Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan
The next morning dawned.
Even though it was the weekend, Xie Shu woke up earlier than on weekdays.
In his previous life, he had done many wrongs; in this life, he rose early for work.
He washed up quietly and left the dormitory.
Considering he had never been to his part-time job location before, he worried about taking the wrong route and wasting more time, so he set out extra early today.
Downstairs, the breakfast shop had just opened.
After buying breakfast, he left the school and waited for the bus to head to the subway station.
While waiting for the bus, he finally had a moment to check his WeChat.
Since his rebirth, he had maintained the good habit of sleeping and waking early. He had gone to bed early last night after messaging Ruan Nianxi and then turned off his phone to sleep.
He wasn't sure if Ruan Nianxi was awake yet.
Thinking of her, he still sent a "Good morning" message her way.
She was probably still resting, as Xie Shu received no reply.
Well, it was still quite early.
Xie Shu exited the chat with Ruan Nianxi, ignoring the increasing number of red notifications from another friend on the screen, and closed WeChat.
Later, he arrived at the subway station and transferred to a… suburban area.
This wasn't the city center, and hailing a taxi wasn't so easy. He managed to book a ride-hailing service, but it was still far from his destination…
He canceled the ride-hailing service and decided to navigate and walk there instead.
Although buses passed by the roadside, he didn't know where they would stop and feared missing his stop and ending up even further away, so he dared not take one.
Walking for about fifteen minutes, the navigation indicated he had arrived at his destination. Time-wise, he didn't think it took too long.
But… where was the studio?
Where was the teacher?
Where were the students?
Xie Shu stared at the small supermarket in front of him, lost in thought.
Had he taken the wrong path?
Don't panic, let's check the route again.
A minute later.
Xie Shu looked up at the supermarket again and fell back into contemplation.
Isn't this it? so, where was the studio?
Seeing that it was past eight o'clock, although Teacher Li had said it was okay to be a bit late, he still felt it wasn't good to arrive too late.
In the end, he messaged Teacher Li on WeChat for help.
Xie Shu: [Teacher, I've arrived at the location you sent me, but I don't see the studio. Did you send the wrong location yesterday?]
Teacher Li replied promptly: [You're already there? Wait for me, I'll come out to meet you.]
In a few minutes, a car suddenly stopped in front of Xie Shu.
"Are you Xie Shu?"
The car window rolled down, and a woman sitting in the driver's seat asked.
"Yes, that's me." Xie Shu nodded.
"Get in, I'll take you to the studio."
Without much hesitation, Xie Shu quickly got into the car.
The woman reversed and took the original route back, and in less than a minute, Xie Shu watched the car turn into a… villa district?
Xie Shu: "???"
Looking at these clearly detached villas, Xie Shu fell silent.
Teacher Li glanced at Xie Shu in the rearview mirror, seemingly aware of his thoughts, and casually explained.
"This is an art district; most of the residents here are artists, and these villas are mostly studios. Our studio is a collaboration between several artists from the nearby art village."
"When I sent you the location yesterday, I was just walking students back to the dormitory without my car and accidentally sent you the location outside."
Xie Shu nodded, so that was it.
He had thought he was in the wrong place.
But to have a studio here… must be quite wealthy.
In a few minutes, the car stopped in front of a villa.
Both of them got out of the car, and Teacher Li entered through the wide-open gate, calling for Xie Shu to follow.
Xie Shu followed her in, taking a brief look at the villa along the way.
Perhaps because it was used as a studio, the interior wasn't overly decorated.
The floor was bare cement, not tiled, but the walls were painted with emulsion paint, and the decorations had an artistic feel.
Passing through a corridor, they arrived at a large room in the back.
Although it was a villa, it didn't seem too big to Xie Shu, as he had seen larger ones; this one felt just a bit more spacious than his home.
Of course, he was only referring to the first floor; when he entered, he noticed the villa had three floors.
After all, it was still a villa, with a much higher ceiling than their apartment complex, and overall, it was indeed larger.
