Chapter Sixty-Nine: Fan Qiang’s Troubles

Watching Yu Ziqing answer so earnestly, Wen Jiangxi found her innocence and charm increasingly endearing. If she became a teacher, she would surely be a good one; it would be a shame for her to be influenced by those old-fashioned types.

With this in mind, Wen Jiangxi deliberately guided her, saying, “Ziqing, I think what you said isn’t quite right. There’s an old saying: ‘Among three people walking, there is always one I can learn from.’ Teaching is a mutual process between teaching and learning. Teachers should listen to their students and adjust their methods as needed, striving to keep each lesson fresh and engaging.

“For example, just now you assumed my money must come from my parents. This preconceived notion is misguided. Like many teachers, you put students in an unequal position, which makes it impossible to truly listen to their opinions or adjust your teaching accordingly.”

Listening to Wen Jiangxi’s words, Yu Ziqing’s brows gradually furrowed. The child’s reasoning was spot on—simple, yet something many teachers fail to achieve, mostly for two reasons: conformity and pride.

After a moment’s thought, she nodded and said, “You’re right, Wen. I completely agree with you.” Then, with a mischievous smile, she added, “Alright then, can you—this little grown-up—represent your parents?”

“Of course. I’ll pay your tutoring fee myself. From now on, three days a week, you’ll help me practice my spoken English—two hours for one hundred yuan.”

Yu Ziqing gasped, then replied, “You little rascal, you nearly tricked me. Where on earth did you get so much money? These trousers must be returned; they’re too expensive, I can’t accept them.”

“Ziqing, how would you rate my spoken English?” Wen Jiangxi asked in return.

“It’s excellent, better than many university students,” Yu Ziqing replied seriously, though she didn’t know why he was asking.

“So, do you think teaching middle school students is harder, or am I harder to teach?” Wen Jiangxi said with a smile.

Yu Ziqing immediately understood, and couldn’t help but smile. She realized Wen Jiangxi was trying to help her, and felt a surge of gratitude. “Thank you, Wen, but I don’t need all that…”

“Ziqing, let’s settle it this way. The money is earned by me, not from my parents, so you don’t have to worry. If teaching a student like me doesn’t warrant this fee, it would insult both your intelligence and mine,” Wen Jiangxi said earnestly.

If Yu Ziqing was to accept a gift, she had to feel at ease, to believe she’d earned it through her labor. Only through words slightly extreme and an earnest attitude could her perception of the value of private tutoring be changed. Her nature was pure, and Wen Jiangxi could easily see through it.

As expected, Yu Ziqing grew anxious after hearing this. She said repeatedly, “No, no, Wen. That’s not what I meant. It’s just…” Wen Jiangxi cut her off, replying in English, “Ziqing, no more ‘just,’ it’s settled. We’ll speak English anytime, anywhere. It’s certainly not an easy job…”

Yu Ziqing hesitated for a moment, then replied seriously, “Wen, my family may not be well off, but I don’t need pity. If you can prove your money is earned by yourself, then I’ll accept. Otherwise, I can’t bear to see you spending your parents’ money so freely.”

Her character made Wen Jiangxi appreciate her even more. Of course, such proof was no trouble for him. After returning to school and making a call to Qi Huanchang in the public phone booth, Yu Ziqing was convinced. Naturally, he was careful not to cause a stir, so he reduced the amount from one hundred sixty thousand yuan to several thousand. Even so, it was enough to astonish and impress Yu Ziqing.

“Ziqing, you don’t always have to think I’m helping you. I don’t know your family’s situation, but I can see this has become a psychological burden for you. Whenever someone treats you well, you wonder if it’s out of pity. Take me hiring you as a tutor, for example. Throughout Yangjiang Teachers University, there aren’t many students with truly good spoken English, so you fully deserve this pay. It’s just that society doesn’t yet accept university students doing part-time work.

