The Tutoring Job

The girl in the hospital bed was slender, her skin so pale it bordered on unhealthy. Afternoon sunlight filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a delicate glow over her collarbones, which caught the light like fine jade.

That was the sight that greeted Su Xingshu as he walked in after seeing the doctor off. He paused for a moment before asking, "How are you feeling?"

Fu Liangxia snapped back to reality. She blinked at Su Xingshu, then, as if remembering something, her expression turned cold. "Much better. Thank you for your concern, Young Master Su."

Seeing the girl's guarded demeanor—her gaze no longer as friendly as it had been in the cafeteria—Su Xingshu couldn't help but rub his nose.

So she was holding a grudge. Probably about how he'd acted when she fainted.

After all, even as ordinary classmates, he shouldn't have come across as so aloof at a moment like that. Su Xingshu guessed she must have felt slighted.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you had a medical condition..." Su Xingshu began, his expression apologetic. Combined with his romantic, almost fox-like features, he looked like a little white fox that had done something wrong—pitiful and endearing.

But Fu Liangxia wasn't buying it. She ignored the topic entirely and brought up something else instead: "My head was too fuzzy at noon to remember to grab my clothes from your lounge, Young Master Su. I'll have Fu Liedong pick them up later. And thank you for letting me use your lounge."

The polite formality in her tone made Su Xingshu feel a faint pang of discomfort.

He stood at the head of the bed, staring at her with a heavy gaze. Logically speaking, a girl being this politely distant should have been a relief.

But at this moment, it felt like a small thorn had pricked his heart—numb and tingly.

[Affinity Points with Su Xingshu +2. Current: 23.]

Trying to shake off that strange sensation, Su Xingshu flashed his usual smile. "No worries. I'll have the housekeeper clean your uniform and bring it to you later."

Fu Liangxia felt a twinge of envy. What kind of rich person had a housekeeper for their school lounge?

But she said nothing, only thanking him again.

"Boss Su, we should get going." Wang Ziwei suddenly poked his head in from the doorway. "Liedong just got a call from the rehearsal hall—they said everything's ready."

Su Xingshu nodded lightly. "Mm."

He turned back to her. "I'm off. Get some rest."

With that, he turned and left.

But the look he gave her as he walked away was a little strange.

Fu Liangxia didn't care much about it, though. What bothered her more was this—

That brat Fu Liedong only ever had eyes for his big brother, didn't he? No love for his own sister at all! He'd dumped her at the infirmary and not looked back once, not even bothering to come check on her!

She knew Fu Liedong was probably used to her being sickly, but she still couldn't swallow this.

She quickly opened her phone and typed out a long rant to scold him.

After lecturing her useless brother, she remembered she hadn't yet looked at Saintland Academy's forum—the gossip hub of the original novel.

She tapped in, and a polished forum page appeared before her, with threads of varying sizes arranged by views and discussion heat.

The thread about the transfer student from this morning had already sunk. Now pinned at the top was a gold-highlighted post—

《Course Selection Guide》

It had been posted not long ago. Fu Liangxia clicked in, expecting some useful reference for picking classes, only to find it was all about the F4's elective schedules. The colors, according to the comments, were each member's official fan color.

Fu Liangxia: "..."

Hopeless.

She had no interest in taking electives with the F4, nor any burning need to avoid them, so she skimmed it and backed out.

Fu Liangxia decided to pick what she actually liked.

Economics and Operations & Management were musts. Data Analysis genuinely interested her. On top of that, she wanted a minor in a less common language to prepare for college applications later.

After all, who knew how this plot would develop? She needed a backup plan.

If things went south, she'd bolt—apply to universities abroad.

After logging out, she scrolled idly through the page. Aside from threads like 《Young Master Fu's Class Today [Photos] [Photos] [Photos]》, 《Young Master Su's Nationwide Tour Approaches—Saintland May Be the First Stop》, and 《President Cheng Is Too Strict! I Lost Five Credits This Morning Just for Forgetting My Name Tag!》, she actually stumbled upon one that mentioned her.

《Team Beauty Dumped in Under a Week? Young Master Su Spotted at Cafeteria with Suspected New Girlfriend—Splashed with Soup!》

The clickbait title alone grabbed attention, especially with the F4's built-in star power. If she weren't one of the people in this gossip, Fu Liangxia would've loved watching the drama too.

But now, she couldn't quite bring herself to laugh.

Her only saving grace was that the poster had chosen an awkward angle and hadn't captured her full face, so the discussion centered more on Su Xingshu breaking up with Cheng Xiaoran and her audacity to throw soup at him.

"Cheng Xiaoran is doomed. Even if President Cheng is her cousin, it won't save her. Young Master Su hates being touched, let alone having his clothes ruined."

A comment caught Fu Liangxia's eye out of nowhere.

Cousin?

She froze for a second, then recalled the look Cheng Xingzhou had given her in the cafeteria, and the words he'd deliberately cornered her to say... So that was it. No wonder he'd warned her.

Turns out he was sticking up for his cousin.

And he told her not to meddle in others' business—when he was doing the exact same thing.

What a hypocrite.

But it had nothing to do with her. She had no classes that afternoon, and the school's course registration system opened at 2:30 PM. Seeing that it was time, Fu Liangxia opened the academic affairs page and, as planned, selected Economics, Operations & Management, and Greek.

