Chapter 14

Su Xiaoqi was tutoring for the first time.

She was actually a little nervous, but she handled it quite well. No nervousness was detectable, as she was composed and at ease. On the other hand, her student Liang Jiajia seemed a bit too lively.

With chubby cheeks and looking quite cute, she talked a lot, always veering off-topic, seemingly curious about everything.

She would also grin at Su Xiaoqi from time to time. If it wasn't their first meeting, Su Xiaoqi would have thought they might have met somewhere before.

"Ms. Liang said your English foundation isn't very good, so shall we start from the basics of Grade 7?" Su Xiaoqi asked gently.

Her voice was naturally delicate and crisp.

"Sure. Teacher Su, are you a student from No.1 Middle School? Where is your family from?"

"Yes, I'm from No.1 Middle School. My family is from Gumula Village, Balong Township, Huanghe Town." After glancing through Liang Jiajia's textbook, Su Xiaoqi had made some messy notes. She also took out the glass water bottle and A4 homework paper covered with English writing, using the old style fountain pen. These confirmed her identity.

"Teacher Su, your home is so far away! Do you ride horses to school?"

Su Xiaoqi: ...

"No horses."

Su Xiaoqi accepted the new copy of New Concept English that the nanny brought over.

Indeed, Liang Jiajia's book was brand new, with the plastic wrap still on. Su Xiaoqi's book was well-used, with lots of notes written in it, making it much thicker.

The first book was quite simple to begin with. With her good memory, she basically knew it by heart.

"No other questions. Let's start today's lesson." Su Xiaoqi said sternly.

Otherwise the little girl's questions would be endless.

"Then, then Teacher Su, one last question."

Liang Jiajia had just secretly looked up some info about Gumula Village online, which said it was located in the highlands and hills, with bamboo forests as the main resource. So Gumula Village had a bamboo weaving tradition, with daily necessities all made from bamboo.

"Teacher Su, can you also do bamboo weaving?"

Su Xiaoqi was taken aback, then nodded. "Yes, I can do a little." The two moved to the study room.

The study room looked like it hadn't been used in a long time. The desk was clean, but when books were moved aside, there was a layer of dust on the edges and corners.

The view from the study room was excellent, with floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking a large part of Lvshan City.

Su Xiaoqi and Liang Jiajia sat facing each other, both holding a copy of New Concept English Book 1.

Su Xiaoqi taught and Liang Jiajia read along.

There was air conditioning in the room set at 26°C. There was also water, drinks, milk, and fruit.

Liang Jiajia realized Teacher Su's English pronunciation was so nice to listen to, even better than her dad's, and hundreds of times better than that woman's. It was very enjoyable to listen to.

She was actually quite smart herself and learned quickly. Her poor performance previously was due to psychological resistance.

So when Liang Jiajia wanted to learn, her progress was very fast.

With one willing to teach and the other willing to learn, the two hours flew by.

When the clock in the study showed 3:30pm, there was a knock on the door.

Su Xiaoqi then saw the Liang family nanny bring in a bundle of bamboo slats, bamboo sticks and jute rope.

Liang Jiajia smiled ingratiatingly at Su Xiaoqi, "Teacher Su, Teacher Su, we've learned a lot, let's take a break. You can do bamboo weaving, right? Can you make a little something for me?"

Su Xiaoqi: ...Tutoring is really not easy...

"No messing around!" Liang Lady's voice rang out, full of authority.

But Liang Jiajia was not afraid of her mom at all. Since her parents' divorce, her mom indulged her every wish, and could hardly bear to scold her, only acting strict in front of others.

Originally Su Xiaoqi did not want to entertain Liang Jiajia's request, feeling like she was just an unruly little bear girl. During their lesson earlier, she had chattered away about why she disliked English, her dad's affair, blabbering on and on...

But with Liang Lady's appearance, she found it hard to refuse.

"It's fine. People from Gumula Village do know bamboo weaving, though I may not do it very well."

