Chapter 31: Are You Experienced?

“Lin You, everyone makes mistakes, even teachers; they're human too. Can she be right one hundred percent of the time? If a child points out a teacher's mistake, and Xiao Zhuo knew it was wrong, I don't think he did anything wrong at all.”

Xia Yan rose, hands on her hips, and walked up to Lin You, lifting her head to scold him with an adorably fierce expression.

“You…” Lin You hadn’t expected this girl to be so protective, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to rebut her.

After a long pause, he managed to say, “Go ahead, protect him. Since you think he’s right, you handle his studies from now on. I won’t interfere.”

“Well, I’ll take charge if I must. If you could manage it, would the child have scored fifty-nine in math?”

As soon as she finished, she saw Lin You’s face turn from red to black, and Lin Hongzhuo stood frozen behind him.

Was Auntie really here to help, not to sabotage him?

Sure enough, just as Xia Yan was about to say something more, she suddenly felt weightless, and when she landed, she found herself locked outside by Lin You.

“Hey, Lin You, you better not hit the child! He’s still young; you’ll leave him with psychological scars,” Xia Yan called out, only to hear Lin You’s ‘cold and merciless’ voice from inside, “Copy the questions you got wrong on the test ten times. If you don’t finish, you won’t eat dinner. I’ll sit here and keep you company.”

“But Dad, Auntie’s fish soup will taste fishy if it gets cold.”

“All right, drink it first, then copy.”

After Lin You spoke, he opened the door, and Xia Yan, who had been leaning against it eavesdropping, lost her balance and fell straight into the man’s arms.

That chest… so solid.

The scene was tinged with ambiguity, but it was quickly interrupted by a burst of giggles. Lin Hongzhuo stood nearby, covering his eyes with his hands, though his large fingers revealed wide eyes blinking furiously.

“What’s so funny? Tonight, after you finish your father’s ten copies, do ten more. That’s Auntie’s assignment!”

“Auntie, you betrayed your comrade… and kicked him when he was down.”

Lin Hongzhuo instantly stopped laughing, protesting Xia Yan’s lack of loyalty.

“Little one, Auntie’s teaching you a lesson in advance. When you grow up, never believe a woman’s words… Quick, run to the kitchen and bring your father a bowl of fish soup.”

Xia Yan patted the boy’s back, her face brimming with amusement.

As Lin Hongzhuo left, a cold voice sounded by her ear, “So I shouldn’t believe you either, should I?”

“I meant ninety-nine percent of women. I’m the other one percent.”

Lin You: “…Who was just tricking the child?”

Today, Lin Hongzhe returned late, halfway through the family’s dinner.

“Brother, why are you so late today?”

“I was helping the teacher print test papers at school. Today, Teacher Zhang said you messed up the math test again,” Lin Hongzhe said in the same cool tone as Lin You.

In this era, there were no copiers; they carved the questions onto a sheet of oiled paper and printed them one by one.

“Tonight, copy the questions you got wrong ten times. If you still can’t remember, write them a few more times.”

“Brother…” Lin Hongzhuo felt miserable and speechless. Now it was thirty times. He regretted it; had he known, he wouldn’t have meddled.

That night, Xia Yan coaxed Lin Nuannuan to sleep early. When she went to the boys’ room, Lin You was there as well.

“You should rest. From today on, I’ll handle the children’s studies.”

“You know how?”

Lin You put down his textbook, his tone irked Xia Yan a bit. “Captain Lin, I’m… I’m a high school student, all right? How could I not know how to teach elementary kids?”

Lin You was actually relieved; tutoring children’s homework was every adult’s headache.

Through an evening’s tutoring, Xia Yan discovered several issues. Although Lin Hongzhe’s grades were better, he often chose the most complicated methods to solve problems, his thinking not very agile.

Lin Hongzhuo was the opposite extreme—he liked to use clever shortcuts, which led to many answers being written in a nonstandard way. With his ability, he should have scored much higher than fifty-nine. Xia Yan noticed several questions where he wrote only the answer, causing the teacher to deduct points. Compared to Lin Hongzhe, his mind was actually more flexible.

Xia Yan pondered for a moment. For the two children’s different problems, she would need different approaches.

She found two sheets of paper and wrote out a question.

“Zhe, use every method you can think of to solve this problem.”

“Zhuo, just use one method and write out every step. Don’t skip anything.”

She placed the papers before them and glanced at her watch. “You have ten minutes. Start now.”

She watched from the side, occasionally tapping a finger to keep them focused.

When ten minutes were up, she looked at their results, her brows furrowed and never relaxing. Even with reminders, the same issues cropped up.

Xia Yan had considered the problem briefly; there were five possible methods to solve it. Yet Lin Hongzhe only wrote one, and it was the most complicated. As for Lin Hongzhuo, though he finished every step under her watch, his answer was correct but the procedure contained mistakes—carelessness was to blame.

The first step in scientific child-rearing had already run into obstacles.

After finishing their homework, it was already past nine in the evening.

Lin You sat in the living room, head down, writing something. Curious, Xia Yan went over for a look, and the words “Marriage Application” caught her eye.

Lin You’s handwriting was undeniably beautiful, each stroke strong and powerful. By comparison, her own seemed childish—except for her flamboyant signature.

“Are you done tutoring?”

The faint scent in the air told Lin You who was standing behind him without needing to look.

“Just finished. The two boys are washing up now.”

“Thank you. When they were in the countryside, the kids didn’t study much, so their foundation is weak and they’re struggling to keep up.”

Lin You halted his pen. The morning’s marriage application had been written under Jiang Weiguo’s guidance; now, writing it alone, he found it rather troublesome.

“I don’t think so. Both kids are smart, they just haven’t found the right way to learn. By the way, tomorrow the teacher wants a parent to visit. Should you go or should I?”

Xia Yan moved a stool and sat beside him.

“Zhuo probably wants you to go?”

“He mentioned it this evening.”

“If the child wants you to, then you should go,” Lin You replied, muttering something under his breath.

Seeing he hadn’t written anything for a while, Xia Yan couldn’t help but ask, “Are you stuck? Want me to teach you how to write it?”

Lin You turned to look at her, his expression strange—curiosity mixed with confusion. After a long pause, he asked, “You have experience?”