Do you know what it feels like when the rug is pulled beneath your feet?
You might not know but An Xiulan could perfectly define the entire process of the rug being pulled beneath her feet. That too in the dramatic slow motion that they use in movies.
“Hi, I’m Han Nanxian and I will be your tutor, “These were the words that the boy uttered and caused An Xiulan to blink her eyes at the situation. And this was how she knew that rug had been pulled beneath her feet. It was so sad to think about the good things that she had weaved in her head about her and the tutors all day but now…
She wasn’t even sure if she wanted to stay there or not.
“Is there any problem?” Han Naxian flashed a charming smile that made every girl’s heart flutter but not the dumbo’s standing before her. It took a certain school tyrant to even get a reaction out of her.
‘Yes, there is a problem,’ An Xiulan said in her head. ‘Actually, a bigger one. Seeing you standing before my eyes with this irking smile after you make my deskmate sad several times with your presence merely makes me want to send your soul to Dragon Era in the body of a pitiful concubine of the Emperor, the same scumbag Emperor who happens to be my Uncle. Oh, I know I’m rambling and this doesn’t happen in real life only in the stupid novels that Qiao Wei reads but I just want to let you know that I don’t like you at all and I don’t even know why.’
However, in the end, An Xiulan merely uttered, “No, we should start studying.”
Han Nanxian nodded his head and showed her the seat he had secured in the library for the both of them.
“What is your goal?” Han Nanxian asked. Before starting tutoring, he wanted to know what her goal was– if she wanted to be in class Ten A or if she wanted to be in the top hundred or so. This would help him in forming the strategy of teaching her..
“Ah? Goal what? Life goal? I haven’t thought about that yet. I think I should think about that. All I know is I don’t want to be a lawyer as they are absolutely weird people, you see,” An Xiulan went on rambling once again.
Han Nanxian stared at her trying to suppress himself from bursting into laughter but then his gaze fell on her foot tapping against the floor as if she was anxious. He didn’t know why he was making her anxious but he would like to know.
“I’m talking about studying goals,” Han Nanxian asked with a soft smile. “Like some people want to get extra help to improve their rank. Some want to enter class Ten A for better opportunities. Some want to strengthen their foundation. What’s your goal?”
“Why would they want to enter Class A?” An Xiulan asked, scratching her head. “Why would someone want to enter a class where students do nothing but study all night?”
“Because our study strategy is advanced and so is the syllabus. Do you know all the students in Class A get a direct ticket to top universities?” Han Nanxian asked. It wasn’t that those students didn’t need to appear for the college entrance test, they did. It was just that the students in Class A had high scores not only in school but in college entrance tests too which had questions far easier than what they studied in their classes.
“Sounds like something stupid to do,” An Xiulan muttered under her breath. “Nevermind, I don’t have any unrealistic and unreasonable goals. I just want to maintain my rank.”
“Your rank?” Han Nanxian asked with a furrowed brow.
An Xiulan nodded her head.
“And what’s that?” Han Nanxian asked as he took a sip of warm water.
“The last in the school,” An Xiulan replied and Han Nanxian choked on water. She patted his back and muttered, “You can’t even take care of yourself, are you sure you are reliable enough to teach me?”
If Han Nanxian didn’t have a reputation to maintain, he would have glared at her. How could she call him unreliable when she made him choke on water?
Could someone choke on stupidity or die?
He wasn’t sure before but now…
“Why would someone want to maintain the last rank in the entire school?” Han Nanxian asked her. Even he wanted to know what goes on in this girl’s mind because she seemed a unique creature of good.
She wasn’t just a unique creation of God but an infuriating one too.
Lord save him…
“Why would someone not?”An Xiulan asked him in return. He looked at her with a look that said that he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Do you know what is the difference between someone who scored 99 and someone who scores 100 on a test?”
When he didn’t reply for a long time, she continued, “The difference is that the person who scored 99 is not equal to the person who scored 100. The maximum ability of the first person was 99. He can’t score more than that but the one who scored 100, his ability is endless, if there were more questions, that person would have answered them too.”
She further said, “For now, the last rank is my maximum ability. And if I fail to secure the last rank, I will be expelled from the school. That’s why it is important for me to maintain the last rank for now.”
It had been a while since he met such a self-aware person. She might look silly and harmless but he could see that she was sharp like a pointed knife and had a deep character. There was much more to her than she was letting them know.
If she wanted to secure her last rank, so be it. As long as he helped her, she would be able to save herself from not being able to get expelled from the school.
___
It was always easier said than done.
Han Nanxian was understanding the simple saying today.
He had explained the same exercise in the maths chapter to An Xiulan at least ten times but she still wasn’t able to solve it on her own.
It made his heart bleed whenever the girl would make the obvious mistakes each time.
If her mathematics was like asking for murder.
He didn’t even know what to say about her Chinese.
He would always say who could even fail language?
Now he had an answer, An Xiulan!
The girl could fail language in a million so colourful and unique ways that he didn’t have any words for her.
“You know what!” Han Nanxian said as he slapped the books closed. “Let’s make a strategy so you can pass the exams.” He then drew something on the paper and said, “From every chapter, you will have some very short answers and MCQs. All you have to do is cram these and you can pass the exams. But you won’t be able to score much marks only passing.”
An Xiulan looked at him with sparkling eyes and said, “As long as you help me pass, I can do anything, Sensei!”
“Don’t butter me up, “Han Nanxian said, rolling his eyes. “You should know where you stand. You will need to start your language training and trust me it’s not going to be easy. Your foundation is too weak. I will give you a Teacher’s number who specialises in strengthening the foundation of students like you whose base is quite weak in language. She will help you learn Mandarin from the beginning. We will try not to have too many classes on weekends and you can go to her instead. Once you are good enough to read or write a sentence in Mandarin, we will start our school syllabus or else it would be a waste of time and effort.”
“What would we do until then?” An Xiulan asked in a soft voice.
“We will work on your English and mathematics, “Han Nanxian said. “Your English is good. It can help you in rank and as for mathematics, I need to look for a suitable strategy to teach you the subject.”
The first day of her getting tutoring ended just like that.
In the end, she was left with more anxiety than doubts.
A question if she would ever be able to do well in exams was lingering in her mind.
It was not that she wanted to pass the exam to stop herself from getting expelled from the school but she wanted to prove to herself that she deserved this second chance at life.
It was not going to be an easy feat but she knew that she couldn’t back out. She was getting everything that she ever desired in her last life. However, to attain all those things in this lifetime, she had to earn them.
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