Chapter 10
Tan Ning rarely made eye contact with people.
But when Lin Song’an looked at him, he didn’t instinctively look away.
The first impression Lin Song’an gave was always stunning. His facial features were nearly perfect, with a handsome and smooth contour. There was nobility between his brows. Although young, his every move was relaxed and composed. Tan Ning seldom saw such people in his life, so he looked a couple more times.
It was hard to tell whether Lin Song’an felt warm or distant—perhaps a bit of both.
Strangely, although Tan Ning had never seen this person in Lin Qi’s house before, he didn’t seem out of place standing by the villa’s open kitchen, as if he naturally belonged against the backdrop of luxurious marble walls. Tan Ning hesitated for two seconds, then walked down the steps.
Under Lin Song’an’s guidance, he found the tabletop water dispenser, right next to the coffee machine.
They stood side by side.
Less than half a meter apart.
The heating sound of the water dispenser and the operation of the coffee machine intertwined, preventing the atmosphere from becoming too awkward.
Lin Song’an was at least 1.87 meters tall, with a tall and straight figure. Next to him, Tan Ning—who was already considered tall compared to ordinary people—actually seemed quite slender. Tan Ning instinctively straightened his back.
That day, he wore a gray fleece hoodie, head lowered, his hands habitually half-hidden in his sleeves.
Lin Song’an helped him press the hot water button.
Besides the two of them, there seemed to be no one else on the first floor.
The rich aroma of coffee wafted through the air; Tan Ning vaguely detected a hint of caramel sweetness. Lin Song’an asked him, “Would you like some coffee?”
Tan Ning paused the instant hot water dispenser. “No, thank you.”
He gripped his glass, ready to leave. Lin Song’an didn’t say anything more. He wasn’t curious about why there was an unfamiliar stranger in the house, and the stranger didn’t seem interested in him either.
Tan Ning walked past Lin Song’an and returned to the second floor.
Lin Qi had taken the opportunity to play games for a few minutes. When he saw Tan Ning return, he was so startled that he almost threw the game controller half a meter into the air. Nervously coughing to cover up, he pretended to be calm and asked, “Where did you go?”
“To get some water.”
Tan Ning sat down and flipped through the few practice problems Lin Qi had completed. Lin Qi glanced at the TV screen while sneaking peeks at Tan Ning, wondering how much longer before Tan Ning would ask him to continue the lesson.
But after waiting five minutes, Tan Ning made no move, holding a pen and seemingly copying something.
Lin Qi grew suspicious. After another two minutes, he couldn’t concentrate on his game at all. His attention was entirely on Tan Ning, looking up at him every few seconds. But Tan Ning sat steadily, as if completely unconcerned about when Lin Qi would come over to continue the lesson.
Unable to bear it, Lin Qi asked, “Are you going to continue the lesson or not? If you keep this attitude, I’ll tell my mom right away, and you won’t get a penny!”
Just as he finished speaking, Lin Qi glimpsed Lin Song’an standing at the doorway, scaring him so much that he jumped up. This time, the game controller wasn’t spared, crashing onto the wooden floor with a loud bang, nearly breaking into pieces.
Tan Ning had his back to the door, unaware of what had happened. He thought Lin Qi was throwing a tantrum and smashing things again.
He replied calmly, “What’s wrong with my attitude? I’ve completed today’s tasks—the lesson is over, and the homework is done.”
His voice was very steady, as if it were perfectly reasonable to finish three hours’ worth of tutoring in one hour and then leave.
Lin Qi didn’t want to be manipulated by a stranger in front of Lin Song’an. Suppressing his frustration, he gritted his teeth and said, “I’ve only done English and math.”
Tan Ning capped his red pen. “I only tutor you in those two subjects; the others aren’t my responsibility.”
“You’re leaving?”
Tan Ning stood up and then sat back down, turning to look at him. “Do you want to continue the lesson? Fine, but it’ll cost extra.”
