Chapter 12 Water Dragon Chant (Part Two) Method.
Having heard of Kong Xiang's help in his previous life, Ye Mu felt as if he had known him earlier than others, which gave him more reason to support him.
Seeing that he was being mistreated by the monks and struggling to get enough to eat and wear, Ye Mu thought to himself, why not ask Wen Kong to be his tutor? This would make it legitimate for him to learn calligraphy from Wen Kong, and it would also ensure that Wen Kong was well-fed and clothed, thus alleviating some of his hardship.
But Ye Xingjian chuckled upon hearing this, lightly tapping her forehead with his knuckles. “Silly child, let’s not even talk about how the masters of Baoxiang Temple can be invited to our mansion to be tutors. Even if they could be invited, such a person with such a sharp penmanship might not be suitable to teach you. Your grandmother has already made an exception by allowing you to practice calligraphy. You must not be willful anymore.”
Seeing Ye Mu purse her lips, he said gently, "If we're talking about calligraphy masters, the Hanlin Academy has countless distinguished scholars whose brushstrokes are full of history and magnificent style—that's the true path. If you really want to learn, I'll ask Grandmother to find you a kind and learned teacher, okay?"
Knowing that this matter was unlikely to succeed, and that it was just a test, Ye Mu leaned on his arm and softly replied that she would think about it again, but her eyes secretly flickered, and she had her own plans in mind.
The carriage arrived at Hanmoxuan first.
Ye Xingjian carefully selected paper and ink, and whispered to the shopkeeper about the price. Ye Mu stood by, seemingly curious, touching this and looking at that. Before leaving, she asked for a palm-sized boxwood abacus, with smooth frames and round beads, which was quite lovely.
"Go back and learn to count with your mother."
Ye Xingjian simply thought the little girl was being playful and paid with a smile.
Then we turned to the Silk Street, where we saw a bustling market, embroidered banners fluttering in the wind, and various silk shops lined up one after another.
Ye Mu, holding Zijing's hand, plunged into "Yunjinxuan," the shop listed on Zhang Niangzi's list. Inside, silks and satins were piled high, dazzling and gleaming. The shop assistants, seeing their distinguished attire, eagerly introduced the shop to them.
Ye Xingjian was completely unfamiliar with this field and simply stood with his hands behind his back. Although Zijing recognized the quality of the material, she was unclear about its specific market price.
Ye Mu, with her clear, bright eyes wide open, listened to the shopkeeper's quotes while her fingers flew across the abacus in her sleeve, memorizing the names, origins, and current prices of various soft silk gauze, brocade, Hangzhou silk, and palace satin.
She suddenly looked up, tugged at Ye Xingjian and Zijing, and said in a sweet voice, "Big brother, Zijing, shall we play a game? Let's see who can remember the most and the most accurately, and then we can go back and show it to Mother. Whoever wins will get to eat freshly steamed osmanthus cake!"
Zijing found it amusing and laughed, "What ingenious idea has Fourth Sister come up with this time?"
Ye Xingjian also felt that this method could be used to test one's memory, and nodded in agreement.
So the three of them lingered in the shop. Ye Mu seemed to be jumping around casually, but in fact she guided them to ask about all the expensive materials listed on Zhang Niangzi's list. She had an excellent memory, mental arithmetic skills, and shopping experience from her previous life. By the time they left, she already knew the market prices by heart.
Upon returning home, Ye Mu immediately pulled the two of them straight to the side room of the Liu family's management office.
"Mother! Mother! We're back from the street. We played games, so you can be the referee!" She rushed to the table, proudly pulling out the little abacus, then found paper and pen, pushing them towards Ye Xingjian and Zijing. "Write it down quickly, let's see who remembers the price most accurately!"
Mrs. Liu was annoyed by the numbers on the list, but seeing her daughter like this, she temporarily put aside her worries and said with a smile, "Alright, then you can relax for a moment."
