How can Chapter 8 be written so well?
"Why do you need someone to teach you how to grind ink? Do you really know how to write?"
The one speaking was Liu Min, who was wearing a light pine-green robe, a small crown, and had his hair down. He was talking as he came into the house.
Upon seeing him arrive, Ru Hui smiled and bowed to him, glancing slightly to the side as she did so.
Shanlai noticed her look and knew what she meant, so he quickly followed suit and bowed.
Ru Hui thought to herself, "She's not only beautiful, but also smart, with sharp eyes and a quick mind."
But the clever Shanlai is doing something not so clever.
Her master asked her a question, but she did not answer.
The reason I didn't answer wasn't because I couldn't answer, but because I didn't want to.
A servant girl is wrong if she doesn't want to.
But she just didn't want to answer.
Since the words were not kind and the person asking the question had ill intentions, answering "no" would certainly not end well, so it was obviously not acceptable. However, answering "yes" would leave one feeling resentful, as the person was clearly provoking a conflict. If one were to agree with the person's wishes and defend oneself, it would mean accepting this humiliation and truly becoming a servile person.
Fortunately, Ru Hui was there to help.
"Of course she could! How could she not? We were all there and saw it with our own eyes. She picked up a pen, wrote her name, and her handwriting was excellent. Even the old lady praised it."
Answering in this way, of course, did not save him from humiliation, but since it did not come from his own mouth, he could still barely pretend it was none of his business.
However, some people are really too much, relentlessly pursuing and attacking.
"Really? But I haven't seen it myself, how do I know it's true? How about this, you write a few down for me to see, and I'll believe it once I see it with my own eyes."
Shanlai remained silent and motionless.
She had seen monkey trainers in the village before. One carried a gong in one hand and led a chained monkey in the other. When the gong sounded, people gathered around, and the trainer would say, "Quickly bow to everyone!" The monkey would then circle around and bow to the people, and the crowd would cheer loudly. The trainer would stroke his long beard, looking quite proud. At the time, she watched from afar, not thinking how clever the monkey was to understand human speech, but rather how pitiful the monkey was, having to be the butt of so many people's jokes.
Now she wants to be a monkey too.
She was unwilling to "bow down".
But there was nothing we could do.
After bowing, the monkey received peaches from the monkey trainer. She had to bow in exchange for money and couldn't refuse, because she had already spent the money before she even bowed.
You can't refuse to "bow down" either. You must keep your word and accept the consequences of your bets. It's petty to refuse or to accept defeat. You don't need others to look down on you; you must first look down on yourself.
So she picked up her pen and calmly asked, "What should I write?"
Liu Min thought for a moment and said, "Let's write your name."
Yao Shanlai, the three characters were written in one breath.
Shanlai rarely has the opportunity to write his name on paper, but this is the second time since yesterday.
After Shanlai finished writing, Liu Min remained silent, only looking down at the words.
Shanlai didn't say anything.
Ru Hui never opens her mouth when she shouldn't be speaking.
So it was a bit too quiet inside.
It was so quiet it was unsettling.
Ru Hui felt she had to do something, so she decided to speak up, but before she could, she had to smile first.
She had already laughed and was about to open her mouth when Liu Min spoke.
"Sister Ru Hui, please go and tell the old lady for me that I want those two pots of red coral. I'll take them to Zhang Yi as a birthday gift in a few days and ask her if she agrees."
Ru Hui responded, said nothing more, turned and slowly retreated. Before leaving, she glanced back at Shan Lai.
That one glance was enough to startle Shan Lai.
What does that mean? Are you worried about me? This young master certainly doesn't seem to have a good temper...
My heart started pounding.
She stared intently at him, and he moved...
He pointed to the table and said, "Write my name now."
The knife fell; it turned out that was all there was to it. Shan Lai breathed a sigh of relief.
But.
"what your name?"
Liu Min got angry, "You don't even know my name?"
How could this be? He's a young master; how could she not know his name?
Shanlai truly didn't know. She only knew "Lian Si" and that was the pronunciation. If asked which two characters they were, she wouldn't know either, since no one had told her. It was understandable that she didn't know.
Her bewildered expression perfectly conveyed her innocence.
Liu Min suppressed his annoyance and said in a muffled voice, "Young Master, my name is Liu Min."
Because of compassion, goodness comes into being instantly integrated; "compassion" is this compassion, and "compassion" is this compassion.
Liu Min, Lian Si.
Like solving a riddle, I guessed it right. I couldn't help but feel overjoyed. I raised my hand and wrote two clean and crisp words in one stroke.
Liu Min looked down at the words and stared at them for a long time.
When he looked up again, his brows were furrowed, and he looked very worried.
"How can you write so well?" he whispered. "How can someone write so well?"
He now admits that his grandmother was right; her handwriting was indeed better than his.
But how could that be?
"Who taught you to read? How long did it take?"
