Lin Wutong stared at him blankly. "Senior, you're the one looking for a tutor?"
She looked utterly incredulous.
A tutor?
It only took Ji Ciye a second to catch on.
He thought of the headache-inducing girl in the room next door.
Then glanced at the obedient, soft-spoken girl standing before him.
If he wasn't mistaken, she was the type who'd cry if you bullied her even a little.
Having her tutor that little hellion—
He had no idea what Ms. Xu was thinking.
Ji Ciye: "Come with me."
The door was knocked on again.
Lin Wutong: ?
So it was the first room at the end of the hallway after all.
She felt a bit embarrassed.
On her first day coming to try out for the tutoring job, she hadn't just knocked on the wrong door—she'd knocked on Ji Ciye's door.
Lin Wutong lowered her head and apologized. "I'm sorry, Senior. I thought it was the first room near the stairwell. I woke you up."
Ji Ciye looked at the person who was clearly apologizing to him yet staring at the floor.
He clicked his tongue, somewhat amused. "You're apologizing to me—what are you looking at the floor for?"
Lin Wutong: "…"
She raised her eyes and met the boy's teasing expression.
Suddenly, something occurred to her.
"Didn't you go back to school yesterday?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she knew she'd overstepped.
Whether he went back to school or came home—what did that have to do with her?
Clearly, he'd thought of it too.
Lin Wutong hurriedly explained, "That's not what I meant, I just—"
"Just what?" Ji Ciye interrupted with interest.
The door was suddenly pulled open.
Ji Mingfei looked at her brother, who never showed up unless he wanted something, and rubbed her eyes. "Bro, you were looking for me?"
The girl's voice was sweet and languid, clearly not fully awake yet.
Her hair was still a bit messy, and beneath her bangs, a pair of big eyes—pretty and adorable—blinked in confusion.
It took her a few beats to notice Lin Wutong, who was standing to the side, half-hidden by the door frame.
"This is…?"
Just after asking, she suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Don't tell me you got a girlfriend."
She was lightly flicked on the head.
"Clear your head. Stop spouting nonsense all day." Ji Ciye spoke casually.
"Ow." Ji Mingfei rubbed her head.
Alright, she'd misunderstood.
Just then, Lin Wutong stepped forward on her own and greeted her. "Hello, I'm the new tutor your mother hired."
At the words "tutor," Ji Mingfei immediately turned and walked off. "You can go. I don't need a tutor."
Lin Wutong: "…"
So that's what "as long as she stays" meant.
The girl left behind only a spoiled, proud silhouette.
Lin Wutong glanced at Ji Ciye, who stood lazily to the side.
She forced the corners of her lips into a slight curve. "Senior, sorry for the trouble."
With that, she turned and left first.
Studying is a matter that requires willingness.
Clearly, that girl and her mother hadn't reached an agreement.
Upstairs.
Ji Ciye called out in a low voice, "Ji Mingfei."
Ji Mingfei's voice carried some dissatisfaction too. She pouted. "What is it?"
She hadn't wanted a tutor in the first place.
Those people were either there for her brother's looks—before a single lesson was even finished, they'd be finding all sorts of ways to ask for his contact info.
Or they were intimidated by her family background, so timid and obsequious when tutoring that they didn't act like teachers at all.
Before she could say anything else, Ji Ciye dropped a line. "Don't expect me to write your homework for you this semester."
That wouldn't do at all.
"Bro."
"Brother, brother, brother, brother~"
Ji Mingfei ran over and grabbed hold of the person who was making a move to leave.
High school coursework was complicated. This weekend she had two big problems she couldn't solve. If he didn't help her, how could that possibly be okay?
So she hurriedly put on a pitiful look and weakened her stance. "Brother, my most, most, most, most handsome brother in the whole world, and also the best brother."
"You definitely won't just stand by and watch me die, right?"
Ji Ciye let out a cold hum, uncharacteristically heartless. "Don't flatter me. It's useless."
Ji Mingfei clung tightly to his arm and wouldn't let go. "Then what will it take?"
Her cunning big eyes flickered slightly, and she spoke in a negotiating tone. "I'll give you all my allowance?"
Ji Ciye glanced at her sideways, looking at her like she was an idiot. "Do you think I'm short on that little bit of money of yours?"
Ji Mingfei: "Definitely not."
Then besides that little bit of living expenses he looked down on, she had nothing at all.
"Then what will it take for you to be willing to keep helping me write my homework?"
She asked somewhat helplessly.
Ji Ciye glanced downstairs and gave her the correct answer. "Get your tutor to come back."
"And—" he warned lightly, "be polite."
Ji Mingfei: "…"
Downstairs.
Auntie Zhang was seeing Lin Wutong out.
She was already used to this kind of situation.
No matter how many tutors came, they all went upstairs and then left right after.
So there was nothing surprising about it. Auntie Zhang's brows curved into a smile. "Student Lin, sorry to trouble you, making you come all this way for nothing."
"Be safe on the road."
Lin Wutong: "Okay, it's no problem."
She had just turned to leave.
The sound of slippers pattering rang out. "Hey, wait a moment!"
The girl's voice was a little anxious, and the figure running down the stairs was hurried as well.
The young miss didn't know how to ask someone to stay, but thinking of her brother's warning just now, she spoke somewhat awkwardly.
"What's your name?"
Only Auntie Zhang and herself were standing at the entrance, so this question clearly wasn't directed at Auntie Zhang.
Lin Wutong looked at her and softly said her own name.
Ji Mingfei: "Then I'll call you Sister Lin."
"I agree to let you teach me."
Her tone still carried a bit of spoiled pride, but her attitude had already softened quite a lot.
Auntie Zhang stood to the side, a little unclear about what was going on.
This… how did the little ancestor suddenly change her mind?
Lin Wutong was also somewhat puzzled. She could tell that just a moment ago the girl had still been very resistant.
Then there was only one possibility.
Upstairs, in Ji Mingfei's study.
Ji Mingfei lay sprawled over the desk, sizing up the girl in front of her, who was only a few years older than herself, with a curious look.
"Sister Lin."
"Hm?" Lin Wutong's hand paused slightly as she turned the page, and she tilted her head to look at her.
Ji Mingfei: "Are you and my brother very close?"
Otherwise, why would her brother threaten her for the sake of a unfamiliar tutor?
Lin Wutong's eyes paused slightly. She was silent for a moment before answering softly, "Not very close."
After saying that, she turned back and continued flipping through the book.
"Not very close?" The girl slowly repeated in a drawn-out tone, then asked, picking at the words, "So that means… you know each other?"
Lin Wutong hadn't expected her to trap her like that.
She tilted her head and explained to her somewhat seriously, "We just have a mutual friend."
Ji Mingfei blinked her pretty big eyes.
She had seen the dog-like way her brother acted when he was with friends.
He wouldn't even give face to his friends—would he go give face to a friend of a friend?
She clearly didn't believe it.
She still remembered what happened upstairs earlier when she asked Ji Ciye.
"Brother, why are you different with her?"
Her head was smacked again.
"Adults' matters—children shouldn't stick their noses in."
"Tsk—"
Fine, then she wouldn't.
Ji Mingfei stopped bothering about it and stopped asking, lowering her head to read.
Seeing that she finally stopped bringing up Ji Ciye, Lin Wutong let out a soft sigh of relief and focused on the class.