Chapter 259: The Sewing Class Begins
Taoya and Xing Ya led Sun Dongniang and Xu Sanniu to tour the six classrooms.
Shaoyin joined in as well, bringing Qin Hua and Fan Shishi along.
The various miraculous features of the classrooms drew a continuous string of gasps from the newly arrived ancients.
Jian Xingxia watched from the side with a bright smile, saying to Lin Sanniang, “Sanniang, you’ve raised Taoya and Xing Ya wonderfully.”
Though young, they were very sensible and knew how to share the burdens of adults.
Furthermore, Xing Ya wasn’t overly mature; she gasped in amazement as she looked around, dragging the other newcomers along with her. This instantly made the others less afraid, allowing them to freely express their own awe.
“Heavens! Such a massive piece of glass is actually used just to make a window! If this were in Feiyue Pavilion, it would be enshrined and put on display!”
“That’s not all! Shishi, look, what is hanging above that strange basin? A mirror larger than a bed!”
Sun Dongniang didn’t dare to look at the mirror. “W-what is this thing? It reflects a perfect image of me inside, so clear that no bronze mirror or water surface can compare. Could it be… a soul-stealing device?”
Xing Ya shook her head like a little scholar. “Not at all, not at all! Just like the window from earlier, this is clear glass, except silver has been pasted onto the back, which is why it can reflect a person’s image.”
“Pasting silver onto it can reflect a person’s image?”
The group stepped forward to inspect and feel it, tentatively gesturing and comparing themselves to the reflections in the mirror.
Fortunately, although the eras they came from were at different stages of development, they had all seen water reflections and bronze mirrors before.
Once they understood it was a mirror, they weren’t as afraid, though they remained astonished by its clarity.
Following behind them, Jian Xingxia initially thought about correcting some of their misconceptions, but she figured it wasn’t a bad thing for the ancients to have their own interpretations.
Otherwise, if she truly had to explain everything from the Big Bang down to hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, and boron, she would be completely overwhelmed.
After a general tour, Jian Xingxia had Lin Sanniang prepare to begin the lesson.
The hours for the sewing class were from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon. Since everyone had arrived intermittently on the first day, and a bit of time had been spent explaining and adjusting, it was already past ten o’clock.
The moment they heard they were going to be taught needlework, everyone hurried into the classroom.
Lin Sanniang was already seated at the main embroidery desk in the center of the room.
By this time, the items on the embroidery desk had been replaced with the basic needle, thread, and fabric sets that Jian Xingxia had previously purchased online.
The items configured by the system were extremely comprehensive, but because they were so thorough, they were overly complex. After discussing it with Jian Xingxia, Lin Sanniang decided to put them away first to avoid clutter.
Another reason was that the system-provided items were of the absolute highest quality. Using them for beginner apprentices felt a bit wasteful.
Lin Sanniang suggested, “It would be better to keep them as rewards for the apprentices who learn well in the future.”
Jian Xingxia found Lin Sanniang incredibly thoughtful and decisively agreed.
Now, with the six apprentices of the sewing class in position, everyone sat around the wide, smooth, and sturdy embroidery desks. Just the items inside a single needlework basket on the table were enough for them to carefully inspect for half the day.
There weren’t too many items in the basket—just common needlework tools like large and small scissors, thimbles, and crochet hooks.
Qin Hua and Fan Shishi were perfectly fine; the regulation of ironware wasn’t particularly strict in the Dayong Dynasty. Furthermore, the development level of Dayong was relatively advanced, and they even had mercury mirrors, so they didn’t find these tools very extraordinary.
However, Xu Sanniu, Sun Dongniang, and Xing Ya were utterly amazed.
“Heavens! I get two pairs of scissors all to myself?”
One had to know that ironware was hard to come by in the Great Liang Dynasty. A pair of scissors cost at least eight hundred coins, and an ordinary household would pass down a single pair for generations.
Xing Ya picked up the two pairs of scissors from the basket. The large one was almost as long as her forearm, used for cutting fabric, and felt heavy in her hand.
There was also a small pair with a very peculiar shape. One end had two tiny scissor blades, while the other end was rounded; with just a light squeeze, it could snip off a thread.
Sun Dongniang also picked it up to try. She was already half a seamstress, though her skills were quite ordinary, so she had experience with needlework.
The moment she held this small pair of scissors, which Madame Lin referred to as a “U-shaped clipper,” she quickly realized, “Using these scissors to unpick embroidery threads is much more convenient than using large scissors or prying with a needle!”
(Note: U-shaped clippers are also known as pointed thread snips.)
Meanwhile, Xu Sanniu stealthily looked around and hid the small clippers up her sleeve.
Jian Xingxia saw this from the corner of the classroom but didn’t say a word.
It was impossible for a child who had grown up in fear and under constant threat to suddenly transform into a bright, cheerful, and normal child overnight.
Fortunately, now that the academy was open, they could come every day. She would likely begin to feel safe gradually and slowly shed those little habits she had been forced to adopt for survival.
Lin Sanniang also pretended not to notice, introducing the uses of each tool to everyone.
Most of the others had some contact with needlework before. Qin Hua and Fan Shishi worked at Feiyue Pavilion, where they frequently had to alter their own clothes to ensure a better fit for performances.
Taoya and Xing Ya had only started learning two months ago and were still in the beginning stages, but they could sew a little.
Only Xu Sanniu knew absolutely nothing at all.
She didn’t even know what a “thimble” was until Lin Sanniang placed one onto her finger.
She copied her movements, but since she had never been pricked by a needle before, she didn’t yet understand the practicality of a thimble.
Meanwhile, the others were already growing excited. “Everyone gets three thimbles? So many! How long will it take to use them all up!”
Lin Sanniang reminded them at the appropriate moment, “These all belong to the manor. They cannot be taken away and can only be used when attending classes at the Manor Academy.”
Everyone felt a bit of regret, but they remained highly enthusiastic.
Only Xu Sanniu sat playing with the thimble for a long time, listening to Lin Sanniang explain the uses of the other tools.
At some point, when Jian Xingxia looked over at her again, she noticed that the small clippers that had been hidden away had reappeared inside the basket.
