"Joy, here’s 1,200 yuan—last month’s tutoring fee for you."
A woman in a black shirt held out an envelope, passing it to Joy Zheng.
Joy Zheng wore her shoulder-length hair, streaked with gray from years of exhaustion and hard work. Her face looked more like a woman in her fifties than someone just over forty.
If you looked closely, you could still see traces of the beauty she had in her youth.
"Ms. Huang, didn’t we agree on 1,500 yuan?"
Taking the envelope from Flora Huang, Joy Zheng steadied her old bicycle and looked at Flora, her face hesitant. "Why is it 300 yuan short?"
Flora Huang smiled, "Oh Joy, you know how hot it’s been lately. We’ve had the air conditioning running nonstop during tutoring, so the electricity bill last month and this month went way up."
"And besides, didn’t you take two days off to go to the hospital last month?"
Flora Huang looked at Joy Zheng, her tone full of false sympathy. "Parents complained when you missed those two days, you know. I had to talk them down."
"I was running a fever and had to go to the hospital for medicine, and my son is still in school…" Joy Zheng said anxiously.
Before Joy could finish, Flora Huang raised her hand to interrupt. "Joy, I know your son is studying in Brightsea and you need money, but rules are rules. You really did miss two days last month. Honestly, I should only give you 1,100, so I’m already giving you an extra hundred."
"Those two days, I was the one tutoring the kids in Chinese, watching them write essays and memorize texts. It was exhausting, too."
Flora Huang wasn’t about to back down.
Joy Zheng clutched the thin envelope, her face full of disappointment.
"Mom."
Just as Joy Zheng was about to say something more, she heard Evan Lin’s voice and turned around.
"Evan?"
Seeing Evan Lin walk over, Joy Zheng forced herself to perk up, sweeping away her tired look and switching to a smile. "When did you get back? Why didn’t you call me?"
"Have you eaten?"
Seeing Joy Zheng like this, Evan Lin felt a pang in his heart. He scratched his head and walked over. "I’ve already eaten."
"Ah, Evan, how’s school in Brightsea? Senior year’s starting soon, must be stressful, huh?" Flora Huang piped up cheerfully from the side.
But the faint mockery in her eyes was unmistakable.
Evan remembered, back when Joy Zheng first sent him to Brightsea, Flora Huang had tried to persuade her to keep him in Whitewood County, saying a vocational high school would be enough, so he could graduate early and start working to ease their financial burden.
Flora Huang never thought much of Evan’s grades—back then, there was nothing about him that stood out academically.
"Not bad," Evan nodded.
He didn’t care much for Flora Huang, but for his mother’s sake, he played along politely.
Joy Zheng was always kind-hearted. If Evan started a fight or mouthed off now, she’d have to clean up the mess.
"Good, as long as you’re doing okay. Our Ivy even asked about you—haven’t seen you in ages, right? You look taller now."
The Ivy she mentioned was Ivy Deng, Flora Huang’s daughter. Flora’s husband, Victor Deng, is director of the Whitewood County Education Bureau—not a huge position, but he holds a lot of sway over teacher promotions and evaluations.
Evan remembered Ivy Deng.
She was always fair-skinned, but he’d only met her a handful of times—mostly at teacher gatherings or school banquets for graduations and celebrations.
Back then, Ivy was the textbook ‘model kid from someone else’s family’—pale skin, cute dresses, the latest phone in seventh grade, good grades, and she went to Whitewood County No. 1 High School. Compared to Evan at Whitewood County No. 2 High School, it was worlds apart.
That’s why Ivy always had boys chasing her—there were always plenty of them around. Evan, on the other hand, was just another short, ordinary guy in a sea of classmates.
If it weren’t for Joy Zheng, Evan wouldn’t even have had a chance to meet Ivy.
Whoosh.
Just then, a window on the third floor slid open and someone poked their head out.
"Mom, where’d you put my iPad?"
A clear, bright girl’s voice rang out from above.
Evan looked up. The girl was about seventeen, with long hair and a white T-shirt. Her face wasn’t as lively as Lynn Chen’s, nor as mischievous as Yolanda Fang’s, and not as fresh as Rachel Liu’s, but she had a gentle, tranquil air about her.
It was Ivy Deng, no doubt about it.
"Your iPad? It should be on your nightstand, I think." Flora Huang called up, then added, "By the way, Ivy, look who’s here—do you remember Evan Lin, Joy Zheng’s son?"
Flora Huang made sure to remind her, worried Ivy might forget who Evan was and embarrass her.
Ivy Deng glanced down and finally noticed Evan Lin standing beside Joy Zheng.
From Ivy’s perspective, Evan’s clothes looked neat enough, but that was about it. And next to him, Joy Zheng was pushing that ancient, battered bicycle she’d been riding for over ten years.
The bike screamed poverty, hardship, and age.
Ivy’s gaze lingered on Evan’s face for barely a second before she nodded. "I remember. Hello."
"Hello," Evan nodded back, returning the greeting.
Ivy turned away and went back inside to look for her iPad.
Flora Huang glanced at Evan, a hint of pride in her eyes. "Ivy’s just really good with her time. She’s always watching teaching videos on her iPad."
"You know what an iPad is, right? It’s a tablet. She actually wanted a MacBook, but her dad and I were worried it’d distract her from studying, so we didn’t get one. Even so, Ivy’s grades are pretty good—she’s in the top hundred at No. 1 High."