Chapter 41, Trouble
"Girl, come and see, the two pots of red plum blossoms you and the old lady bought have sprouted buds."
Early in the morning, Wang Maner's cheerful voice reached Daohua's ears.
Daohua curled up in the warm quilt, squirmed a little, and then continued to sleep.
"Girl, it's time to get up. You have to go to class after dinner. If you are late, Master Qin will be rude to you again." Seeing that Daohua didn't move, Wang Man'er walked straight to the bed and started muttering.
Since she started taking care of the eldest girl, she has learned that she has difficulty getting up. She always delays getting up as much as possible. If she doesn't keep a close eye on her, the eldest girl may lie in bed until noon.
"Don't worry, someone will convey what happened at the dinner table yesterday to Master Qin. If she wants to continue teaching in the Yan family, she will be sensible." Daohua said with squinted eyes while lying on the bed.
Yesterday, her fourth brother directly proposed to change the teacher in front of everyone.
At that time, the three major leaders of the Yan family, her grandmother, her father, and her mother did not express any clear opposition.
If Master Qin had any common sense, he would have known that nothing could happen at this time.
Wang Maner: "It's time to get up. The old lady wakes up early and might be waiting for you to come over for breakfast."
Hearing this, Daohua fluttered around in bed for a few times before sitting up sleepily.
Seeing the little girl who usually acted like a little adult like this, Wang Maner was very happy: "Miss, I will help you put on your clothes."
Daohua shook her hand: "I'll put it on myself, you go get some water to wash up."
As soon as she got out of bed, the cold air in the room immediately swept in. Daohua shivered and quickly put on the clothes placed beside the bed.
The Yan family was not well off. Although they had charcoal in the winter, it was not much.
She had some private help from Mrs. Li, but the charcoal in the house couldn't keep burning all night.
In the entire Yan family backyard, only the old lady's yard had sufficient charcoal fire.
After Daohua put on her dress, Wang Maner came in with a basin of water: "Miss, the hot water is here, you can wash up now."
"Um!"
Daohua walked over, took the handkerchief, and quickly tidied herself up.
When I sat down at the dressing table, I saw Wang Man'er happily carrying two pots of red plum blossoms over to me. "Girl, look, how beautifully the buds of these two red plum blossoms are blooming!"
Daohua nodded perfunctorily.
How could it not bloom well? Since she bought the red plum, almost every night before going to bed, she would quietly insert the red plum into the black soil in the space for half an hour.
The black soil in the space is the most fertile. It has been nourished for so long, so as long as the red plum blossoms haven't really died, they should bloom.
"Hey, girl, did you turn over the soil in the red plum?" Wang Man'er was sharp-eyed and found that the soil in the potted plant had traces of being turned over.
Daohua said calmly, "I was just giving Hongmei some air."
Wang Maner looked puzzled. Is there any such thing as ventilating the soil?
Daohua didn't want Wang Man'er to ask too many questions, so she said hurriedly, "Okay, come over and comb my hair."
She can wear this dress by herself, but sorry, she really can't do this by herself.
If she were to comb her hair, it would just be a bun.
Afterwards, Daohua and Madam Li went to Songheyuan to pay their respects to Old Madam Yan. After having dinner with her, they went straight to class.
Sure enough, after what happened yesterday, Master Qin became much calmer. When she was doing needlework in the afternoon, he glanced at the needle hole on Daohua's finger, frowned, and told her not to touch the needle anymore.
Daohua smiled and said, "Master, my needlework training is short. If I don't work harder, I might not even be able to embroider a purse in the future. Don't worry, I won't do much, I'll just exercise my fingers in class."
If she doesn't use the needle, then she will just have to sit and do nothing during the afternoon class?
Qin Zi frowned and said, "It's up to you." After that, he ignored Daohua and started checking the embroidery of Yan Yihan and others, correcting them from time to time.
When Daohua saw this, she smiled silently.
Sometimes, she really felt that there was something wrong with Master Qin's brain.
Was it because they were so clearly targeting her that they figured the Yan family wouldn't fire her for Aunt Lin's sake? Or were they convinced that the Yan family wouldn't be able to find another female teacher in Linyi County to replace her?
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
One afternoon, Master Qin had something to do and could not attend the needlework class, so Daohua came to Songheyuan to accompany Old Lady Yan.
During this period, Daohua learned martial arts from Wang Maner, no, to be more precise, she learned boxing and kicking.
The Kung Fu that Wang Manyer knows cannot be called Kung Fu at all. It can only be considered that his punches and kicks are more flexible than those of ordinary people.
However, this does not mean that she only knows some fancy moves, because Daohua discovered that there were shadows of Tai Chi in Wang Maner's movements.
"My father said that women are naturally not as strong as men, so there is no need for them to learn some overly tough martial arts. The martial arts that use softness to overcome hardness are most suitable for women." These are Wang Maner's original words.
Daohua thought it made sense, so she started to study it seriously. After she had learned all the moves, she removed some of the complicated and difficult movements and re-compiled a simplified version of "Tai Chi".
So, in Old Lady Yan's room.
Daohua stood in front and Old Lady Yan stood behind, and the two were gesturing slowly.
Even Sun's mother stood happily by and followed the two of them in making gestures.
Wang Man'er stood aside, occasionally pointing out the irregular movements of several people.
It was not until the evening that Yan Zhigao came down from the yamen with his grandchildren including Yan Wenxiu to pay their respects. Only then did Old Lady Yan and the others stop, feeling unsatisfied.
Looking at his mother, whose forehead was slightly sweaty and whose face was rosy, Yan Zhigao felt a little better: "Mom, what are you doing?"
Old Lady Yan took the handkerchief handed over by Sun Ma, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said with a smile: "I'm learning boxing from Daohua. Don't mention it, I feel a lot more relaxed after moving around."
Yan Zhigao was stunned for a moment, then looked at his eldest daughter, whose face was also flushed. "You really want your grandmother to practice boxing? Then you have to be careful. Your grandmother is old, and it would be bad if she sprained or injured herself."
Daohua smiled and said, "Don't worry, father. The boxing I taught my grandmother is very simple. It's just for exercising her hands and feet."
Seeing that the old lady was indeed in good spirits, Yan Zhigao didn't say anything more.
Soon, Mrs. Li asked someone to serve the food.
At the dinner table, Yan Zhigao kept frowning. When Mrs. Yan saw this, she asked with concern, "Zhigao, what's bothering you?"
Seeing his mother and children looking at him with concern, Yan Zhigao thought for a moment and said, "We've had several heavy snowfalls since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. I'm worried that the refugees who have just been resettled may not be able to survive."
Upon hearing this, everyone at the dinner table fell silent.
Old Lady Yan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Do the refugees have no food, or are they unable to withstand the cold?"
Yan Zhigao sighed, "It's mainly because there's nothing to eat."
Daohua asked, "Father, doesn't the county government have a granary? Can't we open it and release the grain?"
Yan Zhigao shook his head. "Opening the granaries to release grain requires the court's approval. Besides, they were already opened once before when we resettled the refugees. Now, there isn't much grain left in the granaries at the government office."
Daohua thought for a moment and asked again, "There are many wealthy families in Linyi County, right? Can't we ask them to donate some?"
Yan Zhigao looked up at his eldest daughter, somewhat surprised that she knew this. He explained, "Generally speaking, if the county is in trouble, the wealthy families will donate some money. However, they have already donated once before. Otherwise, with so many refugees, I wouldn't be able to settle them down."
(End of this chapter)
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