Chapter 356
After finishing lunch with Aizhen, Xiao Qi went back.
The two walked together to the old district, then Aizhen took the bus back to the new district.
Most foreign teachers live in apartments in the new district, where the scenery is good.
When Xiao Qi returned to the dormitory, she didn't immediately start practicing calligraphy, but took out her drawing board to draw. She really wanted to draw Teacher Aizhen.
Teacher Aizhen was an extremely thin but extremely elegant woman. Especially after getting along, she felt like flowing water, making people very comfortable.
She spoke like a true gentlewoman, not pretentious like Chu Yu.
It was rare to find someone like this after getting along, like a mountain spring, cool and sweet.
Xiao Qi really liked people with such charming personalities. Recalling the time spent with Teacher Aizhen, the character in her painting became more and more vivid.
In middle and high school, Xiao Qi didn't have any particularly good friends. It wasn't until university that she made good friends. Her roommates were all great. Xiao Qi felt this wasn't other people's problem, it was her own problem. She used to be too introverted, too inferior, and too sensitive. She tended to overthink things and was overly cautious. Interacting with others like this not only tired herself out, but also tired out others. Everyone was equal, so why should she be so concerned about what she said?
They were all kids of the same age. No one needed to accommodate her or consider her feelings.
Xiao Qi felt her personality at that time was not very good for interacting with people. It was tiring no matter who she dealt with.
She couldn't make friends at school. When she went back home, even her family felt she was arrogant and hard to get along with. She couldn't please anyone and seemed to be out of tune with the whole world.
After getting the system, she slowly became more cheerful. Exercising and running every day also helped with this. She felt more open-minded after working out. Looking at things, she was less irritated and her mindset became much more positive.
Now her personality was much more open and cheerful than before. It was also because she had come into contact with more people and interacted with different types. The subtle influence also affected her personality.
The teens were the time to shape one's personality and outlook on life.
Xiao Qi felt she was lucky to have met excellent people.
She thought this over as she painted. Soon, a smiling Aizhen appeared on the paper, her smile as beautiful as a tea flower.
Painting was the most intuitive way to express what moves people. You could see psychological activities through vision.
The painting of a cheerful, positive person would also be bright and sunny. On the contrary, if the psychology was gloomy and the mood bleak, even painting a smiling face would show distortion and sadness.
This was the expression of artistic style.
Xiao Qi's painting of Aizhen was very beautiful. Just looking at the painting, one could feel this was an extremely elegant and gentle lady that made people feel close.
This was also one of the best paintings Xiao Qi had done recently, showing an artistic sublimation.
Just like she didn't understand before why the Mona Lisa was so famous and so good looking. It was because you could see a gentle, intimate feeling from the painting. Even a single painting could inspire a story, a life.
Xiao Qi's painting of Aizhen was the same.
Extremely gentle, the emotions were all very good, leaving people feeling peaceful and a little sweet after seeing it.
After finishing the painting, Xiao Qi went to take a nap.
It was mentally draining.
She didn't feel it while painting, but felt tired all of a sudden after finishing. When Xiao Qi woke up, she heard the mechanical voice next to her ear: "The host's painting has developed its own style and soul, reaching the proficiency level. The host should keep working hard."
She felt her progress was so fast. When practicing calligraphy, Xiao Qi practiced every day, spending a lot of time before reaching proficiency. It would take more time and practice to reach master level.
But for painting, although she also spent time practicing, she mostly painted when inspired. She didn't expect to suddenly reach proficiency.
In the dorm room, only Wei Cheng was there.
Mi'er and Yunshu had gone to club activities, and Wei Cheng was holding a book studying.
Speaking of diligence in the dorm room, Xiao Qi ranked first and Wei Cheng second.
Wei Cheng was under more stress, but she had a great personality. Xiao Qi felt her personality was much better than her former self. She never blamed others and always looked for problems in herself, always seeing the good in things.
Even a small blessing made her feel very lucky.
Once they went out to eat and she accidentally left her bag in the restaurant. She only remembered it that night and when she went back the next day the bag was still there with everything inside. She felt so lucky.
Xiao Qi actually thought it would be better if she just hadn't forgotten her bag.
But Wei Cheng was always absent-minded like this, constantly losing things, and then miraculously finding them again. She never got tired of it and was very happy each time.
"You're awake? I made chrysanthemum tea, do you want some?" Her mother had picked wild chrysanthemums and put them in boiling water. It looked very nice with the flowers floating in the water. Drinking it was slightly bitter, but it was good for reducing internal heat.
"Sure, let me go out and get some water."
Xiao Qi got up to wash up, and Wei Cheng poured the tea for her. The beautiful glass cup had a few flowers floating in it, looking great.
"It looks so nice. I'm going out for a bit, let's eat dinner together tonight?" Xiao Qi said, taking the cup.
"Sounds good. I'll be in the dorm studying. Mi'er and Yunshu should be back later too. We'll wait for you."
Xiao Qi nodded as she headed out.
Just then, Su Li from the dorm across was also going out. The two went together.
