After he had seen Lu Shao out, Song ZeYu stood by the door and thought to himself, âRumors had it that the Luâs authority figure was very unpredictable. Those rumors didnât seem to be too far from the truth.â
Song ZeYu closed his eyes for a second before he looked away. He turned and glanced over at the piano room on the second floor, pondering over it for a little while, then had Wu-ma send the piano instructorâs information over to him.
At the same time, Su Ran finally finished up her two-hour section and justifiably put the 500 yuan that she had planned on refunding back into her purse.
âThank you so much, Instructor Su. Why donât you join us for lunch before you take off?â
âEh, no, no need.â Su Ran had no choice but to decline Wu-ma very passionate offer.
âOh, alright. Hereâs the tuition for todayâs lesson, Instructor Su. Please take it.â Having said that, Wu-ma handed over another envelope to Su Ran.
The thickness of the envelope suggested that it was several times what she had received before.
âNo, donât.â Su Ran declined reflexively.
âTodayâs session was to make up for last Sunday. You donât need to pay me again.â Luckily, they no longer need money as desperately as they did before. Otherwise, Su Ran felt that sheâd very well give in and accept the money.
âThatâs not it. This is a little bit embarrassing. Instructor Su, we didnât know you were so good before. Young Master just told us.â
The level of those instructors that the madam had recruited casually from the university was one thing. At Instructor Suâs level, 500 yuan was definitely not enough. She even specifically asked around the other families in Tongshan Mansion. Lessons from someone of the mastery level started from 10,000 yuan.
âWe have already informed the Master of this. Please take it, Instructor Su.â Worried that Su Ran would continue to decline it, Wu-ma made a point to explain further.
âMaster? You mean Song⌠Eh, You mean the father of Song YiAn and Song ZhiNing?â You meant to tell me that the male lead didnât go with the female lead to recover overseas?
âYes, Master has been home the last few days.â After all, it would be no easy feat to find a good instructor had the madam been around. Plus, the young miss needed to start preparing for her advancement examination.
Not noticing that Su Ranâs look had frozen on her, Wu-ma went on talking. âMaster was going to come and talk to you about the lesson fees in person, but he had a guest so he hasnât been able to come over yet. Perhaps Instructor Su can stay for lunch and thenâŚâ
âDonât. Um, I mean, itâs fine. That wonât be necessary,â said Su Ran, quickly interrupted Wu-ma.
âThereâs something that I need to clarify.â Su Ran tried very hard to maintain her look so as not to appear too frantic in front of Wu-ma.
Wu-ma interpreted her look as being very solemn.
âWhat is it, Instructor Su? Do tell.â
âI am just here for LiâŚâ Ugh. What was her name?
âUm, I am just here for Instructor Li as she wasnât able to make the lessons recently. So, it wasnât my plan to teach your young master and young miss long term. Plus, something else had happened recently and I wonât be able to come anymore. I am just here today to make up for last weekâs lesson. I wonât be able to come anymore.â
âThatâŚâ Wu-ma had not expected that coming from Su Ran and she didnât know what to say all of a sudden.
âInstructor Su, is this about the tuition? We can talk it over.â
âNo, no. Itâs not about the money. Itâs ⌠something personal.â
âSomething personal? Did something happen to you, Instructor Su?â
âNot exactly. Well, okay. Itâs my son. He started junior high school and this is a very critical time for him. I needed to spend more time taking care of him.â Su Ran had no choice but to start making up stuff as Wu-ma continued to ask passionately.
The truth was, Su Han cooked for himself, did his own laundry, and didnât even need her help with homework.