Being a Tutor to a Rich, Psychopathic Young Lady - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Shi Mingyue briefly wondered if she was hallucinating. What was Xiao Dengqu saying? She couldn’t hear clearly. Shi Mingyue’s self-preservation mechanism was to ignore what she didn’t hear clearly and not ask for clarification. She continued to write out the problem solution.

But Xiao Dengqu leaned closer, determined to make eye contact. “Teacher, what does kissing taste like? Is it sweet?”

She was filled with a mix of curiosity and a desire for knowledge, asking questions nonstop. Her voice was quiet, but it was like a swarm of little ants moving house in the suffocating heat, crawling all over Shi Mingyue’s chest. The sound of the cicadas continued, making her mind feel frantic.

“Does dopamine get secreted from your mouth and make you addicted? Will you not be able to quit, always wanting to kiss, wanting to kiss all day and all night?”

Shi Mingyue’s cheeks grew slightly warm, a thin layer of pink appearing beneath her pale skin. She finally couldn’t hold back and seriously explained to Xiao Dengqu, “Dopamine isn’t secreted from your mouth, it’s secreted from your brain.”

“Oh, not from your mouth? Then why did you and Cheng Jin kiss for so long? Was it because your brain wanted to so badly that you just kept kissing as soon as you met? Is it something you can’t quit…?”

“No, I didn’t keep kissing Cheng Jin,” Shi Mingyue explained. The conversation was too embarrassing. She felt hot and wanted to drink some water, but at this moment, she didn’t dare to reach for her cup.

“Oh,” Xiao Dengqu seemed to understand and sat up straight. After only a few seconds, she started talking again, her tone full of confusion. “Does dopamine get secreted as soon as your lips touch, or does your brain secrete dopamine first and then you want to kiss?”

This nonsense showed a complete lack of biological knowledge. And yet, she kept wanting to kiss. It was as if she was being led by a little idiot. Shi Mingyue wanted to explain everything one by one, but she knew she couldn’t continue this topic. It would only make the young lady go on endlessly. So, she put on a serious face. “Xiao Qu, we are in a math class, not biology.”

Xiao Dengqu was uncharacteristically silent. Shi Mingyue handed the test paper back to her. Xiao Dengqu rested her chin in her hand, her eyes avoiding the questions, looking somewhat pained. “But, Teacher, I really want to kiss you.”

Shi Mingyue pretended not to hear again.

“Hmph.” Shi Mingyue heard that little huff from Xiao Dengqu loud and clear. Shi Mingyue felt a headache coming on. She said, “You take the test first. I’ll explain it all to you later.”

This strategy clearly didn’t work on Xiao Dengqu. Instead, she muttered softly, “She got to kiss, but I don’t get to.”

“You write the test first.” Shi Mingyue emphasized it again, tapping the pen on the table. “You’re almost done.” The test paper from the housekeeper was very simple, only with multiple-choice and calculation questions. There were no brain-teasing word problems, as they were probably afraid she wouldn’t know how to do them.

Shi Mingyue wanted to explain that she hadn’t kissed Cheng Jin at all, hoping to extinguish Xiao Dengqu’s curiosity, but it was too awkward to say. As a tutor, she should be mature and steady, and it was simply too bizarre to be discussing this with Xiao Dengqu.

Xiao Dengqu was silent for a long time, then picked up her pen and began to write. This time she wrote seriously, not looking at the blue sky or white clouds. Shi Mingyue, however, was sweating on her forehead. She had almost lost all hope. Xiao Dengqu solved a few equations, but they were all messy, the processes were all wrong, and the final results were a complete mess. In the last half hour, Xiao Dengqu managed to do two more problems.

When the test time was up, the housekeeper came out from the living room to collect the papers. The moment the papers were taken away, Xiao Dengqu violently threw her fountain pen down. She threw it with so much force that the pen hit the table with a thud and then rolled onto the ground. Shi Mingyue knelt down to pick it up.

The housekeeper said, “I’ll make time to grade the paper tomorrow and let you know the results.”

