Tutoring Agreement
The monthly exam results from Nangang No.1 Middle School have finally been posted.
The back wall of the classroom of Grade 11 (7) was crowded with people. Students pushed and shoved each other, standing on tiptoe, vying to check their rankings. Some cheered, some sighed, and some angrily punched the wall.
Xu Ying stood on the outskirts of the crowd, holding her notebook, waiting quietly. She disliked crowds, so she always waited until the first wave of people dispersed before checking her results.
"A perfect score in math? It's Zong Heng again?!" A boy suddenly raised his voice, his tone full of disbelief.
"Damn, did he cheat? He's always fighting and skipping classes, how can he get a perfect score?"
"Shh, keep your voice down, do you want him to beat you up...?"
Xu Ying's eyelashes trembled slightly.
Zong Heng, a perfect score in math?
She pursed her lips, her gaze unconsciously sweeping through the gaps in the crowd, trying to find that name on the list.
The crowd finally dispersed a bit, and Xu Ying stepped forward, her gaze sliding down the list from the very top—
First place: Xu Ying, Chinese 138, Mathematics 142, English 146... Total score 692.
She breathed a sigh of relief, but her gaze quickly fell on her math score.
142 points.
I lost 8 points on the last question.
She spent a full half hour on that geometry proof, but still missed a crucial step.
"Tsk."
A soft snort suddenly came from behind, lazy and with a familiar nonchalance.
Xu Ying's back stiffened. Before she could turn around, she felt a warm breath approach her ear—
"If the auxiliary lines are drawn incorrectly, of course you won't get full marks."
His deep voice carried a hint of mocking laughter.
Xu Ying turned around abruptly, her nose almost hitting the chin of the person behind her.
Zong Heng put one hand in his pocket, looking down at her with his usual roguish smile on his lips.
"You..." Xu Ying subconsciously took a half step back, her ears burning slightly, "How did you know the questions that got me points deducted?"
Zong Heng raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer. He simply reached past her and lightly tapped the list with his fingertip.
First place in mathematics: Zong Heng, 150 points.
Xu Ying stared at that number, feeling inexplicably resentful.
She bit her lip and muttered softly, "...How exactly do you draw the auxiliary lines for the last step?"
Zong Heng suddenly smiled.
He leaned down, close to her ear, his voice low and teasing—
"Want to know? Beg me."
Xu Ying's ear tips turned red instantly.
Xu Ying hurried out of the classroom with her notebook in her arms, her heart still pounding.
Zong Heng's voice, the temperature of his breath, and the words "Beg me" kept lingering in her mind.
She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
It's just a question; she can figure it out herself.
Just then, I heard footsteps behind me, unhurried yet strangely impossible to ignore.
Xu Ying didn't turn around, but her pace quickened unconsciously.
Why are you running?
Zong Heng's voice came from behind her, and then her wrist was grabbed.
Xu Ying was forced to turn around and looked up to meet his eyes.
Zong Heng was more than half a head taller than her. Standing against the light in the corridor, his features were gilded with a faint golden hue. He had high brow bones and deep-set eyes. When he smiled, he had a roguish air about him, but when he didn't smile, he exuded a sharp and imposing aura.
"You..." Xu Ying struggled to free her wrist, but couldn't. "Let go."
Zong Heng didn't move, but stared at her for two seconds before suddenly asking, "Do you really want to know how to solve that problem?"
Xu Ying pursed her lips and remained silent.
Zong Heng chuckled softly, released her wrist, took a crumpled piece of draft paper from his pocket, and handed it to her.
See for yourself.
Xu Ying hesitated before taking it and unfolding it—
The paper contained his messy handwriting, a detailed solution to the geometry problem, with the auxiliary lines for the final step clearly drawn, and a line of small text added next to it:
"Draw a perpendicular line from point C here, don't be silly and calculate it by brute force."
Xu Ying was stunned.
She looked up and saw that Zong Heng had already turned and walked towards the end of the corridor, his back straight and languid, as if he didn't care about anything.
After school, Xu Ying stayed in the classroom to review her mistakes.
She tucked the draft paper Zong Heng gave her into her notebook, looked at it several times, and finally understood the solution to the problem.
So that's how it is...
She let out a soft breath, closed her notebook, but her gaze inadvertently drifted to a seat next to her—
Zong Heng's table.
His desk was as messy as ever, covered in graffiti, scratches, and coffee stains left at some unknown time.
But on the corner of the table was an open book titled "Five Years of College Entrance Examination and Three Years of Simulation," with the edges of the pages covered in notes.
Xu Ying was stunned.
He... was actually studying seriously?
Lost in thought, I was suddenly pushed open the back door of the classroom.
Xu Ying looked up and met Zong Heng's eyes, who had just returned from playing basketball.
