Lin Min did not mention the awkward thing that day.
Su Xiaoqi naturally would not talk about it either.
But when the two walked side by side, it was still very awkward.
"Today, our teacher introduced us to a second-year junior high student who wants to learn English but has a very poor foundation. However, the money her mother is willing to pay is quite suitable - 100 yuan per hour. So she called several people to come interview together. My English is fine, but my spoken English is just average."
Lin Min knew her partner did not perform very well on the college entrance exam, but she was still going to do some work, so he introduced her a little bit.
"Thank you." Su Xiaoqi did not say how good her own spoken English was. As a student from the prestigious No.1 Middle School, she was a little ashamed that she did not test as well as a student from the less prestigious No.2 Middle School. But now, since the other person was willing to take her along to the interview, what else could she say besides "Thank you"?
After leaving the hospital, when they walked past the No.1 Middle School student street, Su Xiaoqi asked Lin Min to wait for her for a moment.
She ran to a familiar store and bought two milk teas and a bread roll.
She generously paid the 28 yuan - 12 yuan for each milk tea and 4 yuan for the bread.
Drinking milk tea was popular among the school students. She didn't drink much of it often before. When she was with Liu Shaowei, he had bought her some several times.
It seemed like the first time she had a crush was because of a milk tea.
He was tall, with slightly curly hair, a high nose bridge, small eyes - not one of those especially handsome boys. But when he handed over the milk tea, his smile was so warm, so gentle, his whole being seemed as bright as sunshine.
"Here." She handed the milk tea to Lin Min.
Lin Min was stunned. He knew girls seemed to really like drinking milk tea - that's how it was with the girls in his class.
But he rarely drank it himself. His father was a caregiver and his mother ran a street food stand. The two of them together did not make much income. They wanted to save up to buy an apartment in the city. Plus there was money needed for him and his siblings' education. So they lived very frugally.
"I don't like sweet stuff," Lin Min declined.
"I bought two cups." Su Xiaoqi insisted and shoved the milk tea into his hands.
She stabbed the straw into the cup, puffed up her cheeks and sucked up the milk tea, not looking at him. She wolfed down the bread in three to five bites.
Lin Min had never spent time alone with Su Xiaoqi before, but they were neighbors after all. Their building corridor was narrow and dimly lit. They bumped into each other from time to time.
In the sunlight, Su Xiaoqi wore a white T-shirt and black pants. Her hair was down to her shoulders. Her skin was so fair, so white. He stole an extra glance before quickly turning his head away, too shy to keep looking. He accepted the milk tea from her.
It felt a little warm in his hand.
So as not to seem pretentious, he also opened it and took a sip.
There was a hint of milkiness, a hint of tea, very sweet.
Looking at the girl walking beside him, cheeks puffed up as she ate the bread, like a chubby squirrel, he suddenly felt the milk tea was cloyingly sweet.
The student's home was not far, near No.1 Middle School. As Su Xiaoqi looked at the interface on her phone, she increased her pace. Over 10,000 steps now, but her money had not increased again. What a pity.
If only there were no restrictions on steps.
Unexpectedly, the system spoke up at this time: "The upper limit at Level 1 is 10,000 steps. When the host levels up to Level 2, the upper limit on steps will increase, and the monetary coefficient will also go up."
There were levels??
Su Xiaoqi wanted to ask how to level up, but the system fell silent again.
"Lin Min! You actually brought someone!" A bright female voice called out.
Su Xiaoqi looked up to see a girl not far away waving at them.
"This is my sister, Xiaoqi," Lin Min said.
Su Xiaoqi, who was desperately trying to finish the last mouthful of milk tea, suddenly coughed. She nearly choked. Her face turned red.
Lin Min helped pat her back.
Her face grew even redder.
She felt her back burning hot.
Beside the girl was also a boy, waggling his eyebrows at Lin Min: "I've never seen this sister of yours!"
"She goes to No.1 Middle School. She also wants to try tutoring to earn money. The teacher said this parent had high requirements, so I brought her along to give it a try," Lin Min explained.
Clearly, those several were all No. 2 Middle School students. Hearing it was No. 1 Middle School, they went "Oh."
