“Hello!” The exotic person walked in, smiling and waving, greeting the eight people in the classroom.
“Hello, Teacher.” It was almost a conditioned reflex. Seeing the person who walked in and stood at the front, in a position similar to a podium, the eight people immediately stood up, bowed slightly, and then almost in unison said, “Hello, Teacher.”
“Hello everyone. I am the Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in China. My Chinese name is Amun. It’s a pleasure to meet you all here.”
Counselor Amun, the Counselor to China, was probably startled by the rabbit-style classroom etiquette. He spoke with a slight nervousness, but having been through many battles, he quickly adjusted. He looked at everyone and introduced himself.
“Hello.” Reba recalled the “hello” she had learned in Arabic before, and said it to Counselor Amun with a slight reservation, being careful not to make a mistake.
However, it was clear Reba hadn’t made a mistake, at least not in the general pronunciation, because a hint of surprise and admiration appeared in Counselor Amun’s eyes. He then politely responded with a “hello” in Arabic.
As for Reba, hearing Counselor Amun’s reply, her face also showed a joyful smile, like a child who had tasted honey.
“Please have a seat! Please have a seat!” After responding to Reba, Counselor Amun specifically motioned for Reba to sit down.
After everyone was seated, Amun read out the names of all eight people from the name tags on the table, then prepared to start today’s lesson.
However, to Zhao Hao’s surprise, Amun suddenly cued him when his name was called, and it was in Arabic.
“Zhao Hao?” Counselor Amun asked, looking at Zhao Hao’s Arabic name tag.
“Hello!” Zhao Hao stood up, bowed slightly, and then prepared to sit down.
PS: Arabic is automatically converted.
“Wait a moment,” Counselor Amun said, seeing Zhao Hao about to sit down, and quickly waved his hand.
“What’s wrong?” Zhao Hao was a bit confused by Counselor Amun’s sudden cue, but he reacted very quickly and replied in Arabic.
“Wow! It’s really true, your Arabic is truly fluent.” Counselor Amun exclaimed in surprise. After all, Counselor Amun had been skeptical when he first heard Director Liao Ke’s words.
Although Counselor Amun is an Arab, as a Counselor to China, he has some understanding of the Entertainment industry in China. Apart from He Jiong, who is an Arabic language teacher, Counselor Amun had never seen a celebrity who could skillfully use Arabic. Naturally, Counselor Amun took Director Liao Ke’s statement, ‘Zhao Hao’s Arabic is very good,’ as a descriptive phrase.
Now, after confirming that Zhao Hao’s Arabic was indeed very fluent, he couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Wow, very few Chinese people can speak Arabic as fluently as you. If I didn’t know you were Chinese, I would have thought you were an Arab.” It was probably the first time he had met someone with such authentic Arabic outside the Embassy to China. Counselor Amun was in a very good mood at this moment, so much so that he looked very excited, pulling Zhao Hao into a rambling conversation.
As for Zhao Hao, facing the suddenly enthusiastic Counselor Amun, he had no choice. He couldn't just refuse to chat with Counselor Amun, could he? That would be truly impolite. Moreover, this matter was all beneficial to Zhao Hao and had no downsides. The camera had been fixed on Zhao Hao and Counselor Amun from the beginning, and now it had been fixed for a full ten minutes. Although in the end, if Director Liao Ke was gracious enough to give Zhao Hao thirty seconds of screen time, it would be enough, there was no harm in it.
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In the monitoring room, Liao Ke watched Counselor Amun talking more and more animatedly, and Zhao Hao, who kept smiling and responding. Although Liao Ke didn’t know what they were talking about, seeing Zhao Hao respond to every word from Counselor Amun, Liao Ke felt they must be having a very pleasant conversation! But it was obvious that even if Liao Ke didn’t stop them now, the editors would make a harsh cut later. No matter what, Zhao Hao was currently only the eighth guest. Even if his performance in this round was very eye-catching, it couldn’t infringe upon the screen time of the other seven people. To put it bluntly, the screen time was still within the contract.
Thinking of this, Liao Ke picked up the walkie-talkie beside him and urged the on-site production assistant to speed things up.
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Inside the classroom,
With the intervention of the Director Team, Amun disappointedly ended his friendly discussion with Zhao Hao and prepared to start today’s Saudi Arabia mini-class.
Looking at Amun, who had been forcibly muted by the Director Team, Zhao Hao couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. After all, he was facing a Counselor from the Embassy to China. This level of person was the highest Zhao Hao had encountered in two lifetimes. Zhao Hao was quite afraid of saying the wrong thing inadvertently. So, although to outsiders it seemed Zhao Hao only chatted with Counselor Amun for a few minutes, Zhao Hao’s brain told him it was already on the verge of overload.
“Zhao Hao, what were you guys talking about?” Just as Zhao Hao sat down, a very distinctive voice suddenly came from beside him, along with a hand gently touching his shoulder.
“Lan Jie.” Zhao Hao turned his head slightly and saw Qin Lan looking at him with a curious expression. “Nothing much, he just told me some Saudi traditions and expressed his approval.”
“Really?” Hearing Zhao Hao’s words, Qin Lan’s face visibly lost its sparkle and returned to its initial dignified posture, looking like she hadn’t gotten any gossip and was very unhappy.
Seeing Qin Lan’s dissatisfaction with his answer, Zhao Hao also had no choice. After all, he couldn’t possibly say that a dignified Saudi Arabia Counselor to China had been talking about how his family had a Chinese rural dog named Wangcai! And that Wangcai was especially well-behaved! Most importantly, he thought the name Wangcai was particularly good, and then they just kept exchanging dog-raising tips!
Back to the Saudi Arabia mini-class.
When Counselor Amun wasn’t talking about his dog, he was very serious and reliable. After briefly introducing the historical ties between China and Saudi Arabia, he posed the first question for today’s mini-class.
“In ancient times, a Chinese person once visited Saudi Arabia. Can you guess who this person was?”
As soon as this question was asked, the Hua Shao Group began their discussion. Seeing this situation, Zhao Hao had no choice. As for showing off, Zhao Hao definitely couldn’t do that at this moment. After all, he had already shown off enough before. In the Entertainment industry, one must know when to quit while ahead! Thinking this, Zhao Hao could only follow suit. As long as he didn’t say something as idiotic as, “How could there be a bowl in the refrigerator!” ①, it would be fine!
While the members of the Hua Shao Group were all talking at once, most of the usual suspects were mentioned! Zhang Qian, Xuanzang, Jianzhen, etc., were all named, mainly just saying whatever came to mind.
Everyone in the classroom was very active.
Hu Xianxun thought for a moment and gave an answer: “Was it Zheng He?”
“That’s right, it was Zheng He, the Chinese navigator from the Ming Dynasty. More than six hundred years ago, he went to Jeddah and Medina in Saudi Arabia, and many records were left behind.”
“In 1990, China and Saudi Arabia established diplomatic relations. The relationship between our two countries has always been very good, especially with the alignment of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative and ‘Vision 2023’ in 2022, our cooperation has been increasing…” Counselor Amun also introduced the diplomatic situation between China and Saudi Arabia, followed by a series of Arabic number lessons. However, for Zhao Hao, it was a piece of cake, but it was tough for the other seven study tour partners.