Chapter 32

Chapter 32

The railway bureau itself had a need, and Mingqing happened to notice it. She acted as a bridge and quickly established contact with the leadership of the railway bureau's workers' union.

The person's name was Huang Mei, in her forties, slender and small-framed, appearing sharp and capable. At their first meeting, she openly scrutinized Feng Yanwen without reservation.

"Teacher Feng, Mingqing mentioned you're running an English class. Are there many students now?"

Feng Yanwen hesitated, afraid of saying something offensive. She glanced at Xu Meng.

Xu Meng quickly stepped forward, handing over a gift box. After some polite refusal and insistence, Huang Mei eventually accepted it. With a smile, she said, "Hello, Ms. Huang. My mother previously offered private tutoring, so there weren’t many students. But now that more people are signing up, she’s considering starting group classes."

In other words, the current number of trainees wasn’t large.

"Would it be possible to provide training for our train attendants? Mainly focusing on basic vocabulary and such..." Huang Mei struggled to articulate her thoughts and smiled awkwardly at Feng Yanwen. "I’m not sure how to explain it, but with more foreign visitors coming to Beijing, our station staff lack the basic skills to communicate with them."

Most of the current employees were born in the 1950s and 1960s, with generally low levels of education.

Earlier generations never learned English—they had learned Russian instead.

Xu Meng’s eyes lit up, and her tone grew eager. "You mean teaching phrases for interacting with foreign guests on trains and at stations?"

She gave Feng Yanwen a knowing look and continued, "That wouldn’t be a problem at all. We could start with a trial lesson, teaching some basic communication skills."

Huang Mei immediately seemed pleased. Before Xu Meng spoke, they hadn’t had a clear direction.

Initially, she had doubts about this teacher—she seemed too young.

If not for Mingqing’s introduction, she might have outright rejected them.

Units like the railway station had annual budgets for activities. Beyond skills competitions and cultural events, they often invited outside instructors for enrichment programs. Last year, they hired a professional ping-pong coach, and many had signed up.

This year, a case involving a foreign tourist losing their wallet on a train—with no way to communicate—had to be resolved through the local police station. This incident caught the attention of the station’s leadership, who considered it a huge embarrassment. Despite having so many staff members, none could speak English.

With more foreigners visiting China in the future, interactions would only increase!

Xu Meng was thrilled. She hadn’t expected this to be about institutional training rather than private tutoring.

While they lacked prior experience in corporate skill training, they could start fresh—tailored programs, as long as the price was right!

"Yes, that’s the idea. But our employees have very weak foundations, especially in spoken English." Before the meeting, the office had surveyed the staff’s English proficiency—it wasn’t just poor; it was virtually nonexistent.

Xu Meng pondered for a moment. "Our goal isn’t just speaking but also understanding. You’ve come to the right person—my mother has an excellent command of English. She was taught by a translator who'd been sent down during the Cultural Revolution. How about you discuss the details with her directly?"

Huang Mei realized—so the real English teacher was Feng Yanwen.

Feng Yanwen’s demeanor had a naturally trustworthy demeanor.

Then Feng Yanwen took over, discussing the specifics.

Huang Mei couldn’t make the decision alone. "First, draft a course plan and run a pilot class. If the results are good, we’ll arrange a demonstration class. How does that sound?"

Unexpectedly, while the private tutoring didn’t work out, they secured a partnership with the railway bureau.

After leaving the railway bureau, Feng Yanwen was still buzzing with excitement. "Mengmeng, I need to think carefully about how to develop this curriculum."

Xu Meng was equally excited—this was a great start.

Connecting with these people opened the door to marketing their training program. It was a promising opportunity.

She immediately said to Feng Yanwen, "Make the demo lesson plan polished. I guess most attendees will be leaders. You need to make them feel they can learn a lot from your class—quick wins, like how to communicate with guests first. As for listening and speaking skills, everyone’s situation is different, and the progress varies."

Feng Yanwen was still vague about the concept and just wasn’t getting it even after hearing it.

Xu Meng got frustrated and stomped her foot. "Let me do it."

She just took over.

Nailing the first class wasn’t easy. On the way back, Xu Meng thought long and hard about it. Basic phrases for dealing with foreigners and inquiry sentences were the most basic. As for understanding what foreigners were saying—that was really difficult and couldn’t be solved in just one or two lessons.

"That’s it," Xu Meng handed the lesson plan to Feng Yanwen.

Feng Yanwen looked it over—it was all very practical content, like greetings, inquiries, and some basic vocabulary. She started to get a feel for it and, holding onto this plan, mapped out ten lessons.

After finishing, she discussed it with Xu Meng. "What do you think? Is this okay?"

Xu Meng skimmed it. "Mom, you’re killing it! Let’s lock in the first lesson with Huang Mei using this plan!"

The next morning, as she left home, she happened to run into Han Lingling.

It had been a while since they last met. Han Lingling had dark circles under her eyes and looked dead tired. The moment she saw Xu Meng, she practically sprinted to her.

