"Alright, class is dismissed for today."
"Wait a moment, Xue Wei."
Just as Su Ge's voice fell, Qiu Xi, who was about to join the crowd for lunch, stopped in her tracks.
"Xiao Xi, we'll wait for you outside."
"Mmm..."
There was no other choice. Since Su Ge had summoned her, as a student, she had to go.
After everyone left, Su Yihua began to speak.
"Qiu Xi, I've been watching you for a while. I have a summer project, and I wonder if you'd be willing to experience it with your teacher."
This was something a friend from his past had approached him for, asking for his help.
It was clear this was a way to earn money. Since he had some free time during the summer, he thought it would be good to mentor students and also delve deeper into academic research, so he applied for this practical project.
He had already selected a few people for this, all of whom would be seniors next semester.
However, he was still short one person. He had planned to send out a message during class, but today, as he was teaching, he suddenly thought of this Xue Wei.
This student's knowledge base was excellent for her stage, even among the few people he was taking with him, she was among the best.
It was just that her practical experience was insufficient, which he had noticed from her performance in class.
This student, he reckoned, just needed a lot of practical accumulation to build a solid foundation and a high platform.
"Teacher, this..."
Qiu Xi had initially thought that Su Ge was going to assign some homework or ask for help with some menial tasks, and she was prepared to put in hard work.
However, this one sentence completely stunned her.
She knew she lacked experience, and her master had also said so, but this couldn't be rushed.
Her master had already been arranging activities for her summer, though she hadn't agreed yet.
She felt she had to wait until after she finished her studies this semester.
Her master eventually found this reasonable, as her theoretical knowledge was now considered complete. He had said then that they would wait the next two months to consolidate it.
She hadn't expected to be noticed by her school teacher so soon.
No, it would be more accurate to say she had been singled out for attention.
Su Yihua asked, confused, "What? You don't want to come?"
Normally, students would be very happy to have such an opportunity at this stage.
"Teacher, do I need to give you an answer now?"
This implied, didn't it, whether she could consider it further?
This immediately piqued Su Yihua's interest. "What? Do you have other concerns? If not, your teacher won't force you."
Upon hearing this, Qiu Xi immediately replied, "No!"
After a moment's thought, she decided to explain, "It's just that I need to tell my master, because..."
"Hmm? You child, you have a master? What's your master's surname? Tell me."
Su Yihua laughed when he heard this. He rarely encountered such a situation.
Although he also had a master, that was when he was pursuing his master's degree.
While others had their master's supervisors, he was the only one who turned his master's supervisor into a master, and it was a formal apprenticeship.
Qiu Xi thought for a moment, then said, "My master's surname is Du. He's been teaching me for almost half a year. I know a lot of what I do now because my master taught me, so I really need to ask him about what you just said."
"Surname Du, taught for only half a year? Is this master Du Jiangyan, or Du Jinxing, or... it couldn't possibly be Du Bin, could it?"
Upon hearing the surname, several well-known figures flashed through Su Yihua's mind. While he wasn't very familiar with some of them, they had all been associated with his master in some way, so he had this basic knowledge.
Although he found it hard to believe that this student had the opportunity to be mentored by such masters, especially the last one, it was even more impossible.
But these were all he could think of. Perhaps this student's teacher was not well-known.
Su Yihua, who was just contemplating and had intended to let the matter drop, was stunned by Qiu Xi's next sentence before he could even speak.
"Teacher, you know Master Du Bin?"
After a long pause, he instinctively asked urgently, "Du Bin, you mean Du Wenwu Bin, a very old man?"
"Teacher, you really know him!"
This time, it was Qiu Xi's turn to be stunned.
She knew her master was knowledgeable and understood many things. He had also been in the education industry before, and his position was certainly not low.
However, she hadn't expected that Su Ge seemed to know her master. The look in his eyes just now showed an eagerness to know the answer.
"See, is it this one?"
Hearing Qiu Xi's words, Su Yihua took out his phone, flipped through his photo album, and pointed to a picture, showing it to Qiu Xi.
"It really is!"
Although the person in the photo was about twenty years younger, Qiu Xi recognized him as her master Du Bin at a glance. And Grandma Li was there too!
"Su Ge, how do you have this photo? Even Grandma Li is in it!"
This made Qiu Xi so curious and excited that her address for him changed.
However, Su Yihua didn't mind. After all, he was used to this form of address.
Moreover, if this student was truly a disciple of Teacher Du, then in terms of seniority, he could indeed be called "Ge."
It felt a bit like he was getting an advantage, instantly feeling like he had become ten or twenty years younger.
"That's a long story. I'll explain it to you later. Tell me, how is Teacher Du doing now?"
Thinking of his master, whom his master rarely mentioned but often reminisced about, Su Yihua felt a bit emotional.
When Teacher Du announced his retirement, he immediately returned to Jinhai City and didn't let anyone visit him, so they really didn't know where he was.
"Teacher, he's doing very well. I saw him last night. He just stays up late, that old man."
"Haha~ Only you would dare to speak about Teacher Du like that... Ah! Wait, you saw him last night? You mean Teacher Du is in Chongxi City now?"
He intended to tease along, but upon realizing the latter part of her sentence, Su Yihua became agitated.
"Yes, I accompanied him when the semester started. He said he wanted to supervise my studies."
"Speaking of which, Teacher, you haven't told me about your story with Master yet."
"That's not urgent. We'll talk about it next time. I'm going back now, and we can discuss the project next time!"
As he spoke and tidied up, by the time he finished speaking, Qiu Xi saw that Su Ge had already walked out.
Holding his phone, she faintly heard him saying, "Master... come back... etc." In short, the man was extremely excited.
"Xiao Xi, what were you guys talking about? We saw Su Ge run out so excitedly. We greeted him just now, but he didn't even acknowledge us."
"Yeah! He's not acting like Su Ge at all!"
The three of them watched, filled with curiosity.
Normally, their teacher was calm, retained his handsomeness despite his age, and was humorous. But just now, he was like a young man, anxious yet excited, but it didn't seem like an urgent matter. It felt more like happiness.
Qiu Xi was also perplexed. "I don't know either. We just talked about my master, and then Su Ge ran off."
"Never mind that, what did Su Ge want to talk to you about?"
"It's about his translation practical project. He was short a person and wanted me to participate this summer."
There was nothing wrong with telling them, so Qiu Xi blurted it all out.
"Qiu Xi! You really are! Not only are you capable, but you're also lucky!"
This remark immediately shifted their topic, and they began to chat about it.
...
After being pestered with conversations for a while, Qiu Xi was forced to change the subject.
"Alright, alright, I've received all your envy and jealousy. I thank you for it."
Changing the subject, "But if we don't go to the cafeteria soon, it looks like there will be no more food..."
Qiu Xi knew that they were just joking around, and it would pass.
However, the current time was indeed not suitable for further discussion.
"Ah! My food! Braised ribs, and shredded pork with garlic sauce..."
"Let's go quickly!"
Thinking of the food that was about to be gone, Song Daiyao grabbed the others and prepared to run.
Qiu Xi: Always effective!
The other two: Foodies who can't remember their troubles!
However, this matter had passed for Qiu Xi and her friends. But on the other side, Su Yihua had already taken his master to Teacher Du Bin's home.
Du Bin: I wish I had moved to Nan Jue Lu's place.