Chapter 370 - 366: English 2

So, any teacher who knew a bit of English was pulled in to cover English classes.

But the quality of their English was... difficult to describe.

Besides, making a math teacher teach English was just asking too much of him.

"Yun Xiaoqi, what are you talking about!"

He was already annoyed, and then he spotted Yun Xiaoqi giggling and talking with his sister.

"Stand up. Read this passage from the textbook for me."

Yun Xiaoqi’s face fell instantly.

Yun Xiao Ba: ’Serves you right!’

Yun Xiaoqi stumbled through it for what felt like an eternity. His reading was even more broken than the teacher’s, and he mispronounced several words.

Seeing Yun Jiao at his side, covering her mouth and trying not to laugh too hard, a mischievous idea popped into his head.

He yanked his cackling sister to her feet.

Instantly, all eyes shifted from Yun Xiaoqi to Yun Jiao.

Yun Jiao was furious. The smile vanished from her face as she pinched Yun Xiaoqi’s arm.

"AOW!"

The teacher was angry too. "Yun Chenshu, what are you doing?"

Yun Xiaoqi rubbed his arm. "I can’t do it, but my sister can."

He looked incredibly proud.

Yun Jiao gave him a deadpan stare.

"Brother, have you forgotten? I only know how to speak a little!"

That was only thanks to her good memory from learning a lot with Daniel and the others.

But she could only speak the words, she couldn’t read them at all!

Yun Xiaoqi laughed awkwardly. "Uh, Teacher, if you read it once, my sister will get it."

"Teacher, I’m not kidding you!"

Shamelessly, Yun Xiaoqi put his hands together in a pleading gesture and smiled placatingly.

The English teacher gave Yun Jiao a skeptical look.

Yun Jiao: ’Can I sit down now?’

"Sis... Jiaojiao... help me."

Yun Jiao: "..."

The teacher coughed, then read the passage once in his somewhat broken, heavily accented English.

"I am a little driver.

I drive a long train.

......"

After the teacher finished, Yun Jiao, who had understood it all, read it back in perfect English.

They were the exact same words, but from her lips, they sounded like a treat for the ears.

The shocked math teacher pushed his glasses up his nose.

The students stared at Yun Jiao in amazement. How could she read better than the teacher!

Yun Xiaowu said proudly, "Teacher, my sister learned from some foreigners before. She has a great memory, she just never learned to read the words."

The math teacher had been upstaged by a child, but far from being annoyed, he was so happy he started clapping.

"Excellent, excellent! This is wonderful!"

He was a professional math teacher; English was never his strong suit.

"You, young lady, your name is Yun Jiao, right? Come on, come up to the front."

"My English isn’t great, I’m well aware of that. I recognize all these words, but they sound a little strange when I say them. So, how about this, young lady? Do me a favor. I’ll read a line, and then you can read it again with that accent you have. That’s the authentic accent English is supposed to have."

He wasn’t trying to put anyone down, but even the official English teachers at the school didn’t have an accent as authentic and pleasant as hers.

And just like that, Yun Jiao was inexplicably pulled up to the podium and seated right next to the teacher.

"Alright, everyone, ignore my accent and just follow along with our young classmate Yun Jiao."

The math teacher couldn’t have been more pleased.

Yun Jiao faced the twenty-odd pairs of bright, eager eyes looking up at her.

’Okay, I admit, this feels pretty good. I’m a little happy, and also a little shy.’

For the rest of the period, aside from when he had to explain grammar, the reading portion consisted of the teacher reading a line, followed by Yun Jiao repeating it with the correct pronunciation.

The twenty-odd students below all followed her lead.

The math teacher was gratified to notice that while English class usually had the most sleeping students—he knew he was a boring teacher, but what could he do?—today was different.

Today, everyone was energetic, and their reading was much louder than usual.

It sounded better than before, too!

It had to be said, Yun Jiao’s voice had a certain magic to it. When she read, it was like she was singing. It was beautiful!

