Chapter 35 Tutoring

The summer in July was like being locked in a steamer. The leaves on the roadside curled up and hung wilted on the branches. When Fengjian went out, the sun outside almost melted her. Sister Ling's voice reminding her to bring an umbrella gradually drifted away, and was finally blown away by the hot wind raised by the traffic.

When they arrived at Echizen's house, they heard a noisy sound coming from the temple. Kazama greeted the man in monk's robes sitting under the bell. The man should be Echizen's father.

The gentle-looking woman standing at the door smiled slightly when she saw her, "You must be Kazama-san, right? Ryoma has mentioned you to me. I am Nanako, Ryoma's cousin."

"Hello."

Nanako considerately led the person to the backyard before leaving.

"April, you're finally here. Let me tell you, Momoshiro almost had a quarrel with senior Kikumaru just now." As soon as Gen saw Kazama, he rushed over and complained to her.

"Hey, Gen, you're so biased," Taocheng grumbled unhappily, "It was obviously Eiji-senpai who was at fault first."

"Anyway, it's wrong for you two to quarrel," Yuan said righteously, his hands on his hips, and finally added, "Everyone is wrong."

"Alright, alright," Oishi quickly stopped him, "Now that Kazama is here, today's tutoring task can begin. Go ahead, thank you for your help."

Gan nodded and adjusted his glasses. "Kazama will be in charge of Momoshiro, Minamoto will be in charge of Kaidou, Fuji will be in charge of Echizen, Oishi will be in charge of Eiji, and I will be in charge of the overall situation. Is there any problem with this arrangement?"

"No objection." Yuan Ji raised his hand.

"That's fine with me," Taocheng rubbed the tip of his nose, "but I have a question for you, Senior. Why don't Kazama and Gen study with us? They were there at the last training camp, right?"

"For a classmate like you, Taocheng, I'm actually quite surprised you'd ask that question," Gan gave Taocheng a strange look. "In last week's final exam, Kazama ranked first in the grade, and Minamoto ranked twenty-fifth. And since the start of the second semester of high school, Kazama's grades have consistently been first in the class and in the top three in the grade, while Minamoto has hovered between the top five in the class and the top fifty in the grade."

"You're not satisfied even though you've asked the top student in the grade to tutor you, Tao." Kikumaru crossed his arms across his chest and snorted coldly.

"No way," Taocheng was stunned and swallowed his saliva, "Why didn't I know this?"

Yuan rolled his eyes at him and snorted smugly, "Because every time the report cards are handed out, you're always sound asleep."

"I didn't expect Feng Jian to be the top student in the grade," Fuji was slightly surprised and chuckled, "That's impressive."

Kazama scratched his head, "Not really, Fuji-senpai is also very good."

If it weren't for the fact that she had a lifetime more experience than them, she would probably have only been above average.

"When I was in second grade, I wasn't as good as Kazama. Tezuka was always number one in the grade."

I glanced at him dryly and said, "I've never fallen below second place in the grade. Isn't that too modest of you?"

Fuji tilted his head and smiled, "Oh, is that so? Maybe it's because Tezuka is too dazzling."

"Let's get back to the point," Gan retracted his gaze and looked at the two of them, "Momoshiro and Kaidou didn't pass any of their exams, so I'll need you to pay more attention."

"Make sure the mission is completed."

"Senior Gan really doesn't give me face." The resentment came from Taocheng.

"hiss……"

"The countdown begins now. The first subject is Chinese. The time limit is 120 minutes." Gan pressed the timer in his hand, while his other hand pulled out a large bottle of green liquid from behind his back. "Anyone who doesn't do the test seriously will have to drink my specially made enhanced and improved Ban Gan juice."

"Eh~~ I don't want to drink that stuff!"

“Absolutely not!”

The people in Taocheng were as if facing a great enemy. The sound of their swallowing was particularly prominent. They clenched their pens tightly and stared at the test paper, scratching their heads and cheeks, as if they wanted to stare a hole in it.

However, before long, everyone's shortcomings in answering the questions were exposed one after another.

"Echizen, your problem is..." Gan glanced at Echizen's test paper and paused for a few seconds, "You need to improve your Chinese vocabulary. There are too many typos."

"I have a very good Chinese vocabulary memorization book that I can recommend to you, Echizen." Fuji suggested very kindly.

Echizen subconsciously wanted to pull at the brim of his hat, but then realized he wasn't wearing one at home. He had to put his hand on his forehead and lower his head, saying stubbornly, "I'm still far from it."

