Chapter 4

After this incident, I was in a bad mood and simply fell asleep as soon as I got back to the dorm.

I had just dozed off when I heard a loud door slam.

"Sigh... tutoring is so tiring. Not like some people who lost their job and are having a great time in the dorm."

I opened my eyes to see Jessica looking at me smugly.

"What's so interesting? Is there some treasure at Adam's house that you had to push me out to be happy?" I asked pointedly.

"Tutoring for $6 a day? I've never seen you be so generous before. You just have to compete with me on everything, don't you?"

I got straight to the point. Jessica and I hadn't been on good terms for a long time. She always thought I studied too seriously. Whenever she saw me studying, she would make sarcastic comments and lament how she underperformed on the college entrance exam. If she hadn't slacked off usually, she would have gotten into a top university like Harvard or Yale.

She always tried to compete with me for awards and honors, and when she couldn't win, she would maliciously report me, though it never succeeded.

"What are you pretending for, Lily? $10 a day, would you be willing to do it without an award?" Jessica said aggressively.

"Acting like a saint here, you'd almost move people who don't know better!"

Jessica's tone was confrontational, but I was stunned.

What award? I had no idea what she was talking about.

I listened in confusion as Jessica accused me of being hypocritical, and only then did I learn that the school and city government had organized a "Top 10 Outstanding Students" competition.

It aimed to find excellent college students in both character and academics. It was a city-level award with quite a bit of prestige, and there was also a generous cash prize. Having this award would give more weight when becoming a teacher and advancing in one's career in the future.

"I don't know how you promoted yourself, but even the principal knows you're tutoring a low-income student at a low price. Appearing to not seek returns, but actually being purely profit-driven. Hypocrites like you make me sick just looking at you."

Jessica's tone was extremely disdainful.

The fact that I was tutoring Adam at a low price was something Mrs. Wilson often boasted about to the uncles and aunties in the neighborhood.

"I think she just knows my son is smart, a genius, so she's trying to get in our good graces early," Mrs. Wilson would say rudely.

The old lady next door couldn't stand it and had told me about this several times.

But I didn't want to pay attention to it. I was willing to come tutor purely for Adam's sake. I basically didn't like interacting with Mrs. Wilson.

As time went on, all the elderly people in that area knew me as a kind-hearted child helping Adam.

Coincidentally, the principal's mother was retiring in that neighborhood.

She was a gentle old lady who, when she caught me to chat, asked which school I was from.

I honestly told her my school, and the old lady nodded repeatedly on the spot. "No wonder, so you're from N University. I knew it, such a good child must be excellent in studies too."

Opportunities come just that coincidentally. I became a candidate in the principal's eyes, and this award was basically a sure thing for me.

"If I hadn't passed by the office and overheard the teachers chatting, I wouldn't have known you were so scheming. I didn't even know about this award, but you were already about to win it!" Jessica said smugly.

"But what use is that now? Adam's family has already fired you!"

"I'm the one helping them now. Even if the school still chooses you in the end, I'll report you, saying you never actually tutored. I believe Mrs. Wilson will definitely cooperate."

I finally understood why Jessica was willing to tutor for as little as $6, just to push me out.

She always had to compete with me, but I had always gone with the flow, never intending to go against her. I didn't expect that in Jessica's eyes, I had long become her arch-enemy.