Volume One: Debut at the Pinnacle Chapter 29: Tutoring? That’s Far Too Simple!

This weekend, the second round of "Voice of Huaxia" officially aired. Chen Jing and Li Qingwei's performance was scheduled for the second episode, which happened to be broadcast on Sunday night.

For the past two days, Chen Jing had been helping Xue Yue practice singing, speeding up her album recording. Since Chen Jing's own album needed to be released right after "Voice of Huaxia" finished airing—and according to the schedule, the show would wrap up in about a month—Xue Yue's album had to be released in half a month. The timeline was tight.

After spending the afternoon at the company with Xue Yue recording songs, Chen Jing planned to have dinner at Wang Menglan's home that evening, as he had arranged with Wang Youxuan to watch his show together.

Because Molly's injury hadn't healed and she disliked going out, Chen Jing left her in the apartment.

With Lin Xi overseeing things at the company, there was nothing pressing for Chen Jing to do, so he didn't need to stay behind.

On his way, Chen Jing flagged down a taxi. As soon as he got in, the driver remarked with a strange tone, “Oh, it's you again. Heading to the Grand Regency, right?”

Chen Jing was surprised and looked up at the driver, instantly recognizing him—it was the same driver who had mistaken him for a gigolo last time.

Chen Jing smiled wryly; Xiang City was indeed small, and yet here they were, meeting for a second time.

Since he was already in the car, Chen Jing couldn't just get out, and the driver hadn't said anything too offensive. So he nodded and replied, “Yes, to the Grand Regency.”

The driver shrugged and slowly started the car. Along the way, the driver asked curiously, “How many times a week do you go to the Grand Regency?”

“Twice, sometimes three times,” Chen Jing replied.

“So many?” The driver glanced at Chen Jing incredulously, but seeing his broad and sturdy frame in the back seat, he believed it.

The driver sighed, “Youth really is a blessing. But as someone who's been around, let me give you some advice: cherish your health. In your line of work, your body is your capital. Don't be ignorant of its value when you're young, only to regret it when you're old.” He rambled on.

Chen Jing was embarrassed and could only explain helplessly, “Uncle, I'm an artist with Jingrun Entertainment, not a gigolo.”

“Huh? You're an artist with Jingrun, not a gigolo?” The driver looked skeptical.

Chen Jing shook his head and added, “You can watch 'Voice of Huaxia' tonight on Xiang TV. You'll see for yourself.”

“Uh, all right, I'll check it out if I have time,” the driver replied awkwardly, and the atmosphere instantly cooled.

The rest of the ride was silent. After arriving at the Grand Regency, Chen Jing quickly paid and got out. Watching the departing taxi, he muttered to himself, “Looks like I really need to buy a car.”

Once Chen Jing finished buying all the songs for the company, he should be able to pay back the tens of thousands he owed Lin Xi. When he had some spare money, he could finally consider buying a car.

Chen Jing arrived at Wang Menglan’s villa and knocked on the door. After a moment, the door opened and Wang Youxuan bounced out.

“Brother, you’re here!” Wang Youxuan happily hugged Chen Jing’s arm.

Following her inside, Chen Jing laughed, “I heard from your mom that your grades slipped this time. That won’t do. If your grades don’t keep up, I won’t teach you to play the bass anymore.”

“Ah Jing is here!” Wang Menglan’s voice came from the kitchen. She had heard Chen Jing’s words, and while stirring the food, turned to look at them and said, “That’s right, Ah Jing, help me teach Youxuan well. She’s been slacking off lately in her studies.”

“No way! Don’t listen to my mom’s nonsense,” Wang Youxuan pouted unhappily. “My score was just lower than last time, but my ranking didn’t drop much. The exam was hard this time; nobody did well.”

Chen Jing patted her head and smiled, “I don’t care. If your grades slip, I’ll switch your bass lessons to tutoring sessions.”

“Oh!” Wang Youxuan’s eyes lit up, grinning, “Brother, are you sure you still remember high school knowledge? I’m in the top class at Xiang City First High School. Ordinary tutors don’t help me much.”

Seeing her doubt, Chen Jing flicked her forehead, “Ha—are you underestimating your brother? Want to try?”

Wang Youxuan’s eyes sparkled with interest. She replied, “Let’s try, then.” Then she called toward the kitchen, “Mom, we’ll eat later!” She pulled Chen Jing toward her study.

“Hey, what are you two up to?” Wang Menglan came out from the kitchen, looking at them.

“We’re going to study,” Wang Youxuan replied without turning her head.

“You little rascal, you’re never this enthusiastic. Now it’s almost dinnertime.”

