Chapter 20 : Deep Water and Scorching Fire (2)

Yuru and Yujing currently had the same symptoms just like Yuxi.

 

Yuru looked at her hand full of blisters and said in a low voice, “Qingxuan, what method should I use to avoid being punished, which will also not going to be questioned by others?” She could not stand such an intense study, and on the other hand, she felt ashamed of herself. Out of the four sisters, she was the worst. Every time the teacher hit her hand, she wished she could get into a hole. Every day was hard for her, both mentally and physically.

 

Qingxuan muttered in her heart that it would be inappropriate to withdraw voluntarily by any means. After thinking for a moment, she still felt that she should try to advise her Miss once more, “Miss, let’s try to hold on for a few more days. When Second Miss or Fourth Miss withdraws, we’ll try our best to follow suit. This way, you won't be conspicuous, Miss.“ In this family, her Miss was the eldest daughter, henceforth, if she was the one who quit first, then her face at that time would be disgraceful. Just by looking at Second Miss and Fourth Miss, they were not in good condition either. Why not her Miss waited for another two days, for surely they would quit?

 

Yuru shook her head and said, “No, I can’t stand this anymore. I have already recognised so many words. In the future, I will only be in charge of accounts and household matters. So, no matter how much I learn, it will be useless. For the future, it is enough for me just to learn needlework and manage one household well.“

 

Qingxuan didn’t even know how to persuade anymore. Contrarily, Qingye was the one who fetched and brought over the ointment. When she heard this, she couldn’t help adding a few words, “Miss, when you apply the ointment, your hand will not hurt so much.”

 

Hearing this, Yuru could no longer contain her anger, “Do you know that my hand now feels like it’s not mine? You’re happy to see my hand becomes useless, aren’t you?“

 

With such a big burst coming from Yuru, how would Qingye still dare to speak again?

 

As Yuxi used her left hand smoothly, it was obvious that there was a big difference between the words written at the beginning and the end. Old woman Ding suspected that she was cheating. During the class break, she told Teacher Song, “Fourth Miss has problems with her schoolwork today.”

 

Teacher Song went out and turned cold after looking at Yuxi’s schoolwork. “Please invite Fourth Miss to come here.” The words in front were absolutely neat and the words behind were extremely ugly. Even if the words were written with her painful hand, they couldn’t be looking so bad. It was hard not to doubt them.

 

Yuxi followed old woman Ding to the opposite room. This room decoration was very simple. In addition to the table, chairs and soft couch, a landscape painting was hung on the wall.

 

Teacher Song put Yuxi's schoolwork on the table and asked, "Fourth Miss, what's going on?" She only hoped that she made a mistake, or she would immediately kick Yuxi out of her class if this was true. It didn't matter if her homework wasn't finished, but finishing it by cheating meant that Yuxi had a character problem.

 

Yuxi said sheepishly, “Yesterday I could not write with my right hand. I was afraid that I could not finish my schoolwork, so I wrote with my left hand. It’s just that I haven’t written with my left hand before, so the words I’ve written are not good–looking.“

 

Teacher Song was stunned for a moment, but she quickly responded, “Bring me pen and ink.” Never rely on what the mouth said, but believed in what one saw.

 

Yuxi did not have stage fright either. She raised a pen in her left hand, dipped it in ink, and wrote the word ‘诚 chéng’ on a piece of white paper. After putting down the writing brush, she seriously said, “Teacher, even if I suffered a deadlock, I wouldn’t resort to deceit by asking someone to help me with my homework.” If she did this, once it spread, her reputation would be destroyed. If a girl in a family did not have a good reputation, she would not be chosen as a potential daughter-in-law by a good family in the future. By then, everyone would be so sure that she couldn’t bring any benefit to the family, and the Old Lady would have to abandon her.

 

Instead of being embarrassed by misunderstanding Yuxi, Teacher Song stated, “It’s good that you think so. If a person’s character is not good, no matter how smart one is, one will only be in vain.”

