After using the restroom with a flushed face, Xia Kening washed up and quickly changed into her school uniform, then slung her backpack over her shoulder and prepared to leave.
A few minutes later, Xia Kening arrived at the breakfast shop that Song Yunshen had taken her to before, and successfully found her aunt and uncle who were having breakfast there.
She had never met Zhao Zeheng before, but she knew Ruan Zheng, so she didn't need Song Yunshen to help her identify him.
As soon as I entered the shop, the auntie at the breakfast stall greeted me with a smile, "The same as always?"
"Hmm..." Xia Kening glanced at the minced meat noodles on someone else's table, feeling a little envious.
Although Song Yunshen said to eat whatever she wanted, Xia Kening nodded in order not to arouse suspicion.
Anyway, Song Yunshen usually likes to eat wontons, xiaolongbao, and pan-fried dumplings, which are also her favorite foods. We can talk about minced meat noodles later.
Thinking this, she arrived at Zhao Zeheng and Ruan Zheng's table. As soon as she saw her homeroom teacher's face, she couldn't help but greet him respectfully.
"Auntie, Uncle... Good morning..."
"Why are you stuttering?" Zhao Zeheng looked up at him, gesturing for him to sit down. "You told me last night you had something to do. What is it?"
"Oh, is that so..." Xia Kening sat down opposite the two of them, somewhat awkwardly placing her hands on her knees, and explained to them according to Song Yunshen's instructions.
"Oh~" Upon hearing this, Zhao Zeheng's eyes narrowed with a smile, sensing the juicy gossip. " Xia Yunuo? That's a nice name. She's a girl, right?"
"Mm." Xia Kening nodded.
"Is it pretty?"
"What did you ask?" Ruan Zheng, who was standing to the side, slapped him in an annoyance.
"Very beautiful," Xia Kening replied deliberately.
"So you and her are just classmates?" Zhao Zeheng squeezed his wife's hand and continued to ask with a smile.
"We often eat together," Xia Kening said with a straight face.
Anyway, Song Yunshen was the one taking the blame, and she was just telling the truth; she wasn't lying.
"Alright, alright, stop asking," Ruan Zheng quickly interrupted. "I'll ask."
"Auntie, please speak." Xia Kening sat obediently, waiting for the questioning, hoping to please Teacher Ruan and help her second sister secure this part-time job.
How are her grades?
"Her grades are pretty good, except for math, which is a little weak. English is her strong point, and she usually ranks around 100th in her grade."
"Oh, that's quite nice." Ruan Zheng nodded slightly.
To rank over 100th at Ningjiang Middle School would be roughly equivalent to being in the 50th or 60th place in their grade in Shulan.
This knowledge base is more than enough for teaching young children.
What's her personality like?
"Her personality..." Xia Kening thought for a moment, "She's very serious and patient. I think she's quite good at taking care of children."
After all, when she was at home, the person she feared most was her second sister, Xia Kening felt that she wasn't wrong about that.
"Let's discuss it in detail when we meet on Saturday," Ruan Zheng said. "As long as everyone is alright."
"Uncle and Aunt... have you decided how much salary to pay them?" Xia Kening asked tentatively.
"We'll listen to your uncle," Zhao Zeheng said, waving his hand. "Just go with the market price; we won't try to drive down the price."
"Then give me more," Xia Kening said, trying to mimic Song Yunshen's shameless tone.
If it were her, she would definitely be embarrassed to speak to her elders like that.
But Song Yunshen had previously advised her that she could speak more casually to her uncle, so Xia Kening decided to give it a try.
"Oh ho, so you've learned to betray your own side already?" Zhao Zeheng chuckled. "I was just about to ask, is this girl your little girlfriend?"
"No," Xia Kening blinked innocently, "They're just classmates I often eat with."
Nobody would believe that!
Xia Kening, anyway, didn't believe it.
But I still have to say it this way.
"Hehe." Zhao Zeheng clearly didn't believe it either, but to him, a few thousand yuan a month was just a small amount, so he nodded and said, "In short, she won't be treated unfairly. We'll talk about the specific amount on Saturday."
He didn't mind his nephew dating; he considered it support for Song Yunshen's love life.
Ruan Zheng glanced at Zhao Zeheng, but didn't say anything, which was taken as tacit agreement.
Generally speaking, people usually listen to her on most small matters at home.
However, when it comes to important family matters, Zhao Zeheng usually makes the decisions, while Ruan Zheng at most offers some advice.
Since Zhao Zeheng had already made the decision, she decided not to interfere any further.
As long as it doesn't affect the teaching effect on Yingying, it's fine.
After breakfast.
Xia Kening successfully slipped away from the breakfast shop, rubbing her warm belly and letting out a long sigh of relief.
She was still a little afraid when facing Teacher Ruan.
However, compared to when she's in the classroom, Teacher Ruan seems to be much gentler in private.
Especially when Teacher Ruan's hand was held by Song Yunshen's uncle just now.
Oh dear, oh dear~
It's even a little bit sweet.
Xia Kening looked like she had bumped into something and hurried towards the school.
On the other side...
Song Yunshen finished breakfast with his three roommates and arrived at the classroom smoothly, where he sat down in Xia Kening's seat.
Following Xia Kening's instructions, Song Yunshen the drawer and quickly found the draft notebook. He opened it, glanced at the speech draft inside, and then suddenly couldn't hold back his emotions.
I almost burst out laughing.
"What's wrong?" Xia Kening's deskmate Kong Xi, asked with concern when she saw Xia Kening's slightly trembling shoulders.
"N-nothing," Song Yunshen waved his hand, suppressing a laugh. "I'm just happy."
"You really should be happy to have ranked third in your grade this time," Kong Xi said with a smile. "And you'll be giving a speech on stage later, so good luck!"
"Okay, good luck." Song Yunshen nodded perfunctorily, then said she needed to prepare her speech. Kong Xi didn't bother her any longer and took out her English textbook to read.
Not long after, the background music for the flag-raising ceremony began to play, and the students got up and lined up in the corridor.
Song Yunshen did not follow the group. Instead, he went downstairs early to the vicinity of the flag-raising platform, found his organization, and was assigned to prepare at the back.
As the entire school lined up neatly, the flag-raising team completed the flag-raising ceremony. After the student council members in charge of the event were introduced, it was finally Song Yunshen's turn to go on stage.
To be honest, Song Yunshen was actually a little nervous.
After all, he had never experienced the privilege of giving a speech on a flag-raising platform before.
At this moment, Song Yunshen slowly walked up to the flagpole, stood at the designated spot, looked at the dark mass of people on the playground, and took a deep breath.
They're all juniors, calm down, calm down.
After catching his breath, Song Yunshen took out a draft paper from his pocket, picked up the microphone, and glanced at the contents of the paper.
Then, trying to speak in a serious voice, he said into the microphone:
Good morning, dear teachers and classmates!
"I am Xia Kening from Class 8, Grade 8. Today, I feel both honored and nervous to be able to stand under the national flag and speak."
"Before this final exam, my grades had consistently ranked around 70th or 80th in the grade, just an average student among many others."
"I never imagined that I would one day achieve the honor of being third in my grade."
Many students ask me if I've suddenly found a shortcut.
"But today I want to sincerely tell everyone: my comeback was not a miracle, but the result of day after day of perseverance; it wasn't a sudden breakthrough, but rather a quiet accumulation of experience."
Pfft
Upon reading this, Song Yunshen couldn't help but lower his head and laugh out loud.