The next morning, Chu Yang received a call from her former employer. This semester, her originally kind-hearted former employer still wanted her to help with tutoring, but Chu Yang felt that she had too many courses and she didn't need the money that badly anymore, so she declined the tutoring job. Her former employer understood and found a new tutor, but felt that the new tutor wasn't suitable, so she wanted to ask Chu Yang if she could recommend someone.
"I'll go ask my classmates. If one of them is available, I'll recommend her to you, but of course you'd still need to meet her before deciding," Chu Yang said. Her former employer was kind-hearted and generous, and still willing to help. Her student was also obedient.
"Okay, thank you for the trouble. Come over for a meal when you're free, my daughter misses you."
"Sure, I'll definitely come over when I have time."
After hanging up, Chu Yang continued studying. Until around 6pm, she returned to the school with Chi Yan. After eating at the school, they parted ways - Chu Yang went back to her dorm, and Chi Yan returned to his university.
On her way back, Chu Yang bought gifts - perfume for each of her three roommates Jin Yang and the others.
"Wow, thank you Chu Yang."
"Thanks, love you."
"Thank you, I really like it."
The three girls were all delighted.
When Chi Yan returned to his dorm, Yuan Zhi immediately came over to share some recent news with him. "Remember when the Zhu Family was investigated?"
"Yeah. What happened?"
Chi Yan hadn't seen Zhu Ruxin since the last incident.
"Recently, many of the Zhu Family's assets have been seized, and the head of the Zhu Family has been hospitalized. Their stocks have also plummeted, and people are dumping their shares. The Zhu Family is finished. There's also news that Zhu Ruxin has gone missing," Yuan Zhi said.
"What? How did she go missing?" Chi Yan wondered if she had run off with Zhu Ying.
"Not sure, but I heard that after being injured and hospitalized, she started acting deranged. Then one day, she just disappeared from the hospital."
Chi Yan frowned, "The police can't find her?"
Yuan Zhi shook his head. "Apparently her brother Zhu Ruying reported her missing a long time ago, but there's been no trace of her."
"Okay, got it."
Yuan Zhi added, "Actually, our family wants to take over some of the Zhu Family's business. I wanted to ask if your family wants to get involved?"
Chi Yan shook his head. "I just got back, I haven't been home yet. Let me call my grandfather and ask."
"Sure."
...
That night, Chi Yan told Chu Yang about Zhu Ruxin's disappearance. "Chu Yang, do you think Zhu Ying took her away?"
Chu Yang thought it was possible. "Let me take a look."
But Chi Yan immediately stopped her. "No, don't look into it. Last time you got hurt after looking into it. Let her stay missing, the police will find her. Don't get involved."
Chu Yang considered it and agreed. "Okay, I won't look into it." She did think it was very likely that Zhu Ying had taken Zhu Ruxin away. Last time, Zhu Ying had been injured too, and he probably needed to replenish his power. How would he do that? Probably by using Zhu Ruxin.
After discussing some other matters, they hung up.
Chu Yang remembered what her former employer had said, so she asked her roommates, "My former employer wants a home tutor. Any of you interested? The hourly rate is at least 400 yuan. If you perform well, there are bonuses too."
All three of them shook their heads. One said she was busy with dance practice, another had to prepare for an exam, and the third said she didn't need the money and just wanted to have fun instead of working. Although the 400 yuan hourly rate was tempting, the three roommates actually came from wealthier families than Chu Yang's. In their dorm, Chu Yang's family was probably the poorest.
"Chu Yang, wait a sec, let me ask around if anyone's interested." Jin Yang ran out of the dorm and came back shortly after.
"What about Liang Huan from our class? She said she's available," Jin Yang said.
Chu Yang considered it and felt Liang Huan would be a good choice. She knew Liang Huan - a diligent student, usually quiet and unassuming, but seemed like a polite girl.
"Okay, I'll add her on WeChat and introduce her to try it out." Chu Yang took out her phone and added Liang Huan through the class group.
The communication went well, and Liang Huan could go for a trial lesson that Saturday. But Chu Yang would let her former employer know first.
Liang Huan's trial lesson went smoothly, and the former employer was quite satisfied. Liang Huan got the tutoring job, and she even bought Chu Yang some fruit to express her gratitude.
Since Chu Yang's former employer and Chi Yan lived in the same residential area, Chu Yang would sometimes run into Liang Huan when she visited Chi Yan to study on weekends.
"Do you live here?" Liang Huan seemed surprised the first time she saw Chu Yang.
Chu Yang shook her head. "No, my boyfriend lives here. I'm just visiting him." Chi Yan had probably gone to the supermarket to buy groceries since he said he would cook for her that day, so Liang Huan didn't see him.
Liang Huan nodded. "Oh, I know. Your boyfriend is Chi Yan, the famous heartthrob from B University. My roommates and the girls next door have talked about him before."
Chu Yang was puzzled. "Them?"
Liang Huan smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, my roommates and the girls from the next dorm. They didn't say much, just mentioned him while discussing the good-looking guys on campus. They all agree that Chi Yan is the top heartthrob in the entire university town, it's just a pity he has a girlfriend now."
But they also said Chi Yan's girlfriend was from their A University, so they felt proud about that.
Chu Yang didn't think much of it. "It's fine, they can discuss it. If I looked like him, I'd let people discuss me too. Haha."
Liang Huan looked at Chu Yang's refined face. "But you're very pretty too. We all said you're prettier than that girl from the College of Economics and Management, Li Qinglu or something. We think you're much prettier than her." Of course they had to support their own college's students.
Chu Yang knew she was referring to Li Qinglu, but she didn't dare compare herself to the female lead. "No, no, she's definitely prettier."
Mentioning Li Qinglu made Chu Yang realize she hadn't seen her, the male lead, or Lin Shushu and the others for a long time. The last time she saw them was when she waited for Chi Yan at the school gate, but she hadn't run into them since.
But now that she thought about it, it made sense since they weren't even in the same college. Not only had she not seen them at school, but also not in the residential area. When she had first arrived, she would always run into the male and female leads, as well as others from the novel, no matter if it was at school or in the residential area. Back then, she had thought it was because of the influence of the novel's plot.
Ever since she started dating Chi Yan, the plot of the novel seemed to have gradually drifted away from her.
Her Chi Yan was truly her lucky star.
After chatting with Liang Huan about some tutoring matters, Liang Huan left, and Chu Yang returned to Chi Yan's place.
When Chi Yan came back with the groceries, he saw his girlfriend diligently studying on the couch again. He had gotten used to this sight recently, so he just took the groceries to the kitchen and started cooking.
