to help tidy up. But Song Yunshen had already rudely invited her to the study. "He's just here to freeload, what's wrong with letting him tidy up?"
"This isn't a good idea..."
"Don't stand on ceremony with him, let's go, it's time for class."
"Then I'll wipe the table, and I'll come over when I'm done."
If Xia Jinshu did nothing, she would feel uneasy.
Song Yunshen had no choice but to help her clean up the dining table before leading her into the study.
After sitting down in the study, Xia Jinshu took out her prepared lesson plan from her bag, then took out her glasses case and put on her glasses.
Song Yunshen looked at Xia Jinshu, who had transformed into a tutor, his gaze lingering on her glasses. He couldn't help but ask, "You don't only wear glasses when you're teaching me, do you?"
"What's wrong?" "You should wear them in class too," Song Yunshen suggested. "Your eyesight is only a little over 100 degrees right now, it's not too serious. Wearing them in class can help relieve eye strain, otherwise your prescription will continue to worsen."
"It should be nothing serious..." Xia Jinshu hesitated.
"The high price of glasses now is due to the lenses. When your prescription is around 100 degrees, you can barely see the words on the blackboard without glasses, but what if your prescription gets worse later?" Song Yunshen said seriously. "If it gets to 200, 300, or even over 400 degrees later, the lenses won't be so cheap, and you'll have to spend a lot of money to buy new glasses."
Upon hearing that it would cost more money in the future, Xia Jinshu's expression immediately turned serious, and she nodded slightly. "Hmm... then I'll listen to you."
That's right... Song Yunshen nodded in satisfaction.
He realized that Xia Jinshu was quite stubborn about some things, but as long as he explained the pros and cons to her and made her understand that some things would lead to spending more money, she would immediately correct her ways.
The English tutoring class finally ended at 7:30 pm.
Xia Jinshu took off her glasses, put them in their case, packed her schoolbag, and got up to say goodbye and go home.
Song Yunshen followed her out of the study, greeted Song Mingyuan on the sofa, and then said, "I'll take you home, senior."
"Goodbye, Uncle Song," Xia Jinshu said obediently.
"Okay, go ahead." Song Mingyuan nodded, watching the two leave the house. Only after Song Yunshen followed them into the elevator did Xia Jinshu ask in confusion, "Actually, you didn't need to see me downstairs; you could have just escorted me to the door."
"I told you I'd take you home," Song Yunshen said, shaking his car keys. "I don't have anything to do tonight anyway, so I'll take you home on my electric scooter."
"It's just a few steps, you've gone to so much trouble." Xia Jinshu said with a helpless smile.
"If it's just taking my senior home, then it's not troublesome."
"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony."
Sitting on the back of Song Yunshen's seat, Xia Jinshu hugged his waist again, and they drove home together in the evening breeze.
After seeing Xia Jinshu upstairs, Song Yunshen sat on his electric scooter and, instead of rushing home, took out his phone to check his messages.
He first sent a message to Xia Yunuo, then rode his electric bike straight towards Ningjiang Middle School.
After arriving at the gate of Ningjiang Middle School, he took out his phone again and saw that Xia Yunuo had not replied yet. He then rode his electric bike to the entrance of the milk tea shop, got off, went inside, and greeted Song Jiayao at the front desk, "Sister, why haven't you started school yet?"
"We're only registering this weekend," Song Jiayao said with a grin. "You guys are so pitiful, school starts so soon."
Song Yunshen rolled his eyes at her. "Two cups of milk tea, hurry up."
"Is it still the same? Where's Xia Yunuo?" Song Jiayao asked confused, "How come you're here at this point? Don't you have to study in the evening?" "The exams are in the first week of school, and those who have finished their summer homework don't have to study in the evening." Song Yunshen stretched out his finger and tapped the table, "You're just a milk tea girl, why do you ask so many questions?"
"Are you looking for a fight?" Song Jiayao glared at him. "You still owe me for two cups of milk tea, and I haven't even asked you to pay for them!"
"I paid."
"Bullshit! I remember it perfectly clearly, you didn't pay!"
"I definitely paid you, like the time I helped you play King of Glory." Song Yunshen said seriously.
"That was the time you didn't pay! I had to pay for the milk tea myself!" Song Jiayao said angrily.
"I paid two stars," Song Yunshen said matter-of-factly. "I helped you win a game, so I should at least get some money, right?"
"That's just one star, where did the two stars come from?"
"You were going to lose that round, so shouldn't you lose a star?" Song Yunshen explained to her very carefully. "But I won for you in the end, so I added a star, right? So now you have two stars?"
Song Jiayao: "... You're pretty good at math, huh?"
"Of course not."
"Pay up!" Song Jiayao gritted her teeth. "Pay first, then I'll do it."
A dozen minutes later, Song Yunshen arrived at the gate of Ningjiang Middle School on his electric bike, carrying two cups of milk tea.
However, he didn't stop completely on the side of the road directly opposite the school gate, but drove a little further ahead before stopping on the side of the road.
He then took out his phone and glanced at the chat history again.
[ Song Yunshen ]: When will you be released?
This was a message Song Yunshen sent when he first arrived.
[ Xia Yunuo ]: Sorry, sorry, I was in the classroom just now and didn't see it.
[ Xia Yunuo ]: I'm already out, almost out of the school gate. It'll probably take another ten minutes or so to get to you.
[ Song Yunshen ]: k, I'll wait for you.
At this moment, Xia Yunuo was walking briskly out of the school. After leaving the school gate, she turned left and hurried towards Tangning New Residence, without paying attention to the situation on the roadside.
She had only walked a short distance when an electric scooter pulled up beside her.
"Where are you going, beautiful? Do you want me to give you a ride?" Xia Yunuo recognized the voice, but couldn't quite place it. Just wanting to walk faster, she frowned slightly and said impatiently, "No, I..."
She turned her head to glance at the figure on the electric scooter halfway through her sentence, and the next second, she stopped in her tracks.
Song Yunshen stopped his electric scooter, looked at her with a smile, and continued to ask in a high-pitched voice, "What's wrong, beautiful? Didn't you say you didn't need it?"
Xia Yunuo stared at Song Yunshen for a long while, then blushed and lightly hit him. "You're so naughty, talking in that high-pitched voice. I was wondering why it sounded familiar, I thought..."
"What did you think? Did you think some thug was trying to harass you?" Song Yunshen said with a chuckle.
"Hmph!" Xia Yunuo couldn't wait any longer and climbed onto his back seat, hugging him tightly and pressing her whole body against his back. "You're just a hooligan."