Chapter 137: Foreign Peach Blossom
Su He carefully put the agreement away and said to Principal Chen, “Principal, please go shake hands with the four of them and thank them.”
Acting as the designated middleman, Principal Chen stepped forward to shake hands with John and the others, expressing his gratitude with a few words.
Su He stood by, helping translate.
By this time, it was almost midnight. After exchanging a few more words, Su He and Principal Chen returned to their private room.
Principal Chen was still holding the thick stack of foreign currency. He counted it—3,600 dollars.
At the current exchange rate of 1.97 M-Currency to 1 Chinese Yuan, that amounted to around 7,000 Chinese Yuan.
That was a huge sum!
“L..Little Su, t-this money… is it for our night school?”
Su He nodded. “Principal, foreign currency has regulations. We have to convert it to Chinese Yuan. Tomorrow I’ll talk to Elder Gu and ask him to help exchange it.”
Principal Chen felt like he was dreaming!
Then came overwhelming joy.
With this money, they could build more classrooms and enroll more students!
They could even go to the countryside to hold mobile literacy classes and help more farmers learn to read…
To Principal Chen, joining Su He’s ship of “trouble” was the best decision he had ever made!
He didn’t sleep well all night—he even laughed in his dreams, startling Su He.
She thought to herself, Old man, your mental fortitude is too weak! This is only the beginning!
Someday, I’ll even build you a university!
—
The next morning at breakfast, all four of the foreigners had dark circles under their eyes—clearly, none had slept well.
After breakfast, Su He briefly brought up the donation. She wasn’t trying to make the other foreign guests donate—just wanted to prevent John and the others from exaggerating or saying something misleading.
She gave John and his group special thanks and led the applause.
The other foreign guests followed suit and clapped along.
John and his group looked more miserable than if they’d been crying.
Su He didn’t dwell on the topic. Instead, she said cheerfully, “To keep you all entertained during the journey, let me introduce some customs and scenery of the cities we’ll be passing through…”
Elder Gu watched Su He chattering away—though he couldn’t understand much, he picked out a few place names and guessed she was describing tourist spots along the route.
He asked Principal Chen, “Didn’t this girl only graduate high school? How is she so capable?”
Principal Chen thought, You’re asking me? Who should I ask then?!
Finally, he managed to say, “Must be a genius, I suppose!”
Elder Gu nodded thoughtfully and said nothing more.
After describing the scenery along the way, Su He smoothly transitioned the topic to An County.
“My hometown, An County, is a small county—probably none of you have heard of it—but it’s a picturesque little place. If you ever visit China again, I hope you’ll come and see us there!”
Thanks to Su He’s enthusiastic description, the foreign guests all formed a vivid impression: An County is a great place!
So much so that when they returned to their home countries and were asked where the most interesting place in China was, they all blurted out… An County.
Not that they’d actually been there!
*
Later, Su He found an opportunity to speak privately with Elder Gu.
“Elder Gu, I’d like to ask you for a favor—could you help me convert this foreign currency into Chinese Yuan?”
Such a large sum of foreign currency couldn’t be exchanged through normal channels without potentially attracting trouble.
Elder Gu agreed readily, “Give me the money and leave me an address. I’ll wire the funds to you later.”
Su He thanked him, then rubbed her hands a little nervously. “Elder Gu, I have another request. It might be a bit bold, but after thinking it over, I still want to give it a try.”
Elder Gu assumed she wanted to join the Foreign Trade Department. He sighed inwardly—though the girl was talented, it wasn’t that simple.
To enter the Foreign Trade Department, one had to undergo thorough background checks—almost down to 18 generations back. Not to mention the requirement of a college diploma, which Su He clearly lacked.
As he was mentally drafting a tactful refusal, Su He said, “An County wants to participate in the Autumn Canton Trade Fair. Could you help us apply for a booth? Nothing fancy—just a corner spot is fine!”
Elder Gu was stunned.
Then he laughed—he had underestimated this girl.
She wasn’t aiming small at all!
“What kind of product does An County want to exhibit?”
“I haven’t decided on a specific product yet, but we have grass-woven handicrafts. Foreigners are sure to like them!”
Elder Gu frowned slightly. “Grass-woven handicrafts are common in many places—they’re not very competitive.
Tell you what. There’s still some time before the Autumn Fair. If An County can come up with a competitive product, I’ll help you get a booth.”
“Great! Once I have a plan, I’ll call or write to you.”
Su He had expected this response. Many places fought tooth and nail for a slot in the Canton Fair—Elder Gu couldn’t possibly agree without seeing some potential.
*
The rest of the journey went smoothly.
John’s eyes kept trailing after Su He. Whenever their gazes met, he’d quickly look away.
Su He didn’t think much of it—just assumed he was traumatized from being tricked earlier.
That night, just as Su He lay down, the trading interface popped up.
“You just look and never buy—isn’t that rude? Once or twice, fine, but every single time? Too much!”
All those cultural facts she’d been sharing came from books she found through the exchange system. The books had preview pages, so she’d basically freeloaded all the info.
The trading system had finally had enough and popped up in protest.
Su He figured it was still mad over the “button” incident and was just using this as an excuse.
This time, she didn’t argue. She actually bought something—a 1975 map of S City (S City) and copies of the S City Daily from New Year’s Day till now.
Only then did the system quiet down.
A moment later, it popped back up again.
“Why are you gaslighting me? Why are you playing me? I have issues with you—major issues!”
Wasn’t the host supposed to treat it like a god? Worship it?
Why was the situation reversed?!
Su He yawned. “Why so many questions? If you’ve got a problem, bottle it up. Don’t disturb my sleep—or I won’t spend a cent from now on!”
The screen filled with a stream of garbled text—clearly swearing in code.
Too bad Su He was already asleep.
*
The next morning after breakfast, Su He again introduced some of S City’s local culture and said, “There are only two more stops before we reach S City. Once we arrive, another team of translators will take over. I’ve truly enjoyed this journey with you all, and I hope we’ll meet again in the future!”
Some guests tried to persuade her to stay on as their interpreter, but Su He politely declined.
After all, she was just a temporary stand-in—not meant to steal the spotlight.
At that moment, John stood up, holding a flower folded from a handkerchief.
“Su, will you be my girlfriend?”
Su He: “…”
All her previous romantic troubles had been “rotten peach blossoms.”
Now, she’d gotten herself a foreign one!
