6:30 pm.
Lin Yuan's house.
Ning Qing was anxious. The seminar ran late so she could only quickly stop over at her house first to get the materials for the lesson and then rush over to Lin Yuan's house.
Standing at his door, she glanced down at the time. She usually liked to be a few minutes early but she was grateful she wasn't late this time at least.
After a brief moment, Ning Qing rang the doorbell and waited calmly. She was curious to see Lin Yuan again after everything had been sorted out yesterday.
"Ning Qing, you're here. Come in, come in."
Ning Qing was taken aback when she was greeted by a beautiful middle aged woman standing at the door.
"...Aunt Feng?"
She had met Feng Ling a few times but that was years ago, so she didn't instantly recognise her.
"Ah, you still remember me. It's been a long time since I last saw you, Ning Qing, you've become even more beautiful!" Feng Ling ushered Ning Qing into the house.
"You too Aunt Feng, you haven't aged at all, you still look the same as back then."
Feng Ling led Ning Qing down the hallway and explained, "I just happened to be back from work so I thought -"
"- You're here."
Ning Qing glanced toward the bottom of the stairs. Lin Yuan had arrived at some point.
She nodded at him and smiled, "Sorry, I am a little late. "
"What are you talking about, you're just on time." Feng Ling at the side just waved her hands, then she thought about it for a moment, "Why don't we have a talk first, you can go up later, after all I haven't seen you in such a long time."
Before Ning Qing could reply, Lin Yuan interrupted quickly, "I'll make tea."
With that he headed to the kitchen.
Seeing this both Ning Qing and Feng Ling smiled at each other and went to the living room.
Actually, Feng Ling was somewhat intimidating, she had a powerful aura that was common to people in high positions. Ning Qing remembered being surprised during graduation when Lin Yuerong came with her mother. She didn't expect the somewhat naive seeming Lin Yuerong to have such a stern looking mother.
Even still, Ning Qing maintained that same gentle smile and calm expression.
Sitting down on the sofa next to Ning Qing, Feng Ling began speaking, "So you're doing your graduate studies Ning Qing, it was Chinese language and literature right?"
"Yes, Aunt Feng. I'm in my first year of getting my masters."
"I heard you were doing an accelerated scholarship program, Lin Yuerong even told me you have your PhD all planned out. Congratulations!"
"Thank you, Aunt Feng."
"Actually, I'm grateful to you Ning Qing for always taking care of my daughter, she's a little scatterbrained."
"What are you saying Aunt Feng, Sister Yuerong is the one always looking after me!" Ning Qing saw that Feng Ling looked skeptical, but it was true.
She was the one who found this job for her, and when she was busy with cram school before Lin Yuerong would often come to their house to look after her sister.
They talked about Lin Yuerong until Lin Yuan returned a few minutes later holding a tray with three porcelain cups.
Ning Qing drank the familiar tea from the familiar cup. Though it was less sweet than the previous time.
"Delicious!"
Feng Ling's voice of praise rang out suddenly.
"..."
"Isn't that what the guest is supposed to say?" Lin Yuan said softly.
"Aha, is that so?"
"You're right Aunt Feng, it's delicious." Ning Qing looked at the two figures and felt that they were a little cute.
And so the three people began talking. Well it was mostly Ning Qing and Feng Ling talking while Lin Yuan drank his tea very seriously by the side. However, before the tea was finished Feng Ling got a call and had to leave the room quickly.
Ning Qing looked at Lin Yuan who was staring at his cup absentmindedly, "Your mother is very beautiful."
"Oh."
"The tea is also very delicious. Not too sweet."
"..."
Lin Yuan looked up suddenly. Seeing the bright smile on Ning Qing's face he was embarrassed, "Well, because I like it sweet, last time I didn't realise."
"Haha, it's fine."
"By the way, you seem to have a good rela-"
"-Sorry, Ning Qing, there's an emergency at the company. I have to leave now." Feng Ling came to the living room in a hurry with a serious look on her face.
"Oh, don't worry about me, Aunt Feng." Ning Qing shook her head and got up.
Feng Ling turned to Lin Yuan who was still sitting on the sofa, "Lin Yuan…this time I really have to go."
"It's fine."
Feng Ling wanted to say something else but seeing Ning Qing was also there and thinking of the call she'd just received, she could only quickly get her things.
Looking at her hurriedly walking away, Lin Yuan followed her while Ning Qing stayed by the door.
"By the way, I did a cleanup of both floors this time, so I told the housekeeper not to come this weekend, alright?"
"Oh."
"Your sister will probably be staying overnight at the company tonight, so don't wait up. Also, I've prepared some food for later in the fridge."
"Oh."
Feng Ling got into the car and rolled down the window, "I'll message you later."
"..."
Lin Yuan looked at his mother quickly putting on her seatbelt and starting the car up in a hurry, seeing her anxious face he couldn't help but say somewhat loudly, "Don't rush."
Feng Ling paused her hand that was on the steering wheel, "...I won't."
Lin Yuan watched the leaving car for a while in silence before he returned inside.
