Wang Qiqi had initially intended to stay on the sidelines while the girl's mother disciplined her daughter for poor grades, wanting to observe how the interaction made the mother and daughter feel, as such a public display of failure was embarrassing; no one welcomed such a scene in broad daylight. Wang Qiqi took two steps forward, preparing to leave.

But after those two steps, Wang Qiqi abruptly stopped. "Is that girl struggling specifically with English? And she's in the sixth grade?"

"That should be simple enough. As someone who works as a translator, there’s no reason I can’t handle a sixth-grade girl’s English, right?"

"No, wait a minute. While my ability is good, what if the girl isn't bright? What if her mind is just mush? She understands something one moment and forgets it entirely the next. Even the smartest teacher couldn't raise her English scores then. Plus, I’ve never tutored before; I don't even have the theoretical knowledge. How can I coach a little girl? Am I going to mislead someone’s child?"

"But for a key district middle school, she couldn't possibly be an idiot to get accepted, could she?"

Although Wang Qiqi didn't know the full situation, from the brief exchange, she gathered that the girl’s grades were generally decent, but her English was severely lacking. If I could improve the girl’s English, then perhaps learning to knit sweaters would be easier for me later. More importantly, Wang Qiqi felt that the shop owner absolutely wouldn't look down on her for being slow then, since she would be teaching the daughter English for free until she succeeded. Weighing the costs, it was clearly her who would be taking the loss. "Maybe I should just try."

Having made up her mind, Wang Qiqi turned and walked back to the entrance of the yarn shop. "I'm sorry, um..." Wang Qiqi murmured, keeping her voice very low.

Huang Rong was already furious when her daughter, Feng Yanxia, returned. This daughter was clearly a bright child; all the relatives and friends said so—smart and obedient. Yet, her recent English scores had plummeted repeatedly. Although she was still above the passing line, this level would make it hard to get into the key district middle school. Huang Rong had suffered from a lack of education herself. If she had studied diligently back then, she wouldn't be stuck running a small shop. Her daughter was her future; she was willing to spend any amount of money on her studies. After all, that money would eventually be hers anyway. It was better to invest now to smooth out her path later. But the problem was... her daughter complained that the English tutor she hired wasn't good. Where could she find someone competent? Just as Huang Rong was worrying and considering who to ask for help, Wang Qiqi appeared.

Huang Rong initially thought a customer had arrived, and the worried expression vanished instantly. The speed of the change startled Wang Qiqi. "You..." Huang Rong hadn't expected the young woman who had been standing by her door for a long time—the same one who had been lingering around this area for the past few days without ever saying a word, never appearing to be shopping—to return. She was momentarily stunned, unable to fathom why this girl had come back.

Wang Qiqi bit her lip. "Um, I am a junior at C University. I translate manuscripts part-time for a translation agency..."

Hearing she was a C University student, Huang Rong’s eyes lit up. A university student tutoring was perfect—not only cheap, but this girl clearly looked like a high-achieving student. Huang Rong assumed the girl was looking for a tutoring job and was about to agree, but when she heard Wang Qiqi mentioned translating part-time, she became uncertain. Although she didn't know much about the translation market, she knew translating certainly earned more than tutoring, plus it avoided the need to rush from place to place. She looked at Wang Qiqi with a confused expression.

"Well, I want to learn how to knit scarves. But I’m a bit slow. Would you be willing to teach me? I can teach your daughter English." Seeing the confused look on the woman’s face, Wang Qiqi quickly stated her purpose. Sigh, after all that explanation, I was just trying to show her my capability. In reality, Qiqi hadn't grasped that successfully offering to tutor a sixth-grader simply because she was a C University student would have a much higher chance of success. This introduction just made the shop owner wonder what on earth she was after.

Huang Rong hadn't expected that after all that buildup, the request was for the shop owner to teach her knitting, in exchange for teaching her daughter English. Huang Rong glanced at her daughter, diligently doing homework in the corner, then back at Qiqi, swallowing hard. "Did I hear that right? You mean... no tuition fee?" Good heavens, teaching knitting! In Huang Rong's mind, that was something easily learned.

Wang Qiqi nodded, looking at Huang Rong with hopeful anticipation. "I know my request is a bit..."

"Actually, learning to knit scarves is very quick. I could teach you in two sessions." Huang Rong thought it over and decided against accepting such an easy favor. It wasn't out of pure kindness; she reasoned that knitting a scarf was simple. Her own daughter had learned to knit during the first-grade winter break. The difficulty level wasn't high. What if she taught her twice, the girl learned, and then never showed up again? Wouldn't her daughter be the one losing out then?