Moreover, since no one lived here regularly and it was filled with art supplies, there was plenty of open space.
Now the room was filled with students painting.
Xie Shu quickly scanned the room, estimating there were about twenty students, all around sixteen or seventeen years old.
Looking at their work, they were all painting plaster geometrics.
Hmm… it reminded him of his own early learning days.
Suddenly, Xie Shu remembered Teacher Li's mention of dormitories and was startled.
Was this a College Entrance Examination class??
His arrival drew the curious gazes of the students, who were previously engrossed in their painting.
Teacher Li instructed them to focus, then led Xie Shu to the next room.
The adjacent room was much smaller, with a few easels set up. Glancing at the time, Teacher Li said, "Start by drawing a portrait so I can assess your foundation."
Drawing is something that requires long-term dedication.
Although Xie Shu's basic knowledge was intact, he hadn't completed a full portrait in many years.
Officially, he hadn't drawn for three years, but in reality, it had been seven.
Four years in university and three years in society.
Although his major involved frequent drawing, it differed from sketching.
Xie Shu was unsure if he could reach the level he had during the College Entrance Examination.
Teacher Li had chatted with Xie Shu on WeChat before and knew his current major wasn't purely art-related, so she didn't make it difficult for him: "Just to see the foundation, no need for a fully complete drawing."
Hearing this, Xie Shu was relieved.
Teacher Li handed him a quarter sheet of paper, which Xie Shu secured with paper glue before picking up the prepared pencil and starting to draw silently.
Teacher Li didn't disturb Xie Shu and left the room once he began drawing.
In the small room, Xie Shu was left alone.
To be honest, he felt quite pressured.
He blamed himself for not asking clearly; seeing the job was for a teaching assistant, he thought it was for some hobby class and expected it to be simple.
But coming here today, he realized it was for a College Entrance Examination class.
Those students were all preparing for the joint exam, equivalent to the academic College Entrance Examination – a very important test. If his skills were lacking, how could he mislead the students?
Thankfully, his muscle memory was still intact.
And Teacher Li had given him plenty of time.
Initially, his hand was a bit stiff, but as he warmed up and relied on his muscle memory, he quickly regained his old touch.
He didn't know how much time had passed when suddenly he heard a rustling noise at the door.
Turning around, puzzled, he saw several students peeking in.
When Xie Shu noticed them, they didn't hide but came in directly.
However, everyone was very quiet, even their footsteps were cautious.
"Are you a new student?" someone asked Xie Shu curiously.
"Your drawing is really good; have you studied this before?" another exclaimed, surprised by his work.
"Why did the teacher arrange for you to be in a separate classroom? Does she think our drawings are ugly?"
The students whispered among themselves, and Xie Shu wasn't sure how to respond.
He wasn't old, but he didn't look underage, did he?
Couldn't they think in the direction of him being a teacher?
In the early stages of training, without the pressure of major exams, teachers generally weren't too strict with students, and sometimes when the teacher was absent, some would run around uncontrollably.
Like now, several more people came to the small classroom to watch Xie Shu paint.
With too many people around, Xie Shu couldn't continue painting and simply stopped.
"What are you all doing crowding around here?"
Teacher Li, who had just come down from the second floor, saw everyone gathered at the room's entrance and approached.
"Teacher Li, is this a new student?" someone asked curiously.
Teacher Li stood next to Xie Shu and glanced at his work.
Although unfinished, it was evident that his foundational skills were solid.
Yes, much better than the previous teaching assistants who were tested.
She smiled at the group of students and shook her head: "No, he's a new teacher."
The students: "!!!"
Oh, it seemed he was hired.
Since it was a part-time job, Xie Shu didn't need to go through any formalities. After a brief introduction, he immediately began his task.
His task was to roam the classroom, observe the students' work, identify issues, and suggest corrections.
That was all.
Even drawing demonstration pieces was Teacher Li's domain; he wasn't needed for that.
Because it was a small-class studio with not too many people, he found the job incredibly easy.
Easy as it was, he couldn't just play around, so he didn't have a moment to check his phone all morning.