Chapter 32 Tutoring
Lian Yi didn't care what the atmosphere was like at the Lian family's old house. She buried her face in the soft pillow, closed her eyes, and didn't move at all.
After a while, disturbed by the phone call, she had no choice but to open her eyes in annoyance, roll around in the blanket, and roll all the way to the edge of the bed.
While yawning, Lian Yi reached under the bed and retrieved her phone, which she had carelessly tossed aside, then unlocked it and turned on the screen.
Lazily squinting her eyes and ignoring the miscellaneous messages, Lian Yi found Li Xilai's chat window.
【picture】
【picture】
【picture】
[Lian Yi, you said you had no backup plan?? You've been hiding it well! Who is this mastermind behind this?]
The other party obviously knew this time too, and that Lian Yi was probably still asleep, so after asking a question, they didn't send any more messages.
Lian Yi didn't open the picture. Instead, she exited and checked the messages from other people. These second-generation rich kids were the most well-informed, and the connections they made through eating, drinking, and having fun came in handy at this moment.
It can be said that from the moment Qian Jingrui lost face and walked down the mountain, his movements became a constant flow of information.
Although the marriage between the Qian and Lian families has not been officially announced, their interactions have been noticed by many people, and those who know something about it believe it is a done deal.
But Qian Jingrui's current predicament has made him a laughing stock for many, and has given them a deeper understanding of the name Lian Yi.
What kind of child can be so unruly?
Oh, it's Lian Yi. Then it's alright.
Most people ridiculed this behavior that broke the 'rules', saying things like, "Lian Decheng has failed in raising his daughter properly, and now that he's built his empire, he probably won't have a successor. Today, you've managed to ruin your sister's fiancé like this because of a single setback."
Tomorrow, if you happen to not like someone while discussing a collaboration, will you just beat them up?
In business, especially in a contest or cooperation between equally matched parties.
Swift and decisive, cold-blooded and cruel, are only the means. On the surface, everyone wants to wear the word "friendly" on their face. Even if they want to stab the other person in the heart, they have to force a smile, shake hands and act as if they have met a long time ago.
When everyone is sitting at the card table, the one who gives a bad look is usually the first one to be asked to leave the table, especially someone like the one who flips the table.
Those who were fortunate enough to hear about this early last night all expressed their ridicule and mockery of Lian Yi for breaking the rules.
This morning, the sudden change in headlines on major news portals took them by surprise.
Lian Yi looked at the message she received and was filled with surprise. Her eyes, which had been half-closed in a lazy manner, suddenly opened wide.
She glanced at the screen, then immediately opened Li Xilai's chat interface and enlarged the images that were still in thumbnail mode.
Despite the censorship of each image, it was still explosive, and even the title used exaggerated language with explosive effects.
"A wealthy young master sleeps with three women in one night, spending lavishly and displaying a dashing, extravagant style by lighting cigarettes with money!"
The eldest son, inheriting the family tradition, juggles multiple relationships to test their quality, declaring, "Never before in this world has I tried 'one dragon and three phoenixes'!"
...
Despite the exaggerated and speculative wording, the accompanying photos show Qian Jingrui with a carefree and unrestrained smile under ambiguous lighting, and the different appearances of the women beside him in the photos released by different media outlets.
This makes it seem like the truthfulness of the content has become irrelevant.
Lian Yi blinked blankly. She had indeed sent people to dig up dirt on Qian Jingrui; such a person was destined to have an unclean background.
Wait until your uncle is still persistent and wants to push for a marriage alliance again, then release him to surprise him.
He wanted to save face and cover up the truth, but she wouldn't let him have his way.
However, given her current network, she wouldn't be able to dig up so much information overnight, and so efficiently command so many news media outlets to temporarily replace this content.
This surprised them greatly.
Even Lian Yi herself didn't know what was going on.
[...]
【？】
She had just replied with an ellipsis when Li Xilai quickly responded with a question mark.
Seemingly having guessed something, he immediately sent another message.
