There was a muffled sound of two bodies crashing into each other.
Lin Yuan rubbed his jaw.
"Sorry, sorry, are you hurt?" A soft voice.
Ning Qing felt embarrassed, she didn't know why she suddenly felt so childish. She had been standing by the door looking at the stand off between the two figures for a few seconds and for some reason she couldn't help but have the urge to sneak up behind Lin Yuan to tap his shoulder. Unfortunately she ended up hitting his head when he quickly turned around.
Lin Yuan turned his eyes to glance at the new figure.
Young, probably in their twenties. And beautiful.
She is tall, with long dark brown hair cascading down her back and side-swept bangs on her forehead. Standing quietly in a lightly coloured dress with a thin cardigan draped over her shoulders, she looked elegant and refined.
At this moment though she had a light blush across her fair face and her eyebrows furrowed in apology.
Looking at her light brown eyes he fell into a daze.
Fortunately no one caught Lin Yuan's embarrassment as at this moment Lin Yuerong had already arrived.
"Ning Qing, are you okay? Are you hurt, did my clumsy little brother run into you?! How dare he!"
Listening to Lin Yuerong's high pitched voice and watching her circle around her with a look of faux concern, as if seriously checking for injuries, Ning Qing couldn't help but smile.
"No, no, it's my fault. I ran into him and hit -"
"It's fine." Lin Yuan had finally come to his senses, he glanced at her face one more time, and then lowered his eyes.
"Huh, Lin Yuan, is that all you have to say for yourself?! Shouldn't you at least apologise?" Lin Yuerong spoke with righteous indignation but her words were only met with a mocking smile from Lin Yuan.
She blushed, then shaking away her embarrassment, she held Ning Qing's hands as she led her to the sofa.
"Ahem, well don't go yet, I have something to announce…"
Looking at the two of them holding hands in front of him Lin Yuan had an interesting expression on his face.
"...Hey, hey, there's something wrong with that look of yours. Wait never mind, let me introduce you, this is my junior sister from college, Ning Qing."
Lin Yuerong coughed and let go of her hand, then she gestured to Lin Yuan.
"Hello, it's nice to meet you." Ning Qing had a very gentle smile on her face.
"Hello."
Lin Yuan glanced at her and nodded but he didn't introduce himself. Instead he just turned to look back at his sister.
"Well, isn't your English really bad? Look my junior sister is here to tutor you specifically, huh are you grateful? Are you grateful?" Lin Yuerong put her arms around Ning Qing's shoulders and raised her head proudly.
"Mom asked me to help her find a tutor for you and I found her the next day, what is efficiency, this is efficiency!"
"Okay, okay why aren't you saying anything? Don't worry, you know I wouldn't do you wrong. She's really good, and mom said she notified you already."
Lin Yuan still didn't speak, he just picked up his phone and went to the family group chat. He usually had it turned off because his sister would just spam random links. Now there were four unseen message notifications from his mother.
[Your class teacher called me and said that your English is not very good and that you need to study hard. It's the last year of school, you shouldn't have any regrets, so I asked your sister to find a tutor for you.]
[Don't worry, although Ning Qing is only 24 years old, you don't have to doubt her ability. She's a graduate student in the literature department at Renmin University.]
[She has worked part-time in a cram school before, but this is the first time tutoring one-on-one.]
[The class time is from 6:30 to 8:00. Try one class first. Just see if you like, if not we can get someone else.]
"See I wasn't lying to you. Ning Qing is doing this as a favour so be grateful."
Lin Yuan felt a little embarrassed, he didn't really want to get a tutor for English, and it was hard for him to get along with a stranger like this.
But I can't say it in front of her. And she's already here…
Ning Qing seemed to sense his hesitation. She opened her mouth and was about to say something when Lin Yuerong interrupted her, waving her hands hurriedly.
"Okay, now why are we just standing around? I have to go back to the company soon. I came back early specifically for this."
She turned to face Ning Qing.
"Qingqing, where do you want to have the lesson? There's no dining table, do you want to do it here? No, there's only a coffee table, or should you go to Lin Yuan's room, no…oh right we still have my dad's old study, how about -"
"- Let's do it in my room, I have a big desk and I can bring a chair from your bedroom…" Lin Yuan's interruption trailed off quietly.
"Um, if that's okay with you."
Ning Qing was a little surprised. She had a brief look of hesitation but then nodded. "That's fine with me, I've already prepared some material but there's still some time before 6:30, do you want to start now or later?" She spoke calmly with a gentle smile on her face.
It's a little annoying.
Lin Yuan didn't know why he was suddenly irritated, but he quickly replied that they could go now.
His bedroom was upstairs so Lin Yuerong didn't follow them, she just told Ning Qing to scold her brother harshly if he misbehaved then rushed to the kitchen.
Seeing her crazed look of hunger, Lin Yuan couldn't help but shout at her back.
"There's leftovers in the fridge!"
He then turned around to look at the figure waiting at the foot of the stairs in the hallway. She was watching him with a large smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.
"You are a very kind younger brother."
Annoying. Very annoying.
He cleared his throat and didn't look at her any longer.
"You can follow me Ms. Ning." He led her up the stairs to the second floor.
"You don't have to be so formal, I know I'll be your tutor but I'm your sister's friend and we're not that far apart in age, you can just call me Sister Ning Qing or Sister Qing." Her soft voice trailed from behind into Lin Yuan's ears.
He nodded instinctively.
A few seconds later.
"Okay."
…
...
...
Standing in front of the opened leftovers on the kitchen counter, Lin Yuerong was stuffing sweet and sour pork into her mouth as she listened to the footsteps disappear up the stairs.
I probably won't be able to come home today, the launch is next week, ugh I'm so stressed...
She gulped down a huge swig of water, and then resumed eating, her cheeks filled with rice, looking like a squirrel hiding chestnuts.
Thinking back to her brother just now, and how she had been led by the nose by him, she instantly became annoyed.
Hmph, I helped him find such a beautiful and kind tutor and he didn't even thank me! He doesn't know how lucky he is, how many people from college would be jealous right now!
Older sisters really have no prestige anymore. What is this world coming to?!
Still, it's was a bit nice…Recently it's felt different somehow. It's strange.
Strange but familiar.
Lin Yuerong quickly finished scarfing down the rest of the food, tossed the dirty plates in the sink with a little guilt and hurriedly left the kitchen. Passing by the old study she paused briefly.
It's been 5 years already…
She took her car keys from her bag and opened her umbrella as she put on her shoes.
The door opened to the heavy sound of rain. Above the clouds were dark and numerous. The water droplets crashed against the earth continuously like heavy drums, washing the sidewalks and the roads, sweeping away the mud and the dust - all traces of today slowly vanishing. A fresh smell was everywhere, like the world was being cleansed. Rain like this could wash away even time.