A Young Woman's Heart

"Uh..." He stood up, his face turning red, and he couldn't speak for a long time.

"Can any student make a sentence using the teacher's surname?" Mo Xueyao wasn't angry, but she didn't ask him to sit down either. Instead, she recalled how her elementary school teacher looked in class and gently shook her right hand.

A few seconds later, a girl raised her hand.

"Okay, what's this student's name?"

"My name is Tantai Lian..."

"Okay, Tantai Lian, how about trying to make a sentence?"

……

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Teaching Support Program Officially Begins (Part Two)

(One)

Tantai Lian is a girl with wheat-colored skin, but her skin is very delicate, and even though her skin tone is brownish, it still does not look rough.

She gave Mo Xueyao a slightly shy smile, and after receiving a nod of encouragement from the latter, she took a slight breath and answered smoothly, "Mo—you're not making fun of me, are you?"

"Hey, very good! You must have read some famous works, right?"

"Teacher Mo!" She nodded vigorously, as excited as if her talent had been discovered. "I've read the pinyin versions of Dream of the Red Chamber and Water Margin!"

"Very good." Mo Xueyao gestured for her to sit down, then walked with a smile to the boy who was still standing. "So, do you know how to use the character 'Mo' now?"

"I know..." He stood up, his courage seeming to diminish considerably, and answered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

"Do you really know? Or are you still making fun of me?"

"No..." He raised his voice a little higher, "Teacher, look, I... I can use it now."

"Pfft." Mo Xueyao was stunned for a few seconds before she reacted. She shook her head helplessly and put her hand on his shoulder. "Alright, alright, sit down."

"There are plenty of seats in the classroom, so feel free to sit anywhere. In my class, you don't have to sit in a very proper posture. As long as your eyes are on the blackboard and you're listening, that's fine." Mo Xueyao lowered her head and picked up the list. "You all know me now, so let me introduce you to everyone. When I call your name, say 'Here!' and then raise your hand so I can see who it is, understand?"

“I know—” the students below the stage immediately responded in a drawn-out voice.

"Duan Haichao".

"Uh, here."

"Duan Xingyu".

"Teacher, it's me..."

"Hmm, I'll remember you—Ren Wenkai?"

"To!"

……

(two)

"Class, have you ever studied English before?" Cha Li poked a boy who was distracted in class with her finger, but her gaze was fixed on the other students in the classroom.

The latter quickly came to his senses and awkwardly slumped onto the table.

"have--"

"No--"

The students answered sporadically.

"Whether you have it or not, I hope you listen carefully. Don't get distracted by what you've already learned; just treat it as a review." As Cha Li spoke, she switched to Sichuan-accented Mandarin, "Classmates! Do you remember the pinyin we learned before? Actually, the English letters and pinyin are similar, both having twenty-six letters. But! You can't just write English like you would with pinyin. You need to be clear, the way you write it is different."

“ABCDEFG~” A boy in the audience who had learned it before couldn’t help but hum it after Cha Li finished speaking.

“That’s right, there’s an English song that can help everyone remember the English alphabet faster. It’s the most basic thing, just like you have to learn gestures to learn Chinese.” Cha Li said as she walked to the back of the classroom and gently tapped the head of a boy sitting at the very back. “Your name is Zheng Fanhang, right?”

He looked up, not answering, but tacitly agreeing, a hint of confusion on his face.

"Let me test you, are there twenty-four letters or twenty-six letters?"

"...Twenty...four?" He probably thought the number sounded better, hesitated for a moment, and answered somewhat uncertainly.

“I just said that,” she chuckled, patting the boy’s head. “There are twenty-six letters in total.”

"Oh... twenty-six."

"Zheng Fanhang, you can choose your own seat. Why are you sitting so far back? Wouldn't you have a better view from the front?"

"Uh..." The third-grade boy couldn't come up with a reason for a long time, so he could only blink at Cha Li desperately, hoping that the teacher could understand what he meant.

"Come sit a little further in the middle. Look, you're the only one sitting at the very back." Cha Li walked to the middle and patted an empty chair. "Come on, sit here."

The latter scratched his head, but still had no choice but to obediently sit down—even though his face clearly showed his reluctance.

“Sit here and listen to the lesson.” She patted his head again—mainly because the little guy had a nearly bald buzz cut, which felt a bit prickly to the touch, giving people a strange sense of pleasure.

