“Nan Nan, you are the best. I love you the most! Let me give you a kiss.” Tang Mengran puckered up and leaned toward Qiao Nan.
Qiao Nan was speechless. She raised her hand and covered Tang Mengran’s mouth without another word. “I am not a man. I don’t need you to give me kisses. Thank you.”
“Hahaha…”
The four of the girls broke into laughter at the scene. Nan Nan was right. It was fun to have Tang Mengran, the foolish girl, around.
Of course, if Tang Mengran changed from a small fool to a big fool, they would not be able to withstand her.
Qiao Nan was in her third year now, and the learning atmosphere became tense.
Ever since school reopened, Qiao Nan and the rest of them could feel the tension and pressure.
Tang Mengran would moan and groan every day. She used to be full of energy, but now, she was no longer in high spirits when she reached the dormitory. Instead, she would be tired to the bone. She would fall asleep as soon as she lay on the bed.
The pace of learning was fast, and there was a lot of revisions to be done. One was highly worn out in such a learning environment. All these resulted in Tang Mengran feeling more and more somnolent.
Of course, other than Tang Mengran, all the other girls in the dormitory, including the entire batch of third-year students, were in the same condition. They wished they had forty-eight hours a day so that they could have thirty-eight hours for their studies and ten hours for sleep.
One month after school reopened, Qiao Nan went back home with Shi Qing after finishing her exams.
The two of them had yet to reach the doorway to the small quad when they saw a big crowd in front of the Qiao family’s residence. It seemed as if they were after the Qiao family to return their debts. They kept pushing toward the house.
Qiao Nan and Shi Qing were startled. “Qiao Nan, does your family owe the loan sharks? Why are there so many people who seem to be after money?” What was the matter? Why did they borrow from the loan shark? She and her father had not heard about it.
“If you are short of money, you can tell us. I don’t have a lot of money, but we still have some money to lend should you need to settle urgent needs.”
Judging from the current situation, if the neighbors were to witness the scene, the Qiao family might not be able to continue to live in the small quad.
Qiao Nan frowned. She was worried sick. “You have been with me every single day. Do I seem like I need a large sum of money and that I owe so much money that such a big group of people will be here to collect debts?”
“It’s not you?”
“No.”
“Who would it be? Why would they come to your house to collect debts?”
Qiao Nan took a deep breath. “Don’t forget that apart from my father and me, there are other people in the Qiao family. I am not the only daughter. Given my dad’s temper, he will not borrow from the loan shark.”
This was what Qiao Nan was most baffled about.
Her father was a soldier. He would always abide by a certain code of conduct.
Her father would never break the law or borrow money from loan sharks.
He would not go against his principles and make such mistakes even if it was for Qiao Zijin.
“Wait, these people look familiar though?” Qiao Nan walked closer to take a look and realized that she seemed to have seen these ‘debtors’ before. “They seemed to be the parents of the students whom I have taught during the summer break.”
“Ah, the parents of your students. Why are they here at this time of the day? You no longer conduct any classes.” Shi Qing was relieved. It was fine as long as they were not triads who were here to collect debts.
The people from the secret society would not dress up like normal citizens would.
“I have no idea. Let’s go and take a look.” Qiao Nan had to pass by them in order to go home.
“Teacher Xiao Qiao is back. Teacher Xiao Qiao!” When the parents heard footsteps, they turned and realized that it was Qiao Nan. All of them rushed toward Qiao Nan at one go. Qiao Nan was overwhelmed by their enthusiasm.
If Shi Qing did not support her from the back, Qiao Nan might have been knocked sideways by one of the mothers.
“Nan Nan!” Qiao Dongliang was worried about his daughter. Had he known that this would happen, he would not allow Qiao Nan to conduct any classes in the first place.
What kind of neighbors were they?
They knew that Nan Nan was in her third year and she had to focus on her studies.
Nan Nan’s performance in the college entrance examination was more important than the results of the children from the other families.
“Please give way. Nan Nan has just come home from school. Can you let her come into the house to put aside her schoolbag? If there’s anything, you can wait for a while.”
“No. Teacher Xiao Qiao, can we send our child to your class during the seven-day holiday for this year’s National Day? Since it’s a holiday, I will give you double the tuition fee.” In this case, her children would be studying while the other children were playing. Their results would definitely be better than the other students’!
“Yes, we will pay you double the tuition fee. Teacher Xiao Qiao, you can feel free to decide what to teach during the seven days. We do not have any opinions.”
Shi Qing, who was pushed by the parents to a side, was flabbergasted at the conversation.
Qiao Nan had yet to say anything and they had already decided to offer her double the tuition fee?
“N-national Day?” Qiao Nan was too busy to keep track of time. It was indeed the National Day. “Sorry, there are only seven days of holiday for the National Day. I don’t intend to conduct any classes.”
“Teacher Xiao Qiao, there are seven days of holiday. If you don’t conduct classes, our children will play all day. They will lose the focus of their studies and it may affect their results.”
One of the parents was too anxious that he blurted out his concern.
“Affect their results?” Qiao Nan arched her eyebrows. It seemed to suggest that their children had made an improvement in the first important exam since school reopened?
“I have to rest and study during the seven days of holiday as well. How about you look for someone else?”
Qiao Nan’s habit was to take a class of a maximum of ten students. There were only seven days of break during the National Day. There was not enough time for her to finish one series of lessons. Qiao Nan had no intention to make use of every single minute to earn money.
“Teacher Xiao Qiao, this won’t do. Since you have to study as well, how about allowing my child to do his homework by your side while you study? I will still pay you the money. I will pay you double!” He could not let his child fool around outside during the holiday.
It was alright if they did not improve their academic performance after attending the class. He felt that it was good enough to supervise the little brat and keep him in check, making sure that he finished all his homework for the seven days instead of playing around only to copy from his friends at the last minute.
They worked so hard to earn money so that they would be able to provide for their children when they had the need for money in the future. They would not shortchange them or hold back their future.
Whatever they earned was to be spent on their children.
At least, the current situation proved that it was worthwhile to spend money on tuition during the summer break!