Chapter 276: IM YOUR FRENCH TUTOR , DALIA

Guiying settled into the study chair, moving the study materials next to his dominant hand and joining the Guugle Meet call.

A dark-skinned woman, wearing a patterned headscarf, came into view.

She had a very beautiful hairstyle. He had not seen anything like this, not even during their trip to the States.

"Hello! It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Xue." She waved, her voice coming in with a thick accented Chinese.

"Hello."

"I’m your French and English tutor. You can call me Dalia."

Da...liya??

Were the names combined or just one single one?

Guiying was too embarrassed to ask.

"Though I’m not of Chinese descent, I spent a couple of years in China so my Chinese is very good. You don’t have to worry."

Guiying nodded. He could tell her Chinese was very advanced.

There was no break in her tone.

"I like your hair. It’s very unique."

Dalia touched her hair, lips curving into a small smile.

"Thank you! This is called an Afro. My mother passed it down to me and I’m happy my son got it as well. It’s a thing of pride."

Guiying nodded. She was a pretty woman so this hairstyle must look good on her son as well.

"It’s good to uphold heritage. Plus it looks cool."

Dalia gave him a little grin before reaching for something off-screen. "Trust me, it is."

She arranged the flashcards in her hands, counting them, placing them next to pens and markers.

"I also speak Spanish and Russian, if either ever interests you. Not today, though. We’ve got enough on our plate already."

Guiying raised a brow. He used to think Liuxian was impressive but he guessed anyone could learn a language if they put in the effort.

"Five languages. That’s genuinely impressive. You’re just like my husband."

"Six, if you count the Wolof my mother beat into me as a child." She flipped a flashcard over, grinning. "But French first. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves."

Guiying shifted in his seat. "Can I ask you something before we start?"

Dalia turned back to the screen, clasping her hands together. "Go ahead."

"Someone said something to me once, in French. I never found out what it meant, and I’ve been curious for a while now."

"Say it. I’ll see what I can make of it."

He tried the phrase in Chinese first, mangling half the syllables. Nothing close to whatever Liuxian had actually said in his office.

Dalia repeated the sounds back to herself, testing them once, then again.

"I honestly can’t tell what that was supposed to be." She set the card down.

"Chinese phonetics flatten French pretty badly, especially with the tones layered over it. But if you learn properly, you’ll be able to say it yourself one day, exactly how it was meant to sound. And then you’ll finally know. I did catch the word ’unexpected’. The person must hold you in deep regard."

Guiying’s face reddened. Now he was even more curious about the things Liuxian had said in French.

He would work hard and find the meaning.

"Thank you."

"Then let’s get you there." She gestured off-screen. "Open your materials, the textbook and the writing pad both. I’ll teach you the way I teach my son, with flashcards, daily conversation, and structured lessons. Sounds like a lot up front, but it works."

Guiying propped open the textbook.

French 101 For Beginners. Volume 1.

"We’ll start with the nasal vowels today." Dalia held up a card with "un" printed in bold across it.

"Say ’uh,’ but push the air through your nose instead of your mouth."

"Un." Guiying said it flat, the sound coming out through his mouth instead.

"Use your nose, not your mouth. I know it’s kind of weird but you’ll get used to it."

She mouthed it again, slower. "Un."

"Un." He tried again, a faint nasal edge finally creeping in this time.

"Oh, that’s better. Now try this one." She flipped to a card marked "eu," pursing her lips into a tight circle. "Round your lips like you’re about to whistle."

"Eu?" His tongue slid back out of habit, the sound collapsing into something closer to the last vowel.

"Your tongue should be forward. Watch how I do it." She tapped her chin. "Eu."

"Eu." He tried once more, a bit closer this time.

"There." She nodded, satisfied enough to move on. "This exercise is to help you familiarize yourself with some pronunciations."

She brought out another set of flashcards. "We’ll run through the rest of the vowels after this, then move into a short English review, since I hear you already have some foundation there."

"A little." Guiying’s ears burned faintly. "It’s not enough to start a conversation."

"We’ll fix that soon enough." She flipped to the next card. "By the end of today’s session, you’ll have a short assignment, some vocabulary to memorize, and a few phrases to practice out loud before our next session. Ten minutes daily beats one long session once a week, every time."

Guiying reached for his pen, jotting the reminder at the top of his notepad.

"Ready?" Dalia held the next card up, waiting.

"Ready."

They spent the next three hours learning the vowels and basic sentences.

Until Butler Wang knocked on the door.

"Mr. Fu requests your presence. Do I tell him to wait a little longer?"

Dalia seemed to have overheard and sighed softly.

"We were in the zone, haha. But we’re long past our session time. I will send the flashcards and assignments via email. See you in three days."

Guiying waved at the screen. "Thank you. I enjoyed your teaching."

Dalia’s lips curved up, waving as well. "Thank you! I enjoyed teaching you as well. See you soon."

The screen went black and Guiying leaned back. Learning this much could overwhelm anyone.

But he wasn’t anyone.

Standing up, he stretched lightly, heading to the door.

"Tell him I’ll be with him shortly. I need to stretch my legs and drink some water."

Butler Wang nodded, stepping inside the study. "Got it. I will tidy up the office in the meantime."