1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 236 It's so much more comfortable outside; even the flowers don't smell as good as those outside.

Rui Rui started school in early September and transferred to Daminghu Primary School.

Grandma Gu, having nothing to do at home, like other old ladies, likes to pick up her grandson from school.

At 4 p.m., the time when elementary school students are dismissed, an old man and a child walked back from the school chatting and laughing. When they arrived at the alley entrance, they saw another pair of figures peeking out from behind the door.

"Who are you looking for?"

Grandma Gu glared at the two of them with obvious displeasure.

"what?!"

The awkward duo were startled again and shuddered in unison.

What are you eavesdropping on?

Rui Rui, being a clever little girl, noticed something was wrong from the two people's flustered expressions and curiously followed their gaze to peek into her own courtyard.

"No, nothing?"

The couple laughed awkwardly and denied it in unison.

"Nothing at all, of course."

Rui Rui didn't believe it and ran into her own yard with her schoolbag on her back.

-

At the entrance of the courtyard, there was a gray-black suitcase with a baggage check-in label. The latest date on the label was today, and the journey was from Shanghai to Jinan.

"Uncle's back?!"

Rui Rui's eyes lit up, and she rushed to the living room with her schoolbag on her back.

"Hey, where did Xiaobin go?"

Grandma Gu then entered the courtyard, her eyes showing surprise: "The suitcase was left at the door, but where is everyone?"

"They should be inside."

A woman's soft laughter came from behind her, startling the old woman so much that her heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, you two, what brings you here too?"

Grandma Gu turned around and saw that it was the couple lingering at the door, which made her even more upset.

"Hey, hey."

The couple laughed awkwardly, and were about to explain their purpose when they heard the door to the west room creak open, and Lin Xiyu walked out with a flushed face.

"Xi Yu, are you home?"

Grandma Gu lost interest in arguing with the couple and looked at her with interest: "I thought no one was home, so I left the door wide open. I hope no one with ill intentions gets in."

"Cough cough."

"We have no ill intentions; we really are here to find someone."

The couple felt they had been subtly insulted, and then coughed awkwardly for a while.

"You two haven't left yet?"

Before Lin Xiyu could speak, Gu Bin came out and saw the couple with furrowed brows, looking quite impatient.

"We're looking for Teacher Lin."

The couple didn't dare to respond to him, their trembling little eyes constantly glancing at Lin Xiyu.

"You're looking for me?"

Lin Xiyu raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Is it someone you know?

Gu Bin couldn't stand the two men stealing glances at his beloved wife, their shifty eyes making him even more displeased.

"do not know?"

Seeing that his tone was a bit harsh, Lin Xiyu decisively denied it.

Since we don't know each other...

Gu Bin, his face dark, told them to leave: "Please leave on your own. Our home is not open to the public, and we do not welcome outsiders."

"We are not tourists."

Fearing he might misunderstand, the couple quickly explained, "We came to ask Teacher Lin to give our child a lesson."

Why are you giving lectures at my home?

Grandma Gu was also very unhappy about the couple's sudden visit and disturbance.

"Teacher Lin is not teaching in the training class."

The wife laughed awkwardly, "We went there several times but couldn't find him, so we had no choice but to come to our house to ask."

"Who would want a teacher to come to their house to give a lesson?"

Grandma Gu was even more displeased: "If everyone were like you two, how could our family have a peaceful life? This isn't a vegetable market where just anyone can come in."

"You should leave now."

Lin Xiyu followed Grandma Gu's lead and told them to leave: "Don't upset our old lady anymore. If she gets sick from getting angry, you can't afford to take the blame."

Teacher Lin

The wife got anxious and shouted, "We've come here sincerely to ask you to tutor our child. We've brought the money; here's 5000 yuan. If you can improve our child's English grades, we'll reward you handsomely after the exam."

"Let's go, let's go quickly!"

Grandma Gu was very dissatisfied with the two of them arguing: "Do you think our family is short of 5000 yuan? No matter how much money you give us, we won't teach. We'll work hard for that little bit of money, and if we don't do well on the exam, we'll be blamed. My granddaughter-in-law's time is precious, and she doesn't have time to listen to your nonsense."

"We can give you more money if it's too little."

The wife was unwilling to give up and wanted to say more, but Grandma Gu had already closed the door impatiently.

"Boom."

The large iron gate swayed a few times, keeping out those who were foolish enough to ignore it.

"What's going on?"

Grandma Gu turned to look at Lin Xiyu, her face full of surprise: "Why would someone come to our house to ask you to teach?"

