Mother smiled warmly and said, "Unfortunately, just this morning someone forcibly took 200 yuan from me. I now only have 186 yuan. How about you take it? I'll settle the remaining 56 yuan with you later!" "No, it must be paid right now!" the utility collector insisted. "Mom, I have it!" Gao Ruolan remembered that her wallet had exactly 56 yuan, so she rushed over, speaking as she went. But when she opened her coat pocket, she realized her wallet had been snatched by that tall, sturdy young man earlier. Oh no—losing the money wasn't the worst; her favorite sketch drawing had disappeared too. That was a piece she had carefully created over two months! Despite her mother's and her own persistent appeals, nothing could be done without money. Now, Gao Ruolan truly understood what it felt like to be poor. The person collecting water and electricity bills was holding a notice of water and power outages when Gao Caisheng returned. He went through all his pockets, gathering every small bill he could find, but still fell short by 13 yuan. So, the entire Gao family mobilized, searching through every drawer at home, until they finally managed to make up the exact amount using five-cent and ten-cent notes. "Guo Caisheng sighed and said, 'Dad, Mom, I'm going to look for a job tomorrow! I'm going to try to earn my living expenses at school!' Guo Ruolan made a firm commitment. This time, neither dad nor mom said anything—just agreed—offering only a suggestion that she find a job suited to her own strengths. This made Gao Liang feel a bit strange, yet she also thought the so-called lucky star had truly deserved it—after saving her yesterday, she now turned around and blamed her, making her feel completely unjust. "Today, there's going to be some great drama!" Zhao Yuanhang jumped up excitedly. Zuo Tianpei and Fan Weizhe clapped their hands in satisfaction. Gao Liang didn't feel the need to ask—she simply wasn't interested in doing so. She only said, "Today, I'm hiring a graduate student to tutor me! I'll have three classes a week—what a treat! Haha! Off to practice taekwondo I go!" "Le Tao, I really want to go to the bar at the school, but I can't find a job!" After school, when parting from Xia Le Tao, Gao Ruolan looked gloomy. "Oh! But I just checked today—there are already no openings. Wait a minute—didn't you previously agree to take up that tutoring position for your idol?" Xia Le Tao asked. "I don't want to go!" Gao Ruolan replied. "Are you really that silly?" Now, this is a secret I just learned from the girls across the campus—Ouyang from Business and Management Department, Class One, is planning to hire a tutor at a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan! Ten thousand yuan! That’s no small amount—enough to cover your living expenses for several months. Xia Le Tao widened her eyes and said, “Actually, many girls are interested, not just for the money, but simply to be close to their idols—it’s quite romantic! Wow! Ouyang is so handsome! He’s truly the top prince of our college!” “Oh, all romantic nonsense again! Well, I’ll just leave you now. Let’s go home separately! Goodbye!” Gao Ruolan and Xia Le Tao waved goodbyes. Xia Le Tao headed toward her parking spot, while Gao Ruolan still went to the parking shed, retrieving the bicycle her father had repaired all night. Gao Ruolan pushed the bicycle out, hesitating deeply—should she go home or head to Gao Liang’s house to teach? Honestly, she had to make a choice. She started playing a coin-tossing game: if it landed heads, she would head to Gao Liang's villa; if tails, she would go home. But after three tosses, no matter how she threw it, every time the coin landed, it always came up heads—clearly, the heavens had been helping her make her choice. Then, she stepped on the bicycle's pedal, only to find it fell off. She tried stepping on the other pedal, and it too came loose. She pressed down on the seat board with her hand, and it also dropped. After shaking the bike gently, to her surprise, the entire bicycle came apart. Who could have done this? How unkind! The bike had been tampered with yesterday, causing her to be hit by a collision; now, today, it was causing her to miss her appointment. Gao Ruolan checked her watch—there were still thirty minutes until the scheduled home tutoring time. She couldn't afford to delay—Gao Liang's home was in Mingyue Hills, and she would have to ride without stopping to make it on time. But now, she had no money to take a ride. At that moment, Song Sian was passing by. Seeing the damaged bicycle, she said, "This bike is already beyond repair—it's too dangerous to ride any longer. You should take the bus home instead." But Gao Ruolan didn't move. Song Sian smiled warmly, her friendly expression giving Gao a sense of security. Indeed, Song Sian pulled out a 50-yuan note from her pocket and said, "Here you go—take the bus home." Gao was deeply touched and gratefully accepted the money, saying, "Thank you, Teacher." Song Sian smiled gently and walked away without further words. Highlighted casually glanced at the newspaper, the assignment notebooks lying haphazardly on the floor beside him. Chen Jiangliu wanted to go and pick them up, but hesitated. "Final minute, countdown—if you don’t show up, call immediately!" Highlighted issued the instructions. Chen Jiangliu looked out at the empty front door of the villa and, with no hope, pulled out his phone, ready to dial when a clear, bright voice announced, "I'm here!" "Scatterbringer, you're just on time! If you keep showing up like this next time, I'll fire you!" Highlighted snapped, because six notebooks had him breathing hard. "Bad luck!" Hu Ri Lan responded habitually, only to realize something was off—since the maids from the Ouyang family were all present, staring openly at this unexpected guest. "This is our young lord," she said, "we can’t let you, this wild girl, keep shouting like this. If I hear one more thing, I’ll tell our lord and lady—your plate is gone!" "Zhang Ma appeared at some point and interjected. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Gao Ruolan bowed repeatedly, expressing her apologies. Of course she knew—The Ouyang family wasn't an ordinary one. In this bustling Hanshai city, where they were among the wealthiest, one had to be particularly mindful of one's manners and speech. "The bad luck star, come with me to my study—don't forget to pick up the homework papers on the floor!" Gao Liang tossed that line over his shoulder and headed upstairs. Gao Ruolan could only nod, quickly gathered the papers, and followed him. Gui Ruolan simply wouldn't accept. Seeing that no one was around, she grew bold and said, "You're a bad luck charm, aren't you? Does this kind of tutoring really make sense? I'm not doing it!" "Scatterbringer, you've got no place to speak here. If you're not going to join, then so be it!"