Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Xu Meng was fine, but the moment Feng Yanwen saw that person, her smile faded.

The person gave them both a glance and, if Xu Meng wasn’t mistaken, let out a mocking snort through their nose.

What’s their problem? Xu Meng thought angrily.

Feng Yanwen’s chest heaved violently. Only after they had left the school grounds did she take several deep breaths. The joy she had felt earlier was gone completely, replaced by visible pain in her eyes.

Xu Meng had never seen such an expression on her mother’s face before. A surge of worry ran through her as she reached out, took Feng Yanwen’s hand, and shook it: “Mom, what’s wrong?”

After a while, Feng Yanwen finally managed to shake off the suffocating feeling. “It’s nothing.”

It’s definitely something!

Xu Meng wanted to push the question further when she caught snippets of nearby gossip.

“That’s Teacher Feng, right? What a shame. If it weren’t for her husband always causing disturbances at the school, she wouldn’t have lost her job.”

“Seriously? She lost her job because of that?”

“Well, not entirely. That year, Director Jiang’s daughter graduated—a technical school graduate who couldn’t get into high school, so she set her sights on the junior high department. Everyone was treading carefully back then. Then Feng had some trouble at home, and they used that as an excuse to suspend her.”

“Hmph, I used to think she was lucky to get paid without working. Turns out that’s why they kept paying her.”

…

Feng Yanwen’s face fell again. She had known coming to the school would mean running into people she knew.

The two women walked over casually, greeted Feng Yanwen, and then turned away, continuing their chatter.

How rude!

Xu Meng held onto Feng Yanwen’s hand until her mother’s expression softened slightly, then asked, “Mom…”

She wanted to ask what had happened back then, but feared reopening old wounds.

Feng Yanwen sighed and began speaking on her own. “Back then, Xu Jiefang heard some baseless rumors and suspected I was having an affair with another teacher. He came to the school and made a scene. It wasn’t even serious—it could’ve been cleared up easily with an investigation. I hardly spoke to that teacher at all. At the time, I was sick and had taken a week off. Rumors started spreading just then. Coincidentally, the daughter of the school’s logistics director had just graduated from teachers’ college and needed a job, so they pushed me aside.”

That person was Jiang Haohao.

Jiang Haohao—Feng Yanwen had once been her junior high English teacher. Her grades had been terrible; she hadn’t even gotten into high school after finishing junior high. Her father pulled strings to get her into a teachers’ college, where she barely scraped by with a correspondence diploma. Back then, connections made things easy.

Being replaced by a former student she had taught made Feng Yanwen feel disgusted.

Xu Meng burned with anger.

She’d make sure this person paid.

————

When they got home, Feng Yanwen grabbed the maps and headed straight to the train station.

Even if sales were slow, she still had to work. They couldn’t afford to drain their savings. Any income was better than none. Maybe in a while, other map sellers would realize how hard the business was, and the map-selling craze would die down.

By then, business might pick up.

The tomatoes washed that morning had dried in the sun, and Xu Meng began preparing the ingredients to make canned tomatoes.

In her previous life, she had made many preserves—canned yellow peaches, canned tomatoes. Regular folks were incredibly resourceful, especially in the north during winter when cabbage, radishes, and potatoes were the only options. Tomatoes were a real luxury.

As the water was heating up, Chang Ma showed up at her door.

"Oh, what are you up to?"

Xu Meng was scalding tomato skins with boiling water. She looked up and saw Chang Ma standing at the doorway, checking out the jars with a curious smile on her face.

"Making tomato preserves."

"What for?"

"Tomatoes are almost out of season. I'm making some preserves to cook with eggs in winter."

"These will really last till New Year?" Chang Ma sounded intrigued.

"Yes," Xu Meng said. "Just like with peach canning. I'll steam them later to sterilize, then seal them right away—the vacuum inside will keep them fresh."

Chang Ma hesitated, clearly torn between wanting to try it and worrying about wasting food if it didn’t work.

At this time, although supplies were slightly more plentiful than in the 1960s and '70s, they were nothing like ten years later. Come winter, fresh vegetables were scarce, so people stocked up—eating mountains of cabbage for months on end.

Watching Xu Meng cut the tomatoes and pack them tightly into the jars, Chang Ma grew more interested and stayed to watch.