Did you not do this?
Hmm, I'd like to.
The message "Typing..." was displayed for a few minutes, and then a new message appeared.
[It's probably Qian Jingrui's rival, or maybe someone from the Qian family got involved. Hilarious! But in doing so, you'll be the one taking the blame.]
Lian Yi didn't reply. She tossed her phone aside, turned around, and stretched lazily.
It was just a trivial incident, and Lian Yi didn't care who added fuel to the fire. It wasn't the first time she'd been forced to take the blame.
I wonder how many more covered bowls my uncle will smash when he's home.
Honestly, at his age he's still so impatient.
After spacing out for a while, Lian Yi sent a message to Xu Qingyao, then got up and rang the bell to summon the butler's services.
…
…
Xu Qingyao received the message shortly after she and Xie Ling walked out of the teachers' office.
She and Xie Ling were both members of the team that participated in the last National High School Mathematical Modeling Contest.
It must be admitted that Xie Ling is indeed extremely talented. Before Xu Qingyao developed a prejudice against Xie Ling because of Lian Yi, she had a fairly good impression of him.
In that competition, their group successfully won first place. One of the judges, Professor Cen Shanhe of Yi Nan University, was quite fond of Xie Ling and even asked him many questions in a chat after the competition.
Even today, Professor Cen Shanhe's assistant contacted Wang Hai, speaking cryptically but clearly indicating that Professor Cen wanted to pre-select Xie Ling, a promising talent.
Whether it's the top-ranked status of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Inan in the country, or Professor Cen's status and achievements in the mathematics community, it's like a blessing from heaven for Xie Ling.
At least the vice principal, director, homeroom teacher, and some observing teachers in the office looked at the still calm and unexcited teenager.
There was a sense of satisfaction and excitement in seeing the ginseng fruit.
Looks like we'll need to make another banner this year.
Xu Qingyao, who had just come to the office to deliver something, felt a sense of pressure rising in her heart. She was proud of Lian Yi's good judgment, but she also gritted her teeth and secretly cheered herself up.
Xu Qingyao pursed her pale pink lips and said directly, "Xie Ling, Lian Yi asked me to tell you that she's going to your house for tutoring tonight."
"Um?"
"...Okay, I understand."
Xie Ling vaguely knew something about the relationship between Xu Qingyao and Lian Yi. After a moment of confusion, she nodded slightly with a cold expression.
Professor Cen's favor made his vision of the future much clearer. Lian Yi's appearance was just an occasional interlude that stirred his heart between the future and the present.
When Lian Yi wasn't deliberately saying those things to tease him, Xie Ling's thinking was calm and quick.
Now that Lian Yi has the desire to work hard and improve himself, he is happy to use this to repay part of the other party's kindness.
Although Lian Yi seemed indifferent, Xie Ling never took her disdain to heart. In the end, his father's illness was fortunate enough to be treated because of her, and he would remember this kindness and wait for the time to repay it.
Back in the classroom, Xu Qingyao took out the test paper he had given her yesterday. On the paper, which appeared clean and slightly sharp in its handwriting, each answer was written in a messy hand.
For half the afternoon, Xie Ling spent almost the entire time frowning as he graded the test paper he had prepared based on the basic knowledge points.
During the remaining class time, he finally racked his brains to come up with a study plan that suited Lian Yi's current situation.
Fortunately, the seat next to him remained empty, and no one disturbed his train of thought.
Xie Ling only realized how neglectful Lian Yi's studies had been over the past two years after reading her answer sheet.
Clearly, a well-mannered teenager wouldn't think of such an aggressive statement as, "If you scatter a handful of rice on a multiple-choice question, even a chicken pecking at it randomly would have a higher chance of getting it right than you."
After painstakingly devising a targeted tutoring plan, Xie Ling rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
"Let's go."
The bell rang for the end of the last class. After the teacher left the classroom, Xu Qingyao packed her things and walked to Xie Ling's desk.
