Lan Jie realized he had no idea how to evaluate this junior high school student. Even if Qiao Yu said he had the soul of a forty-year-old, he'd probably believe it. Although the smile on this kid's face still had a touch of naivety.
He could only comfort himself internally that at least from the current situation, Qiao Yu was still willing to trust his teacher and share so many personal things about his life. This could be considered a good start.
However, when it came time to discuss Qiao Yu's future with Qiao Yu's mother, it might be necessary to change direction.
Although he felt there was something slightly off about Qiao Yu's way of making money, he's not a legal professional, so he couldn't say for sure whether it was illegal. But even if it wasn't illegal, it was undoubtedly flirting with the boundaries.
To be honest, Qiao Yu's experience left Lan Jie feeling quite wistful.
It's truly not the era where all pursuits are inferior and only studying is esteemed.
Entering the 21st century, young people's definition of success is entirely different from the older generation's. The rapid development of the internet has spurred the rise of new industry chains like e-sports and internet celebrity economy. Professional gamers, top-tier internet celebrities seem to be more admired among young people.
With Qiao Yu's current ability to make money, whether he could calm down to study is really a question mark for Lan Jie.
Now he could only hope that Qiao Yu's mother was somewhat old-fashioned, but thinking about how this mom let Qiao Yu skip classes to go to internet cafes to make money, Lan Jie felt quite hopeless.
No, Qiao Yu isn't an adult yet, logically speaking WeChat payments should have restrictions, maybe Qiao Yu's WeChat is managed by his mom, the real-name information related to money probably isn't even Qiao Yu's.
Time flew by amidst Lan Jie's wild thoughts, and soon the restaurant delivered the packed meals.
After leaving the restaurant, Lan Jie, who had something on his mind, wasn't in the mood to speak much and was silent most of the way, but fortunately, the residential area was right next to the restaurant.
A residential area over thirty years old, filled with the flavor of time, and being the time for dinner, it also carried the strong aroma of cooking.
Only the small cars in the neighborhood made the already narrow internal roads appear even more cramped, even the fire lanes were thoroughly blocked.
Qiao Yu, however, was indifferent to it all, carrying the packaged meal boxes, skillfully weaving through the neighborhood with Lan Jie, and soon came to a building, and while entering the unit, Lan Jie took special note of the door number, Railway New Village, Building 10, Unit 3.
Climbing to the third floor, Qiao Yu stopped in front of door number six, turned to look at Lan Jie, and maturely said: "Teacher Lan, you didn't say in advance that you were coming for a home visit, in case my mom is a bit impolite, please don't mind, I'll apologize on her behalf first."
Before Lan Jie could figure out what this meant, Qiao Yu's thumb was already pressing on the fingerprint lock.
The next moment, the door opened.
"Mom..." Qiao Yu called out calmly, then closed the door again. Fortunately, the kid blocked Lan Jie, otherwise he might have really bumped into the door.
Before Lan Jie could ask, he heard a "bang", probably something hit the door.
Qiao Yu explained with a hint of apology, softly saying: "Sorry, Teacher Lan, actually when my mom is sober, she's very nice and gentle. Although she gets a bit irritable when tipsy, she still follows basic reason."
Lan Jie was somewhat dazed, then vaguely heard a clear voice coming from inside, not sure what was said.
But Qiao Yu didn't explain further, instead he called out to the partially opened room door: "Mom, there's one more shoe, don't aim it yet, a teacher has come for a home visit."
Lan Jie: "..."
"Ah! Wait a minute!"
A voice with an unclear meaning screamed from the room, followed by a clatter of sounds, before Lan Jie could react, he heard a gentle voice: "Alright, let the teacher in."
Qiao Yu pushed open the door again, turned around and smiled at Lan Jie behind him, then entered with the bag.
For a moment, this young kid's ordinary smile made Lan Jie feel a bit tense.
This experienced mathematics teacher shook his head, as if trying to shake off that absurd feeling, then looked up to see the woman who had already come to the door.
Very beautiful...
Upon seeing Qiao Yu's mother, the first thought that sprang to Lan Jie's mind was this very simple evaluation.
After all, he wasn't a language teacher and didn't like to use those fancy words to describe beauty.
If this maths teacher had to describe it, he'd probably say that although the woman in front of him was clearly bare-faced, she could still outshine eighty percent of the women he usually sees on short video apps with full beauty filters on.
Not that she was without flaws.
For example, her complexion didn't look very healthy, quite pale. But not that warm milky white like jade, just purely the kind of pallor from lack of exercise and long-term absence of sunlight.
But to say she lacked exercise, she was as slim as Qiao Yu.
Drinking, liking to eat, not exercising, yet not gaining weight... naturally beautiful?
Yes, before Qiao Yu pushed open the door, while thinking about how to talk to Qiao Yu's mother about the boy's talents, Lan Jie also roughly imagined what this mother might look like. But he'd never guessed she would be a gentle and beautiful woman.
If she were a few years younger, Lan Jie might have even praised in his mind that this mother was so young and graceful, like Lin Daiyu...
"Sorry, teacher, I thought he was out playing and hadn't come home yet. By the way, you are Qiao Yu's..."
"He's Lan Jie, a mathematics teacher at our school's high school department." Qiao Yu casually replied while changing his shoes.
"You kid, you should call him teacher, Teacher Lan, wait, huh? High school... Qiao Yu, you're already in high school?" Qiao Yu's mother instinctively asked, her tone somewhat uncertain.
Alright, Lan Jie was certain this mother had been drinking, although she seemed relatively sober, for those who don't drink, the scent of alcohol was very noticeable, you could clearly smell it when she spoke.
"Um, Qiao Yu's mother, the child is still in junior high, I came this time to talk to you about the child's future, especially his talent in mathematics," Lan Jie said, composing himself.
Okay, it's not that uncommon for parents to be unclear whether their child is in junior high or high school, Lan Jie had seen it many times, he was used to it.
The social environment generally has parents desperately pushing their children, especially in a strong education city like Star City, where many parents do everything they can to make sure their children get into the top universities. But there are also many parents who no longer believe that education can change destiny, and naturally take a laissez-faire attitude towards their children's education, not caring at all.
Of course, you can't entirely blame the parents, in this day and age, who doesn't have their own family struggles? Especially in a single-parent household.
Sigh...