She spread out the bamboo slats and jute ropes, as the bamboo weaving from her village had some history and was quite unique. Remarkably, no jute rope was needed for the transitions, everything could be woven from bamboo until just one wrap of jute rope was required to finish.

Having watched her parents do it daily, she basically knew it by heart, just lacked the hands-on experience.

"Using Bamboo Weaving Master Skill Card." She recited silently.

"Host's bamboo weaving skill is at Level 0. After using Bamboo Weaving Master Skill Card, skill level is now Beginner." The system responded mechanically.

The bamboo slats were still quite soft and wet. She wondered where Auntie Wang the nanny had gotten them.

Wet, soft bamboo slats were easier to work with, but would also be prone to deformation after drying out and losing moisture.

But with a beginner level bamboo weaving skill, these concerns were clearly beyond Su Xiaoqi. She picked up the bamboo slats and started weaving. Meanwhile, Liang Jiajia secretly turned on the video recording on her phone. She knew to be mindful of privacy and did not film Teacher Su's face, only capturing from below the chin down, showing the weaving movements.

When Su Xiaoqi sat down and started weaving, it felt as if she was instantly transported back to her parent's side.

In the corner of the living room on the small bamboo stool, her dad had a piece of coarse blue cloth under his leg, and the long bamboo slats quickly took shape in his rough, big hands - from a stick to a winnowing basket, as if conjured out of thin air when he sped up.

Her hands were different, slim and fair, with even whiter palms, a young girl's hands where the blood vessels could be seen.

The backdrop was no longer the rural cottage with a messy pile of bamboo and bamboo scraps in the living room, but a brand new, spacious study, rows of bookshelves, floor to ceiling windows, curtains.

The girl's hands moved as nimbly as if dancing, and the long greenish bamboo slats seemed to be given life.

In Su Xiaoqi's mind was the bamboo woven handbag she had seen a classmate show off before.

As there were not many slats, she made a slightly smaller version.

After weaving the base, her speed increased, even becoming adept very quickly, moving rapidly. Her expression was no longer so serious, she even found enjoyment in it.

"The English word for bamboo basket is 'bamboo basket'. This bamboo basket is my own work. Can you make a similar sentence with the same structure?"

Su Xiaoqi's hands kept moving as she started to ask questions.

Liang Jiajia, who was happily filming the video, did not expect Teacher Su to be able to teach while weaving. She stuck out her tongue, trying to think of a sentence.

Liang Lady was even more surprised. She did not anticipate that the young girl was not only good at English, but could actually weave bamboo. She had assumed a girl like Su Xiaoqi with such good grades must have been pampered at home, and did not expect her to be so capable with handiwork.

Seeing her daughter's confused look, she glared at her and shook her head before leaving the room.

The two-hour home tutoring session ended at 4pm.

Liang Lady asked Su Xiaoqi to stay for dinner but she declined, only taking her pay for the day of 200 yuan.

Liang Jiajia personally walked her teacher to the door.

This was a rare display of manners from Liang Lady's daughter.

Seeing the small green bamboo bag on the table, it was truly exquisite and charming. The green bamboo exterior faced outwards. Despite being woven from bamboo, there were no splinters, with tight fine stitches. Just the right size to hold a cell phone, lipstick and other items.

After seeing her teacher off, Liang Jiajia rushed back and snatched the bag from her mom's hands.

"Mom, you have so many designer bags, don't take mine. This was handmade by Teacher Su, she gave it to me as a gift."

Then she was seen taking endless photos of the bag with her phone, while muttering the English sentence she just learned: "This bamboo basket is my own work..."

Then she lied on the sofa with her phone, smiling as she fiddled with her phone, listening to the familiar music, and scrolling through TikTok again.

Ms. Liang shook her head and laughed.

This time Liang Jiajia wasn't just scrolling through TikTok, but making a TikTok video, posting the video of Teacher Su teaching her how to weave bamboo while simultaneously teaching her English earlier, with the caption "My tutor Miss Su is an all-rounder."