"But I’m still a little nervous. My foundation is just so weak. I’ve been listening to cassette tapes every day to practice, but some of my pronunciation is still off. Grace, could you teach me?" Joanne Chase asked, her palms slick with nervous sweat.

Grace Winslow nodded. "How about this? From now on, let’s just speak English with each other. If you say anything wrong, I’ll correct you. Learning a foreign language requires a good language environment, and frequent conversation helps improve your speaking skills."

"Really? That’s great! Let’s start right now."

Joanne Chase’s face lit up with excitement.

’She just wanted so badly to improve.’

’She wanted to earn money with her own two hands and change her life.’

Grace Winslow also felt that her own spoken English was a bit lacking, mainly due to the absence of an immersive language environment. So, speaking English with Joanne Chase wasn’t just good for Joanne; it was beneficial for her as well.

After the semester began, Grace Winslow was busy once again.

She had almost no free time, her days filled to the brim with all sorts of commitments.

Because she had been exposed to physics during her summer internship, she had also signed up for it as an elective. However, her foundation wasn’t very strong, and she found the subject extremely difficult.

With an already packed course load, adding such a challenging class left her completely swamped.

After a month of hard work with little to show for it, Grace Winslow decided to put her physics course on hold.

"Grace, how are you out of class so early today?" Joanne Chase looked up from her book, a surprised expression on her face when she saw Grace Winslow return so soon.

Grace Winslow shook her head, looking exhausted. "It’s just not effective. Forcing myself to keep going like this won’t yield any better results. I’m planning to take a break for a while and see if I can find someone to help me catch up on the material."

"I was never exposed to much of this in my previous schooling, so learning it now is just too difficult."

’Other people build their foundation from a young age.’

’Right now, she was like a house with a poorly laid foundation trying to add several more stories. Of course it would be shaky.’

"That makes sense. I’m struggling with just Advanced Math, and here you are taking so many other classes. I’m really jealous of you." Joanne Chase nodded, then slumped wearily onto her desk.

She had gotten caught up in the grind with Grace Winslow lately, taking on extra courses herself. She hadn’t realized how profound much of the material was until she started studying it.

’Getting into Crestwood University was a total fluke.’ 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

’If the college entrance exams had been any different, she might not have made it in at all.’

"Let’s just work hard together. I’m decent at Advanced Math, so if you don’t understand something, you can ask me." Grace Winslow patted Joanne Chase on the back, then grabbed her clothes and went to take a shower.

The two of them spurred each other on, each working harder than the last. Aside from going home on their Sunday break, they were practically invisible the rest of the time.

To improve their foreign language skills, Grace Winslow even dragged Joanne Chase to the Sovereign on Sundays. They would occasionally run into foreigners there, which was a good opportunity to practice.

"By the way, I heard a group of foreigners will be at the Sovereign on Sunday. Some of the third-year upperclassmen told me and asked if we wanted to go with them. It seems they’re here to hunt for antiques," Grace Winslow said in English as she came out of the shower, toweling her hair dry and seeing Joanne Chase still hard at work.

Joanne Chase’s interest was piqued. "Antiques? I heard there’s a place called Emberwood Market where you can go treasure hunting and find some real gems. The newspapers even reported that someone found a treasure worth tens of thousands for a very low price and got rich overnight. Is that true?"

Hearing this, Grace Winslow poked her on the forehead and chided, "You think you’d be so lucky? If it were really a treasure, do you think the stall owners would be selling it?"

"There might be treasures, but finding them requires a keen eye and a lot of knowledge. You don’t have that kind of expertise, so you’d just end up bringing home a pile of junk."

Joanne Chase’s face fell. "You’re right. I’ve never even seen a real treasure. If I actually went hunting for one, I’d probably just end up with junk."

"It’s a good thing you reminded me, Grace. Otherwise, I might have impulsively run off to do some ’treasure hunting’ of my own."

"Everyone wants to get rich overnight, but when is it ever that simple? Alright, get some sleep. We have classes tomorrow." Grace Winslow patted her shoulder, dried her hair, and climbed into bed.

Joanne Chase yawned, went to wash up, and then climbed into her own bed to sleep.

Since they were going to the Sovereign on Sunday, both Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase stayed at the university on Saturday.

Early Sunday morning, they met up with a few upperclassmen on campus.

The group took a bus to the Sovereign and waited by the entrance.

In those days, it was quite easy for a translator to make money. You just had to wait for foreign guests, guide them on shopping trips or tours, and you could earn a good amount in tips.

However, some people brought their own translators, and those were harder to approach.

There were plenty of foreigners at the Sovereign who were on their own. With a discerning eye, you could find reliable, wealthy clients and earn a lot of money.

This wasn’t the first time Grace Winslow and Joanne Chase had come here.

Joanne Chase had already saved up a few hundred yuan in her personal stash, all earned from coming here on Sundays to give people tours.

She also occasionally went shopping, and when she helped Irene Lynch, Irene always paid her for her work.

"Try not to approach groups of foreigners. If you follow them by yourself, it could be dangerous. We have to be prepared and assume the worst of people," Grace Winslow reminded Joanne Chase repeatedly, keeping her voice low.

She said the same thing tirelessly every time they came.

After all, not everyone was a good person. If something really happened, you could die for nothing.

’Right now, Celestia’s fist wasn’t strong enough yet.’

Joanne Chase nodded, her eyes fixed intently on the people coming out of the Sovereign.

Grace Winslow was also watching carefully from the side.

Some of the other students had already approached people and left with them.

Grace Winslow remained patient. She didn’t have to rely on this for money, after all—she wasn’t short on cash—so she absolutely refused to take any risks.

"Grace, I don’t know... something feels off about these people," Joanne Chase whispered to Grace Winslow, carefully observing the men who were coming out.

"What feels off?" Grace Winslow watched them for a moment but didn’t notice anything unusual.

"They don’t look like good people. Back in my village, I’ve seen... tomb raiders. They look a bit like them." Joanne Chase’s voice was very soft, and she subconsciously took a step back.

Hearing this, the color drained from Grace Winslow’s face. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Are they really coming to Emberwood Market just to buy antiques? If they take the artifacts out of the country, does that count as smuggling?" Joanne Chase nodded, then asked with uncertainty.

Grace Winslow snapped back to her senses. Yes, it certainly would.

’She blamed herself. She hadn’t been exposed to this kind of thing before and hadn’t even considered it.’

’Thinking about it now, if these people bought domestic artifacts and took them abroad, wasn’t that smuggling?’

Many of the country’s cultural relics had been transported overseas by people just like this. Decades had passed, and not all of them had been recovered.