Moju's eyes were sharp. When she saw someone standing outside the room, she whispered in Yuxi's ear.
Yuxi stopped arguing and obediently sat in the back. Although she was not afraid of anything, she did not want to leave a wrong impression on Teacher Song, especially on the first day of school, because of a quarrel with her sister.
After they all had done choosing their seat, Yuchen's maid immediately took out a white cloth to wipe the table and stool. Then she spread out a tablecloth mat.
Yuxi looked at the already spotless desks and chairs. She did not understand why they needed to be wiped all over again.
Yuchen's maid immediately attracted everyone's attention when she pulled out all of Yuchen's study utensils. This set was made of top-grade sapphire material, each carved with simple patterns. At a glance, everyone noticed they were worth a lot of money.
Yuxi originally thought that her set of equipment was perfect, but when compared with Yuchen's four treasures, they turned into junk.
Shishu looked at Yuxi's green eyes with disdain in her heart. Before Fourth Miss fell ill, she looked like a frail girl who could easily fall over even from a wind blow. After she got better, her eyes became more shallow. The last time Fourth Miss saw her Miss double-sided embroidery, her eyes were glistening. Just like right now, they were glowing green when she saw Miss' stationery like she hated not having them for herself.
Yuxi was not a fool. How could she not feel Shishu's disdainful stare? However, she was puzzled. Shishu had gone as far as guarding her like she had the general appearance of a thief just because she took Yuchen's double-sided embroidery.
Yujing also took notice of Yuchen's whole set of things and could not hide her jealousy. The Old Lady was too eccentric. Everything good was given to Yuchen as if she were her only granddaughter.
Her jealous eyes were so apparent that they managed to make Yuchen frown. However, Yuchen didn't care much; she knew Yujing wouldn't dare to bully her.
After a while, Teacher Song walked in with a few books. Everyone's eyes only stop for a second on them. Their eyes were fixed on a ruler on the books.
Yuxi looked at Teacher Song's black and bright ruler with some trepidation. No wonder many people were shocked when they heard Teacher Song's name. She was also shocked when she saw the ruler.
Teacher Song placed the book and ruler on the table, frowned, and instructed, "Second Miss, you change seats with Fourth Miss."
Yujing was unwilling, "Teacher, my Si Meimei1 don't like to sit in the front. She likes to sit at the back." She didn't want to look at the back of Yuxi's skull.
Yuxi felt very angry but knew she should not argue in front of the teacher, so she kept her head down and stayed silent.
Teacher Song said with a cold face, "Second Miss, you and Fourth Miss will switch positions." This was a direct order, not a consultation. Inquiries revealed that Yujing was arrogant and overbearing, and now it seemed even more unbearable than the rumours. She didn't even know modesty and decency and had a mouth full of lies.
Yujing didn't want to change her seat, but seeing Teacher Song's indifferent expression scared her. Thinking of her mother's warning, Yujing reluctantly stood up with Yuxi to change seats.
Yuxi didn't show any reaction on her face, but her heart was feeling very comfortable. After the two exchanged positions, Teacher Song asked them, starting from Yuru, what books they had read.
There was no doubt that Yuchen read books the most. Yuxi thought she had read the least, but then she realised that Yuru had read much less than she had.
Yuxi took the book handed out by Old Woman Ding and opened it to read the Three-Character Classic, written in zanhua xiokai font. She had heard that all the textbooks that Teacher Song used for teaching were copied by herself, so she didn't need to buy them from outside. This also led all the girls who studied with Teacher Song to write in zanhua xiokai.
The book was handed out to the four of them. Instead of giving a lecture immediately, Teacher Song asked the maids around Yuru and the others to empty their masters' prepared inks.
Then she ordered, "Grind your ink."
Yuxi was somewhat puzzled but did not say anything as she saw Yuchen pour out her ink, wash it, and pour clean water. Then she picked up the ink stick and began to grind it. Yuchen listened to what Teacher Song said, so Yuxi dared not say anything.
Two minutes later, Teacher Song said, "You are all grinding ink in the wrong posture. When grinding ink, you should be calm and do it gently and slowly. Maintain the ink level. Circle the inkstone vertically, not grind it obliquely or push it straight." After that, she demonstrated to the four girls.
Yuxi recognised a few words uttered by Teacher Song from her previous incarnation, but she foolishly blinked like she knew nothing.
How would she know that there were so many things to learn in grinding ink, not to mention other studies?
When the posture of the four girls was correct, Teacher Song said, "Write a line of words with your ink."
Yuxi was doing fine. She had been grinding her ink for more than a month now. This was also her habit of doing everything by herself. The other three did not. The ink used to write on weekdays was all polished by maids, so when Yuchen looked at the words written in the ink ground by herself, her face changed for the first time.
After reading the words written by the four girls, Teacher Song did not praise or criticise anyone but said, "You should grind your ink to a moderate shade, and the words written with too strong or too weak ink are not good. In the future, you should practice more. Also, it takes a long time to grind ink. It is better to practice grinding ink with your left hand to prevent your right hand from getting tired."
Yujing shrugged it off. There were so many maids around her, so she didn't need to grind the ink herself, but she didn't dare to refute Teacher Song's words during class.