With so many tomatoes to slice, Xu Meng was getting bored. She chatted with Chang Ma while working quickly, and soon they were lost in conversation. Chang Ma even forgot why she had come in the first place.

"Auntie, were you looking for my mom?" Xu Meng asked after finishing the tomatoes half an hour later.

Only then did Chang Ma remember her original purpose. She slapped her forehead. "Oh, my memory! I wanted to ask your mom something. Is she still selling maps at the train station?"

"Yeah, she is."

"Business must be tough now. There are a lot more people selling maps these days."

"It is. Summer was better—fewer sellers but more tourists than before."

"I heard your mom used to be a school teacher. Why did she stop? Teaching’s such a stable job."

Xu Meng paused briefly, then decided there was no harm in sharing. She gave her the gist of what she’d learned earlier that day, leaving out some details. When she mentioned how her mother's position had been taken by the daughter of a school official, Chang Ma snapped angrily:

"People like that ought to rot! These days, plenty of English teachers don't even know their stuff."

Of course they didn’t. With classes suspended for so long in many places and frosty relations with the West in the past, most people had studied Russian instead of English. Those with a solid foundation in English were rare. Feng Yanwen was an exception—she had a real knack for languages.

Noticing that Chang Ma had gone off-topic again, Xu Meng coughed lightly to steer the conversation back. "Auntie, what did you want to ask my mom about?"

Chang Ma could be quite the chatterbox—she could forget the main point as soon as she started chatting.

She slapped her forehead once more. "Right! So, my daughter Chang Xi has been taking extra lessons from Teacher Feng lately, and her English has come along nicely. A colleague of mine has a child who's struggling with English and wants a tutor. I recommended Teacher Feng, but I’m not sure if she’s still taking students?"

"A tutor?" Xu Meng’s eyes lit up.

"Yes, yes!"

"What level is the child? Middle school or high school?"

"He's going into eighth grade next term. Another kid failed by lousy teaching—no basic skills at all, and now he can't stand English. I thought since Teacher Feng is patient, I'd put in a good word for her. At first, my colleague wasn’t too interested."

But after Chang Xi put in a good word, she finally agreed and sent Chang Ma over to ask.

"If even school teachers are this unreliable, how much better can outside tutors be?" The person was actually more inclined to go to a better school and find an English teacher with higher qualifications and more experience.

Xu Meng thought of Feng Yanwen’s exhausted appearance that morning and suddenly brightened up: "Well, you wouldn’t know this, but my mom is a real college graduate. She didn’t stop teaching because she was bad at it or got fired—I just told you what happened earlier. Please don’t spread it around, though. I don’t want to offend anyone. My mom actually has a really solid foundation in English. Back in her village, there was an intellectual sent to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution who taught her English. She also has a natural talent for languages, so she learned much better than others. And as you’ve seen, she’s the most patient when it comes to teaching kids."

Hearing that she was a college graduate, Chang Ma immediately became more interested and asked which university Feng Yanwen had attended. When she heard the name, she was even more impressed—that was a full bachelor’s degree!

College graduates were rare in those years. Even middle schools rarely had teachers with associate degrees, let alone someone like Feng Yanwen with a bachelor’s.

And yet, someone like her had been forced out of the school by those useless cronies. Those incompetent backdoor hires really deserved to die.

Chang Ma couldn’t help herself and started chatting with Xu Meng again, this time ranting about the "backdoor hires" in her workplace...

Every workplace had a few of those—people who held positions but did nothing, yet somehow always got the awards. Just thinking about it filled Chang Ma with frustration. By the time they finished talking, Xu Meng had already finished making the homemade preserves.

She sealed the lids on the jars from the steamer, hearing a "xiu—" as the vacuum formed. It was a success.

She had made over twenty jars in total.

"Whoops, gotta run—I need to go home and make lunch. Xiao Xu, you go ahead with your work. I’ll discuss that matter with my colleague and come back to you once we have a definite answer."

After finishing her tasks, Xu Meng also headed to the train station. Neither she nor her mother ate lunch at home, grabbing some buns as a quick bite to tide them over until dinner, when they’d cook noodles. Times were tighter now, so they were trying to save money by eating at home more often.