Back in the living room.
"Your mother looked like she was in a hurry…"
"It's fine."
Seeing that his face looked normal, Ning Qing placed the teacups on the tray and started walking to the kitchen, "Should we start now?"
"Huh? Ah, yes, - wait, I'll do that." Lin Yuan took the tray from her hand.
"Then I'll go upstairs first?" Ning Qing said quickly.
"..." This trick again.
"Sure." Lin Yuan replied naturally.
Ning Qing glanced at Lin Yuan's back and walked slowly up the stairs to the bedroom.
When she entered his room, she was surprised to see it was much tidier now. All the books were neatly stacked and put away, the table was cleared and there were no exercise papers scattered around.
Lin Yuerong's pink chair was also there. It was placed on the outside, closer to the door.
Ning Qing glanced around the room disappointed, and then walked to the table. She swapped the two chairs without any guilt, sat down and began talking out her books.
She thought Lin Yuan would rush up like before, but after waiting for a while and seeing that he was still not there. She stood up again and began looking around while paying attention to the door.
Actually the room was quite large even with all the bookcases and shelves. She wandered around aimlessly as the evening breeze coming from the open window ruffled her hair.
Ning Qing saw that the shelves were full of books and sometimes various little trinkets but there were no awards or trophies. Lin Yuerong had told her that he had won quite a few competitions in elementary school and middle school. And he was trying for the olympiad too, so he must be very good at maths, she thought.
Number Theory…Introduction to Pure Mathematics…Math Olympiad Past Problems…
"You really like maths huh?"
"Yeah."
The sudden voice startled Ning Qing. Lin Yuan didn't make any noise coming up the stairs. Looking at him standing there with a slight smile, she thought he must have done it on purpose.
"I thought you would come up faster, like last time." Ning Qing didn't give in.
"..." Lin Yuan was speechless. He thought, you really don't like to lose.
"I was getting this." He held up a bag, "My mother forgot to give it to you."
Ning Qing took the bag confused. Glancing inside it seemed like cosmetic products.
"It's just some skincare and -"
"-But…"
"Don't worry about it. My mother works at a cosmetics company, so she probably got them for free. It's polite to give a greeting gift." Lin Yuan explained.
"Really?...Then tell her I said thank you."
"Oh."
Lin Yuan walked over to the table and saw that she had switched the chairs, his eyes twitched, but he still sat down in the pink chair.
"Should we start?"
Ning Qing placed the bag down and also sat down. Seeing him open his books, she couldn't help but tease him.
"So your mother works at a cosmetics company…No wonder you have such good skin Lin Yuan."
She thought he would be flustered, but he just looked at her with a strange expression.
"Don't you already know that? I mean you're close friends with my sister."
"..."
"Aha, maybe…"
Ning Qing felt embarrassed seeing his bright eyes.
Then she was surprised, she didn't really know why she said that, she felt like she was a little caught up in the mood. The energy felt different today.
Ning Qing coughed, and began taking out the exercise books, "Ahem, I'll check your homework first, and then we'll do some speaking exercises, alright?"
Hearing she was going to check homework, Lin Yuan's face became serious.
Ning Qing caught his expression, "What's wrong? You didn't get to finish it?"
"No…I just wondered if I've improved."
"Well it's only been a week -" Ning Qing paused. Yes, it's only been a week since they met. For some reason it felt like a lot longer.
She shook away her thoughts and continued, "Don't worry about immediate results. You are very diligent Lin Yuan, as long as you work hard you will improve. Don't doubt my skills!"
"Oh." Lin Yuan thought she really looked like a teacher when she became serious.
"Actually, if you're worried about reading comprehension…" Ning Qing glanced toward his bed, "You know before I lent you that book, but it might be a bit difficult for you at this point."
"Actually the best way to learn is to start from the ground up, maybe it would be better to start with childrens books."
Seeing that Lin Yuan looked stunned and didn't say anything, Ning Qing thought he was embarrassed. She was about to explain her thought process, but before she could, he started rummaging in his bag.
"Huh? Fairy tales?"
Ning Qing picked up the thin books that Lin Yuan had placed onto the table.
"I got them from the school library."
Ning Qing looked through them: Grimms' Fairy Tales…Jack and the Beanstalk...Little Riding Hood…The Little Prince…
"I'm surprised that a highschool library had these in English, I wonder when they got them?" Looking at these familiar books, Ning Qing spoke with some amusement.
Then she turned to Lin Yuan, "You are very proactive Lin Yuan, I'm glad."
"Hmm."
Ning Qing picked the 'The Little Prince', "Have you read any of them yet? This one is very good, but it's a bit more advanced."
"Yes, but I haven't read that one."
Ning Qing stared at Lin Yuan for a while. Her straightforward gaze made him confused, "What's wrong?"
"Actually, I think you would like this book Lin Yuan."
"..." What does that mean? For some reason he had the feeling she was teasing him again.
But Ning Qing didn't explain. She just returned the books back to him, "Okay, I'll check your homework first."