Shi Jin was determined to take her to class. Xu Tao couldn’t refuse him, so she had no choice but to let him come along on the bus.
They chatted now and then along the way, but most of the time Shi Jin simply held one of Xu Tao’s hands as they sat quietly together.
They took three buses and then the subway. It took two hours to get there.
Shi Jin’s motion sickness still hadn’t eased. His face was pale as he sat on the steps and waved a hand. “It’s so far! Rich people don’t just have one house, do they? Couldn’t they hold the lessons somewhere else?”
“You’re going to have such a hard time making this trip every week!”
Xu Tao had no standing to make demands of them. She told him to rest for a while before heading back, then walked over to the unmarked car by the roadside.
To be honest, she didn’t know much about cars. She only recognized a few of the most famous badges and knew nothing about the rest, but anyone could tell this car was expensive.
At least they were in the suburbs. If it had come to pick her up at school, it would have attracted far too much attention.
Shi Jin, however, recognized the Bentley. He watched as the driver opened the door for Xu Tao himself, then drove off in a cloud of dust.
Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought Xu Tao was the lady of the house.
In truth, it was only a courtesy.
Ever since he was little, Shi Jin had often heard the neighbors in the alley say that Peach would grow up to be a great beauty. With a face like hers, she was destined to marry a rich man and become a wealthy man’s wife.
People often teased him, too, saying his “little bride” would run off with someone else one day. Shi Jin hated hearing it.
He hated hearing that. Peach was his. She would be his for the rest of their lives.
He had to make money. Otherwise, how could he keep Xu Tao by his side?
.
When Xu Tao arrived at the Qin family’s home, she discovered that the man from last time was there too, holding a laptop and apparently dealing with some business.
When he saw her, he looked up. Xu Tao felt uncomfortable and looked away, then sat down with Corey behind the desk to begin the lesson.
Qin An lowered his head again, as if he didn’t particularly care that an extra tutor had appeared.
Before Xu Tao began, the butler spoke up. “Teacher Xu, the Young Master’s name and household registration have been settled. From now on, please call him Qin Yuting.”
The name Corey belonged to the past. The Qin family was a traditional Chinese household, and they preferred not to use foreign names.
The newly named Qin Yuting pouted, displeased, but after returning to China, he had learned that rules were absolute. Once his grandfather had decided something, no one could change it.
“All right, I understand.” Xu Tao gently patted Qin Yuting’s head and decided to start today’s lesson with his name.
“The character ‘Yu’ means brightness. It symbolizes brilliance and splendor…”
Xu Tao’s voice was gentle, but not airy; it was soft and pleasant to listen to. Whenever Qin Yuting didn’t understand something, she was even more patient, teaching him bit by bit with a smile.
She had the lilting cadence unique to a girl from the south, winding and melodious, carrying the gentle charm of the Jiangnan waterways and slipping right into the listener’s ears.
Qin An listened a little longer and found his mind wandering. Whenever she paused, he couldn’t help anticipating the sound of her next words, wondering how captivating they would be.
She was exactly the sort of girl who would make a good teacher. It was hard to imagine any child disliking the way she taught.
Even he liked listening to her.
And it helped that she had such a pleasing face.
Qin An simply closed his laptop and leaned back against the sofa, focusing on Teacher Xu’s lesson.
He wasn’t listening to the lesson itself, though. He was focused on Xu Tao—from her smooth, full forehead to her lips as they moved, then down to her neck, which looked as though it might snap if bent.
So delicate and slender. He could probably wrap one hand around it.
Qin An’s presence was impossible to ignore. When his phoenix-shaped eyes rested on someone, they always seemed to carry a hint of scrutiny; his gaze followed her like something tangible.
He was utterly unconcerned with anyone else’s feelings, and so unrestrained that he bordered on arrogant.
Xu Tao was sensitive by nature. She couldn’t help noticing.
Under that imposing stare, the tips of her ears gradually reddened, the color spreading down her neck.
She turned slightly, doing her best to ignore the gaze coming from the living room.
Qin An suddenly smiled and shifted position too, watching her teach in a more relaxed, easygoing pose. His features were striking, his face almost perfectly sculpted. He had the refined, restrained looks of a young gentleman, almost like a Brother, yet when he smiled, he seemed utterly irreverent.
In fact, everyone in Wancheng’s elite circles knew that the Qin family’s Second Young Master did whatever he pleased. If he wanted to do something, he did it.
His elders doted on him, and his older brother protected him. He had never suffered a setback in his life. If there was one exception, it might be that Qin Shaoxiong was now pressuring him to go on blind dates.
His elder brother, Qin Ming, had gone into politics. On their mother’s side, the Jiang family had dwindled to a small number of descendants by her generation, and Qin An’s duty was to inherit the vast family estate. Big Brother had gone into politics.
He was destined to marry a woman of equal standing.
But he looked down on every candidate. No matter how many he considered, none of the women from any family caught his eye.
Qin Shaoxiong had been so furious that he threatened to enforce the family rules, but in the end, nothing came of it.
That wasn’t the only recent trouble in the Qin family. Qin An ought to be grateful that, at a crucial moment, Big Brother had once again taken the hit for him.
