Xu Xiuwen also had a good sleep.
The next day, he woke up around noon.
He made himself a simple lunch, and after eating, he sat on the living room sofa, idly watching TV.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
He picked it up and saw it was a text message from Li Haimei.
After what happened last night, Xu Xiuwen thought that Li Haimei wouldn't contact him again in the short term.
He didn't expect that just one night later, she would send him another message.
Xu Xiuwen opened the message and saw it was a routine notification asking him to continue tutoring Li Ke that night.
Seeing the message, Xu Xiuwen couldn't help but laugh.
He even suspected that Li Haimei might have enjoyed last night, so she was subtly reminding him to come again tonight.
But then he thought, Li Haimei probably isn't the type of woman who would do that.
Xu Xiuwen considered for a moment and replied, "I'm not available tonight; we can talk about the tutoring another day."
Just as Xu Xiuwen was about to put down his phone, Li Haimei called him.
When the call connected, Li Haimei spoke first: "I'm very disappointed in you."
Her voice wasn't loud, more like she was speaking under her breath.
"What do you mean by that?" Xu Xiuwen asked, puzzled.
"You promised me you'd tutor Ke Ke, but now you're making excuses and finding reasons not to come. Do you think I'm easy to bully?"
"Uh…" Xu Xiuwen didn't know what to say.
Seeing his silence, Li Haimei assumed he was admitting it.
This made her very angry.
After a moment of hesitation, she said, "You… you've already gotten what you wanted from me, what more do you want?"
After speaking, Li Haimei's face was already flushed with embarrassment.
The mature woman's shy appearance was incredibly beautiful, but Xu Xiuwen couldn't see this beautiful scene through the phone.
Xu Xiuwen immediately understood.
He chuckled, "So you deliberately got drunk last night and waited for me in the car, didn't you?"
Li Haimei didn't respond.
Silence sometimes is an answer.
Xu Xiuwen understood the answer now.
He found Li Haimei quite interesting.
She was bold when making decisions but had a thin skin.
What was supposed to happen had already happened, and what wasn't supposed to have happened was repeated many times.
What was there to be shy about?
Xu Xiuwen thought for a moment.
He didn't want Li Haimei to think of him as someone who is untrustworthy, so he decided to explain.
"Li Haimei, I'm not intentionally making excuses; it's just that I'm very busy and don't have the time to tutor Li Ke."
Hearing this, Li Haimei's expression softened slightly, but she still said coldly, "But you already promised me."
Xu Xiuwen was a bit exasperated, "I did promise, but circumstances have changed."
Li Haimei said in a cold voice, "I don't care; you must tutor Ke Ke."
"How about this, since we didn't clarify things last time, let's clear things up now. I can continue tutoring Li Ke, but I don't have time to go every day. After thinking about it, I can set aside two days a week for tutoring."
Li Haimei frowned, "No, it has to be five days."
"That's unreasonable. I've already compromised, and you should too. How about three days?"
Without waiting for the woman to refuse, Xu Xiuwen took the initiative: "Don't be so quick to refuse. Three days is the maximum I can manage. If you don't agree, then we'll call it quits. I won't tutor anymore, and you can stop looking for me. As for the favor you owe me, I won't ask you to fulfill it."
Perhaps Xu Xiuwen's attitude was too firm, so Li Haimei didn't immediately refuse.
"Well, do you agree or not?" Xu Xiuwen asked.
"Three days is fine, but if we agree on three days, you must come without making excuses," Li Haimei said.
"Don't worry about it."
"Good."
A few seconds of silence followed.
Xu Xiuwen said, "Then I'll hang up."
"Wait a moment." Li Haimei suddenly called out to him.
"Do you have anything else?"
"On Sunday night, you need to accompany me to a dinner party."
"Did I hear that right? You want me to go with you to a dinner party?"
"Yes."
"What kind of dinner party is it, and why do I need to accompany you?"
"Don't ask so many questions. Just adjust your schedule, and I'll inform you of the location later."
"Alright then." Since Li Haimei had put it this way, Xu Xiuwen was tactful enough to agree.
"By the way, could you pick up Ke Ke for me tonight? I don't have time to get her."