Shi Mingyue nodded slightly. She wiped the pen clean and offered it to Xiao Dengqu, but Xiao Dengqu didn’t take it. She walked toward the living room, her back to Shi Mingyue, her expression sullen and her gaze filled with animosity as she stared at everything in front of her: the grass, the stones, the steps…

Shi Mingyue pulled out a tissue to wipe the sweat from her forehead. She cautiously followed behind her to get her bag from upstairs. As she entered Xiao Dengqu’s bedroom, Xiao Dengqu suddenly turned and looked at her. Shi Mingyue was so startled that she held her breath, her feet instinctively wanting to back away.

Xiao Dengqu’s mouth was in a dissatisfied pout, and her expression was sullen. But then, in an instant, her lips turned up slightly, leaving only a hint of arrogant displeasure. “You look really scared of me.”

“I’m not.” It was just that after her family’s troubles, Shi Mingyue had become wary of many people.

Xiao Dengqu took a step closer. “Are you afraid I’ll force you to kiss me?”

Shi Mingyue thought for a moment before seriously saying, “Xiao Qu, you’re still young. It’s best not to be too curious about these things…”

Xiao Dengqu didn’t respond. It shouldn’t be like this, but every night, she would think of Shi Mingyue’s lips. It was as if kissing Shi Mingyue’s lips could soothe her loneliness. Xiao Dengqu raised an eyebrow and suddenly smiled at Shi Mingyue. “Teacher, I’m eighteen. I’ve already graduated from high school.”

“Oh?”

“In novels, this is already the age when you can do certain things.”

Shi Mingyue: “?” She rarely read novels, but her roommate did and would occasionally make some strange sounds of excitement. Shi Mingyue looked away, feeling uncomfortable under her stare.

Xiao Dengqu said, “I’m just curious what kissing feels like. You and her seemed to kiss for a long time that day. Your mouths must be very sweet.”

She stared intently at Shi Mingyue’s lips again. Even though Shi Mingyue was looking away, she could still feel the intense invasiveness of her gaze. Xiao Dengqu laughed. “It’s not like we’re going to do that.”

Logically, Shi Mingyue knew what she was saying was wrong, a distorted kind of reasoning, but she couldn’t argue with Xiao Dengqu’s twisted logic. Shi Mingyue said seriously, “Xiao Qu, studying and taking tests are for yourself. You need to take them seriously. You’re still young now, but you might regret it when you get older. The world is getting more and more competitive. Even rich people need to keep learning, don’t they?”

As she said this, Shi Mingyue felt a little bit unconfident. After all, the young lady from a wealthy family was different from her. As long as they didn’t do anything too outrageous, they could be happy their whole lives.

Luckily, Xiao Dengqu didn’t argue with her or look at her with condescending contempt. Xiao Dengqu just pursed her lips in thought for a few seconds before saying, “Is there a connection between testing and kissing?”

Shi Mingyue couldn’t understand the logic. Xiao Dengqu was the one who asked the question, but she was also the one who denied it. Shi Mingyue picked up her bag from the table. “I’m leaving.”

As she left, the housekeeper gave her another gift—a fountain pen. Because it was in a gift box, she didn’t open it right away, so she wasn’t sure if it was the same one Xiao Dengqu had thrown. Shi Mingyue politely thanked the housekeeper and left quickly. When she got to the courtyard, she instinctively looked back. Unlike before, this time Xiao Dengqu tilted her head and waved at her. Xiao Dengqu was smiling, but the smile looked like a farewell.

After she walked out of the villa’s gates, Shi Mingyue remembered that she was supposed to explain that she hadn’t actually kissed Cheng Jin. Then she thought of Xiao Dengqu’s test paper, and her eyes felt a little sore, and her nose started to ache. She mentally calculated the score… Xiao Dengqu would be lucky to get twenty points.

Just a few days ago, she had told her sister not to worry about tuition money, but now she had immediately lost her job. Shi Mingyue couldn’t help but feel sad. The hot sun beat down, and Shi Mingyue stood numbly, like a rotten canned good in a shipping container. The cold wind from the subway blew over her. She stared at the floor, and tears welled up in her eyes.