Wang Qiqi thought to herself: If it only took two sessions to learn, would I be this miserable? Although sharing her past brilliant failures was embarrassing, wouldn't the truth about her lack of skill eventually come out once she started formal lessons under a teacher?

Huang Rong listened as the seemingly bright young woman described her struggles with knitting. Her mouth hung wide open. If there hadn't been so many knitters around, and if her own young daughter hadn't known how to knit, she might have believed it was an incredibly advanced skill. While it might be good if the girl was a little slow and thus taught her daughter English longer, Huang Rong worried that if Wang Qiqi still couldn't knit the simplest scarf after several years, would she even have the skill to teach her then? What if the girl thought Huang Rong wasn't putting her full effort into teaching? Huang Rong decided it was better not to accept the deal; easy favors weren't always good ones. "Well, I think..."

Wang Qiqi hadn't expected that after all her explanations, the woman still looked at her defensively. This made Wang Qiqi feel helpless. Surely she didn't look like a bad person. "I just want to use my spare time to knit a scarf for my boyfriend. He’s going to the US during the winter break, and I want to give him a gift." If the woman still refused, Wang Qiqi genuinely didn't know how she would manage to find a mentor. Under any circumstances, she had to secure this teacher. Not every shop owner had a child with poor grades, and specifically, the weak subject was English—what a coincidence! "Don't worry, if I truly can't learn, I won't demand a refund for lessons; I’ll just have to admit I’m slow."

Huang Rong looked at her daughter's longing expression, then considered that it was already May, and district key school enrollment was next month. If she waited for someone else to recommend an English tutor, it might be too late. Perhaps she should let this girl start first, and she could still look around elsewhere. If this girl genuinely improved her daughter's English, that would be ideal. If not, Huang Rong wouldn't lose much, as she wasn't paying tuition anyway. "Fine, when shall we start?" Huang Rong thought, since the deal was struck, the sooner the better. Otherwise, every day delayed could jeopardize her daughter's chances at the key district middle school.

If the shop owner agreed, Wang Qiqi certainly had no problem. Internally, however, she was already planning to consult Bai Ge on how to coach students. She was considered a 'gold-medal tutor' herself, with countless parents seeking her services for high pay. Truthfully, Wang Qiqi sometimes envied that, but the thought of having to run around and deal with students of various temperaments always made her drop the idea.

As a first-timer on the job, Wang Qiqi didn't dwell too much on how to be a great tutor. She first needed to gauge Feng Yanxia’s baseline knowledge to pinpoint her issues. After a full review, Wang Qiqi realized that many problems stemmed from the subject-verb-object structure. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to handle these specific issues myself." Wang Qiqi stated frankly.

Wang Qiqi's honesty shocked both Huang Rong and her daughter. They exchanged glances. Could this older sister be exaggerating her translation skills? The way they looked at Wang Qiqi became strange. Huang Rong worried that perhaps this girl intended to get free knitting lessons by offering tutoring—that would be too dishonest.

"Actually, those specific grammar points aren't the most important thing right now. I can give you intensive cramming to cover this weakness." Wang Qiqi recalled that Bai Ge had tutored a student who had major issues in this exact area. Bai Ge had spent a long time devising a remedial method—one of her secret techniques and a core component of her professional standing. However, Wang Qiqi was certain Bai Ge would share this secret with her, not only because of their good relationship but also because Wang Qiqi had no intention of competing in the tutoring world, meaning she wasn't a threat to Bai Ge at all.

Huang Rong and her daughter felt as if they’d been on a roller coaster today, soaring up and plummeting into valleys. "Intensive cramming? Won't she just forget it again later?" Huang Rong suddenly realized. What was the point? Even if her daughter passed the entrance exam for the key district middle school this way, wouldn't she still be confused in junior high?

"Actually, foreigners aren't very concerned with these strict rules. I think these points are just for passing exams. The best method is extensive reading of original English books." Wang Qiqi thought: My English is based on textbooks. Once you go abroad, you'll find that native speakers don't adhere to these rules. Whatever is simplest, most convenient, and conveys the meaning is what they use. "Don't worry, we still have over a month. Let's go for it!" Wang Qiqi held out her fist, looking at the little girl with a bright smile.

Feng Yanxia looked at the dazzlingly bright smile of Wang Qiqi and raised her own fist to meet Wang Qiqi's. "Feng Yanxia."

"Wang Qiqi." (To be continued)