Thinking of this, Ye Yunniang once again reminded herself to be careful and not to be discovered.
"We told everyone it was lost. But according to the maids in the Fifth Miss's courtyard, the jade hairpin was actually stolen by a thief," Li'er said, glancing around to make sure no one else was there, and then lowering her voice.
"I heard, I heard, the thief was a man."
"Li'er, you can't say this to anyone else," Ye Yunniang reminded Li'er. If outsiders heard this, Li'er would be in serious trouble, if not dead.
“I’ll tell you all.” Pear wasn’t someone who told just anyone. She knew that Ye Yunniang and Granny Shi were tight-lipped and wouldn’t say anything carelessly.
"It's best not to tell us either. A secret is something only a nobody knows," Granny Shi said, her voice tinged with seriousness.
Pear realized she shouldn't have said that. A look of fear crossed her face.
"The Dragon Boat Festival is in two days. How do people in Jiangcheng celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival?" Ye Yunniang changed the subject.
"Oh dear, how could I forget about the zongzi? The manager said yesterday that zongzi would be distributed today." Pear slapped her forehead and got up to run outside.
Seeing her hurried and flustered appearance, Ye Yunniang could tell that this girl was only 9 years old.
Pear usually speaks and acts very maturely, and Ye Yunniang often forgets that she is a little girl who is not even 10 years old.
After a good night's sleep, Ye Yunniang got up and practiced calligraphy in the sand basin for half an hour.
Upon arriving at Fanghua Courtyard, they were informed that Taohong had already carried Jiang Tingjun to Zhongle Courtyard to pay their respects to Madam Jiang.
"Aunt Lan instructed that Nurse Ye should rest for another day," Honglu relayed Aunt Lan's instructions.
How can I pay my respects before I'm not even fifteen?
Ye Yunniang was puzzled.
It's good to put it aside quickly and have an extra day of rest.
Ye Yunniang returned to Zhiyuxuan, picked up her schoolbag and went to Xiaosongju. On the way, she was checked by the patrol team again.
Upon arriving at Xiaosongju, first sign in by pressing your handprint.
Kong Ci carefully put away the attendance sheet and then randomly checked what they had learned.
Ye Yunniang recognized every word Kong Ci pointed to without pausing.
Kong Ci was satisfied; Ye Yunniang had studied diligently.
"Okay. Today's lesson has two parts. First, I'll teach you the next 16 characters, and then I'll teach you how to hold a pen and write them."
"Aunt, I didn't bring any pen or ink." Ye Yunniang said with some difficulty.
"Use mine first, we'll start next class. Remember to bring your own brush, ink, paper, and inkstone."
Ye Yunniang agreed, saying she would remember.
"Today we will learn: Lu Weichang Ma, Miao Fenghua Fang. Yu Ren Yuan Liu, Feng Bao Shi Tang." Kong Ci led Ye Yunniang to read it repeatedly until she memorized it, and then let her recite it herself.
Kong Ci instructed the others on how to read, and after a round, before returning to Ye Yunniang's place, she first checked how to read the 16 words she had memorized that day.
"Come with me." Kong Ci led Ye Yunniang to the podium and handed her a calligraphy brush.
Kong Ci explained in detail the methods of holding the brush, namely, yè, pà, gōu, gé, and dì.
"擫" means to press the pen tube firmly with the pad of your thumb.
"Press" means pressing down on the pen tube with the first joint of the index finger and pinching the pen tube with the thumb.
The "hook" refers to the middle finger bending like a hook, which provides more stable control over the pen.
"Ge" refers to the point where the fingernail and flesh meet, pressing against the inside of the pen tube. Push the pen tube from the inside right to the outside left.
"Resist" refers to the little finger pressing tightly against the ring finger to help it push outward.
After explaining the method of holding the pen, he then talked about the key points of holding the pen.
Hold the pen firmly with your fingers, keep your palm hollow, place your wrist flat, and raise your palm vertically.