Those were core electives. Beyond that, she needed two non-core electives—the easiest of the easy courses.

They were all pretty much the same, and Fu Liangxia didn't have a strong preference, so she went with safe picks: Classical Art Appreciation and Drama Appreciation.

With registration done, there was no real reason to stay on campus. She decided to head back to the classroom to grab her bag and go home to study.

Just as she'd expected, the classroom was nearly empty. First day of school, and everyone seemed to already know what they were doing. When she walked in, Xu Cai—surrounded by a few classmates and about to head out—paused and turned to ask, "We're heading to the KTV by the school gate, then to a new club in Knight District tonight. You coming?"

Wine, women, and song—indeed the pastimes of rich kids her age.

"Not today, maybe next time." Fu Liangxia had zero desire to go, but her expression showed plenty of regret, as if she were truly sorry to miss out.

Xu Cai didn't push it. She just waved and winked. "Alright, we'll hang out another time."

After packing her bag, Fu Liangxia left the classroom. The early autumn afternoon had already turned chilly, and the breeze against her bare calves sent a shiver through her. The sculpture fountain outside the teaching building sparkled in the sunlight, and faint birdsong drifted from the trees lining the path—like a choir humming a hymn, crisp and pleasant.

She followed the right-side walkway toward the main gate. As she passed the greenhouse garden, she suddenly heard voices through the glass.

"Aren't you going to class?"

"I came out specifically to find you."

It was a couple in uniform, their bodies entwined as if no one else existed, hidden from view by the roses climbing the glass wall.

Only seniors had classes now—their required courses were heavier, unlike the underclassmen who were done after picking electives.

The girl shook her head, and her words confirmed Fu Liangxia's guess: "You shouldn't have come out. Senior year is so stressful—what if you don't get into a good university..."

"As long as I can be with you, that's enough!" The boy's sudden raised voice startled her.

"Don't you feel the same?" he asked.

While Fu Liangxia wore a look of utter disbelief—like the old person staring at their phone meme—the girl was deeply moved: "Of course I do, Lin Ze. I just need you and I'm satisfied."

"Even if you don't get into a good school this year, I can ask my dad to send you abroad. Then in a year, I'll come find you overseas, and we'll get married and be together forever!"

"Yali..."

The boy's expression softened. He pulled her close and kissed her intensely, the two of them lost in each other like melodrama leads.

Watching it all, Fu Liangxia: "..."

She begged them, for real—these hopeless romantics.

Fine, so she could understand helping someone out of poverty, but helping a guy who couldn't even get into college? What was the point of picking a useless man like that? For being poor, dumb, and lazy?

Oh wait, that wasn't fair. This guy was clearly working hard—he just knew his grades were trash, so he'd found a shortcut...

The day's events kept rewriting Fu Liangxia's worldview, making her even more certain of exactly what kind of place she'd been dropped into. She walked silently to the gate, where rows of luxury cars were parked.

Fu Liangxia had always been the type to stand out in a crowd. The original owner used to keep her head down and hunch her shoulders, fading into the background. But she was the opposite—she held her chin high, stood straight, tough like a blade of grass by the roadside that wouldn't be easily flattened.

So the driver spotted her right away. When she approached, he hurried out of the car, took her backpack, and placed it in the passenger seat. Then he opened the rear door for her and only got back into the driver's seat once she was settled, starting the engine.

...

Not long after Fu Liangxia left, Bai Kewei walked out from the left-side path with her backpack on. She noticed the luxury cars at the gate—a world completely alien to hers—but her expression didn't shift. Instead, she pulled her bicycle out of the rack and slowly pedaled past the row of vehicles.

She could feel how out of place she was here.

The ways the rich students in her class entertained themselves after school were things she'd never even heard of. The things they talked about, the brands they wore—all things she'd never touched. It was like a crack had suddenly opened between two worlds that should never have met, and she was walking through it: able to see them, but never able to fit in.

It left Bai Kewei—who'd wanted so badly to get along with her new classmates—feeling disheartened.

Here, everything seemed divided by class. The hierarchy was painfully clear, and no one could blend into a circle that wasn't theirs. The poor groveled at the feet of the rich; the low curried favor with the high. Everything was terrifyingly transactional and vulgar.

It was hard for anyone studying at Saintland Academy not to be affected—especially the special admits. In the face of power and wealth, their self-respect was worth less than nothing. To fit in, the only path seemed to be wagging their tails behind the rich.

Bai Kewei realized with near-horror that there were many people like Li Yuanfan.

People who threw away their dignity, becoming slaves to money and dogs to power.

But Bai Kewei told herself she'd at least never sink to that level. She let out a sigh—unsure whether she was lamenting her own fate or someone else's—and pedaled home.

A sleek blue sports car roared past her. Startled, Bai Kewei quickly swerved to the side. She glanced over just in time to catch a cold, sharp profile and a streak of flying platinum-blond hair. The boy's elbow rested on the window frame, and the dial of his wristwatch glinted harshly in the sunlight.

He looked familiar, like she'd seen him somewhere before.

Bai Kewei shook her head and didn't give it another thought.

Meanwhile, in the passenger seat of that same sports car, Fu Haoyao's eyes were wide as saucers as he repeated the man beside him's words in disbelief: "...Wait, a tutor?!"

An identical cry echoed through the Fu family villa.