After noon, Ye Huanqiu received good news: he had passed his language proficiency exam.
He had also found an agency to affiliate with, though it didn't offer a fixed monthly salary. Instead, they charged 60% of his earnings based on the number of hours he worked each month, and this didn't include the Five Insurances and One Fund. He would have to deduct a portion of the remaining 40% to cover those contributions himself.
He estimated he'd be lucky to keep 30% in the end.
Still, Ye Huanqiu wasn't relying on this job for income. As long as he worked enough hours each month to fully cover his social insurance and housing fund contributions, he was content.
He logged into the agency's website to fill out his profile, uploaded his language proficiency certificates, and proudly declared that his working hours would not exceed three hours a day.
Such audacity!
Pricing wasn't his concern; the agency negotiated rates directly with clients.
The agency's app functioned like a ride-hailing platform, where teachers voluntarily accepted assignments based on their availability. Quick reflexes were essential, though the platform would automatically assign orders during peak hours.
However, Ye Huanqiu refused to accept any orders after 3 PM and never worked on weekends.
He could proudly declare that he was diligently adhering to labor laws.
Ye Huanqiu Xia had assumed his first day on the job would be slow, with no assignments. The education sector was fiercely competitive, and with only a few exam certificates and no prestigious awards or accolades to his name, he hardly expected to be parents' top choice.
Subconsciously, Ye Huanqiu Xia had always associated language tutoring with young children.
But before long, he received an assignment notification from the platform.
"Whoa! Right here in the city center, in a central office building..."
It was indeed nearby, less than a ten-minute walk. But Ye Huanqiu Xia opted for a shared electric scooter, zipping over in just a few minutes.
Assignment accepted!
Meanwhile, on the seventeenth floor of the office building—a hub for celebrity-owned studios—a large 80-inch 8K display in the studio owner's office was looping a video clip.
It was footage from an awards ceremony. A tall, long-haired woman in a silver evening gown opened her mouth, and the audience was immediately taken aback.
"Hey everyone I'm Naza, I'm from China..."
The woman's bizarre accent, coupled with her disjointed English, even when announcing the award-winning singer as she took the stage, led to her infamous shout: "Poor Ha!"
Anyone else would have been mortified, curling their toes in embarrassment. Ony, her manager, walked in, exasperated. "Why are you still watching this? Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"
Ony reached for the remote, but Naza snatched it away. The woman before her, eyes red-rimmed but her expression stubbornly defiant, was none other than Naza, the one who had made headlines at the awards ceremony just days before.
The infamous "Poor Ha" had already become fodder for countless internet memes and parodies.
Just as Ony reached for the remote, Naza snatched it away. "No, I want to watch. 'Shame breeds courage'... My English isn't really that bad! I was just nervous that night. If I had been more composed, I wouldn't have made such a fool of myself."
"Enough with the 'what ifs' and excuses," Ony said with a sigh. "What's done is done. There are no take-backs. I've already booked you with a professional tutoring agency. The English teacher will be here soon. You need to buckle down and practice properly so you can show some real improvement next time you're on TV."
Ony grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. The morning had been an endless loop of the same clip, and the phrase "Poor Ha!" was stuck in her head.
About fifteen minutes later, the studio receptionist called to announce the arrival of the English tutor. Ony immediately instructed her to bring him over. As expected, it was Ye Huanqiu, who had accepted the assignment.
Ye Huanqiu sensed something was off the moment he entered the building. The elevator ride up had been filled with celebrity posters.
"Mr. Ye, this way, please."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
The young receptionist led Ye Huanqiu to the studio's office area, where Ony emerged with Naza, who had reapplied her makeup.
Ony sized up the tutor before her. His clothes were unremarkable, and his unfashionable glasses seemed out of place. However, his physique was undeniably well-proportioned—the manager's occupational habit kicked in.
"You're the English tutor the agency sent? You look quite young. Are you sure you're qualified to teach?"
"Rest assured, our platform has a review system. If you're not satisfied with my teaching, you can leave a negative rating. I won't earn a single cent, and the platform will refund your entire fee."
"Alright, I have a few requests," Ony said. "First, no personal questions about the instructor. Focus on your job. Second, no phones during the lesson. I won't confiscate them, but I expect you to be mindful. Third, no gossiping about the lesson afterward."
These were standard privacy precautions for celebrities, and Ye Huanqiu readily agreed.
He hadn't realized this assignment involved tutoring a celebrity, but he'd simply do his job and leave as soon as possible.
"Outside of the lesson, I won't ask about or respond to anything unrelated to the curriculum," he assured her.
Ony nodded and led them into the office. Naza greeted Ye Huanqiu with a friendly smile, and he returned the nod.
"My surname is Ye. If there's nothing else, let's begin the lesson." Ye Huanqiu cut straight to the point, wasting no time on small talk.
He had come fully prepared. Starbeam had previously provided him with advanced teaching materials from the future—not just music lessons, but also comprehensive guides on early language acquisition for children.
In this era, such knowledge was priceless.
Naza nodded, and Ye Huanqiu began teaching.
Ony went about her own business, occasionally checking back in on them.
Ye Huanqiu knew Naza, but his impression of her was limited to "beautiful airhead," unless her charmingly awkward English pronunciation counted as a defining trait.
Her English proficiency was roughly equivalent to passing the CET-4 exam. She understood basic vocabulary, but her lack of real-world practice left her flustered during major award ceremonies.
Following methods from future language-learning manuals, Ye Huanqiu patiently corrected her pronunciation and encouraged frequent conversation through simulated English dialogues.
"Let's simulate real-world scenarios with English dialogues!" he suggested.
Before they knew it, nearly two hours had flown by unnoticed. Naza herself hadn't realized how much time had passed, only noticing that her English flowed more smoothly now.
During a break while Naza practiced independently, she couldn't help but glance at Ye Huanqiu.
She'd met younger people who spoke English well before, but this was her first time encountering a tutor with such exceptional teaching skills.
In that final hour of focused practice, Naza was thrilled by her progress. When Ony returned after finishing her errands, she immediately heard Naza and Ye Huanqiu engaged in a remarkably fluent English conversation.
Naza's accent had improved significantly, though her pronunciation still needed work. Compared to Ye Huanqiu's flawless fluency, she had a long way to go. If you didn't see Ye Huanqiu's face, you might think a native English speaker had come to teach.
Suddenly, Ye Huanqiu's phone rang, interrupting the lesson.
He glanced at the clock above. Exactly three o'clock!
"My apologies, my time is up," Ye Huanqiu said, standing as he met Ony's gaze. "The three-hour session is over, and my work hours are finished. I'd appreciate a positive review, thank you!"
"???" Ony
"???" Naza
The two women watched in stunned silence as Ye Huanqiu packed his things and left without another word.
"What just happened?" Ony asked.
"I have no idea," Naza replied.
Ony checked her phone and saw the service request marked as completed. She was about to leave a negative review when Naza hastily intervened. "He taught really well! Why give him a bad rating?"
With that, Naza tapped a five-star review, proving her kind heart matched her beauty.
"He just walked out like that... Is he even a real tutor? I feel like I barely got to experience being the client..." Ony grumbled, still wanting to assign him another lesson.
She opened her history, found his profile, but his avatar was grayed out, and the words "Off Work" were displayed beside it.