Xu Meng couldn’t wait to see Feng Yanwen and tell her about the tutoring opportunity.

On the way, she bought three steamed buns, eating one herself. By the time she reached the train station, she saw Feng Yanwen standing there, holding maps and hawking them to passersby.

Xu Meng’s heart ached. It was really hard for ordinary people to earn a living.

She walked over, took the maps from Feng Yanwen, and handed her the remaining buns.

The air up north was parching, so Feng Yanwen took a sip of water first. The water Xu Meng had brought was warm when she left home but had cooled to just the right temperature by the time she arrived. Feng Yanwen had been out for hours, and toting a canteen was a hassle. Xu Meng had noticed this and made a habit of bringing her something to drink during lunch breaks.

Feng Yanwen ate the bun with the warm water. Train station prices were a rip-off, and she couldn’t bear to spend money on it.

"How’s business?" Xu Meng asked.

Feng Yanwen shook her head: "Worse than before. There aren’t many tourists now—mostly locals coming and going. Maybe things will pick up around National Day or winter break. Winter break could be a real moneymaker."

Winter would only be colder, and fewer people would be selling maps then. Feng Yanwen suddenly felt a surge of confidence.

Xu Meng fought back tears. Why did she still have another year of high school left? If only she could work now, her mother’s burden wouldn’t be so heavy.

If it were just Feng Yanwen supporting herself, life would probably be much easier.

As if reading her thoughts, Feng Yanwen handed the last bun back to Xu Meng: "Don’t think like that. Focus on your studies—not just for yourself, but to make me proud. My ship’s sailed, but you can still get into college. Don’t be so pessimistic. Cases like mine are one in a million."

"Mom, why don’t you try tutoring?"

"What? Tutoring?"

"Right!" Xu Meng excitedly recounted what Chang Ma had mentioned earlier. The more she talked, the more excited she became. Why hadn’t she thought of tutoring before? Her mother had been a teacher and had real teaching skills—she’d be a great English tutor!

"Just in the past few days, I’ve heard several people looking for English tutors, and the rates are sweet! Han Lingling, the classmate I study with, her folks fork over five bucks an hour for her tutor!" Xu Meng’s eyes sparkled.

Feng Yanwen hesitated: "But I’m not a teacher anymore."

Xu Meng shot back confidently: "I’ve looked into it. Some people even hire college students as tutors—some not even education majors. They just want the 'college cred.' You’re a real college graduate—you fought tooth and nail with the ’77 Gaokao cohort (the first post-Cultural Revolution college entrants). You’re leagues ahead of them!"

The more she talked, the more convinced she became that this was a slam dunk.

Who says you have to teach in a school to be a great teacher? You can still make a difference outside the classroom!

Xu Meng’s words sparked a new idea for Feng Yanwen.

Nowadays, many college students find tutoring jobs outside of school—why hadn’t she thought of that before?

It was the off-season for business anyway, and the work had become unsustainable. She decided to call it quits altogether. While selling off her remaining inventory, she shifted her focus to organizing teaching materials.

She had a complete set of resources from when she taught Xu Meng at home. Pulling these out and reorganizing them would give her a full set of tutoring materials for middle and high school students.

This was something Feng Yanwen was passionate about, so she threw herself into the work enthusiastically. Apart from spending half a day selling off goods near the train station, most of her time was spent organizing materials at home. She had a desk there, and Feng Yanwen could work on this all day without feeling tired.

However, this left Xu Meng needing a new place to study, so she ended up studying at Chang Xi’s or Han Lingling’s house.

Both were so caught up in their own tasks that they nearly forgot why they started all this—until Chang Ma brought a mother and daughter to their door, reminding them.

The visitor was Zhang Mingqing, a colleague of Chang Ma’s from the passenger transport section. With her was a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl who was very pretty but gave off a “don’t mess with me” vibe. She had been brought along reluctantly, staring at the ground and refusing to say a word.

After introducing them, Chang Ma let them talk privately.

Truthfully, Zhang Mingqing didn’t hold much hope for this teacher. After all, she had been let go by the school. Anyone can say what you want to hear—who knows the real story? She had a friend at the school look into it, and after confirming the incident, she asked Chang Ma to bring her here.

