The Deal

The Fu family villa sat in Tank District, an area favored by the nouveau riche. Nestled between mountains and water, its surroundings were serene and refined.

Fu Keren had made his fortune in mining, but he bore none of the typical nouveau riche vices. Raised by his mother—Fu Liangxia's grandmother, a woman of letters—he had been schooled in gentility and carried himself with a slightly old-fashioned rectitude.

The villa's decor was entirely his handiwork, adhering to the most traditional style: green tiles and white walls, bamboo groves and flowing water, with two small antique lanterns hanging before the main building. It was most elegant.

Fu Liangxia got out of the car and carried her schoolbag inside. Aunt Zhao, seeing her come in, lowered her voice and said, "Xiaoxia's back. We have guests at home right now. The master is receiving them in the sitting room and said to have you come over once you returned."

Her father's guest? Why would she need to go?

Fu Liangxia was baffled, but she handed her schoolbag to Aunt Zhao to take to her room and made her way to the sitting room.

Inside the sitting room, seated across from Fu Keren, was a man in a suit. His attire was impeccable, his hair combed back without a strand out of place. He was perhaps twenty-eight or twenty-nine... and why did she peg him at that age? It was Fu Liangxia's intuition—

Because a man of twenty-eight or twenty-nine always carried a certain arrogance, the feeling that if he were just a little luckier, he could rule the world.

An arrogant man like that would surely resent being called "uncle" by a high schooler, but "big brother" felt a little too familiar. So Fu Liangxia thought it over and simply said, "I'm home."

Fu Keren smiled and waved her over, gesturing for her to sit beside him.

"Miss Fu?" the man spoke once she was seated. His voice had a gritty edge to it, and Fu Liangxia privately suspected he was a heavy smoker.

"How do you do."

"Your father tells me you have excellent grades—that even while staying in the sanatorium, you achieved a very impressive score on the entrance examination."

Fu Liangxia looked up and met his eyes, nodding after a beat of hesitation. "I did all right."

At that, the man blinked, apparently not expecting her to show even a trace of modesty. One eyebrow arched slightly. "And mathematics?"

Fu Keren chimed in at the right moment. "Xiaoxia is strongest in mathematics. She scored full marks on this year's entrance exam."

Fu Liangxia was even more confused now; no one had yet explained why she was sitting here.

Still, she echoed along. "I enjoy mathematics, and I'm very good at it."

The man finally wore an expression that could barely pass for satisfaction. "My superior has a younger brother, about your age, whose grades are a real headache—especially mathematics. Every exam, he manages to score at a level that makes his brother question his own intelligence."

"I'd like to know if you'd be willing to tutor him every school day from 19:00 to 21:00. The compensation won't be ungenerous to you."

Fu Liangxia could tell the man's attitude wasn't exactly friendly. The phrase "won't be ungenerous" was drawn out slowly, as if telling her to think carefully and not be ungrateful.

"His brother's situation is rather special," he continued. "We've already brought in several experienced tutors recently—well-known ones, too—but their methods didn't suit him, so they were shown the door."

"His brother figured it'd be better to find a student from Saintland Academy to do the tutoring." He tapped the ash from his cigarette.

Fu Liangxia hadn't even noticed when he'd lit it, because she'd been busy asking the System whether this was a mandatory part of the plotline.

【System: Random side quest [The Overbearing Prince Falls for His Innocent Tutor] has been triggered. Would you like to activate it?】

【[Yes], [Confirm]】

Fu Liangxia: "..."

Fu Liangxia: "??"

Wait, weren't those both the same thing?

And that title—it was dripping with bad taste. Fu Liangxia felt her expression might have cracked for a split second.

To keep from showing anything wrong, she steadied herself and read on carefully.

【The host cannot decline to participate in side quests. Due to the scarcity of NPC resources in this world, the host must single-handedly support multiple side storylines, making an indispensable contribution toward correcting the main world line!】

【Side Quest Synopsis:

He is the wild, cool, and rebellious bad student;

She is the gentle and adorable new tutor.

They came together by fate, just to celebrate their mutual friend... wrong script, start over.

They came together by force majeure. He flees, she chases, and neither can fly away!

Hand over those grades!】

Fu Liangxia: "..."

Who the hell wrote this synopsis?

Snark aside, once she learned it was something she had to do anyway, Fu Liangxia stopped struggling and simply re-adjusted her originally planned study schedule.

After all, completing side quests came with rewards, so she wasn't losing out.

It was just that, since she'd have two hours carved out for tutoring every day from now on, she'd have to make up the time elsewhere.

And once she'd agreed to the man's request, the matter of compensation was between Fu Keren and him.

"Good girl."

Her father patted her forearm warmly, his expression gentle.

The words carried a hint of approval for Fu Liangxia, a tacit acknowledgment of her actions—a detail that did not escape the man's notice.

But he didn't care about that. If anything, he welcomed it.

Just as his advance investigation had shown, this girl of the Fu family had excellent grades and was the one her father pinned his hopes on.

Fu Keren had started out in mining and made a fortune, but unlike the usual nouveau riche who squandered their money and drained their resources, he'd kept his original business running while investing in new technologies, always seeking the next breakthrough.

And the project he was working on recently happened to be a field the Fu Corporation was interested in.