His bangs were damp with sweat, and his school uniform jacket was casually draped over his shoulders, revealing a black T-shirt underneath.
Seeing Xu Ying staring at his table, Zong Heng raised an eyebrow: "What, are you interested in my things?"
Xu Ying quickly looked away and lowered her head to pack her schoolbag: "No."
Zong Heng walked over, picked up the "53" book casually, and flipped through it absentmindedly.
"You..." Xu Ying hesitated for a moment, but still asked, "Do you usually do your homework by yourself?"
Zong Heng paused, looked up at her, and suddenly smiled.
"Otherwise what? You think I got a perfect score by cheating?"
Xu Ying didn't speak, but something stirred slightly in her heart.
It turns out that he wasn't just what he seemed on the surface.
As darkness fell, only the two of them remained in the classroom.
Xu Ying packed her schoolbag and got up to leave.
As she passed Zong Heng, she paused and said softly, "Thank you for your solution."
Zong Heng looked up at her and suddenly reached out to block her path.
"You just left like that?"
Xu Ying took a half-step back warily: "Is there anything else?"
Zong Heng pulled a crumpled test paper from his schoolbag and slammed it on the table—
English, 47 points.
Xu Ying blinked, not quite understanding at first.
Zong Heng stared at her, then suddenly curled his lips into a smile: "Tit for tat, Xu Xueba."
Will you teach me English?
Xu Ying stared at the English test paper, where the bright red "47" score stood out starkly in the center, with several illegible annotations beside it—"The essay was off-topic," "The grammar was chaotic," and "The vocabulary was insufficient."
She looked up and met Zong Heng's eyes, which seemed to be smiling but weren't.
"Are you... serious?"
"Otherwise what?" Zong Heng leaned lazily against the table, tapping the test paper with his fingertips. "It's a fair exchange. I'll teach you math, and you'll teach me English. Isn't that justified?"
Xu Ying pursed her lips.
She's actually not good at saying no, especially... when the other person makes a request in an almost shameless yet self-righteous manner.
“I…” she hesitated for a moment, “My English isn’t the best either.”
"146 points, third in the grade." Zong Heng raised an eyebrow. "You call that 'not the best'?"
Xu Ying was taken aback: "How did you know my English score?"
Zong Heng didn't answer, but pushed the test paper further in front of her, his eyes filled with a hint of provocation: "What, you're afraid to teach?"
Xu Ying was provoked by his attitude.
"Who's afraid?" She grabbed the test paper, quickly glanced at it, and pointed to the first reading comprehension passage. "You got three questions wrong on this one, all because you didn't understand the structure of long and difficult sentences."
Xu Ying took a deep breath, her voice soft but firm: "Saturday afternoon, library, more tutoring."
Zong Heng paused for a moment, then smiled.
"knew."
Under the moonlight, the two walked home side by side.
——
On Saturday evening, the library was bathed in an orange-red light, and the shadows of the sycamore trees outside the window were cast obliquely on the wooden floor, as if time had been stretched out.
Xu Ying sat by the window, an English notebook open in front of her, her fingertips lightly tapping the table, glancing up at the door every now and then. She hadn't expected Zong Heng to actually come—the guy who even dared to skip morning reading class, actually agreed to tutoring?
"despair."
A crumpled English book was tossed on the table. Xu Ying looked up and met Zong Heng's condescending gaze. He had one hand in his pocket, his school uniform jacket draped loosely over his shoulder, and tapped the table impatiently with his other hand: "Let's begin, good student."
His tone still carried that familiar nonchalance, but Xu Ying keenly noticed that his hair seemed to have just been washed, still carrying a hint of minty shampoo, with slightly damp ends that shimmered in the setting sun.
She pursed her lips and pushed the notebook over: "Let's start with relative clauses."
Zong Heng raised an eyebrow, casually flipped through the stack of densely packed papers, and scoffed, "What's the use of this stuff?"
Xu Ying didn't look up, her voice calm: "You can't even get half of the 150 points in the college entrance exam."
The air froze for a second.
Zong Heng stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly laughed. He pulled out a chair and sat down, stretching out his long legs so his knees almost touched hers, his tone provocative: "Alright, then Teacher Xu will have to teach you well."
Xu Ying took a deep breath and tried to make her voice sound as calm as when she was explaining a problem.
"Relative clauses are used to modify nouns. For example, in 'The book that you gave me is interesting,' 'that you gave me' modifies 'book'..."
As she spoke, she wrote example sentences on a piece of paper, but couldn't help glancing at Zong Heng out of the corner of her eye. He was resting his chin on one hand, twirling a pen in the other, his gaze fixed on the sentences she was writing, his expression unusually serious.
"So 'that' can refer to both people and things?" he suddenly asked.
Xu Ying was taken aback, not expecting him to grasp the key point so quickly. She nodded: "Yes, but 'who' can only refer to people, for example..."
