Chapter 201

Xiao Yu was yelled at by his nephew for no reason, leaving him completely bewildered.

However, his nephew also said that the one holding the little girl's hand was actually a woman, a Korean foreign teacher at their school, and Xiao Yu felt strangely relieved. But then he started worrying again - these days, some women also have ulterior motives towards little girls...

Xiao Qi was very happy today after completing an extra task. She bid Jin Zaiyan farewell and returned to her dorm.

It was getting a bit late, and the other dorm occupants had gone to class.

Xiao Qi tidied up the dorm a little before heading to class as well. Unexpectedly, when she opened the door, the dorm across from hers was in the middle of a fight...awkward!

It seemed a lot of people were gathered around watching.

Chu Yu was actually crying, looking rather pitiful. People around her were trying to comfort her.

Even Lin Dongqing spoke up, "Su Li, forget it. Chu Yu didn't mean it. She's not well, don't be like this."

"Why am I like what? I didn't do anything and she suddenly started crying for no reason, acting as if she's the victim when she doesn't even deserve me bullying her. Li Weijin is that great of a person and she dares to get involved in scandals with him?" Su Li loved wearing boots the most and would wear them even in sweltering heat. Right now, she kicked a chair in the dorm with her boots, flipping it over violently.

Chu Yu cried even harder. Her small face was deathly pale and she looked on the verge of fainting. Between sobs, she tried to explain, "I didn't...I just happened to run into our classmate Li Weijin at the Calligraphy Club the other day and greeted him. And our classmate Su Xiaoqi was there too. I don't know how such rumors started..."

Su Xiaoqi, who was just passing by with books in her arms on the way to class: ......

Feels wrongfully accused.

Sensing all eyes on her, she boldly declared, "I don't have time for your bullshit. Don't falsely accuse me."

Then she strode off without looking back.

In the business faculty, Su Xiaoqi was somewhat well-known across a few classes.

Although Chu Yu made her tearful explanation, judging from Su Xiaoqi's justification, most female students were inclined to believe Su Xiaoqi.

Su Xiaoqi once had an intense debate with the Marxist philosophy lecturer during class and was the kind of student who actively participated in macroeconomics discussions, stumping the teacher. She was also the type to liven up a dull calculus lesson. On top of that, she was insane enough to walk 30,000 steps every day on WeChat's exercise app. Rumor had it she was preparing for a full marathon...

She even worked part-time jobs...

From this perspective, it seemed she truly didn't have much time.

Moreover, Su Xiaoqi was quite beautiful, but her beauty was different from others. She was gorgeous, yet few claimed to have praised or chased after her. With a severe expression, she appeared rather frightening and unapproachable - the epitome of aloofness.

Still, some said she was pretentious about her well-off background when she actually came from an impoverished rural family.

Compared to Chu Yu, Su Li clearly believed Su Xiaoqi more. Also, did Su Xiaoqi just swear earlier? How daring of her! Seeing Chu Yu made Su Li want to curse as well.

She remembered when she visited her aunt last weekend, her aunt had actually asked about her classmate Su Xiaoqi and even praised her.

Since when did her aunt pay attention to such trivial matters, and praised an individual at that? Su Li felt a tinge of jealousy at that.

Although it was her aunt, Su Li still harbored some apprehension towards her and they did not share an intimate relationship.

"If you really want to faint, I'll drive you to the hospital. If you don't, stop pretending. I'm not your parents or elders so I have no obligation to pamper you. Even if Li Weijin was blind, he still wouldn't be interested in someone like you, so don't worry. I'm not saying this because I care, but because I can't stand watching this. Spend your time studying more instead of envying others all day." After leaving these scathing words, Su Li stalked off with her bag.

She didn't care that there was still a crowd gathered.

Xiao Qi hurried away swiftly and felt a sense of warmth when she saw her good friends Mi'er, Yunshu Weicheng upon reaching class.

My, how nice it was that her dorm didn't have insufferable creatures, or else she'd surely be doomed.

Wei Cheng asked worriedly, "Xiao Qi, why were you so late coming back today? Was the equestrian club busy?"

"No, it was fine. I just helped bathe the horses. I met the chairwoman's younger sister who came to visit and gave her a short tour. Also, that Korean foreign teacher Jin Zaiyan we met the other day asked me out to help her make kimchi. I agreed."

Hearing Xiao Qi would be preparing food, the other three girls, including even the aloof Yunshu, grew excited.

"Wow, really? I want to eat some too!" Mi'er's eyes shone as she began salivating at the thought.

Wei Cheng nodded. "How nice!"

After some thought, Gu Yunshu suggested, "What else do you guys want to eat? The fish balls from my hometown Fucheng are quite famous. Or I could ask my mom to mail some over."

The girls chatted animatedly about food until self-study began and they had to return to their seats.

Xiao Qi noticed Yunshu's computer seemed quite advanced. She was confused about some concepts in her management information systems course and decided to ask Yunshu for help.

Indeed, although Yunshu always appeared engrossed in reading web novels, she was truly brilliant with computer-related topics and easily resolved Xiao Qi's questions.

