Chapter 3

I tutored Adam solely because he approached me himself.

At the time, I had just started doing part-time work and asked in a tutoring group chat if any families needed tutoring. Soon, someone added me as a friend.

[Teacher, can you tutor me?]

[I see your profile says it's your first time tutoring. I don't mind that you don't have experience.]

Because it was my first time tutoring, I didn't quote a high price. I was very happy that someone was willing to trust me.

So that weekend, I went to the address Adam gave me.

After wandering around, I finally found his home, only to discover that this so-called home was just a garage rented out by someone else.

Adam and his mother lived in this dark and narrow garage, filled with the damp smell of mold.

I gave Adam a trial lesson. When I asked him afterwards how he felt and if he needed me to tutor him, this thin boy's eyes welled up with tears.

"Teacher, you taught very well..."

"I'm sorry, I lied to you. I don't have money to hire you at the hourly rate in your profile."

He cried as he told me about his family's tragic situation.

It turned out that Adam's father had died in a crash with a large truck while trying to evade creditors. The compensation was all taken by the creditors, and now he was in a single-parent family, living only with his mother.

His mother had no education and could only find a job as a community cleaner, but she earned very little, barely enough to keep them fed.

All their relatives and friends looked down on them, so Adam wanted to study hard, get into a good high school, then a good university, so he could help his mother.

But after transferring from a rural school to this one, he couldn't keep up with his studies and was only third from the bottom in his class.

He wanted to improve himself, so he joined the group chat hoping to find a tutor. But he didn't expect the hourly rate to be so high. Others were charging $20 an hour, which he couldn't afford at all.

"Teacher, I don't mind that you're new. I'm willing to be your practice student. Please teach me."

"I can't pay too much. Can you lower your price a bit more?"

I'm a normal school student from a top-tier university. Even if it was my first time tutoring, there were plenty of parents who wanted to hire me at $20 an hour, let alone the $16 an hour I had quoted.

During the time I was talking with Adam, many more parents sent me friend requests.

Looking at Adam's tear-reddened eyes and his mother silently wiping away tears beside him, I couldn't help but think of my own middle school years. My grandmother had fallen seriously ill, and we spent all our savings to save her, nearly causing me to drop out of school.

It was kind-hearted people and my homeroom teacher who helped me then, allowing me to successfully go to college.

Fortunately, in my sophomore year, my father made some money in business, and our family's situation finally improved. We had weathered the storm.

I empathized with Adam's situation and couldn't help but soften my stance.

"Alright... I'll teach you. How much can you pay for tutoring?"

Hearing me say this, Mrs. Wilson immediately looked up, her eyes shining.

"Ten dollars. We can't pay any more than that. What do you think?"

I thought she meant $10 per hour, which I could accept, so I agreed.

So the next week, I officially started tutoring Adam at his home.

But when it came time to settle the payment, Mrs. Wilson only sent me $10.

[Mrs. Wilson, I tutored for a total of 8 hours today. It should be $80.]

[What $80? Didn't we agree on $10 per session? Are you trying to kill me?]

That was the first time we had a disagreement.

Tutoring fees are generally charged by the hour. I had assumed it was $10 per hour, but Mrs. Wilson seized on this point and wouldn't let go.

[I never said it was $10 per hour. $10 is for a whole day, no more.]

Her behavior left me feeling helpless, with a lump in my throat that I couldn't express.

[Miss Lily, I'm sorry. My mom's words misled you. If $10 isn't enough, you don't have to teach me anymore. I won't force you. Thank you for what you taught me today. I benefited a lot.]

Adam sent me a message. Such sensible content made me waver.

Although Mrs. Wilson was unreasonable, Adam was innocent.

He wanted so badly to get into a good high school, and he was in the crucial final year of middle school, preparing for the high school entrance exam.

He wanted to change his fate, just like me a few years ago, studying for the college entrance exam with tears in my eyes, hoping for a bright future.

My heart softened, and I chose to compromise.

I told my parents about tutoring Adam.

They were very supportive of me helping out. "Daughter, now that our family is doing better, it's time to give back to society. Help if we can. They can just pay a token amount for the tutoring fee."

My parents were kind-hearted. They even sent me local specialties from home to help boost Adam's health.

But I never expected the boomerang to come back and hit me so quickly. Like father, like son. Perhaps this mother and son were playing good cop, bad cop from the beginning, fooling me into compromising!

The $10 tutoring fee was already something they shamelessly begged for.

Now they were turning the tables, accusing me of making dirty money!