Lu Zhou was slightly shocked. He pulled out his phone and saw that Mrs. Yang did actually sent him a message.
[Teacher Lu, my apologies. I have a meeting at the office and I can't make it back. it could be ten o'clock until I come back. I'll pay you double the salary for your inconvenience. Hope you can forgive me.]
Double salary…
Which means, 400 yuan an hour?
Lu Zhou took in a deep breath as he thought, "Ma'am, don't be polite. You don't even have to come back tonight!"
He obviously knew that it would not happen.
Han Mengqi poked her head out of the kitchen, looked at Lu Zhou, and asked, "Are you eating the chicken or beef flavored? There's only sandwiches in the fridge. That woman locked the door so we can't order food delivery."
Lu Zhou looked at the frozen sandwiches in her hand and could not help but ask, "You're eating that for dinner?"
"Is there a problem?" asked Han Mengqi. She did not care at all.
Of course there's a problem!
Lu Zhou sighed. He stood up from the sofa and walked toward the kitchen.
Han Mengqi asked suspiciously, "What are you doing?" She took a step back.
"I'll make some food."
"You can cook?" asked Han Mengqi. She stared at Lu Zhou with her eyes wide opened, like she did not believe him.
Lu Zhou rinsed the pot, smiled, and said, "Yeah, you think I'm the same as you?"
Han Mengqi raised her chin unhappily and asked, "What are you implying?"
"Nothing. If you don't have anything to do, go and read the thing that I wrote. It's in the living room. It'll help you," said Lu Zhou while rinsing the pot. He did not even turned his head around.
This family had not cooked for so long that there was a layer of dust on top of the pan. Lu Zhou had to wash it multiple times in order to clean it thoroughly.
Other than sandwiches, the fridge surprisingly also had some fresh food. As Han Mengqi would say, it was for "that woman" to make salads.
"I'll fry some cabbage and fry some chicken breast with chili. That's two dishes right there. I'll cook two cups of rice. If it's too much, I'll eat more."
Lu Zhou washed his hands and placed the chopping board on the kitchen countertop. He used his experienced hands and chopped up the food. The chicken breast was slightly cumbersome as he had to boil them in water first. Temperature could not be too high, otherwise the meat would become tough, making it difficult to chew.
However, for Lu Zhou, this was not a problem.
During the time when his mother was sick, he would cook for his family on an almost daily basis. Although he had not been in a kitchen for two years, he still had not forgotten what he learned.
Han Mengqi sat on the living room sofa and listened to the chopping sounds coming from the kitchen. She looked at the outline Lu Zhou wrote her and felt so annoyed that she could not focus.
After a while, the kitchen door opened. The aroma of the food plunged into the tip of her nose.
Han Mengqi's nose twitched. Her mouth started to water and her stomach rumbled.
Lu Zhou's voice called out to her.
"Come eat if you're hungry. Add the rice yourself."
Han Mengqi wanted to say some mean words. She looked at the revision textbooks on the coffee table and then at the food on the table. In the end, she decided not to say those inappropriate words. Instead, she murmured, "Ok" and went into the bathroom.
People generally knew the difference between good intentions and malicious intentions.
Han Mengqi washed her hands and served half a bowl of rice for herself. She sat across from Lu Zhou.
She looked at the home cooked dishes and hesitated. She grabbed a piece of cabbage with her chopsticks and suddenly looked at Lu Zhou with suspicion in her eyes, "You didn't put anything weird in here right?"
Lu Zhou heard her and nearly choked on his rice. He raised his head to stare angrily at this chick before saying, "Are you crazy? I'm literally eating it as well."
Han Mengqi blushed. She realized how stupid her question was. She did not want to admit her stupidity and said stubbornly, "Isn't there a drug where if you eat it first, you are immune to the poison…"
Lu Zhou said rudely, "You must be stupid from watching too much television. Don't eat it if you don't want to. Go and eat your sandwiches."
Han Mengqi stuck her tongue out and did not say anything as she continued to eat.
While eating, the two did not exchange a single word.
They ate slowly. Lu Zhou finished his rice and was about to stand up, but when he saw Han Mengqi went into the kitchen and served herself another bowl of rice, he was surprised.
Isn't this her third bowl?
Why did this chick eat so much?
Lu Zhou looked at her tiny body in disbelief. It did not look like she could eat much.
Maybe she only added a bit of rice each time?
Lu Zhou walked to the rice cooker, opened it, and was instantly shocked.
There's no more?
Lu Zhou looked back at Han Mengqi who was eating fiercely.
"What… Are you looking at me for?" asked Han Mengqi. She noticed Lu Zhou was staring at her and felt embarrassed. She swallowed the food in her mouth and asked, "How about I give you some?"
"No, thanks… You're still growing, you should eat more," said Lu Zhou as he nodded his head. He then placed the cutlery and bowls into the kitchen sink.
He was about to finish tidying up the kitchen when Han Mengqi walked in with her empty bowl and looked at Lu Zhou apologetically, "How about… I wash the dishes?"
This guy was too hard working to the point that even she felt embarrassed.
