The room’s light fell directly on Ruan Yu, illuminating her presence. When the young man first saw her, he thought she was ordinary – her clothes, appearance, everything seemed unremarkable. But now, sitting closer, he noticed she was quite attractive, with delicate features and fair skin.

When she concentrated on solving problems, even her eyelashes seemed to radiate vitality.

“Here.”

After about five minutes, Ruan Yu pushed the paper back toward him.

The young man shot her an irritated glance and opened another drawer, pulling out a notebook containing the answers. Although Ruan Yu’s solution method differed from the one recorded in the notebook, the answer was the same.

“All roads lead to Rome,” Ruan Yu said lightly, her index and middle fingers pointing to the identical answers in the notebook and on the paper. “I won.”

The young man impatiently scratched the back of his head, stuffing both the paper and notebook back into the drawer.

“How did you know this?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Aren’t you just a sophomore?” He had seen her online resume.

“You thought you could win by testing a sophomore with a junior-year calculus problem? Your vision is quite limited,” Ruan Yu raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you know some people are used to staying ahead?”

She had already self-studied the sophomore and junior curricula and had solved this problem at least three times before. Seeing the question was like meeting an old friend.

The young man exhaled, his face inexplicably flushing red. He had intended to put her in her place, but instead, she had outmaneuvered him.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.

Ruan Yu took out a comprehensive problem book for third-year high school students from her bag and turned it to a page with a crease.

“Solve all the problems on this page.”

“That’s all?”

“It’s enough for me to assess your level and determine the appropriate approach,” she said.

The young man’s expression was unhappy, but following the principle of accepting a lost bet, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse. He picked up his pen and began working, but got stuck on the very first problem.

Ruan Yu watched him silently as he repeatedly pressed his pen against his chin, his face growing increasingly red.

“Are you going to keep watching me like this?” The young man turned to glare at her.

“Yes.”

“I don’t like people watching me solve problems.”

What could she do about that?

Being new here, where else could she go if not sit here?

“Go downstairs and get me some water,” the young man licked his dry lips. “I’m thirsty.”

His tone carried a somewhat forceful command, but Ruan Yu knew he just wanted to send her away. At their age, people were worst at perfectly concealing their emotions.

“I’m here to tutor you, not to serve you,” Ruan Yu said expressionlessly but firmly.

The young man was dumbfounded, probably none of his previous tutors had dared to speak to him like this. Understandably so – the generous hourly rate was enough to make people willingly submit.

“You’re really…”

“Don’t let it happen again,” Ruan Yu stood up.

The young man watched her back. After a while, he let out a soft snicker, carrying a hint of “you still ended up doing what I said” smugness.

Ruan Yu ignored it and walked straight out of the bedroom.

She needed money, desperately needed it, so while establishing her position, she naturally couldn’t antagonize her little patron too much – she understood this principle well.