Ye Xingjian and Zijing each wrote down the prices of several main materials from memory. Ye Mu climbed onto a chair, knelt down, her brows furrowed, looking as if she was trying her best to recall. Holding a pen, she meticulously listed the prices of more than a dozen types of materials she had inquired about at Yun Jin Xuan, including their different colors, widths, and origins. The list was several times more detailed than what Ye Xingjian and Zijing had recorded.
At first, Liu looked at the forms with a smile, but after taking the three forms and comparing them carefully, her gaze fell on Ye Mu's densely packed yet well-organized paper, and the smile on her lips gradually froze.
She picked up the purchase request form presented by Zhang Niangzi and compared the two.
The candlelight inside crackled softly.
On the list, a bolt of "Suzhou-style new tribute soft gauze" was priced at fifteen taels of silver, while the three of them had silently agreed that the market price was eleven taels; a bolt of "Hangzhou silk with continuous patterns" was priced at eight taels, while the market price was five taels and five mace; even the most ordinary plain-colored palace satin was priced nearly one tael higher in the mansion...
Almost everything was overstated, with price discrepancies reaching 20% to 30%!
The Liu family immediately flew into a rage.
She wasn't ignorant of social etiquette; she knew there must be some skimming involved. But she never imagined these people would be so audacious, treating her like a sucker to be easily fooled. If it weren't for her daughter's childlike innocence, who saw through the trick during a game, she would have suffered a huge loss. How would she establish her authority in the future? And how would she explain it to the old lady?
At the same time, he was puzzled by Fourth Sister's extraordinary memory. This was not just a few items, but more than a dozen kinds of fabrics, with different names, colors, origins, widths, and even exact amounts of silver. Not to mention a seven-year-old child, even she herself, or any literate head maid around her, would never be able to remember such details without writing it down on the spot and relying solely on hearing and remembering.
"Mother?" Ye Mu tilted her head. "Fourth Aunt, do you remember correctly? Can you win the sugar cake?"
"Yes, yes, Fourth Sister remembers everything best, so she naturally deserves a reward."
Having already made up her mind, Madam Liu called out to her maid, "Go to the kitchen and have Granny Wang steam some osmanthus sugar cakes and brew some candied kumquat tea. Jian-ge'er loves it."
"Auntie, you remember all this?" Ye Xingjian was slightly surprised.
"Fourth Sister keeps telling me what my eldest brother likes to eat and drink every day," Liu said with a smile. "It's hard for me not to remember."
After the sweet cakes were finished, a figure flashed outside the door. It was Zhang Niangzi from the storeroom, returning with another booklet in her hands and a smile on her face. "Third Madam, I just remembered that there are a few other accounts for miscellaneous materials that I would like you to review as well..."
They stumbled upon Ye Mu and his two companions sitting around a table, drinking tea. A quick glance revealed several pieces of paper with the market prices of silk scattered on the table.
Zhang Niangzi's heart was pounding, but her face remained expressionless. "Oh, Fourth Miss and Eldest Young Master are here too. I apologize for disturbing you."
Liu slightly covered the few sheets of paper, saying, "Put the booklet down. It's late today; we'll check it tomorrow."
Zhang Niangzi glanced at Liu Shi with displeasure, and seeing the strange situation on the table, she dared not say more. She bowed and withdrew, saying, "Yes, then this servant will come again tomorrow."
That night, just as Ye Mu was about to go to sleep, Liu Shi slipped inside the screen, sat down by the bed, and gazed at her daughter Fenyu's small face. "Fourth Sister, tell your mother again, during the day at Yun Jin Xuan, how many taels and how much did the shopkeeper quote for that soft, light blue silk after the rain? And what was the price of that Hangzhou silk with gold-embroidered lotus patterns?"
"What reward will I get if my mother tests me before bed?"
"What does Fourth Sister want?"
Ye Mu stretched her little hand out from under the covers and tapped her chin. "If I answer correctly, Mother, will you grant me a small request?"
