Chapter 227: The Demon Tutor

Chapter 227: The Demon Tutor

She was finished!

He Xinxin realized she was completely finished.

She had called her mother over.

If He Shiqin saw the mark on her face and her torn sleeve, then even if He Xinxin no longer wanted to frame Wu Chen, her mother would certainly ask what had happened.

And then she would have no way to explain it.

No matter what she said, the moment Wu Chen played that recording, she would be finished.

In the living room—

“Xinxin? Why did you call me?”

He Shiqin called her daughter’s name as she approached.

He Xinxin’s bedroom door and the art-room door were right beside each other. He Shiqin was not actually sure which room her daughter had called from.

So she first glanced into the open bedroom.

Then she reached for the art-room door.

“Mom, I want ribs for lunch,” He Xinxin suddenly called from inside the art room.

He Shiqin immediately stopped.

“All right, all right. I’ll make ribs. Just wait for lunch, you little glutton.”

Inside the art room, He Xinxin heard her mother agree, followed by the sound of her footsteps retreating.

She let out a long breath of relief.

That had been close!

She patted her chest and listened carefully to the sounds outside. Then she turned, opened the art-room door a crack, and peered through the gap.

Only after seeing her mother return to the kitchen did she finally relax.

Bang!

She shut the door tightly again.

He Xinxin turned back toward Wu Chen, narrowed her eyes, and pouted. Her little face made it clear that she regarded him as a complete villain.

Wu Chen smiled.

He gave his phone another little shake, then stopped the recording right in front of her and saved it.

“Despicable!” He Xinxin snapped, her voice crisp.

“Despicable?” Wu Chen asked with a smile. “You tried to frame and threaten me. Wasn’t that despicable?”

“I… You…”

His tone left He Xinxin flustered.

After taking a moment to recover, she asked, “How… How did you know I was going to…? Why did you start recording beforehand?”

That was the part she could not understand.

In the end, she was still just a young girl.

Fourteen was not exactly little, but she had never experienced much of society. And because she had always been so well protected, she did not yet understand how treacherous people could be.

If she had been an experienced, intelligent adult woman, she would immediately have wondered why Wu Chen had prepared in advance.

That suspicion would then have spread.

She would have begun to suspect that there was something strange about Wu Chen himself.

“Can’t I know things before they happen?” Wu Chen asked with a laugh.

“Liar! Only a ghost would believe you!” He Xinxin naturally did not believe him.

“Heh. With a troublesome brat like you, how could I not guard against you a little?” Wu Chen grinned. “You’re still thinking about how to teach me a lesson, aren’t you? I can tell. Your eyes have already given you away.”

The explanation was at least plausible.

In truth, it did not matter whether Wu Chen explained himself.

He already had leverage over He Xinxin.

He was merely teasing her.

Of course, Wu Chen was lying.

He had not foreseen the future, nor had he read her expression and guessed.

He simply knew He Xinxin.

More importantly, this same situation had occurred during the thousand-year loop.

On one particular July 7, Wu Chen had met He Shiqin and visited her home that very same day. He had likewise come as a prospective private tutor to assess the child.

And then He Xinxin had tried to frame and threaten him.

That was why Wu Chen knew exactly how He Xinxin dealt with private tutors.

“You’re the troublesome brat…” He Xinxin retorted unhappily.

“Oh? Little girl, you still dare to act so arrogant?”

Wu Chen raised an eyebrow.

Then he began walking toward He Xinxin one step at a time.

“You still don’t understand what kind of situation you’re going to be in from now on, do you?”

“I’m telling you right now: I’m definitely going to become your private tutor.”

“No matter how much trouble you make, it won’t help. And if you dare make trouble for me, I won’t go easy on you. Even if I hit you, I won’t be afraid of you telling your mother!”

“As long as your mother hears the recording I have, even if some injury appears on you, not only will she refuse to believe I did it—she might even scold you instead!”

“She’ll be terribly disappointed. She’ll discover that her daughter is the kind of bad child who frames people. She’ll definitely ask me to discipline you even more strictly!”

He Xinxin’s expression changed repeatedly as she listened.

When speaking to a girl her age, Wu Chen chose to be completely direct.

He did not bother talking around the point.

Otherwise, given her age and lack of experience, she might not immediately understand how serious her situation was.

He could even exaggerate a little to frighten her.

Now He Xinxin understood.

Her life seemed to be…

over!

