Fu Yunzhu followed him inside, and a servant greeted them warmly.
“Young Master Xiao is here. I’ll have someone prepare tea and inform Old Master Pei at once.”
“No need to fuss. I specially brought my younger sister here today to meet Xiuxue’s teacher. I’ll visit Old Master Pei later.”
The Pei family was an old, distinguished household. Old Master Pei had once been Xiao Tianwen’s direct superior. After retiring, the second generation Mr. Pei worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Pei Xiuxue belonged to the third generation, Old Master Pei’s granddaughter.
“Alright.”
Xiao Jingchuan, clearly familiar with the place, led Fu Yunzhu to Pei Xiuxue’s room and knocked. A clear, bright female voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
Xiao Jingchuan pushed the door open. Pei Xiuxue immediately looked up.
“Brother Jingchuan.”
Xiao Jingchuan smiled and nodded at her.
“I brought Yunzhu over to study with you.”
“So you’re that younger sister who’s about to join the family?” Pei Xiuxue smiled brightly, then stood up and tilted her head to look past Xiao Jingchuan.
Xiao Jingchuan nodded slightly. “Mm.”
Fu Yunzhu: !!!
As she stepped past Xiao Jingchuan to greet her, she froze when she saw the back of the man sitting across from Pei Xiuxue.
“Yunzhu, Brother Jingchuan says you’re quite gifted academically. That’s why I was willing to share my teacher with you. Come on, let me introduce you.”
The man stood up and turned around, facing Xiao Jingchuan, creating a strikingly pleasing scene.
Xiao Jingchuan was the first to extend his hand politely.
“I really didn’t expect you to be so young. I look forward to your guidance.”
Gu Yu shook his hand.
“Of course. Thank you for your trust.”
After withdrawing his hand, his gaze swept briefly over Fu Yunzhu.
She felt his eyes on her but didn’t meet his gaze, nor did she speak.
Following Gu Yu’s line of sight, Xiao Jingchuan glanced back at Fu Yunzhu and saw her head lowered, looking somewhat awkward completely lacking the composure she’d shown when first meeting him and his father.
She really did resemble a shy country girl newly arrived in the city.
He gently tugged her shoulder so she stood beside him and said,
“It’s alright, no need to be nervous here. This is Xiuxue’s teacher. He’ll be teaching you as well from now on.”
Pei Xiuxue immediately pulled Fu Yunzhu to sit across from her and said,
“She might not be familiar with things yet, so I’ll do the introductions.”
It was normal to be reserved, having just arrived in the city.
“Teacher Gu was the top scorer in Jiangsu Province, speaks four languages, and was personally interviewed by my father. He’s also just received his admission notice from Peking University. So don’t let his age fool you he’s very capable. You can have full confidence in him.”
Fu Yunzhu, of course, knew how capable he was after all, she spoke them too, except for Russian. By her time, Russian was no longer popular.
She nodded stiffly.
“I understand.”
Hearing that, Gu Yu raised his eyebrows slightly. It had been almost two months since he’d last seen her. He hadn’t expected that after coming to the city, she’d be exactly the same same dress, same hairstyle, even the same personality.
Perhaps he was overthinking it.
Seeing that she was keeping her head down and clearly didn’t want to acknowledge him, he ultimately didn’t greet her either.
Xiao Jingchuan spoke up,
“Alright, I won’t disturb your studies. I’ll go check on Grandpa Pei.”
With that, he turned and left.
Pei Xiuxue quickly opened her textbook and pushed it between herself and Fu Yunzhu, then smiled sweetly at Gu Yu.
“Teacher Gu, we stopped around here last time, right?”
She propped her chin on her hands and stared at him without blinking.
Gu Yu nodded, glanced briefly at the book, and then began speaking calmly. His pronunciation was precise, and his explanations were clear.
Fu Yunzhu already understood everything, so she didn’t need to listen. She sneaked a glance at Pei Xiuxue and twitched her lips slightly.
Then she looked at Gu Yu again. This man once he left the countryside, his “young master syndrome” had flared right back up. She didn’t recognize many luxury brands from this era, but everything about him, from clothes to accessories, radiated quality. He only ever bought the best extravagant to the core.