"Little rascal," Liu said with a smile.
Ye Mu blinked and began to count, “The soft, smoky silk with a sky-blue hue after rain is eleven taels a bolt. The Hangzhou silk with gold-embroidered lotus patterns is five taels and five mace a bolt if it’s wide, and four taels and eight mace a bolt if it’s narrow. The palace satin with lake-blue cloud patterns is seven taels and two mace. The Shu brocade with apricot blossoms and swallows is the most expensive, costing eighteen taels a bolt.”
"Fourth Sister," Madam Liu reached out and gently stroked her daughter's forehead, "How do you remember these numbers so clearly? I think even an accountant would have a hard time remembering so many without paper and pen."
Ye Mu knew her mother was meticulous and had been suspicious when she saw the note during the day. She already had an explanation in mind: "Mother, when I was copying Grandmother's scriptures, I saw a sentence that said, 'With no worries in mind, one can hold onto any thought.' I asked Grandmother what it meant, and she said that as long as one's mind is clean and free of distracting thoughts, one can gain the ability to remember everything at a glance. Today, I thought about what Grandmother said and wanted to test whether what she said was right."
"When she was in the shop, the shop assistant would say something, and Fourth Sister would just repeat it in her mind, flicking her fingers on the abacus in her sleeve without thinking much about anything else. She really did have all those numbers in her head."
Ye Mu tilted her head and said, "Grandmother also said that the ancestors bless smart children. Maybe it's because Fourth Sister copied the scriptures every day and was blessed by the Buddha and Bodhisattvas."
She chuckled and lay back on the pillow, looking completely innocent. Liu laughed along with her, and the doubts in her heart dissipated.
Although my daughter's words were naive, they were not entirely without reason. The Buddhist scriptures are profound and the children's minds are pure, so perhaps they could indeed be in harmony with some kind of wisdom.
Liu had studied poetry and books since childhood and knew that there were indeed people in the world who were born with intelligence and could memorize what they read. However, she never expected that such an opportunity would fall on her daughter. If it were true, it would be a blessing for Fourth Sister.
"What does Fourth Sister want Mother to grant her permission for?"
Ye Mu rolled her eyes slightly, then hugged Liu's neck and said softly, "Mother, could we invite that young master who copies scriptures to the manor? I've been practicing calligraphy lately, mostly by imitating his handwriting. I have many questions that I need to ask him. If he teaches Fourth Sister to write and read, Fourth Sister will definitely learn better and remember more firmly."
Liu was busy with household affairs lately and had not examined Ye Mu's handwriting closely. She thought that since even the old lady allowed her to copy it, the handwriting must have some merit.
Considering that the old lady has been showing Ye Mu a lot of favor lately, it would be a good thing to invite a young master who is good at calligraphy to come to the mansion to teach her. This would not only restrain the daughter's temperament but also show her piety and filial piety.
"It is true that calligraphy requires guidance from a renowned teacher, and I have no objection to that. However, Baoxiang Temple is a place of quiet cultivation, so how can we easily invite a master to come to our mansion as a tutor? Furthermore, this matter ultimately requires your grandmother's approval."
"As long as Mother agrees, that's fine!" Ye Mu was overjoyed upon hearing this, her face beaming with smiles. "As for Grandmother, I have my own way of talking to her."
The next day, as the old lady was leaning on the couch listening to Lin Mama's reply, Ye Mu, holding her calligraphy practice book, snuggled up to her grandmother's side. Without saying much, she simply spread out the paper and brush and obediently began practicing calligraphy.
Today, however, her brows were furrowed unusually, and her pen seemed to weigh a ton, making the characters she wrote much more crooked than usual.
The old lady stared at her for a long time before finally speaking up, "Little Fourth Sister, why is your handwriting so weak today? Your wrist seems powerless too. Did you not sleep well last night?"
A note from the author:
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