"Hmm?" Xie Ling looked up with some confusion.
"Did you really think you could be alone in a room with Lian Yi tonight?" Xu Qingyao thought her tone was sarcastic, but because of her naturally soft and delicate appearance and voice, it was completely harmless.
Xie Lingqing's expression remained unchanged. "I didn't think that way... Let's go then."
He didn't think much of it, and even breathed a slight sigh of relief that there was one more person present at tonight's tutoring class, which at least proved that Lian Yi was genuinely eager to improve her studies.
Instead of deliberately making excuses... or acting like a scoundrel.
The students in the classroom didn't react much to the sight of the two top students leaving together.
Xu Qingyao and Xie Ling were among the top students in Wanghai, and everyone was used to seeing them together. Even when they went on stage to receive awards or give speeches, they were often one in front of the other.
It would be strange if a top student suddenly started hanging out with a mediocre student.
Um?
The students, who had been cramming knowledge into their heads, suddenly snapped out of their daze. Apart from a few who were engrossed in doing practice problems, the rest of them all wore expressions of astonishment, looking as if they had a thousand words to say but couldn't find the words to express them.
The two did not exchange a single word the entire way.
Xie Ling was a rather taciturn person. His relationship with Xu Qingyao was limited to being classmates and 'comrades-in-arms' in many competitions, and occasionally rivals.
In addition, sensing that she seemed to have a subtle resistance towards him, he became even more silent.
Xu Qingyao's thoughts were simple: she would scrutinize him from time to time, compare him to herself, and then snort coldly in her heart.
He got to where he is just because of his looks, why pretend to be aloof?
…
The car that was responsible for picking them up was parked outside Xie Ling's residential area, where another luxury car, which looked quite old, was already parked quietly.
As soon as Xie Ling got out of the car, she saw Xu Qingyao running excitedly to the luxury car, bending down and waving at the window. Soon she opened the car door, and her smile was clearly visible even from a distance.
Lian Yi got out of the car empty-handed, followed by Xu Qingyao, who spoke softly but chattered away, and walked up to Xie Ling.
“…Let’s go.” Xie Ling said without looking at her.
Lian Yi put her hands in her pockets, stood on tiptoe, and made a face full of malice, as if she wanted to meet his gaze.
"Aren't you supposed to have tutoring?" Xie Ling frowned, her pale face slightly flushed as if from annoyance. "Don't waste time. Finish it quickly so you can go home sooner."
He could ignore Lian Yi's mischievous tricks, but at this hour, there were quite a few people coming and going from the community.
The neighborhood is quite old, and the residents all know each other well. In just a short while, Xie Ling had already noticed some of the older folks looking at her with curiosity and surprise.
"Yes, it's so cold outside, Lianyi, let's go inside quickly." Although Xu Qingyao was secretly annoyed by Xie Ling, she couldn't bear to see Lianyi's nose turn red from the cold wind.
Lian Yi wanted to tease Xie Ling for a while longer, but seeing his annoyed expression, she had no choice but to stop and gave a regretful "hmm".
As lunchtime approaches, the old-style residential area is filled with children running around, yelling and playing happily among various peeling paint playground equipment.
Xie Ling's home is in the third building in the residential complex. There is no elevator, so you have to climb to the fifth floor on foot.
There was no strange smell in the hallway, only a cold, cement-concrete smell. The motion-activated lights were yellowish and required stomping your feet a couple of times to wake them up.
The light revealed faint cracks in the wall.
Lian Yi glanced at it twice, then looked away uninterested and walked behind Xie Ling up the stairs.
"...You've fallen too far behind the other students in your studies, and it will be very difficult for you to catch up. I made a study plan this afternoon." Xie Ling didn't forget the important matter and said in a low voice, "I think it's unlikely that you'll see results before the final exams in a few days."
"But if you can use this plan to study in a targeted manner during your winter break."
He hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell the truth: "I should be able to barely keep up with two-thirds of the progress."