"Xu Meng, why haven’t you come to see me in so long?" Han Lingling sighed. "Ugh, don’t ask—I’m wiped. By the way, your notes saved me. My mom asked me to check if your mom could tutor me to cram."

Back then, Xu Meng had given Han Lingling a notebook, which Sun Miao made fun of. But in the end, it actually helped Han Lingling.

In the first monthly exam, she scored in the 80s.

Jiang Huiqi was thrilled and asked Han Lingling to make a special trip to confirm tutoring arrangements with Xu Meng’s mom.

So Han Lingling decided to come early and catch Xu Meng on her way to school.

Before leaving, she ran into Han Jiming, who eyed her skeptically and asked how and where she planned to catch Xu Meng. Han Lingling drew a blank—after being friends with Xu Meng for so long, she actually didn’t know where Xu Meng lived. In the end, she had no choice but to ask Han Jiming for a ride.

Xu Meng hesitated. "But do you have the time?"

Senior year is slammed—where would she find time for tutoring? The best time would’ve been the summer before senior year.

Han Lingling pointed at her dark circles. "Look at me—my mom’s working me to death. Oh, and my uncle randomly got nice and offered to drive me."

As they spoke, they walked out and saw Han Jiming’s vehicle.

Han Jiming was sitting on the same motorcycle from their first meeting, one leg propped on the ground, killing time waiting for them.

His hair was even shorter than last time, cropped into a buzz cut, accentuating his sharp features and making his eyes deeper, like they were sparkling.

Xu Meng unnaturally averted her gaze and called out, "Uncle Han."

Han Jiming’s eyes swept over her and lingered on her bicycle. "You bought a bike?"

He sounded weird—like when a friend fake-congratulates you on a new car in a past life. Why did it sound so sour?

Xu Meng nodded with a smile. "Second-hand. Cheap."

Han Lingling got on the motorcycle and urged Han Jiming to follow Xu Meng, since their schools were in the same direction.

"Do you know why Sun Miao was so mad at you last time you met?" Han Lingling puffed her cheeks. "...That heartless Mrs. Li gave Sun Miao fresh pastries for her guests but gave me day-old Yundou Rolls—stuff that should’ve been thrown out. Maybe she didn’t have time to toss them, but she still gave them to me! Luckily, I only ate one piece, but I felt sick that night. Were you okay?"

After that, Xu Meng got swamped with school stuff and didn’t visit much.

Han Lingling pouted, "Auntie Li even tried to make excuses, saying I ate random things. You have no idea how awful they are—using our pastries to entertain their own guests and sneaking bowls of our chicken soup. I didn’t even get to eat the chicken drumsticks, and they all went straight to Sun Miao."

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. But in the end, Sun Miao’s parents had to retire early, and Auntie Li had to pay them back some money to make up for the stolen goods.

Jiang Huiqi said they stole way more than that, but they couldn’t expect Auntie Li to return everything.

At least she got some payback.

Xu Meng’s complexion looked much better than before, her pale face had filled out a bit. Pedaling the bicycle was strenuous, leaving her face flushed and her chest rising and falling like a ripe peach.

The motorcycle was moving slowly, but Xu Meng still had to struggle to keep pace.

Han Jiming slowed down a little more.

Xu Meng thought for a moment, "I’ve got an iron stomach—eating overnight food doesn’t bother me."

Han Lingling immediately looked envious, her eyes shining as she said, "Wow, you’re amazing! I’ve always had a weak stomach since I was little."

Xu Meng laughed, finding Han Lingling amusing—why would you compare that?

"Our family weren’t picky eaters."

"Then your stomach must be much stronger than mine. I even got diarrhea from drinking milk as a kid," Han Lingling asked, "What about you?"

"I didn’t have milk to drink when I was little."

Not just milk—anything good never made it to her. Early on, Xu Meng knew her place living in someone else’s home, never daring to pick the best food. Granny Xue was particularly harsh, hoarding leftovers like treasure and always giving them to Xu Meng. Fortunately, in those days, times were lean, so leftovers weren’t frequent. Overnight pastries were nothing to Xu Meng.

No wonder other high school seniors looked like zombies, while she seemed so vibrant.

She must have had a hard life before.

Han Lingling was not the sensitive type—directness worked best with her. Xu Meng enjoyed talking to someone with her personality, and once they started chatting, they couldn’t stop. They only parted reluctantly when they reached Xu Meng’s school gate.

"Xu Meng is such an interesting person. I’m going to go to school with her again tomorrow," Han Lingling clenched her little fist.

Han Jiming gave her a cold glance, "Seems like you just want someone to talk to. I had to listen to you chatter the whole way—aren’t you afraid she’ll find you annoying?"

"How could she? Xu Meng and I are good friends. What’s wrong with chatting? You don’t know how boring it is sitting through classes all day. It’s not like I forced you to take me today!" Han Lingling pouted.

Han Jiming smirked, "Right, I did it willingly."

Though he also had to go to school during the day, he didn’t normally head out at this hour.