Holding the pen relies on the hand, while moving the pen relies on the wrist. Different wrist movements are used depending on the size of the characters being written. When writing small characters, the wrist should be supported; when writing medium-sized characters, the wrist should be lifted; and when writing large characters, the wrist should be suspended.
After saying this, Kong Ci picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and began to write the character "Zhao".
Kong Ci finished writing, stood up, and gave up his seat, saying, "Sit down and write what I wrote."
Ye Yunniang sat down and, imitating Kong Ci's actions, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and drew the first horizontal line.
Ye Yunniang has mastered writing with a wooden stick in a sand basin, achieving a steady and nimble hand. She feels that she should be able to do it with a brush as well.
But no one told her that the brush tip was soft and dripped ink. There was not only a horizontal line on the white paper, but also two ink dots.
"Usually, we only dip the brush tip in ink about one-third of its fullness. Once it's full, we can scrape off the excess ink from the edge of the inkstone. This makes the brush strokes neater and improves the writing effect. When scraping, be careful to do it gently to avoid damaging the brush tip."
Kong Ci pointed out the problems that Ye Yunniang had encountered.
Following the instructions, Ye Yunniang gradually corrected her pen-holding, ink-dipping, ink-scraping, and writing techniques... After practicing for a day, she felt her hands were more tired than if she had held a baby all day.
Ye Yunniang left Xiaosongju and returned to Zhiyuxuan.
We encountered a patrol team conducting an inspection on the road.
Is it the same name? Which department do you work in? What are you going to do?
Ye Yunniang was interrupted halfway through her answer.
"What are you looking at so suspiciously?" A patrolman noticed a maid peeking out from a short distance away.
Looking in the direction of the shout, one could see a maid in a gray cotton-linen dress running towards the path like a startled deer.
"Chase her!" the leader shouted, and they went after the running maid.
The patrol team all went to chase after the person.
Ye Yunniang packed her schoolbag and prepared to leave, but after taking only two steps, she was called back.
"Wait there, don't run away." A patrolman quickly returned and gave the order.
Ye Yunniang stood there dejectedly, moving her wrists to relieve the pain.
"Sister, what are you doing standing here?" Pear bumped into Ye Yunniang while carrying a food box.
Ye Yunniang took the food box from Li'er's hand, and it felt much heavier than before.
"So heavy?"
"The food box contained not only my sister's dinner, but also 16 zongzi (sticky rice dumplings). I was late yesterday, and the kitchen had already finished making and distributing all the zongzi. I went to get them very early today."
Pear explained, counting on her fingers, "Grandma Shi and I each have one, Sister and Peach Blossom Wet Nurse have four. Aunt Lan has six. The kitchen said they have sweet, savory, and plain white rice dumplings. What flavor do you like, Sister?"
Ye Yunniang had always eaten plain white rice dumplings before. She had never eaten sweet or savory ones.
"What flavor is sweet? And what flavor is salty?"
"There are sweet ones with brown sugar, red bean paste, red bean paste, candied dates, and eight-treasure fillings. There are savory ones with fresh meat, cured meat, salted egg yolk, ham, and spare ribs," Pear counted the types of zongzi. "Which one would you like, sister?"
Ye Yunniang swallowed hard as she listened; she wanted to try it too.
"I want one white rice one, two sweet ones, and one savory one," Ye Yunniang said, then thought for a moment, "Let Aunt Lan and Nurse Taohong choose first, and then send them to me."
After resting for a while, Pear regained her strength and carried the food box back to Zhiyuxuan.
The patrol caught the maid in the gray cotton-linen dress who had run away and returned to where Ye Yunniang was waiting.
Check Ye Yunniang's schoolbag and confirm that there is no problem.
Let's go.
Ye Yunniang packed her schoolbag and walked towards Zhiyu Pavilion. She didn't dare to look up at the maid standing beside her.
I glanced at it out of the corner of my eye as I turned the corner.
The maid was pale, trembling, and filled with despair.
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