She had encountered a demon tutor.

And that demon tutor possessed a piece of leverage that seemed merely capable of proving she was a bad child, but which, in her mind, was terrifying enough that even if she really was hit in the future, she might not be able to explain herself.

Just as Wu Chen had said—

from now on, he could hit her however he wanted.

Punish her whenever he wanted.

Lecture her whenever he wanted.

If she did not study drawing properly, he could hit her!

He could even slap her face!

No one would believe Wu Chen had done it.

That recording would prove He Xinxin had staged everything herself.

And there was more!

He Xinxin had also lost the opportunity to frame Wu Chen in any other way.

None of it would work anymore.

The recording could prove that she wanted to drive the teacher away and that any accusation she made was something she had staged herself.

“…From now on, if you dare disobey me, talk back, or refuse to study properly, just wait and see how I deal with you. Don’t think I won’t dare lay a hand on you just because you’re a girl…”

Bang!

As he spoke, Wu Chen planted one hand against the door.

He had moved too close.

The pressure was overwhelming.

He looked terrifying.

He Xinxin had already been frightened into pressing her whole body tightly against the door.

She did not dare meet Wu Chen’s eyes at all.

“Apologize to me,” Wu Chen said, tilting his head and smiling at her. “I don’t like people swearing at me.”

To He Xinxin, it was the smile of a demon.

“S-sorry,” she apologized quietly.

“There we go. Much better.”

Wu Chen smiled.

Then he removed his hand from the door, slipped it into his pocket, and stepped back. Turning away, he looked toward the drawing board on the easel.

He had been studying it before.

An unfinished drawing by He Xinxin rested on it.

His manner suggested that the matter had already been settled and that he had no intention of making things any more difficult for her.

He Xinxin remained against the door for a moment, calming herself.

Then she made an angry, fierce face at Wu Chen’s back.

Her eyes rolled.

Pressing her lips together, she walked over and tugged at the hem of his jacket.

Wu Chen felt it and turned to look at her.

“Teacher… I was wrong… I’m sorry… Could you delete the recording?” He Xinxin asked softly, looking pitiful.

Her eyes were still red.

She looked so obedient and vulnerable that anyone might have taken pity on her.

“That depends on how you behave,” Wu Chen said with a smile.

“Teacher… please…” He Xinxin pleaded sweetly.

“Stop bothering me,” Wu Chen said.

He Xinxin immediately fell quiet.

But she did not give up.

Settling for the next best thing, she continued holding the corner of his jacket and said in a pitiful little voice, “Then… Teacher, could you please not hit me? I’m not a bad child… I’m not… How could you bear to hit a girl…?”

Of course, He Xinxin was not truly a bad child.

If she were, she would have accused Wu Chen outright and called someone in.

Instead, she had only used the threat of an accusation to frighten him.

She had merely wanted to scare away the teacher who was supposed to teach her.

“If you behave, stop making your mother angry, and study drawing properly, why would I hit you?” Wu Chen asked with a smile. “Wouldn’t everyone be happier if you simply behaved?”

“Mm-hm, mm-hm. I’ll behave.”

He Xinxin nodded rapidly like a chick pecking at grain.

After a moment’s thought, she released his jacket.

“Then, Teacher… I’ll go back to my room and change jackets first. I can’t let Mom see that this one is torn…”

She spoke cautiously, still looking pitiful.

“Mm. Go ahead.” Wu Chen nodded with a smile.

He Xinxin left the art room.

Before stepping out, she cracked open the door and checked the living room.

Only after confirming that her mother was not there did she dart out, take two quick steps into her bedroom, and shut the door.

It was an unmistakably girlish room, with dolls everywhere.

But after closing the door, He Xinxin did not change her clothes.

Instead, she hurried to a cabinet and picked up her phone.

As she scrolled through her contacts, she glanced back at the door, afraid someone might suddenly enter.

At last, she called a number.

The call connected quickly.

“Hello! Sister Shanshan, someone bullied me…” He Xinxin began in an extremely aggrieved voice.

“Huh? Who? Who dares bully Xinxin?! Fuck!” The voice on the other end exploded at once.

It was the voice of a girl with the manner of a tough delinquent.

“An adult… Sister Shanshan, could you talk to Brother Daqi for me…?”

“Fuck! Who is it?! Where did he get the nerve?! Xinxin, don’t be scared. I’ll get a hundred people and beat him to death…”