Chapter 9: All Roads Lead to Rome
The room's light fell directly on Ruan Yu, illuminating the aura around her.
At first glance, the boy thought she was ordinary—her clothes, appearance, everything about her seemed plain. But now that he was sitting closer, he realized she was actually quite good-looking, with delicate, pleasing features and fair skin.
When she focused on solving problems, even her eyelashes seemed to radiate energy.
"Here."
After about five minutes, Ruan Yu slid the paper back toward the boy.
The boy glared at her irritably before opening another drawer beside him and pulling out a small notebook with the answers. Though Ruan Yu's solution steps differed from those in the notebook, the final answer was exactly the same.
"All roads lead to Rome," Ruan Yu said lightly, her index and middle fingers pointing at the identical answers on the notebook and the paper. "I win."
The boy scratched the back of his head impatiently and stuffed both the paper and notebook back into the drawer in one motion.
"How did you know how to solve this?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Aren't you a sophomore?" He had seen her online resume.
"Did you think using a junior-year calculus problem to test a sophomore would guarantee your victory? How short-sighted of you," Ruan Yu raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t you know some people are used to running ahead?"
She had already self-studied the sophomore and junior-year coursework. She had solved this particular problem at least three times before—seeing it now was like meeting an old friend.
The boy exhaled, his face inexplicably flushing red. He had intended to intimidate her, but instead, she had turned the tables on him.
"What do you want me to do?" the boy asked.
Ruan Yu took out a high school senior-level comprehensive workbook from her bag and flipped to a dog-eared page.
"Solve all the problems on this page."
"That's it?"
"That’s enough for me to assess your level and tailor my teaching accordingly," she said.
The boy’s expression soured, but bound by the principle of honoring a bet, he couldn’t bring himself to back out. He picked up his pen and started working, only to get stuck on the first problem.
Ruan Yu watched him silently as he occasionally tapped the pen against his chin, the flush on his face deepening.
"Are you just going to keep staring at me?" he snapped, turning to glare at her.
"Yes."
"I don’t like people watching me while I work."
What was she supposed to do then?
She was new here—where else could she sit if not here?
"Go downstairs and get me a glass of water," the boy licked his dry lips. "I'm thirsty."
His tone carried a hint of blustering authority, but Ruan Yu knew he was just trying to get rid of her. At their age, masking emotions perfectly was hardly a strong suit.
"I’m here to tutor you, not to wait on you," Ruan Yu said flatly, her voice firm.
The boy looked stunned—probably none of his previous tutors had dared to speak to him like that. Then again, the generous hourly rate was enough to make most people bend over backward.
"You’re really—"
"Just this once," Ruan Yu stood up.
The boy watched her back. After a moment, he let out a soft scoff, a smug "still had to listen to me" air about him.
Ruan Yu ignored him and walked straight out of the bedroom.
She needed the money—badly. So while she had to assert her stance, she also couldn’t afford to anger her young employer too much. She knew the game well.
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