A week later, the list of students approved for financial aid came out—over 300 people in total.
And Su Xiahe was fortunate enough to be on that list.
She figured that with this 1,000 yuan subsidy, if she watched her spending each month, she could still save a few hundred yuan.
But the few hundred yuan she saved each month was nothing more than a drop in the bucket compared to the massive debt she still owed.
Whenever she didn’t have class, she would go canvassing through the major shopping malls.
She needed to earn money.
Carrying her instrument case, she scoured every large shopping center near the school.
She was hoping to find newly opened stores that needed instrumental performances.
She went at it for several days straight without any luck.
There were indeed a few new stores that wanted musical performances, but they were looking for guitarists or pianists.
No one would ever choose a pipa as a way to liven up their grand opening.
Su Xiahe had no choice but to carry her instrument case back to school.
Seeing her look so dejected, Meng Wanxing guessed the outcome and comforted her, saying, “Don’t be sad. Those people who didn’t hire you are blind—they can’t see how wonderful our A-He is.”
Su Xiahe forced out an extremely strained smile.
Still, she rallied her spirits: “Tomorrow I’ll go look for other work, see if anyone’s hiring a tutor.”
“A-He,” Meng Wanxing said tentatively, “I actually still have some savings on hand. If you—”
“Wanxing,” Su Xiahe interrupted with a smile, “you’ve already helped me so much. Let me figure out the rest on my own.”
There was pride in her tone, but even more self-consciousness. “Okay?”
Meng Wanxing could only nod.
The next day.
Meng Wanxing happened to have no classes that morning, so she went out with Su Xiahe to look for part-time work.
They were in such a hurry to leave that they skipped breakfast, and as a result, they stood outside Jiangcheng Middle School for over two hours without a single person showing up at the school gate.
It wasn’t until past eleven that parents finally began trickling in.
Meng Wanxing clutched her forehead, looking exasperated. “How did I not think of this? Before eleven, the students are all in class—there’s no way any parents would be at the school gate.”
Su Xiahe, on the other hand, was the one comforting her: “It’s fine. A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit. Now we know for next time.”
Meng Wanxing cast aside her earlier frustration, her eyes lighting up. “Here we go—a parent’s here. Time to get to work.”
With that, she grabbed Su Xiahe’s hand and ran over to a woman in a red chiffon blouse who was anxiously waiting to pick up her child from class.
“Big sister,” Meng Wanxing said, “waiting to pick up your kid from school?”
The woman in the red chiffon blouse was highly wary. She glanced at them and ignored them.
“Big sister, don’t misunderstand—we’re not bad people. We’re students at Jiangcheng University. See, here are our student IDs.”
Meng Wanxing pulled out two ID cards and opened them for the chiffon-clad woman to see.
The woman took a look—they were indeed Jiangcheng University students.
Meng Wanxing kept up her pitch: “Big sister, may I ask—does your child need a tutor? Let me tell you, my friend scored 715 on last year’s college entrance exam, ranking in the top five in the entire city. If she tutors your child, I can guarantee your kid will get into a top-tier university.”
Su Xiahe lowered her head in embarrassment.
She felt that with Meng Wanxing’s gift of gab, studying Spanish alongside her was a waste of talent—she deserved a much broader sky.
As she spoke, Meng Wanxing pulled out her phone, searched for news about students who scored above 700 on last year’s national college entrance exam, and held it in front of the chiffon-clad woman.
The woman glanced at the news and indeed saw the girl beside her in the photo. Moreover, the name on the student ID matched what was introduced in the news article.
She hesitated for a moment. “What subjects does she teach?”
Meng Wanxing said with complete confidence: “Any subject! My friend can do it all!”
Su Xiahe continued to smile awkwardly.
The chiffon-clad woman’s son, who had just started his second year of high school, had grades that were an absolute disaster. If she could really find someone ranked in the city’s top five to tutor him, it might genuinely improve his scores.
So the woman asked, “How much do you charge?”
Meng Wanxing was overjoyed inside—ah, the deal was about to close.
“Not expensive at all—60 yuan an hour.”
The chiffon-clad woman seemed to be hesitating, murmuring to herself, “60 yuan…”
Meng Wanxing pressed on: “Think about it, big sister—if you hire another tutor, they can only teach one subject. But my friend is different. For 60 yuan, she can teach every subject…”
Meng Wanxing was like a devoted salesperson, promoting with reckless abandon.
She gently nudged Su Xiahe with her elbow and shot her a look.
Su Xiahe immediately caught on and nodded repeatedly. “Yes, ma’am, I can teach any subject.”
The chiffon-clad woman thought it over and was just about to agree.
Someone nearby called out: “Lu Tong’s mom, are you looking for a tutor?”
It was a man in a beige polo shirt, around forty years old.
The chiffon-clad woman turned around. “Yes, Jiang Yu’s dad. Our Lu Tong’s grades are just too terrible.”
Beige polo shirt: “Let me tell you, when looking for a tutor, you have to keep your eyes wide open. If you look around the school gate, you’re likely to get scammed. I once found a tutor for my Jiang Yu—said he was a college student working part-time to support his studies. After three months, my Jiang Yu hadn’t improved at all—in fact, he’d regressed. Later I found out that college student’s own grades were a complete mess… Wasting the money is one thing, but the main issue is it wasted the kid’s time too…”
Chiffon lady frowned: “Is that so…”
Meng Wanxing saw things weren’t looking good and immediately said to the chiffon lady, “Sister, don’t worry—my friend has excellent grades. You just saw it yourself—last year she ranked in the top five in the city for the college entrance exam.”
Beige polo shirt cut in: “What use is last year’s exam? It’s been over a year since then—she’s probably forgotten most of her high school material by now.”
Meng Wanxing stared at the beige polo shirt: “My friend’s college grades are excellent too.”
Beige polo shirt: “College doesn’t cover those high school courses. What use are good college grades?”
Meng Wanxing couldn’t hold back anymore: “Hey, old man, you’re just trying to cause trouble on purpose, aren’t you?”
Beige polo shirt: “Is what I’m saying wrong? I think when hiring a tutor, you absolutely must get one with a teaching certificate. Not just any blind cat catching a dead mouse can be a tutor—otherwise, aside from wasting us parents’ money, the biggest problem is holding back the kid’s grades.”
More and more parents were gathering around, and everyone started discussing it back and forth.
Meng Wanxing had a fiery temper. Seeing that beige polo shirt still strutting around smugly in the crowd, she got furious.
Unable to hold it in, she charged over and kicked him.
And then…
Jiangcheng Police Station interview room.
Police officer: “Who threw the first punch?”
Beige polo shirt pointed at Meng Wanxing: “Officer, it was her!”
Meng Wanxing huffed: “He was sabotaging my business!”
The police officer glanced at her sideways: “So you resorted to hitting someone?”
Meng Wanxing fell silent!
Su Xiahe helped explain: “Officer, my friend acted on impulse—she didn’t mean it.”
The police officer’s gaze shifted to Su Xiahe’s face: “You’re pleading for her? Have you forgotten—you threw punches too!”
Su Xiahe’s face looked like it had just been sprayed with insecticide. She said nothing.
Indeed, when she saw that beige polo shirt hit Wanxing back, she took advantage of the chaos and landed a few hits on him too.
And so.
Their counselor, He Jinzhou, received the call and rushed to the police station.