“Ah, Mom, don’t worry. We’ll be quick; we’ll be down soon.”

Chen Jing gave Wang Menglan an apologetic look as he was pulled upstairs. Wang Menglan could only shake her head and return to cooking, deciding to finish the dishes first.

In the room, Wang Youxuan went to her desk and asked with a playful smile, “Brother, which subject are you best at?”

Chen Jing shrugged. He was about to say he was good at all of them, but then he realized he didn’t know how advanced high school education was in this world. To be safe, he said, “Mathematics, I’m best at math.”

“Oh?” Wang Youxuan looked at him curiously. Coincidentally, math was also her strongest subject.

Without showing it, she pulled out a math test paper and placed it before Chen Jing. “Here, just do the last question.”

It seemed exams were the same everywhere—the final question was always the hardest.

Chen Jing said nothing, carefully examining the test. Fortunately, it was similar to high school math from his previous world; the final question was a combination of functions and inequalities. Chen Jing breathed a quiet sigh of relief—it was fairly simple.

For Chen Jing, who had been a doctoral researcher in his previous life, high school functions and inequalities were trivial.

After reviewing the problem, Chen Jing immediately picked up the pen and began writing rapidly, without any pause.

At first, Wang Youxuan watched with interest, but soon became dumbfounded as she saw her brother’s swift, confident writing. Had she not seen all his answers were correct, she would have thought he was scribbling nonsense.

She could solve the first two parts of the last question, but got stuck on the third. Yet Chen Jing finished the first and second, then moved straight on to the third without hesitation. Watching his solution, Wang Youxuan nodded occasionally, murmuring, “So that’s how you solve it...” Then she would get stuck at a certain point, pondering deeply until she understood why it worked.

When Chen Jing finished and put down the pen, he looked up to see Wang Youxuan lost in thought.

Chen Jing smiled and pointed at his answer, “You got stuck starting from the third part, didn’t you?”

Wang Youxuan came back to herself, nodded, and said with a bitter expression, “Once it got to the function’s domain and extrema, I couldn’t understand it—it’s too hard.”

Chen Jing grinned, “You need to clarify your thinking here, don’t...” What followed was Teacher Chen’s explanation time. (Forgive the author’s lack of words; all my high school knowledge has been returned to my teachers.)

After listening to her brother’s explanation, Wang Youxuan suddenly felt enlightened. So this was how the last question could be solved.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

The sound of knocking interrupted their intense discussion. They looked toward the door and saw Wang Menglan standing there, her expression less than friendly.

“Are you two planning to eat or not?” Wang Menglan said angrily.

Wang Youxuan stuck out her tongue, quickly put down the test paper, and pulled Chen Jing out, saying, “Let’s go, let’s go—it’s time to eat.”

As Chen Jing passed Wang Menglan, he gave her an apologetic smile.

Wang Menglan sighed, but the smile in her eyes could not be concealed. She was delighted to see Chen Jing teaching her daughter so seriously. She was more than willing to trust Chen Jing to tutor her daughter.

At the dinner table, Wang Youxuan exclaimed excitedly, “I didn’t expect you to be so good at math, brother—even better than me, a top student at Xiang City First High. Why didn’t you go to college through the entrance exam?” She knew her brother hadn’t attended university, having gone into the military instead.

Wang Menglan quickly rebuked her daughter, “Youxuan, eat your food. You talk too much—why ask so many questions?” Everyone has painful memories; she felt her daughter shouldn’t probe into Chen Jing’s past.

Chen Jing waved his hand at Wang Menglan, signaling it was fine, then smiled, “My situation is a bit different. People like me usually enlist directly, so things like the entrance exam are far removed from my life.” He didn’t elaborate.

“Oh.” Wang Youxuan was still curious, but she knew it was inappropriate to ask further, especially since her mother had spoken. She resolved to ask her brother when they were alone; after all, he doted on her most.

After dinner, Chen Jing taught Wang Youxuan the bass for a while, then both went downstairs to join Wang Menglan in watching "Voice of Huaxia." Tonight was Chen Jing’s performance, and Wang Youxuan had been eager to see it.

“Honestly, now that the second round requires group performances, it’s not as good. So many groups mess up. Even as viewers, we can tell,” Wang Youxuan said, frowning as the show began.

Wang Menglan nodded in agreement, “Indeed, many contestants did well in the first round, but now, because of poor coordination, their scores suffer. It’s a pity.”

Chen Jing nodded and explained, “It’s just business. 'Voice of Huaxia' is a show supported by my company and other big corporations like Huafu, so the rules are skewed toward the artists from those companies. It’s not as friendly toward independent contestants.”