It was just a meeting. If they didn’t connect well, they could simply walk away.

But the moment she saw Feng Yanwen, Zhang Mingqing changed her mind.

Feng Yanwen had a friendly appearance and looked educated and professional. When the three arrived, Feng Yanwen happened to be working at her desk, buried in textbooks and notes.

Since they hadn’t called ahead, Feng Yanwen couldn’t have faked this setup just for them. This alone made Zhang Mingqing view her differently. She had always admired intellectuals, and this respect showed as she met Feng Yanwen.

“Teacher Feng,” Zhang Mingqing said with a smile, pushing her daughter forward. “This is my daughter Tuan Tuan. She’ll be starting eighth grade next term, but her English foundation is weak. I was hoping to find someone to tutor her.”

Tuan Tuan shrank back, every inch of her screaming “no.” “Mom!”

Feng Yanwen had seen many students like this before and smiled at her with a nod.

Tuan Tuan still ignored her. She had already said she didn’t want extra lessons, but her mom dragged her here anyway.

All those tutors outside were the same—

“English is easy, just memorize the words!”

Like she didn’t know that already! She had even memorized the texts, but after memorizing, she still didn’t know how to use them—and kept drawing blanks during exams!

————

Feng Yanwen looked at this girl—everything about her showed resistance—and felt a headache coming on.

“Come over and have a seat. What’s your name?”

Tuan Tuan muttered something under her breath, too quiet to hear.

Zhang Mingqing quickly smiled apologetically. “Her full name is Li Yuxin, but we call her Tuan Tuan. Tuan Tuan, come here!”

The girl was stubborn. She came over, but clearly wasn’t happy about it.

Feng Yanwen smiled and gently ushered the adults away, leading Tuan Tuan into the room. Inside was Xu Meng’s bookshelf, neatly stacked with rows of study materials—an impressive sight. The moment Tuan Tuan stepped in, she took a step back, startled by the sheer number of books.

"This belongs to my older sister," Feng Yanwen said with a smile, inviting her to sit down. "She's in her final year of high school now, and her studies are very demanding. She's out reviewing at the moment."

Tuantuan relaxed visibly, letting out a sigh. She didn't want to study, but for her mother's sake, she had to pretend to be a diligent student.

The aunts and uncles in the family were all formidable, often making snide remarks about her mother, both openly and behind her back. The things they said were so over the top that even Tuantuan found them excessive.

"Find a good-looking one, and the next generation will be beautiful too." "What use is being good-looking if she's just a blockhead?" "Since they only have one daughter, it might be better for the eldest brother to have a child outside the family. With so much money, why leave it to a pretty but dimwitted girl?"

Tuantuan listened to their words with a smile, but as soon as they turned away, she punctured the tires of the motorcycles they had ridden over on.

She calculated it perfectly; they wouldn't notice until they were halfway through their journey, stranded with no help in sight. Perhaps then they would remember who they had offended.

In her heart, Tuantuan felt she should study hard to make her mother proud.

As the saying goes, "It's not about the bun, but the pride."

But the English lessons in the first year of junior high gave her a rude awakening. She knew she couldn't excel, and everyone seemed to relish watching her and her mother's struggles. If she failed to get into high school, her father might really find a female college student to bear him a son.

Feng Yanwen looked down at her. "Tuantuan, I heard you like watching TV?"

Tuantuan's head snapped up. What was this about?

She had been discreet, only watching at home, knowing that if the aunts found out, they would make sarcastic comments about how studious and talented their own children were.

Tuantuan's eyes were too clear, those beautiful large eyes glistening with innocence. Feng Yanwen's heart melted instantly. She thought of Xu Meng at about the same age, also a beautiful child with such lovely eyes. She had little resistance to children, especially to such a well-behaved but slightly awkward girl.

"I also heard you like Japanese dramas?" Feng Yanwen smiled. "There's nothing wrong with that. Watching TV can be a way to relax. My daughter used to love watching TV when she was your age, often going to the neighbors' houses to watch."

"Ah, why go to the neighbors' houses to watch?"

"If she watched TV at home, someone would scold her," said Teacher Feng.

