A mansion naturally came with some land. In this one's case, there was a small yard behind it that had already been conquered by greenery. Essentially, it was a mess.
That was what it had been when Lukas and Tingting first arrived. After Tingting's insistence, the garden had been cleared out. As more numbers were added to their little group, the garden became increasingly decorated. The shed was cleaned out to store the boys' bicycles and Xiaozhi had planted small flowers here and there to pretty up the area. It ended up looking quite presentable. The boys would, when homework was complete, play short rounds of football or tag. Their days were actually mostly spent leisurely. Their only stress was at dinner where food was scarce and when facing mutated beings hidden in cracks in their rooms.
Their only other complaint would be the lack of a heating system in the mansion. At night, they either had to huddle together or risk freezing to death. These conditions made it hard to feel comfortable. Funds had to be taken out to purchase more and more blankets.
More importantly, Lukas now stood in the garden admiring the glossy paint job. The cool breeze gently ruffled his hair as he pondered over his plan of action.
What he would do with a single motorbike? Wasn't it obvious? Mike and himself would learn to ride it and go out to steal more using the same method of driving it away. Once they procured more, the others would begin to learn too. Who'd teach them? Well, there was only one person capable of doing that, wasn't there?
"Wu Shen, you'll be the teacher."
"Excuse me?"
Once again, Wu Shen was put into a situation of not knowing the context of what Lukas was talking about.
"I'm asking for a favour. Teach us all. You care for your members, right? This will assure them a secure path of escape. Everyone will benefit." Lukas switched his tone to be more polite. Favours had to be requested for in the nicest way possible.
"You will also be learning from me? I get to boss you around?"
"I guess."
"Wow. Didn't see that coming."
"So, will you do it?"
"Only if I get more food."
Ugh. That was hard. Food was something that brought him satisfaction and joy. Without food, what was life? The condition meant less food for him, and more food for needle head. This was indeed a difficult situation. Threatening him would indeed be much better. But what if he held a grudge and killed him by teaching him incorrectly. This is why a teacher-student relationship required trust. In the end, he had no other choice.
'Get fat, pig.'
"Deal." Lukas suppressed his turbulent emotions and held out a hand.
"Deal." Wu Shen shook it.
————————
"Mount, balance, and then-."
"And then?" Mike pushed Wu Shen for more information.
"Ride."
...The f*ck?
"This teacher sucks. He's gotta go." Mike smacked his forehead and moaned to Lukas.
"Ready to report him to the headmaster?" Lukas had also had enough.
"Agreed."
"Wait! Let's try once more."
These lines were repeated as if on an endless loop.
After a few more hours of repeating the same words, Wu Shen finally realised that his method wasn't exactly the most helpful. With this realisation, his teaching style gradually improved. He mixed in demonstrations and theory. It was quite gruelling work.
The boys would end the day covered in bruises and dirt. It wasn't easy, but that was ok. They had all the time in the world. After all, a teen's life was made up of tests, homework and tutoring. Without that, the two dropouts, Mike and Lukas, had nothing better to do.
..
Another Saturday afternoon, Wu Shen walked into the garden with a pile of books and paper.
"You guys don't know about road signs, do you?
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Mike scratched his head. Why would you need to know those things. Didn't you just have to look at traffic lights and stuff?
"Thought so. That's why, today, you'll be doing some more theory work. Here, learn all of these for tomorrow. I'll be testing you."
Then he left.
"Hey, bro. He left."
"Yeah. I saw."
Wu Shen quickly made his way back to the mansion. How smart was he? He should have thought of this from the start. Instead of tiring himself out pointlessly every single day, he could give them work to do from time to time. Work that would not require is supervision. Work that would allow him to rest. What a genius.
He entered his bedroom and slumped on a mountain of blankets. He dozed off immediately.
...
"Is he really not coming back? Is this freaking self-study?"
Mike stared at the spot where Wu Shen disappeared from sight.
"Looks like it."
Lukas sighed. This was unmistakably 'that'.
Homework.
"Get to work. The sooner we do this, the earlier we can go play."
"Oh~ I see."
And like that, two boys sat in the dirt, memorising the meaning of each sign they came across in the materials given to them.