The atmosphere was tense. Qin An watched her with unhurried amusement, but drew her a little closer with his hand.
Xu Tao was leaning half her body over the water’s edge. Panicking, she reached out instinctively, trying to grab hold of something.
Qin An lowered his head with a smile as he watched her soft, delicate fingers clutch his shirt.
He was just about to coax her into pleading with him a little more sweetly when little Qin Yuting stepped forward first to “rescue the damsel in distress.”
He planted his hands on his hips, fuming. “You bad Second Uncle! Let go of Teacher! Stop bullying her!”
Bullying him every day wasn’t enough—now his uncle was picking on his teacher, too!
Only then did Xu Tao realize that the obnoxious man was Qin Yuting’s uncle.
“Mr. Qin, let go!” Xu Tao was genuinely frightened. If she fell into the water, it would be a real mess.
With both the child and the woman tugging at him, Qin An finally gave a low laugh and let her go, guiding her to safety as he did.
He gave Xu Tao several unreadable looks, then walked past them and returned to the living room.
Xu Tao let out a long breath. What a mischief-maker. He reminded her of the boy who used to sit behind her in school and tug on her braids, taking endless delight in making her the butt of his jokes.
It wasn’t as if she’d smashed the screen on purpose just to take her anger out on him.
Seeing Xu Tao looking glum, Qin Yuting tugged at the hem of her sweater. “Is he always that mean? He’s always bullying people.”
Xu Tao felt all the more as though they were fellow sufferers. She crouched down and whispered, “Next time he picks on you, don’t say anything or react. Just act like a log. I guarantee your uncle won’t bother you anymore.”
Once they lost interest, they naturally let you be. Xu Tao couldn’t remember how many annoying boys she’d fended off that way.
Qin Yuting tilted his head, deep in thought. “Teacher, I’ll try that next time.”
Xu Tao smiled and led him back to his lesson.
The living room was empty now, and the oppressive feeling was gone.
But just as the lesson ended, Qin An came back. From the way he was dressed, he was about to go out.
The housekeeper respectfully saw him off. “Will you be back for dinner tonight, Second Young Master?”
“No.”
Qin An changed his shoes. As he reached the door, he suddenly stopped, standing in the light and shadow. He turned to her with a raised brow. “I’ll give Teacher Xu a ride.”
It wasn’t phrased as a question. The housekeeper immediately fell silent.
Xu Tao stared at him in surprise, then instinctively looked at the housekeeper. But the man’s head was slightly bowed, and he gave no sign either way.
It was more than an hour’s walk from here to the subway station, and she didn’t know the way yet. Without a ride, she’d waste a lot of time. Still, Xu Tao wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone with this man.
Qin An’s usual cool, distant expression had returned. “Surely we don’t need to send a car just for Teacher Xu again?”
Even the housekeeper was stunned. Since when had the Second Young Master become so stingy? He glanced discreetly at Xu Tao, who looked even more surprised than he did.
A young student might not understand the ways of the world, but unless she was an idiot, this wasn’t the time to refuse. Whatever else, she had to show the head of the household some respect.
Xu Tao was clearly no idiot. She knew who was in charge here, and couldn’t very well say no. In the end, she nodded. “Then I’ll trouble you, Mr. Qin.”
After saying goodbye to Qin Yuting, Xu Tao followed him outside.
The driver opened the rear door for her.
Xu Tao had meant to sit in the front, but now all she could do was offer a quiet word of thanks.
As soon as she got in, she felt the pressure of the confined space. Enclosed spaces always made people tense and uneasy.
The man, however, had none of his earlier playful air. His apology was sincere. “I was out of line yesterday and just now. Let me apologize to you for both, Teacher Xu.”
Xu Tao suddenly understood: he meant what had happened in the bathroom yesterday.
The atmosphere grew awkward. Her face started heating up beyond her control. She would have preferred to pretend it had never happened. Why bring it up?
But she couldn’t leave him without a reply. “It’s all right. I’ve forgotten about it. You’re too polite, Mr. Qin.”
