Chapter 11

On a Saturday afternoon, Jia Hongjian walked through an unfamiliar residential area with a bulging backpack. He was there to tutor a young girl, and the backpack contained the lesson plans he had prepared for the class.

It was no easy task. Although Jia Hongjian could be quite charming, when he was serious, he could shock others to no end. For this tutoring job, the books he bought from the bookstore, except for Keynes' book which he bought for himself, were all for the young girl. He stayed up all night reading about ancient Chinese and Greek mythology, and organized a set of lesson plans, even drawing some comics to go with them!

After passing through an old residential area, Jia Hongjian arrived at the entrance of a newly built high-rise luxury complex. The address left by Mr. Luo was here, and it seemed to be in a 30-story apartment building. Such residences would become widespread across the country in ten to twenty years, but in this era, even in Shanghai, they were still a novelty.

Taking the elevator to the 12th floor, Jia Hongjian rang the doorbell of apartment 1201. After a few seconds, the door opened, but it wasn't Mr. Luo; instead, a girl about the same age as Jia Hongjian opened the door. She was dressed simply in a white的确良 (a type of synthetic fabric) shirt with some light pink flowers embroidered on it. She looked quite refined, with no makeup and a simple ponytail, exuding a sense of purity. "Who are you looking for?" the pure girl asked in a Southwest Mandarin accent, somewhat reservedly.

"Is this Luo Lizi's home? I have an appointment with Mr. Luo to tutor little Lizi."

The girl turned and called inside, "Grandpa, there's a classmate here saying he's Lizi's tutor." A few seconds later, Mr. Luo appeared at the door. "Classmate Jia, you're here? Come in, come in."

Following Mr. Luo into the house, Jia Hongjian noticed that in the living room, the young girl was snuggling in the arms of an older woman. From his position, he could see the older woman's face as she spoke to the young girl, and he felt that the older woman bore a resemblance to the young girl.

This older woman, who appeared to be Lizi's mother, was around 25 to 30 years old. She could be described as a mature and elegant woman, or a woman in her prime. She was wearing a simple, light pink cotton sportswear set, with a small cap on the back and a zipper connecting the two front panels.

This outfit, in itself, was quite ordinary and could be bought for just a few dollars. However, when worn by this mature and elegant woman, it exuded a soft and gentle femininity, as if women were made of water.

The light pink color of the outfit made Jia Hongjian feel the innate gentleness of women. This gentleness was not the seductive charm of a sly woman like Wang Dan, which would make men's hormones surge and their minds turn to mush, wanting to dominate her and turn into beasts.

But the older woman's gentleness was different. Her gentleness was a quality that inspired respect. It made men feel calm and subtly attracted, as if they would be softened by her gentleness, turning from hardened steel into something as gentle as silk.

"I'll introduce you. This is the classmate Jia I mentioned, and this is Lizi's mother, my daughter-in-law, surnamed Wang..."

"Hello, Ms. Wang." Before Mr. Luo finished the introduction, Jia Hongjian habitually smiled and extended his hand to shake. This gesture made Mr. Luo and the older woman slightly surprised, as teenagers of his age rarely shook hands upon meeting someone.

The older woman tilted her head slightly and looked at Jia Hongjian with interest, but she didn't stand up. After a few seconds, she smiled and extended her delicate hand, palm up and fingers down, as if she were about to test the temperature of bathwater. This posture, combined with her not standing up, made her seem quite proud. Her smile was different from the warm and genuine smiles of ordinary housewives; it was polite but also had a hint of distance, as if reminding those around her to be mindful of their behavior.

Jia Hongjian shook the older woman's hand, feeling its softness and lack of resistance. He applied a slight pressure, meeting the standard for a business handshake, which conveyed confidence, decisiveness, and strength.

Feeling the strength and determination in Jia Hongjian's handshake and his flawless smile, the older woman became even more curious. She raised her smooth face and looked at the young boy with interest. Just as she was about to speak, the young girl in her arms jumped to the ground.