"Hahaha, I didn't expect Echizen has been abroad for so long. His English is good, but his Chinese is not so good." Momoshiro patted his shoulder, and it was hard to tell whether there was more comfort or more gloating in his eyes.

"And you, Taocheng," Taocheng's laughter abruptly stopped as he changed the subject, "your shortcoming is that no matter what problem you solve, you never think deeply about it. Skimming the surface won't solve the problem."

Taocheng lowered his head in disappointment.

"Hiss, what an idiot."

Before he finished speaking, Gan's eyes swept over him, "Haitang, your problem is that you like to work too hard on every question, which is a huge waste of exam time. If it's a question that's beyond the syllabus or extremely difficult, you can put it aside for now and make sure you get the simple questions right first."

Kaidou choked and lowered his head amid Taocheng's jeers, but his earlobes turned slightly red, "Yes, Senior Gan."

"As expected, it's the tacit cooperation between our golden pair." Kikumaru poked his head out from behind Kan and made a "yeah" gesture to Momoshiro with a smug expression.

"Kikumaru, your problem is more serious," Gan's voice drifted over, and Kikumaru's smile froze. "You only have a short-lived enthusiasm for things. Your performance in the exam depends entirely on your mood at the moment. It's best not to bring the so-called 'play dead tactics' from competitions into the exam."

Kikumaru curled his lips, "I know, Agan."

"In short, each of your problems cannot be ignored," Gan flipped through the notebook in his hand. "From now on until the end of the tutoring, I will give you intensive training on this point. Now," he raised the dry juice in his hand and bent it into a strange arc, "would you like to drink this cup of dry juice first to replenish your nutrition?"

Several people retreated three steps, shaking their heads like rattles, "Absolutely not!"

"If you want to drink, drink it yourself!"

"What a pity," Gan shifted his attention and looked at Fuji, "How about you, Fuji? Do you want some?"

Fuji smiled, "I still prefer watching others drink, that's more fun."

You are truly worthy of being called Fuji (senior).

Dusk came slowly, and when everyone came to their senses, the afterglow of the setting sun filtered in from under the eaves. The clouds spread out like the wings of a flying bird, spreading towards the horizon. The sky above was still blue and white, and further away it was dyed into indigo, and the farthest place was a slightly drunken wine red.

"I'm so hungry, so hungry..." Taocheng stretched.

Before he finished speaking, Kikumaru put his hands on his shoulders to gain leverage and jumped up, landing steadily at the door like a light bird, with his wine-red hair slightly pressed down, revealing cunning eyes, "Atao, see you next time." He made a "yeah" gesture with his hands behind his back.

"Ah...Senior Kikumaru, you are cheating!" Momoshiro grabbed his schoolbag and ran outside.

The setting sun lengthened the figures of the two people pushing each other and cast them at the feet of the people walking behind them.

"I say, you two, really..." Oishi sighed as he looked at the figure running away, then turned to look at Kazama, "Kazama, wouldn't it be too much of a bother for us to suddenly go to your house like this?"

"No problem," Feng Jian waved his hand, not caring at all. "Sister Ling has always wanted everyone to go together and has urged me several times."

Oishi looked distressed. "Then I should bring some gifts. There's an old Chinese saying, 'Reciprocity is the best policy.'"

"No need," Fengjian couldn't help laughing, "Don't worry, Oishi-senpai, you don't need to bring anything, just arrive and you'll be fine."

"Yes, Senior Oishi," Yuan quickly moved between the two of them, put his arm around Fengjian's arm, and smiled easily, "Sister Ling is a very nice person, there is no need to worry at all."

Dashi touched the back of his head, and the tense expression on his face relaxed slightly, "Yes."

"Where will the seniors go to play after tutoring?" Yuan asked.

"Maybe I'll go back to my hometown. It's watermelon season now."

"I guess I'll just help out at the sushi restaurant. It's very busy in July and August."

"I want to go to Okinawa. The sea there is beautiful in the summer," Fuji held up his phone to show them. "The camera I bought not long ago will come in handy."

"Wow—Fuji-senpai is amazing!"

"Where's Senior Gan..."

"The probability of staying at home is 99.9%."

"You really have the style of Agan."

"Nana, Echizen, and Kaidou, where are you going to play?"

"Hiss~"

"I haven't made up my mind yet."

“…”

The golden sunset is like a piece of crushed gold, inlaid on the ground. The evening breeze, mixed with crushed ice and the fragrance of grass, blows the horn of summer. The afterglow falls on the boy's clothes and body. The tips of his hair are filled with a faint warm color, and his figure gradually sinks into the street entrance on the horizon.