She was probably a naturally gifted genius. No wonder her mother had bought her such a high-performance desktop computer that Xiao Qi sometimes saw Yunshu tinkering with.

Xiao Qi diligently focused on her assignments and revision, while also reviewing her daily list of Japanese vocabulary words. She had found out that the Japanese elective classes were held on Tuesday and Thursday nights, which clashed with the English Corner schedule. However, Xiao Qi had gotten to know Grace, Jin Zaiyan, and old man Garen now. She felt it would be easier to get acquainted and interact one-on-one within that circle, certainly better than the crowded English Corner which made it difficult to initiate and maintain conversations.

Her subject one test had also been scheduled for this Saturday. She would take the exam in Alliance City. Over the past few days, she had been practicing with the subject one mock test question bank app on her phone which contained very basic questions. It was a breeze for students fresh out of the college entrance exams like her. The questions were all multiple choice too, making them even simpler. Xiao Qi almost always scored full marks, with the occasional score in the high nineties. She reckoned the actual test would be easy as well. If she went to Alliance City for the exam on Saturday, she could meet up with Jin Zaiyan at the market which had a better selection than the small town's vegetable market they visited last time.

Xiao Qi did not see Chu Yu or Su Li the entire evening self-study session, though their dorm mate Lin Dongqing did come alone.

The next night, Xiao Qi skipped evening self-study and headed straight for Classroom 6 in Yong'an Building to sign in for the Japanese elective class.

Classroom 6 was where the Japanese elective lessons were conducted.

When Xiao Qi arrived, there were very few people, as electives were generally taken starting second year. First years could register too since students had to complete at least three elective courses over their four years for the credits. Second years had lighter course loads while first years had more mandatory classes, so fewer first years signed up for electives.

The classroom next door was an Opera Appreciation elective and seemed vibrant, with students packing over half the room.

In contrast, not even a third of the seats were occupied in Xiao Qi's classroom. She grew worried she had gone to the wrong room and specifically asked for confirmation. "That's right, this is the Japanese elective class."

Reassured she was in the correct place, Xiao Qi selected a seat near the front and center of the classroom.

She took out the Japanese textbooks she had been using to self-study, along with her vocabulary notebook she recited daily. Before she realized, she had amassed quite a sizable Japanese vocabulary through consistent review over time.

Xiao Qi understood that for language acquisition, there were no shortcuts; recitation was fundamental, like paving building blocks for a road - the more vocabulary stones laid, the more solid and established the road became.

After preparing her materials, the bell rang signaling start of class. At the exact second, neither early nor late, the classroom door was pushed open.

First came a pair of leather shoes, polished till shiny and clean.

Next was a crisp pair of trousers with folded creases indicating they were not brand new. A belt. A gray white checkered button-down shirt.

The one who entered was a very petite old man.

Xiao Qi guessed based on height that he was probably around her height.

But he did seem to exude an aura of utmost prestige and severity, just as Jin Zaiyan described.

His hair was neatly combed back with not a strand out of place. What little grayish hair he had left was sparse.

He also wore black-framed glasses, giving off an initial stern, rigid impression.

There are foreign teachers in both the new and old districts. Most who wish to live in the new district apartments do so because the environment and scenery are nice.

The old district apartments are by the bridge behind the school's back door. That bridge also connects the school to Luoxi Town, so going into town is convenient, but getting to the new district is farther away.

Plus the view, that is the view of Enhua Lake, along with the little town across the way - the little town is still a bit dirty and chaotic when you speak of it.

So it seems to naturally divide foreign teachers into two types: one type lively and passionate, the other type rigid and eccentric.

Clearly Yamamoto probably belongs to the latter, you can tell from his outfit. His attire seems more rigid than the school's old teachers.

Until class starts, only about one third of the seats in this classroom are filled, and those filled are scattered about, making the room seem even more empty.

But clearly the teacher does not care about this.

He enters, rigid and well-behaved, greeting them in Japanese and even bowing.

It's a bit complicated, and many students do not understand. Xiao Qi has some basic knowledge and can understand, but also does not know how to respond - she has not been taught etiquette on this, and it would be awkward to stand up and bow as well. Country folk from her GuMuLa village do not easily bow, unless they are worshipping ancestors and the like.

Xiao Qi can only respond to the teacher while seated: "Hello, teacher."

She uses Japanese, crisp and clear.

Yamamoto seems a bit surprised, but only slightly.

A small portion of those who have come to take this Japanese elective are new faces, but a large portion are familiar faces. Pitiable are those who chose this course out of curiosity at first, hoping to breeze through an elective by reading some Japanese comics, playing some Japanese games, or even being able to understand Japanese films... Not expecting it would be a huge pitfall, actually failing the course and having to retake it.

It can truly be called brutal - failing an elective course is just too unlucky.

It also serves to warn the students who have come - you must think thrice, thrice, and thrice again before taking Yamamoto's course. Otherwise what awaits you is endless failing grades and endless retakes, with no face given at all. There are still unfortunate seniors in this classroom...