Teacher Song's sharp eyes naturally saw Yujing's expression, but she did not care. Over the years, she had taught many girls and seen many with such temperament as Yujing. "Today, let's start by learning the «Three-Character Classic»."
A noob translator, きつね, translated this noob translation. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.site. If you read this in another location other than the site stated, it has been taken without the translator's permission. Please don't support this kind of act.
There was nothing special about Teacher Song's teaching. She explained it sentence by sentence and then left some time for the four girls to take notes before she continued. It took one morning for her to read out a quarter of the «Three-Character Classic». Luckily, all four girls already had basics. Even though Teacher Song spoke quickly, they could still catch up.
When the class was over, she assigned them homework to write down all the words they had learned today.
Yuxi's face almost cracked. If she wrote more than 500 characters in one night, and none of them could be wrong, wouldn't her hand be broken? She felt the horror of Teacher Song for the first time.
Yujing objected directly, "Teacher, it is impossible to write more than 500 words in such a short time, which we only have this evening till tomorrow morning."
Teacher Song replied with a straight face, "Then, no need for you to write. No one forces you."
Yujing's face flushed bright red.
With this precedent, naturally, others didn't dare to raise objections. Yuxi glanced at Yuru and Yuchen secretly. Yuru had a bitter face, while Yuchen's face still looked so light; writing more than 500 words for her was just a piece of cake.
On the afternoon of the ninth month, although it was relatively cool, Yuxi was sweating after walking for more than a minute. As soon as she entered the Rose Courtyard, the maid brought mung bean soup to relieve her from the summer heat.
"How are you doing today, Miss?" asked Mama Shen with concern.
Yuxi could not say that she understood everything during class, but she vaguely said, "I understand everything Teacher Song said." Initially, she felt that she had some advantages. After all, she had learned zanhua xiokai in her previous life, but now, when she saw Yuchen's beautiful handwriting, she wanted to drill a hole in the ground. Despite her extra lifetime, she couldn't even be compared with the present Yuchen. She was ashamed to be complacent there.
During dinner, she noticed six dishes and one soup on the table and asked, "Why are there so many dishes today?" Usually, there were only three dishes and one soup.
Mama Shen smiled and said, "The Old Lady said that you have worked hard, so she ordered the kitchen to add more dishes for Miss."
Yuxi said nothing. Anyway, she wouldn't waste these too many dishes. She could leave them for the maids around her if she couldn't finish them. Yuxi deliberately pretended to be casual and asked, "Is it for today only or every day?"
Mama Shen turned pale and answered, "Only for today."
Yuxi no longer spoke.
The way to keep fit was to eat till seven per cent full, which meant more than half of the dishes would be left on the table. After Yuxi finished her dinner, she did not rush to do her homework. Instead, she went out for a walk and began doing it after returning.
Fortunately, she had learned the «Three-Character Classic» by heart and could write it without reading the textbook. Thus, she could write the text much faster than expected.
She did not finish writing until the end of haishi2. Before falling asleep, she told Mama Shen, "Mama, please wake me up at two or three tomorrow." After she finished her homework today, she didn't have time to check it. To avoid being beaten up, she wanted to get up early tomorrow to study and correct her mistakes as soon as possible.
The next day, she recited the text and began checking her homework. After everything was in order, it was time for her to have her morning meal.
When she arrived at Magnolia Courtyard, she saw that Yuru and Yujing had panda eyes, just like her. Neither of them slept well last night. However, Yuchen's manner was natural, and she could not see any signs of exhaustion.
Well, Yuxi couldn't help sighing in her heart. Sure enough, there were always talented people who gave other people the feeling of irritation. Therefore, it took great courage to learn with such a person. Otherwise, you would feel inferior if you were not careful.
Teacher Song examined their homework, brought by Old Woman Ding. She asked them four to recite the text. It wasn't just for reviewing what they wrote but to recall every word they had written.
Yuru could only recite half of the text, so she was hit five times on her hand. The first time Teacher Song struck her hand, her tears immediately fell.
Teacher Song did not seem to notice that Yuru was crying. The ruler still hit her hand with a loud noise.
Yujing's face was blue; she didn't know if it was because she felt frightened by the scene. When it was her turn, she could only recite two sentences.
Teacher Song said, "Put out your hand."
Yujing put out her hand reluctantly. After Teacher Song hit her hand, she refused to put it out again. She had been pampered and spoiled since she was a child. Not to mention being beaten by a ruler, other people had never mistreated her.
Teacher Song said coldly, "Get out." Seeing that Yujing did not move, she viciously said, "If you don't go out by yourself, I'll let the maid drag you out." If Yujing couldn't suffer this hardship, then it was better that she left. She would not teach such a person without character.
Yujing ran out crying.
Yuxi mulled happily in her heart. Teacher Song was indeed fierce. Good. Very good.
Footnotes Full List
- si=fourth, meimei=younger sister
- 9-11 pm
Noob Translator's Musing
I have never been a fan of guys with moustaches. But when I saw Sheng Changbai in the Story of Minglan Ep. 64, I squealed excitedly. I like him more with a moustache over him without one. Weird, isn't it?
Tags:
The Rebirth of Han Yuxi