Chapter 4: Tuition

Names mentioned in this chapter :

-苏芮 (sù ruì) - Su Rui, our female protagonist

-芮芮 (ruì ruì)- Rui Rui, a pet name of the female protagonist

-苏小姐(sù xiǎo jie)- Miss Su, refers to the female protagonist

-顾煜城 (gù yù chéng)- Gu Yu Cheng, the male lead

-城哥哥(chéng gē ge)- Cheng Ge ge, refers to the male lead

-苏宏远 (sù hóng yuan)- Su Hong Yuan, the female protagonist's father

-老苏 (lǎo sù)- Lao Su, refers to the female protagonist's father

-苏总(sù zǒng)- President Su

-苏爸爸(sù bà ba)- Father Su

-刘玥(liú yuè)- Liu Yue, the female protagonist's mother, which is also known as Mrs Su

-刘女士(liú nǚ shì)- Madam Liu

-苏太太(sù tài tài)- Mrs Su

-顾太太(gù tài tài)- Mrs Gu

-余静(yú jìng)- Yu Jing, Mrs Gu's name.

-余女士(yú nǚ shì)- Madam Yu, Gu Yu Cheng's mother

-李娜(lǐ nà)- Li Na, Su Rui's tutor

-李老师(lǐ lǎo shī)- Teacher Li or Ms Li, refers to Su Rui's tutor.

"You want to matchmake our daughter and Gu Yu Cheng?" asked Su Hong Yuan.

"Yes. At the South Asian jewelry auction, the topic of our two families' children just happened to come up so we made an appointment to have afternoon tea today." Liu Yue explained.

"I think Yu Jing likes our Rui Rui very much."

Hearing this, Su Hong Yuan slightly frowned.

"Isn't our daughter still young? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"You don't understand. It is better to discuss marriage earlier. Rui Rui is still young now, but it would be worrying when it is time for her to get married. For now, they will just get to know each other. If they think that their relationship is good, they can get engaged first."

"And Yu Jing and I have known each other for so many years. I may not know her family situation very well, but at least I am not entirely clueless about what kind of family Rui Rui will marry into in the future." Liu Yue said as she helped her husband remove his necktie.

"Although Gu Yu Cheng is older than our Rui Rui by many years, older men are better. They would know how to dote on people." Liu Yue said and nodded to herself. She continued, "and I can see that Gu Yu Cheng is outstanding. The other people in the circle have a good evaluation of him."

"What? Am I wrong?" She looked up and saw Su Hong Yuan's frowning expression. Liu Yue was unsure, "Do you think that if our Rui Rui married into the Gu family, it would be to climb the social ladder?"

"How could that be!" Su Hong Yuan retorted. "Our daughter can marry whoever she wants in the future. That would be a blessing for the family she marries into."

"Besides, our family is not bad." Su Hong Yuan muttered.

Liu Yue was delighted with Su Hong Yuan's words.

It's just...

"Then why is your face so black?" Liu Yue asked. She paused and suddenly thought of something. Her eyes widened, "Or could it possibly be that Gu Yu Cheng is not as good as he seems to be?"

After listening to what she said, the corner of Su Hong Yuan's mouth twitched.

"He isn't... not good. He is just too good." Said Su Hong Yuan with a sigh.

Well, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to have his daughter being together with someone else.

This doesn't mean that Su Rui was unworthy of Gu Yu Cheng. It was just that the two people were not suitable.

Who is Gu Yu Cheng?

These women only see that Gu Yu Cheng is talented, so successful at such a young age, and good looking. However, as he and Gu Yu Cheng have dealt with each other in the field of business, he has seen more than what Liu Yue knows.

At the age of twenty two years old, Gu Yu Cheng had taken over Gu enterprise. In less than a year after taking over the company, he "invited" eight big shareholders of the Gu enterprise to leave. Also, within the short three years, the market value of Gu's enterprise doubled.

Can such a person be a simple person?

Not to mention Gu Yu Cheng's dismissal of many rich young ladies' hearts, whether he would even take a fancy to his daughter is uncertain. Su Hong Yuan felt that Su Rui should find a simpler man to live a harmonious and happy life.

