Chapter 22: Teacher?
Page (1/3)
So it was possible to stumble upon one bargain after another?
Shen Qingyao could barely keep the corners of her mouth from curling upward.
She ran her fingers over the fabric again and asked how many cloth coupons it would require.
Qiao Yufen took out her coupons and counted them. She had just enough.
Shen Qingyao, however, put the fabric down and chose a slightly inferior piece instead.
She also picked out a more brightly patterned fabric and asked Xie Meiyi whether the cost could be deducted from her wages.
Before Xie Meiyi had even decided whether to agree, she had already found herself saying yes.
Although Qiao Yufen still wanted Shen Qingyao to buy the better fabric, Shen Qingyao refused with righteous firmness.
Xie Meiyi saw everything and smiled faintly, her lips pressed together.
The young shop assistant stood up to take Qiao Yufen’s measurements, while Xie Meiyi took the ruler and measured Shen Qingyao.
The moment she set the ruler down, Xie Meiyi began telling Shen Qingyao about the day’s work.
“There happens to be a new outfit in the shop today. You can put it on later and sit by the entrance.”
Qiao Yufen knew she should not stay any longer, so she told Shen Qingyao to come home for dinner that evening.
After watching Qiao Yufen walk away, Shen Qingyao went to change.
Xie Meiyi had given her a pink silk blouse, with hand-embroidered flowers around the collar and cuffs.
The garment was simple, but it was not something just anyone could afford.
Shen Qingyao stroked the silk against her skin. It really was comfortable to wear.
Even after receiving her salary in the past, she had never been willing to buy herself silk. Polyester, on the other hand, she had bought plenty of.
She had never expected that transmigrating into a novel could bring her an experience like this.
Shen Qingyao was nearly amused by her own thoughts.
She composed her expression and put on the shoes Xie Meiyi had prepared.
Shen Qingyao had been sitting outside the shop for less than half an hour when the sun climbed directly overhead.
The young assistant called her inside and even gave her a drink of water.
Noticing a book lying on the table, Shen Qingyao glanced at it curiously.
It was a middle-school textbook, and the young girl was working on some arithmetic problems.
“You made a mistake here.”
Shen Qingyao pointed it out casually.
The girl worked through it again and immediately corrected her answer.
After setting down the enamel cup, Shen Qingyao looked over the other things she had written.
The middle-school textbooks of that era covered simple multiplication and division, followed by some basic geometry.
Even though Shen Qingyao had majored in English, she could still spot the problem at a glance.
“Look. Didn’t you make another careless mistake here?”
She spoke gently, and the girl followed along with her reasoning.
On the final page of the textbook was a geometry problem that the girl simply could not solve.
Seeing her sit there counting on her fingers, Shen Qingyao broke the figure down into parts.
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
“Let’s imagine this as one complete figure. Then we can treat this part separately as a triangle. If we subtract this section from that one, doesn’t that give us the answer we need?”
Shen Qingyao tapped the textbook twice with her finger, and the girl’s eyes immediately lit up.
“You’re amazing, Big Sister!”
Her voice was full of admiration.
Shen Qingyao nearly let pride go to her head.
In truth, the problem itself was not difficult. The real issue was that the teacher’s method of explaining it was flawed.
But given the special circumstances of the times, Shen Qingyao wisely kept that thought to herself.
The girl pressed on. “Are you a teacher?”
“No, I’m not.”
Though, in the past, she had more or less counted as one.
“You teach even better than our teacher.”
The girl praised Shen Qingyao without holding back, and Shen Qingyao could not resist pinching her little cheek.
“You’re very good at teaching. Have you ever thought about becoming a teacher?”
Shen Qingyao smiled and declined. “I wouldn’t be able to.”
She knew she could, but her identity would not allow it.
The moment she took such a job, exposing herself would be only a matter of time.
Besides, she preferred this kind of relaxed work where she could earn money simply by sitting around.
And once the sun grew too strong, she could go inside the shop without worrying about getting sunburned. It was ideal in every way.
“Why wouldn’t you be able to? After educated youths spend a few years in the countryside, they can still return and continue teaching once they are transferred back. The benefits are better than ours, too.”
“Look at you—you’re good at teaching, and your age is suitable as well. Why not give it a try?”
Most educated youths were university students.
Shen Qingyao knew perfectly well how different she was from those people, so she took Xie Meiyi’s words as nothing more than a joke.
Xie Meiyi, however, was not joking.
Qingtan Village was one of the better-developed villages in the area, so naturally it had no shortage of teachers.
The other villages were another matter. Some did not even have a proper place for children to attend school.
The higher authorities had issued a new assignment: Jiang Feng was to lead a group of soldiers in solving the local problems, while the matter of finding teachers had been entrusted to the women’s director.
Xie Meiyi happened to know the women’s director—and she had just happened to discover Shen Qingyao.
“Your educational background won’t be a problem. You can take the college entrance examination when the time comes.”
“No, no, that won’t do…” Shen Qingyao waved her hands in refusal.
Take the college entrance examination? Was she crazy, or was Xie Meiyi?
That examination was practically a single-plank bridge crossed by thousands upon thousands of soldiers competing for the same path…
No, wait. That seemed to belong to a different era.
Shen Qingyao thought it over. It was indeed another possible road, but the shadow of the college entrance examination from her own time still lingered in her heart.
“Think it over. There’s no need to reject me so quickly.”
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
Xie Meiyi gave her a mysterious smile and began sewing the garment in her hands.
Shen Qingyao continued helping the girl with her homework.
When the girl finished, she happily packed up her schoolbag.
“Auntie Xie, I’m going home for dinner. I’ll come back tomorrow and watch the shop for you.”
Xie Meiyi readily agreed. “All right.”
“Big Sister, are you coming tomorrow too?”
“That depends on whether there’s any business tomorrow.”
Shen Qingyao did not say so outright, but neither did she directly refuse.
Xie Meiyi understood the implication and told Shen Qingyao to come again the next day.
Hearing that answer, Shen Qingyao could not help raising an eyebrow.
As expected, when it came to handling social niceties, she still knew exactly how to manage things.
The girl skipped away, and Shen Qingyao hummed a tune inwardly.
“Big Sister, what was that little girl’s name? She’s adorable.”
That single “Big Sister” completely delighted Xie Meiyi.
She still retained a little sense, however.
“Don’t call me Big Sister. Auntie Xie will do.”
Shen Qingyao showed no intention of changing the way she addressed her. Xie Meiyi merely nodded and gave her a meaningful look, and Shen Qingyao finally surrendered.
Naturally, Xie Meiyi would not give way.
Otherwise, if she eventually called Shen Qingyao her daughter-in-law while Shen Qingyao called her Big Sister, everything would become hopelessly confused.
That absolutely could not be allowed to happen.
“The girl’s name is Mianmian. The character means cotton. She’s our neighbor’s child, and only her grandparents are raising her. It’s rather pitiful.”
“But she was obviously very well cared for.”
Shen Qingyao recalled the details of Mianmian’s appearance.
Her clothes were clean and neatly pressed. Even the mended seams were tidy wherever the fabric had torn.
She carried a pretty floral schoolbag, and even the little hair tie in her hair was brightly colored.
All of it showed how willing her grandparents were to spend time and effort on her.
Xie Meiyi nodded. “Mianmian’s parents died on the battlefield, so naturally her grandparents indulge her a little.”
At that, Shen Qingyao felt a pang in her heart.
She could not help feeling sorry for the little girl.
Fortunately, Mianmian was still living a happy life.
Perhaps her name did not mean cotton after all, but rather the cotton in cotton candy.
Page (3/3)