Qin Guan had thought that he could pool the wisdom and help of his roommates for the holiday discussion, but it turned out that they all had their own plans.
Ye Dong, the oldest boy, would be busy with his work at the Students’ Union. Recently, he had gotten to know the Secretary of the Liaison Department. As an ambitious young man, Ye Dong was determined to dedicate himself to servicing his university.
Mu Lejiang, the third oldest boy, had already purchased a complete set of field equipment and joined the Camping Society. He was ready to follow the path of his forerunners and travel around China.
Li Jie, the fifth oldest, had made four dinner appointments with his fellow townsmen, planning to set up his own fellow countrymen association.
Wang Lei, the fourth oldest, smiled and told Qin Guan, “I’ll join you. I have no plans.”
“How can you have no plans, Wang Lei? I’d hoped for your wisdom and help!”
Qin Guan knew he had to make the plan himself. He thought over what he could do and figured out a plan. To carry it out, he had to be easy to reach, so he took the time to buy an EasyOwn SIM card at Xizhimen. He did not care about the cell phone number, so it only cost him 80 yuan.
Qin Guan memorized the phone number and asked Wang Lei to write an ad. The ad said: “Fierce Grade 3 of High School is approaching. Wanna help your kid win from the starting line? Wanna provide them with a first-hand examination experience? Hire a top student from the Capital University of Finance and Economics with 688 in the College Entrance Examination. Excel at the exam and bring your triumphant kid home!” Qin Guan had actually gotten 689 in the College Entrance Examination, but he deducted one point because 6 and 8 were both considered lucky numbers in China.
Under the curious gaze of the staff at the printing agency, Wang Lei made dozens of fliers and went to the entrance of the High School Affiliated to the Capital University of Finance and Economics.
Yes. That was Qin Guan’s plan. He had decided to do some tutoring, so he began to publicize his business before the holiday.
When Wang Lei arrived at the entrance of the university, he saw Qin Guan surrounded by parents and talking about his tutoring classes excitedly.
By the time he passed the fliers to Qin Guan, the latter had already convinced two parents to register their kids for his classes.
The two boys handed out all the fliers in just one morning, and shared the registration fees. The two of them would tutor three students.
It occurred to Wang Lei that Qin Guan was crystal clear about the tutoring business. At the time, tutoring had not become a corporate chain business yet. Usually, college students either found a tutor on their own during their spare time, or sought help from small part-time agencies. Tutoring fees ranged from 15 to 20 yuan per hour, yet Qin Guan had charged the parents 25 yuan per hour. That was a real surprise.
At first, Wang Lei had just decided to give it a shot because he had nothing to do during the holiday. He had not expected to get such a high fee for tutoring.
The two boys shared the tutoring tasks. They were busy for six days during the holiday. They had done a great job. Every day they had four hours of tutoring. They went to two different houses, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The students all lived nearby. This way, they were able to earn nearly 100 yuan a day. Tutoring was easy for them. Plus, they still had time for themselves.
Wang Lei was thrilled to discover that six days of tutoring could earn him a month and a half’s living expenses. It seemed that he had underestimated Qin Guan.
While the two boys were making their schedule for the class, their other roommates heard the news. They were all awfully regretful. Who'd have known that it would be so easy for students to earn money? If they had, they wouldn't have made other plans.
Qin Guan and Wang Lei started tutoring as scheduled. The parents had initially just wanted to give them a shot, but they were quite satisfied with the two tutors. They had not spend their money in vain after all.
As top students of CUFE, Qin Guan and Wang Lei had a good knowledge of high school subjects and were both patient enough with their students.
The holiday was just coming to an end, when Qin Guan got a phone call from a mother living in the neighborhood. She had seen Qin Guan’s flier on the school bulletin board. However, she told Qin Guan that her kid was not attending the High School Affiliated to CUFE, but the Tiesan High School of Xicheng, one of the most notorious high schools in Beijing.
The mother asked Qin Guan to tutor her kid at her house in the evenings. Her house was close to CUFE and her kid just needed two-hours of tutoring for a certain period. She was not willing to talk too much about her kid on the phone. Instead, she invited Qin Guan to her house. “Come over and you won't be sorry,” were the last words Qin Guan heard on the phone, which was enough by itself to convince him to pay a visit.
After finishing his tutoring classes for the day, Qin Guan received deep gratitude from his students. He was feeling delighted as he rode his second-hand bicycle to the residential block nearby.
A graceful woman opened the door. She seemed surprised to discover that the tutor was so young. She took a look at the boy’s appearance. She seemed to have believed that all top students were ugly.
