Sister Yang Zhi, You Know Quite a Lot

Seven that evening

"Sister Yang Zhi?"

"Hello, Ding Yebai."

Ding Yebai opened the door and blankly stared at Yang Zhi standing outside.

It was only their second day of lessons, so he inevitably felt a little unaccustomed to it.

Usually, after school, he would return home and study quietly. He would not even go downstairs to open the door for a visitor.

Yang Zhi held her hands naturally before her, carrying a black briefcase. She still wore a white shirt on top, but had changed into a long black skirt and black high heels.

Her style of dress had always been refined and gentle, further accentuating her soft, natural temperament.

Ding Yebai stepped aside to make room for her, lowering his eyes somewhat stiffly. "Come in."

Yang Zhi gave him a bright smile. "Okay."

Only after she passed by him did Ding Yebai raise his head and silently glance at her.

Expressionlessly, he rubbed the tip of his nose, thinking, Why does she smell faintly fragrant?

After the door closed, the two went upstairs one after the other.

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was slightly awkward.

Yang Zhi smiled and took the initiative to speak. "I used to work part-time at a tutoring center, but this is my first time doing one-on-one tutoring. So I don't know whether I teach well or not. Um... anyway, I'm very happy that you approved of me."

It gave me a chance to help you.

Walking ahead of her, Ding Yebai looked straight ahead and said flatly, "Not really."

He said it rather bluntly.

The smile at the corner of Yang Zhi's lips froze for a moment, though her eyes remained gentle. "Huh?"

Ding Yebai said, "It's only been one lesson. There's no obvious improvement to compare, so I can't tell how well you teach. Besides, you only covered the reading comprehension section."

Yang Zhi said, "..."

Ding Yebai said, "The reason I told my mom I agreed to tutoring was because..."

He paused. When they reached the second-floor living room, he stopped and turned to look at Yang Zhi.

But he had not expected her to habitually wear that gentle smile!

Ding Yebai's heart skipped a beat, and the words he wanted to say got stuck in his throat.

That smile again!

That smile that made it impossible to stay calm...

"What's wrong?" Yang Zhi asked.

"I don't know why, but I just feel like if I follow you, my English should improve a little."

A trace of delight flashed through Yang Zhi's eyes. "Really?"

"Just a little. It can't be much."

Ding Yebai frowned. He wanted to say that his intuition had always been accurate, but seeing that class was about to begin, he hurried toward the bedroom instead.

Yang Zhi said, "..."

Though she did not show much on her face, she was actually a little happy inside.

After all, she had been acknowledged by someone.

Just as class began,

Ding Yebai handed Yang Zhi the Xiao Bai eraser from last time.

"I bought a new one. Here, yours."

Yang Zhi had not expected him to return it. She truly had not taken a tiny eraser to heart.

"Mm." She took it and prepared to give Ding Yebai a vocabulary dictation.

Yesterday, she had sent Ding Yebai a vocabulary list. She wondered how well he had memorized it.

She read out the English words and had him spell them and write down their Chinese meanings.

Ding Yebai wrote furiously the entire time, never lifting his head. He was extremely serious!!

But after he handed it in and she finished marking it, more than half were wrong.

His moves had been fierce as a tiger, but his results were zero... ahem!

He stared blankly at his notebook. The red crosses seemed like flames burning his eyes.

Even those icy, misty, indifferent eyes changed slightly because of poor grades.

Yang Zhi became unusually serious. "Ding Yebai, did you properly memorize the words?"

Ding Yebai paused, then looked up at Yang Zhi blankly.

"No."

"Why didn't you memorize them?"

"I couldn't be bothered."

"... Vocabulary must be memorized. If you want to improve your English, how can you do it without seriously learning the words?"

"Mm. I understand."

This child was rather honest...

As for Ding Yebai memorizing vocabulary, he would forget it after memorizing it, then memorize it again after forgetting it, only to forget it again.

It was exactly like that internet joke: [Open the book: "Ma Dongmei." Close the book: "Ma Dong what?" Open the book: "Ma Dongmei." Close the book: "Ma what mei?" Open the book: "Ma Dongmei." Close the book: "What Dongmei?"]

He did not say that aloud. Ding Yebai felt that excuse was too absurd.

Yang Zhi seemed to see his difficulty. One hand pressed down on his dictation paper while the other held a red pen and tapped the word [echo].

"This one is wrong," Yang Zhi said softly.

"Mm." Ding Yebai obediently nodded.

A gentle smile spread across Yang Zhi's lips. "It means an echo, a reverberation."

Ding Yebai thought she was going to teach him how to pronounce the word, so he repeated after her, "An echo, a reverberation."

