Study System: I'm a 38-Year-Old Student-Chapter 73 - 67: He Could Even Get Into the Celestial Pride Class!
"Who gave you your name?"
Shen Qiushan hesitated a little, but couldn’t help asking out of curiosity.
He thought to himself, hopefully I’m just overthinking and she doesn’t really have such a sad background.
But as soon as Xu Pipa heard the question, her pace of chewing the steamed bun noticeably slowed down, and then a soft answer drifted out from her mouth: "My dad."
From her slight change in expression, Shen Qiushan could almost be sure his unfortunate guess was right.
"It’s a pretty special name. Easy to remember and nice to hear."
Shen Qiushan didn’t ask further, instead he smiled and gave her a compliment.
Xu Pipa didn’t respond, just kept her head down, gnawing on her steamed bun, occasionally taking a sip of the free seaweed and egg soup.
However, behind her glasses her gaze unintentionally swept over the braised pork ribs on Shen Qiushan’s tray, and she unconsciously swallowed her saliva.
The canteen’s braised pork ribs were stewed until they were very tender, the aroma was irresistible, making your mouth water.
Noticing the girl’s tiny gesture, Shen Qiushan spoke up: "Actually, I came over because I want to make a deal with you."
"Uh?"
Xu Pipa swallowed the bun in her mouth, looking at Shen Qiushan with a mix of wariness and confusion: "What kind of deal?"
"Every day at noon, could you spare an hour to go over problems with me and my two kids?"
"Of course, it won’t be for nothing."
"You’ll get 100 yuan per day, plus a free lunch!"
Shen Qiushan stated his offer.
In fact, he’d been pondering these past few days how to make the most of the lunch break. If he tried to find a teacher for tutoring, that was basically impossible.
There’s a strict rule from above that on-campus teachers can’t tutor for extra pay, so if a teacher does it, it’s always done on the sly.
If you made a teacher give you extra lessons during lunch break right at school, isn’t that like shining a lantern in the bathroom... looking for trouble!
But classmates helping each other with problems is fine, that’s called mutual assistance among students!
Shen Qiushan had been looking for the right person these days, but for any senior-year student, time was extremely precious.
Especially for the top students with good grades; with only 69 days left until the college entrance exam, they’re putting all their energy into studying. How could they spend an hour every day helping others?
But Xu Pipa in front of him was obviously a perfect fit.
She was ranked second in their year—an opportunity to get a "tutor" like this was rare and lucky.
The most important thing was, she needed money.
So, chances were good this could work out.
Sure enough, hearing "100 yuan per day plus a free lunch," Xu Pipa’s eyes behind her glasses instantly lit up.
She quickly calculated in her mind: there were 69 days left till the college entrance exam, with 9 Sundays. Subtract those, and that’s exactly 60 days.
At 100 yuan a day, that’s 6,000 yuan!
Plus the 2,000-yuan scholarship from last week’s school-wide English vocabulary contest, that’s 8,000!
That should just about cover the first year’s tuition and dorm fees for college.
And after the exams she could get a summer job—by the time she reported to college, her savings should be over 10,000.
"If you have any conditions, you can raise them too."
"Since it’s a deal, both sides should be happy."
Seeing that Xu Pipa hadn’t said a word for so long, Shen Qiushan spoke up again.
"Pay first."
"Daily settlement."
Xu Pipa lifted her head and looked Shen Qiushan in the eye as she spoke.
"No problem!"
Shen Qiushan agreed instantly. This didn’t even count as a demand—in tutoring centers outside, you pay first too, and in most cases you have to pay for a lot of hours up front.
"There’s one more thing."
"No suitable place."
Xu Pipa said again.
"I’ll handle the location."
"You just need to show up."
For Shen Qiushan, finding a spot for tutoring at school was a trivial matter.
"Deal!"
Xu Pipa nodded right away.
"It’s settled then—let’s start tomorrow!"
"I’ll let you know later where the tutoring will take place."
As he said this, Shen Qiushan slid his lunch tray over to Xu Pipa: "Lunch starts today. I haven’t touched this yet."
"I’ll go get the spot sorted!"
Before Xu Pipa could react, Shen Qiushan had already stood up and was striding toward the cafeteria doors.
Xu Pipa reached out, wanting to call after Shen Qiushan, but for a moment didn’t know what to call him.
Just as she hesitated, Shen Qiushan had already reached the cafeteria door.
Letting her outstretched hand fall, Xu Pipa’s gaze naturally landed on the lunch tray Shen Qiushan had left behind.
The reddish-brown pieces of rib looked so enticing, every piece was coated in thick, glossy sauce; under the cafeteria lights, they looked as if they’d been dressed up in a shimmering coat.
Xu Pipa swallowed hard, lifted her head to glance at the door again, but Shen Qiushan had already left the cafeteria. Through the glass doors, she could just make out his tall, broad-shouldered figure.
As clever as Xu Pipa was, she of course realized this uncle left on purpose, so she wouldn’t feel awkward or constrained.
She figured, if she worked hard at explaining topics, that was the best way to repay him.
With that thought, she stopped hesitating, picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a piece of rib. As the thickly sauced rib entered her mouth, her eyes behind her glasses narrowed into slits, and her slightly chubby face lit up with enjoyment.
She chewed a couple times, the rich fragrance of meat filling her senses, flavor exploding on her taste buds. Her cheeks began to move rhythmically, thoroughly enjoying the pleasure of good food. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
To Xu Pipa, this lunch was a real feast.
If she’d been paying for it herself, she never would’ve splurged like this, no matter what.
Outside the cafeteria.
Shen Qiushan walked as he mulled over the tutoring location issue.
For him, this really was no big deal.
He had at least three options.
First, he could ask his old flame Chen Xiangyu for help—she was a teacher at the school; getting a spare lab or music room wasn’t hard.
Second, he could go to the discipline director Xu Decai—this guy had already gotten a red envelope, helping with small things like this wouldn’t be a problem.
Third, he could ask his sister-in-law Lin Xiamo—she was the vice principal; for her, finding a place for tutoring was just a matter of saying the word.
All things considered, Shen Qiushan decided to trouble his sister-in-law a bit, since she was family after all!
And just as he was making up his mind, Lin Xiamo came out of the teaching building, heading for the cafeteria—clearly she was coming for lunch.
Some things really are destined!
Shen Qiushan thought to himself, so he just waited right where he was.
Lin Xiamo, of course, spotted Shen Qiushan too.
Today, this unreliable brother-in-law had really surprised her quite a few times.
Just now, she’d gone to Exam Room Nine again and found out Shen Qiushan had already turned in his paper. She immediately went to the senior English instructor Zhao Jinpeng to get the answer key for the mock English exam.
After checking it, she discovered that Shen Qiushan actually didn’t get a single question wrong, and even his essay was extremely standard.
The only issue was, his handwriting in English was terrible; for that, the essay might lose 1~2 points for neatness.
Which means Shen Qiushan would score at least 148 in English!
Add to that 121 in math!
If you just look at these two subjects, he could join the Celestial Pride Class!