 

Yuxi nodded heavily, “Teacher, I understand.“

 

After Yuxi went out, old woman Ding said, “I didn’t expect that Fourth Miss could write with her left hand.” Originally, she was feeling uncomfortable when such a small girl had to be interrogated, but somehow, Fourth Miss had unexpectedly given them surprises now and then.

 

Teacher Song nodded and said, “This child is good. She didn’t say a word even when her hand must have been hurting so much.“ Unlike Yuru who easily cried, or Yujing whose face always gave the appearance of great bitterness, deep hatred, which made Teacher Song felt uncomfortable just by looking at her. As for Yuchen, she knew all the ins and outs of her daily life from early in the morning, so she was not surprised. The only person that surprised her was Yuxi, who was able to bear hardships and had good talent.

 

In the classroom, Yuru whispered to Yuxi in a soft voice, “Si Meimei, why did Teacher Song call you over?” Looking at Yuxi’s appearance, it seemed like nothing bad had happened.

 

Yuxi also didn’t hide or make up anything. She just told her what really happened.

 

Let alone Yuru and Yujing, even Yuchen was shocked now, "Si Meimei, you said you could write with your left hand? Is that true?"

 

Yuxi wrote her name with her left hand with a smile, “Yesterday my right hand was unable to write, so I wanted to try my left hand on a whim. I didn’t think that I could write with it, but the words I wrote were not very good–looking.”

 

Yuchen’s eyes were somewhat complicated. She was accustomed to being better than other people in everything. Suddenly, Yuxi had one thing better than her which made her heart not feeling quite good.

 

Yuxi didn’t know what Yuchen was thinking. She just felt that Teacher Song had no objection regarding the matter of her writing with her left-hand today. When she was tired of writing with her right hand later, she could just change to her left hand.

 

Mama Shen was overjoyed when she knew that Yuxi had won Teacher Song’s respect, “Miss, Teacher Song was impressed by this. As long as Miss continued to work hard, she won’t be sure to not take Miss as her student.“

 

Yuxi smiled and asked, “Do you think Teacher Song will choose me over San Jie?”

 

Mama Shen didn’t want Yuxi to compete with Yuchen either. They were not on the same level. “Teacher Song didn’t say that only Third Miss would be selected. If you are liked by your teacher, there is a possibility that she will accept both of you as students.“

 

Yuxi shook her head and said, “I hope so, but it is very difficult.” Deep down, she also hoped to learn from Teacher Song. However, she knew that this idea was very difficult to realize.

 

From what I read on Birdnest-Yanwo, bird nest porridge would enhance immunity for a kid like Yuxi. Yes, Yuxi is still a kid in this chapter since she's still a four years old kid.
I thought you use rice for this porridge, but I was wrong. Based on the recipe I saw in Birdnest-Yanwo, it only needs bird nests, rice wine and a suitable amount of filtered water. Just put everything inside a stew pot, then boil for 2 hours. Once ready, just add one tablespoonful of pure, natural bird nest, then reheat it.
Image credit Eu Yan Sang International and Asiaone

She was doing her homework that night when Mama Shen brought a bowl of bird’s nest porridge and said, “Miss, eat the bird’s nest porridge first, then continue writing!”

 

Yuxi felt a bit strange. "Haven't we just finished using all the bird's nests? Did my aunt send bird's nests again today?" In her previous life, she didn't care about anything that happened in her courtyard, which led to the disappearance of the precious jewellery left by her mother. Now she had learned her lesson as she took note of everything that happened inside Rose Courtyard. This way, she would not have to be afraid of people around her trying to cheat or did anything to damage her interests.

 

Mama Shen shook her head and said, “This is the Old Lady’s gift to Miss. Miss Cuiyu just sent it here.“ This gift from the Old Lady meant that Teacher Song had praised her Miss.

 

Yuxi, without any joy, asked, “Is it just for me, or is it for all four of us?” She didn’t want to be special.

 

Mama Shen said with a smile, “Third Miss received it too.“

 

Yuxi finished up the bowl of bird’s nest porridge and then continued to write.

