tutoring
Jiang Zhizhi waited for another day and night, until Sunday night, when she heard some noise, woke up in a daze, and saw Cheng Yuping pushing the door open.
Cheng Yuping looked very tired. Her rough long hair and worn white-blue long sleeves made her look haggard.
"Mom, you're back." Jiang Zhizhi's sleepiness instantly faded away and she sat up from the bed.
Cheng Yuping responded and sat down weakly beside Jiang Zhizhi's bed.
"Have you completed the divorce?" Jiang Zhizhi asked tentatively.
"Yeah." Cheng Yuping nodded.
"Mom, you look unhappy."
"It's nothing, I just feel like I'm dreaming." Cheng Yuping took out the green book from her bag and sighed sadly.
Divorce is common in cities, but she grew up in the countryside and has never seen a couple divorced after marriage.
This is also the reason why she never filed for divorce despite being bullied by Jiang Guozhong for so many years.
Looking at the green book in her hand, she felt as if a big hole was dug in her heart.
The past ten years of marriage have passed by like a flash, leaving nothing behind.
Jiang Zhizhi sensed her loss, sat down beside her, and held her hand. "Mom, you still have me. Let's live a good life together in the future. I will study hard and be your pride."
Cheng Yuping felt warm in her heart and couldn't help but hug Jiang Zhizhi into her arms, her eyes slightly tearful. "Zhizhi, Mom will definitely make good money and let you live a good life."
"By the way, Mom, have I transferred my household registration to you?" Jiang Zhizhi asked.
"Yes, but Mom didn't change your last name because she was afraid it would affect your exams."
Cheng Yuping took out a brand new red household registration booklet from her bag.
Jiang Zhizhi hurriedly took it and looked at it. There were only two pages on the household registration, one for Cheng Yuping and the other for Jiang Zhizhi.
Looking at this household registration book, Jiang Zhizhi's eyes were filled with tears.
In her previous life, because Jiang Guozhong was holding her household registration book, she couldn't do many things, and couldn't even take the adult education exam.
She is like a floating duckweed with nowhere to go, having her roots severed, adrift and helpless...
But this life will never be the same again.
"Mom! Thank you!" Jiang Zhizhi's voice choked with sobs as she fell into Cheng Yuping's arms.
It was not until this moment that she felt the depression in her heart dissipate and she truly welcomed a new life.
*
On Monday, the midterm exam results came out.
Jiang Zhizhi ranked 278th, third in the class. The first place was Xu Qingbo and the second was Lin Qingyu.
But she was already very satisfied. She had been worried about Cheng Yuping these days and was even a little dazed. Her foundation was not as solid as theirs.
There is only half a semester left before the exam, so she has to keep working hard.
During the afternoon Chinese class, our homeroom teacher, Xu Haiyan, announced, "There will be a parent-teacher meeting this Friday afternoon. Go back and tell your parents that everyone must be present on Friday."
For students with poor academic performance, parent-teacher meetings are like a nightmare. For a time, many students in the class were wailing in their hearts.
Jiang Zhizhi, however, calmed down and focused on studying, doing exercises, reading books and saving money.
After Cheng Yuping and Jiang Guozhong divorced, it was as if her inner demons had been removed. Now she no longer had to worry about any messy things. She just had to study and make money to buy medicine.
In the blink of an eye, it was Friday.
After the second class in the afternoon, the school was surrounded by students' parents.
The door opened and Jiang Zhizhi saw Cheng Yuping in the crowd.
Cheng Yuping was wearing a red top and long black trousers today, with her hair combed neatly. Although she still looked a little rustic, she looked very energetic.
Jiang Zhizhi went out and brought her in. As they were walking inside, a white Porsche suddenly stopped at the school gate in the spotlight.
"Lu Xiye! Come here!"
The man who walked out of the car was dressed in a suit and tie, which made him look taller and more slender. Although he was nearly forty years old, time seemed to have been particularly kind to his face, making him look more and more charming as a mature man.
At that moment, the cold anger on his face could hardly be concealed. His cold gaze passed through the crowd and fell on Lu Xiye at the door of the teaching building.
When Lu Xiye saw the person coming, he looked impatient, but still walked up to him.
“Bang!”
Before he could stand firm, the man slapped him in the face.
The sound was so loud that other parents and classmates around looked over to them.
"You didn't even dare tell me at the parent-teacher conference? What the hell are you doing at school every day?"
The man hardly held back, and Lu Xiye's face became red and swollen almost instantly.
He looked up at the man in front of him and sneered stubbornly, "Don't you understand who I am? Why are you here? Are you here to embarrass yourself?"
"Just wait, I'll deal with you when I come back!"
After he finished speaking, he didn't even look at Lu Xiye again and went straight into the teaching building.
After a brief silence, the other students and parents returned to normal and entered the teaching building with their children.
