Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qiao Nan was basically a thief, a robber. Qiao Nan stole and robbed the glory and master that belonged to her.
Till now, even as Qiao Nan was clearly aware that a vixen was competing with her for Brother Zhai’s affection, Qiao Nan refused to help and protected that vixen. One day, she must find a chance to deal with Qiao Nan and teach her a hard lesson so that she would regret her decision of becoming her enemy.
“Qiu Chenxi, what’s wrong with you?” The female soldier who accepted the half-filled bottle of perfume from Qiu Chenxi arrived even later than her. “If you continue squeezing, the book in your hand will soon be torn. I really can’t tell that you have so much strength.”
“You’re here.” Looking at Qian Yanyan, Qiu Chenxi took a deep breath. “I see. The person who is going to teach us is Elder Lin.”
“Elder Lin? What Elder Lin?” Qian Yanyan came from a rural village and had not seen much of the world. It was to her blessing that she had some potential and could become a female soldier in the army. She was ignorant of and did not understand many issues, in particular, people such as Lin Yuankang. “Are you referring to the old man? Isn’t he just someone who teaches English?”
“Hahaha.” Qiu Chenxi sneered. She could not be bothered to explain to Qian Yanyan.
“Ah, what’s the matter? The old one is not teaching us? It’s the young one? Oh man, this girl is a few years younger than my younger sister. I think she’s still in school. She’s teaching us English? Where did her confidence come from? Don’t tell me she’s going to teach us A B C D?” Qian Yanyan spat out these words sulkily.
With such a young girl, how would she be hopeful about gaining a lot of knowledge from this opportunity? Was the army playing a prank on them? This event was so hard to come by and the situation was such.
“She’s teaching?” Qiu Chenxi’s expression changed again. Qian Yanyan did not know Qiao Nan’s proficiency, but Qiu Chenxi did.
Two years ago, when Qiao Nan was even younger, Qiu Chenxi specially brought one of her homework to gain Lin Yuankang’s favor. In the end, the Qiao Nan then ‘pointed out’ a number of her mistakes.
It was certainly not possible for Qiao Nan to teach others higher standards of English, but her capability was more than enough to teach these soldiers in the army who did not have high cultural standards. Even the Qiao Nan from two years ago could assume this task, let alone the current Qiao Nan.
“Qiu Chenxi, help me keep a watch. She’s such a young lady. In front of a hundred people, her legs will definitely wobble with fear. How can she teach? Since it’s going to be useless, I can’t be bothered to listen. I would rather rest and take a nap.” Qian Yanyan covered her face with a book and slouched on the table.
At this juncture, Qiao Nan did not know that there were people who started to doze off as they completely did not believe her due to her young age. Nevertheless, she had already guessed some of these situations beforehand.
When she saw Lin Yuankang looking as if he was a storekeeper keeping his hands off this matter and did not have any intention to help, Qiao Nan took a deep breath and moved a step forward. “Good day, everyone. My surname is Qiao. Given my age, it’s a little inappropriate for me to be standing here as all of you are my elder brothers, elder sisters, uncles, aunties, and there are probably even grandfathers and grandmothers.”
Many who were present had similar thoughts as Qian Yanyan. When they saw that young and tender face of Qiao Nan, they did not believe in her and looked down on her.
These words of Qiao Nan were akin to self-deprecating behavior.
Couldn’t everyone tell that Qiao Nan was young? Qiao Nan admitted it herself. She even mentioned grandfathers and grandmothers.
All of a sudden, there was laughter in the activity hall. Everyone was amused directly by Qiao Nan’s self-deprecating and humorous speech. The atmosphere eased. Some of the audience seemed to be looking at Qiao Nan with less revulsion and resistance.
Qiao Nan then spoke in English. “Hello, my name is Qiao Nan. Given my age, it’s a little inappropriate for me to be standing here as all of you are my elder brothers, elder sisters, uncles, aunties, and there are probably even grandfathers and grandmothers.”
Just as the atmosphere turned better, that well-pronounced British English speech that Qiao Nan gave simply stunned and subdued the audience.
Qiao Nan seemingly did not have many actions or said much. Nevertheless, her bright voice rang clearly in the activity hall. Her words were not as loud and deafening as the army commands, but almost everyone could hear Qiao Nan’s pronunciation of each word clearly.
The continuous laughter prior to that completely disappeared in that instant. The whole activity hall was so quiet that even the sound of a needle dropping could be heard.
At that moment, these brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, and even grandfathers and grandmothers understood. Although Qiao Nan was young, she did not lack the capability. She had substance.
Anyway, they did not understand a word of that long speech earlier.
When facing a capable individual, they felt more convinced and respectful from their heart.
When she felt the atmosphere on-site changing, Qiao Nan maintained the same kind and affectionate smile on her face. It was so approachable. “Don’t be nervous, everyone. My earlier speech in English may sound quite complicated, as if it’s very impressive and powerful. Actually, it’s not. When I translate it to Chinese, everyone will understand. It’s basically my welcome remarks just now, but in English. Who can still remember the meaning of the first sentence in my English speech?”
Most of the people on the ground looked doubtful. It was not that no one remembered that phrase. It was just that they were shy in front of a crowd. Moreover, this was the knowledge they were unfamiliar with. The greatest issue that a Chinese had when learning English was to open their mouth to speak.
Hence, when Qiao Nan posed the question, there was silence on the grounds. Even those who remembered could not muster the courage to raise their hand to answer Qiao Nan’s question.
Qiao Nan’s eyes swept sharply and swiftly across the grounds. “Can I invite this brother to give a reply?”
“M-me?” The male soldier who was nominated by Qiao Nan blushed. His cheeks turned red although his skin was already so tanned from the sun.
“Yes, you.”
“R-remember a little, but I don’t really know how to say it.” The male soldier was very shy.
“It’s okay. Give it a try.”
“Okay. I think it was ‘Hello, my name is Qiao Nan’?” The soldier’s pronunciation was certainly not perfect but it was generally fine.
“Not bad, you’ve said it very well. Excellent! This sentence is a self-introduction. Qiao Nan is my name. You change my name to yours and try.”
“Hello, my, my name is Yang Lin?” When the soldier said this, his eyes were filled with doubt and bewilderment.
