The teacher’s relatives had heard of Huang Man before and knew she had good grades.
But in her view, no matter how good her grades were, she was still just a high school student, and whether she could tutor a seventh-grader was really a concern.
The previous tutors she hired for her child, whether school teachers or college students, none of them stuck around; they all made her look for someone else.
Even if she was willing to spend money on famous teachers, as soon as they heard who the tutoring was for, they immediately declined the job, leaving her at a loss for what to do.
With Huang Man now appearing, she was just trying it out and didn’t have too many expectations.
She only hoped for some improvement in grades, but Huang Man surprisingly made a good suggestion, "You said you can try for two days without charging?"
"Yes, I can try for two days, and you can see the results for yourself."
"If it goes well, I can continue to stay here and work; then we can talk about the price."
Huang Man noticed that the other party wasn’t really convinced of her abilities; it was only because someone recommended her and there were no other willing tutors that they agreed to use her.
She figured their expectations weren’t high and neither would be their asking price, but that was not the result she wanted.
If she was going to be a tutor, she couldn’t charge too little, otherwise how would people know she could attend college without her family’s financial support?
Villagers are prone to gossip, and now that she doesn’t deal with family affairs, she knows what the villagers would say.
Zhao Mei is the type who, when not busy, chats with others about household matters; certainly, she wouldn’t speak well of her.
The only way to shut them up is to let them know she has her own ways of making money, and there’s no need to be courteous to them.
After all, she won’t live there in the future, so why should she humble herself?
When the original Huang Man faced grievances, she would only cry in her bed, but now, with a different heart and mind, Huang Man would not resort to tears.
While she was pondering, Huang Man thought of a lot, considering whether she could charge a bit more based on their certainty in her.
After some thought, she decided to keep it steady; as long as the teaching is good, the fee can be increased step by step.
"If you teach well, we can discuss the price again." The other party offered a basic price—twenty yuan per hour.
"Agreed." Although she wasn’t fully satisfied with this price, it would suffice. With five hours of classes a day, that was a hundred yuan.
In an era where a monthly income of over a thousand was considered good, earning a hundred yuan a day was impressive.
"If you teach well, we can talk about raising the price." The other party didn’t specify what constituted teaching well.
Huang Man didn’t ask for clarification because she was confident that as long as the student wasn’t as stupid as a pig, she could definitely teach him.
On her first day at work, Huang Man casually assigned a few questions from different subjects.
Zhao Lei, on seeing yet another new tutor appear, was already accustomed to it.
"I told you, I’m really dumb."
"And just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean I won’t pick on you," Zhao Lei said coldly.
"Don’t worry, I’ve been teased by my younger brother and sister since I was little; it’s no big deal," Huang Man replied casually.
She then promptly handed him some basic questions. "You say you’re dumb, but I don’t think a child with so many hobbies can be a fool."
On her way there, Huang Man learned the relative’s family business was substantial.
Of course, she did not inquire about the scale of the business nor did it really interest her.
Her role was to be a tutor, to be paid for classes, and hopefully, a pay rise if possible.
However, upon entering this villa, she was certain their business was nothing small.
Even if the property prices weren’t as exorbitant as in the future, the current value of money was far greater.
The large standalone villa with its front and back gardens, especially with a flowing water system and designer interior and quality furniture, just screamed wealth.
"The aircraft carrier models in your display case should be scale models from America."
"And you put them together yourself." Not only is this hobby expensive, but the assembly also requires a lot of patience.
Zhao Lei never expected this seemingly rural girl tutor to be knowledgeable about such things.
Even his Brother Haoyu didn’t know much about them and just thought the aircraft carriers looked very realistic.
Yet she could recognize them from a distance—how could that not shock him?
But it wasn’t in his nature to admit defeat that easily. "I could also buy ones that are already assembled."
"Yes, both aircraft carrier and car models can be purchased assembled."
"But with such large LEGO toys, I think you must have assembled them yourself," Huang Man said.
"After all, shipping a small box from abroad is much more convenient than transporting a large item ."
"Someone capable of patiently assembling so many large-scale LEGO sets must be skilled with their hands."
"And someone with strong hands-on skills can’t be a fool."
"As for the so-called poor grades, you don’t have to excel in every subject."
Huang Man slowly described several model prototypes, speaking with authority.
Zhao Lei was amazed. Although LEGO toys were available domestically, they couldn’t compare to the variety overseas.
For someone who had grown up with LEGO and loved model building, waiting for the latest overseas models to become available in China was unbearable.
He normally used a foreign purchasing service to buy them and ship them back; even with shipping and service fees on top of the already high prices, the cost wasn’t important to him as long as he liked the item.
Some new models had only just been released abroad and were soon in his hands—how could she know about them?
Seeing his surprised expression, "Now, the only toys that are made this beautifully, with such designs, must be LEGO," Huang Man said.
"So, you are not a fool," Huang Man affirmed once again. "I don’t know if you have a misunderstanding about home tutors."
"Maybe you think that, as a home tutor, since you’ve paid, you can misbehave as much as you like, and they should tolerate you."
"Yes, that’s right. Your parents have paid handsomely, but that’s not a reason for you to play tricks or be difficult."
"The teacher deserves to be compensated for their labor in teaching you, and if you don’t want to learn, you should just discuss it with your parents."
"If you’re afraid to bring it up, then it’s better to pay attention in class because what you learn will belong to