Jiang Zhizhi looked at Lu Xiye, who was walking out of the school, pretending to be nonchalant, but his eyes were red.
She thought of how angry he was when she mentioned Lu Xiye's family in the training class that day, and couldn't help but sigh secretly.
Every family has its own problems. Even Lu Xiye, whose family background is envied by countless people, has its unknown secrets.
When the bell rang, parents and teachers of various subjects entered the classroom, and students scattered in the corridors and playground.
Jiang Zhizhi found a step to sit on, took out a book "The Biography of Schrödinger" from her schoolbag, and was about to open it when she heard people talking in the corridor.
"Did you see that? Lu Xiye was beaten by his father just now."
"We were at Shenghaoxuan Huafu for Lu Xiye's birthday party before, and I heard him arguing with his father in the private room. It seemed like it was because his father brought his mistress along."
"Ah? His father has a mistress?"
"His father not only has a mistress, but also a fourth. Isn't that the norm in wealthy families?"
"Then Lu Xiye doesn't care?"
"His mother died a long time ago."
"Lu Xiye usually acts like a rich young man. When his father's mistresses have children, he might not even get a share of the family fortune. His father doesn't like him at all."
"He's still the worst student in the class and so dumb, I guess his father wouldn't dare give him the family fortune."
"Lu Xiye will definitely be a prodigal son in the future."
“…”
As the boys talked, they began to gloat over the other's misfortune.
Jiang Zhizhi felt upset after hearing this.
These people usually have a good relationship with Lu Xiye, and Lu Xiye also gives them a lot of money to spend, but they say this about him behind his back.
She put the book away and turned to go to the playground.
As soon as I walked out of the teaching building, I ran into Xu Jiaojiao.
"Zhizhi, where did you move to? Why didn't you tell me?"
Jiang Zhizhi said, "Over there at the stadium."
"Tomorrow is Saturday. Do you want to go out and play? I'll take you to a nice place." Xu Jiaojiao said.
Jiang Zhizhi refused, "I have something to do tomorrow."
"What's going on?"
"My mom wants to take me out."
Jiang Zhizhi couldn't tell anyone that she was learning Taekwondo. If Cheng Yuping knew about it, she wouldn't know how to explain the tuition fees.
She had worried before that Lu Xiye would tell others, but he didn't seem to want to tell others that he was learning Taekwondo.
The two of them understood each other tacitly.
"Okay then." Xu Jiaojiao looked a little unhappy after being rejected.
"Xu Jiaojiao, let's go jump rope." Li Rongrong and a few other girls came over with rubber bands. "Jiang Zhizhi, are you coming?"
Jiang Zhizhi shook her head. "You guys go, I'm not going."
She is actually thirty years old and has long forgotten how to jump rope.
Recently, Jiang Zhizhi has become addicted to studying and has become increasingly estranged from them. Li Rongrong and the others just asked casually, and when they saw Jiang Zhizhi refused, they didn't say anything and went to the playground with Xu Jiaojiao.
Jiang Zhizhi found a place to sit down. Not far away was the flag-raising platform, where several classmates were gathered.
In the middle were Xu Qingbo and Lin Qingyu, who were sitting face to face, not knowing what they were doing. The group was concentrating on them.
"Oh, I lost again. Xu Qingbo, you are such a great chess player. I don't want to play anymore."
Lin Qingyu stood up with resentment, walked to the side, and revealed the chessboard inside.
"Is anyone else coming?" Xu Qingbo asked the people around him proudly.
He likes playing chess very much. He is a study maniac in normal times and tends to be indifferent to others, but when playing chess, he can get along well with everyone.
However, he is very good at chess, and there are only a few people in the whole school who can play a few games with him.
Lin Qingyu saw Jiang Zhizhi sitting alone reading a book, "Jiang Zhizhi, do you want to play the next one?"
Because Jiang Zhizhi's academic performance has improved, Lin Qingyu's impression of her has changed a lot. During this period, Jiang Zhizhi always came to the library to borrow and donate books, and the two of them interacted very frequently.
Seeing that Jiang Zhizhi was always alone, Lin Qingyu felt a little bit sorry for her. If this continued, Jiang Zhizhi would be isolated in the class.
As the class monitor, she naturally couldn't bear to see such a thing happen.
"I won't……"
"If you don't know how, come and learn. It's easy to get started." Lin Qingyu came over and pulled her up. "Don't always sit alone. Come play with everyone. Studying also requires a balance between work and rest."
Jiang Zhizhi couldn't persuade her, so she had to follow her.
Lin Qingyu asked her to sit opposite Xu Qingbo, "You two, go down, I'll teach you."
Jiang Zhizhi sat down and subconsciously looked back at Lin Qingyu.
