Chapter 127: Mianmian’s Required Course
The carriage went clip-clop, clip-clop, swaying back and forth.
Jiang Mianmian opened her eyes; they were home.
Her bangs were damp; she had sweated in her sleep.
Sweating.
A child’s body temperature is hotter.
It is easy to sweat.
She had been switched to a different pair of arms; she was now in Great-Aunt’s embrace.
Great-Aunt’s embrace was a bit cooler.
She opened her eyes slightly and saw Sister Yu wearing pearl earrings, skipping and bouncing as she walked.
However, this time she wasn’t in a rush to go show them off in the village.
Mainly because the family’s situation was better now, and she had already shown off a lot; showing off any more would just invite resentment.
Seeing the little girl open her eyes and stare at her sister’s earrings, Aunt Yin smiled and asked, “How about Great-Aunt gets your ears pierced too?”
Jiang Mianmian shook her head in panic. “No, no.”
Although getting ear piercings shouldn’t be fatal, she didn’t like it.
Aunt Yin couldn’t bear to do it either; the little girl’s earlobes were extremely pretty, round and perky, looking like two natural little pearls. They were very beautiful, so she teased the little girl a bit.
Upon returning home, Great-Aunt reviewed what they had seen and heard during their outing with Mother and Sister Yu.
Jiang Mianmian had slept in the carriage and was quite energetic now; she sat on her little stool and listened very intently.
They were mainly talking about Jiang Wan.
Aunt Yin sighed that Old Madam Jiang certainly had a way with things; she had raised her granddaughter like a refined young lady from a noble family, with every gesture exuding elegance and nobility. Yet, Sister Yu was just like a wild village girl; their knowledge and methods were completely on different levels.
If the two were in the same inner courtyard, someone like The Eldest Miss would probably die very quickly.
It was too late to teach her now; the other girl had been learning since childhood, influenced by her environment day after day. Starting halfway through, even with superior living conditions, her nature was already set and very hard to change.
She could only teach The Eldest Miss how to maintain appearances; she could teach her how to deceive others with her outward behavior, but her inner thoughts and ideas could not be changed.
Teaching someone how to do things was already difficult; teaching someone how to be a person was wishful thinking.
Aunt Yin simply urged The Eldest Miss, “With a girl like Jiang Wan, don’t listen to what she says. Her words are full of twists and turns; don’t believe a single word. Your advantage is that you have great strength; one force can break ten techniques. If she really makes you angry, just slap her. If she cries, you just cry even louder.”
Jiang Yu nodded excitedly, her eyes shining as she looked at Great-Aunt. Great-Aunt was so amazing! She had only met Jiang Wan once, yet she knew that Jiang Yu had been suffering losses in front of Jiang Wan every day. She had clearly thought that what Jiang Wan did was good, yet in the end, she was the one who got hurt.
When Aunt Yin was teaching the children, Qin Luoxia never interrupted, let alone undermined her.
It wasn’t that she trusted Aunt Yin, but rather she trusted her husband. Her husband said Aunt Yin was fine and very capable, so she believed Aunt Yin was fine and very capable.
Jiang Mianmian listened, looking at Great-Aunt with admiration. Great-Aunt really understood Sister Yu so well, and she was very good at teaching according to the student’s aptitude.
After talking about Sister Yu, Aunt Yin added, “Mistress, you will likely need to socialize in the future, so it is best to figure out the families you might interact with. How many people are in their household, how many wives and concubines, how many children, what their relationships are like, how many servants they have, where they live, and how large their home is. Sometimes, figuring these things out can lead to many different discoveries. If you do this well, you can even help your master.”
Qin Luoxia nodded, thinking to herself whether she should go for a walk in the middle of the night one day to take a look in person; that should allow her to figure it all out.
Seeing the Mistress looking eager to try, Aunt Yin felt something was wrong and quickly said, “No rush for this. Inquiring about and collecting information is also a science. Let’s take it slow. Sometimes what you hear isn’t necessarily what you heard, and even false information isn’t necessarily useless. You must learn to distinguish.”
After teaching the two older ones, Aunt Yin turned to look at the youngest.
The youngest little girl had just been listening with a serious face, but when she looked at her, she gave a silly smile and even drooled…
Aunt Yin wiped her drool.
It was normal for children to drool when teething.
“Great-Aunt, tired, going to sleep-sleep,” Jiang Mianmian said cutely.
Aunt Yin: She wasn’t tired; she had endless worries.
However, seeing that Mrs. Qin and The Eldest Miss needed to digest what they had learned, she first carried the little girl back to the room.
Teaching is important, learning is important, but thinking is even more important.
Teaching without learning is a waste of teaching.
Learning without thinking is a waste of learning.
Aunt Yin carried the little girl back to the room.
Inside the room, there were cushions and a small table, with paper and brushes on the small table.
Jiang Mianmian said considerately, “Great-Aunt, you take a nap. I will draw, and when you wake up, I will show you.”
Aunt Yin was an elderly person who had originally retired, but now she had endless worries. After a trip out, she felt tired the moment she saw a bed.
She got on the bed to doze for a while.
Jiang Mianmian sat on the small cushion.
She had slept in the carriage and was very clear-headed now. Her chubby hand grasped a charcoal pencil, which was just a small piece of charcoal inserted into a wooden groove.
It could be used for drawing.
Another useless little invention.
The writing brush was too soft; she couldn’t control the pressure.
The charcoal pencil was like a thick pencil; it was handy to use.
When Sister Yu and Mother practiced calligraphy, Jiang Mianmian would also scribble on the side.
Jiang Mianmian had no interest in landscapes and such; she only knew how to draw the human body.
This was a required course.
She took the charcoal pencil and drew a very beautiful girl, very similar to Jiang Wan, but she only drew half the face. The other half was an exposed skull, dental bone, muscle strips, occipitofrontalis muscle, superficial temporal artery, parotid gland, sternocleidomastoid muscle, mandible, clavicle, sternum…
After finishing, she was quite pleased with herself; fortunately, her skills hadn’t been lost. It had a strong sense of “a fair face is but a skeleton.”
She heard the sound of horses in the courtyard; it seemed Elder Brother had returned, so Jiang Mianmian pushed the door open and went out.
Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, Aunt Yin also woke up.
She had just been closing her eyes and dozing, trying to adjust her body to its best state.
She got up, patted and smoothed her clothes, patted and tapped her body, and she was alert and refreshed.
She touched her hair; it was also very neat and not messy at all, so she got up and prepared to go out.
As a result, her gaze landed on the drawing on the table.
In an instant, her breathing stopped abruptly.
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