"Do you plan to continue tutoring me during the summer and winter breaks?" Zhao Lei made his plea.
Ah, was this a reservation for her tutoring services for the next three years of holidays? "Actually, as long as you love learning, I think there are quite a few teachers who could tutor you."
Previously, they had frequently changed tutors; that was because a certain someone was uncooperative. If only he had put in a little effort to study, Huang Man’s help wouldn’t even have been necessary.
"They are not you." Zhao Lei was certainly aware of this, but in his heart, those tutors... "Having them teach me at home is no different from attending classes at school."
"Oh, it’s not that there’s no difference. There is a slight difference."
"In school, it’s one teacher to several students."
"While at home, it’s several teachers for just me."
"They think they know how to teach because they’ve been teachers for so many years."
"But you are different; you prepare lessons according to my characteristics." Zhao Lei was not foolish; he could certainly feel the difference.
If he had to choose, he knew which option he preferred, "Well?"
Contemplating continuing as a tutor, Huang Man hesitated. Once she got into university, even during Spring Festival, she wouldn’t come back.
Come back for what? To let them manipulate her? Don’t look at how Huang Xin is currently restraining Zhao Mei, insisting on saving money. Any money not approved or agreed upon by him cannot be spent.
And he’s leading by example, having avoided the arcade for a long while.
But how long can such days last? In his student days, Huang Xin went to arcades, and once he’s grown up, he will likely be glued to his phone playing games.
A hardcore gamer through and through, gaming is the most important thing in his life.
"I know you write articles, and the income from tutoring might not seem much to you." Although he wasn’t sure how much a new author would earn at the beginning.
But seeing Huang Man’s excited demeanor, he knew this income wasn’t a small amount.
"No, no, you only get paid if the piece is accepted. If it’s not, there’s actually no fee."
"I just don’t want to come back. When I take the university entrance exams, I’ll make sure to choose one that’s far from here."
"Then I’ll have to take a train ride that starts with at least a two-day journey." Thank goodness the trains now haven’t increased their speed yet, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to claim that she doesn’t want to return because of the long travel time.
Zhao Lei hadn’t anticipated that Huang Man’s reason for not wanting to tutor was this. Now that he knew, of course, he would think of a solution.
"It’s okay, my family has houses in many places, I can move there."
"Think of it as a trip." And if there isn’t a house there, that’s not a problem either. They could just buy one.
Having houses everywhere, wherever she goes, they can follow; Huang Man only wanted to say that’s the damned capitalists for you.
Money, for him, was never an issue, "Done."
"Since it’s not a problem for you, it’s even less of a problem for me. No one would dislike having more money."
"Don’t worry, I will definitely do a good job. I even plan to put together a down payment."
If one day she went abroad to study, she’d need plenty of money on hand, or else she’d have to work while studying, which could seriously hinder her education.
"You are ..." Zhao Lei looked at the delighted Huang Man; among the many girls he had met, she was a special one, someone who was hard-working and had a bit of dominance.
"Do you know, you are actually kind of dominating?" Even if Huang Man would be unhappy to hear it, Zhao Lei still wanted to point it out to her.
Dominating? Huang Man always thought she had hidden it well, considering the three others from the Zhao family saw her every day and yet failed to notice it.
"Dominant is good. With my family’s situation, if I’m not a bit more assertive, I predict they’ll bleed me dry."
"I’d like to be weaker, but I can’t afford to be. I have to keep running forward, to a place they can’t reach me. Otherwise, for money, they might do things I dare not even think about."
"They might even destroy my family, ruin my career."
Huang Man took a deep breath, "Thank you."
She raised the letter in her hand, "Really, thank you. I’ll be bothering you a lot more in the future."
The long manuscript had been accepted, ensuring she’d have work for at least the next few months.
"It’s alright, I’m just taking care of a few things for you. When the time comes, if I run into any issues, I can consult you about them."
With anyone else, Zhao Lei certainly wouldn’t be willing to help, but Huang Man was different. She was worth his assistance.
Mrs. Zhao had been listening on the side the entire time. She had intended to leave, but she realized that Zhao Lei and Huang Man had a good relationship.
As a mother, Mrs. Zhao certainly knew her son had exceptionally high standards.
Even with childhood friends, he would gradually distance himself over things that were not done well, ultimately becoming a once-familiar stranger.
And now, unexpectedly, Zhao Lei seemed to have such a good relationship with Huang Man, and Mrs. Zhao could not help but worry.
Not to mention Father Zhao’s high hopes for Zhao Lei, Mrs. Zhao also had significant expectations.
She hoped he would successfully take over the business, unaffected by the children of other women, and that Zhao Lei would marry someone of equal social standing.
Only then could the other party become a help to Zhao Lei, not only aiding him in gaining control of the company, but also joining forces to grow the family business.
If Huang Man weren’t so assertive, Mrs. Zhao thought she wouldn’t mind her becoming a mistress, as long as Zhao Lei liked her.
But now, she was genuinely worried. What if Zhao Lei, stubborn as he was, insisted on marrying Huang Man?
Luckily Huang Man had no clue what Mrs. Zhao was thinking; she just knew that the lady was watching her, likely on guard against her.
"Alright, go prepare for your exam. I’m looking forward to you scoring well, so that I can have my reward."
After speaking, Huang Man found a spot to start writing her articles. She wasn’t sure if they would be accepted, but she felt they probably would.
If not, she could submit them elsewhere. It was also fortunate that she had written some articles in advance; otherwise, she would be rushing to meet deadlines now.
Later when she went back, she would submit her articles and then collect her fees.
Right, she needed to open a bank account. She would deposit the money there; carrying around so much cash every day was really inconvenient.
Since there wasn’t much for her to do today anyway, she might as well submit her articles and deposit the fees into her bank account while she was at it.
Twenty yuan per thousand words—she had submitted a piece of ten thousand words, amounting to 200 yuan. Looking at the money being deposited into her bank account, Huang Man felt hopeful, wishing for the balance to grow more and more.
By the time she returned to the Zhao family, she found that Zhao Lei had already come out, which made her heart race, wondering what could have happened.
It couldn’t be that the test was too difficult, and Zhao Lei couldn’t solve it, so he just turned in his paper and left, could it?