Hospital 444
Chapter 347 - 2: Mysterious Manor

Chapter 347: Chapter 2: Mysterious Manor

"Oh no, I forgot to take my suitcase!"

Lin Sunzhu had been so startled by the crow that she had completely forgotten about it.

The servant said to Lin Sunzhu, "Miss Lin, just give me the car key. I’ll have someone fetch it for you and then bring the suitcase here."

"No, it’s not necessary, I can get it myself."

Lin Sunzhu ran back to the entrance of the manor, opened the trunk, and took out her suitcase.

But just then, she suddenly noticed, lying underneath the suitcase, a red piece of paper. On the red paper, there was a black cross. Written on the paper was...

"444... hospital?"

Lin Sunzhu was startled and was about to pick up the paper when suddenly, a voice came from beside her.

"Miss Lin, are you ready? We should hurry and meet Butler Qi.

Lin Sunzhu was given quite a fright.

What was happening?

She hadn’t heard the servant’s footsteps at all!

It was so quiet around; could he have been walking on tiptoes?

"Alright, let’s go."

Carrying her suitcase, Lin Sunzhu followed the servant back into the manor.

"Actually, Miss Lin, you didn’t need to bring any luggage." The servant said to her, "Everything is available in the Charm Shadow Manor."

"Uh, I, I know..."

Lin Sunzhu looked at the rows of houses and thought to herself: How many houses are there in this manor? They must be so wealthy! A family this rich could surely hire a more capable home tutor, right? At least someone who has studied abroad? I’m just a normal university graduate; I haven’t even finished my master’s degree, and it’s not from a prestigious 985 or 211 university. Why did they hire me as a tutor?

Considering the crow’s unusual blood-red eyes earlier, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat apprehensive.

However, she then reassured herself, it was probably nothing to worry about. She had informed many people about her coming here, so it was unlikely anything illegal would happen.

Just then, she suddenly saw a teenager, about sixteen or seventeen years old, walking a dog in the courtyard.

"Young Master Qi Ji."

The servant, upon seeing the boy with the dog coming over, bowed at a ninety-degree angle and said, "This is Miss Lin, the new home tutor who has arrived today to teach you history and geography."

Despite his young age, the teenager was wearing a crisply tailored suit that fitted him perfectly, giving him a certain air of sophistication. Up close, Lin Sunzhu could see that the teen’s facial features were quite attractive—he would definitely be good-looking when he grew up.

The young master named Qi Ji glanced at Lin Sunzhu and gave her a slight nod, saying, "So you’ve found a new tutor already... Welcome."

Although he said this, his expression remained indifferent, and without saying much more, he continued walking his dog.

Watching the departing Qi Ji, she said, "He must be one of the students I’ll be teaching. He seems like a very smart kid, judging from his eyes."

"Alright, please continue following me."

"Okay."

So they’ve found a new one already...

Does that mean there was a previous home tutor for history and geography who has since left?

It wasn’t strange in itself, but given such generous conditions, why would anyone leave?

After walking a bit further, Qi Ji subtly turned his head and looked at Lin Sunzhu as she made her way to one of the villas.

He watched Lin Sunzhu for a long while before turning away.

Upon entering the villa, Lin Sunzhu was struck speechless by the spectacular decor.

She had only seen such mansions in TV shows; never had she dreamed of encountering one in real life.

Was she really going to live here for the coming days?

She carefully slipped on her house shoes, even taking care to avoid touching the furniture, fearing she might break something and be unable to compensate for the damage for the rest of her life!

Truth be told... she was even starting to panic. In such a household, the education of their children must also be strict. She started to worry if she could live up to the job of being their home tutor.

By now, she had already seen the butler Qi Ji with whom she had video-called before.

"Miss Lin, you’ve arrived."

"Yes, Butler Qi, hello."

Seeing how nervous Lin Sunzhu appeared, Butler Qi said, "Please take a seat first, Miss Lin. Ah Kang, you may leave."

"Yes."

After Butler Qi sat down, he said to Lin Sunzhu, "This place is not easy to find, is it?"

"It, it is a bit..."

"Hmm." Butler Qi gestured, and a maid brought over two cups of coffee.

"These coffee beans were air-freighted from Colombia just recently. Miss Lin, you might want to give it a try."

"Um, sure, thank you. Um, Butler Qi, about teaching here, I would like to know exactly which days classes are held, and what the timings would be?"

Normally, these details should have been agreed upon before her arrival, but the other party had insisted that the specific schedule should be discussed in person. Since the offer was so generous, some requirements were acceptable to her.

"Hmm, the seven children I am to teach are all high school students, aren’t they? They..."

"I must correct you, Miss Lin," Butler Qi shook his head, "They are not high school students."

"Not... high school students?" She was momentarily confused, saying, "The job posting mentioned children aged sixteen to eighteen, didn’t it?"

"Yes, that’s correct. But they do not attend school. All of the children’s education from a young age has been conducted by professional private tutors hired by us."

What?

"How, how can this be? Our country implements compulsory education. How can you let children of schooling age not attend school?"

"You need not worry. Although the children are all of Chinese descent, none of them holds Chinese citizenship. Thus, the regular high school curriculum is taught by family tutors."

"It’s not that... So they have never gone to school? They haven’t obtained any formal qualifications? They don’t take the college entrance exams and apply to universities?"

"There’s no need." Butler Qi was even more shocking with his revelation, "What we require isn’t based on whether they take the college entrance exams. As for testing, we conduct regular assessments here."

Lin Sunzhu was completely bewildered now.

She wasn’t new to tutoring, but she had never encountered such an absurd situation before.

Even if they were wealthy, wealthy families generally hope for their children to attain high levels of education, right? Okay, they don’t have Chinese nationality and don’t participate in China’s college entrance exams, but they could study abroad for higher education, right? How can these young children not attend school and just study and take exams at home? What on earth is going on?

Lin Sunzhu swallowed nervously several times before speaking up, "That... Butler Qi, I would like to speak directly with the children’s parents. I have never, never come across a situation like yours. Or is there some secret underlying all this?"

"Miss Lin. I believe I’ve mentioned to you before, one of the reasons you were chosen is that you don’t possess an excessive curiosity."

By now, Lin Sunzhu understood.

"So... you mean, the test papers for assessing the children will be set by you?"

"We have specialists who set the papers; you needn’t worry about that. Assessments will be carried out weekly, and we’ll decide whether to keep you on based on your students’ performance and rankings. If there’s a significant improvement in their results, we’ll triple your salary from what it is now."

"But the children, won’t they be allowed to go to university?"

"Miss Lin. I do not like to repeat what I’ve already said."

Clearly, Lin Sunzhu could sense the dissatisfaction in Butler Qi’s tone.

"In fact, you were not our first choice; it was only after I conducted the video interview with you that I decided to hire you. If you are unwilling to take the job, you are free to leave, and we will reimburse you for the fuel you used to drive here today."

Lin Sunzhu began to contemplate.

At this moment, she felt an indescribable oddity emanating from the estate.

No matter what, not letting the children go to university? That seemed too preposterous, and it likely wasn’t the children’s genuine wish, was it? She should, right now, refuse the offer and leave.

Yet the words "we’ll triple your salary from what it is now" couldn’t help but tempt her.

"So... how many times a week are the classes?"

Butler Qi took out a sheet of paper and handed it to Miss Lin, "Here’s your teaching schedule, along with the rules you must strictly adhere to while you reside here. If all is well, your first class will begin tomorrow."