As soon as Qin Guan sat down, he heard a cracking noise from another room. “Mom, let me out! I’ve promised my classmate to go shopping with her!”
The mother sighed and told Qin Guan, “I know I’m being rude, but I was only wondering if you could tutor my daughter. I have no other requests. I just want you to make her focus back on her studies.” Tears shined in her eyes as she added, “She used to be such a good girl, but since she started going to Santie High School, she has been hanging out with rascals and staying out late. Her teachers don't care about that sort of things, and she doesn't listen to me. I have to try every way I can.”
Qin Guan felt scared. He realized this girl would be hard to deal with, so he decided to turn the woman down.
The mother seemed to guess his answer, and said, “If you’d give it a try, I’ll pay you 50 yuan an hour, no matter the outcome. Just getting her to stay at home instead of fooling around will be good enough for me. I don’t expect her to be able to go to college someday. As long as you can come and tutor her every weekend, you’ll get an extra bonus of 500 yuan for half the term. What do you say?”
“Yes, absolutely!” Qin Guan was thrilled. “Please don't worry. I’ll take care of it,” he answered heroically. Qin Guan would never refuse such a good deal, but he could not guarantee that the girl would make any progress.
The mother looked moved as she took Qin Guan to a room that was locked from the outside. Banging noises were coming from the inside.
When the woman opened the door, Qin Guan saw a girl that looked like an angry bird. He could tell that she was pissed off. She was about to start yelling at her mom when she noticed Qin Guan standing behind her. All of a sudden, the girl's expression became dumbfounded. She stood by the door stupefied as her mom and Qin Guan entered the room.
The mother asked Qin Guan to take a seat and said to her numb daughter, “Jiajia, what are you doing? Come and say hello to Mr. Qin. He is your new tutor.”
Hearing her mom, the girl turned her head and stared at Qin Guan. Without blinking, she shuffled to her bed and fixed her eyes on the young man in front of her.
The mother went on, “Mr. Qin is a top student at CUFE. I've asked him to help you with your studies, so you need to be good student…”
Fed up with her mom’s chattering, the girl waved her hand and said, “Got it! I’ll be good!”
The mother felt gratified. Turning to Qin Guan, she said, “It’s still early. How would you feel about starting today?”
Qin Guan got up and replied politely, “No problem. I’ll try and see how well she studies right now.”
The mother was quite pleased. She got up and left the room to avoid disturbing Qin Guan’s lesson.
With mixed feelings, Qin Guan turned back to the girl, who was looking him up and down from the bed. No wonder she looked like an angry bird. She was undoubtedly difficult to deal with.
Qin Guan noticed that the girl had red hair. Her peers seldom had their hair died at the time. Smart Cantonese hairstyles had not gained popularity in Beijing yet, so her hair looked truly shocking to him. Her ripped jeans, white sneakers, nose ring and tattoos reflected her trendy personality, which did not match her age at all. Qin Guan sighed to himself. He was already regretting accepting the job.
The girl was unaware of Qin Guan's thoughts as she poked his arm and said, “Hey, I’m Huang Jiajia. What’s your name?”
Qin Guan picked up the textbook from the desk. It was so brand new, its sharp edge could give him a paper cut.
“I’m Qin Guan. From now on, I will come and tutor you every weekend in the evening for two hours. Are you okay with that?”
Huang Jiajia was thrilled. She had become obsessed with her cute young tutor. “He’s so cute and his voice is so charming. I love him so much!”
Hearing what Qin Guan had said, Huang Jiajia bounced up from the bed. She grabbed a chair and sat down close to Qin Guan.
“Mr. Qin, what’s so interesting about that book? Come and chat with me. Is it true that you're a student at CUFE? Where are you from?” As she talked, she moved closer to Qin Guan.
Qin Guan was not attracted by the pretty young girl in front of him. He was still thinking of how he could help her get back on track.
“Let’s see how well you're doing at school.” Ignoring the girl’s pretty face, Qin Guan opened the book and turned to page one.
“Phew!” Huang Jiajia looked bored as she went back to her bed. Looking at Qin Guan, she sneered, “Who likes studying? I hate books! They’re nonsense!”
Qin Guan was thinking of how he could persuade this troublesome young girl to study, while Huang Jiajia was thinking to herself: “My tutor is so handsome and romantic. He is gentle and well-cultivated. If I give up studying and lose all ambition, he’ll be heartbroken! His melancholy eyes betray his sadness about my future. He must be really upset to see such a beautiful young girl go astray. Fine, I’ll study for his sake.”
That was a sudden change of heart, if there ever was one.