The Culture Palace had an excellent geographic location, a small western-style building with green trees on both sides providing shade.
Outside the window was lush greenery, with occasional rays of sunlight streaming in.
Teacher Zhou's office was also decorated with vases of fresh flowers, very elegant.
On her desk there was also a faint blue vase in the shape of a woman's waist, looking quite antiquated and heavy, like an antique.
Evidently Teacher Zhou was quite fond of it, because the few times Xiaoqi had come to see Teacher Zhou, she had seen her polishing that vase twice, using a very soft cloth.
She had thought she'd done something wrong after Teacher Zhou stared at her all morning, and had not expected that what Teacher Zhou actually took issue with was this.
Today Teacher Zhou had on another suit, a tight-fitting yellow knit sleeveless top with lace around the collar, paired with a dark green skirt just above the knees, slightly longer. The materials of the top and skirt both looked rather heavy, clearly very good quality, showcasing her slender waistline wonderfully. On her feet were a pair of nude high heels, not completely nude but with a band of darker pattern at the toes, giving an antiquated feel. Her whole outfit was very beautiful, and she also wore earrings, little tower-shaped ones with shiny stones that swayed prettily when she spoke or lifted her head, also accentuating the shape of her face.
Whereas Xiaoqi herself was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, the T-shirt naturally worn outside.
If one's proportions were not good, this would be a typical case of so-so, or even 4/10 for the top half and 6/10 for the legs.
But Xiaoqi was quite tall now and her proportions were not bad either. She also regularly swam and jogged, so dressing this way was not an issue.
But Zhou Meiling, who refused to repeat an outfit in front of the same person, clearly could not stand it - the wrinkled T-shirt and those sweatpants, why did she feel like the girl wore the same thing every time she saw her?
And yet that was the case. The girl also exuded a kind of confident, high-spirited aura. When she was serious she was even a bit daunting. Zhou Meiling really could not stand it anymore and spoke up when they were taking a break.
"I originally participated in the swimming competition for the prize money. My college entrance exam scores were just average, and I'm enrolled in a private university with very high tuition. If I had won that prize money, my parents wouldn't have to worry about my tuition. As for the tutoring income, I thought that earning a bit now for living expenses would be a bit less for my parents to worry about. As for clothes, I have new ones. My aunt just bought me a skirt and the outfit from the first time I met you. The shoes are new too, two pairs - one for jogging and one to wear normally."
Upon hearing the girl's explanation, Zhou Meiling felt a moment of embarrassment.
Her closet couldn't even fit all her clothes. Her daily delight after work was shopping for clothes.
Her family was well-off and she had her own income. With no children to spend on, she could indulge however she liked.
She could not come up with any rebuttal when she heard Xiaoqi's words. But she still felt something wasn't right - this stubborn girl, clothing matters in making an impression. Who has the time to analyze and observe you in depth?
After the break, Xiaoqi assumed the topic was finished and earnestly resumed her Japanese lesson.
She did not expect Zhou Meiling to speak again after the lesson ended: "You're free this afternoon and evening, right?"
Xiaoqi considered and indeed had no tutoring or swim training today, so nodded.
"I have two tickets here for the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra's Asia Tour concert, why don't you join me?"
Xiaoqi was stunned for a moment. A concert? What on earth was that? She had never been exposed to such things before. At most she had watched school anniversary performances, and the school had organized trips to patriotic movies.
Did a German orchestra really come tour this Podunk Ershan City? How high class.
When she took the tickets from Teacher Zhou and saw the writing on them -
Conductor: Andrew Manze
Soloist: Martin Fröst
Venue: Fucheng Grand Theater
Ticket Price: 1,200.00
Children under 1.2 meters prohibited from entering this performance
She saw that watching a concert cost so much? Who would go see this to get ripped off?
And it was in Fucheng? Had Teacher Zhou gotten it wrong? It was still two hours' drive from here to Fucheng!
