Chapter 517: Our Inner Beauty
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
There were a lot of soldiers in the army camp. Previously, when there was only one cla.s.s, Qiao Nan had witnessed how crowded it could be, especially when it was Qiu Chenxi’s turn to conduct the lessons last night. It was especially crowded as well.
The number of soldiers in her cla.s.sroom was not even half of the total number of soldiers in the army camp. Looking at this sight, Qiao Nan smiled in exasperation. “It’s no wonder that Brother Zhai said that I haven’t grown up. I am, indeed, young and neglected that at this age, guys are under the influence of their hormones. They are not rational at all.”
She was just a frail and thin-looking young girl. She could not compare to Qiu Chenxi, who was mature and knew how to dress.
Since both of them were conducting English cla.s.ses, now that they were given a choice, they would naturally choose to go to Qiu Chenxi’s cla.s.s on account of her looks and attire.
She might have wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to challenge Qiu Chenxi and to prove herself to Chief Zhai, but Qiu Chenxi was not to be meddled with. She even resorted to such methods. There was nothing that Qiao Nan could say.
“Teacher Xiao Qiao, are you angry?” The number of soldiers that turned up was about thirty to forty. They could not help but ask her tentatively.
In fact, they felt that their comrades were too much. It was obvious that Teacher Xiao Qiao was a better teacher, but they all went to Comrade Qiu’s cla.s.s. They were too foolish.
“Of course not. Why should I be angry?” Qiao Nan gave a brilliant smile. “I am not angry. Instead, I am very happy. I have all of you here with me. You have proven that I have an outstanding and good character.”
The soldiers were perplexed. What did Teacher Xiao Qiao mean by that?
“As we all know, people will always look forward to beautiful and nice-looking things. There are two types of beauty. One is external beauty, and the other is inner beauty. As the name suggests, one can easily appreciate external beauty using their eyes. In other words, it is too easy to discover external beauty. On the contrary, it is not easy to discover inner beauty, but it is even more commendable. All of you have chosen not to go for external beauty but to join my cla.s.s. This proves that it is my inner beauty that attracted you to my cla.s.s. All of you here are just like what Chairman Mao had mentioned—the public with discerning eyes!”
“Hahaha…”
Like what happened last time, as soon as Qiao Nan spoke up, the slightly awkward atmosphere gradually became harmonious.
In fact, before Qiao Nan started her lessons, the soldiers in her cla.s.s felt awkward and tentative.
Some of the soldiers were in her cla.s.s as they felt that she was a better teacher as compared to Qiu Chenxi and wanted to learn from her, while some of the soldiers were there for another reason.
The people in the army were simple and innocent. They felt that it would not be good for Qiao Nan if everyone attended Qiu Chenxi’s cla.s.s instead of Qiao Nan’s cla.s.s.
Therefore, several of the soldiers decided to make the decision through a finger-guessing game. The winners would join Qiu Chenxi’s cla.s.s to have a good look, while the losers would join Qiao Nan’s cla.s.s to maintain her dignity.
They were worried that Qiao Nan would not be able to take it if there were not many students in her cla.s.s and that she would break out in tears in front of them.
They did not expect that not only was Qiao Nan not angry, but she was in high spirits and made a good and meaningful speech instead. Everyone loved to listen to compliments. Even those who felt unhappy at losing the finger-guessing game, they were happy at Qiao Nan’s compliments.
That was right. Like what Teacher Xiao Qiao said, they placed more importance on inner beauty and they were people who had substance!
“I am proud of my inner beauty, and I am proud of all of you who are not superficial. As a soldier, you should have this kind of ability and foresight to see through the external appearance and look at one’s inner self. I applaud all of you. Please give yourself a round of applause!”
There was a big round of applause.
After Qiao Nan finished her short speech, there was a burst of thunderous applause from the soldiers. The atmosphere was, in fact, better than the cla.s.sroom next to them that was filled with people.
Qiu Chenxi, who had already started her lesson, was twice interrupted by the sound of the applause. Her expression darkened at the disruption.
“Since there are not too many of you in the cla.s.s, in fact, it was fewer than the supposed capacity of one cla.s.s, let’s not waste our time. All of you can come up to the stage and form four rows.” Qiao Nan got the attention of the soldiers and started her cla.s.s.
Forming platoons was the most familiar thing to the soldiers.
It only took a word from Qiao Nan and the soldiers used the fastest speed to form the rows according to their heights.
In less than a minute, there were four neat rows in front of Qiao Nan.
“Do you remember what Comrade Qiu taught you yesterday?”
“It seems to be left and right.”
“But how do you say it in English?”
“I can’t remember.” During yesterday’s cla.s.s, they felt that Qiu Chenxi was doing a fairly good job. However, after the lesson, they could not remember what she taught them. They only remembered the meanings in Chinese.
Qiao Nan was not surprised.
Since she did not teach the basics like p.r.o.nunciation and alphabet, it was natural for the soldiers to forget how to p.r.o.nounce the words. “It’s not bad. Everyone still remembers what was taught yesterday. It’s very good. Since you don’t remember how to p.r.o.nounce it, let’s revise it again. ‘Left’ is the left-hand side. If we add another word to it, it will be a short phrase. ‘Turn left’. Make a guess on what it means. This phrase is related to all of you. You should be very familiar with it. This is what you have to practice every day. Think about it.”
After the hints given by Qiao Nan, someone raised his hand. “Reporting to Teacher Xiao Qiao.”
“Go ahead.”
“Does it mean to turn left?” Since it was related and very familiar to them, this was the only meaning that he could think of.
“Good! It means to turn left!” Qiao Nan gave a thumbs-up to the soldier. “All of you must be very familiar with this. Can you do it with your eyes closed? Next, I will give the command and all of you will follow. Turn left.”
After knowing the meaning of ‘turn left’, the soldiers could understand Qiao Nan’s commands even though she spoke in English. At Qiao Nan’s command, everyone turned left according to the ‘one, two’ rhythm.
Qiao Nan made the soldiers turn left for eight times, making a total of two rounds.
“After we learn what is ‘left’, we will learn the other direction. ‘Right’ is to the right-hand side. So, what does ‘turn right’ mean? Does everyone understand?”
“Understood!”
“Good. Now listen to my command. Turn right!” Qiao Nan used the same method to get the soldiers to turn eight times in the opposite direction and made a total of two rounds. “When you practice to line up, what else do you practice apart from turning to the right and to the left?”
“Reporting to the teacher, there is turning backward as well!”