However, the Fu Corporation could choose from many partners, and the Fu family wasn't the most outstanding among them. For them to nod, Fu Keren would need to offer something more enticing.

It was right around then that Fu Keren had come knocking on his door, saying he could solve the biggest problem Feng Qian was currently facing.

The biggest problem?

Feng Qian nearly let out a cold laugh. Right now, his biggest headache was Second Young Master Fu's academics.

True, with the Fu family's resources, they could easily hire the best tutors from all over the country, or simply send Fu Haoyao abroad. But that would delay his entry into the core of the family business by at least four years—and if word reached the board of directors, questions would be raised about whether a man who couldn't even get into a decent university had the ability to manage a company.

So the task of raising Fu Haoyao's grades and finding him a good tutor fell squarely on Feng Qian's shoulders.

He wasn't aiming for a miracle, just getting the kid into a decent college—

After all, the second young master wasn't being groomed as the heir anyway. As long as he could manage a portion of the family's business, that was enough.

The eldest would handle the rest.

But even such a modest goal had proven nearly impossible to accomplish.

Simply put, Fu Haoyao was far too uncooperative!

Either he complained the tutors' lectures were too stiff to understand, or he accused them of being arrogant and disrespectful toward him... In this way, he'd already driven off nine tutors.

Back then, the Fu family's eldest, Fu Langshu, had worn a dark expression. "I've nearly invited all the senior lecturers in the capital for you, Fu Haoyao. What more do you want?"

"Is it really that hard to sit still, behave, and actually listen to a tutor?"

Fu Haoyao had been sprawled across the sofa at the time, earbuds in, gaming—without a single word in response.

Provoked in his authority, Fu Langshu had kept his same expression. "This is the last one."

No answer.

But Feng Qian knew Fu Haoyao had heard him, because he saw the boy's fingers pause for a moment before resuming their rapid tapping.

...

That was the kind of immovable, unyielding person he was. And Fu Keren claimed to have a solution? With a girl barely the same age?

Feng Qian couldn't believe a word of it. He half-suspected the man was joking with him.

He didn't know much, but with Fu Haoyao's face, he must have had those schoolgirls swooning left and right—just like those heiresses at Saintland Academy, who went so far as to worship him as part of some "F4."

Feng Qian figured he must be falling behind the times.

Could this be another case of a father selling his daughter for advancement, hoping to marry her into the Fu family?

He'd even entertained that dark thought.

But Fu Keren had a decent reputation, and his gaze was clear and honest. He'd graduated from the same top university in the capital as Feng Qian—in fact, he was his direct senior. It was just that by the time Feng Qian entered the school, Fu Keren had already graduated, so they'd never crossed paths on campus.

Or rather, Feng Qian had known of him only unilaterally—

Fu Keren's academic record at school was stellar, publishing one paper after another without pause, to the point that for years after his graduation, juniors and seniors alike lived in his shadow.

Feng Qian was no exception.

So Feng Qian figured a man of such unimpeachable character wouldn't stoop to such tactics.

He hadn't said yes or no at the time, but went back to investigate the daughter Fu Keren had praised so highly.

And when he looked into it, he really did uncover something interesting.

Fu Liangxia was being groomed as the heir.

A girl—and a frail one at that, who'd spent years in a sanatorium—was being groomed by Fu Keren as his successor?

That was interesting, to say the least.

He decided to meet her.

Then he'd make his decision.

And upon meeting her in person, Feng Qian was surprised to discover that Fu Liangxia possessed a composure beyond her years.

She sat quietly beside Fu Keren, calm yet not transparent—impossible to overlook. Every move she made was as steady as an adult's, poised and graceful.

Though Feng Qian still didn't believe a young girl could change anything, he was now willing to give her a chance.

Then came the adults' turn to talk. After Fu Liangxia went upstairs, he discussed the cooperation with her father—not a direct agreement, of course, but terms to be determined based on Fu Haoyao's grades.

Fu Keren had no objections, merely smiling as he said, "Liangxia is a child who never disappoints."

Feng Qian neither agreed nor disagreed.

Even if Fu Liangxia never disappointed anyone, in a certain sense, the young master of the Fu family was much the same...

Meanwhile, at the Fu family's estate.

The Fu Corporation had deep roots, dabbling in countless industries with sprawling operations. As its acting CEO, Fu Langshu was managing a thousand affairs daily—no exaggeration. Though he didn't need to oversee every trivial detail of the conglomerate, making only the major decisions, he still spent considerable energy each week in meetings with executives from different subsidiaries, listening to their reports.

As such, he had little time to go home, and even less opportunity to manage Fu Haoyao. Day-to-day matters were generally handled by his secretary, Feng Qian—and this business of finding a tutor was no exception.

After picking Fu Haoyao up, Fu Langshu delivered the news in the car: his new tutor would be a fellow classmate from Saintland Academy.

This was evidently unacceptable to Fu Haoyao, even humiliating—

Hiring someone his own age to teach him? Was that meant to insult him?

But clearly, as with every other time, his protest earned him nothing more than a condescending glance from his elder brother.

"Hmph." He let out a cold laugh and said no more.

He'd just drive this one away too, when the time came—just like those disgusting clowns before.

Thinking of the previous tutors, Fu Haoyao's mood soured even further.