She really didn’t know how he’d endured that year in the countryside.
Judging by this, he clearly wasn’t short on money now. With his ambition and methods, tutoring was probably just a way to build connections. He used to be the network himself who would’ve thought he could bend and adapt like this? If so, the business order in the capital would likely be turned upside down by him.
Sensing Fu Yunzhu’s gaze, Gu Yu paused his questioning.
Pei Xiuxue snapped back to attention and looked at Fu Yunzhu.
“That part just now was a bit difficult I didn’t quite get it. Did you understand?”
Fu Yunzhu smiled.
“My foundation is weak. I didn’t understand either.”
Pei Xiuxue laughed awkwardly.
“Then maybe Teacher Gu can explain it again.”
Gu Yu glanced at his watch and reminded her,
“My lessons are charged by the hour fifty yuan per hour. I only teach for one and a half hours a day.”
Pei Xiuxue didn’t mind at all.
“Teacher Gu, please explain it again. I’ll really listen this time. You see, Yunzhu didn’t understand either.”
Fu Yunzhu thought to herself: As if I’d dare to understand.
Gu Yu looked at Fu Yunzhu again.
“Do you recognize all twenty-six letters?”
Fu Yunzhu stayed silent. She couldn’t afford to reveal any cracks in front of Gu Yu.
Pei Xiuxue smiled.
“Yunzhu just arrived. Let her listen for now. I’ll tutor her later. You teach me first.”
When Gu Yu explained again, he paused to ask questions more frequently. Since Pei Xiuxue could no longer just admire him without interruption, she gradually focused on studying.
By the end of the lesson, she’d grasped most of it.
When time was up, Gu Yu stood and took his leave.
Pei Xiuxue propped her chin up, watching his retreating figure, and murmured,
“How can someone be so good-looking, have such a nice voice, and be so talented?”
Fu Yunzhu tugged at the corner of her lips.
“Your Brother Jingchuan is quite good-looking too.”
Pei Xiuxue laughed.
“But he’s too old not suitable for me.”
Fu Yunzhu: !!!
She wanted to say that Gu Yu, with his youthful face and old soul, was even older he was already thirty-two. Compared to him, Xiao Jingchuan was practically a fresh-faced youth. But she couldn’t say that.
“Beautiful flowers grow from poisonous soil,” Fu Yunzhu kindly reminded her.
Although it was their first meeting, she felt Pei Xiuxue was actually quite nice.
Pei Xiuxue froze for a moment at those words, then laughed.
“That’s prejudice. I’ll use Brother Jingchuan and my own brother as proof men who are better-looking have better character. And there’s also the saying that ugly people cause the most trouble.”
Fu Yunzhu: !!!
Seeing Fu Yunzhu fall silent, Pei Xiuxue curved her lips.
“Alright, let’s stop talking about that. I’ll teach you the basics of English.”
She stood up and started looking for books. After searching for quite a while, she finally found her old middle school English textbook.
Then something magical happened. Fu Yunzhu learned everything in one go. In less than an hour, Pei Xiuxue had finished teaching the entire book and Fu Yunzhu had mastered it all.
“Y-Yunzhu… I thought Brother Jingchuan was lying to me, but it’s actually true. Looks like we’ll need to teach you step by step,” Pei Xiuxue said, then added,
“But Teacher Gu probably won’t have time to give you private lessons. Since I teach so well, I’ll teach you from now on.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Xiao Jingchuan came in.
Pei Xiuxue immediately said excitedly,
“Brother Jingchuan, your not-yet-official younger sister is really amazing! She gets it after just one explanation. At first, when Teacher Gu was teaching, she didn’t understand, so I thought you were bragging but it turns out she just needed to start from the basics.
From now on, leave her lessons to me.
“By the way, Teacher Gu charges me fifty yuan an hour. I’ll give you a discount how about twenty yuan an hour for your family?”
Hearing that last sentence, Fu Yunzhu sucked in a sharp breath.
So she came here and wasted one or two hours… just to pay money?