It all went back to little Qin Yuting.
When Qin Ming was doing his postgraduate studies years ago, he had dated a British exchange student. No one knew about it. Later, he broke up with her because he had to follow his family’s arrangements. He never imagined that she would become pregnant and give birth to a boy.
For five years, she had never asked Qin Ming to take responsibility. But this year, there was no choice: Qin Yuting’s mother had died of cancer, and the child had been sent back.
It was hardly a respectable matter. The woman was foreign, and she had given birth to an illegitimate child. It could damage Qin Ming’s political career and the family’s reputation. He had made Qin Shaoxiong furious, and was punished by being made to kneel in the ancestral hall in the back courtyard.
Xu Tao naturally knew nothing about these private matters. All she knew was that her cheek felt hot. She had never imagined that someone’s gaze could feel so scorching.
It seemed to set her whole face ablaze.
Thinking of what had happened in the bathroom yesterday, Xu Tao felt as if his gaze were stripping away her modesty layer by layer.
She wanted to tell herself she was imagining things, but when she stole a glance to the side, she met his eyes.
He even raised his brows and smiled.
He really was looking at her!
And he was being so lecherous about it!
Xu Tao pressed her lips together. She might have been the one who failed to lock the door yesterday, but any normal person would have immediately backed out after seeing her. He hadn’t.
She was angry too. Instead of hiding from him, she sat up straight. A jade screen on the desk was just the right height, so she picked it up and set it in front of her, blocking half her face.
It landed with a small but distinct thud.
The butler’s eyelid twitched. It was only an old Qing-dynasty piece and not valuable, but there was no way this female student could afford to replace it if she broke it.
Little Qin Yuting looked up, halfway through writing pinyin in a scrawl like a dog’s paw. “What’s wong, Teacher?”
Before Xu Tao could answer, the man sitting in the living room burst out laughing.
Qin An had only thought that the teacher’s voice was lovely and unusually pleasing to him. The headaches he’d been getting from one meeting after another lately had even eased a little while he listened.
He had nothing else to do, so he’d simply kept listening.
But he hadn’t expected someone who looked so soft and meek to get angry.
Besides Qin Shaoxiong, no one had ever dared throw anything at him.
He stood up at once, amusement bright in his eyes and at the corners of his mouth. Leaning on the desk, Qin An said, “Why’d you throw my screen? What did it ever do to you?”
Xu Tao: “…”
Anger shimmered in her eyes, but she didn’t dare let it show. “I bumped it by accident. I’m sorry.”
Afraid Xu Tao might offend him without realizing it, the butler hurried over and took the screen away. “Old things aren’t made to withstand a blow. Teacher Xu, you’ve been teaching for a while. Why don’t you get up and stretch? Let the Young Master take you out to the courtyard for some fresh air.”
Qin Yuting was restless too. He hopped down and took Xu Tao’s hand. “Teacher, come see the fish I’m raising.”
Xu Tao wanted a breather as well, so she followed him out. They went around the veranda to a pond, where several fish she couldn’t name swam among a few scattered leaves, searching for freedom in their little world.
She crouched down, and was just about to speak when she noticed the man behind her reflected in the water.
The ripples blurred his face, but for some reason Xu Tao felt flustered.
She sprang up in a hurry, forgetting how slippery the ground was. Unable to keep her balance, she pitched forward. Xu Tao’s face went white with fright. She had dirtied her clothes during yesterday’s lesson; if she fell into the water today—
She would definitely lose her job.
But she didn’t fall into the pond as she’d expected. Someone caught her by the arm and lifted her back up without any effort.
Xu Tao’s back struck the man’s chest. In an instant, heat rushed from her head to her toes. Qin An watched the skin behind her ear flush as if it had been stained with paint, a deep pink spreading to the small mole at the nape of her neck.
Against her pale, delicate skin, it stood out all the more.
So shy, huh?
Qin An didn’t let go. Lazily, he said, “Teacher Xu, you’re so careless. How are you supposed to teach a child?”
Xu Tao didn’t even know what to call him, but she assumed he was part of the Qin family. “Qin Ming, let go of me first. If you hadn’t suddenly appeared, I…”
Her voice tightened with urgency, yet she was still impossibly meek.
That wasn’t how she should be begging him.
Qin An was being deliberately nasty. “Are you blaming me, Teacher Xu? This is my family’s pond. Am I not allowed to come here?”
“I didn’t realize Teacher Xu was so overbearing.”
She could tell he was teasing her. Xu Tao’s face flushed with anger, and she tried to walk away. As if he’d anticipated it, Qin An gently guided her toward the edge of the pond. Half her foot extended beyond the wooden path; one more step and she would be in the water.
She bit her lip and didn’t dare move, but inside she was cursing him. How could anyone be so awful?
Xu Tao had only one way of dealing with bad boys: don’t make things worse for yourself while you’re at a disadvantage. She blinked up at him and pleaded, “Mr. Qin, could you let go of me first…?”
Her almond-shaped eyes were naturally dewy, and when she said his name, it sounded tinged with softness. Her pleading was unmistakable.
Qin An’s eyes narrowed, and the root of his tongue tingled.
That was right. She should beg him like that.