Chou Niangzi’s courtyard was located in the backyard of Ma Taitai’s residence, with a separate side gate. The courtyard was modest in size, featuring a well in the center and pomegranate trees planted on either side. Shaded by the trees was a side wing used as a kitchen and embroidery room. According to Ma Taitai, Chou Niangzi also taught cooking and needlework here.
Under the eaves of the eastern wing stood several pots of white magnolias, whose presence seemed to alleviate the heat of early autumn.
A mottled bamboo curtain and several wind chimes hung at the entrance, producing clear, crisp sounds when the wind blew.
Miaozhen thought that this Chou Niangzi must be someone who truly understood the joys of life. As she pondered this, a woman in her thirties emerged from the inner room. She wore a light purple ramie shirt with a white embroidered Bijia featuring golden osmanthus over it, beneath which milky-white knee-length trousers were visible. Her appearance was delicate and refined, carrying an air of scholarly elegance.
Mei Shi stepped forward and said, “Chou Niangzi, I’ve brought my daughter.”
Chou Niangzi looked over, her gaze settling intently on Miaozhen. The young girl wore a light green cross-collared top paired with a pink horse-face skirt, her hair styled in three small buns tied with red ribbons. While her features weren’t strikingly beautiful, her eyes were exceptional—pupils dark and gleaming with a natural intelligence and cleverness.
Chou Niangzi couldn’t help but nod in approval. “Good, she appears to be a clever child.”
Mei Shi smiled apologetically. “We’ll need to trouble you to take extra care with her.”
“Rest assured, I will teach her diligently. By the way, did you bring your books? We’ve started discussing the Four Books now,” Chou Niangzi said, turning her attention to Miaozhen.
Miaozhen quickly nodded. “I’ve brought them already.”
After sending Mei Shi off, Chou Niangzi led Miaozhen inside where four other girls of similar age were already seated. They were introduced to each other, with Miaozhen promptly introducing herself: “This younger sister is the daughter of the proprietor of Jinchang’s Confucian Bookstore, surnamed Xu, named Miaozhen.”
Ma Yulan was already acquainted from before. The other three included Wang Xie, whose family ran a silk fabric shop. At eleven years old, she had slightly full features and a somewhat flat nose, yet maintained an overall delicate beauty. Miaozhen thought she was the most attractive flat-nosed girl she had ever seen.
Next was Lin Xiaoxiao from a fan shop, the same age as Miaozhen but seemingly frail and pale, appearing somewhat nervous.
Lastly was Student Supervisor Tong’s daughter, Tong Pan’er, who flashed a broad smile.
When it came to seating arrangements, an awkward situation arose as all others were paired at desks, leaving Miaozhen alone. Unbothered, she simply took a seat in the back row.
Calmly taking out her books, Miaozhen noted how Chou Niangzi’s teaching differed from Xiucai Yu’s rote instruction—her explanations were more detailed with additional expansions, prompting Miaozhen to take specialized notes.
Observing this, Chou Niangzi nodded inwardly. Most young ladies cherished learning opportunities and studied seriously, so it was good that this new Miss Xu was both clever and studious.
Having joined mid-session, Miaozhen had missed the first two lessons. During break, she proactively asked Wang Xie to borrow notes for copying. Wang Xie promptly handed over her book, adding, “If there’s anything you don’t understand, feel free to ask me.”
“Thank you, Sister Wang.” In her previous life, Miaozhen had transferred schools four or five times due to her parents’ divorce, giving her ample experience with joining classes mid-stream. She knew better than to force immediate integration into established groups, focusing instead on catching up academically first.
While copying her notes, Tong Pan’er, who was sitting in front of her, turned around to watch her write and remarked, “Your handwriting is truly beautiful. Mine is terrible—my mother says it looks like chicken scratch.”
Miaozhen thought that her calligraphy had genuinely improved under Xiucai Yu’s tutelage, all written in the standard imperial examination style. Her penmanship was indeed quite presentable.
After the morning classes ended at noon, Chou Niangzi’s two maids delivered the meal, which turned out to be entirely vegetarian but beautifully presented. There was “vegetarian goose,” actually made with a thin layer of tofu skin wrapped around yam, sprinkled with a few diced cucumber pieces for garnish. Another dish was tea-scented bamboo shoots, refreshing and delicious, paired with a bowl of bean soup rice—all quite tasty.
The tuition was ten taels per year, with meals and miscellaneous expenses costing about three to five qian monthly. Although Chou Niangzi prepared vegetarian food, she put great care into it.
The afternoon was originally scheduled for painting class, but Miaozhen, unaware, hadn’t brought her brushes or pigments. Chou Niangzi promptly changed it to a tea ceremony lesson instead.
Each of them had a small pile of tea leaves on their desk. Chou Niangzi taught them how to brew tea and added, “Today we’re drinking Songluo tea, a type of green tea with a delicate flavor that leaves a lingering bitterness. Such tea should be paired with sweeter snacks, like mung bean cakes, Huqiu cakes, or flower pastries.”
Miaozhen quietly memorized this. Her father often entertained guests, and since their family was of humble origins, it wouldn’t do to be ignorant of such etiquette.