What should she do? In a few days, she had to pay for her mother’s dialysis. The heavy burden of life weighed on Shi Mingyue’s shoulders, and she started to feel breathless. Listening to the subway’s arrival announcement, she wearily lifted her head to walk out. The tears didn’t fall, but her eyes were red. Shi Mingyue transferred all the money she had earned from tutoring to her mom, then opened the part-time job groups she had joined before. She wasn’t afraid of hard work or exhaustion. The city was so big, she was sure she could find a job to survive.

In the next few days, Shi Mingyue refused Cheng Jin’s help in finding part-time jobs and found two on her own. One was recommended by her class representative: putting magnetic tags on books in the library. She earned forty-five yuan for an afternoon of work. The other was helping wash vegetables at the school cafeteria. The owner was nice and gave her a meal. These jobs paid far less than tutoring, but they were enough for her to live on and save some money. Shi Mingyue went to various forums and social media to ask how to find a reliable local tutoring job. She even applied for jobs on an app.

As for the pen Xiao Dengqu gave her, she was so busy she didn’t have time to open it. After three days of exhausting work, it was time for her tutoring session with Xiao Dengqu. She opened her phone and didn’t see a message from the housekeeper. Shi Mingyue opened the gift box, preparing to sell the pen on a second-hand app along with the other gifts she had received. Inside was a brand new fountain pen and an oil pastel drawing card: “Teacher, I’m not mad at you anymore. Now you should apologize to me.”

The card looked like a hand drawing. The blue sky and white clouds looked exactly like the view from Xiao Dengqu’s window. She must have put it in that day.

This “tsundere” tone was so cute to Shi Mingyue. She sat up straight. It must have been because she hadn’t replied to the note that the housekeeper hadn’t contacted her to come back. She carefully chose her words and typed: “Xiao Qu, how was your test?”

Xiao Dengqu didn’t reply. Shi Mingyue guessed she was angry. If she had been waiting for three days, she would have assumed the tutoring was over, too. Shi Mingyue typed again: “I’m sorry, I’ve been very busy lately. Thank you for the pen. I’m so glad you’re not mad at me anymore. Thank you. Your oil pastel drawing is really beautiful. You have a lot of talent.” She added more praise: “Xiao Qu, you’re a really good person.”

Xiao Dengqu: Teacher, you’re the one who came to me to make up.

Shi Mingyue: Yes, I’m asking for your forgiveness, Xiao Qu.

Xiao Dengqu: Have you eaten?

This sudden concern made Shi Mingyue’s heart soften. The library was stuffy, and tagging books all afternoon had made her head feel hot. She had no appetite. She replied: “I have bread in the dorm. I’ll eat it later.” Shi Mingyue asked about Xiao Dengqu’s test score again, but Xiao Dengqu didn’t reply. It made sense; a score of twenty would be embarrassing to admit. Shi Mingyue felt it was still necessary to explain. “That day, we didn’t kiss.”

Xiao Dengqu: Huh?

Shi Mingyue: We just touched.

Xiao Dengqu: But only Cheng Jin got to touch you. I didn’t.

The explanation was useless. The rich young lady wouldn’t listen. Shi Mingyue decided to cut off the topic and planned to tell her to study hard.

Xiao Dengqu: Teacher, guess what I’m doing.

Shi Mingyue started to type but didn’t send anything.

Xiao Dengqu: Thinking about Teacher.

Shi Mingyue deleted her message and re-edited it to “Don’t think about me.

Xiao Dengqu: Thinking about Teacher’s kiss. Mmm~ I really want it.

Shi Mingyue didn’t reply. Xiao Dengqu’s enthusiasm hadn’t faded. She thought Shi Mingyue would at least reply with something like “Don’t think about it,” but there was no activity, not even the “typing…” status. She was annoyed and sent another message: Teacher, I’m drawing. I’m drawing you.

In the art studio, the girl pushed all her oil pastels off the table. Still not satisfied, she slammed her canvas to the floor. She started to think that having a tutor was too annoying. After doing all this, Xiao Dengqu sent one last message.

“(＾＿＾)”