Chapter Fourteen: A Conflict with the Young Master
“Little male lead’s mother?”
Shen Jin’an never expected to come into contact with the male protagonist from the book so quickly.
Amid her shock, the familiar system prompt with its mischievous tone sounded in her mind as usual:
【Beep! New task issued: Host, create an opportunity to successfully ignite the first substantial conflict between the little antagonist Gu Li and the book’s young male lead Leng Yan! Deadline: 12 hours.】
At this moment, Shen Jin’an felt a twinge of regret.
If she hadn’t popped up in the homeowners’ group chat, perhaps this task wouldn’t have appeared.
Gu Li wasn’t the type to start conflicts with others, so to provoke a quarrel between him and the little male lead, it seemed she, as the wicked stepmother, had to stir things up herself.
This was completely at odds with her original intention of just finding a good teacher for Gu Li.
It would have been much easier if she just focused on finding a teacher herself.
Shen Jin’an sighed, unable to think of a solution right away, she decided to take things step by step.
She turned her attention back to WeChat, and after some deliberation, sent a message: “Hello, may I know more details about that teacher?”
She watched as the WeChat name in the chatbox changed to “typing” for several minutes before the first reply came.
“Hello! Didn’t expect you to actually add me!!! I was a bit excited earlier and didn’t know how to respond, sorry about that. [Blush]”
“The teacher has a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in education from Tsinghua University, specializing in mathematics. He even coached the national training team before. But he found it too exhausting, so he stepped down to do private tutoring. He’s been tutoring my little treasure for a year now—the quality of teaching is impeccable, and his personality is wonderful! [Thumbs up][Thumbs up][Thumbs up]”
Shen Jin’an looked at the exclamation marks on the screen, recalling that in the original story, the male lead was a mature, composed, and aloof CEO type. She had assumed his mother would be stern.
The contrast between this mother and son’s personalities was quite striking.
Before Shen Jin’an could reply, she received an invitation: “How about this—whenever you’re free, you can come to my home to experience the teacher’s class atmosphere in person. It’ll help you better judge if he’s suitable for your little one.”
The sincere invitation was just what Shen Jin’an wanted. “Great, when does your child usually have classes?”
“Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Speaking of which, the teacher will be here soon. My little treasure and the ‘neighboring scoundrel’ are out playing in the mud and haven’t come back yet.”
“Neighboring scoundrel?”
“Ah! Don’t misunderstand! I’m not insulting anyone. The kid next door’s nickname is actually ‘scoundrel.’ [Laughing and crying]”
“Can we come over later? I want to find a good teacher early. My little one has started doubting if he’s stupid because he can’t solve the problems.”
“Oh my, such self-discipline at only two years old.”
Hearing the praise for Gu Li, Shen Jin’an felt an inexplicable surge of pride.
She told Gu Li about meeting the new teacher that afternoon, and the little social butterfly got extremely excited at the prospect of going to another child’s home.
Seeing Gu Li’s excitement made Shen Jin’an feel even more guilty about having to create a conflict between him and the little male lead later.
She really was terrible.
Although they lived in the same community, the distance between villas in Area One was considerable, let alone between different areas—it took quite a while to walk.
Shen Jin’an took Gu Li and got into the family Maserati. Passing by a muddy puddle, she noticed two dirty children playing in the mud, with Ultraman mud figures about the same size as hers in front of them.
She looked at the exquisite Ultraman figures, similar to those sold in stores, and pondered.
They’re all playing with mud figures, yet their childhoods are so vastly different.
No wonder he could be the male lead.
But her little antagonist was no slouch either.
She pinched the chubby cheeks of the future wicked villain and let out a mischievous laugh once again.
When they arrived, the little male lead’s mother, Chen Fu, was already waiting at the door.
Chen Fu greeted Shen Jin’an warmly, and when she saw Gu Li, her eyes lit up.
Sensing no ill intent from Shen Jin’an, she didn’t hesitate to hand Gu Li over into Chen Fu’s arms.
“Hello, big sister!”
“Oh my, such a sweet talker! But I’m not really at the ‘big sister’ age anymore; just call me Auntie.”
Chen Fu couldn’t resist leaning in to Gu Li and let out the same mischievous laugh Shen Jin’an had.
Gu Li stared at this new auntie in shock—she could make the same strange noise as his stepmother!
“You came so fast. My little treasure hasn’t returned yet, but the teacher’s here. You can go in and talk to him first.”
No sooner had she spoken than a stern-looking guy with a buzz cut appeared, carrying the muddy little troublemaker Shen Jin’an had just seen.
“Honey, the culprit has been apprehended!”
Chen Fu nodded solemnly, “Send him to the bathroom for a bath penalty.”
After the little male lead finished bathing, Gu Li had already had a brief conversation with the teacher.
Gu Li was very pleased with the gentle big brother who could easily solve all the problems he couldn’t.
The teacher was equally impressed with the two-year-old prodigy.
Since Gu Li’s math skills were already comparable to the little male lead’s, Chen Fu suggested that Gu Li also join the class for an immersive experience.
The teacher taught enthusiastically, and the two children listened attentively, while the two accompanying parents had both dozed off.
To make full use of class time, the teacher assigned a problem to the children while stepping away to the restroom.
The little male lead Leng Yan was very curious about Gu Li, who was only half his height but was studying the same material.
As soon as he finished the problem, he leaned over to peek at Gu Li’s answer.
“You’re wrong. How can an equation have two unknowns?”
“It’s fine. Li Li isn’t wrong.”
“All the equations I’ve seen only have one x. You have an extra y; it must be wrong.”
Gu Li was a meticulous little one. “I learned this from the book!”
“That’s impossible. How do you solve an equation with two unknowns?”
Gu Li was momentarily speechless because he had only set up one equation and didn’t know how to solve it.
“See? You can’t solve it, so your method must be wrong.”
“No!”
“Stop being stubborn. What do you know, you little brat?”
“Then you’re an old brat!”
“I’m not! Why are you insulting me?”
“You started it!”
...
Shen Jin’an was woken up by the noise of the two children. Her mind still foggy, she heard the system say in her head: 【Congratulations host, task completed.】
Shen Jin’an was confused. No, she just nodded off for a moment—what had happened?
By then, the teacher had returned and, after understanding the situation, reviewed Gu Li’s method.
“Li Li’s thinking is correct; he just hasn’t finished. Equations can have two unknowns, but this is a topic Yan Yan hasn’t learned yet.”
The little male lead looked up admiringly. “Bro, you’re awesome!”
Gu Li shook his head seriously. “Li Li’s not awesome.”
After correcting his older brother’s mistake, he scratched his head curiously and asked, “What’s ‘pigeon door’?”