Duoduo lowered her head and was about to leave as well.
"Your training for today isn't finished yet. Trying to slack off?"
Nanny Li's stern words made Duoduo stop in her tracks.
"Come here."
Nanny Li spread out the rice paper on the table, took out a small box, and handed it to Duoduo.
"Take a look. See if you like it?"
Duoduo opened the box in confusion. Inside was a slender writing brush.
Duoduo's eyes lit up. She jerked her head up to look at Nanny Li.
"Nanny, is this for me?"
Nanny Li kept a straight face. "This will be deducted from your wages."
A spark of joy finally appeared on Duoduo's little face. She hugged the box tightly.
"Mhm!"
"Alright, now, first I'll show you how to hold the brush. Look, your palm should be hollow..."
Nanny Li picked up a writing brush and demonstrated for Duoduo.
Then, she took Duoduo's hand in hers, personally teaching her the proper grip.
Once Duoduo got used to it, she taught her how to grind the inkstick.
After all the preparations were done, Nanny Li began teaching how to put brush to paper and write.
"This is a horizontal stroke. Start on the left, lower. Return on the right, rounded."
"From start to finish, the transition should be natural. There must be strength and structure in the middle. You try."
Duoduo was a bit nervous. Her hand holding the brush trembled slightly.
Nanny Li held her hand and guided her through writing the stroke herself.
Seeing the stroke she had written appear on the paper, Duoduo felt deeply moved.
She could write now?
She turned her head and smiled at Nanny Li.
When Duoduo smiled, her eyes became curved, like water chestnuts.
Nanny Li couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth turn up slightly. Immediately, she turned around so Duoduo wouldn't see her expression.
"Keep practicing. Fill this entire sheet of paper."
With that, Nanny Li walked out.
She needed to check on Pangya. That girl had been washing clothes for ages and hadn't come back. Was she up to no good?
Nanny Li sighed. She was starting to doubt if her decision was the right one.
Lüdou was right here. She could just train her properly. Hadn't she trained so many girls before? Could she really not teach one properly?
And now, look at this—endless worries!
As Nanny Li walked into the courtyard, she saw Pangya spitting into the washbasin.
"Ahem!"
Nanny Li cleared her throat twice. Pangya was so startled she plopped down on the ground.
"Kneel!"
Pangya hurriedly scrambled up and knelt properly.
"Nanny, this servant was wrong. This servant just couldn't understand. Why can she write characters inside, while I have to wash clothes out here?"
Nanny Li frowned. "Did I say you couldn't learn?"
Pangya looked up, her face full of surprise.
"Nanny, can this servant learn too?"
"Of course you can. The condition is that you must do all her chores for her."
"You need to know, you're only able to learn by following along because of her."
"Nanny, this servant understands! This servant will wash them clean right now!" Pangya was overjoyed.
"This is your last chance. If I see you disobeying orders again, I will not go easy on you!"
Nanny Li balanced kindness with severity.
"Yes! Nanny, this servant will do a good job!"
Pangya now understood. Staying by Nanny's side actually meant she could learn to read and write!
Such good fortune had fallen into her lap. If she just gave it up, she'd be a fool!
So what if she had to help the little kid wash clothes and comb her hair?
It was just a little while's work. It couldn't stump her.
She had heard that maids who could read and write got higher monthly allowances.
Moreover, when the time came to marry, they could even find a match from a scholarly family.
Once Pangya figured this out, she quickly dumped the water from the basin and fetched fresh water.
Duoduo's clothes weren't hard to wash; they just had some dirt from when she sat on the ground earlier.
So, Pangya quickly finished washing the clothes and hung them up to dry.
"Nanny, they're washed."
Pangya crept timidly into the room.
She saw Duoduo standing very straight, holding a writing brush and practicing her characters.
A flash of envy passed through Pangya's eyes.
"Here, you stand at the other end of the table. Use the brush on the table."
Nanny Li picked up a brush. "Watch my steps. I'll only teach this once. How much you understand depends on your own comprehension."
"Yes!"
Pangya imitated Nanny's posture, holding the brush in her hand.
Duoduo put down her brush. She shook out her hand; it was tired.
She watched as Nanny Li taught Pangya to write the character for "one," reviewing it once more herself.
When she heard it the first time, she couldn't grasp the trick. Her horizontal strokes were crooked, uneven in thickness, and the return at the end wasn't rounded enough.
Now, hearing it a second time, she seemed to be getting the feel for it.
Duoduo picked up her brush and started writing again.
After listening to Nanny's explanation, Pangya carefully picked up her brush and began to write.
She was older, after all, so her hand holding the brush was steadier. The horizontal strokes she wrote were somewhat presentable.
Pangya glanced at Duoduo's wriggly, worm-like horizontals and a look of disdain appeared on her face.
Hmph! Even though she started learning earlier, she still doesn't write as well as I do.
Duoduo was focused on her own calligraphy and had no time to look at anyone else's expression.
Start, move, pull, stop, return.
Duoduo stopped her brush and looked. Hmm, much better than before.
Duoduo followed that same feeling again and continued writing.
Pangya wrote several in a row, each time feeling like she was a genius, each one better than the last!
She felt there was no need to keep practicing and put down her brush.
Nanny Li wasn't watching over them as they practiced; she had gone into the inner room to rest.
Pangya, feeling bored, started doodling and scribbling with her brush.
After a while, bored with that, she put the brush down and watched Duoduo write.
"So clumsy! You should return here, you pulled it too long!"
"The starting stroke should be light. Nanny already said that, and you're doing it wrong again!"
Pangya gestured and commented on Duoduo's writing.
At first, Duoduo frowned, not wanting to listen.
But later, she felt what Pangya said was correct.
She followed Pangya's suggestions and wrote a few strokes.
Duoduo discovered that these strokes weren't as good as the ones she had written earlier.
Why?
Duoduo looked at the strokes she had written and frowned.
Why was what Pangya said correct, yet her writing kept getting worse?
"Another person's method isn't necessarily suitable for you."
"You need to find the method that suits you, then you can write beautiful strokes."
"What others say isn't necessarily all right. In other words, it's not necessarily right for you!"
"For example, the brush Pangya uses is different from yours."
"Also, Pangya's hands are bigger. Writing a horizontal stroke is simple for her."
"But your hands are small. For you, the effort required to write a horizontal stroke is doubled."
Nanny Li, who had been observing the two of them for a while, walked over to give Duoduo some guidance.
Duoduo tilted her head, pondering Nanny's words.
Meanwhile, Pangya, the moment she heard Nanny speak, had already picked up her brush again and started practicing.
Duoduo seemed to understand what Nanny meant.
She began to recall the feeling she had found initially and started writing again.
Duoduo tried hard to forget the tips Pangya had given her and instead searched for her own feeling.
Sure enough, when she finished the stroke, a beautiful horizontal line appeared on the paper.
"Nanny! I did it!"
Duoduo's little face was glowing.