Using the popular phrases that young people would use to describe Gu Yu Cheng would be that he is a person who his daughter cannot hold onto. [1]

As Liu Yue and Su Hong Yuan have lived as a couple for many years, after Liu Yue read between the lines of what Su Hong Yuan was saying and looked at his expression, Liu Yue could guess what her husband meant. Her expression slightly changed.

"Cough. Well anyways, I'm just saying things. Didn't you also say that Rui Rui is still young? And she has just returned back to China too. It would be good for her to mingle with some young people. The success of it depends on whether Rui Rui herself likes it or not, doesn't?" Liu Yue thought about it and said.

To be honest, Liu Yue felt that Gu Yu Cheng was even better when she listened to her husband.

This was a woman's vanity. The bag must be more expensive than others' and the husband must also be the best one!

Moreover, after observing Gu Yu Cheng from the sides this afternoon, she felt that Gu Yu Cheng was rather accommodating to Su Rui Rui.

"Have you asked for Rui Rui's opinion?" He asked nervously.

At the thought of the girls from families unknown to him whom, Mr. Su had seen how during the numerous events he had attended, when they saw Gu Yu Cheng, they would want to attach themselves to him. Su Hong Yuan felt a little flustered.

Su Hong Yuan believed that Gu Yu Cheng's character would not give opportunities to those who he wasn't interested in having near him, needless to say romantic relationships.

However, if it was his daughter chasing after him, whether the other party would be ok with it, he wouldn't know, but as a father he was not willing.

At that time, Su Hong Yuan was secretly rejoicing that fortunately his family's Su Rui was rebellious and ran overseas. Otherwise, if she were to do the same as those girls, he would be disgusted to death.

Today, Su Rui was going to meet up with Gu Yu Cheng. Su Hong Yuan was afraid that once his daughter met him, she would also be charmed by him.

Liu Yue didn't know Father Su's current thoughts, but if she did, she would become angry and give him a slap. Our daughter was taught well, how could she be like that?

"Rui Rui." Liu Yue thought about the conversation with Su Rui just now, and said, "Rui Rui didn't say much, she only said that Gu Yu Cheng was decent. As for whether he was suitable or not, she said that she would only know if she gets to know him better."

Su Hong Yuan would not doubt his wife's words. However, after hearing what Liu Yue had said, he was pleasantly surprised. His daughter had really grown up.

"Let's consider. On a big matter like marriage, your daughter is more mature than you think." Said Father Su.

"Yes, Yes, Yes. As a father, you have taught her well." Liu Yue smiled and did not argue with Su Hong Yuan about it.

"Well, go wash your hands and get ready for dinner. I'll call Rui Rui to come down too."

As she had wanted to discuss with her husband the issue of Su Rui's marriage, she had been afraid that her daughter would feel uncomfortable. Hence, she had asked Su Rui to go upstairs just now.

Su Rui was going down the stairs as Liu Yue was speaking.

Looking at Su Rui, who has changed into simple leisure sportswear, Liu Yue was surprised.

"Hm, Rui Rui, why didn't you wear the new set that I just bought?"

Which set? The princess style lace leisurewear?

Su Rui blushed.

She was still trying to find a way to let Liu Yue agree to replace her room that was decorated in a dreamy princess style.

This "old auntie", who was twenty-five in her heart, was really not suitable for that young girl's style ah.

"It's more comfortable to wear this type." Su Rui said with a smile.

"Yes, I think it's much more refreshing." Father Su agreed.

Thinking back a few years ago, before his daughter went to the United States, his daughter had liked that kind of Lo something ta[2] style, though Su Hong Yuan didn't really understand.

"By the way Rui Rui, you should prepare. Teacher Li will be here in the evening to officially start your classes." Su Hong Yuan said to Su Rui as the family sat at the dinner table.

When his daughter came back, Su Hong Yuan was stunned that his daughter was able to take the initiative and take a major in economics and management along with asking for a supplementary course before school starts.

However...

"Since you have decided to learn, you should study hard, ok? Don't dawdle." Father Su looked at Su Rui and said sternly.

"En, I will." Su Rui nodded and said.

Although she didn't like this major, she will study hard.

Father Su's sternness only lasted for two seconds.