Having said it countless times, I was so familiar with it that I even mentioned things I hadn't asked yet, just to avoid trouble.
"Huh? You forgot all about being sick?"
Listen, even this phrase is so familiar, there's nothing new about it.
However, he immediately added, "That must have been a very serious illness; you must have suffered a lot at the time."
Shanlai remained silent, deeply shaken.
This was the first time someone had said such things to her after hearing her tragic story.
Of course, she suffered a lot. She had a fever, a fever that lasted all day long, so high that she couldn't bear it anymore. She could only sleep, but even then, she couldn't sleep soundly. She cried, her hands constantly clenching, and she murmured, "Mother... Mother..."
This is what Yao told her later. She herself doesn't remember anything. Not only does she not remember this, but she doesn't remember any of them. She doesn't remember her father, her mother, or herself. She doesn't remember anything at all.
After recovering from her illness, she didn't speak for a month and was afraid of people. Even her own father would frighten her if he moved. But she didn't know what she was afraid of until she returned to Huixian Town and felt better.
Life isn't easy now either. My father is seriously ill, on the verge of death. I sold myself into servitude, going to a completely unfamiliar place, entrusting my life to others... I'm scared, but not as scared as I was before.
No matter how many times I think back to that fear, I still can't figure out why I was afraid. It's as if that fear is ingrained in my bones, something I was born with.
That was the most difficult period of her life, as far as she knew.
Now someone is telling her that she must have suffered a lot...
She felt comforted; the person in front of her was her confidant. Looking at him, tears streamed down her face without her realizing it.
These tears were not for him, but for the suffering she had endured.
But Liu Min didn't know what she was thinking; he only saw that she was crying.
He was startled.
She was perfectly fine and hadn't said anything, so why did she suddenly start crying?
He thought about it and didn't think it was his fault. He thought it was the little girl being pretentious. That's how women are, especially girls. If you treat her well, she'll put on airs and want something in return. He'd seen it all before. Besides, he never thought crying was a good method. In fact, it was a bit stupid. Even if she cried beautifully, it was still stupid.
But her handwriting was truly excellent, even better than his, and she was willing to sell herself to repay the debt of gratitude for being born and raised.
Thinking about it that way, she's actually quite nice, unlike those fools I've met before.
Therefore, he was willing to forgive her, as long as she stopped crying.
Shanlai didn't hear what Liu Min was thinking, but she stopped crying.
She didn't cry for Liu Min, nor did she stop crying for Liu Min; she simply didn't like to cry.
She hadn't expected to cry like this, and she felt even more embarrassed to be seen crying. She always felt that tears were an unsightly gesture because they revealed her weakness. Others might pity her and offer her help if they saw her vulnerability, but it wasn't impossible for them to take advantage of her. She hated others' pity and also guarded against being harmed, so it was best not to cry. If others knew nothing, they would have no opportunity to take advantage of her.
She corrected her mistake in time, quickly sweeping her fingers across the corners of her eyes without leaving a trace. In an instant, she transformed back into that aloof, hypocritical ice beauty.
However, Liu Min did not think she was being pretentious; he saw her as a teachable child and was very satisfied.
So he regained his interest in talking to her again.
"I heard you can also draw?"
Shanlai was eager to escape his previous predicament, so he readily agreed.
If she was telling the truth, then Liu Min truly admired her.
"Can you draw now? What skills do you have?"
Shan said, "What do you want me to draw?"
Liu Min thought to himself, "What a boastful tone," so his tone turned sour, "If I said it, would you be able to draw it?"
Shanlai thought for a moment and changed his mind, "Not necessarily. I only know some simple ones, and I might not even be good at drawing them."
That's more like it! Liu Min nodded in satisfaction. "It's alright, it's already quite remarkable that you can draw." His tone was as if he were bestowing a favor.
"Then what should we draw?"
"Let's just paint bamboo. All we need is a brush, ink, and paper. There's no need to look for other painting tools, which takes a lot of effort and is a hassle to clean up."
Shanlai agreed, saying, "Bamboo is common, and I can even paint a few strokes." With that, he flicked his wrist, and with a few simple strokes, a bamboo stalk appeared on the paper. He added branches, then leaves—the stalk thick, the branches thin, the leaves large. The strokes were simple yet expressive, vigorous and rustic. After finishing, he felt it looked too bare, so he added a few more strokes and then rocks. Although it was still just a small piece, it was at least a complete painting. He stopped painting, stood up straight, and turned to look at Liu Min. For some reason, he suddenly blurted out, "Please give me your guidance." He startled himself; there was absolutely no need to say that. Too much talk leads to mistakes, especially useless words. He couldn't help but feel regret.
However, since the words have already been spoken, let's just wait patiently for your guidance.
What she was waiting for was Liu Min's guidance, but what guidance could Liu Min possibly give her?
Liu Min was stunned.
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