Lin Qi was furious but had nowhere to vent his anger, so he could only clench his fists.
He was completely no match for Tan Ning.
While Tan Ning was packing his bag, he heard a light chuckle from the doorway.
He looked toward the sound, meeting Lin Song’an’s gaze once again.
Though they were some distance apart, Tan Ning could sense the amusement in Lin Song’an’s eyes. Lin had unbuttoned his coat, one hand casually in his trouser pocket. Lin Qi was oblivious to the subtle exchange between the two, rushing to the door to complain, “Bro, I don’t want this tutor. Help me out!”
So he’s Lin Qi’s cousin, Tan Ning thought.
“Why don’t you want him?” Lin Song’an asked.
“He—” Lin Qi stammered, unable to articulate his reasons. “His attitude is bad, and he doesn’t stop me when I play games.”
Lin Song’an walked in. “Your mother paid for someone to tutor you, and you waste time playing games. Yet you blame the teacher?”
Lin Qi immediately deflated.
Lin Song’an picked up the game controller from the floor and placed it on the table. Then he sat on a nearby sofa and said to Tan Ning, “There’s still an hour left. Could you please continue the lesson? I’ll cover the extra cost.”
Tan Ning suddenly recalled what Lin Qi’s mother had said:
“That kid only fears his cousin; he doesn’t listen to anyone else.”
This cousin indeed had a commanding presence. Even though he was sitting on the sofa looking up at Tan Ning, it gave Tan Ning the feeling of being scrutinized from above.
Tan Ning paused while holding his bag, glanced at Lin Song’an, and then said, “Alright.”
Since childhood, Lin Qi had been in awe of his top-tier alpha cousin and naturally didn’t dare defy his words. He barely dared to breathe, reluctantly moving to his seat and taking out his textbooks. Tan Ning retrieved the practice problems from earlier and said, “Let’s start by reviewing the mistakes.”
In the second semester of eighth grade, math difficulty increases. The class was already covering inverse proportional functions, but Lin Qi was still confused about the linear functions from the previous semester and naturally couldn’t understand.
Tan Ning had to help him review the knowledge points from the first semester. Lin Qi had missed too many classes and hadn’t developed good study habits. Initially, he was fine for about ten minutes; perhaps because he had his back to Lin Song’an, he was especially tense, sitting up straight. But as time went on, he grew more restless. The chair seemed to have pins, making him fidgety. He would either drink something or grab a snack—anything to disrupt Tan Ning’s teaching rhythm.
Tan Ning pulled out some scratch paper and drew a couple of lines. “If we represent it using a Cartesian coordinate system…”
Lin Qi suddenly yanked open the top drawer. Tan Ning paused.
Lin Qi mumbled, “I’m getting a notebook.”
“Then, the linear function \( kx + b = 0 \) is a straight line passing through the point (0, b)…”
Lin Qi pulled open the second drawer.
With a loud clatter.
Tan Ning raised an eyebrow, scooted his chair back, his hand still resting on the table. Between his slender fingers was a red pen. He looked Lin Qi up and down. Lin Qi slightly raised his chin at him, a clear challenge in his eyes.
With Lin Song’an sitting behind them, Lin Qi didn’t dare make a scene but tried to provoke Tan Ning with small actions, hoping Tan Ning would lose his temper first.
If Tan Ning got angry, Lin Qi had ways to shirk responsibility or even blow the situation out of proportion, negating any previous progress.
Tan Ning leaned back against his chair, arm resting on the table, the red pen smoothly twirling between his fingers. His gaze moved from Lin Qi’s face to Lin Song’an behind him.
At that moment, Lin Song’an happened to look up.
Their third eye contact, fleeting.
Lin Song’an still wore that faint, enigmatic smile.
Tan Ning felt that Lin Song’an’s gaze wasn’t so much supervising Lin Qi’s studies as it was observing him.