"do not know"

Lin Xiyu herself was unaware of the details, and shook her head with an embarrassed smile: "I've never seen these two people before, I don't know how they knew we lived here."

"Don't talk to them if you see them again."

Grandma Gu was wary: "Who knows what they do? Just because they're wearing a fur coat doesn't mean they're rich. They're trying to annoy people with 5000 yuan."

"Judging from their appearance, they do look a bit like nouveau riche."

Lin Xiyu suppressed a laugh and soothed Grandma Gu: "Fur coats are for different people. Grandma looks exceptionally noble and elegant in one. That kind of temperament is something that others can't imitate."

“I love hearing that.”

Grandma Gu found the words pleasing to the ear, and her mood instantly became incredibly cheerful.

"In my opinion, we should buy another house."

Gu Bin still frowned: "Too many people know about the old house. They can find it with just a little inquiry. If people really have their eyes on it, it will be difficult to live a peaceful life."

Buying a house is an option.

Lin Xiyu smiled understandingly and then tried to appease him: "Wu Meng also wants to buy one, right? She said a long time ago that she wanted to live across the hall from us. Why don't we take this opportunity to buy one together with her and her husband?"

"She's dreaming big."

Gu Bin, unusually, didn't agree with her: "Who wants to live across the hall from her? Their family has so many problems. Whenever they argue with my mother-in-law, they come over to our house, making life even more uneasy."

"Aren't you and Li Liang on good terms?"

Lin Xiyu smiled and scolded, "Why are you so disgusted with him? If he sees this, he'll complain that you have no brotherly affection."

"Liangzi and I are good friends, there's no need for us to live across the hall from each other!"

Gu Bin had his own reasons: "If we want to chat, we can chat anywhere. It's much more comfortable to meet up somewhere outside for a beer than to stay cooped up at home."

"You just don't want to stay at home."

Lin Xiyu glanced at him with a half-smile: "Home is never as comfortable as outside. And the flowers don't smell as good as outside."

"Cough cough."

Gu Bin was embarrassed and coughed awkwardly twice.

"Did I hit the nail on the head?" Lin Xiyu continued to tease him: "You spent more than two months in Shanghai by yourself, living too carefree, didn't you? Now that you're back, you're complaining about this and that. Are you tired of seeing all these familiar faces and want a change of pace, something exciting?"

"No."

Seeing the cold look in her eyes, Gu Bin decisively denied it: "Wife, don't think like that. I've never had such thoughts."

Lin Xiyu didn't believe it: "You haven't attended any banquets in the past two months? Have you had contact with other women?"

"There's a banquet, but no women."

Fearing she might misunderstand, Gu Bin hurriedly explained, "I only attend official trade and economic negotiation meetings, where we discuss business matters. There's no opportunity to interact with women there."

Lin Xiyu raised an eyebrow: "There were no women at the negotiation meeting?"

"There are strong, capable women."

Gu Bin said in a serious tone, "Gender is yet to be determined. Whether she counts as a woman or not is another matter."

"Pfft."

Grandma Gu was amused by her grandson's rare humor and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"So, this is how you men view women?"

Lin Xiyu didn't laugh, but bristled: "You all mock me just because I'm ambitious? I'm capable, better than many men, so what? Is that a problem? Did I hurt your pride? Are you so jealous of me?"

"No, I didn't mean to belittle women."

Gu Bin was both amused and exasperated: "It was you who insisted on saying that I had contact with women at the banquet, so I had no choice but to say that."

"Humph!"

Lin Xiyu ignored his excuses and snorted to express her dissatisfaction.

"Xiao Bin, that's where you're wrong."

Grandma Gu defended her granddaughter-in-law, saying, "Has your brain become dull after going to Shanghai? You can't even speak properly anymore, and you've made your daughter-in-law angry as soon as you come back."

"Grandma, why are you saying that about me too?"

Gu Bin was speechless: "I just told a joke to make you guys laugh. You were laughing just now."

I didn't laugh.

Grandma Gu denied it: "You've seen wrong."

"Did I...see wrong?"

Gu Bin was speechless. He was about to retort when Grandma Gu glared at him and shut him up.

Ok!

You're older, so you're right.

Gu Bin promptly shut his mouth and stopped saying anything.

The CEO of a listed company, who is a force to be reckoned with outside, is utterly defeated when faced with two women at home, two against one.

-

The couple who came to our house wanting Lin Xiyu to tutor their child were indeed, as Grandma Gu had teased them, nouveau riche.

The couple ran a fireworks and firecracker business, starting with a small workshop with only a few people, and managed to earn more money in just a few years than most people could earn in a lifetime.

The couple bought a house and a car, and their whole family moved from the countryside to the city.