Tuan Tuan now slumped bonelessly in her seat, completely relaxed, as if she had no bones. She sighed. It seemed this was a struggle all kids face—being nagged from childhood. Perhaps because of it, her grandparents didn’t have a good impression of her, especially since she was a girl.

Before the one-child policy was fully implemented, they used to pressure her mother to have a second child.

When it became clear that wasn't going to happen, they started pushing her father to find another wife.

"Find someone who hasn't had kids yet—get an extra birth quota," everyone in the family kept saying.

Tuan Tuan naturally knew that if she were more accomplished, her mother wouldn’t be in such a difficult position. Then she wouldn’t have to secretly take her for tutoring. Her cousins were all getting tutoring too—everyone was competing to see who could get into a better university.

"...They all say watching TV is bad, and Mom won’t let me watch either," Tuan Tuan murmured quietly.

Teacher Feng nodded. "Actually, I like watching TV too. I love Hollywood blockbusters—the ones in English with original audio. Some classic movies are truly amazing. Later, when your English gets better, you can tell your mom you want to train your ears and watch openly at home."

Tuan Tuan actually began thinking seriously about it.

"But English is so hard to learn," the little girl said, looking troubled.

"Of course it's hard. Think about it—we grew up speaking Mandarin, and now you're learning another language at this age. How could it not be difficult?"

"Do you think English is hard too, Teacher? How did you learn it then?"

Teacher Feng looked thoughtful and answered earnestly, "Learning anything is hard. The key is having interest. When I was your age, I didn’t have the opportunities you do. Back then, we had very little access to anything. Luckily, there was an old intellectual in our village who had studied abroad. He was the one who taught me English. I was young then, just grateful to learn anything. I didn’t even think about whether it was hard or easy—I’d gladly read even a product manual if it meant I could see words on a page."

Tuan Tuan’s mouth fell open in surprise. She figured out Teacher Feng’s age and realized it made sense.

Back then, many schools had shut down—learning anything at all was a big deal.

"But Teacher, I've memorized the words and the texts, yet I just can't apply them in exams," Tuan Tuan said with frustration. "I feel like no teacher can help me anymore."

"I see," Feng Yanwen mused. She realized this little girl was different from most—her memory was excellent. "Don’t worry. Did you bring your English textbook? Let’s start with the first lesson. I’ll read along with you and see what the issue really is."

Tuan Tuan nodded and pulled out her English book from the backpack behind her.

That she wasn’t resisting and even took the initiative to find her book was already a big step forward. Feng Yanwen breathed a sigh of relief.

An hour later, Feng Yanwen seemed to have found an approach. This little girl had a great memory but lacked encouragement. She had been memorizing texts and words by rote, forcing them without really understanding them, making it hard to use them naturally. Feng Yanwen then tried to help her understand the texts by changing scenarios. Tuan Tuan’s vocabulary and pronunciation were both quite good, making it easy for her to participate. Starting with the simplest dialogues, they expanded into conversations in different contexts, allowing her to truly grasp the meaning of the texts.

English textbooks from the 1990s were much simpler than later ones. English education still began in the first year of middle school, and students Tuan Tuan’s age had decent comprehension skills. By breaking it down simply and making it fun, Feng Yanwen helped her overcome her resistance.

A little over an hour later, Zhang Mingqing returned from Chang Ma’s house. As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she heard English dialogue coming from the room—one of the voices unmistakably her daughter’s. Zhang Mingqing’s face brightened, and she quickened her pace, pausing right under the window to confirm it was indeed Tuan Tuan conversing with the teacher!

Feng Yanwen didn’t interrupt her. Only after they finished a conversation did she point out the mistakes, categorize them, and summarize.

"The difference between 'there are' and 'there is' is actually quite simple. Which one do you use for lots of flowers or photos?" Tuan Tuan was still a middle schooler at the most basic stage, but the first year had thrown too much at her at once, making it hard to absorb. Feng Yanwen first put her at ease, making her less resistant, before discussing learning.

"There are, plural form."

"Right, you’ve got it exactly. This is how you should study from now on. Honestly, your foundation is much better than most. You’ve memorized the words and texts well, which makes teaching you easier..."

Chang Ma smirked smugly.

Zhang Mingqing’s eyes welled up—no one had ever talked to Tuan Tuan this way before.

Kind words, patient teaching...

