Chapter 23: Job offer Chapter 23: Job offer I have a few questions for you.” Following him in, Maureen finally understood why he had retired early in his previous life.
A palm-sized yard was overrun with weeds, giving it a desolate look.
In an area where the grass had not grown, a pole stood supporting dirty clothes belonging to children around the age of ten.
These past few days had all been gloomy; if his grandchildren soiled several sets of clothes a day, there wouldn’t be ti to dry them after washing.
Having such a child to look after, it was indeed tough for an elderly man.
Without paying close attention, Maureen barely noticed a small boy, around twelve or thirteen, sitting in the overgrown corner of the yard, his back to them, silently watching ants.
Seeing that Maureen’s steps had paused and that he was looking in the boy’s direction, the eccentric old man frowned.
“This job isn’t as easy as you imagine.
You would be better off tutoring or going to an amusent park to earn so pocket money.
If you feel uncomfortable, it’s better to leave as soon as possible.” “I don’t feel uncomfortable.
Please, go on,” Maureen quickly picked up his pace, following the old man into the living room.
========= The old man needed soone that could accompany his autistic grandson in doing math problems.
Only when doing this, would the boy enter his own quiet world.
This was obviously not a task that could be handed off to a caregiver from a hospital.
A caregiver in their forties or fifties wouldn’t have the skills for this.
And if he had to hire soone with a background in education, he couldn’t afford to pay them.
So after much deliberation, he opted for a compromise: hiring a part-ti student to co over every weekend.
However, finding a student posed its own challenges.
No one at the school knew about his grandson’s condition, and the proud old man wouldn’t turn to his own forr students.
Half a year ago, he casually posted a ssage on a school forum.
He didn’t get many responses, so he shelved his plan, only accompanying his grandson in his spare ti.
Unexpectedly, half a year after posting, Maureen showed up.
The old man had Maureen do a set of unique math problems and asked her a few questions regarding scheduling.
With a stern expression, he sat on the side, making Maureen nervous for the entire duration.
The only thing she could do was to solve the problems to the best of her ability.
After she finished, the old man took a glance.
“Not bad.
Quick on the uptake, but habits aren’t the best.
You skip through the steps, it makes your logic hard to follow,” professor Logan gave a succinct assessnt.
Actually, Teacher Logan didn’t say it, but deep down he was a bit taken back.
The kid had so unusual insights on many problems – of course, a single test isn’t sufficient to gauge her level.
But he could judge, she was certainly not at the level of an ordinary class.
If she was this quick-witted, even if she had never participated in any competition, she should’ve achieved excellent results in the school exams.
So why hadn’t he ever heard of her at the school?
Frowning at Maureen, the old man said coldly, “Were you taking your tests with your feet before?” Maureen: “…” Maureen felt that Teacher Logan’s impression of her was not good.
She was depressed, thinking she was going to be refused.
To her surprise, the old man changed his tone: “Co once a week, on Sunday, and it’s two hundred each ti, okay?
Not much money, but you can save up the problems you don’t understand and ask .
The only two conditions are you must not be late for my set ti, and don’t ntion this to anyone at school.” Maureen imdiately stood up, delighted, “Sure, no problem!” That afternoon, Maureen stayed at the old man’s house.
She even kindly made dinner before she left in the evening.
The enthusiasm showed on her face, and it did not make one feel annoyed.
It only reminded one of a tender sprout struggling to live out in the bright sunshine, pushing up between the crevices of a rock.
Professor Logan and his grandson were obviously astonished by Maureen’s culinary skills, and they ate everything on the plate.
After the al, Maureen helped to clean up the dishes and go to wash them.
Professor Logan, although eccentric in character, did not have the heart to let a young girl wash dishes for him and the boy.
He rushed to the kitchen, his face looking much more relaxed than when Maureen first ca in.
“I’ll do it, you can go ahead.” …
That day, as soon as Maureen returned to the school, she imdiately went to the library and noted down several ideas that were inadvertently pointed out by Teacher Logan while she was playing with his grandson in the afternoon.
Being given special attention by a top-notch coach, Maureen felt as if her heart was beating to the rhythm of war drums, her confidence suddenly boosted for the upcoming inter-schools tournant.
========== anwhile, Maureen, who was imrsed in her survival struggle, didn’t notice that her ranking in the school beauty voting was still on the rise.
Liam had seen Maureen holding back her tears a few days ago and concluded that she must care about the two gossips in the class who said she wasn’t pretty — after all, wouldn’t any girl be bothered by comnts on her looks?
Her sadness seed unaffected by Liam’s comfort; Maureen still didn’t talk to him.
So Liam forced a group of his minions to vote for her until she made it to the top twenty.
He thought Maureen would be happy to see this.
After all, she has more than five hundred votes.
She wasn’t any worse than the others.
As for whether to continue to push her ranking forward, Liam decides to give it a rest.
He was a bit selfish.
If Maureen climbed up to the first place, with her long eyelashes and fair skin, not to ntion her tasty desserts, wouldn’t everyone be trying to snatch her away?
The transfer student doesn’t look like soone who has a firm will.
Fickle, she might fall in love at first sight with soone and start giving them her desserts.
Liam just wanted to keep her to himself.
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