Chou Niangzi even specially had them go to the kitchen to make sugar frost cakes together—an experience entirely new to Miaozhen. They used a wooden pestle to grind roasted pine nuts and walnuts into a paste in a stone mortar, then ground rock sugar into powder with a small mill. Mixing these three ingredients, they pressed them into plum blossom molds. Once shaped, the cakes could be eaten directly without even steaming.
After finishing the treats, the day’s classes concluded. Miaozhen found it all very relaxing and fun.
How strange people are, she thought. In modern times, she had no family and, due to frequent school transfers, few friends. Yet here in ancient times, she had wonderful parents and friendly classmates at the Girls’ School.
After school, she couldn’t return home immediately and had the coachman drive her to the Tao residence.
Coincidentally, having made sugar frost cakes that day, she and her maids had eaten a few pieces each, with some leftover wrapped in oiled paper to give to Ru Shi later.
Xiao Xi asked Miaozhen, “Are you tired, Miss?”
“Not at all. This afternoon felt like playing,” Miaozhen replied, resting her chin on her hand with a smile.
When she arrived at the Tao residence, Ru Furen was already prepared. Miaozhen reflected that accomplished women often seemed punctual, disciplined, and particularly trustworthy in handling affairs—both Chou Niangzi and Ru Furen were like this. Ru Furen had already prepared a copy of “Maijue” for her.
“I’ll start by teaching you pulse diagnosis. Memorizing the theory is one thing, but truly understanding what it feels like requires personal experience,” Ru Furen said.
Although Miaozhen had some foundation, she approached it as if learning from scratch—the cun, guan, and chi positions on both wrists, distinguishing floating and sunken pulses, identifying deficiency and excess, discerning long and short pulses, calculating urgency and slowness, and finally interpreting the pulse patterns.
For someone like Miaozhen, who wasn’t a natural genius, note-taking was the best method. As Ru Shi explained, she felt the pulses and recorded her observations simultaneously.
Once she had learned enough, Miaozhen brought out the sugar frost cakes and said, “Teacher, I made these cakes myself. Though they’re a bit cold now, please try one.”
She had been afraid Ru Shi would refuse, but unexpectedly, Ru Shi quickly accepted it and said, “I’ve only given birth to two sons at home, with no daughters, so no one has ever shown me such filial respect before.”
After hearing her words, Miaozhen was also delighted: “Then I’ll make some for you to eat when I have time.”
Ru Shi wanted to invite her to stay for a meal, but she declined, saying, “Today is my first day visiting you, and my parents at home are waiting for me to return. Please forgive me.”
After leaving Ru Shi’s place, she headed straight home. The evening meal was lavish, with braised beef and a slaughtered chicken. At the dinner table, Miaozhen recounted the day’s experiences, all with a smile.
Xu Erpeng said to Mei Shi, “Our daughter had only vegetarian food for lunch. For dinner, you should instruct the kitchen to prepare some meat dishes.”
Mei Shi promptly agreed.
Miaozhen also shared what she had learned at school about which types of green tea pair best with which snacks. Xu Erpeng listened and made a mental note of it.
Soon, half a month passed. Miaozhen rushed to the Girls’ School early in the morning. She got along best with Lin Xiaoxiao. Although Lin Xiaoxiao was somewhat frail, she was very learned and genuinely taught Miaozhen valuable things. Moreover, the two could occasionally share heartfelt conversations.
Because she lived nearby, Miaozhen arrived earliest. The maids first helped her arrange her books before returning home. Just then, Lin Xiaoxiao and Ma Yulan came over. Lin Xiaoxiao said, “I was just about to go to your house to wait for you when I saw a shabbily dressed old woman holding a young girl’s hand standing at your gate, asking me for directions.”
“Ah?” Miaozhen was quite puzzled.
Lin Xiaoxiao said, “They must be your relatives. It’s nothing unusual—my family had some relatives from the countryside come by a few days ago seeking favors.”
The Lin family’s fan shop had been passed down from her grandfather’s time. Her father inherited the family business and expanded the Lin family’s fan enterprise. The only catch was that Lin Xiaoxiao was the only daughter in the family.
With more wealth at home and only one daughter, many people had their eyes on the family’s assets, hoping to take advantage.
Similarly, in Miaozhen’s family, why did Mei Shi always defer to Bao Shi? Bao Shi monopolized the grandparents’ affairs as if it were a matter of course, simply because Bao Shi had given birth to a son first.
The Lin family, being wealthy with only Lin Xiaoxiao as the sole heir, had long been viewed as a juicy piece of meat by the clan, with everyone wanting a bite.
As for the elderly woman and young girl standing at the entrance of the Confucian Grove Bookshop, they were none other than Xu Laotai and Xu Siniang. Xu Laotai was instructing her daughter: “Tone down your temper and spend a few days coaxing Miaozhen properly. Eventually, you’ll have someone to wait on you. Besides, Miaozhen is still young and not yet at the age for marriage discussions. When the time comes, your second brother should contribute some of his earnings for your dowry. We’re getting old and can’t manage many things anymore.”
Xu Siniang, gradually understanding the ways of the world, thought about the cramped, dusty apartment she lived in at Maple Bridge, where even stepping outside raised clouds of dust. Then she looked at the grand residence before her, steadied her resolve, and determined that she must definitely stay.