It sounded so nice that all the students below were paying close attention; no one wanted to waste the opportunity by sleeping.

The only downside was the teacher’s broken English, which was met with some disdain whenever it was sandwiched between her recitations.

A teacher from the neighboring classroom was surprised when he passed by. When did this class get so energetic during English? And why did their pronunciation sound so different from before?

He walked closer and saw two other teachers already standing by the window, craning their necks to peer inside.

He sidled up to them.

"What’s all this about?"

"Shhh... look at that little girl inside."

The teacher looked in just in time to hear Yun Jiao reciting a piece of dialogue.

His jaw dropped the moment he heard her.

"Wh-where did this kid come from?"

’She didn’t come back from overseas, did she? People from a small place like this go abroad? And even if they did, why would she end up at our school?’

"It sounds really good."

"Tell me about it. See? Not a single student in there is asleep."

"It’s just that Old Song’s English in between hers is a bit of a letdown."

"It seems the little girl can’t read English. She only recites it after Old Song reads it first."

When the English class ended, everyone was left wanting more.

Yun Jiao clutched her water bottle and drank. Her mouth was so dry.

"Young classmate Yun Jiao, are you coming back tomorrow?"

"You’re very welcome here, you know."

Yun Jiao said, "I probably won’t."

’I have a lot of things to do.’

The math teacher looked disappointed, then shot Yun Xiaowu and his brothers a look of pure exasperation.

"You boys! Your little sister’s English is so good, why don’t you, her older brothers, learn a thing or two from her!"

Yun Xiaowu said nonchalantly, "Teacher, do I look like I have that kind of talent?"

The math teacher’s head throbbed just looking at him.

’He sighed again. ’How can there be such a huge difference in academic ability between children from the same family?’’

After the math teacher returned to the staff room, word about Yun Jiao spread quickly among the teachers.

The literature teacher had something to add. "Ah, Yun Chenqin’s little sister? She memorized an entire classical poem just from hearing it during my class."

"Sounds like the little girl has an amazing memory."

Yun Xiaojiu’s math teacher scratched his head. "You’re talking about Yun Chen’an’s sister, right?"

The four brothers, including Yun Xiaowu, all have names from the "Chen" generation, named in order after the four classical arts—zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. And they’re twins.

I heard the sixth one went to study in the Capital.

So those boys are quite well-known at school, and all the teachers recognize them.

"That’s right. It seems she went to Yun Chen’an’s class for the second period."

Yun Xiaojiu’s math teacher said, "But she was sleeping during my class."

He felt the injustice!

’No way. Next time I see her, I have to ask her to do it too.’

"I wonder where she’s going next period."

"What class does Yun Chen’an have next?"

"I think it’s English, too."

At that, all eyes fell in unison on a certain history teacher.

That’s right. The English teacher for Yun Xiaojiu’s class was also another subject teacher filling in.

The three actual English teachers only taught third grade and up.

The history teacher took a sip of her tea. "Well now, if I do run into her, I might just take a page out of Old Song’s book."

’I’ll have to see for myself if this little girl’s English is really that good.’

And so, when Yun Jiao went to Brother Nine’s class, she was immediately singled out by the history teacher as soon as the bell rang.

Yun Jiao: "..."

Su Huan had slept through two periods and only woke up during the third.

Then he saw the kid who’d given him food being led to the podium to read English.

He raised an eyebrow. ’This kid’s English is surprisingly good.’

The morning classes finally ended. The moment the bell rang, Yun Jiao grabbed Brother Nine and ran to Fifth Brother’s classroom.

"Let’s go buy some other stuff outside the school first."

Yun Xiaowu: "I want a big meat pie."

Yun Xiaoqi: "I want a soda."

Yun Xiao Ba: "I’m good with anything."

Yun Xiaojiu: "Milk tea."

Yun Jiao waved her little hand magnanimously. "Done. I’ll buy it all for you."

"Oh yeah! Our little sister is the best!"

The other classmates who overheard: ???

’Wait, isn’t that supposed to be the other way around?’