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Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Coach, I Want to Learn Calculus

Jiangcheng University of Technology.

It used to be a junior college. A few years ago, it merged with several vocational schools and was upgraded to a four-year university.

Although it now bore the name of a University of Technology, locals still called it the polytechnic college, and its prestige was nothing to write home about.

Women’s Dorm 306.

Lu Yao was in front of the mirror, shaping her eyebrows.

In the reflection, her skin was fair and her features delicate. A little touch-up was all it took to make her look exceptionally radiant.

Her roommate came in from the balcony, carrying a washbasin. Seeing the scene, she immediately started teasing.

”Well, well, Miss Lu. Heading out for a date? Did that heartthrob from the Civil Engineering department finally win you over?”

Lu Yao shot her an annoyed glance.

”What date? I’m going to a tutoring session.”

”Tutoring?” Her roommate looked skeptical. ”You’re putting on makeup for a tutoring session? Who are you trying to kid?”

Lu Yao pursed her lips and didn’t explain.

The reason was actually quite simple.

At a polytechnic university with a severe gender imbalance, especially in the mathematics department where she was one of only two girls in her class, boys were constantly sizing them up.

And what girl doesn’t like to hear a few compliments?

Over time, wearing makeup whenever she went out had become standard procedure for Lu Yao.

There was no way she could explain this bit of vanity to a girl from another department.

After finishing her makeup, Lu Yao changed into a cream-colored trench coat, grabbed her bag, and left the campus.

She casually flagged down a taxi.

”Driver, to Junzi Road in the old district.”

Sitting in the back seat, Lu Yao watched the scenery fly by and let out a soft sigh.

This tutoring job was really just her repaying a favor.

Fifty yuan an hour for tutoring... in this day and age, that kind of money meant you could only afford McDonald’s if you went on a discount day, let alone for one-on-one high school math tutoring.

Besides, she wasn’t exactly free. Although her third-year courseload wasn’t heavy, she was already preparing for the graduate school entrance exam to get into a different university.

She hadn’t chosen to study for the exam on her own because she knew herself. With her lack of self-control and independent study skills, getting in would be nearly impossible.

That was why she had been busy looking for a test prep agency recently.

But she had no choice. The student who needed tutoring was Aunt Li Qin’s son.

Her own mother had made a huge mistake at work and was almost fired. It was all thanks to Aunt Li Qin running around and pulling strings that the issue was resolved.

Lu Yao didn’t even want to accept any money, but her mother had insisted.

”You have to take it, but not too much. Aunt Li can’t afford a high price. But if you don’t take anything, knowing her personality, she would never let you go.”

’I heard Aunt Li’s son only scored in the 80s on his last test. So, if I just go over the basic formulas and review the key points from the first few required books, that should be enough.’

Lu Yao mentally mapped out her teaching plan for the day.

The car soon stopped at the entrance of an old residential complex.

Lu Yao paid and got out. Looking at the red brick buildings in front of her, she couldn’t help but feel a little creeped out.

If there were no streetlights at night, she would never dare to come here alone.

Following the location from her WeChat message, she found the right apartment building.

Sixth floor.

No elevator.

Lu Yao was out of breath by the time she reached the top.

Standing at the door of 602, she took a moment to catch her breath before knocking.

KNOCK KNOCK...

”Who is it?”

A boy’s voice came from inside—clear, crisp, and quite pleasant to the ear.

”I’m Lu Yao. Aunt Li sent me for the tutoring session.”

CLICK. The security door swung open.

A boy in a gray T-shirt stood there. He was quite tall, and though a bit thin, he had a very clean-cut look about him.

”Lu Yao? Come on in.”

Li Dong stepped aside to let her pass.

What Lu Yao didn’t know was that just a moment before she knocked, this clean-cut young man had been in a state of extreme excitement, furiously working through practice problems.

Ever since receiving Joule’s guidance yesterday, it was as if Li Dong had unlocked a whole new world.

He had stayed up until three in the morning solving problems. The feeling of concepts flooding his mind, impossible to push away, was countless times more satisfying than instantly headshotting an opponent in a video game.

This made Li Dong realize the terrifying power of 0.1 Concentration.

Of course, Li Dong’s own innate 0.1 Memory also allowed him to absorb the material that much faster.

He had woken up automatically at six this morning and immediately started devouring his books again.

Using Joule’s ”deconstruction + foundational loop” method, in just one night and one morning, he had reviewed almost all the math concepts from his three years of high school.

Formulas that once looked like hieroglyphics were now understandable at a glance. After doing just a couple of problems, he could extrapolate the underlying principles.

He was even starting to feel that high school math was a bit... too easy.

Just as Lu Yao was walking in, Li Dong’s phone screen was displaying: *New Introduction to Mathematical Analysis* by Zhang Zhusheng.

He was looking up university-level mathematics.

”You don’t have to change your shoes. We’re not that formal here.”

Li Dong scratched his head, looking a little awkward.

He had never had a private tutor before and had no idea what the procedure was. Was he supposed to introduce himself? He blurted out傻乎乎的.

”Hi, Lu Yao. I’m Li Dong, your... uh, the one you’re tutoring.”

Seeing how nervous he was, Lu Yao couldn’t help but let out a laugh, and the prim-and-proper teacher persona she had been prepared to adopt vanished.

”Easy there, kiddo. Don’t be so nervous. I don’t bite.”

As she spoke, she walked naturally into the living room.

The old wooden table in the living room was piled high with math textbooks from all three years of high school, along with several open workbooks, creating a bit of a mess.

And in the middle of that pile of books, a phone screen was still lit up.

Lu Yao had excellent eyesight and caught a glimpse of the screen’s contents.

*New Introduction to Mathematical Analysis*?

Lu Yao paused for a second, then a sense of exasperation washed over her.

’Kids these days. Their foundation isn’t even solid, so why are they so eager to aim for the stars?’

He had only scored in the 80s and probably hadn’t even mastered trigonometric functions or solid geometry, yet here he was, looking at Zhang Zhusheng’s *New Introduction to Mathematical Analysis*?

Wasn’t this a classic case of one’s reach exceeding one’s grasp?

’Looks like I’ll have to give him a good talking-to. You have to learn to walk before you can run.’

Lu Yao secretly made up her mind.

When Li Dong saw Lu Yao staring at his phone, he panicked and quickly walked over to lock the screen and put it away.

The feeling was as awkward as getting caught watching porn by your parents.

After all, for a failing student like him to be looking at something like that... if word got out, people would laugh their heads off.

He quickly pulled over a chair.

”Lu Yao, have a seat. I’ll go get you a glass of water.”

”Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get started.”

Lu Yao waved her hand dismissively, sat down with a professional air, and took a pen out of her bag.

”Aunt Li told me your results on the last monthly exam weren’t ideal. Let me see your test paper first.”

”I want to analyze the types of mistakes you made to see where your weak points are. Then we can work on strengthening them.”

Lu Yao was very familiar with this routine.

Li Dong hesitated.

He really wanted to say:

’Actually, I understand all the problems I got wrong. Why don’t you teach me some Calculus instead?’

But looking at her serious and responsible expression, he didn’t have the guts to say it out loud.

”Oh, okay.”

Li Dong obediently handed over his monthly exam paper.

Lu Yao took the paper and glanced at the score.

87.

Yep, that looked about right.