Li Haimei hung up immediately after finishing her sentence.
Xu Xiuwen didn't even have a chance to refuse.
He was extremely speechless.
While going to a dinner party was understandable, helping her pick up Li Ke was something else.
It felt as if Xu Xiuwen wasn't just a tutor but her husband.
Although he indeed enjoyed the privileges of a husband, it didn't mean he wanted to take on the responsibilities and obligations of one.
But it was too late to say such things now.
A moment of weakness can lead to trouble.
He had only himself to blame for not being able to control his desires.
By 5 PM, Li Haimei sent him another text, providing Li Ke's school address and dismissal time.
Since he was going to tutor Li Ke anyway, picking her up from school wouldn't take much extra time.
Xu Xiuwen drove over.
When he arrived at XX High School where Li Ke studied, the school had not yet dismissed, but there was already a crowd of parents outside.
Xu Xiuwen found a parking spot and got out of the car, heading towards the school gate.
He waited for ten minutes.
The school bell rang, and students poured out from several buildings.
Xu Xiuwen stood to the left of the gate, scanning the faces of the exiting students.
He hadn't seen Li Ke yet.
After the initial crowd of students had passed, the number of students leaving the campus sharply decreased.
At this moment, Xu Xiuwen suddenly spotted three girls walking together toward the gate.
With his good eyesight, he recognized the girl in the middle as Li Ke right away.
Just as Xu Xiuwen was about to wave and greet Li Ke, she noticed him too.
The girl called out with surprise, "Teacher Xu!"
She ran towards Xu Xiuwen.
Then she stopped in front of him and casually adjusted her hair.
To Xu Xiuwen, Li Ke was like a fan. Although she had a rebellious side, she generally behaved well in front of him.
So, Xu Xiuwen didn't dislike the girl.
He smiled and said, "Why are you out so late? Everyone else has already left."
Li Ke replied with a smile, "Today it was my turn to be on duty. We just finished cleaning, so we're a bit late."
"Alright, let's go. My car is parked over there."
Li Ke didn't move.
She stood still, playfully asking, "Teacher Xu, have you had dinner yet?"
Xu Xiuwen shook his head.
"Teacher Xu, I haven't had dinner either. How about we have dinner first and then go back for the tutoring?"
Li Ke rubbed her stomach and said, "I'm so hungry."
Since it wouldn't take much longer and Xu Xiuwen was also a bit hungry, he agreed, "Okay."
"Hehe, Teacher Xu, you're the best." Li Ke said with a big smile.
"Let's go then."
"Wait a moment, Teacher Xu. My classmates haven't had dinner either. Can they join us?"
"Sure."
Li Ke's smile widened.
She turned and waved at the two girls behind her.
The two girls approached slowly.
Li Ke said with a smile, "Mi'er, Wan'er, look who this is."
The two girls glanced up at Xu Xiuwen.
It had been half a year since Xu Xiuwen's first drama aired. The initial frenzy over Dao Ming Si had long since faded. Now, even without a mask, the chances of being recognized on the street had significantly decreased. So he rarely wore a mask now.
Upon seeing his face, the two girls reacted differently.
One girl's eyes widened in surprise, her eyes sparkling and her lips curling into a smile. But the next second, she lowered her head and looked at the ground.
The other girl also quickly recognized Xu Xiuwen, but her reaction was a dismissive snort followed by turning her gaze away. Her eyes held a hint of disdain and contempt.
While the two girls were examining Xu Xiuwen, he was also taking in their appearance.
He was taken aback when he saw that the two girls looked exactly alike.
It wasn't because they were extraordinarily beautiful, but because the two girls were identical twins.
The only noticeable difference was their reaction to him.
Notably, the two girls were indeed good-looking—far from being unattractive. They were very much in line with the term "beautiful."
They both had standard oval faces, willow-like eyebrows, almond eyes, fair and tender skin, and dimples when they smiled.
Their figures were also quite appealing: full and upright in the chest, slim waists, and long legs, standing about 165 cm tall.
Xu Xiuwen knew these twin girls must be Li Ke's classmates.
At this moment, Li Ke smiled and introduced the twins to Xu Xiuwen.