The young girl ran to Jia Hongjian, grabbed his pants, and pouted. "What's wrong, little girl? Are you upset? Because I forgot to shake your hand again?" Jia Hongjian squatted down and teased the young girl.

"No, Uncle, tell me, how did I come to be? My mom just said she picked me up by the West Lake... How could I have been picked up?" The young girl pouted, looking very sad. "That's just a joke, little girl. How could you have been picked up?" Jia Hongjian smiled and said, knowing how to tease children. In the past, this skill had attracted many girls' hearts. He was particularly good at taking children out on the street, "accidentally" meeting high-quality girls, and showing his care and educational skills in front of them, which would lower their defenses due to maternal instincts...

"So, how did I come to be?" The young girl, hearing this, immediately pressed on with a question that often troubled parents. "Well, you were born by your mom. You see, when boys reach a certain age, they grow a small seed in their bodies. After getting married, they give this seed to the bride, who places it in her belly and carefully nurtures it. After some time, the seed sprouts and grows into a little baby. It's just like planting flowers and plants outside; you put the seeds in the soil and water them... So, when you eat watermelon, you mustn't swallow the seeds, or your belly will grow big and you'll give birth to a watermelon!"

After Jia Hongjian said this, the young girl's attention was completely diverted to the idea of giving birth to a watermelon. She imagined being laughed at by other children if she gave birth to a watermelon, and her face turned pale. This way, she didn't notice the technical details of how the "seed" gets into the belly.

While the young girl's attention was diverted, the three adults were completely captivated by Jia Hongjian. They all knew how parents usually answered such questions, but they had never heard an answer like Jia Hongjian's!

Indeed, they realized that even if the young girl repeated this to her friends, the general direction of the story would still be correct, and all adults would acknowledge it. Moreover, this answer contained no adult content and even taught the young girl not to eat seeds while eating fruit...

"How did this kid come up with such an answer?" This question simultaneously appeared in the minds of the three adults. "Ha ha ha, Koulan, see, I told you, this kid has a special talent, didn't I?" Mr. Luo laughed and said to his daughter-in-law.

Ms. Wang, known as Koulan, smiled and nodded, then asked Jia Hongjian curiously, "Classmate Jia, how did you come up with this explanation?" Jia Hongjian smiled and shrugged, "Teaching children is actually quite simple. Just stand in their shoes and explain things in a way they can understand. It's not difficult, just a bit of brainwork."

At first, Ms. Wang didn't think much of it, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt there was a deeper meaning. Jia Hongjian's words suggested that teaching children required careful thought, implying that her previous answer lacked thought.

Seeing Ms. Wang's expression, Jia Hongjian continued to play with the young girl, maintaining his composure. He had deliberately said those words. With his experience in the business world, he knew how to speak. He was aware that many people in business and politics analyzed words in both positive and negative ways, first understanding the surface meaning and then guessing the hidden meaning. He had intentionally used this subtle and sharp approach to hint that in the area of tutoring young girls, they should step aside and let him, the professional, handle it!

After playing with the young girl for a while, Jia Hongjian politely declined Mr. Luo's invitation to chat further and prepared to start the lesson in the living room. Seeing the thick books and stacks of drawings he took out of his backpack, Mr. Luo and Ms. Wang were quite surprised. They had never seen a tutor for high school students prepare so much, let alone for a kindergarten child!

Ha! Could Jia Hongjian's thoughts be so easily guessed? On the surface, it seemed he was overly serious and meticulous, but in reality, this was part of his master plan to tutor the young girl. He wouldn't casually reveal his plan to anyone. He intended to cultivate this girl from a young age, so that by the time she was a teenager, there would be no other boys she would find appealing, and she would only think that Mr. Jia was the most knowledgeable...

Indeed, just as Voltaire could make a woman he desired no longer find other men appealing, Jia Hongjian's plan was to educate the young girl so that she would never find any other men appealing, and he would be the only one who could win her heart, starting from scratch to cultivate a girl who would only be attracted to him!