Still holding her milk tea, Su Xiaoqi greeted them: "Hello schoolmates, I'm Lin Min's neighbor."
When Su Xiaoqi called Lin Min "brother", Lin Min's face also flushed slightly. But with his darker skin, it wasn't obvious.
The girl who first greeted them had large eyes and thick eyebrows. She looked very cheerful and extremely pretty. She walked alongside Lin Min.
Su Xiaoqi did not speak, following behind Lin Min's back, listening to their chat. That was how she found out he had been tutoring others all this time. No wonder even though they were neighbors, when they ran into each other it was usually quite late - because No. 2 Middle School had evening self-study and tutoring sessions, unlike No. 1 Middle School.
She had thought he was out playing around.
Once everyone had gathered, they went upstairs together.
The student's home was on the top floor, 23rd floor. Above that was an additional transparent conservatory that served as a calligraphy room. Stepping inside, it was spacious and bright.
The floor was carpeted with soft, furry carpet.
Coming in, they had to first change into slippers.
Since Lin Min had gone tutoring before, he was quite comfortable with it all. He carefully changed into the provided slippers.
Su Xiaoqi was a little nervous.
The moment the door opened, her hands shook.
Seeing the interior made her even more nervous.
At her home, they just had electric lights with wires strung up, swaying this way and that with the wind. No need to take off shoes when going indoors either. Looking at the beige, furry carpet, she instinctively felt a sense of unfamiliarity and fear.
Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, she told herself over and over. She wasn't dead set on tutoring. She just wanted to give it a try and gain some experience.
After repeating this to herself several times, she finally got her hands and feet to stop shaking as badly.
When a young woman in an apron handed her a pair of slippers, she didn't know how to address the other party. She just tried her best not to shake as she accepted them. She changed into the slippers and said, "Thank you."
She thought the woman was the lady of the house. Only after entering did she realize the student's mother was in the living room. The one who gave them slippers was actually just the housekeeper.
Among the group, Lin Min appeared the most steady and composed. He was tall with smooth, decisive motions.
"You're Lin Min, the one Teacher Qi recommended. I heard you got into Qingmeng University. Very impressive. My younger brother is also a graduate of Qingmeng University."
On the living room sofa sat a woman with long, wavy hair, wearing a red polka dot dress.
"Hello Ms. Liang. Thank you for the praise," Lin Min responded in a neither obsequious nor supercilious manner.
"My daughter Jiajia is in 8th grade this year. She'll be in 9th grade, a critical year, in the second half of the year. But her English is really poor. So I want to find her a tutor for a month, two days a week, Monday and Thursday, 2pm to 4pm. The pay is 100 yuan per hour. There will be additional bonuses if she learns well."
After she finished speaking, the few students who came to interview grew even more nervous.
Normally student tutors charged 50, 60, 80 yuan per hour at most.
But this parent was offering 100 yuan, 20 yuan more than the highest rate.
And very stable too.
Teaching for a month would be 1600 yuan. Teaching well could mean extra bonuses on top.
This family was clearly very well-off. The home decor was luxurious and spacious. There was even a housekeeper.
This also indicated the requirements would probably be very high.
"Originally I wanted to hire authoritative teachers. But my daughter Jiajia doesn't like teachers. She dislikes the feeling of still having class during summer vacation. I feel recently graduated high school students are more suitable. You'll have clearer memory of the knowledge points and there isn't too big of an age difference, so you can communicate more easily. That's why I wanted to interview you."
Hearing this, the students grew even more reserved.
Lost in thought, Su Xiaoqi calculated that 1600 yuan per month was a lot, a lot for her. Her dad had to weave over a hundred bamboo sieves to earn that much, and it would take him a long time. For her previously, that sum of money was enormous.
But now, unusually, she felt rather calm, not even as nervous as when she first entered the home.
She sat beside Lin Min, keeping her back straight, making an effort to control herself from pushing her glasses up. She felt the glasses were a nuisance - hers were quite big black-framed ones that often slid down, making her reflexively reach up to nudge them back in place when she got nervous or out of habit.
She made a mental note to change to a different pair of glasses after this interview.
"Which high school are you from? Which university did you test into?"
Just as Su Xiaoqi was spacing out, Ms. Liang suddenly spoke up and asked her.
