EBE Chapter 365 Old Wu Comes to the Door
Chapter 365 Old Wu Comes to the Door
As the new semester began, Zhuang Chaoying's holiday came to an end, and she returned to the routine of going back and forth between school and home.
At the start of the semester, the school organized a diagnostic test, which gave him a clear understanding of the situation in the class he was in charge of and the actual level of each student.
At this moment, he stood on the podium, holding a paintbrush in his hand, and quickly wrote on the blackboard, explaining the concepts of intersection, union, and complement of sets.
"Class, please turn to page ten. Who can tell me the definition of a set that we discussed in the last lesson?"
Zhuang Chaoying glanced at the students below, then casually pointed. "Zhao Xiaoli, yes, that's you. Say something."
Zhao Xiaoli tensed up instantly. Her deskmate, quick-witted and agile, flipped through the book and secretly tugged at Zhao Xiaoli's sleeve, signaling her to read along.
After some stumbling and hesitation, Zhao Xiaoli finally managed to explain the definition of a set.
Zhuang Chaoying waved her hand, signaling her to sit down, and then continued her lecture in an orderly manner.
A 40-minute class period passes in the blink of an eye.
He always adhered to the principle of not taking up students' break time. As soon as he heard the bell ring, he picked up his book and quickly walked out of the classroom.
Back in the office, Mr. Zhang, the bald math teacher, was sitting there packing his things, holding a lunchbox in his hand.
When Teacher Zhang saw Zhuang Chaoying come in, her eyes lit up. “Teacher Zhuang, you look very energetic today! Can you share your experience with me? How do you raise such a successful child? My son just started middle school this year, but he just can’t concentrate on his studies. My husband and I are so worried.”
Zhuang Chaoying put down her lesson plan and teaching materials and picked up her briefcase from the chair.
“Teacher Zhang, every child is different, so we need to teach according to their aptitude and use more encouragement. To be honest, when it comes to experience in raising children, I haven’t really managed them much. My two children have relied on their self-discipline. Why don’t you try letting them grow up more freely?”
Teacher Zhang waved her hand helplessly, holding a lunchbox in her hand. "Free-range? I can't even imagine what my son would become if he were raised like that. They're all children, just two legs supporting their bellies, how come there's such a big difference between them?"
"Teacher Zhang, please take your time thinking about it. I won't supervise evening self-study today; I'll go home first," Zhuang Chaoying said, turning to leave.
Teacher Zhang touched his shiny bald head and sighed inwardly.
Well, my child really isn't cut out for studying.
I thought to myself that I was a vocational school graduate, but my child didn't inherit the genes for learning and only had a mischievous mind.
He envied Teacher Zhuang from the bottom of his heart. Teacher Zhuang's children were admitted to Tongji University and Fudan University, and they were both top scorers in the liberal arts. It's infuriating to compare yourself to others.
Zhuang Chaoying walked quickly to the bike shed and pushed the motorcycle out.
He hung his briefcase on the handlebars, took out his helmet from the box on the back, put it on, and rode out of the school gate.
Once he reached the main road, he felt safe to accelerate.
More than ten minutes later, Zhuang Chaoying arrived at the alley.
He got off the motorcycle and was pushing it inside when he suddenly heard someone call his name from behind.
"Teacher Zhuang, Teacher Zhuang!"
Zhuang Chaoying stopped and turned around. He saw Old Wu carrying a basket with some eggs in it and a net bag in his other hand with canned food and a box of some kind of pastry. Old Wu was jogging toward him.
"Old Wu? Is something the matter?"
Old Wu adopted a fawning tone, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. "Teacher Zhuang, I need to talk to you about something. You see... why don't we go inside and talk?" he said, deliberately waving the object in his hand.
Zhuang Chaoying thought to herself, "Old Wu never comes to the temple without a reason. What could he possibly want from me?"
"Let's talk inside."
"Yes, yes," Old Wu replied hastily, quickly following closely behind Zhuang Chaoying as they walked into the alley.
As Old Wu stepped into Zhuang Chaoying's courtyard, he was immediately struck by the sight of the three-story building.
He looked up at her with envy in his eyes, then thought about his own home, where his sister was always arguing over a single room, her mind as small as her stature.
Old Wu knew perfectly well that Zhang Amei was with him simply because she wanted to live a better life;
As for myself, I just want someone to serve me and a warm bed at night; everyone gets what they need.
Look at that courtyard of theirs, so spacious and grand. When will I ever be able to live in a house like that? They say cultured people can make money. Teacher Zhuang must have earned a lot from writing a few books, enough to buy such a big courtyard.
Zhuang Chaoying noticed Lao Wu's scrutinizing gaze and couldn't help but frown.
He parked his motorcycle and went inside. "Ah Ling, Old Wu is here."
Hearing the sound, Huang Ling craned her neck to look outside, then turned around and walked to the refrigerator, taking out two bottles of orange juice. "Old Wu, this is your first time here, come in and sit down."
Old Wu, carrying his things, walked into the courtyard, looking around like a country bumpkin visiting a grand garden. "Huang Ling, Teacher Zhuang, your house is quite big, not bad, very nice," he said, placing his things on the table.
Huang Ling smiled and nodded. "It's quite big. You two chat, I'm going to cook."
Zhuang Chaoying picked up a bottle opener, clicked open a bottle of orange juice, and handed it to Lao Wu. "Lao Wu, just say it, what's the matter? Hesitating isn't like you."
Old Wu gripped the soda bottle tightly in both hands. "Teacher Zhuang, you're the one who tutored my daughter Shanshan so she could go to university. I haven't properly thanked you yet. Please keep these things as a thank you for tutoring Shanshan. Also, there's something else I'd like to ask you for help with."
Zhuang Chaoying sneered inwardly. Shanshan had been in college for two years, and only now did she remember to thank her. Wasn't that just hindsight?
Sure enough, Old Wu's real intentions were not what they seemed. "Tell me what you need first, and I'll do what I can, and there's nothing I can do about what I can't."
“You can do it, you can do it! My son Xiaojun will be taking the high school entrance exam next year, and I want him to go to a vocational school. Teacher Zhuang, could you help Xiaojun with some tutoring?”
Zhuang Chaoying crossed her legs and tapped the armrest with her fingers intermittently.
“Old Wu, times have changed. Tutoring now is not the same as before. Besides, I no longer work at the affiliated high school, so I come back late. I only came back early today because I wasn’t on duty. My time is really limited.”
Old Wu looked at Zhuang Chaoying with pleading eyes. "Teacher Zhuang, please help me out, for the sake of our many years as neighbors. Five yuan a month for tutoring, is that enough?"
He had to secretly take on carpentry jobs behind his sister's back to earn just five yuan. He couldn't tell his sister, or she would give him a hard time.