Qin An murmured, “Mm,” and lowered his head to look through his phone. Xu Tao wasn’t much of a talker anyway, so she turned to watch the scenery outside.
She had no idea what kind of background the Qin family had, to be able to claim a piece of land in Wancheng, where every inch was worth a fortune.
Maybe they even owned the mountain.
They were clearly the sort of people ordinary folks like her couldn’t afford to offend. Xu Tao had to admit that the man had been right about one thing: she was too impulsive. How could she have dared to smash someone’s screen in public over such a small matter?
She’d just looked it up online. It was actually an antique from the Qing dynasty, worth more than a million at auction.
They must be loaded, to leave something like that lying around so casually.
Her thoughts wandered all over the place. A little over ten minutes later, they reached the area near the subway station. Xu Tao quickly said, “Driver, you can stop here. I can take the subway back to school.”
The driver taking her today was obviously Qin An’s personal driver and didn’t know the route.
Qin An didn’t consider himself so lacking in gentlemanly manners that he’d leave her there. “Going to Wancheng Normal University? I’ll take you.”
Xu Tao didn’t dare let him take her, and besides, she’d already spotted a familiar figure on the steps across the street at the subway station.
Shi Jin was still waiting for her. He hadn’t even sent her a message to let her know.
Xu Tao tightened her grip on her canvas bag. “My boyfriend is waiting for me at the subway station. Mr. Qin, please just pull over. Thank you so much for the ride.”
Qin An’s hand paused over his phone screen. A moment later, he nodded expressionlessly. “Pull over.”
The driver acknowledged him and stopped by the side of the road.
Xu Tao thanked him again, got out, and ran across the street, calling her boyfriend’s name in a clear voice.
There was hardly any traffic. Xu Tao dashed across, and Shi Jin had never seen her in such a hurry before. Smiling, he stood up and caught her in his arms.
Xu Tao stumbled into his embrace, her cheek flushed from the run.
“What’s the rush? You’ll fall.” He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and took the bag from her hand.
“How long have you been waiting? You could’ve gone back to school. Why wait here for me?” Xu Tao’s voice was soft. At that moment, she was grateful Shi Jin was there.
After all, she felt much more at ease with him, surrounded by a familiar sense of security.
Shi Jin, however, wasn’t in the mood to answer. He looked past Xu Tao at the Maybach. It was still there, and the rear window was lowered more than halfway, revealing a sharply sculpted profile.
Even from this distance, he could tell the man was no ordinary person.
What was that phrase again?
A dragon among men.
Shi Jin suddenly felt a little nervous and put an arm around Xu Tao’s waist. “How about I come pick you up and drop you off every week from now on?”
Xu Tao agreed softly.
Shi Jin led her to the escalator, then glanced back one last time. The car had disappeared, as if it had never been there.
“Who brought you here? Why was there someone in the back seat?”
“He’s my student’s uncle. He was going this way, so he gave me a ride. They can’t send another car just for me.” Xu Tao didn’t want to tell him what had happened at the Qin family’s house.
If she did, Shi Jin might try everything he could to stop her from keeping the job.
“Oh, okay. He sure looks rich,” Shi Jin sighed. “When will I have a car of my own?”
“After we graduate and get jobs, we can save up and buy one.” Xu Tao didn’t have grand ambitions. She wanted a quiet, ordinary life.
She’d go back to Tongcheng and become a teacher, work hard to buy a small house, and live with Grandma. That was all she wanted.
Ordinary people didn’t dream of things that were out of reach.
Shi Jin, on the other hand, had big ambitions. “Believe me, Peach. I’ll be able to afford a Mercedes or a BMW for you. Then I’ll take you and Grandma on a road trip, okay?”
Xu Tao smiled. “Okay. Keep at it, Brother Shi Jin!”
Shi Jin knew she probably hadn’t taken him seriously. But thinking about the plans he’d discussed with an older student in their group chat a few days earlier, he felt the future was full of promise.
He patted the top of Xu Tao’s head.
Just you wait, Peach. He wasn’t just saying it.