560. Pan Maoxin’s Troubles
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When Lin Nan left the South Station, it was already two-thirty in the afternoon.
Chen Yao had disembarked from the North Station and should have already hopped onto the bus back to school, while she still had to come and teach her student.
To be honest, she wasn’t the most responsible tutor in the world.
She often took one or two days off at the drop of a hat, but thankfully, teaching through magic made the job a breeze, and her student’s English scores shot up rapidly. Otherwise, she would have been fired long ago!
“The rain is so heavy…”
Lin Nan frowned as she looked out at the torrential downpour and rummaged through her small bag for her foldable umbrella.
Good thing she had the habit of carrying one.
About ten minutes later, she arrived at the entrance of Pan Maoxin’s apartment complex via ride-hailing.
The rain had escalated.
The small umbrella couldn’t fully shield her from the downpour, leaving her pant legs and shoulders a tad soggy. The streets were nearly deserted; it was clearly afternoon, yet the sky looked as gloomy as evening.
Suddenly, a loud thunderclap reverberated from afar, making Lin Nan shiver.
As she entered the complex and approached Pan Maoxin’s building, she noticed the door to her student’s home was wide open.
Peeking inside, she spotted a somewhat unfamiliar middle-aged man chatting with a young girl on the couch.
This girl looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a sharp gaze and dressed quite ostentatiously, though Lin Nan couldn’t recognize the brand.
“Hello, I’m late!” Lin Nan knocked on the open door.
Pan Maoxin’s father looked up, instantly grinning, and stood to greet Lin Nan: “Teacher Lin, come in, come in! Xiao Hui, get a dry towel for Teacher Lin!”
Xiao Hui?
Curious, Lin Nan glanced at the young girl but quickly bowed her head apologetically: “I went home for the Dragon Boat Festival and hadn’t been here for the past couple of days…”
“No big deal, it’s quite normal,” Lin Nan replied with a wave, stepping inside.
Xiao Hui brought a fresh towel to the door, and Lin Nan used it to wipe down her legs and shoes before stepping fully into the house.
“I’m off to tutor Pan Maoxin now,” Lin Nan said cheerfully as she changed into slippers. “After this semester, I might not be able to come anymore.”
“Is the pay too low?”
“Well, I’ll be a junior next semester and I need to start looking for internships,” Lin Nan said, trying to maintain a polite demeanor.
Despite the family’s repeated pleas for her to stay, Lin Nan stood her ground, eventually slipping into Pan Maoxin’s bedroom under the pretense of tutoring.
Only then did she let out a sigh of relief, massaging her cheeks to ease the smile-induced stiffness.
But when she looked up, she found Pan Maoxin lounging at his computer with an annoyed expression.
“What’s up? Did I hit a nerve? You’re giving me attitude right off the bat?” Lin Nan dragged a chair over and plopped down next to him.
Pan Maoxin shot her an irritated glance.
Confused, Lin Nan flipped through the homework she left for him last week and asked, “What’s wrong? Not in a good mood? Spill the beans so Teacher can cheer you up.”
He hesitated for a second before muttering, “My dad got married.”
“Just getting married, why the long face? Afraid of sharing your inheritance with a little brother or sister?” Lin Nan glanced through his homework and found no issues, turning to the sulking boy.
“I don’t like that woman…” Pan Maoxin pointed towards the living room, “That girl out there is in her twenties, and she’s barely older than me! Now I have to call her ‘stepmom’?”
“？？？”
“I suspect that woman is just after my dad’s money! He’s so head over heels for her, the other day he bought her a car and a diamond ring!” Pan Maoxin’s serious tone surprised Lin Nan. “At this rate, our family might go bankrupt in a few years, and I won’t be able to live the rich kid life anymore!”
So it’s not that you don’t want to call her ‘stepmom,’ you’re just worried about losing your rich kid status?
If I were you, I’d be worried too.
Lin Nan didn’t want to meddle in family matters and casually waved her hand, “Just talk to your dad about it. Finals are coming up; we need to buckle down and study hard.”
“But my dad never listens to me.” Pan Maoxin reluctantly opened his English textbook.
Yet Lin Nan pulled out his Chinese textbook instead.
He probably had no issues with English, given that after her lessons, he had memorized every English word from his high school curriculum, not to mention she had even self-studied grammar for him. His previously weak point was now solid, guaranteeing him a spot in the top five of the class for the upcoming finals.
Of course, she mainly brushed up on grammar in preparation for the CET-4 and CET-6 exams.
Since Pan Maoxin was all set in English, Lin Nan thought she could also help with Chinese and math. However, as she flipped through the Chinese textbook…
“Why does it look brand new?” she remarked, bewildered by the lack of notes, not even a name scribbled in it.
If tossed into a bookstore, it could probably be sold as a new book.
But Pan Maoxin was preoccupied with whether he could still be a rich kid and asked her, “What if my dad really gets scammed and goes bankrupt in a few years?”
“Stop thinking the worst about everyone; what about your Chinese textbook…?”
“But my dad is over forty, and that woman’s in her twenties! It’s obvious she’s after his money, the shameless hussy.”
Lin Nan raised her voice, “Haven’t you ever listened in Chinese class?!”
“What if my dad ends up being tricked into writing a will that gives all our assets to that woman? Am I going to end up homeless?”
“What if the stepmom gives my dad a super-smart kid? What if I become the neglected one?”
Pan Maoxin rambled on, growing more panicked with every word.
Either he’s watching too many dramas, or he’s read one too many novels—can life really be that melodramatic?
This is why kids shouldn’t be exposed to the internet too early; what nonsense fills their heads?
Rolling her eyes internally, Lin Nan helplessly turned to the poetry section in the Chinese textbook: “Since you didn’t take notes, you must at least know some of the poems for the upcoming exam, right?”
“That woman…”
Lin Nan couldn’t help but slam her hand on the table: “Enough! Pay attention!”
Pan Maoxin immediately shrank back, tucking his neck, but still muttered, “When I’m not a rich kid anymore, you can’t just ignore me, Teacher.”
“They always say, ‘Once a teacher, always a father’. At least make sure I don’t starve to d*ath!”
What a drama king! There’s got to be something wrong with his brain!
“Focus and we can talk about all this later,” Lin Nan softened her tone, noting for the first time Pan Maoxin’s worried expression. “Don’t worry, your dad wouldn’t be so foolish if he made it this far. If you can think of it, don’t you think he can as well?”
“That’s true…”
“Now, where are your notes in your Chinese book?” Lin Nan shot him a look. “There’s nothing! How do you expect me to teach you?”
“I… I’ll borrow a book next week!”