But Xiaoqi was still very curious since she had never experienced this before. The most she had seen performed was school anniversary celebrations. The school had organized trips to watch some patriotic films.
She first said she was free, but now didn't know how to decline.
Especially since Teacher Zhou had given her books last time. She seemed cold and aloof and her words were often critical and fault-finding, but she appeared to be a warm-hearted good person at heart?
She must be, otherwise the System wouldn't have rewarded her for Teacher Zhou's gift.
So Xiaoqi agreed with a nod.
"Let me call my aunt and let her know, Teacher shall we take the high-speed rail? Let me buy tickets." Xiaoqi thought that since Teacher Zhou had given her such an expensive ticket, she should pay in some other regard.
"No need, I'll drive. Come with me shopping this afternoon first. Concerts are very elegant events, I'd be too embarrassed to take you dressed like that." Zhou Meiling finally righteously voiced her criticism of Xiaoqi's clothing, immediately feeling relieved inside.
She had wanted to say this for a while.
Xiaoqi: ......
It seemed quite reasonable, but also rather strange somehow.
What was with that relieved look on Teacher Zhou's face?
Teacher Zhou was disparaging of her clothing, yet Xiaoqi did not feel insulted. Not like in school when the head teacher had admonished her that students should focus on studying and not care about their appearance - she had felt utterly mortified then.
She didn't know if her skin had gotten thicker or her mindset had changed.
When Auntie Sumei Su heard Xiaoqi say her teacher was taking her to a concert, she didn't doubt it at all. She just told her to take care and come home early.
The main thing was Xiaoqi was usually so well behaved. Other than studying, all she did was study and help with housework. Sumei felt a good kid like this wouldn't cause any trouble, and trusted her completely.
Xiaoqi had assumed Teacher Zhou wanted her to go shopping that afternoon. She did not expect Zhou Meiling to have it all arranged already.
"Just study and read here this afternoon. There's a cafeteria in the Culture Palace, we'll eat there. After eating I'll drive onto the highway to Fucheng. Fucheng's malls are huge with lots of selection."
"Uh... Teacher don't you have to work this afternoon?"
"No need, I took time off," Zhou Meiling replied. She actually didn't need to apply for leave at all. Her work was very relaxed. As long as superiors didn't come inspect, playing hooky was no issue. She often skipped work in the afternoons to go drink tea at the teahouse. Not wanting to explain all this to a child, she simply said she took time off.
By the time Xiaoqi was sitting in the beautiful Volkswagen Beetle-like car, she still felt a bit dizzy.
There was music playing in the car. She sat in the passenger seat.
The car smelled nice, seemingly sprayed with perfume. Xiaoqi felt sitting in Teacher Zhou's car was even better than sitting in Guan Qiuzi's car.
Though that was probably an illusion since it was her first time sitting in the passenger seat.
At most she had ridden in the ramshackle van transporting her village to the city. Bumping and rattling, loud noisy engine, strong gasoline fumes, she was lucky if she could squeeze a seat each time. Let alone something like this - sitting sweetly scented in the car.
The decorations in the car looked to be made of fresh flowers.
The car was very clean. The seat was soft - sitting back she even felt a bit sleepy.
This was Xiaoqi's first time catching a ride to go out of town. Only on the highway did she feel it was a bit crazy.
She had thought before getting in the car that she should buy Teacher Zhou some food and drinks, but it turned out the car had everything already.
Presently she saw Zhou Meiling had taken off her high heels, tossed in the back, wearing flat shoes now. Stepping on gas and brake pedal with one hand on the wheel and the other holding a can of coffee she took a swig from, body swaying to the rhythmic music, while saying to her, "Go ahead and nap if you're tired. Sleep a bit and when you wake up we'll have arrived."
Xiaoqi looked at cars zipping past outside, one hand grasping the seatbelt for dear life while the other clung to the door handle, quickly shaking her head. "I'm not tired, Teacher."