 

Mama Shen was a little disappointed. She tried hard for so long, but Fourth Miss still didn't want to show up in front of the Old Lady. Fourth Miss was very independent, which was beyond her control. However, the Old Lady didn’t like this trait of her. Because of this, Fourth Miss would suffer in the future.

 

At this time, Yuru was writing her homework under an open window.

 

When Zhuxuan entered the room, she saw the window open and was ready to close it. Yuru stopped her and said, “I’m a little hot, don’t close it.”

 

As Yuru’s personal maid, how could Zhuxuan not understand Yuru’s intention, “Miss, do you truly want to do this? Miss, once you do this, there will be no room for regret.“ Her heart ached for her Master, but, she always felt that the first person to quit was quite shameful.

 

Yuru looked at her swollen hand and gritted her teeth. “I won’t regret it,” she said. She was not as intelligent as her San Meimei, nor as persistent as her Si Meimei. She could not bear it. To guard against being laughed at, she could only use this kind of bitter trick.

 

Zhuxuan was a little sad, “Miss, please think again properly. I heard it was just hard for the first few days. Just try to get over the first half of the month.“

 

Yuru shook her head and painfully said, “I can’t endure another single day.“ Her left hand was almost broken, while her right hand was almost useless. She couldn’t even wait for another day, let alone half a month.

 

Zhuxuan slightly sighed. She knew her Miss very well. Now her Miss couldn’t endure the pain, so she wanted to quit. Once Third Miss and Fourth Miss finished their learning, she would begin to regret it. Nevertheless, Zhuxuan also knew that it was useless to say anything now.

 

The next day, Yuxi didn't see Yuru in class. Her mind muttered, did she give up? She always thought that Yujing would be the first to back down, not Yuru.

 

During the break, she heard Shishu say, “The physician said Eldest Miss was weak. She fell ill after overworking during this period. The physician also said that she needs to be well taken care of while she is in this circumstance.” What the physician said was equal to saying that Eldest Miss would not come to school anymore.

 

When Yujing heard this, she snorted coldly and sarcastically asked, “Is she pretending to be ill?” It was not a wonder for her to have this doubt. It was true that Teacher Song’s teaching method was so tormenting that even she couldn’t stand it anymore. If her mother had not forced her, or if the prospect of marriage to a rich family had not tempted her, she would have given up too.

 

Yuchen glanced at Yujing and said, “Physician Bai is a famous doctor in Beijing. He wouldn’t lie.” Eldest Miss was also half-transparent in the residence. Where did she have the skill to let Physician Bai lied for her?

 

Yujing looked at Yuxi with a puzzled face and asked, “Then, why didn’t you fall ill?” Before Yuxi got smallpox, she would get sick at least three or five times. She had the worst body health among the four of them. Now, with Teacher Song tormenting them, Yuru was the one who fell sick instead, while Yuxi was still fine. Yujing felt that there was something wrong with this situation.

 

Yuxi expressionlessly said, “My body has gotten well.” In the past six months, she had worked hard to exercise, ate properly, and never missed supper in the evening. Her health had been much better than before.

 

Yujing snorted coldly, “I told you long ago that you are fated to have a hard life, otherwise...“

 

Yuchen said with a cold face, “Er Jie, there are some things you can’t say.” Bearing a hard life reputation, it would be difficult for Yuxi to get married in the future. So, Yujing could ruin Yuxi’s life with just a few words.

 

Although Yujing was extremely dissatisfied with Yuchen, as she looked at Yuchen’s indifferent expression, she dared not say the rest. She still had some lingering feelings in her heart.

 

Yuxi was unwilling to bear the title of a person fated for a hard life. She looked up and said, “This is a blessing in disguise for me. My blessing is yet to come.”

 

Hearing this, Yujing was annoyed with Yuxi’s vile manner.

 

NOOB TRANSLATOR'S MUSING

 

I was busy reading the raw for this novel, and I've reached the second part of the story, Chapter 501. So, I was distracted from translating this chapter.