Free Web NovelChapter 408: Chapter 408: Yanxi 16
Jin Li and Zheng Xue both hugged Tan You, affectionately pressing their cheeks against hers. "Teacher, I was a little nervous during the exam, but then I thought about you waiting outside, and suddenly I wasn’t flustered at all."
Tan You handed them each a milk tea. "Have a sip to warm up. What do you want to eat tonight? My treat." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"Hot pot!" Jin Li shouted, pumping her fist. She was always the most energetic one, and everyone watched her with warm smiles. With a personality like a little sun, who wouldn’t like her?
Tan You’s gaze on Jin Li was gentle. ’If not for my intervention, Jin Li would have fallen into Park Youren’s clutches. She would have entered the entertainment circle, achieved fleeting, explosive fame, and then withered away at her peak. All that would have been left for the industry was waves of regret. After all, the methods chaebols use to torture people are innumerable, and all of that would only have gradually come to light after Jin Li’s death. But now, she’s on a different path, and I’m so happy for her.’
Although this path wasn’t as glamorous, at least it was stable and allowed her to walk freely in the sunlight.
There were plenty of parents waiting for their children outside the examination site, but Tan You was the only one there as a teacher. After all, the students were taking the college entrance exams after they had already left their high school campus. By this point, teachers and students were practically strangers.
You probably couldn’t find another teacher in the entire country who was as close to her students as Tan You.
"Teacher, let’s go back and have hot pot!" Jin Li said, linking her arm with Tan You’s. "We can make it ourselves. It’ll be clean and hygienic, and more authentic than what you get at restaurants!"
"Teacher, why is your hot pot so authentic? The smell... it’s amazing!" Song Yuan couldn’t help but practically drool. He never considered himself much of a foodie, but when it came to his teacher, he thought everything she made was delicious.
"The internet is a wonderful thing," Tan You said with a light laugh. "Let’s go. We’ll shop for ingredients first. Since there are so many of us today, we can make some extra hot pot base for you to take back with you."
"Thank you, Teacher!" This group of students didn’t stand on ceremony with Tan You. Politeness was for outsiders; only with the people closest to them could they be so casual.
Besides, they already owed their teacher so much that this little bit more didn’t make a difference. They figured that only by letting this debt of gratitude accumulate would their bond grow deeper and deeper.
After leading the students on a trip through the wet market and buying plenty of seafood, the group returned to Tan You’s small home. As soon as they arrived, the boys voluntarily went to the kitchen to help cook.
While Tan You stir-fried the hot pot base, the students kept busy washing and chopping vegetables. In Tan You’s world, there was no such concept as boys not cooking. Over the past year or so, she had managed to train the four boys into excellent cooks.
Song Yuan scored the pork kidneys with a cross-hatch pattern, his movements remarkably deft. "Let me tell you, my dad added grilled kidney flowers to his stall’s menu a few days ago. At first, not many people tried it, but now he can’t keep them in stock."
Little Wu, who was preparing the seafood, chimed in, "So, are they delicious or what?"
"Of course they’re delicious," Li Xiuzai, who had gradually become more talkative within the small group, added. "You just can’t eat too many of them."
The four boys snickered, their words hinting at an inside joke only they understood. Jin Li looked at the boys, then at Zheng Xue. "What are they talking about?"
Zheng Xue scoffed. "Don’t mind them. Is this the difference between the sexes? Do guys always talk about this stuff whenever they get together?"
Tan You, brandishing her spatula, said, "Maybe. It’s just a difference in how you think. Just like how you girls talk about makeup, clothes, shoes, and bags when you get together. Everyone just has a different way of thinking."
Jin Li nodded, only half-understanding. She clung to Tan You’s side. "Teacher, our exams are over, but you can’t kick us out when we come to see you."
Tan You turned her head slightly and saw that the previously boisterous students had all fallen silent, every one of them staring at her with pleading eyes.
Tan You raised an eyebrow. "I won’t kick you out. As it happens, I’m planning to take on some new students soon. Since you all haven’t started university yet, how about helping me mentor them?"
"No problem!" Song Yuan was the first to agree. "We’ll definitely take good care of our juniors!"
Tan You shot him a look. "Don’t you dare pull rank. I know the senior-junior dynamic is taken very seriously in this country, but not here with me. You are all students, and there are no other statuses besides that."
Song Yuan flinched. "Teacher, I was just thinking about it, that’s all."
That’s what he said, but the group didn’t feel much of a sense of loss, knowing they could still come and see Tan You in the future. Their teacher didn’t belong to them alone, and besides, any students she thought highly of were bound to have good character.
Once they all entered the workforce, they could watch out for and help each other—this, too, was a form of networking. And a network, of course, had to be built from the ground up.
The college entrance exam results for Jin Li and the others weren’t out yet, but Tan You’s new students had already arrived. Her small tutoring class was quite famous at school. After all, her students’ grades alone had skyrocketed over the past year.
Her students took up half of the top twenty spots. Even the students who just unofficially sat in on her tutoring sessions showed some improvement. As a result, spots in Tan You’s class were fiercely sought after.
The academic dean had once asked Tan You if she wanted to move to a larger classroom, but she had flatly refused. She was doing this out of passion and had no intention of turning it into a mandatory task.
What one can’t have is always the most coveted. Eventually, students started showing up early just to claim a seat. The only spots no one dared to contest were those belonging to Jin Li and her friends.
After all, the tutoring class had been established for Jin Li’s group in the first place. No matter how fiercely the other students competed for seats, they couldn’t do so at the expense of the original members’ interests. Otherwise, Tan You was fully capable of just giving Jin Li’s group private lessons instead.
In contrast to the envy of others, the few students chosen by Tan You felt as if a giant pie had fallen from the sky onto their heads. They felt a little dazed just walking around.
Their family backgrounds were all very ordinary; two were even students with special financial difficulties. Now that they had been selected for Tan You’s tutoring class, those two, in particular, took a long time to process the news.
However, Tan You’s special attention to these students inevitably sparked resentment from others—as was happening right now.
One day, Tan You had just walked into the classroom, before the lesson had even begun, when a male student stood up. "Teacher, I don’t think your student selection process is fair."
Tan You’s gaze swept across the room. She saw several other students, both boys and girls, looking just as defiant, their faces filled with indignation.
A thought stirred in Tan You’s mind. She casually set down her lesson plan. "Oh? Do tell."
The boy let out a breath. "Teacher, I don’t understand your criteria for choosing students. If it’s based on academic performance, they aren’t the ones with the worst grades."
