Back at Zhiyuxuan, Ye Yunniang asked Li'er to wake her up before noon.
“Okay, sister,” Pear replied.
Before noon, wake Ye Yunniang up, "Sister, wake up, it's time for lunch."
Pear brought lunch, which Ye Yunniang ate, and then took the silver to Xiaosongju.
Xiaosongju is a small courtyard with three main rooms and one room each in the east and west wings.
As I entered the courtyard, I heard the sound of reading coming from the east and west wing rooms.
A little girl of about seven or eight years old jumped in front of Ye Yunniang, tilted her head, and asked, "Are you here to register?"
"Yes," Ye Yunniang replied.
"How many months do you want to register for?"
"Two months first." Ye Yunniang wasn't sure how much longer she could stay at the Jiang residence, so she planned to register for two months first to learn some common characters.
"Come with me." The little girl led Ye Yunniang to the east room of the main house. "Grandma, a girl has come to register for a two-month contract."
"Come in." The voice belonged to Granny Kong.
"Greetings, Granny Kong. My name is Ye Yunniang. I'm here to register for literacy training." Ye Yunniang bowed and stated her request.
“It is my daughter who is teaching you.”
In the first month, she mainly taught the *Three Character Classic* and the *Hundred Family Surnames*, and in the second month, she taught the *Thousand Character Classic* and arithmetic. "If you want to learn anything else, you can ask," said Granny Kong, explaining the curriculum.
"Yes, do as the teacher taught." Ye Yunniang had no other requests.
"Okay. Two taels of silver for two months. You'll need to bring your own books, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. If that's inconvenient, we can provide them."
Ye Yunniang took out 8 taels of silver, 2 taels for tuition and 6 taels for purchasing 300 coins, writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones.
Ye Yunniang's three months' salary was gone. She sighed inwardly, thinking how expensive studying really was.
Ye Yunniang carried the books, writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone back to Zhiyuxuan.
Pear stepped forward and carefully took the book.
Seeing Li'er's actions, Ye Yunniang spoke again, "Li'er, why don't you learn with me? I can lend you the tuition fee first."
Pear firmly shook her head, "Thank you for your kindness, sister, but I want to save money to learn to read on my own. I have already saved one and a half taels of silver, and I can go to learn with you soon."
Ye Yunniang did not try to persuade her any further.
Back inside, Ye Yunniang first took out a piece of thick, stiff cloth and sewed a schoolbag to hold her books.
The writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were carefully placed on the table.
On her day off, Ye Yunniang rested well, then carried her schoolbag and headed to Xiaosongju.
She went to her first literacy class.
The maids in the mansion who were literate all lived in the west wing of Xiaosong Residence.
There were seven or eight desks in the west wing. Each desk could seat two people.
The six tables in the front row were full of people. When they saw Ye Yunniang at the door, they glanced at her, then lowered their heads to continue reading, writing, or reciting.
Ye Yunniang walked to an empty seat in the back row and sat down.
Ye Yunniang carefully took out the "Hundred Family Surnames" from her schoolbag and placed it on the table, waiting for the teacher to arrive.
Kong Ci was a woman nearing 40, unlike the always stern-faced Granny Kong. She had a smile on her face and spoke clearly and crisply. She gave the impression of being a quick and efficient person.
Kong Ci walked up to Ye Yunniang's table and stopped. "You are Ye Yunniang?"
Ye Yunniang stood up nervously, stammering, "Yes, yes, yes, Master."
“Sit down, don’t be nervous. I’m hardly a teacher. It was the old lady who took pity on you and arranged for me to teach you some characters. At least you should know how to write your names and be able to read indentures. You can call me ‘Aunt’ just like the others.”
"Okay, Auntie." Ye Yunniang tried not to be nervous, but she couldn't help herself once she opened her mouth.
Aunt Kong Ci handed over a piece of paper with squares on it.
“This is your name.” Kong Ci pointed to the three characters at the top of the paper: “Ye, Yun, Niang.”
Ye Yunniang stared at the three words with a dazed look.
So that's how my name is written.
"As the sixth young master's wet nurse, you get a day off every other day. On a monthly basis, you can only come 15 days a month, which is not cost-effective. I'll adjust your class schedule to be based on the number of sessions."
One tael of silver 30 times.
Since you can't write now, each time you come, you press your handprint in a square.
"Next month, you'll need to be able to write your name. When you do, you can sign your name but not leave a fingerprint," Kong Ci said, taking out inkpads and having Ye Yunniang leave her fingerprint.
The thumb, smeared with red mud, was pressed onto the first square.
Kong Ci carefully put away Ye Yunniang's sign-in sheet.
"Okay, let's start class. Turn to the first page of the 'Hundred Family Surnames'. Read the first line after me: Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang."
Ye Yunniang read along, "Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang."
"Okay, next line. Feng, Chen, Chu, Wei; Jiang, Chen, Han, Yang."
"Feng, Chen, Chu, Wei; Jiang, Chen, Han, Yang," Ye Yunniang continued reading.
...
Kong Ci led Ye Yunniang through these 16 characters, reading them aloud 20 times. She then had Ye Yunniang read them herself while she taught the others.
An hour passed after one round.
Kong Ci went to Ye Yunniang's table and asked, "Did you remember?"
"I've got it," Ye Yunniang replied affirmatively, though she was actually quite nervous inside.
“Okay, how do you pronounce this?” Kong Ci pointed to the first surname.
"Zhao." Ye Yunniang remembered it clearly.
“Okay, how do you pronounce this character?” Kong Ci pointed to the third surname.
Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Ye Yunniang silently recited in her heart, "Sun."
“Okay, how about this character?” Kong Ci pointed to another character.
Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li; Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang; Feng, Chen, Chu, Wei; Jiang, Chen… Ye Yunniang silently recited the word Kong Ci had pointed to.
"Sink," Ye Yunniang said forcefully.
"You read it correctly, and you remember it well," Kong Ci praised.
"It's all thanks to my aunt's excellent teaching," Ye Yunniang said modestly.
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