Today Lin Qingyu was wearing a long white dress. She had slender limbs, a small oval face, big eyes, and curly eyelashes. She looked pretty and fresh, like a blooming gardenia.
It is undeniable that Jiang Zhizhi really likes her.
She is beautiful, like a beautiful dream.
"Xu Qingbo, Jiang Zhizhi doesn't know how to play chess, so you have to go easy on her." Lin Qingyu said jokingly.
Xu Qingbo nodded, "Don't worry, I'll give her a game of chess."
Lin Qingyu helped Jiang Zhizhi set up the chess pieces and said, "Look, it was like this at the beginning. This is the rook, it can only move in a straight line. This is the knight, it moves in a sun shape. This is the elephant..."
She carefully explained to Jiang Zhizhi and demonstrated, and Jiang Zhizhi listened very carefully.
"Okay, let's start. Jiang Zhizhi, you go first." Lin Qingyu said.
Jiang Zhizhi thought about it and jumped a horse.
Lin Qingyu was surprised, "Jiang Zhizhi, you are quite good at it. Many people are just beginners at jumping horses."
"I just think this way is easier to walk." Jiang Zhizhi smiled and said.
Jiang Zhizhi was an adult after all. After she understood the rules, she learned quickly. With Lin Qingyu's guidance, she and Xu Qingbo fought back and forth at the beginning.
Just as they were having fun, a boy standing nearby suddenly said, "Look, Lu Xiye is back."
"He was just beaten by his father." Someone said in a low voice.
"There were several times before when Lu Xiye came to school with injuries on his face. We thought he had been in a fight outside. Now it seems that his father might have beaten him."
"My dad never hit me. He said that people who hit children at every turn are not worthy of being parents."
"Stop talking, he's looking over here."
Lu Xiye looked at the circle of people gathered below the flag-raising platform. He was tall and could see Jiang Zhizhi and Xu Qingbo who were surrounded inside at a glance.
There are so many people, it’s very lively.
He pursed his lips, took a look, said nothing, and walked away silently.
*
After the parent-teacher meeting, Cheng Yuping walked out of the teaching building with a rosy face.
Jiang Zhizhi and her classmates dispersed and ran to Cheng Yuping, "Mom."
"Zhizhi, you ranked third in the class in the midterm exam. Why didn't you tell mom?" Cheng Yuping was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. At this parent-teacher meeting, several teachers took turns praising Jiang Zhizhi, and she felt embarrassed by the praise.
She was also worried that the many things going on at home during this period would affect Jiang Zhizhi's studies, but she didn't expect that not only was there no impact, but Jiang Zhizhi actually made such great progress.
"I was thinking of making you happy after you get admitted to No. 1 Middle School." Seeing Cheng Yuping so happy, Jiang Zhizhi also felt sweet in her heart.
Cheng Yuping took Jiang Zhizhi's hand and said, "Come on, Mom will stew chicken for you today, let's nourish ourselves."
After the divorce, although she didn't earn much every day, she could barely save some money without Jiang Guozhong's plundering.
Before the divorce, she was worried that she couldn't support Jiang Zhizhi on her own, but now, seeing that life is getting better little by little and Jiang Zhizhi is doing so well, she can't help but feel so happy.
On Saturday, Cheng Yuping was full of motivation and went out to purchase goods early in the morning.
Jiang Zhizhi finished her homework at home and went to Taekwondo school with her schoolbag.
Lu Xiye didn't come in the morning and didn't ask for leave, so Jiang Zhizhi had to practice alone.
He finally arrived half an hour into the afternoon class.
After changing into his Taoist uniform, Lu Xiye walked up to Jiang Zhizhi and said in a humming voice as if he was sulking, "Take the target."
Now is not the time to practice shooting, but seeing this guy glaring at her angrily as if he wanted to eat her, Jiang Zhizhi didn't argue with him and silently picked up the kick target.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
Lu Xiye raised his long legs high and kicked the target three times. He was a boy and very strong. Jiang Zhizhi could hardly hold on and took three steps back.
"Did you see it yesterday?"
"What did you see?"
"Lu Xiye, Jiang Zhizhi, what are you two doing?"
Everyone else was practicing, and only the two of them were there kicking targets.
Lu Xiye swallowed his words and turned back to his seat.
Jiang Zhizhi also put down the target and continued to practice back kick with everyone.
During the break, everyone rested and drank water together.
Lu Xiye didn't bring any water with him. He leaned against the window and gasped for breath. Sweat seeped out of his honey-colored skin, which looked like it was gilded in the sunlight.
His eyes were a little swollen and the corners of his eyes were red, as if he had been crying.
Thinking of the discussions of her classmates at school, Jiang Zhizhi suddenly felt that she didn't hate him so much.
"Lu Xiye, have you finished the exercise book?" Jiang Zhizhi suddenly asked.
Lu Xiye was stunned for a moment, then said in a stammered voice, "No."
