Finding Stardust

The girl gaped almost in disbelief when Haoran said they each had to pay 50 dollars per session. That way, Emma will get $ 500 per week from her five tutoring students.

Haoran himself will pay for his tutoring fees a year in advance. He asked Emma to give her account number, and he casually transferred $ 5,000.

"Wait a minute ..." Emma stammered when she opened her cellphone, and her eyes widened at the notification of such a big amount transferred. "This is a lot. How can you pay me a year in advance? What if you don"t like studying with me? Or what if I die suddenly ...? Your money will be in vain ..."

"That"s good, right? I deliberately paid you a year in advance, so you won"t die on me. I believe in your skills," Haoran replied with a grin.

Emma looked at Haoran with a grateful look, then nodded.

"Thank you. You are my first friend, and you have been very kind to me. I will always remember your kindness," said the girl solemnly.

Haoran only shrugged. "I don"t give you money for free, you work for it. So, don"t feel so indebted."

They then discussed their study plans for every Wednesday and Friday at Haoran"s home. Emma will meet her four students on Wednesday when she came there.

"There"s no public transportation nearby. You better take a taxi next time," Haoran said as Emma excused herself to go home. "Today, I can drop you off."

"Er ... no need. I can walk to the bus stop; it"s only 1 kilometer away from here," said Emma trying to refuse, but Haoran ignored her objection.

The young man took a car key from the drawer and brandished it at Emma.

"Come along. I already have my license and can take you," the young man insisted.

Finally, Emma relented. Haoran took her down to the garage, and he opened the pa.s.senger door of a nice sports car for Emma before entering the driver"s seat. After the girl put on her seatbelt, Haoran immediately sped his car towards Ylang Avenue.

Along the way, they chatted about trivial things. Emma surprised herself because, apparently, she could really converse with Haoran. She was always a reclusive girl and didn"t talk much. Still, apparently, Haoran"s warmth was enough to make Emma slowly begin to open up.

"So you are a child of the state? I have heard about the program, but have never met anyone like you. This is very interesting," commented Haoran. "No wonder you"re very smart. As far as I know, they only choose smart kids to adopt."
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"Thank you." Emma nodded. "The government treats me very well. I will not forget their kindness. But I really want to find my biological parents."

"Are they in Paris?" Haoran asked curiously.

Emma shook her head. "I don"t know. All I remember was, the last time I saw them was by the end of winter in Paris, thirteen years ago. So, I have to go there to find out. That"s why I am determined to go there."

"Hmm .. good luck." Haoran nodded. His brows furrowed as if thinking hard about something.

Actually, Emma wanted to ask Haoran why he deliberately failed his grades. But, she didn"t want to sound invasive. Finally, she decided to wait until Haoran opened up to her willingly.

***

Emma"s life at school was tedious. She only came to study and tried not to attract anyone"s attention. On Wednesday, when Mrs. Delaval entered their cla.s.sroom to teach French, Emma registered for the study trip to Paris.

The study trip will take place over one week, and the students who took part in this trip will visit famous places in Paris and its surroundings. The itinerary included places such as the Louvre Museum, D"Orsay Museum, the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur Basilica, the Palace of Versailles, etc.

Emma was stunned when she saw the date of the event. The trip to Paris would coincide with her 17th birthday. She was moved, thinking that this would be a wonderful birthday gift for herself.

After registering, Emma immediately paid the cost for the study trip with the money she received from Haoran. From cla.s.s A there were only 6 students, including herself, who would take part in the study trip. In total, there would be 40 partic.i.p.ants when combined with other cla.s.ses.

After school, Emma hurriedly changed clothes and had lunch, then left for Haoran"s home. Today she would start tutoring Haoran and his friends, so she did not want to give a bad impression.

Emma took Haoran"s advice and this time she chose to take a taxi. She could save time and didn"t need to walk all the way from the bus stop to Lotus Garden. She looked very casual and fresh with jeans and white sneakers and a white s.h.i.+rt. As usual, she fas.h.i.+oned her long hair into a bun on top of her head for practicality.

Emma arrived at Lotus Garden Villa No. 8, five minutes to 5 pm. Like before, the housemaid opened the door for her and invited her in.

"Hey ... Stardust! Let me introduce you to your students," Haoran exclaimed as he stood up and walked toward Emma when he saw the girl enter through the garden. He was relaxing with four other boys on sun chairs by the pool.

Emma approached them and smiled slightly. "Good afternoon."

The four boys looked at each other and grinned.

"Hey, what are you doing grinning there? Introduce yourself to our tutor ..." Haoran said, glaring at them. The four boys laughed and nodded.

"Hey ... Stardust, my name is David," said a young man with brown hair. His handsome face was adorned with a permanent grin that made it hard for people to take him seriously.

"I"m Dinh Nguyen," said the slightly chubby one with gla.s.ses. In his hand was a bag of snacks that he had been munching nonstop while chatting.

"My name is Eric," Eric Velasquez had a cute Filipino accent when he spoke. Among his four friends, his body was the most muscular, and his chiseled jawline made him look masculine for his age.

Alex Chue was the last to introduce himself. This young man had a delicate face and an elegant att.i.tude. His hair was rather long and, at a glance, made him look like a girl.

"Nice to meet you, Emma." He nodded and smiled sweetly. "I"m Alex."

"We are childhood friends," Haoran explained without being asked. "I"m two years older than them. But we used to spend a lot of time together. Now they follow me wherever I go. That"s why, when I decided to move to cla.s.s A, they all have to study hard so they can move with me."

"Oh, I see." Emma nodded. "I hope you guys will really strive for it. No matter how good I teach, if you don"t work hard, it will be difficult to move to cla.s.s A with so many rivals."

"Don"t worry, we aren"t stupid," Dinh said, eating his chips. "We just haven"t studied for a long time, that"s all. Now we need to catch up."

"Come on, everyone, let"s all go up and start," Haoran made a signal to go to his room, and everyone rose and followed him.

Alex was the last to get up from his chair. He approached Emma with a grin on his face. He touched the girl"s hand and whispered into her ear while glancing at Haoran.

"Oh .. by the way, thank you. Because of you, we don"t have to go on the study trip to China. Haoran suddenly changed his mind and chose the study trip to Paris. Ah, I am so happy! I need to do some shopping there."

Emma didn"t understand what Alex means. "Is there a study trip to China?"

"Ahhh ... you didn"t know?" Alex pulled Emma"s hand into the second floor to enter Haoran"s room. "Let me explain."

Alex told Emma that actually, for this summer holiday, their school was organizing two study trips for grade 2 students, one was to Paris and the other to Beijing. Most students chose to go to China because it cost less and most of them speak the language, as compared to French. According to Alex, Haoran had his own reasons why he chose to go to China, but now he actually canceled it.

"Initially, we were going on a study trip to China with Boss Haoran," Alex said as he opened the door to Haoran"s room. "But yesterday he said he wanted to go to Paris and we all would follow him."

Emma turned her head to Haoran, who didn"t realize they were gossiping about him. The young man was flipping through the pages of his textbook with a serious expression.

"Is it because of me?" Emma asked in surprise.

"Haoran likes you. That"s why he did all this. I personally think Paris is more fun than Beijing. But Haoran had insisted on going there. Luckily he changed his mind now." Alex winked at Emma and then walked over to his friends who were already sitting in their chairs and took out their books.

Emma was stunned. Haoran liked her?

She did not know how to respond to that information.