Chapter 112 Daiyu's Daily Teaching
"Granny Yuan, the young lady has woken up and is looking for you," Tingyue, Daiyu's maid, came to find Yuan Hongqu.
"Okay, I'll be right there." Yuan Hongqu stood up and gave the order.
“Aunt Jin, leave the gift list here for now. We’ll have the young lady learn how to return the gifts later. Go and call Granny Shi, who received the guests yesterday, to come here with you. You two can think about how to teach the young lady later.”
Now that she's back home, she'll inevitably have to deal with these social interactions in the future. Daiyu doesn't have to be worldly-wise, but she must learn to be worldly-wise. With her intelligence, she'll surely grasp these things quickly.
After receiving the message, Aunt Jin went out to call Granny Shi over.
Daiyu's residence, named Jiaoyun Garden, was the warmest courtyard in the Lin family home during winter.
Elsewhere, the wind was still chilly, but upon arriving at Jiaoyun Garden, one could feel a sense of warmth. Even the flowers and plants in the courtyard did not seem to be withered like elsewhere; the flowers and plants here were lush and verdant, especially the roses that are common in spring and summer, which did not stop blooming just because it was winter.
This is one of the reasons why Grandmother Jia was completely relieved after arriving at Jiaoyun Garden yesterday.
Everyone says the Rongguo Mansion is extravagant, but it still seems to pale in comparison to the Lin family.
The Lin family only had Daiyu as their mistress, and she was the center of everyone's affections. If the family fortune wasn't given to Daiyu, who else would it be given to?
When the Lin family renovated their house this time, they dug up the entire ground of Jiaoyun Garden and laid out heated floor passages throughout the entire courtyard.
When the weather is cold, embers are added to the firebox at the entrance of the outdoor fire channel. The heat slowly warms the ground, making this courtyard different from other places. As soon as you step into the courtyard, you feel warm and cozy.
Elsewhere, only a few bedrooms and studies have underfloor heating, but in Jiaoyun Garden, the entire courtyard is equipped with underfloor heating.
The mere fact that they burned that smokeless and odorless "Taixi coal" non-stop for twelve hours a day was something that ordinary noble families could not afford.
The underfloor heating in Jiaoyun Garden was something Lin Ruhai specifically instructed to do during the renovation.
His Daiyu has always been frail; she would fall ill twice every three days even in the winter in Yangzhou, let alone in the cold winter in the north.
Although Yuan Hongqu's residence was also in Jiaoyun Garden, she still handled matters in the study next to the second gate during the day.
The Lin family is small, and the other houses are usually kept closed, only cleaned every two days.
Yuan Hongqu went to Jiaoyun Garden. Daiyu was already dressed. Today she was wearing a honey-colored jacket and skirt. The room was warm, so she wasn't wearing any thick woolen clothes. Zijuan was combing her hair. Last year her hair was thin and yellowish, but this year it had grown black and shiny, and the amount of hair had increased significantly, although the texture was still soft.
Zijuan styled Daiyu's hair into a simple yet elegant updo. When Daiyu heard footsteps, she knew that Yuan Hongqu was coming. Before Zijuan could stop, she was about to turn around.
Yuan Hongqu rushed over and quickly pressed her into a chair.
"Little darling, be careful not to pull your scalp. Just comb your hair properly before you move."
Daiyu gave a mischievous smile before settling into her seat.
"Granny, has Sister Feng already left? I still have some things for her to take back!"
"It's not that far, we can just have someone deliver it."
"Hmm, Granny, I didn't dream at all last night. I was hoping to dream that you would make me some snacks! But I slept for so long and didn't dream of anything..."
Daiyu said with great regret.
Upon hearing this, not only Yuan Hongqu, but also several maids beside her couldn't help but laugh.
"Miss, it's fine to say these things at home, but don't say them outside." Zijuan, being older, quickly reminded Daiyu when she saw that Granny Yuan hadn't spoken.
"Zijuan, there are seven necessities to start the day: firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea. Every single one of them is related to eating. Eating is the most important thing, so why can't we mention it?"
"My dear girl, it's precisely because everyone knows her that people will laugh at how vulgar it is if I mention her..."
"The most vulgar is the most elegant? Don't you understand? I may not be able to write three poems, read three articles, or write three pages a day, but I must eat three meals a day. I'll get angry with anyone who makes me skip a meal!" Daiyu said with a straight face, her little twisted logic sounding perfectly reasonable.
Yuan Hongqu laughed and went along with her nonsense.
"Who would dare to make Daiyu skip a meal? As long as you're willing to eat, it doesn't matter if you only eat three meals a day, or even four, five, six, or seven!"
Daiyu laughed heartily.
"So, Granny, although I didn't dream about it last night, I really want to eat delicate pan-fried buns, jade tofu rolls, thousand-layer flaky pastries, lotus pond moonlight, shrimp and green peas, and glutinous rice milk porridge... and the goldfish wontons you used to make..."
Everyone was taken aback, and Xueyan then said:
"My dear girl, you have a really good nose. This is what we have for breakfast today. I see you need to get this ready quickly. The kitchen was just about to bring the food over and set it out."
Daiyu touched her nose and smiled slyly.
After breakfast, Daiyu took a walk in Jiaoyun Garden for a while, and then directed several maids to take scissors and cut off a lot of the blooming roses. She also cut off a large bunch of chrysanthemums such as Golden Red, Taiping Red Leaf, Spring Sun Mountain, and Gushui Flowing Clouds that were blooming nearby, and had someone find some nice vases to put them in.
"This bottle is for the old lady, these are for Brother Bao, and these few bottles are for Sister Yingchun and the others. This big bottle of roses is for Sister Feng."
Yuan Hongqu and she together arranged all the flowers.
"You've just come back and you're already thinking about them; they're probably even more reluctant to let you go."
"It's good that you're reluctant to leave. Next time I go, we can still be the same as before, and we won't feel estranged," Daiyu said earnestly.
“My maternal grandmother and the others came to Jiaoyun Garden yesterday. I noticed they really liked our flowers, but since I just moved back yesterday, they didn’t want to ask me for them. Flowers naturally become more valuable the more people see them. So I’m giving these to them now, so it’ll be more fun for everyone to see them together.”
Daiyu carefully affixed her own flower label to each vase.
Yuan Hongqu looked at the flowers on the table with some curiosity.
"There are two extra bottles. Are they for yourself?"
“No need for that. We have so many more in our yard. You can look at them anytime you want. These two vases are for my eldest and second uncles. Although they didn’t come to see me off yesterday, they sent me gifts before they left. Besides, the last time we came back, it was thanks to their secret escort that we were able to get here. So these two vases of flowers are definitely for them.”
Daiyu spoke eloquently, and Yuan Hongqu felt there was no need to teach her about etiquette anymore. Daiyu was self-taught, and wasn't she doing a good job?
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