Song Tan was never one to procrastinate. Once she had an idea, she went straight to Xin Jun:
"Xin Jun, tutoring Qiaoqiao can’t be a lifelong career, right? What are your plans for the future?"
Even the normally smart and composed Xin Jun couldn’t help but be shocked: "Are you going to fire me?"
"Ptui, ptui, ptui!" Blending scientific and superstitious beliefs, Song Tan instinctively reacted: "What awful things you’re saying! Look at our family, who else could have taught Qiaoqiao so well?"
"The only person who could ’fire’ me is you!"
"You scared me to death." Xin Jun breathed a sigh of relief: "I figure I can teach for another two or three years, and we’ll take it step by step."
But secrets can’t be kept forever, and two to three years from now, this teaching position might be exposed. Even if it wasn’t, her mom would start worrying about her son finding a partner...
Moreover, after two or three years, Qiaoqiao would have enough self-learning ability, and the role of a teacher wouldn’t be as significant.
Thinking of this gave him a headache: "Could you allocate an apartment for me then? I’ll pay rent." In any case, he wouldn’t go back home, absolutely not. He didn’t want to take over the family business, but his mom was extremely ambitious...
This was a conflict of mindsets and was temporarily irreconcilable.
"Why would you pay rent!" Song Tan was very generous when she needed to be: "Education should be a lifelong career, not something that ends in two or three years."
"But Xin Jun, have you ever considered that there might be many children like Qiaoqiao?"
She spoke seriously: "Of course, we’re not aiming for something too grand, just manage our own patch of land well—but I feel that with your excellent teaching skills, you’re not really suited for a regular classroom teacher."
After all, parents now face a lot of pressure for their children’s education, and if teachers can’t improve students’ grades, all efforts are in vain.
Xin Jun also knew this: "That’s why I never thought about a teaching position."
Please, who wants to be a school teacher? Teachers need to be assessed, stay up late for school assignments and requirements, and continuously communicate with all sorts of parents.
Wanting to quit but needing to make a living.
Parents don’t like teachers either—how could anyone feel good about a teacher who makes all kinds of bizarre demands in the middle of the night (including but not limited to preparing something for a child the next day)?
Wanting to curse but afraid that the child will suffer petty revenge.
Isn’t this mutual torment?
He wouldn’t do it, not for anything!
"How about creating your own courses?" Song Tan looked at him and suggested:
"Create your own teaching materials, write books, and make online courses."
Xin Jun was stunned, feeling as if an unimagined path had just unfolded before him.
But why was his heart racing so fast, so fast that his mind started to heat up, and his palms began to tremble slightly?
However, Song Tan didn’t notice his reaction.
She was quick to come up with ideas, but that didn’t mean they were half-baked. She spoke logically:
"You don’t even need to specifically create courses for children like Qiaoqiao but for all children who are eager to learn."
"I know your family is wealthy and that you don’t care much about this, but if you make a successful business out of these online courses, even if you don’t charge any fees, that’s still a career, right?"
And it is a career that is truly respectable and deserves respect from everyone.
Song Tan wasn’t just talking nonsense; she genuinely recognized Xin Jun’s ability.
She admitted that Qiaoqiao’s learning abilities were much better than most children his age, but happiness in learning isn’t much related to ability.
Qiaoqiao has been learning with him for more than half a year and still feels no aversion or resentment towards doing homework, always approaching it with enthusiasm...
That kind of exuberant mentality and strong desire to learn are precious! So precious that she doesn’t want to spoil even a bit of it.
And in a teaching career, to maintain students’ desire to learn and happiness is such a rare and invaluable combination of seriousness and talent.
The entire family was grateful to Xin Jun.
At this moment, she generously promised, "Give it a try, I’ll provide any equipment you need. You can organize your previous lesson plans, or derive new key points for the curriculum while teaching Qiaoqiao..."
"Once you have the system worked out, you can even have Qiaoqiao promote it in her livestream."
"Teacher Xin, it might be a bit unrealistic, but my goal is to have you as Qiaoqiao’s teacher for life!"
Song Tan dropped this bombshell on Xin Jun and sauntered off, unaware that she had stirred up the previously ambitionless heart of Xin Jun, making it beat like a drum.
He frantically searched through his previous lesson plans, as well as various videos and materials he had collected for reference. His tiny room on the third floor could hardly contain his excitement anymore.
I mean... who doesn’t have dreams?
In the past, he was just getting by day to day, and as long as he felt comfortable, he had no real aspirations.
He didn’t want to continue being a teacher, nor did he want to deal with the frustrations of a new job. Now that he ate well and slept well, he naturally lost his drive.
But teaching online courses, educating thousands and thousands of kids with bright eyes like Qiaoqiao’s...
Xin Jun couldn’t quite describe his feelings; all he knew was that he couldn’t wait!
As for Qiaoqiao’s curiosity about how bees overwinter...
Definitely next time!
Qiaoqiao had no idea about the changes to his lessons tomorrow; he routinely asked Seventh Uncle for advice:
"How do you cook beeswax?"
Seventh Uncle glared, "Can you eat beeswax?"
Qiaoqiao was stumped, "It probably shouldn’t be eaten, right?"
"If it can’t be eaten, why are you asking me!" Seventh Uncle huffed, "I only know how to make food—beeswax might not kill you, but it’s not tasty at all, why would I know how to cook it?"
"I’d be glad to just know the approximate tools."
He stated his case righteously, and even Seventh Grandma was taken aback.
Zhang Yanping couldn’t help but laugh: I heard your attitude was quite different when instructing us before. He took out his phone, "Let me look it up..."
In the end, Aunt Lianhua laughed and chimed in:
"No worries, no worries, I know how! Come on, Qiaoqiao, I’ll teach you."
Qiaoqiao smiled, "Great! But I have to start the livestream first; I want to learn with the kids!"
Now Aunt Lianhua got nervous, "Live streaming? What if I don’t teach well?"
Qiaoqiao had livestreamed before, and she had appeared on camera; it was only occasional, casual, and hardly noticed by anyone.
But now, she had to instruct how to cook beeswax on a livestream, and Aunt Lianhua immediately clammed up.
Zhang Yanping, on the other hand, was nonchalant: "No problem, Aunt Lianhua, don’t be nervous, just like how Seventh Uncle instructs us normally. Just anticipate and instruct, and let Qiaoqiao do it."
"If there’s something you don’t understand, ask, and explain it to Qiaoqiao—that’s all. You don’t need to speak directly to the camera or pay attention to the audience."
"That’s a relief," she touched her face, "I was afraid of becoming famous online, in case my family members saw it..."
She didn’t finish her sentence, but her determination to maintain her current lifestyle was evident.
Zhang Yanping nodded seriously, "Don’t worry! When the time comes, the camera will only focus on our tools and pot, we’ll avoid filming faces."