Having said that, Chen Ying didn't have a bottom in her heart, she hadn't seen this child before, but she had only heard a little about his deeds and situation. For a young person who has not been deeply involved in the world, the charm of challenge makes people feel refreshed, and the pride of self-confidence makes this feeling even more profound. Chen Ying didn't go out all afternoon, she kept looking through the preparation books, marking the points she thought were important and difficult, and when she arrived at the door in the evening, she was almost sure that she would be able to make full progress in the future.

"Ah, here you are." A middle-aged man of small height opened the door, wearing a pair of heavy gold-rimmed glasses, neatly trimmed gray hair, a light blue shirt and black suit pants, and a half-lit cigarette between his right index and middle fingers.

"I'm afraid you won't find it, it's too remote here." He said and handed Chen Ying a pair of slippers, "Let's go this way." ”

Chen Ying followed him through a rectangular foyer with dark brown solid wood furniture and into a comfortable room. At first glance, it was used as a study, and the bookcases on both sides of the room were filled with books, some of which were placed on the windowsill. The computer screen on the desk was still lit, and a thin pamphlet and a few scattered manuscripts were spread out on the desk.

"Sit down." He gestured to the chair next to him. Through the light, Chen Ying could see that his face was full of tiredness, and between his fingers were the yellow marks left by nicotine.

"There are some things that I think you need to know beforehand." He crushed the cigarette butt in the ashtray and whispered, as if trying to avoid being heard, "My son — I mean Martin — he's not very taught. He wouldn't go to school, and three of his tutors had already run away from him - even we couldn't do anything about him. ”

Chen Ying sat down, not embarrassed at all. This is not the first time she has gone out to work as a tutor, and she has become accustomed to similar complaints from parents. She calmly took the cup of hot water from the gentleman and listened as he continued to introduce his future students.

"Alas—Martin did well in his class in his sophomore year of junior high school, and was almost in the top ten in every exam—and his essays are also very good, probably inheriting my expertise in this area—" At this point, his slightly gloomy face brightened slightly, "After all, I am also a writer." ”

Chen Ying hummed and said she was listening.

However, then he suddenly didn't want to go to school - probably because he felt that school life was too depressing, after all, he would have to face the high school entrance examination next year - so he took a break from school for half a year - we were also too busy to take care of him or force him. His mom and I were hoping he would take the opportunity to adjust – and it turned out," he said frustratedly, "that Martin's grades plummeted and he couldn't keep up with going back to school." He also has a strong aversion to school now - probably because he is falling behind in his grades, and we don't know what to do......"

"Although I can't promise you anything." Chen Ying comforted him, vaguely remembering that the gentleman who advertised in the part-time version was surnamed Liu, "But such children are still quite rare now." It may be that he is more mentally sensitive, coupled with the fact that he is in adolescence, so his mood swings are relatively large, and he has not experienced any setbacks at his age - because his grades were better before - so now his grades have regressed, and he doubts his ability, and then hates studying. ”

"Ah, you're right—I thought so too." Mr. Liu breathed a sigh of relief, "I knew Martin was a good kid – he was probably anxious about his grades, but he just didn't know what to do." ”

"Can you tell me more about his various disciplines?"

"Oh, of course—I'll go get something to eat first, I haven't had dinner yet—Martin has just finished eating, and there may be some leftovers now."

He opened the door, glanced cautiously towards the end of the hallway, and hurried to the kitchen. After a while, he walked back to the house with a small dish of boiled edamame beans in salt water and half a corn, closed the door, sat down, and devoured it regardless of his image, as if he had forgotten that Chen Ying was sitting on the chair directly opposite him.

"Have you eaten?" Mr. Liu asked. By this time, he had finished nibbling corn and began to peel edamame with trembling hands. He shoved the turquoise beans into his mouth haphazardly, seemingly unconcerned about their taste.

"I've eaten it."

"That's good—I'll tell you the truth, I haven't eaten in days since he ran away from his last tutor. His mother often travels on business, and I am the only one to take care of him—I don't dare to take care of it too closely, for fear that he will rebel—but he always fails to attend classes, and in the end people can't stand it and runs away—I have no choice but to find him a new tutor. ”

"What's his favorite subject right now?"

"Martin is the best at Chinese - he has won a prize for his composition, and he is good at English - but he is terrible at science - he could have been okay in math, but not very good at physics, and he is a little bit unable to learn - chemistry is even worse, he almost does not understand it at all - I think he may not be suitable for science."

"Who says I'm not fit to study science?" The door suddenly opened, and a tall, lanky boy stood barefoot, his head tilted, a pale pink towel quilt draped over his shoulders, and two slippers in his hand swinging in the air. He was more than half a head taller than Chen Ying, and a pair of bright black eyes kept looking at her.

"Hello, Martin." Chen Ying waited for him to look at him and said calmly.

"Ah, you're thirsty, aren't you?" The father who was full of sorrow just now immediately greeted him with a smile, and at the same time glanced at Chen Ying, "I forgot to give you hot milk when I was busy just now—I'll go now, right away." ”

"My dad told you that I was bad again, right?" Martin sat in Mr. Liu's seat just now, and in the blink of an eye, he turned the plate of edamame into a small pile of empty pods.

"We're just talking about you because I want to know about you."

"What do you think of me?"

"I thought you used to be nice and hardworking, but now you don't know why you always make excuses for your laziness."

"I'm not lazy—" he said, with a mysterious expression, "I just don't think my life is right now, I'm different from everyone else—I know what I want to do." ”

"And what do you want to do?"

"I want to go to India – to become a monk and to be a wandering poet." Martin said, wrapping the towel over his shoulder in layers over his head, much larger than a Sikh bun. He held the massive headdress with one hand to prevent it from falling apart, stood up barefoot, and dangled through one of the doors of the bookcase, as if fanning himself.

Chen Ying walked over and closed the door of the bookcase. Martin jumped to the other side of the room, grabbed a copy of The Reader, held the magazine up in front of his eyes with his free hand, and paced the room on his slender legs, reading the magazine's modern poems one after another.

"You see, Martin just loves poetry." At this time, the father brought in a ceramic cup with gold trim and placed it on the desk, completely oblivious to his son's unusual behavior. He took out a magazine from the drawer closest to him, and opened the folded corner page in front of Chen Ying, "You see—this is a poem he wrote when he was fourteen years old, and it can already be published here—it's a pity that he doesn't like to write now, otherwise there will definitely be better works." ”

With the help of the light, Chen Ying quickly read the admirable poem. Martin was next to him, drinking milk contentedly like a cat.

"I think it's time for us to go to class." Chen Ying said seriously.

"Ahh Mr. Liu looked up at the clock hanging on the wall. Martin shook the loose towel quilt on his head, and walked very reluctantly to his room.

"Give him a break in forty-five minutes." When Chen Ying was about to leave the study, Mr. Liu whispered to her.