“D-daughter?”
Pei Xingyan was shocked one after another, now barely able to keep calm.
He began to admire Tang Xin’s business skills—not only could she persuade a university professor, but it was all for her daughter’s sake…
“Yes, a daughter…” Associate Professor Yang sighed deeply, leaning back on the bench behind her. “Every family has its own difficult story…”
“You’d better tell me the details. I want to hear it first…” Pei Xingyan said.
“Hmm.” Associate Professor Yang nodded weakly. Whenever she mentioned her daughter, it was as if all her strength drained away.
She began to explain gently, “My daughter is in her third year of high school. She’s repeating this year and is almost nineteen. Actually, she’s always been a decent student, but last year she failed the college entrance exam—didn’t even reach the undergraduate cut-off score. At first, I didn’t blame her. But this year, during the repeat, her grades dropped drastically, like a freefall.”
“So, have you considered hiring a tutor or a private teacher?”
“It’s not what you think. It’s not that she can’t understand the material—she has psychological issues, something wrong with her mind!” Associate Professor Yang’s words shocked Pei Xingyan.
“Alright… please go on…”
“Her father and I have been searching for reasons. Recently, a friend suggested we secretly follow her to see what she’s up to. We did that once and found out she’s been hanging out with a bunch of weird-looking people—street thugs and delinquents from society.”
“Ah?” Pei Xingyan’s mind immediately filled with various scenarios, two clear words flashing in his mind:
!!!
“Ah, this nearly drove both her father and me crazy!” Associate Professor Yang was full of indignation. “After one talk with her, she didn’t even bother pretending anymore. Now when she comes home, she doesn’t even speak. If we try to say more, she directly threatens to run away. You tell me, a girl like that—would I dare let her stay out at night? Sigh, right now we just have to let her go on like this…”
Listening, Pei Xingyan felt a headache coming. He smiled helplessly.
“To be honest, there are only a few days left until the college entrance exam. I don’t even expect her to get good results. I just pray she won’t cause any big trouble, and I’d be grateful.” She sighed with sorrow, her eyes growing darker as if life had lost all color.
“I understand, the worries of parents everywhere,” Pei Xingyan comforted her. “But, Professor, I have to ask—how did your daughter end up like this? Honestly, I feel she might be a little… rebellious. Are you and your husband strict with her? Maybe that’s why she’s acting out?”
“If only we could be strict.” Associate Professor Yang gave a bitter laugh. “Look, we don’t even dare to scold her. Do we look like those high-pressure parents?”
Pei Xingyan shook his head. That was the truth. Finding out his daughter was hanging out with a bunch of lowlifes, yet never daring to give her a good scolding—that was definitely a pair of soft, soft parents.
If his own parents had a daughter like that, they’d be laughing as they slapped a pack of condoms on her face and declared it was time to start safe practice.
“Pei Xingyan, I really have no way left. If you really have the ability to guide people, please help a teacher, okay?” she pleaded, then shifted to the current business, “Money isn’t an issue. Just say the price. I’m not even asking you to straighten her out—just don’t let my daughter suddenly come home with a big belly one day. If that happens, I’d consider it a miracle.”
Pei Xingyan’s mouth twitched; this was getting more and more ridiculous.
But from a certain angle, Associate Professor Yang’s worry wasn’t groundless. If she really was tangled up with street thugs, the plotline was only a matter of time.
Still, this business deal was more straightforward than the previous ones. At least he had a clear goal.
Pei Xingyan asked, “May I first ask who exactly she’s hanging out with? What do they usually do?”
Associate Professor Yang thought for a moment, then replied, “All kinds of people—men, women, all with brightly colored hair, and many of them smoke! After that incident, her father and I secretly watched her several more times. These people are complete unemployed drifters. They roam the streets for no reason and ride electric scooters doing dangerous stunts at night.”
Damn, so they were ghost fire youths!
Pei Xingyan couldn’t help but smile faintly. After all these years, this was the first time he heard of someone actually getting attracted to ghost fire youths.
But having been trained, he normally wouldn’t laugh.
He asked again, “Has she ever been caught in an early romance or had a relationship broken off? Usually, those signs could mean some emotional repression… and girls her age are indeed sometimes drawn to bad influences.”
“No, not that,” Associate Professor Yang said. “Actually, I’ve paid close attention. She usually sticks close to a few girls, and when they wander around, they squeeze onto the same electric scooter. She doesn’t have any close boys.”
“Huh?” Pei Xingyan was puzzled.
If it wasn’t because of the gang, why was she hanging out with these people? Was she dragged into the gutter by unreliable friends?
“Does she have any close girlfriends? Like besties she hangs out with?” he asked again.
“No.” Associate Professor Yang sighed. “We really don’t know the cause. Otherwise, we would’ve tried to address it from the root.”
“I see…”
“But as I said, she doesn’t talk to us anymore, let alone tell us the reasons…” she smiled bitterly. “Pei Xingyan, I’ve tried every trick in the book, and every one of them failed…”
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been willing to believe Tang Xin’s nonsense…
Pei Xingyan filled in the rest of the unspoken sentence in his heart.
At the same time, he made up his mind—this wasn’t a matter that would bring endless trouble.
He decided to take the case.
“Professor, I’ll give it a try first.” He stood up, voice calm. “Let’s focus on the college entrance exam. I’ll keep her away from those people and help her prepare for the exam… But how well she ends up doing is not something I can guarantee.”
“As long as she’s willing to show up for the exam, I’ll accept anything above undergraduate level… I’m just afraid she might give up altogether…” The worried mother was on the verge of breaking down but still thanked Pei Xingyan. “Thank you so much. You really deserved that 95 in your usual grade.”
“Heh…” Pei Xingyan scratched his head. “You still remember that, huh…”
But he quickly turned serious and said, “Alright, please give me your daughter’s information—name, school, class, her hobbies, and a photo. I’ll find her later and say I’m the tutor you hired, but please don’t tell her yet.”
“Tutor?” she sounded suspicious.
“After that, just leave it to me. I’ll handle everything.”
Pei Xingyan smiled confidently, leaving behind that sentence before walking away like a disappearing swordsman.
“Wait, what about the payment?”
“You discuss it with her. I’m just a worker.” Pei Xingyan didn’t look back as he left.
He wasn’t suddenly trying to show off; he just didn’t want Tang Xin to ask for too much.
Besides, if it came down to it, discussing an app called in front of his teacher would be way too absurd!