"Little Clark, I was very satisfied with your trial lesson just now. Ethan Scott has only half a year left before his junior high entrance exam next year, and this kid's grades—honestly, even a pig I raised would do better. I hope you can help him. Of course, I know you're concerned about the commute; it really is a bit of a hassle to come here. Why don't you think it over tonight, and if you decide, you can contact your Senior."

"Okay." Samuel Clark nodded.

That evening, Samuel Clark returned to her dorm. She found a clean glass jar and put all the mint candies Jason Harris had given her inside. She couldn't bear to eat even one.

By ten o'clock, she was still the only one in the dorm. Samuel Clark rested her chin on her hand, staring blankly at the glass jar. Suddenly, Sophie Hill pushed the door open and said, "Sammy, did you miss me?"

"I did." Samuel Clark replied with a sweet smile.

"I heard from Grace Lee today that you went for a tutoring interview. How did it go?" Sophie Hill sat down.

Samuel Clark poured her a glass of water and thought for a moment. "It went well. Funny thing is, the family I interviewed with turned out to be Nathan Scott's. The student I'll be teaching is his younger brother."

"Amber Lane?! Damn, who dragged you so far away? The school is pretty far from there, you must be exhausted, Sammy." Sophie Hill looked at her with concern. "But I did hear that Nathan Scott's little brother was looking for a tutor."

"Yeah," Samuel Clark replied. She suddenly remembered something and asked Sophie Hill, her tone hesitant and a little afraid of seeming too concerned, "Sophie, I heard from Aunt Sheng that Jason Harris lives alone?"

Sophie Hill sighed. "Their family situation is a bit complicated. They all used to live together at Amber Lane, but in ninth grade, his mom passed away. His dad planned to move out, but Jason Harris refused. So even now, he still lives alone in that villa. Luckily, he’s had a German Shepherd since he was little to keep him company."

"I see." Samuel Clark responded. She suddenly recalled Jason Harris sitting on the sofa that afternoon, the faint smile in his eyes when Aunt Sheng invited him to stay for dinner.

Not long after, Senior messaged her, asking if she had made a decision about the tutoring job. Samuel Clark thought of those dark, silent eyes and typed in the chat box:

I've decided. I want to do it.

Chapter 7: Confession

Samuel Clark finally agreed to become Ethan Scott's tutor. When she went to teach on the weekend, she dressed up a bit, wearing a white halter knit crop top and blue jeans that accentuated her curves—youthful and vibrant. She stood in front of the mirror brushing her hair, revealing a bit of her waistline.

"Wow, Sammy, you’re the very definition of a pure goddess. I want to date you." Sophie Hill pounced on her.

Samuel Clark put her hair up in a bun, her forehead smooth, the corners of her eyes tilting up slightly, giving her a beautiful and captivating look. As she packed her things, she dodged Sophie Hill's playful attacks.

"Alright, but you’ll have to choose between me and your idol," Samuel Clark joked.

"Then I’d still rather have my idol." Sophie Hill replied without hesitation.

After goofing around with Sophie Hill, Samuel Clark finished getting ready and left. This time, she was smarter and put motion sickness patches behind her ears in advance. After three bus transfers, she finally arrived at 79 Amber Lane.

Samuel Clark arrived at Ethan Scott's house. The curly-haired boy was still playing video games. When Ethan Scott saw his tutor arrive, he reluctantly put down the game controller, afraid she would tattle on him.

Surprisingly, during the first hour of class, Ethan Scott was fairly cooperative. Samuel Clark first gave him a set of practice papers to test his basics, then tailored her teaching to his weak points.

He was fairly cooperative and didn’t act up, but when it came time to do practice papers in the second period, Ethan Scott started sighing and clearly lost focus. So this was where the problem lay.

Samuel Clark tapped the curly-haired boy lightly on the head with the test paper. "You’re so young, already sighing? Hurry up and do your work."

"Little Clark laoshi, you don’t understand. Our generation is filled with nothing but studying all day. Adults have no idea where our childhood went." Ethan Scott said with a world-weary look.

Samuel Clark asked him, "So where is your childhood?"

"In Zelda, Westworld, and so on." The curly-haired boy answered without hesitation.

...

Samuel Clark glanced at the time and said, "If you can finish the test paper that usually takes an hour in forty minutes, I’ll play video games with you for twenty minutes."

"I’ll help you beat the game," Samuel Clark added.

"Tch, the only person I admire for gaming skills is my Brother Jason." The curly-haired boy looked unconvinced.

Samuel Clark wasn’t fazed at all, her tone calm. "Really? Well, starting today, you have a second person to admire."

But Ethan Scott was provoked. He forced himself to focus and quickly finished the test paper, then challenged her, "So, teacher, want to play a round?"

"Kid, it’s not time for class to end yet. I only promised to play with you, but not right now," Samuel Clark said.

The curly-haired boy immediately slumped in disappointment. Samuel Clark quickly graded his paper, explained the solutions, and highlighted the key points for him.

It seemed Samuel Clark really understood the art of motivating with delayed gratification—first giving him something to look forward to, then pushing Ethan Scott to move forward. Sure enough, after two hours, Ethan Scott felt like he had finally digested all the concepts he hadn’t understood before.

He couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration for Samuel Clark.