Meng Yao did not need anything else. She only wanted Gu Jingcheng to improve her spoken English. She did not want to learn mute English.
Seeing that she was interested, Gu Jingcheng enthusiastically promoted himself.
“I was personally appointed by the principal to receive foreign exchange students back then. You still don’t believe me?”
Immediately, Gu Jingcheng introduced himself to her fluently in English.
Meng Yao looked at the carefree-looking man in front of her. Hearing him smoothly speak a string of English words, her eyes lit up.
Although Gu Jingcheng was dressed rather flamboyantly today, the moment he opened his mouth, even the leather jacket he wore seemed to become more refined.
Could this be what people meant by “a cultivated soul naturally gives elegance”?
“Alright then. How are you planning to teach me?” Meng Yao asked.
Gu Jingcheng glanced around. “Why don’t you come to my office? I can teach you there. There isn’t even a table on this street. Don’t worry—”
“Okay!”
Meng Yao agreed surprisingly quickly.
Gu Jingcheng narrowed his eyes and bent closer to her, lowering his voice teasingly.
“You’re pretty brave. Aren’t you afraid I’m a bad person who might kidnap you?”
The two of them stood very close. The flowers in their hands brushed tightly together, and the fragrance lingered between them.
Meng Yao looked at the handsome face magnified before her. His long eyes reflected only her image.
Slowly, she said, “You’re so handsome that I’m sure you can’t be a bad person.”
Gu Jingcheng: “…”
He was completely speechless.
This little girl… why did it feel like she was flirting with him?
A trace of awkwardness flashed through his eyes. He straightened up and cleared his throat before speaking seriously.
“I didn’t expect you to be so shallow! How can you judge whether I’m a good person just based on my handsome appearance?”
“You should discover my hidden excellence through my inner qualities!”
Meng Yao: “…”
“Are you teaching me or not? If not, I’m leaving.”
She was already losing patience and felt that this Gu Jingcheng was completely different from the one in her previous life.
Wasn’t he supposed to be the cold and aloof young master?
“Teach, teach, teach! Let’s go. My office is just across the next street. We’ll get there in a few minutes.”
Gu Jingcheng hurriedly led the way, afraid she might change her mind.
Following behind him, Meng Yao watched his relaxed and nimble figure and could not help smiling faintly.
The Gu family’s factory business was quite large. They mainly handled self-produced agricultural products, such as renting land to grow cotton, processing it in their factory after harvest, and then selling it themselves.
Meng Yao only knew the general details because she had overheard her parents discussing it in her previous life.
Following him all the way to the office, many people along the road greeted Gu Jingcheng, though their eyes secretly drifted toward the woman behind him.
President Gu actually brought a woman back?!
Meng Yao pretended not to notice.
Watching the man calmly greet employees along the way, she realized that the moment Gu Jingcheng returned to the factory, his attitude completely changed.
Gone was the playful and carefree demeanor from earlier. Now he looked proper and serious enough to fool anyone.
Unfortunately, all that seriousness vanished the moment they entered the office.
Gu Jingcheng’s office was quite spacious, brightly lit, and spotless.
Behind the desk stood an entire row of redwood bookshelves packed full of books, while the plants by the windows thrived vibrantly.
The air no longer carried the dusty scent of the countryside but instead held a faint refreshing fragrance.
Even Meng Yao, despite having lived another life already, still felt slightly out of place standing there.
Gu Jingcheng pulled over a chair and placed it beside the desk.
“What are you standing there for? Come sit down. Didn’t you want me to teach you English?”
Meng Yao quietly walked over and sat down.
Her gaze swept across the wall of books behind him, and she even spotted a guitar leaning against the wall.
She blinked.
Whether in her previous life or this one, she had only ever seen one on television.
Could Gu Jingcheng play it?
“Where’s your English textbook? Let me see it.”
Meng Yao slowly dug through her bag.
Her bag was stuffed with all sorts of things, so she searched carefully. However, random little items, roasted peanuts, and even the seeds she bought last time all spilled out at once.
Two peanuts rolled smoothly across the desk and stopped beside Gu Jingcheng’s hand.
He casually peeled and ate them.
Crunch, crunch.
Then he commented, “Not good enough. They’re not crispy enough.”
Meng Yao really wanted to say those peanuts had probably been sitting in her bag for ages, but seeing that he had already swallowed them, she chose to remain silent.
She handed him the English textbook and curiously asked, “Have you really read all those books behind you?”
Gu Jingcheng flipped through her textbook without looking up.
“Pretty much. The old man was strict when I was little. He wouldn’t let me go out to play, so I was locked inside the house all day with nothing to do except read. I basically finished all of them.”
He spoke casually, but Meng Yao looked at him with admiration.
Suddenly, she felt that the Gu Jingcheng she knew in her previous life had been far too one-dimensional.
A man who could finish reading an entire wall full of books could not possibly be some ignorant rich young master.
“I’ll teach you phonetics first. You won’t be able to memorize vocabulary all at once anyway…”
“Okay.”
Meng Yao felt that English phonetics were somewhat similar to the pinyin she learned in elementary school, except some pronunciations were more difficult.
“No, your pronunciation is wrong. Curl your tongue upward and let the airflow come out from the tip of your tongue. Try again.”
Gu Jingcheng pointed at the phonetic symbol in the book and instructed her to repeat it.
Meng Yao tried several times but still could not grasp it properly. Anxiously, she asked, “Like this?”
After speaking, she curled her tongue and stuck it out slightly for him to see.
Gu Jingcheng raised his eyes and caught sight of the girl’s pink tongue and glossy lips.
His heart suddenly began beating uncontrollably, and the tips of his ears instantly flushed red.
Suppressing the strange feeling in his chest, he forced himself to look away and softly responded, “Mm.”
After over an hour of lessons, Meng Yao finally managed to learn all the phonetic symbols. Afraid she might forget some of them, she even wrote pinyin beside them.
“Take a break first. You can’t rush phonetics. You need to practice every day until you can pronounce them instinctively the moment you see them. That’s when you’ve truly mastered them.”
Gu Jingcheng let out a breath and leaned back in his chair, tilting his head toward the ceiling as if lost in thought.
Meng Yao assumed she was simply too slow and had tired him out.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely.
The fingers resting on the desk twitched slightly. Gu Jingcheng straightened up.
“Do you really want to thank me?”
Meng Yao stammered awkwardly, “I do want to thank you, but… you look so rich. I don’t really have anything to give you…”
She was telling the truth.
The Gu family lacked nothing, especially money. Even though their family would later be labeled capitalists and confiscated, at least right now they were still wealthy.
Thinking of the future, Meng Yao glanced at Gu Jingcheng again with mixed emotions.
Should she warn him in advance about what would happen to his family?
After some thought, she gave up on the idea.
Whether he would believe her was one issue. More importantly, if he asked how she knew, she would have no answer.
Better to wait…
Gu Jingcheng thought for a moment before saying, “Those peanuts from earlier—I want crispy ones. Can you make them? Consider it your thank-you gift.”
“Huh?” Meng Yao froze. “I can, but… are you sure?”
Gu Jingcheng nodded.
Meng Yao agreed. “Then next time I come to see you, I’ll make some and bring them to you.”
Finally, Gu Jingcheng asked the question he had been holding back the entire time.
His eyes carried obvious anticipation.
“Then… when will you come next time?”