Chapter 364 Flowers Welcome Students
The study tour group set off around 5 p.m. and traveled almost non-stop, arriving in Beijing before 9 p.m.
Messengers traveled back and forth along the way, and the students in the study tour group all knew that the curfew for tonight had been postponed in order to welcome them back to the capital.
So when they arrived at the city gate and saw the deafening drums and the huge crowds welcoming them, they weren't too surprised.
Although time was short, the hundreds of bouquets of flowers were still delivered to the branch of the girls' academy by the original Hongqu Zhuangzi, where the students tied them into bouquets with colored paper, gauze, and ribbons.
The girls worked together, and with great difficulty, they managed to finish making the bouquets and deliver them to the city gate just as the study tour group arrived in the outskirts of Beijing.
The freshly picked flowers, vibrant and delicate, were paired with star grass that they would normally give no second glance to, and leaves of various kinds they couldn't name, such as evergreen plants, gardenia leaves, and ivy that they would disdain even when decorating their own gardens. These, as accompaniments to the flowers, created a surprisingly beautiful scene.
Yuan Hongqu's newly acquired estate was not worthwhile to grow crops, so she simply planted all kinds of flowers on it. Although the initial cost was relatively high, the cost would only decrease in the later stages.
This is the first time that flowers from the manor have appeared in the capital.
According to the original plan, there would be no such welcoming ceremony for the study tour group upon their return to Beijing. However, due to the bandit suppression incident, the entire capital city is now focused on the study tour group's return.
As the organizer of the study tour and the organizer of these students, the girls' college had to bring something unique to the welcome ceremony.
With time running out, Yuan Hongqu racked her brains but couldn't think of any other good way to express the academy's praise for these students.
She didn't think of this method until she saw the flowers in the space.
Fortunately, the students in the branch academy never take holidays because they want to master a skill as soon as possible. Even when the weather is hot, they feel that the environment in the academy is much better than at home. It is better to stay in the academy to cool off than to go home!
Moreover, most of them would go to work for wealthy families, and they would work regardless of the weather.
They should adapt in advance.
The teachers in the branch also felt that this was the proper way.
The women who came to the branch school to learn their craft were nothing like the noblewomen in the academy, who came to enjoy the pleasure of learning.
The women in the branch school learn survival skills.
After wrapping these more than one hundred bouquets of flowers, many of the students developed a deep interest in them. Yuan Hongqu asked the teacher to write it down so that she could cultivate their interest when she opened a flower arrangement class in the future.
She also plans to open a flower shop in the capital, and in addition, she intends to target the high-end market by offering flower arranging classes at a women's academy, believing that noble ladies would be very interested in these things.
After all, writing and painting require a lot of effort. Whether a person's handwriting is good or bad can be seen at a glance, and whether someone can appreciate calligraphy and painting can also be easily discerned.
However, flower arranging is an art form that can be considered elegant; moreover, it is simple and can fool people.
Once this industry emerges, it will stimulate many other industries, and in particular, it will provide women with many more opportunities.
Each of these bouquets of flowers was held by a woman, and people around them would occasionally cast curious glances, but no one came over to inquire.
As each student's carriage entered the city, a female student from the department would present a bouquet of flowers to the carriage.
The students' carriages moved very slowly, as there were many people from the capital waiting to see the bandits wiped out by the traveling students, in addition to the academy's flower-delivering procession.
The people of the capital felt that they lived under the emperor's nose and were well-informed, but they had never seen a group of female students who went out for a trip so easily wipe out bandits.
Some of them knew about that bandit's den, and many merchants had been robbed by those bandits.
There was also a one-eyed bandit in the bandit's den, the most ruthless of all, who especially loved gouging out people's eyes. They had all seen it just now; the one-eyed bandit's arms and legs had been broken, and he was just lying there on the car, barely breathing.
Weren't those bandits supposed to be very powerful? How come they were so easily wiped out by the girls from the girls' academy?
Although they were genuinely skeptical, the sight of cartloads of bandits bound like dumplings in front of them was undeniable...
The students who received the flowers were overjoyed. Some of them were so delighted that they had someone hold the flowers and display them on the bus.
There were over a hundred bouquets of flowers, and even if not every single one was different, there were at least twenty different styles.
Some of these bouquets were larger than the others and contained a wider variety of designs; these were given to the students who were going directly to suppress the bandits.
Upon receiving this unique bouquet, they immediately felt that the flowers were a symbol of their honor, and they wished they could continue to wipe out any more bandit dens!
The students who did not directly participate in the bandit suppression also felt honored. Although they did not go directly to suppress the bandits, their family guards participated and captured quite a few bandits!
After arriving in the city, the students went straight home with the people who came to pick them up from their families.
The carriages carrying the bandits headed directly to the Ministry of Justice prison.
Daiyu's carriage was at the very back. After she entered the city gate, she saw fireworks suddenly light up above the gate. Fireworks rose and fell one after another, like shooting stars, illuminating every corner of the city gate.
Daiyu gazed through the carriage window at the dazzling fireworks behind her, then intently looked at the flowers that had just been presented to her, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"That's what makes life meaningful!"
The citizens of the capital who were preparing to leave outside the carriage stopped in their tracks and watched with bated breath when they saw the fireworks filling the sky.
After all, being able to set off fireworks on the city gates was something that could only be dreamed of on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Inside the carriage, Daiyu was deeply moved and thought to herself...
"I, Lin Daiyu, am not one to wallow in sorrow and lament the passing of spring, nor am I aloof and arrogant. I want to live a vibrant and exciting life, to witness all the splendor of this world..."
It was already late at night when the Lin family's carriage arrived home.
However, the Lin family courtyard was still bustling with activity.
The Lin family's only master in the capital has returned from his studies abroad tonight and has made great contributions on his way back. How can we not celebrate this momentous occasion?
The welcoming ceremony outside is for outsiders; the family will certainly have their own celebration.
The girls returning from their study tour tonight will mostly face this scene when they get home.
Other families might feel embarrassed, but Lin Daiyu was quite at ease, because she was the only mistress of the Lin family, and she could do whatever she wanted.
For example, now that she's home, she simply waved her hand and had all the ceremonies rescheduled.
She washed up by herself and fell asleep before even waiting for Granny Yuan to return.
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