"Teacher Xu, this is Chen Shu Wan, and this is Chen Shu Mi. They're my good friends."
Xu Xiuwen smiled and greeted them, "Hello, I'm Xu Xiuwen."
The first girl, Chen Shu Wan, glanced up at Xu Xiuwen and politely said, "Hello, I'm Chen Shu Wan."
The second girl, Chen Shu Mi, gave a subdued "Hello."
Li Ke then said, "Mi'er, Wan'er, since you haven't had dinner either, Teacher Xu and I are going to have dinner now. Do you want to join us?"
Chen Shu Wan's heart lifted at the invitation and she was about to agree, but her shy nature and mild social anxiety made her hesitate.
Instead, Chen Shu Mi shook her head and said, "No, we don't need to. My mom is waiting for us at home for dinner."
Chen Shu Wan felt disappointed when her sister turned down the offer for her.
"Alright then," Li Ke said, not insisting.
"Teacher Xu, let's go have dinner."
"Mm." Xu Xiuwen nodded and waved to the twin sisters, "Goodbye."
Chen Shu Wan waved goodbye to Li Ke.
Chen Shu Mi gave a casual wave.
Then they went their separate ways.
The twin sisters headed together to the bus stop at the school gate, planning to take the bus home.
Xu Xiuwen and Li Ke walked toward his parking spot.
Xu Xiuwen's car was parked a little farther away on the roadside.
As they walked, Xu Xiuwen asked, "What do you want to eat later?"
Li Ke asked in return, "What do you want to eat, Teacher Xu?"
"As for me, I'm fine with anything."
"I'm also fine with anything. I'm not picky," Li Ke said with a smile.
"Hehe…" Xu Xiuwen gave a faint smile, "Let's go have buns then. I haven't had them in a while and I'm craving them."
"Sure." Li Ke nodded and said, "Teacher Xu, I know a place that has delicious buns, just on the street behind our school. I'll take you there."
"Alright."
The bun shop Li Ke mentioned was across the street from the school.
Xu Xiuwen drove according to Li Ke's directions and parked in front of the bun shop.
As Xu Xiuwen was unbuckling his seatbelt and about to get out of the car, he noticed that Li Ke was still sitting still.
He turned to see that Li Ke was looking out the window.
He followed her gaze and saw a tall boy on the opposite side of the street dragging a smaller, thinner boy toward a nearby alley.
A group of other boys was following them.
It was clear that the smaller boy was reluctant to go with these people, but he couldn't resist.
"Do you know him?" Xu Xiuwen asked.
Li Ke nodded, "Yes, he's from our class."
"Which one?"
"The thin boy."
"What's going on?"
Besides Li Ke's classmates, the other boys looked rough and clearly weren't model students.
From their rude behavior and the way they were dragging Li Ke's classmate, Xu Xiuwen guessed what they intended to do.
Li Ke suddenly turned her head back and said, "I don't know. Let's not worry about it and go eat."
"Wait!" Xu Xiuwen stopped her.
"What's wrong?" Li Ke's pretty eyes showed confusion.
Xu Xiuwen asked, "It looks like your classmate is being bullied. Are you just going to ignore it?"
Li Ke sensed Xu Xiuwen's dissatisfaction in his tone.
She panicked and quickly explained, "I can't help it. You don't know how powerful Brother Hao is at school. Anyone who offends him doesn't have a good outcome."
Brother Hao was probably the nickname of the tall boy.
From Li Ke's reaction and words, Xu Xiuwen inferred that she was aware of the situation.
Xu Xiuwen said solemnly, "Li Ke, I'm a bit disappointed in you."
"Huh?" Li Ke was startled, "Why?"
"Your classmate is being bullied, and you see it but pretend not to. Isn't that too cold-hearted?"
Xu Xiuwen's words hit Li Ke hard.
The girl was instantly stunned.
In the next second, her eyes were red.
"It's not that I'm ignoring it. You don't know how influential Brother Hao is at school. Those who offend him never end up well."
Xu Xiuwen calmly replied, "Others might be afraid of him, but you have Li Haimei's daughter status. What's there to be afraid of?"
Hearing this, Li Ke suddenly burst into tears.
"I… I'm sorry…"