The two slags nearly came to blows in the fried skewer shop over who got to be Xie Qian’s son.
In the end, neither won.
Wen Ying felt that Xie Qian probably did not want such a pair of grown sons, so she ended their childish battle with one sentence:
“If you both want to recognise Xie Qian as your dad, then you become brothers; I never realised you two were so close!”
Ouch…
Wang Shuang and Peng Guoqing instantly felt a toothache.
Xie Qian himself naturally had no idea that he had nearly acquired two grown sons under his name.
However, upon arriving at Teacher Liang’s office, Xie Qian fleetingly had the illusion of attending a parent-teacher conference for his son, a thought he nipped in the bud at once; unless he had committed heinous crimes in a past life like murder and arson, he absolutely could not have sired such a dim-witted son as Peng Guoqing!
Teacher Liang had evidently been brainwashed by someone; her words brimmed with infinite sympathy for Peng Guoqing.
Though Peng Guoqing had been born into a wealthy family, he was unloved by his kin, with only his mother caring for her son, and she a housewife without a job, unable to hold sway.
Poor Peng Guoqing; because of his family’s situation, he could not even stay in the capital for school, but was exiled to Rong City!
Yet heaven left a path; coming to Rong City for school was Peng Guoqing’s chance to reverse his slag fortunes.
“This child is not bad at heart; he was simply held back.”
“…”
Xie Qian did not even know how to respond.
Peng Guoqing unloved by his family, exiled to Rong City?
And saying Madam Peng was a housewife without influence; if President Peng’s former secretaries heard that, they would surely disagree a hundred times over.
If Madam Peng had no influence, how had they been sacked!
As for whether President Peng liked Peng Guoqing, Xie Qian felt the answer was beyond doubt.
If he truly disliked this son, Peng Guoqing would have had younger siblings long ago; how could he remain an only child!
The persona Teacher Liang forcibly pinned on Peng Guoqing grew ever more familiar the more Xie Qian heard; compared to Peng Guoqing, it was Xie Qian who was the pitiful child unloved by his own father!
If he did not interrupt soon, who knew how many more laments Teacher Liang would pour forth; Xie Qian cut straight to the chase: “So, what did you wish to discuss with me?”
“Discuss how to make use of the final half-year to give Peng Guoqing another push!”
Teacher Liang’s voice was full of passion: “At first, when he said he wanted to enter a 211 university, I hesitated to dampen his enthusiasm; I never expected his scores to improve so much over one semester. Peng Guoqing’s progress today is largely thanks to you; you spent so much energy tutoring him; I want to thank you on his behalf, and also discuss plans going forward. Of course, we cannot burden just you; I conferred with several teachers, and we will handle what we can to spare you effort; after all, you have your own gaokao to prepare for!”
So, Teacher Liang wanted to exchange “tutoring experiences” with Xie Qian.
Xie Qian had quite the knack for tutoring slags; first there was Wang Shuang, now Peng Guoqing; these slags gave Teacher Liang headaches when she took them on, yet they were docile and obedient under Xie Qian.
Going further back, Wen Ying’s foundations after the zhongkao were poor too; Xie Qian’s experience in adjusting slag students was truly abundant.
Whether the former Wang Shuang or today’s Peng Guoqing, as long as Teacher Liang remained a teacher, she would inevitably encounter more slags in future; what could Teacher Liang do? Teacher Liang could not prevent slags from being born; Teacher Liang could only strive to elevate her own teaching skills!
As for methods, Xie Qian did have them.
But Xie Qian did not believe his methods suited widespread adoption.
Xie Qian’s tutoring for slags was tailored to their varying levels, devising improvement plans suited to their foundations. Do not think Xie Qian simply shoved practice papers at the slags; mere papers could not raise scores so swiftly; the effort Xie Qian invested was concealed within those sets of papers; different slags got different papers!
Teacher Liang mused thoughtfully, “So targeted?”
Xie Qian nodded lightly, “It is not that I do not wish to promote it; it is just hard to promote. A class of dozens of students, yet only a few subject teachers; one teacher handles more than one class; an outstanding teacher like you can roughly gauge each student’s level, but one-on-one guidance… it is truly difficult.”
Conditions simply did not allow for the teaching staff.
Teacher Liang pondered and agreed.
If not for having tutored Peng Guoqing one-on-one, and receiving Madam Peng’s commission, Teacher Liang might not have invested so much energy in him.
To look after every student like Peng Guoqing would exhaust Teacher Liang to death!
Teacher Liang felt a moment of dejection, then rallied her spirits anew.
Fortunately, not all students Teacher Liang encountered were slags; top students had strong self-management, requiring little worry from Teacher Liang.
Even stronger top students, like Xie Qian, not only spared the teachers worry, but helped share their burdens!
Teacher Liang steered the topic back to Peng Guoqing.
No hope was one thing; since there was hope, Teacher Liang very much wanted to help Peng Guoqing “fulfil his dream”, to take a shot at a 211 in the magic city.
“This winter holiday is crucial!”
Teacher Liang produced the holiday tutoring plan she had devised for Peng Guoqing, asking Xie Qian for his thoughts.
…
In the fried skewer shop, Peng Guoqing began sneezing wildly again.
Wang Shuang covered the plate on the table, “Are you going to let everyone eat or not?”
Peng Guoqing was uncharacteristically sheepish: “I am starting to suspect I have rhinitis; I have been sneezing all day!”
“Sneezing means someone is talking about you.”
Wen Ying’s casual remark drew Peng Guoqing’s agreement: “No need to say; it must be Mum missing me; Grandpa and Grandma definitely miss me too; as for Dad… eh, whether he misses me or not does not matter, so long as he does not cut my pocket money. I know my scores now; I do not even need the report; tomorrow I can buy a ticket back to the capital!”
Since transferring to Rong City, Peng Guoqing had not had a holiday in a year.
The summer holiday was one thing, but the winter one included Spring Festival; how could he not go home?
Peng Guoqing was dreaming prettily; when Xie Qian returned, his dreams shattered on the spot.
Everyone wanted to know what Teacher Liang had wanted with Xie Qian; Xie Qian produced a stack of papers and handed them to Peng Guoqing.
“What is this?”
“See for yourself.”
Peng Guoqing peered closely; the pages were densely packed with course schedules, detailed down to each day, morning arrangements, afternoon ones, and even evenings… Peng Guoqing’s vision blackened, and he quavered, “I want to go back to the capital for the new year!”
Xie Qian “oh”-ed, “Fine idea, but do not tell me; tell Teacher Liang.”
Peng Guoqing snatched up the plan and bolted towards the school gate.
Wen Ying and the other two were long since stupefied; Wang Shuang murmured, “… good thing my family is right here in Rong City.”
The gaokao sprint was truly exhausting, but no matter how tiring, there was family concern; far better than Peng Guoqing, exiled far from home.
“Teacher Liang cares too much about Peng Guoqing, does she not?”
Peng Guoqing did have tutoring sessions with Teacher Liang, and prolonged contact bred deeper affection, which was understandable, but such excessive concern was over the top.
If not for Peng Guoqing bearing no resemblance to Teacher Liang, Wen Ying might have been tempted to imagine some melodramatic plot.
Xie Qian’s expression was peculiar, and he hesitated unusually, “Because Madam Peng, she…”
What about Madam Peng?
Everyone’s gazes converged on Xie Qian; he could only put it as mildly as possible: “Madam Peng has an outgoing personality and excels at networking; she paved the way diligently for Peng Guoqing.”
Wang Shuang felt a twinge of dissatisfaction.
When it came to outgoing personalities and networking prowess, could anyone outdo Wang Shuang’s own mother?!