She lowered her head to write example sentences, the pen tip scratching on the paper.
"The girl who gave me candy is kind."
(The girl who gave me candy was very kind.)
After she finished writing, she was stunned—it was the first time she had handed Zong Heng a piece of candy, and he was speechless for a long time.
The air suddenly became somewhat subtle.
Zong Heng stared at the sentence for two seconds, then suddenly leaned closer, pointed at the words, and said in a low voice, "This 'girl'... is it you?"
His breath brushed against her ear, carrying a faint minty scent, and Xu Ying's ears instantly burned. She subconsciously took a step back, the chair creaking loudly, causing several nearby students to look up.
The administrator glared at him sternly: "Quiet!"
Xu Ying hurriedly reached for the chair, only to have her wrist grabbed by Zong Heng. His palm was hot, and his fingertips had a thin layer of calluses that made her skin tingle.
"What's the rush?" he chuckled, easily straightening the chair with his other hand. "I didn't say anything."
Xu Ying quickly pulled her hand back, her heart pounding wildly. She frantically flipped through her math notebook, trying to change the subject: "It's...it's your turn to teach me, the last question..."
Zong Heng stared at her bright red ear tips for two seconds before finally letting her go, lazily picking up the pencil: "Okay, watch carefully."
Xu Ying thought Zong Heng would just give a perfunctory answer, but his way of explaining the problem was unexpectedly clear.
As the pencil traced across the paper, his movements as he drew the auxiliary lines were swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.
"Here, draw a perpendicular line from point C, and then..." His voice was low, tinged with impatience yet strangely patient, "Do you understand?"
Xu Ying stared at his slender fingers and suddenly realized that Zong Heng's eyes were completely different when he was solving problems.
Normally, he always appeared lazy, his eyes carrying a cynical defiance. But at this moment, his gaze was focused and sharp, and there was even a hint of…excitement between his brows?
Like a wolf that has spotted its prey.
"You...really like math?" she couldn't help but ask.
Zong Heng paused, glanced at her, and suddenly smirked: "What, even good students think 'the school bully shouldn't be able to do math problems'?"
Xu Ying shook her head: "No, I just..."
"Just what?"
"I just didn't expect you to take it so seriously."
Zong Heng stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly laughed. He leaned back, the two legs of his chair dangling in the air, and his tone returned to its usual nonchalant manner: "Xu Ying, do you think that just because I fight and skip classes all the time, I must be a good-for-nothing?"
Xu Ying was stunned.
Before she could answer, Zong Heng continued, twirling his pencil, "Mathematics is interesting because the answers are only right or wrong, there's no nonsense."
His eyes darkened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure: "Not like a human being."
Xu Ying vaguely caught the emotion in his words, but before she could think about it, Zong Heng tapped her notebook with his pencil: "Continue, there are ten minutes left before closing time."
It was already dark when the tutoring session ended.
Xu Ying tidied up her notes and looked up to find Zong Heng standing by the window, staring blankly outside. His profile was reflected in the glass; his features were sharp, but his eyes seemed vacant.
“It’s going to rain,” he suddenly said.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a muffled clap of thunder sounded in the distance, followed by a pattering of raindrops against the glass.
A commotion erupted in the library as students complained that they hadn't brought umbrellas. Xu Ying rummaged through her bag and found only a small folding umbrella, a freebie from a Children's Day promotion.
She hesitated and looked at Zong Heng: "Did you bring an umbrella?"
Zong Heng turned around, glanced at her, and pulled a black umbrella out of his bag, tossing it to her: "Here you go."
Xu Ying was stunned: "And what about you?"
He had already pulled the hoodie up over his head, and said casually, "I won't get soaked."
After saying that, he was about to walk into the rain.
Xu Ying didn't know where she got the courage, but she suddenly took two steps forward, opened her umbrella, and held it high: "Let's go together."
Zong Heng paused and turned to look at her.
In the rain, the girl stood on tiptoe, trying to tilt the umbrella towards him, while half of her shoulder got wet. Water droplets clung to her eyelashes, glistening under the streetlights.
Zong Heng stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly reached out and took the umbrella handle, tilting the umbrella completely towards her.
"Watch where you're going, don't fall again," he said casually.
Xu Ying retorted softly, "When did I ever fall..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zong Heng had already started walking, and she had no choice but to jog to catch up.
The umbrella was small, and their arms inevitably touched. Xu Ying could feel his warmth, and the scent of rain mixed with mint.
When they reached the fork in the road, Zong Heng suddenly stopped: "Let's continue on Saturday afternoon."
Before she could answer, he had already shoved the umbrella back into her hand and turned to walk into the rain.
Xu Ying stood there, watching his figure disappear into the rain, her heart pounding so loudly it seemed to drown out the sound of the rain.
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