This estimated result is the best evaluation given based on the fact that Lian Yi gave some correct answers.
Xie Ling didn't think he was suitable to teach Lian Yi. Many questions that he considered as obvious as drinking water when thirsty might lead Lian Yi to useless thoughts such as "Can I drink raw water?" "Is it okay to drink freshly boiled water?" "Is it okay to drink even if I'm not thirsty?"
However, since Lian Yi insisted, regardless of her purpose or whether she was serious or not, Xie Ling still tried her best to formulate such a study plan from Lian Yi's perspective.
Before Lian Yi could even comment, Xu Qingyao, who had initially felt empathy and identification with him because of his living environment, suddenly became dissatisfied.
"Lian Yi is very smart."
"oh."
Xie Ling stood in front of her house without commenting, took out her key and opened the door.
The apartment, which is only about 30 square meters, is divided into two bedrooms and a living room, making the living room feel very cramped.
Xie Ling's expression was natural. He had never felt inferior about his family background. He put the key in the small basket hanging on the hook behind the door and walked inside.
"No need to take off your shoes. Please sit down for a while. I'll tidy up my things first, and then I'll talk to you about the problems you had on the test."
He was already quite tall, which made the room seem even cramped in comparison, but he didn't seem to feel constrained at all. He calmly stepped over the small stool next to the coffee table and entered a room directly opposite the door.
"Wow, he's really going to tutor you?" Xu Qingyao's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Although she already knew this, she still couldn't quite believe it now.
From the day she started following Lian Yi, she had never seen Lian Yi let knowledge enter her mind.
Of course, Xu Qingyao firmly believed that Lian Yi's intelligence was never in this area.
A qualified leader needs to have a broad perspective, keen judgment and decision-making ability regarding the situation. She can learn this well; there's no need for the young lady to worry about it.
Even the test paper Xie Ling mentioned was something she wrote in her spare time last night. She got half of the ten questions wrong, and she had to make sure she got the other half right.
Based on her experience helping Lian Yi with her homework over the past few years, Xu Qingyao has outgrown the age where she needs to rack her brains to figure out how to get such simple questions wrong.
But seeing Lian Yi calmly sit on the sofa, and hearing the creaking of the old sofa, Xu Qingyao felt uneasy.
A pang of pain, like Lianyi about to go dig for wild vegetables, formed a dark cloud over her heart.
Lian Yi waved her hand. How could she possibly spend her time and energy studying with Xie Ling? Was Meng Er not busy enough?
It's just an excuse to play around with—
It was just to make Xie Ling dislike her.
Based on her judgment of Xie Ling, no matter how principled he was, he would never again extend kindness to someone who treated his trust and goodwill as a pastime and trampled on it at will.
Of course, there was no need for Xu Qingyao to know about this.
Lian Yi is taking Xu Qingyao along tonight, but there's something else she needs to do.
"That's not important. Come and sit down first. I have something important to entrust to you." Her expression turned serious and earnest as she coaxed Xu Qingyao, "I believe only you can do this well."
Xu Qingyao's eyes were a little confused, yet also excited.
She walked over and sat down next to Lian Yi, her back ramrod straight, her hands clenched into fists and resting on her lap. "Miss Lian Yi..."
Is this day finally coming?
"I will definitely not let you down." Xu Qingyao took a breath, and an excited blush rose to her cheeks.
Although she didn't know what it was about, she was already infected by Lian Yi's emotions. She forgot all the thoughts that had been on her mind just now, tried hard to suppress her excitement, and put on an expression of listening attentively.
"I have a project here worth two hundred million."
Seeing that she had taken the bait, Lian Yi's tone became calm, and she said casually, "Haven't you been secretly reading books on financial management and current affairs analysis lately? This project is perfect for you to practice on."
"..."
"ah?"
Xu Qingyao blinked, the excitement on her face gradually fading, replaced by a sense of bewilderment and fear.
She opened her mouth slightly and then let out a dazed sound.
"ah??"
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