Chapter 9: Not a Teacher Just Yet — Let's Be Friends First
After class, Kieu Ly stood at the school gate waiting for Huong Tra.
Her light yellow ribbed sweater paired with a long flowing yellow skirt fluttered gently in the breeze, and her shiny black hair cascaded down her shoulders—making her stand out effortlessly.
Many passersby couldn't help but turn their heads to admire her.
Every now and then, male students would walk by and try their luck:
"Kieu Ly, need a ride? Hop on, I'll take you."
Kieu Ly just smiled politely and shook her head:
"No, thanks. I'm waiting for a friend."
As she stood there daydreaming, a sleek black BMW rolled down its window.
The person inside was none other than the new lecturer.
He looked at her and said calmly:
"Need a lift? I can take you home."
Kieu Ly glanced inside the car and noticed someone else sitting in the passenger seat—it was the female English lecturer.
She gave a polite smile and shook her head:
"No, thank you. I'm waiting for a friend."
Hearing that, Tran Tuan Anh rolled the window back up and slowly drove off.
That evening, Kieu Ly arrived at Nguyen Toan Phuong's house for their tutoring session.
As soon as she got there, she pulled out her books and told him to start studying.
But, just like before, he acted like a stubborn child and refused to cooperate.
One minute he was folding paper planes, the next he was yawning and complaining he was sleepy, then he'd get up to get water or use the bathroom.
Kieu Ly bit her lip and sat thinking. She had to find a way to get through to him—if things kept going like this, her tutoring gig would surely be a failure.
When he returned, she said:
"If you don't want to study, then let's just relax for a bit."
Toan Phuong was so surprised he couldn't say a word.
Kieu Ly's tone wasn't joking, but from the start, he'd pegged her as someone extremely principled, someone who would persist no matter what.
He didn't expect her to give up so quickly.
Seeing that he still didn't believe her, Kieu Ly closed the textbooks, packed them into her backpack, and added:
"What do you like to play? I'll join you—as long as it's nothing inappropriate."
He immediately sat down and pulled a chessboard out of the drawer.
"Can you play this?"
Kieu Ly nodded:
"Sure."
He eagerly set up the board, wearing a rare look of excitement.
If only he showed this much enthusiasm for studying, it would've made everything so much easier.
Still, since he refused to study, Kieu Ly had no choice but to start by becoming his friend.
They played chess for over an hour.
She was actually very good at the game and had never lost before.
Unexpectedly, his skills were nearly on par with hers.
Luckily, she managed to win in the end.