He withdrew his gaze and continued teaching without a word, completely ignoring Lin Qi’s silent provocations.
He gently closed the drawer and continued, “The quadrants through which the straight line passes are different. For example, when \( k > 0 \) and \( b > 0 \), the graph passes through the first, second, and third quadrants, like the one I’ve drawn here.”
Lin Qi finally gave up.
This new Teacher Tan left him completely at a loss. He tried all sorts of tricks, but Tan Ning didn’t care at all. Tan Ning only cared about earning his 300 yuan per hour; as long as he got paid, nothing else mattered. Lin Qi had never faced such a situation before. He remembered previous tutors either being scared off by him or overly ingratiating, easily dismissed.
Why was it so difficult this time?
Moreover, with his cousin present, he didn’t dare throw a tantrum.
Frustrated and anxious, unable to understand the lesson, he had to try harder to listen. But he couldn’t keep up with Tan Ning’s pace, growing increasingly flustered. The bratty arrogance and hostility of the little tyrant dissipated, revealing the vulnerability of a teenage boy. With reddened eyes, he looked at Tan Ning and said, “Could you explain that again? I didn’t quite catch it earlier.”
Unprecedentedly obedient. Tan Ning thought that if Lin Qi’s mother were present, she’d probably be speechless.
Tan Ning glanced at him from the corner of his eye, slightly curved his lips, then said expressionlessly, “Alright.”
When Mrs. Lin returned, Lin Qi was still memorizing English words, holding a vocabulary book. Tan Ning sat beside him, and Lin Song’an stood behind him. The boy was so nervous his voice trembled, repeating the last word five times before daring to turn around.
Mrs. Lin walked over, suppressing a smile. “Thank you, Teacher Tan. Wow, our little Qi learned so much today.”
Lin Qi buried his face into his mother’s embrace, his pent-up grievances about to overflow.
Mrs. Lin, still protective and indulgent, couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”
“He—”
Just as Lin Qi was about to complain, he was interrupted by Lin Song’an. “Auntie, Lin Qi really needs to improve his attitude toward learning.”
Lin Qi didn’t even dare to cry anymore.
Which of the younger family members wasn’t afraid of Lin Song’an? Despite his cousin’s modest, polite, and gentle demeanor—never speaking harshly—Lin Qi had been inexplicably afraid of him since childhood.
Tan Ning calmly stood guard over his backpack, as if everything had nothing to do with him.
Mrs. Lin smiled awkwardly. “Yes, Song’an, you need to come back more often to guide your younger brother. He only listens to you.”
“Isn’t Teacher Tan here now?”
Lin Song’an’s words left the other three momentarily stunned. Mrs. Lin was the first to react, introducing them. “Teacher Tan, this is Qi’s cousin, currently studying finance at A University. Oh, I just remembered, Teacher Tan, aren’t you also at A University?”
Lin Song’an said, “So we’re schoolmates.”
Tan Ning gave him a faint smile.
As he left Lin Qi’s house, the cold wind was strong, whistling by and messing up Tan Ning’s hair.
There was wind but no moon; the night was quiet and deep. The sky was dotted with a few stars. The courtyard lights at the villa’s entrance cast shadows of the sycamore branches on the wall—a very ordinary winter evening.
Tan Ning took off his hair tie, letting his long hair flow freely. He took a scarf from his bag and wrapped it around his neck. Lin Song’an came out a step behind him, closed the front door, walked up to him, and asked, “Teacher Tan, are you heading back to school? Shall we go together?”
Tan Ning turned and looked up, their fourth eye contact.
Originally, his long hair had covered half his face, but now, pressed down by the scarf, it didn’t move in the wind. Lin Song’an finally saw his face clearly.
A pair of clear, amber eyes. Lin Song’an felt a slight stir in his heart.
Tan Ning didn’t refuse. He said, “Yes, back to school. Thank you.”
Then he got into Lin Song’an’s black Land Rover.
Just like that, they connected.
