When Sister Qin first went to the girls' school, her name was Erya.
When she heard that she had never done any work at home and was forced by her parents to learn piano since she was a child, Mrs. Lu's face changed immediately.
Generally speaking, such girls are intended to be sold by their families as concubines or to brothels.
When she was little, Sister Qin was unaware of this and thought she was very favored at home. She happily went home and said that she was going to a girls' school. Unexpectedly, this caused an uproar at home.
During her parents' quarrel, Sister Qin learned that what she thought was favor was actually just a way for her father to sell her for a better price.
Sister Qin couldn't accept this fact and resisted fiercely. She was beaten by her father and locked up in the woodshed.
In the end, her mother couldn't bear it anymore, so she secretly opened the door of the woodshed in the middle of the night and helped her escape from the home.
After escaping from home, Sister Qin didn't want to touch the piano for a long time, and even didn't want to hear the sound of the piano.
Later, it was the princess' words that woke her up.
“Perhaps your father’s original intention in letting you learn the piano was not pure, but the skills you have learned belong to you, and they also give you another skill to make a living.
"I've learned so much for so many years. Is it worth giving up my strengths just for the mistakes of others?"
When Sister Qin heard this, she burst into tears.
The next day, she found Madam Lu and officially changed her name to Jing Yuqin.
Because she was the oldest student at the time, everyone gradually got used to calling her Sister Qin.
Afterwards, the princess specially arranged four teachers to teach piano, chess, calligraphy and painting for the girls, allowing everyone to choose the skills they wanted to learn according to their strengths and preferences.
Shen Nianzhi learned the piano skills in the girls' school, and Sister Qin's guidance was also indispensable.
Therefore, Sister Qin has always been both a teacher and a friend to her.
When Sister Qin left for her apprenticeship, Shen Nianzhi hugged her and cried all night, and her eyes were swollen when she sent her away the next day.
Later, when she heard that the two of them could follow the princess to sail to Great Britain together, Shen Nianzhi was almost crazy with joy.
"Sister Qin, it's so great to be able to go out to sea with you. I thought you would be reluctant to give up Da Qi's business!"
"Such a rare opportunity, how could I miss it?"
As Sister Qin spoke, she raised her hand to smooth her wind-blown hair, and looked from afar at Qingtian who had just stepped onto the deck and was walking inside surrounded by people.
“I’ve told you before, you can’t go wrong if you follow the princess’s footsteps!
"Going overseas for a few years has not wasted our time at all, it has only allowed us to learn more.
"Not to mention that I've exchanged all the money I've earned in the past few years into goods. Once Great Britain sells them, the profit will be countless times greater than what I made doing business in Da Qi!"
"Sister Qin, what goods have you prepared?" Chen Nianzhi became excited when he heard this. There were a total of twelve students going out to sea with Qingtian this time. There were not only outstanding students who were studying in the girls' school, but also those who had successfully graduated like Sister Qin.
They probably all had the same idea as Sister Qin and were unwilling to miss such a rare opportunity.
Qingtian not only provided everyone with travel luggage and clothes, but also said that everyone could borrow money from her and allowed them to bring a certain amount of goods on board. The only requirement was that they purchase them in Da Qi and find a way to sell them after arriving in the West.
Shen Nianzhi didn't dare to borrow more, but didn't want to miss this opportunity to train himself. Finally, with the encouragement of Sister Qin, he borrowed ten taels of silver and bought all of it as tea.
Not only that, she also brought the embroidery she made on a daily basis and prepared a large bag of materials.
After all, the one-way journey takes four to six months. When she has nothing to do on the ship, she can embroider some more handkerchiefs and take them to Great Britain to sell.
But life on the ship was not as idle as she had imagined or heard.
Qingtian only gave everyone three days to adapt to life on the ship, and then gathered everyone together to start classes.
Not only did she personally teach everyone Western languages, she also allowed everyone to practice conversations with each other.
We also asked someone to explain the route of this sea voyage to everyone, the places they would pass by along the way, and where they would stop for supplies. Everyone would also have time to get off the ship and experience the local customs and culture.
She even took everyone to visit and learn around the ship, and specifically went to see the steam engine that powered the entire ship.
When passing through some small countries along the way, Qingtian would occasionally recruit some local craftsmen she was interested in to join the ship.
She also encourages female students to communicate more with these people, and if they are interested, they can learn skills from them.
In order to better communicate with these people, everyone's enthusiasm for learning various dialects is increasing day by day.
After most people found their own interests, Qingtian changed the daily curriculum to learning Western languages in the morning and allowing them to study what they were interested in in the afternoon.
Everyone then understood why there were so many pens, inks, paper and inkstones in the luggage the princess had prepared for everyone.
Because there is so much to learn and remember.
No one felt bored on the ship anymore. Everyone had endless things to do and endless things to learn.
It has been more than a month since I got on the ship. Chen Nianzhi brought the silk handkerchief with her, but she only took it out to embroider a few stitches during the first two days on board, and then threw it aside and never picked it up again.
There are so many new things and new knowledge waiting for her that she has never come into contact with before, and she doesn't have the time to do repetitive work just to make a little more money.
But for a few days in a row, Sister Qin discovered that something was wrong with Shen Nianzhi, who had been so motivated before.
Not only does she get distracted during class, she also often stares blankly in her room, and no one knows what she is thinking about.
Sister Qin observed for several days and finally couldn't help asking, "Nianzhi, what's wrong with you these days?"
When Shen Nianzhi was asked by her, she came back to her senses and immediately shook her head and said, “Sister Qin, I’m fine.”
"Why, now that you've grown up, you don't want to tell Sister Qin about anything that's bothering you?" Sister Qin said this deliberately. "You're no longer the little girl who loved to sleep with me and tell me everything that's bothering you, right?"
“Sister Qin, you know I’m not, so stop teasing me.” After Shen Nianzhi finished speaking, he couldn’t help but sighed and said, “Actually, I’ve been struggling with what to choose to study recently.
"I see that most of you have made your choices, and I'm the only one still hesitating."
"Didn't the princess say that you can choose whatever you like? Or is it that you like too many things and it's really hard to learn them all, so you have a hard time choosing?"
After hearing this, Shen Nianzhi said helplessly, "If that's the case, I'd rather sleep an hour less every day and learn more."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