"The classes will be for two hours every night. Would it be too long ah... Try to get used to it just for today. If it's too long, we'll change it to one hour."

"No, no!" Faced with Father Su's "concern", Su Rui refused immediately, "No need to shorten it, I think two hours are quite appropriate."

Most of the other times are taken up by Mrs. Su who would drag her to some gatherings or dinner parties, while other times she would accompany Mrs Su to attend various interesting courses. Only the two hours during the weekend at night could be confirmed. Actually, Su Rui wanted to say that two hours is too little.

After all, she was lacking four full terms of college.

"Well, then you should study hard. If you don't understand anything, you can ask me at any time. As your father, I may not be a professional at it, but, at least as a successful entrepreneur, I have a rich practical experience."

After hearing Father Su's words, Su Rui agreed. It was just that she suddenly thought of what Mrs. Gu had said. If you don't know, you can ask your Cheng ge ge...

Cheng ge ge...

Heh heh.

Su Rui could guess whether the other party liked to watch those kinds of Mary Sue dramas...

She had to watch Madam Liu. She couldn't let her family's Madam Liu also fall in love with that kind of thing.

Otherwise, with the princess style already giving Su Rui a headache, to add another Mary Sue type, how could she live that kind of life?

Soon after dinner, Lao Su took his wife for an after-dinner hundred steps walk[3] and the person who had been arranged to teach her, Teacher Li, arrived punctually.

President Su managed to find this person to teach Miss Su through his second sister's connections.

Initially, Li Na wasn't willing to teach daughters of a chairman's family. Firstly, they wouldn't seriously attend classes. Secondly, they might make her very angry. However, because of having a connection as acquaintances, it was hard for Li Na to refuse.

It was said that Miss Su had only studied Fine Arts. She didn't have any foundation in economics. This caused Li Na to be very troubled.

However, once the classes started, Li Na found out that she was wrong about her.

Not only did Miss Su listen attentively in class, she also had a talent in that area. For most of the questions, once she talked about it, the other party would immediately understand.

If Su Rui knew that this was how Ms Li assessed her, she would have covered her face.

She knew herself very well, how could she have talent ah... This was just doing what she did in her last life.

Su Rui graduated from a major in accounting after studying for four years in a university. There was a lot of professional knowledge that she had forgotten since she hadn't used it in a while. She only needed Li Na to mention it and then she would remember.

"Ms Li[4], regarding the content and the speed of the class, can you speed up a little bit?" Su Rui suggested to Li Na after the two hours class.

It would be less than two months before school started. According to the speed of today's class, she might really fall behind.

Li Na froze after listening but she quickly smiled and nodded.

"Don't worry. I heard that you have 0 foundation so I chose to teach more basic knowledge because I was worried that it would be too difficult for you. But since you learn so quickly, adding the contents of three to five chapters wouldn't be a problem."

"Ok, thank you Ms. Li."

"It is what I ought to do." Li Na said with a smile. As she thought about the situation, she understood and said, "There are many practical courses in the second year of B university. With about one month of classes, you might not be able to catch up with them completely."

"If you have the chance, I suggest that you intern at a company. You will be able to understand better this way."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you again Ms. Li."

"It's late so I'll be going home now."

"Hold on Ms. Li, I will ask the driver to send you home."

......

Previously, Mrs. Su had said that Mrs. Gu might invite her to visit her home soon. Su Rui hadn't taken this matter to heart.

However, Su Rui didn't expect that "soon" would be this soon. Three days after the blind date, Mrs. Gu called Liu Yue.

Su Rui didn't know that if Madam Yu had disregarded etiquette, she would have invited Su Rui to her house the very next day.

[1] 他家闺女hold不住人(tā jiā guī nǚ hold bù zhù rén)- It meant that his daughter cannot grasp the other person, she wouldn't be able to calmly face the consequences.

[2] I think Su Hong Yuan meant that his daughter liked the Lolita style.

[3] I believe this is from the saying 饭后百步走,活到九十九(fàn hòu bǎi bù zǒu, huó dào jǐu shí jǐu), which means to walk a hundred steps after each meal, you will live until you are ninety-nine years old.

[4] I have decided to use Ms Li after Su Rui has met Li Na as 'Teacher Li' sounds a bit awkward in English.