Yang Zhi said, "Actually, there's a story. After you hear it, you should remember it more clearly."

Ding Yebai said nothing. His way of expressing that he wanted to hear it was merely straightening up and looking at Yang Zhi especially attentively.

"In Greek mythology, Echo was a forest goddess. Hera, Zeus's wife, was jealous of her beauty and made her lose the ability to speak normally. She could only repeat the last three words someone else said. That is where the meaning of echo comes from."

Yang Zhi paused, then smiled and asked, "What do you think, Ding Yebai? Isn't it much easier to remember it this way?"

Ding Yebai said, "Mm. It is."

Yang Zhi smiled and moved the dictation notebook closer to him. "What is remembered over and over will surely echo back. You don't necessarily have to memorize things by rote; clever memorization is the key. Use your own method—as long as you remember it firmly, anything is fine. Of course, the prerequisite is that you put your heart into memorizing it. If you get this many words wrong in the next dictation, I'll be angry."

Though she was saying the words "be angry," her face still carried that ever-approachable smile.

Looking at her face, it was hard to imagine what she would look like when angry.

Ding Yebai nodded. One hand pressed against his dictation notebook, his mouth half-opened, and words of praise unexpectedly slipped out.

"I only knew Zeus and Hera. I really didn't know about that forest goddess. You not only know the meaning of the word, but can also explain its origin. You're much more impressive than me."

Ding Yebai rarely praised outsiders. After saying it, even he was stunned for quite a while.

Yang Zhi also paused, but soon her eyes curved as she smiled brightly and cheerfully.

"How is that impressive? I just knew about it a little earlier than you did. Besides, don't you know it now too?"

"..."

"Right?"

When she tilted her head and smiled at him, the smile on her profile was especially bright. Amid that smile, where light and shadow intertwined, was the radiant beauty of flowers in full bloom. Even the air seemed to carry a sweet fragrance, moving him deeply.

Ding Yebai said, "..."

Yes.

I know now.

And Sister Yang Zhi... you're also, also quite good at talking.

From seven to eight-thirty,

Ding Yebai listened attentively throughout the entire lesson.

Before, he had been happy because, as a day student, he did not have to attend evening self-study.

Now, after coming home, he still had to keep attending class.

Sigh... damned English.

As he thought about it, he silently turned his head and looked at Sister Yang Zhi, who was seriously reading through the test paper.

Because her long, flowing hair blocked her view, she tucked it behind her ear with one hand. Every gesture carried the refined grace of a woman from a waterside town.

Afraid he would not finish the questions, Ding Yebai did not dare look any longer and lowered his head to continue writing furiously.

He was surrounded by female classmates his own age in senior year. This was the first time in his life that he had interacted with such a mature, intellectual woman.

Most importantly, her smile was so sweet. Whenever she smiled, even the wind rustling across the mountains seemed to fall silent.

It was rare to see an adult with such a pure and sincere smile.

Why did she love smiling so much?

And... she had clearly come to tutor him for free, unable to gain even the slightest benefit, yet she was still so dedicated and responsible.

At first, he had thought she was merely going through the motions and fooling him.

He could not help being curious, but his feelings stopped at curiosity at most.

Thinking about girls? Was he crazy?

The wise do not fall in love! Iron pots are only for stewing geese!

Forget it, he could ignore that last part.

After class ended,

Yang Zhi packed up and went downstairs.

"Ding Yebai, tomorrow is Saturday, a day off. See you on Monday."

Ding Yebai sat in his chair. Upon hearing that, he turned his head slightly, rose unhurriedly, and politely replied, "See you."

Yang Zhi smiled at him with her bag in hand, then turned and left.

Ding Yebai said, "..."

After she left, Ding Yebai slowly walked to the balcony.

Not wanting to turn on the light and expose himself, he merely watched Yang Zhi leave in silence.

Under the dim yellow streetlights, she left behind a lonely silhouette.

Ding Yebai said, "..."

He had heard his sister say that Yang Zhi was a survivor of that magnitude 8.0 earthquake. Both her parents had died in the disaster.

It was said that her mother had shielded her beneath her body and, before dying, left a message on her phone.

At such a young age, she had suddenly lost both parents. In the end, Grandma took her to Jinghuai and raised her.

From a certain perspective, my sister is also a very good person.

Grandma was so important to her, so that was why she was willing to tutor for free.

"Yang Zhi." Ding Yebai called her name softly with a cold expression. After a long while, he said quietly, "Her voice is clearly gentle yet resolute, and her smile is so sweet... Who would have thought she had gone through all that?"

His hand involuntarily tightened around the railing. Sister Yang Zhi's figure had already disappeared from his sight.