"It's fine. Just leave it there. Go use this time and study in the living room," said Lu Zhou. He was washing the dishes and did not even turn his head.
Studying again?!
Han Mengqi made a funny face behind Lu Zhou's back before she turned around and walked to the living room.
Lu Zhou finished cleaning the kitchen and walked back to the living room. When he saw the chick reading the material that he wrote, he smiled in his heart. He sat next to her and asked, "How is it? Can you understand?"
"Yeah… It's too easy."
"Easy? You messed up quite a lot of these easy questions," said Lu Zhou. He took out a past exam paper and said, "For example, this question. It asked you to determine the relationship between the line and the circle according to the equation. As I see it, it was free marks."
Han Mengqi pouted and argued, "You're already in university, of course this is easy for you."
"Really? I didn't learn this stuff in university. I haven't touched this type of question in a year. I just looked at it this afternoon," answered Lu Zhou with a smile.
"Well, this is my level of mathematics. Do what you want," said Han Mengqi. She gave up, leaned against the sofa, and crossed her legs.
"You're giving up? I think I can still help you," said Lu Zhou.
"You don't have to comfort me. I know my own situation. I basically didn't study last semester," said Han Mengqi with an expressionless face as she crossed her arms.
Lu Zhou smiled and replied, "You don't even have the courage to try?"
"Don't try to bait me with that."
Ah…
He had not expected her to see through his trick.
The atmosphere cooled down again. Han Mengqi was playing on her phone. She did not know why she did not lock herself in her room again. However, she did not say a single word to Lu Zhou.
The sky gradually became dark and Lu Zhou turned on the living room lights.
At this moment he realized that having a big house was not a good thing.
The more people the better. It was pretty empty if one were alone. The dark and empty house looked like it could suck away someone's soul.
Lu Zhou took a book from the bookshelves and sat on the living room sofa as he quietly began to read.
Han Mengqi was playing on her phone when she secretly looked at him and quietly muttered.
"Thank you."
"What?" asked Lu Zhou. He turned his face toward her slightly and looked at her with a confused expression.
"Your cooking… was very tasty," said Han Mengqi with a stiff tone as she kept looking at her phone.
"It's very simple stuff… Your mom has never cooked them for you?" asked Lu Zhou.
Han Mengqi's facial expression was cold as she scoffed, "Her? She doesn't cook… I barely even see her."
No wonder she ate so much. She probably hasn't eaten home cooked meals in a long time!
Lu Zhou thought his cooking skills had improved, but it turned out he misunderstood.
"What about your father?"
Lu Zhou instantly regretted asking this question because the answer was obvious.
"He's fighting a legal case with my mom, but it should be done soon," said Han Mengqi with a still expressionless face as she hugged her leg while sitting on the sofa..
Lu Zhou's throat choked up slightly. He did not know why, but seeing her like this made him felt sympathetic toward her.
Han Mengqi looked straight ahead and suddenly spoke.
"… In the future, can you still cook for me?"
Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, "If you study hard, I'll think about it."
"… Wow, preconditions. Lame," replied Han Mengqi before turning her head around.
Lu Zhou said, "After all, my job performance is going to be evaluated. If your mom thought that I was doing a bad job, she could fire me, alright?"
"There's no solution to that. That woman loves to force other people to do stuff," said Han Mengqi. She lowered her head and hugged her kneecaps tightly as she said, "I'll try to work hard, but no guarantees."
"Ok," Lu Zhou smiled, "then we'll settle at that."
The pair started to discuss school work. The tension was high at first but it quickly became relaxing.
It was around eleven o'clock when the sound of a car came from downstairs.
Soon after, the entrance door opened. Mrs. Yang finally came home.
Han Mengqi silently looked at her mother and did not say anything. She went back to her room.
The woman's face remained the same as usual. She looked at the textbooks and the summaries on the coffee table. Her eyebrows relaxed and she bowed slightly to Lu Zhou. Her tired voice sounded deeply apologetic as she said, "I'm very sorry for delaying your time. How about I send you home?"
"No need, I can just call a DiDi," said Lu Zhou as he waved his hand. He smiled and said, "Stay home with your daughter. She still needs a lot of work to build the foundation of her mathematics. I gave her a study outline. If she spends time studying it, I believe that she can catch up."
"Thank you, Teacher Lu. I'll remind her," said Mrs. Yang with a smile as she nodded her head.
"No problem. I'm leaving. Oh yeah, you guys should communicate more. I mean, regarding studying. After all, studying can't be rushed. It'll create an opposite effect if you pushed her too hard. It's better to let the child find her own problem solving rhythm."
Mrs. Yang offered to send Lu Zhou home again, but Lu Zhou still declined. He took the elevator down and called a DiDi cab.
After he got in the car, Mrs. Yang used WeChat pay and sent the money to Lu Zhou's phone.
The first five hours was 200 per hour, the last five was 400 per hour, that added up to 3000 yuan.
He looked at the 3000 yuan pay and could not help but think.
Rich people really don't value money…
He only had 3000 or so in his bank account and he had instantly doubled his bank account.
If it was not for the summer classes that he had to attend, he would work here every day…