Chapter 51: Sprinting Towards the Monthly Exam ③
When Li Kai and Luo Xu arrived together, they happened to see the homeroom teacher and the dean of students standing by the classroom window. The two exchanged glances and also stood by another classroom window, looking inside.
That girl was standing on the lectern, holding a math book. The blackboard was densely covered with numbers and symbols they couldn’t understand, along with a series of explanations.
Li Kai knew this was written by Nie Qiu! He recognized Nie Qiu’s handwriting; it was no different from before, except her brushstrokes were more mature. It was probably because she was writing on the blackboard quickly, making it look even better. They say handwriting reflects the person, and standing on the lectern, she was simply a radiant being, shining brightly.
Teacher Yang looked at the dean of students and said with a smile, “This is why you asked me why I wanted to apply for holiday make-up classes. And the girl standing on the lectern is Nie Qiu, who is widely talked about in your class. She’s also the author of the sample composition I posted on the notice board a while ago, and the one who taught your class students how to write compositions during their self-study classes.”
The dean of students said with some emotion, “This girl is even more capable than I imagined. I will help you apply to the principal for the holiday make-up classes you mentioned. You know, teaching is also a profession, and professions require salary. With only two days off each week, if we ask teachers who don’t have classes to work overtime, they won’t object, but I don’t know if they will be dedicated. After all, you’ve been in society for so many years, you understand these things.”
Teacher Yang nodded, forcing a smile, “I know. I asked a few teachers, and only Teacher Bai from Physics and Teacher Huang from English are willing to teach the children on Saturdays and Sundays.”
The dean of students nodded, “How about this! I’ll propose to the principal that if your Class 10 achieves an enrollment rate of over fifteen students this year, we’ll adjust the year-end bonus for each subject teacher. However, whether this matter can be approved still depends on what the principal says.”
“That’s great!” Teacher Yang finally smiled. “If it really happens, I’ll treat you to a meal.”
The dean of students raised an eyebrow, “What? Are you not treating me if it doesn’t happen?” He smiled, turned, and left the classroom window with Teacher Yang.
“Haha, you say that.” Teacher Yang and the dean of students’ voices gradually faded. Li Kai let out a sigh, “Ah Xu, are you going to take the high school entrance exam yourself or rely on your family to buy you a spot?”
Luo Xu put his hands in his pockets and looked up at Nie Qiu on the lectern through the window. “Of course, I’m going to get in myself! Spending money to study would make people laugh their heads off!” With that, Luo Xu walked into the classroom and returned to his seat.
Li Kai smiled, “Me too.” Fifteen people? Teacher Yang, don’t worry, we will definitely not let you down! We will not betray your good intentions. He knew that only Teacher Yang truly cared for their class.
Nie Qiu continued lecturing until the morning bell rang. She rubbed her sore throat, closed her math book, and smiled, “Tomorrow we will continue discussing quadratic functions. Students who arrived late can ask classmates who have already attended to learn about what a function is, and the basics of linear functions. Also… if you truly want to study, starting tomorrow, I will be here with you every morning at six o’clock to study together.” Everyone, more or less, makes mistakes. For example, these students haven’t realized they’ve grown up. They follow the crowd and are playful, but once they realize, they will put in their full effort to study. Perhaps some with enough perseverance will succeed and have a better future. Perhaps some with insufficient perseverance won’t succeed, but no one will complain.
As long as they are willing to study now, Nie Qiu is willing to teach them, because for her, knowing one’s mistakes and correcting them is the greatest virtue. As long as they are still willing to learn, she will like them.
Nie Qiu asked the girl sitting at her desk to bring her a notebook. “Without rules, one cannot form a circle. I believe everyone knows this principle. Therefore, those who want to attend class in the morning should come up and register. Latecomers will naturally be punished. If you are unwilling to wake up early, come to school early, and be governed by these rules, you don’t need to come up and register.” Saying this, she took the hand of the girl holding the notebook. “Those who want to attend class in the morning should register with this classmate. If you have any questions, you can also come and ask me. Liberal arts subjects like history, geography, politics, and Chinese require recitation and understanding, while science subjects like biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics require logic and understanding. For liberal arts, you can read and recite more on your own. We have five days of study time each week: Mondays and Wednesdays for science review, Tuesdays and Thursdays for liberal arts review, and Fridays will be for English. Do you have any objections?”
As soon as Nie Qiu finished speaking, she received many responses. Everyone rushed to the lectern to register. Nie Qiu looked at the few people sitting at their desks who hadn’t come up to register and sighed. Her words and actions might influence some people, but not everyone has the same ideas.
Those sitting at their own seats who didn’t come up to register might think she’s showing off, or perhaps they look down on her, or even can’t stand her. Since the entire class participated in the Saturday and Sunday make-up classes but were unwilling to participate in the morning review, she could only have such thoughts.
After school, Nie Qiu hurried to the vegetable market because she still had to help Nie Aifang make dumplings at home. Therefore, she hoped to quickly and thoroughly look into the matters of the vegetable market, understand the market prices of various vegetables, and see if she could sell them through wholesale.
On the road outside the vegetable market, there was a row of small stalls set up by farmers. Most of them had two vegetable baskets on either side, with a plastic film laid on the ground in the middle, and vegetables placed on the plastic film. People who set up stalls on this road outside didn’t have to pay the administrator of the covered vegetable market. These stall owners were all farmers, and their vegetables were mostly grown by themselves.
Inside the vegetable market, there were high platforms with vegetables on them, divided into cooked food areas, vegetable areas, and seafood areas… There were also six major categories: aquatic products, vegetables, meat, fruits, non-staple foods and seasonings, and miscellaneous. All sorts of ingredients and foods were available. These were the vegetables that vegetable vendors bought in bulk from farmers and sold here. They made money from the price difference.
Usually, although farmers’ vegetables are good, if they harvest too much and fear spoilage, they will sell them to vegetable vendors. If they sell a lot, the price will naturally be much lower. For example, long beans, sold at retail, are two yuan and five jiao per jin. If sold wholesale to vegetable vendors, it might be two yuan per jin, or perhaps one yuan and eight jiao. The vegetable vendors then buy them and sell them for two yuan and five jiao, making a profit from the price difference.
Nie Qiu observed for a long time. She didn’t want to set up a stall outside. This was a large urban area, and it would be troublesome if the urban management officers patrolled around. She also didn’t want vegetable vendors to profit from the price difference. Honestly, seeing her as a young girl, if she sold a lot of vegetables, she didn’t know if she would be cheated. There are no honest merchants, and compared to these vegetable vendors, she would rather interact directly with customers.
