Evan Lin was walking home.
Halfway there, he bumped into Joy Zheng, who was just wheeling her bike out of the complex, with Flora Huang tagging along.
"Joy, I've been thinking. Let's add another class to our tutoring spot—bring in a dozen more students. I'll handle the venue as usual, rent split fifty-fifty, utilities even, but the rest is sixty-forty my way. I recruit, I get more. Fair, right?" Flora Huang grinned.
Flora had been in a funk lately. Ever since Evan Lin crashed the Hongqing Grand Hotel dinner and snatched the provincial Math Olympiad first prize, making her lose face, she still hadn't recovered.
Seriously, why?
How does someone like Joy Zheng, broke and living in such shabby conditions, end up with a kid who takes the top prize in the whole province's Math Olympiad? (The Math Olympiad is a fiercely competitive contest for top students in China.)
Plus, Flora heard Joy's shantytown was about to get renovated—they might score new apartments. The resettlement deal sounded crazy generous: one square meter for one, and any extra charged at half the market rate! (In China, shantytown resettlement often means poor families finally get decent housing—this deal is unusually generous.)
All this left Flora Huang stewing inside. Joy Zheng had always been beneath her, so why was she suddenly catching all the lucky breaks?
"Uh... Ms. Huang, maybe I could help with recruiting too?" Joy Zheng said, a little nervous.
Flora's so-called 'recruiting students' sounded like a ton of work, but all she really did was drop a message in a parent group chat and—bam—students came running. (In China, parent WeChat groups are the main way to recruit for tutoring.) It was hardly any effort at all.
And every time they taught, Joy Zheng put in way more effort than Flora Huang, but she always got a much smaller cut.
"No need, no need. I'll handle this little thing myself—why bother you? You're already busy prepping and teaching every day, aren't you? Piling on more work wouldn't be right. If the other teachers found out, they'd probably say I was taking advantage of you!" Flora said with a big, fake smile.
Flora giggled. She knew Joy Zheng was too soft, so as long as she kept pushing, Joy would never dare argue.
"Mom."
Just then, Evan Lin walked up and called out.
"Hey, Xiao Yi! Not studying at home? Next year you'll be a senior, you know. You can't slack off just because you won a provincial Math Olympiad prize. Gotta keep grinding!" Flora Huang said, her smile a little too forced.
When Evan Lin came over, Flora shot him a look, her grin looking faker by the second.
Her meaning was obvious: just because Evan won a provincial prize, he shouldn't get cocky. In the end, it's all about the college entrance exam.
A provincial prize might get you into a decent college, but unless something special happens, it's not like you'll be guaranteed a top university.
Ivy Deng always scored well—after the exams, she could probably get into a 211 or even a 985 university (China's top-tier schools, like Tsinghua or Peking University). So, in the end, she'd still beat Evan Lin in terms of schools.
"You don't need to worry about that," Evan said coolly.
"No idea why, but at first Magistrate Ma said they were coming for you, then Thomas Liu just switched it up and had the Hong Kong guy arrested instead! Now you're totally fine!"
And Thomas Liu said he wants to meet you in person and talk! In the car, he even asked about my dad—so I told him everything. He said to have my dad bring the project proposal to him directly, just the two of them, one-on-one! Evan, I seriously owe you big time!
Ken was practically bouncing—he grabbed Evan in a bear hug and wouldn't let go.
He knew Thomas Liu was only giving his dad this shot because of Evan Lin. And the one-on-one talk was basically a green light for Frank Feng's resort project.
No wonder Ken was flying high.
"Magistrate? Secretary? Arrests? What are you guys talking about? Evan, did you get in trouble?" Joy Zheng jumped, staring at her son.
"No trouble, just a little incident. It's all settled now," Evan said with a laugh, waving it off.
Now, seeing the car pull up, Flora was sure it was there to drop off Victor Deng and Ivy Deng. After all, Victor was a director at the Education Bureau.
"Sometimes, just being good at math isn't enough, Evan. Remember that. See that car? That's a county government sedan. Auntie doesn't have time to teach you all of life's lessons right now—I have to go pick up your Uncle Deng and Ivy." Flora Huang chuckled.
Joy Zheng and Evan Lin both looked over at the approaching car.
The car wasn't speeding. The people inside saw them too, and the sedan slowed down and stopped right in front of them.
Seeing the car stop, Flora was now certain—she stepped up and was about to open the door.
But before she could, someone inside pushed the door open first.
When she saw who got out, Flora was stunned: "You?"
She stared blankly at Ken Feng, who hopped out in his cheap little suit, still buzzing with excitement. As soon as he got out, he rushed straight toward Evan Lin: "Xiao Yi!"
"How'd you get here?" Evan looked at Ken Feng, surprised he'd come back in that car.
"Dude! You have no idea..." Ken Feng was so hyped he almost swore, but then noticed Joy Zheng nearby and caught himself: "Auntie Zheng."
"Watch your language, Ken. You know better." Joy Zheng couldn't help but smile.
Ken and Evan usually wouldn't dare curse in front of Auntie Zheng—it was a habit by now. She'd always told Evan to watch his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah, Auntie Zheng, I was just too excited!" Ken grinned, then grabbed Evan's arm, blurting out, "You don't know, man! As soon as you left, the cops showed up and arrested that Hong Kong guy!"
"No idea why, but at first Magistrate Ma said they were coming for you, then Secretary Liu just switched it up and had the Hong Kong guy arrested instead! Now you're totally fine!"
"And Secretary Liu said he wants to meet you in person and talk! In the car, he even asked about my dad, so I told him everything. He said to have my dad bring the project proposal to him directly—just the two of them, one-on-one! Evan, I seriously owe you big time!"
Ken was practically bouncing—he clung to Evan's arm and refused to let go.
He knew Secretary Liu was only giving his dad this shot because of Evan Lin. And the one-on-one talk was basically a green light for Frank Feng's resort project.
No wonder Ken was over the moon.
"Magistrate? Secretary? Arrests? What are you guys talking about? Evan, did you get in trouble?" Joy Zheng jumped, staring at her son.
"No trouble, just a little incident. It's all sorted now," Evan said with a laugh.
Hearing that, Joy Zheng finally relaxed.
Meanwhile, Flora Huang peered into the car, expecting to see Victor Deng and Ivy Deng, but saw no sign of them. Instead, when she looked again, she spotted a calm, smiling man sitting in the back row.
At first he looked unfamiliar, but then it hit her—she froze on the spot.