Chapter 76: I'll Hire a Few Tutors for You

Su Wan’s warm voice burst through the receiver. “Ci, do you have time today?”

“I do. What is it, Second Aunt?” Gu Ci could hear the anticipation in Su Wan’s tone. After a moment’s thought, she gave an affirmative reply.

“Come have dinner at our place tonight, then. Your eldest cousin has come back, and I’d like you two to meet. Would that be all right?”

Gu Ci agreed softly. “All right, Second Aunt. I’ll be back soon.”

They chatted a bit more. Su Wan reminded her to come home early and to be careful on the road before hanging up.

Gu Ci slipped her phone into her pocket and looked up, only to see a striking man standing not far away, as though waiting for someone.

She glanced at him and was about to look away when he parted his lips. “Are you Gu Ci?”

She looked at him again. “Yes, and who are you?”

Gu Jinling strode over. He was tall, a full head above her.

She barely reached his shoulder. He lowered his gaze, his eyes deep and unreadable. “I’m Gu Jinling.”

The call from earlier flashed through Gu Ci’s mind—she realized who he was. After a moment’s pause, she called out, “Eldest Cousin?”

He responded with a cool “Mm,” though the hard lines of his face softened a little.

They had little to talk about, so Gu Jinling got straight to the point and led her to the car, saying he’d give her a ride home.

Gu Ci saw the two men sitting in the driver’s and passenger’s seats and asked nothing more. She quietly took her place in the back and fell silent.

Gu Jinling sat beside her, continuing to process the files he hadn’t finished earlier.

Special Assistant Shi, sitting in front, felt the atmosphere was so awkward it made his toes curl.

He couldn’t help but complain inwardly—his boss was simply too cold and reticent.

He wondered if the young girl felt nervous or bored, sitting in a car with three strangers.

So, Special Assistant Shi sent his boss several frantic glances.

Gu Jinling met his gaze indifferently and then looked over at the cousin whom Mrs. Su had suddenly brought back from his uncle’s house.

Her features were exquisite, her face stunning—clearly, she’d inherited the best from both her parents, each trait perfectly balanced.

The cool, tranquil aura about her was something Gu Jinling had never seen in either of them.

Now she sat quietly, her cold brow tinged with a touch of nonchalance, a lollipop between her lips, giving her a certain careless freedom.

Gu Jinling didn’t think his cousin felt out of place, but after a pause, he spoke to lighten the mood. “You believed me right away when I said I was your cousin. Aren’t you afraid I might be a bad person?”

The atmosphere immediately congealed.

Special Assistant Shi: “???”

He should have known better than to expect his iron-willed, straight-laced boss to say anything that would actually lift the mood…

Gu Ci bit her lollipop and answered quite seriously, “I’m not afraid.”

Gu Jinling glanced at her, his tone like that of someone lecturing a child. “You need to be careful and alert when you’re out. Don’t let this happen again. If it does, call your Second Aunt first to confirm.”

Gu Ci paused, then replied politely, “All right.”

Special Assistant Shi: “…”

Well, it seemed she was also adept at ending conversations.

He’d thought his boss was unmatched at killing a topic, but clearly, Miss Gu was even better.

No wonder—they were family, after all.

The Gu family’s genes were truly formidable!

Special Assistant Shi felt if the two kept talking, the air itself might die from suffocation. He quickly spoke up, “Miss Gu, were you playing basketball with your friends just now?”

Gu Ci simply replied that she’d been watching a friend’s game.

He ran with the topic, and finally, the silence eased.

Gu Jinling glanced at his work and finally closed his laptop, quietly listening as Special Assistant Shi and Gu Ci talked, occasionally chiming in.

But in general, it was Special Assistant Shi who did the talking, Gu Ci responding briefly, and Gu Jinling only ever saying “Mm.”

As the conversation drifted from basketball to friends to school, Gu Jinling’s eyelids flickered. At last, he managed a full sentence. “You’re in your final year? Are you settling in at the new school?”

Mrs. Su had just told him this cousin had recently been brought back.

Gu Ci immediately thought of her classmates from Class Twelve and nodded. “My classmates are all very friendly and lovely.”

Gu Jinling gave her a look. “I meant your grades.”

Gu Ci paused, silent for a moment.

Special Assistant Shi nearly died of embarrassment.

His boss’s reputation as a conversation killer was well deserved.

How could a girl just transferred in from a small, out-of-the-way city possibly keep up with their school’s pace?

And, per Gu Jinling’s instructions, he’d just checked—she was now at No. 1 High.

What kind of place was that?

The girl was probably struggling to keep up and feeling down about it. Yet his boss just had to bring up grades, rather than letting her talk about her relationships with classmates.

The more he thought about it, the more exhausted Special Assistant Shi felt.

Seeing Gu Ci’s momentary silence, Gu Jinling didn’t press her. He stated simply, “If you need help, I’ll get you some tutors.”

After a brief calculation, a concrete plan was already forming in his mind.

A question mark slowly formed on Gu Ci’s forehead.

She wasn’t sure where things had gone wrong, but something about this encounter seemed off…

After arranging everything, Gu Jinling glanced at Gu Ci again and asked, “How are your grades?”

Seeing her hesitation, he calmly added, “I’ve checked your records.”

He meant her previous grades.

Gu Ci thought the investigation itself wasn’t important—what mattered was this business with tutoring.

But when Gu Jinling mentioned Chinese, she immediately thought of her recent exam and, without getting to explain her other subjects, fell silent for a moment. “My Chinese isn’t very good.”

Hearing that, Gu Jinling didn’t criticize her. He just said, “Then we’ll schedule Chinese on Friday evenings, math and physics on Saturday, English, biology, and chemistry on Sunday.”

Gu Ci choked, recalling her other subjects. “No, I actually do well in…” the rest.

It was only Chinese that lagged behind.

Special Assistant Shi found this hard to believe.

If her Chinese was poor, could the other subjects really be fine?

She was probably just shy and didn’t want them to know, or simply didn’t want extra lessons.

With that thought, he couldn’t help but try to reassure her. “Miss Gu, the tutors Mr. Gu finds for you will be the best. If you study with them, you’ll soon catch up to No. 1 High’s standards. Don’t be embarrassed.”

Gu Ci began, “I…”

She’d barely spoken when Gu Jinling cut her off, making the final decision. “That’s settled. The tutors have been arranged for you.”

He turned to Special Assistant Shi. “Give me the list once it’s ready.”

Special Assistant Shi agreed at once.

Gu Ci tried again. “But I…”

Special Assistant Shi quickly assured her, “Don’t worry, Miss Gu. The tutors we find will be the best in the whole city! There’s nothing to worry about!”

Gu Ci: “…”

She really thought her grades were fine.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “But I have to attend the Youth Olympic Math Competition this weekend.”

So, there was no time for tutoring.

If she remembered correctly, the city round of the Youth Olympiad math contest was this weekend.

Instantly, silence fell over the car—strange and absolute.