"Why not?"
Those three exercise books, one for Chinese, one for math, and one for English, are the most valuable in the bookstore. You can earn a thousand yuan by completing one.
Jiang Zhizhi bought two and kept one for herself. After finishing the whole thing, she earned three thousand yuan and was very happy.
Lu Xiye looked at her and didn't answer.
Jiang Zhizhi said calmly, "You study for yourself. If you don't study because you're angry with your dad, you'll be the one who suffers in the end. It's foolish to retaliate against others by hurting yourself."
Lu Xiye was indeed deliberately not studying because he was angry with his father. He hated his father, hated his father for being fickle outside, and hated him for abandoning him at home and not coming back for ten days or half a month.
He thought this would hurt him, but it only made the relationship between father and son more rigid.
He was very confused and had no idea what to do.
He looked at Jiang Zhizhi's three exercise books, and except for a few Chinese questions, he couldn't do the other questions at all.
Lu Xiye lowered his head and looked at Jiang Zhizhi, "Jiang Zhizhi, how come your grades improved so much all of a sudden?"
His question was so sudden that Jiang Zhizhi was caught off guard.
After a while, she coughed lightly and said, "Just memorize more and do more exercises."
"Why don't you give me some tutoring?" Lu Xiye suddenly said, "I'll give you money."
These words made Jiang Zhizhi stunned.
She didn't expect Lu Xiye to say that.
"What's wrong? Aren't you short of money?" Lu Xiye said.
Jiang Zhizhi was desperately short of money.
"How much?"
"One thousand a month?"
“…”
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Jiang Zhizhi smacked her lips. "You're really rich."
Cheng Yuping only makes about a thousand yuan a month from setting up a stall.
"Haha." Lu Xiye laughed dryly.
He was not short of money. In addition to the property left to him by his mother when she died, his father would give him 7,000 to 8,000 yuan for living expenses every month. The nanny at home prepared three meals a day. He had no place to spend his money. It just sat there and grew automatically every month. He was too lazy to even look at it.
But to him, money is just a string of cold numbers.
He would rather have been born in a poor family like Jiang Zhizhi's. Yesterday, when he saw Jiang Zhizhi and her mother walking home hand in hand, he felt so envious.
"Then do you agree?" Lu Xiye asked.
Jiang Zhizhi said, "Promise me, why wouldn't I want to make money? Tutoring you for a few months will cover my tuition for a year of junior high school."
"Your family is so short of money, how do you afford Taekwondo classes?"
"My mom said that if I learn some self-defense skills, I won't be bullied in the future."
"Be careful or you'll become a tigress, or no one will marry you in the future." Lu Xiye said with a slap on his face.
Jiang Zhizhi rolled her eyes at him and said, "Being a tigress is better than being bullied."
If she knew Taekwondo in her previous life, she would definitely find an opportunity to block this guy in an alley and beat him up. How could she be bullied by him like that?
*
On Monday morning, after raising the national flag, Lin Qingyu came to find Jiang Zhizhi.
"Jiang Zhizhi, you will be the flag bearer during the flag-raising ceremony next week."
"I?"
"The head teacher said that you have made great progress recently and you should be given this honor." Lin Qingyu smiled happily.
Jiang Zhizhi didn't really want to go, but since Lin Qingyu had said so, and it was arranged by the homeroom teacher, she couldn't refuse. "Okay, I understand."
"Then you can go practice with Xu Qingbo. He will be the flag-raiser next week."
Lin Qingyu said, patting Xu Qingbo's shoulder in front of him, "Xu Qingbo, remember to call her when you practice."
"I understand." Xu Qingbo looked back at Jiang Zhizhi and nodded.
During the afternoon break, Xu Qingbo went out for a while. When he came back, he said to Jiang Zhizhi, "I'll be leaving late after school today. We need to practice flag-raising."
"Today?" Jiang Zhizhi agreed with Lu Xiye yesterday that she would tutor him for two hours after school from Monday to Friday.
She also told Cheng Yuping about this. When Cheng Yuping found out that Jiang Zhizhi could earn a thousand yuan a month by tutoring Lu Xiye, she was so shocked that she didn't react for a long time.
Jiang Zhizhi explained to her that it was just like tutoring. Although Cheng Yuping felt that charging money for tutoring classmates was not a good idea, she was reluctant to ask Jiang Zhizhi to refuse the 1,000 yuan a month.
However, after knowing that Lu Xiye's family was the richest in Dongxin District, Cheng Yuping's psychological pressure was not so great.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Seeing Jiang Zhizhi hesitate, Xu Qingbo asked.
Without waiting for Jiang Zhizhi to answer, he continued, "It will be done very quickly, in just ten minutes."
Jiang Zhizhi glanced at Lu Xiye, who was sitting in the last row, and nodded, "Okay."
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