Chapter 13
In this world that is not perfect, hard work will be rewarded, while idleness will be punished. - Maugham
Xiaoqi kept reading her book.
In the blink of an eye, it was already half past twelve.
She needed to go eat.
It took half an hour to eat. By one o'clock, she could walk to Liang Lady's home. She was scheduled to tutor from two to four, so arriving half an hour early would be appropriate.
As it turned out, eating only took her ten minutes or so. There was a fast food chain restaurant right under the library.
A bowl of braised pork rice cost 18 yuan. It came with braised pork, egg, vegetables, soup, and unlimited rice.
Su Xiaoqi had been very active these past two days. Her schedule was packed, plus she was a seventeen year old girl still growing. She finished the entire meal box, not leaving a single grain of rice.
After eating her fill and resting for a bit, she headed towards Liang Lady's home.
It was a little hot at noon, so she didn't walk very quickly.
She realized walking at a steady pace lasted longer and didn't make her as tired compared to walking briskly.
By the time she arrived downstairs at Liang Lady's building, it wasn't even half past one. But she suddenly felt very nervous.
Yesterday, going for the tutoring interview could be considered just trying it out. She had never interviewed to be a tutor before, so she felt calm instead of nervous or scared. Also, yesterday there were several candidates and Lin Min was by her side.
But today it was just her alone. What if she messed up?
What if the student didn't like her?
The moment she stepped into the elevator, Su Xiaoqi asked herself countless questions. Finally, she still pressed the button for the 23rd floor.
"If I could go back to my childhood again, I would cultivate courage. There is nothing in the world as polite as courage, nor anything as cruel as cowardice."
Watching the elevator numbers change, she silently repeated this to herself. It was the passage Liang Lady had them analyze during yesterday's interview.
Investing courage will gain you far more than you can imagine.
When the elevator showed 23, she calmed down a bit.
She rang the doorbell.
The same young woman from yesterday opened the door.
The young woman smiled sweetly. She had nice features. Seeing Xiaoqi, she immediately bent down to fetch slippers.
When Su Xiaoqi saw this woman, she told herself in her heart again: "Do your best."
If she didn't work hard and improve herself, she might also end up wearing an apron someday, becoming a maid in someone else's home, doing chores and smiling politely. Although there was no nobility or baseness in work, this was not the future she wanted.
"Thank you, Sister Wang." After changing into the slippers, Su Xiaoqi expressed her gratitude.
The young woman was startled for a moment, then smiled again. She didn't expect the young girl who came to interview yesterday would actually know her surname.
Liang Lady didn't introduce her yesterday. But she had called out "Little Wang" a couple times when ordering her to do some tasks.
Liang Lady had just woken up from her noon nap. Seeing the visitor and checking her watch, she also smiled. The girl had arrived half an hour early.
She liked punctual people, and prepared people.
"I'll go call Jiajia out. You sit and rest first. Little Wang, pour some water and cut up some fruit."
"It's fine, no need to trouble yourself. Just a glass of warm water is good, thanks."
Su Xiaoqi was a little thirsty, so she didn't decline the water. But she didn't want to eat fruit in someone else's home, feeling it wasn't very proper.
Liang Lady turned to call her daughter. Walking past the living room mirror, she saw the young girl sitting upright on the sofa, accepting the water and thanking the maid - everything was dignified and proper, not at all like a girl from the countryside.
It took quite a while before the student Liang Lady wanted Xiaoqi to teach, Jiajia, appeared.
The second-year middle school girl was 5 years younger than Su Xiaoqi, only twelve years old. Perhaps due to her well-off family background, she looked quite mature. Already 1.6 meters tall, she wore a white lace dress, with layer upon layer of flounces - a very complicated style that with one look, you could tell was expensive. Su Xiaoqi had seen a female classmate wear something similar once, saying it cost several thousand yuan.
Back then, Su Xiaoqi had only looked from afar.
She didn't feel envious or anything else, because it was too far out of her reach.
Now, she couldn't help glancing at the interface in front of her. It showed a balance of 6753.6 yuan. She couldn't help smiling a little.
Liang Jiajia was unhappy to leave her bedroom. She didn't nap; she just lay in bed scrolling through TikTok. She had just come across a very amusing TikTok - stealth shots of a pretty girl in their city library, writing in nothing but English. So awesome. She didn't even look at any books. The TikTok was filmed for a long time, and that girl never lifted her head, just kept writing the whole time.
Liang Jiajia felt that girl was too impressive, and even liked the video.
In truth, Liang Jiajia's grades in other subjects were fine, it was just English she struggled with.
In elementary school her English had been very good. Her dad was an English teacher after all.
But later her dad went abroad on an exchange program, then came back and divorced her mom to marry his exchange partner. And dad didn't want custody of Jiajia, soon having a son with the other woman.
Liang Jiajia was furious, feeling abandoned by her father. Her personality became rebellious, and she developed a hatred for English by association, although it made no sense. She didn't even want to study it anymore. Her mom's business meant they weren't lacking money, and she was given the best of everything.
But when she visited her grandma during vacation, that woman and her dad were there too. Right in front of her, they actually spoke English, acting like she couldn't understand them, which infuriated her. And grandma clearly favored her little brother now. Her grandma used to save the best food for Jiajia, but only brought it out now that the boy was here.
When she returned, Liang Jiajia told her mom she wanted to take English lessons and get a tutor. But she didn't want a teacher; in her heart she had even developed a hatred for English teachers, although it was nonsensical.
As a result, when she walked into the living room, she saw that girl from the video sitting in their living room sofa - gray t-shirt, khaki knee-length shorts, pixie cut with a little ponytail at the back. Holding a glass of water and smiling warmly as she sipped it.
Liang Jiajia could hardly believe it. She opened TikTok on her phone, and there was the same scene, identical. It had to be the same person.
Liang Jiajia wanted to shriek with excitement. Just now, people had been commenting on TikTok, asking to see the girl's face, asking for her address and name.
She never imagined that girl was now sitting in her living room!
Liang Jiajia wanted so badly to post about this on TikTok.
"Jiajia, what are you standing around for? Hurry and greet your teacher," Liang Lady said, seeing her daughter standing there in a daze with a dumbstruck look.
Liang Jiajia practically bounced over to Su Xiaoqi. Fortunately their home was spacious.
"Hello Teacher Su," Liang Jiajia greeted her, beaming.
Su Xiaoqi also stood up. She had felt a little nervous at first, worried the girl might be hard to get along with. Glancing around the lavishly decorated living room earlier, the photos on the wall were only of Liang Lady and a young girl - no man of the house.
When changing shoes, she hadn't seen any men's shoes either. It seemed there was no man living here.
She guessed it might be a single parent family, well-off but possibly with a difficult child to teach.
She didn't expect the girl to be quite polite.
"Hello," Su Xiaoqi held out her hand.
Liang Jiajia also extended her hand and shook it, immediately growing excited. The girl from the video shook my hand! Eeee!
Seeing the unusually energetic and jumpy young girl, Su Xiaoqi thought...