"Students, open your English books. In the first unit, we can see the twenty-six letters. Next, I will teach you how to write the twenty-six letters properly. It's not exactly the same as in the book because there's a difference between printed and handwritten characters—"

……

(three)

There weren't many second-grade children, so the classroom seemed a bit empty.

Xuan Anyi simply had everyone put the tables together, and then everyone gathered around.

It feels a bit like a kindergarten class.

With only five or six students scattered around, there was really no need for the teacher to stand on the podium.

Such close contact is actually better.

She placed a boy and a girl on her left and right, and she was currently teaching the children to draw cubes on a piece of white paper.

Art classes don't necessarily have to follow the textbook exactly; as long as they can develop children's hands-on and drawing skills, that's fine.

The cube is a fundamental element in art.

It also tests one's patience and observation skills.

"You don't need a ruler to draw it, you can just use your hand. It's okay if it's a little crooked." She demonstrated while smiling gently. "Look, if the light shines from here, then the shadow should be here. Do you know what a shadow is?"

"Shadow!" a child blurted out.

"Yes, that's the shadow, the shadow of this cube. Let's learn the basics first. The light shining down from here won't make the shadow very long. It's about the same size as the cube, and the shadow is projected onto the ground like this."

"Then we use a pencil to fill it in completely."

Xuan Anyi put down her pen and looked at the children around her: "Okay, everyone, try drawing. If you have any difficulties, tell the teacher. Remember, the first thing to do is draw a cube."

It seems that children are generally interested in drawing.

Graffiti is probably human nature.

They clumsily began to draw, imitating what Xuan Anyi had just done.

"Hmm, first draw a square, very good~ Then what? Draw a stroke from here, a little crooked, don't make it too straight."

"Your line is too long, pull it back a bit—did anyone bring an eraser?"

"Hmm, that's a good drawing, but it's wrong. The sunlight is coming from this side, so why is the shadow going towards the light?" Xuan Anyi taught the children one by one, and even pulled one student to stand by the window. "Come on, look, where does the sunlight come from?"

“There.” The boy pointed to the blazing sun outside the window, a sun that made him sweat profusely.

"Yes, it came from that direction, but the shadow can't possibly go that way, can it? Look, where is your shadow?"

"……here."

“That’s right. So, the direction is reversed. The shadow should be in the direction the sunlight is shining, not in the direction the light is coming from.” Xuan Anyi made him sit down and gave him a brand new sheet of white paper. “Draw it again on the new paper.”

"Okay, teacher."

……

(four)

Music classes are held in dedicated music classrooms.

It's on the top floor.

Even though the curtains were drawn, the room was still very bright, which gives you an idea of ​​how strong the sunlight was outside.

The ceiling fan was blowing continuously, and even though Hua Yinyin was sensitive to heat, sweat was dripping down her forehead.

In front of her was an old piano, a discarded item collected from a primary school.

Because it wasn't well preserved, there are many areas where the paint has peeled off and cracked.

Although the pitch has been adjusted, it is still slightly out of tune.

However, it doesn't have much of an impact on playing pieces that elementary school students learn.

Comparatively speaking, Hua Yinyin is not as skilled at the piano as she is at the pipa, but if she can be stumped by such simple children's songs, then she shouldn't be playing any music at all.

This is a children's song called "Heavy Rain and Light Rain," which she is playing on the piano while several children listen below.

Having just graduated from kindergarten, they flipped through their music textbooks. Although the lyrics had phonetic symbols, they could barely understand a few words.

After all, they haven't even learned pinyin yet.

"This is the melody of the children's song, and then!" Hua Yinyin peeked out from behind the piano, "Everyone sing along with me! I'll sing one line, and you sing one line, okay~!"

"it is good--"

"Heavy rain, pouring down." Hua Yinyin deliberately slowed down the already slow tempo so that the children could remember the lyrics.

"Big, rain, splashing~" Several children sang along in their childish voices, their voices varying in pitch.

There weren't many people who followed the lead.

Hua Yinyin couldn't help but chuckle, then quickly coughed and continued singing: "Little rain~ pattering~"

"A light rain—pattering down—"

"Splash, splash, splash~"

"Splash—drizzle—"

When children sing, they always seem to like to drag out the notes.