Chapter 13: Who Wrote This Note?

Chapter 13: Whose Note Is This?

Li Jingkun performed it entirely like a speech! And the whole time, he spoke in English! Everyone was stunned, including the English teacher, Zhou Erlan, who wore an expression of shock.

After several minutes, Li Jingkun finally concluded his speech. His roommates, including Song Hairong, couldn’t help but lead the applause and cheers.

To be honest, they were also taken aback, and many of the words went over their heads. But as roommates, of course, they had to show support first.

“Very good, a splendid speech. Did you prepare your script in advance?” Zhou Erlan asked.

“Definitely not,” Li Jingkun replied. “In fact, I already speak English fluently. As for essays on ‘dreams,’ I wrote several back in middle school, both in Chinese and English classes—it’s a very common topic.”

“You already speak English fluently?”

“Yes, I started practicing spoken English since middle school and have mastered it.”

“Incredible!”

Zhou Erlan was astonished! So were all the classmates!

If Li Jingkun glanced around at his classmates, he would see countless admiring eyes staring back. These eyes watched him and Zhou Erlan converse in English, which was completely different from the earlier conversation between Xu Yuebing and Zhou Erlan.

Earlier, Xu Yuebing had faltered and stumbled, but now, in the dialogue with Li Jingkun, Zhou Erlan herself seemed a bit hesitant and slowed down.

Thus, what had happened in the third-year English class was replayed once more here.

Zhou Erlan naturally asked about his method for learning spoken English, and he repeated that it involved memorizing vocabulary, reading English articles, then watching English movies and listening to English songs.

Only then did his roommates and desk mate realize—so he often went to internet cafes to watch foreign movies to learn English?

Damn! Why didn’t he share this brilliant learning method with me? Always fooling me, saying he was just reading novels! Bastard!

A roommate who doesn’t share study tips isn’t a good roommate. Next time, take us to the internet cafe with you!

...

After class, the English teacher called Li Jingkun over, and they continued discussing spoken English.

Li Jingkun had to say that during the second and third years of middle school, he had worked very hard practicing speaking—reciting English passages every morning, singing English songs, memorizing movie lines, simulating conversations.

In truth, he had indeed done these things, but only years later.

When the teacher learned he hadn’t joined the school’s English club, she suggested he join since there were senior students with strong English skills to learn from—though none were as good as Li Jingkun yet, with persistence, he could definitely master spoken English.

Li Jingkun said he had already joined the guitar club and probably wouldn’t have time for the English club.

The teacher was a bit speechless, feeling he was neglecting his studies. But since she liked the student very much and didn’t know him well yet, she refrained from scolding him.

She just encouraged him to keep practicing and to communicate more with the teacher when free.

For the entire following day, Li Jingkun was the center of attention in class. After all, most students in the school were study-oriented, so naturally, they admired high-achieving students and were eager to learn their study methods.

Even though Li Jingkun had already shared his methods, he was repeatedly asked about them.

“Jingkun, how do you speak English so well? We’ve been dormmates all this time and still didn’t know!” Song Hairong and the others were the first to say.

“I’m a pretty low-key person,” Li Jingkun replied. “Do you want me to tell you I can write novels, compose songs, and direct films too?”

“Damn, you’re getting full of yourself after just a little praise.”

The boys chatted casually; during breaks, some asked him to copy English song titles and foreign movie names for them, while others even handed him their MP3 players to copy English songs directly.

So tonight, he would skip evening study again to go to the internet cafe.

“Jingkun, can you help me download some English songs too?”

Suddenly, two girls approached—Xie Wenmin and her desk mate.

Their conversation was interrupted and fell silent for a moment. Before Li Jingkun could say anything, Song Hairong took Xie Wenmin’s phone’s MP3 player and said, “Sure, no problem. I’ll go with him to the internet cafe tonight to help you download.”

“Thank you so much,” Xie Wenmin said.

“You’re welcome. Helping each other out as classmates is what we should do,” Song Hairong replied.

Xie Wenmin and her desk mate smiled at them and then walked away.

Li Jingkun and the others looked at Song Hairong, somewhat speechless.

Song Hairong said, “What? Got a problem?”

Li Jingkun’s desk mate, Lin Yunkai, said, “Dude, why are you so eager to butt in? She came looking for Jingkun. Why jump in?”

“Exactly, what’s with that attitude?” others chimed in to criticize.

Li Jingkun teased them, “So what if it’s a beauty? Your attitude is all wrong. No matter how pretty she is, you’ve got to be respectful. She’s asking us for help. If you just fix her computer and leave quietly, you’ll always be a simp.”

“What? What’s a simp?” Song Hairong asked.

When guys get chatting, if they’re in a good mood, they either brag or fool around—especially under Li Jingkun’s lead, their words got a bit bold.

And this was all happening in the classroom, with people nearby able to hear.

Soon, some girls brought Li Jingkun’s words over to Xie Wenmin, who, along with her desk mate, laughed heartily.

But while some were joyful, others were troubled. While everyone else was chatting enthusiastically, Xu Yuebing at the back of Xie Wenmin’s desk wore a dark expression all day.

...

Downloading songs for several classmates was actually quite time-consuming. Luckily, Song Hairong was willing to help, so Li Jingkun picked out the song titles and let him handle the downloads.

After all, manually connecting data cables still gave him some reservations.

In truth, just a few songs and movies aren’t enough to master spoken English easily. For most, learning to speak English takes persistent effort.

But letting them listen to some nice English songs and watch a few good movies was still helpful.

The next day, Song Hairong returned the MP3 players and also sent a list of foreign singers’ names for them to download more songs on their own when they had time.

During a self-study session in the latter half of one class, Li Jingkun received a note from Xie Wenmin: “Song Hairong took the MP3, helped download the songs, and gave it back to me—are you deliberately acting distant with me?”

At that time, phones weren’t yet common among students, so passing notes was quite popular, especially among girls.

Li Jingkun replied, “No, I was just joking with them yesterday. Don’t take it seriously.”

Xie Wenmin wrote back, “Xiaoling and I really admire you. We think your English is amazing. We’ll learn from you more in the future. ^_^”

Xiaoling was Xie Wenmin’s desk mate. Li Jingkun replied, “Okay, let’s learn from each other. I’m just getting started too.”

(End of Chapter)