Su Li asked Xiao Qi where she was going.
Xiao Qi said, "I want to go check out the taekwondo club. I heard they have coaches come on weekends to teach."
"Let me go with you, I learned it when I was little." As she spoke, Su Li flipped through the photos on her phone and actually pulled up a picture of herself as a little kid. The adorable preschooler wore a taekwondo uniform, with a single eyelid and small eyes, looking fierce.
"Is this you? Too cute!" Xiao Qi was shocked to see cool Su Li had such a cute phase. It was unbelievable.
Su Li nodded coolly.
Chatting like this, they soon arrived at the taekwondo club.
Xiao Qi had specifically checked the campus forums, which said coaches came on weekends to teach the taekwondo club.
The club was quite big, a large classroom that had been renovated.
One wall was covered in mirrors, making it look a bit like a dance studio.
Xiao Qi had assumed it would be all male students, but surprisingly, there were more females than males in the taekwondo club.
"Most people come for the outfit. I really liked wearing it when I learned as a kid." Su Li explained to Xiao Qi.
Xiao Qi looked at the white robe and thought it did look good on girls.
The coach on stage was male and had a blue belt.
Xiao Qi had specifically looked this up and knew blue signified complete beginner level in taekwondo. Below sat another with a red belt, signifying second level taekwondo. This meant they had considerable attacking power and could threaten an opponent.
Seeing Su Li and Xiao Qi arrive, someone immediately came up enthusiastically.
Realizing they were freshman, his expression became even more eager.
"You've come at just the right time. We have special training for self-defense tailored for beauties like you. We've invited professional coaches. Our club doesn't charge money, you just pay the coach's fee, 80 per class. We can order the outfits for you, just over 100 each."
Xiao Qi saw there were about 50-60 students here. 80 each per class, that added up to over 5000, a good amount.
Seeing the two girls didn't respond, he went on, "Beauties like you really need to learn this. You know that story about the migrant worker on the way to take the graduate school exam right? If she had known self-defense, the tragedy wouldn't have happened."
"That's an unverified story spread on other campuses. Don't bring it here unless you want the school leaders to have a talk with you." Su Li raised her eyebrows and retorted.
"No no, I just want to emphasize that you all look so good, you need to learn some self-defense techniques. Don't worry, today's lesson is free, you can come listen and learn for free, and decide if you want to continue after learning. I'm a junior Chinese major and your senior, I wouldn't harm you all." He laughed in a very ingratiating manner.
Xiao Qi: ...
She felt like the skills the students at their school chose to learn were a bit skewed.
She just wanted to learn some self-defense originally. This promotion was much better than plain taekwondo. She wasn't trying to compete in the Olympics or anything.
Seeing new people come in, the blue belt coach teaching on stage became even more enthusiastic.
He had the students below come on stage to demonstrate.
"Women's self-defense is very simple. We use the most basic and practical techniques to counter the opponent as soon as possible, to buy time to escape for ourselves."
The coach was a tall, skinny man. He looked a bit handsome and his temperament seemed quite good.
A female student below said: "Wouldn't it be better to just carry some pepper spray or something, just as effective."
"This student's opinion is very good, she has good self-protection awareness," he wasn't angry at being refuted, but affirmed her instead, and continued: "But sometimes you forget to bring it, or you just happened to switch bags and didn't pack it, or your hands are grabbed so you can't get the pepper spray out of your bag in time. So learning some basic self-defense techniques is very necessary."
Then he had a male student come on stage to demonstrate, acting as a hooligan.
A group of people started giggling.
The male student was also a bit embarrassed. He had to act as a hooligan and grab the coach.
They saw the male student suddenly rush up from behind and hug the coach, his hands grabbing the coach's flat chest and squeezing. The people below laughed loudly. Su Li and Xiao Qi couldn't help laughing too.
The male student's expression was very awkward, but the coach had a lecherous expression, as if saying "Should I give in? Or should I give in?"
Then the coach elbowed the male student and threw him over his shoulder...
"Ah!"
Luckily there were mats on the floor. They heard the male student yell loudly, then grab his own waist...
Then another male student went up to demonstrate, hugging the coach from the front. The result was the very useful technique of a knee to the crotch. Everyone watching felt pained just looking.
It seemed quite simple, like the perverts were all completely helpless.
After having the male students demonstrate, the coach asked if there were any female students willing to come up and try.
"Don't worry, this is just a demonstration. Are there any daring female students willing to demonstrate a female pervert? I see you all shouting my husband, my husband at little fresh meat every day. Those little fresh meat need to learn self-defense too."
Xiao Qi really intended to learn, so she raised her hand. She was willing to go on stage and try.
The coach saw the little girl stand up, one of the girls who just came in. She looked really bright and clean, her skin especially fair. She looked very slender, not weak but very sweet and pure.
"Or how about I act as the pervert? I wouldn't be able to fight back like this!" the coach joked.
"It's fine, coach. I'm very fit," Xiao Qi said. She felt that acting as the pervert, she could also experience how the other side exerted force from a different angle. It would be a more comprehensive lesson.