At checkout, Jason Harris tossed his phone aside and stood up to scan the items. When Samuel Clark was paying, Jason Harris noticed something was off about her—her face was unusually pale, making her eyes look especially dark and fragile.

"What's wrong? You don't look well." Jason Harris's voice was low as he stared at her.

"A bit carsick," Samuel Clark replied.

Jason Harris pressed his tongue against his left cheek and smiled, then tossed out a sentence: "Wait here."

He turned around and found a jacket, shook it vigorously, and a box of mints fell into his palm. Jason Harris opened the lid, casually picked a mint, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. His tongue rolled the mint around, crunching it loudly, his words muffled: "Hold out your hand."

Samuel Clark's long lashes trembled as she extended her palm. Suddenly, a handful of green mints dropped out of nowhere, clattering down like a reward just for her. She didn't dare look up, afraid to meet his gaze, and stared blankly at his hand—his fingers were long and defined, with a black mole at the base of his thumb, swaying before her eyes.

"I eat these mints all the time. They seem to help with dizziness," Jason Harris said, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his voice muffled.

Five minutes later, Samuel Clark walked out of the convenience store. She stood under the sun, clutching the mints tightly in her palm, her hand slick with sweat. That day, the sun was so hot she felt like she might melt, yet she was inexplicably happy.

Samuel Clark unwrapped a mint, slipped the wrapper into her pocket. The mint was supposed to be cool, but she tasted sweetness.

Who would have thought that fate's coincidences would keep happening on the same day? She took a wrong turn, wandered for half an hour before finding No. 79 Amber Lane, only to discover it was right behind the 711 convenience store.

Samuel Clark stood at the door and politely rang the bell. Someone inside called out, "Hey!" and hurried over to open the door. It was an auntie who answered.

The housekeeper led Samuel Clark inside, and she finally met the real lady of the house—a woman in her forties, strikingly beautiful, wearing a fitted skirt, full of charm.

"You're Xiao Xu, right? Your senior already told me about you. Just call me Aunt Scott. Come have some fruit, I just cut it," the woman said warmly.

"Thank you," Samuel Clark replied, then asked, "Who needs the tutoring?"

"Silly me, I forgot to say—it's my youngest son. I'll call him down," Aunt Scott called toward the stairs, "Ethan Scott, come down, your new teacher is here. Stop pestering your brother to play games with you."

No response.

Aunt Scott smiled awkwardly. "Xiao Xu, why don't you come upstairs with me? I want to see how your trial lesson goes."

"Okay." Samuel Clark nodded.

Samuel Clark followed the woman upstairs. They walked to the third room on the left. Standing at the door, Samuel Clark immediately saw two people playing video games.

"Ethan Scott, still pestering your brother Jason to play games? You have three seconds to get out here," Aunt Scott said calmly. "Uncle Li downstairs has been wanting to take your game console for a long time."

The game sounds stopped abruptly—

Hearing the familiar name, Samuel Clark's heart skipped a beat. Jason Harris put down the Switch controller, turned around and, upon seeing Samuel Clark, was momentarily stunned—then grinned. What a damn coincidence.

"Time for class." Jason Harris stood up and patted the kid's head.

Ethan Scott clung to Jason Harris's pant leg, pleading, "Bro, please, just one more round."

"Nope, you're too bad at it," Jason Harris squatted down and pried his hands off one by one, chuckling lazily, "Go to class."

Jason Harris walked out of the room, raised his eyebrows when he saw her, and stood in front of Samuel Clark, meeting the confusion in her eyes. He explained briefly, "He's Nathan Scott's younger brother. My family lives nearby too. The convenience store belongs to his family. I'm just helping out for a bit because Aunt Scott went to play cards."

Getting tattled on by the kid, Aunt Scott felt embarrassed. She shoved Jason Harris out and took the initiative: "Don't block Teacher Xu from teaching!"

"Alright."

The trial lesson was fairly short. Samuel Clark taught for about thirty minutes, and Aunt Scott was immediately satisfied, even asking her youngest son to welcome the new teacher.

Ethan Scott, with his head of curly hair and chubby face clearly showing reluctance, could only force himself to say, "Teacher Xu, welcome."

Samuel Clark smiled. Aunt Scott walked her out, and they happened to see Jason Harris sitting on the sofa, about to leave. Aunt Scott immediately stopped him: "Where are you going?"

"Where else? Home," Jason Harris replied with a helpless smile.

"No way. You're the only one at home. Forget it, stay for dinner. Auntie will make your favorite braised eggplant," Aunt Scott said.

Jason Harris gave a lazy smile. "If this keeps up, I'll practically be your son."

"Perfect. I've been wanting to cut ties with Nathan Scott for ages. You can take his place," Aunt Scott said with a straight face.

Jason Harris lowered his head, shoulders shaking with laughter, looking relaxed and happy. In the end, he didn't leave.

Aunt Scott walked Samuel Clark out, holding her hand and scolding gently, "I told you to stay for dinner."

Samuel Clark smiled and shook her head. "I still have something to do. I need to go to the library later."