The husband's surname is Wang, and his given name is Wang Meng. Their son's name is Wang Bo, and his nickname is Guoguo. He is currently in the second year of junior high school.

Wang Bo was a diligent student, and his grades were among the best in his class when he was in the countryside.

However, there is a drawback to rural school education: the quality of English teachers varies greatly.

The child's English foundation was weak, and after transferring to a school in the city, the gap between him and his classmates became immediately apparent.

Wang Bo has a strong sense of self-esteem and doesn't want his classmates to look down on him, so he urged his parents to enroll him in several tutoring classes, but the results were not significant.

He's almost in his final year of junior high and facing the high school entrance exam, so he's very anxious. He often stares blankly at his English exam paper and gets inexplicably angry.

Wang Meng and his wife were also very anxious. They had worked hard all their lives and only had this one son. Who wouldn't hope that their son would succeed? They didn't want their son's future to be ruined by the subject of English.

As luck would have it, my little cousin Nana's classmate's parents knew the couple. They often bought firecrackers from them during holidays, and they became acquainted over time.

That man was a loudmouth; he told them about it too.

What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. Desperate for a solution, the couple inquired about Lin Xiyu's address the very next day after hearing the news and rashly went there.

-

Lin Xiyu never expected that the couple would be so persistent. They really did follow Liu Bei's example of visiting Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage three times, staying near their home every single day.

As time went on, she became so embarrassed that she had no choice but to invite the person into her home.

The couple were so excited when they heard her tone soften that they almost knelt down and kowtowed several times on the spot.

Lin Xiyu couldn't accept their excessive hospitality, and with a dark expression, she tried to shoo them away.

"I can't guarantee that I can teach your child well. Whether or not their grades can be improved depends on their own comprehension ability."

“We know that we would be very grateful as long as Teacher Lin is willing to teach him.”

"Bring him over first. I need to test him to see if he's cut out for it before deciding whether to teach him."

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Lin. We'll go back and bring the child over now."

The couple left with their wish fulfilled and were extremely grateful.

-

"You really want to teach him?"

Grandma Gu was very annoyed by the couple's nagging.

"Let them bring it over for us to take a look."

Lin Xiyu was also very troubled: "Otherwise, if they keep loitering around the alley entrance all day, the neighbors will start gossiping again."

"What do they have to say?"

Grandma Gu disagreed: "We don't know them. Whether we teach them or not is up to us, and no one will dare to say a word against it."

"I wouldn't dare say it openly, but I don't know what to say behind people's backs."

Lin Xiyu knew all too well what gossipy women were like: “Rui Rui is still in school at Daming Lake Elementary School. I don’t want him to hear any idle talk. He’s a sensitive child with a heavy heart. I’ve been taking good care of him these past few years, and he’s finally become a bit more cheerful. I don’t want any more gossip to affect his mental health.”

"Ugh."

Grandma Gu's greatest concern these days is her great-grandson. Upon hearing that it would have a negative impact on Rui Rui, she swallowed all her resentment.

-

Wang Meng and his wife were doing well in their business and were quite content. Their son, who resembled his parents, was also a chubby little boy.

When the family of three entered the house together, the half-open door was slammed shut with a loud bang.

Grandma Gu looked in the direction of the sound and saw that her husband was almost stuck and couldn't squeeze in. She exclaimed "Oh!" and couldn't stop laughing.

Our door is quite old.

Lin Xiyu laughed, put down the paper cutting in her hand, and teased, "These days they'd be called antiques, and you'd have to pay for them if you broke them!"

"Teacher Lin, name your price, and we'll pay right now."

Wang Meng, being wealthy and generous, immediately took out his wallet, intending to pay.

"Just kidding, you actually took it seriously."

Grandma Gu gave him a disdainful look.

The implication is clear: who cares about your money?!

In my old man's eyes, your net worth is simply not worth mentioning.

"Put it away quickly, don't embarrass yourself."

Wang Meng's wife immediately understood what she meant, and awkwardly patted her husband's hand, signaling him to put the wallet away.

"Humph."

Grandma Gu gave a haughty snort, quite satisfied with her daughter's pragmatism.

"From now on, stop talking about money all the time."

Lin Xiyu found it amusing and spoke for the old lady, saying, "Even if I agreed to tutor your children, it's not for the money. Money may be tempting, but it's not a panacea."

“If your child has some talent and can improve their grades under my guidance, then we will have formed a good relationship. If not, we will set a half-semester limit. If their grades still don’t improve by the end of the semester, then we will call it quits and you can find another good teacher to avoid jeopardizing your child’s future.”