Since she’d married up, her seemingly decent job was actually the least impressive among her in-laws, who looked down on her. This attitude extended to Tuan Tuan, whose average grades only reinforced their dismissiveness. Their message was clear: let her coast through school, then arrange some easy job for her later.

Tuan Tuan had grown up in this environment. That she had only become a little stubborn during adolescence was proof she was still a good kid at heart.

Not wanting to interrupt Teacher Feng’s lesson, the two women stepped away before speaking.

"Sister Yang, what’s the story with this neighbor of yours? She knows her stuff."

"I told you—she’s a college graduate. If she hadn’t been forced out, she’d still be teaching at No. 17 Middle School," Chang Ma said with a teasing glint in her eyes. "So? Was I right? Do you want Tuan Tuan to study with her?"

Zhang Mingqing said firmly, "Yes, we’ll go with her. But I want Tuan Tuan to study here."

"Why? Wouldn’t it be better to have her come to your place?" Feng Yanwen’s environment was nowhere near as nice as theirs.

Zhang Mingqing shook her head. At home, there were too many people and too much gossip. Every time a new tutor came, someone would inevitably pry, making Tuan Tuan feel pressured and turning learning into something joyless. This time, bringing her out had clearly relaxed her.

Better to take her out to study!

That had been Zhang Mingqing’s first instinct.

She was a decisive woman, and once she thought it, she acted.

The lesson lasted about an hour and a half. When Tuan Tuan stepped out of the room, she was beaming—skipping, grinning, full of joy.

That was all Zhang Mingqing needed to see.

Regardless of how much she might learn, she had already decided: they would study here.

In the past, after class, Tuan Tuan would always come out frowning, even reluctant to say an extra word to the teacher.

Feng Yanwen soon followed her out, with a bright, easy smile. “Hello.”

Zhang Mingqing also smiled and spoke earnestly, “Hello, Teacher Feng. Could you take Tuan Tuan’s homework too?”

They talked not only about English tutoring but also checking her daily homework.

They agreed on two hours each day. In the evenings, Feng Yanwen would pick up Tuan Tuan from school, have her do homework for two hours at her place, and then take her back. Plus weekend tutoring—Tuan Tuan would spend half a day there for one-on-one English lessons.

Truth be told, evenings wouldn’t be much trouble. Middle school students finish evening self-study early, and Zhang Mingqing would come to pick her up later, making things easier.

Feng Yanwen’s hands trembled slightly in her pockets, but her voice remained calm. “None of that’s a problem.”

“As for the fee, how about 240 yuan a month?” Tutoring rates were straightforward—hiring a college student was only about two or three yuan per hour. It was a generous offer!

Feng Yanwen didn’t have much time in the evenings, but picking up and dropping off a child was doable. An evening outing would be nice anyway.

For Zhang Mingqing, getting help with the kid saved her a lot of hassle. Spending a bit more money was worth it—childcare wore her out, and if she could solve things with money, she didn’t want to tire herself further.

Listening to her sisters-in-law’s snide comments at home was already draining enough. She wasn’t up for daily battles with her daughter on top of that.

————

“Mom, is this real?” Xu Meng was also surprised, but quickly broke into a grin.

“I was afraid I’d let the kid down. You don’t know how cute such a sweet little thing is—pretty and adorable. At first, she was a bit shy, but later she warmed up and even chatted with me.”

Feng Yanwen really did love children—especially the sweet ones.

Xu Meng fell silent for a moment. She truly believed Feng Yanwen should have a child of her own.

One that was hers—it’d hit different emotionally.

But now wasn’t the time to mention it. A woman could live perfectly fine without a man or kids.

Xu Meng said cheerfully, “Mom, let’s celebrate!”

Feng Yanwen chuckled. “Alright, how do you want to celebrate? Should we buy some good ingredients and cook something tasty?”

Xu Meng gave it real thought. At this hour, the butcher’s would be sold out. If they wanted to make dumplings, they’d have to wait till tomorrow. But she did feel like eating something right now.

“I want cold noodles!”

“Okay, shall we go out for a walk together?”

It was rare for her mom to be in the mood for a stroll!

Xu Meng exhaled deeply. Today was a good start—she hoped things would only get better from here.