But I imagine you often chat with foreign teachers and have some understanding of foreign culture. Why are you studying? To call it ambition is pleasant, but to be blunt, it’s for better earning potential in society. As long as your grades are secure, what’s wrong with work-study? Big cities in our country are gradually accepting this concept!

That’s just one example. My advice is: don’t let your family background be a burden in your social life, like wealthy people constantly fearing someone will ask to borrow money—it’s obvious to many. But people from less privileged backgrounds always worry others are pitying them.

These two mindsets are similar, but the latter is harder to detect, even for oneself. After all, the wealth structure of society means most are at the bottom, leading to anti-rich sentiments that make your mindset hard to notice, even by yourself.”

Yu Ziqing listened in stunned silence, her mind undergoing a chemical reaction—as Wen Jiangxi would say, every neuron was fusing and exploding, then fusing and exploding again.

He had seen this expression several times on Qi Huanchang’s face, always after “predicting” the future of viruses and the internet for him.

Only, with Yu Ziqing, these thoughts were expressed in English, which was more challenging for Wen Jiangxi. Most of his English was interspersed with a few Chinese phrases—not to show off or pretend to be an ABC, but because sometimes he simply didn’t know how to express certain words or sentences. That was his greatest weakness in English.

“Ziqing, let’s end today’s lesson here. Consider it a demonstration of my spoken English. We don’t have to stick strictly to formal lessons; let’s meet often, and chat in English anytime. What do you think?” Seeing her lost in thought, Wen Jiangxi knew she wouldn’t be able to digest all these ideas right away, so he got up to leave.

Yu Ziqing responded instinctively with an “oh,” and Wen Jiangxi smiled, letting her continue to ponder as he turned to go.

Yu Ziqing had grown up surrounded by praise—beautiful, with excellent grades. Yet all these came from outside; her harsh family environment had made her mature early, giving her strong resistance to all compliments.

Never before had anyone spoken to her as Wen Jiangxi had. In her view, it wasn’t that others didn’t want to mention it, but rather that no one could see it, not even herself.

What kind of person was Wen Jiangxi, really? A third-year student, with basic Japanese, fluent English, able to write software and earn thousands of yuan.

His martial arts were impressive, he was eloquent, and he had a knack for making people laugh. Yu Ziqing’s gaze shifted from confusion to complexity, then to an involuntary smile, finally returning to its original clarity.

She truly owed this little brother thanks. His analysis of her character was spot on. No matter who he really was, she would do her best to teach him English.

In Yu Ziqing’s eyes, Wen Jiangxi must come from a very good family. She wasn’t worldly, but she wasn’t foolish; Wen Jiangxi deliberately avoided talking about his parents, so his background could be guessed.

Of course, that’s what anyone would think, but Wen Jiangxi’s parents were just ordinary people. He simply didn’t want them to know too soon that he could make money at such a young age, so he couldn’t let them find out he’d hired a tutor. Explaining it would be too troublesome; being a prodigy was certainly less comfortable than being an ordinary person.

Fan Qiang hadn’t had an easy few days. He urgently needed Liu Dashan’s support. Only today, Sunday, did he see Liu Dashan again. Unfortunately, after getting out of Liu Dashan’s car, his unease hadn’t lessened, but deepened.

Liu Dashan was noncommittal about his proposal, saying everything would wait for Tian Weidong’s arrival. This meant Fan Qiang would suffer more sleepless nights.

If Tian Weidong got wind of his actions, he could be fired at any moment.

Fan Qiang wracked his brains for a comeback plan, with two possible outcomes: one, leave Tianxing but get a lump sum and start his own business, though this would make Tian Weidong aware of everything he’d done and possibly blacklist him in the industry; two, stay at Tianxing, get a small amount, and win Tian Weidong’s favor.

He preferred the second outcome, relying on his persuasive tongue to sow discord and gain Tian Weidong’s trust. But whichever path he took, he needed Liu Dashan’s support. He planned to have Liu Dashan tie up the real Tian Weidong with business negotiations while the fake Tian Weidong and Wen Jiangxi handled their own talks.