Pangya walked over, opened the box, and took out a case of powder from inside.
This was a birthday gift from her closest confidante, and she had never brought herself to use it.
Steeling her heart, Pangya opened the powder and began to apply it.
Sure enough, after applying the powder, the marks on her face were no longer visible.
Moreover, because of the powder, her complexion looked quite a bit fairer.
Looking at the powder, now with a thin layer missing, Pangya felt a pang of regret.
She carefully put the powder away and combed her hair again.
Only then did she walk back to the study.
Duoduo seemed not to have heard anyone enter and was still practicing.
When her hand grew tired, she would shake it out and continue practicing.
Pangya walked over and looked; the rice paper was neatly filled with horizontal strokes.
And each stroke seemed identical, as if stamped from a mold.
Pangya was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected someone to genuinely spend half a day just writing horizontal strokes.
Duoduo put down her brush. She tilted her head to look, seeming dissatisfied.
She picked up the brush again and wrote another horizontal stroke.
This time, she was finally satisfied, a smile appearing on her face.
A strange feeling stirred in Pangya's heart.
Because the sight of Duoduo holding the brush and writing with such focus had actually inspired a sense of awe in her.
How to put it?
Pangya inexplicably thought of the Prince.
Yes, it was like the Prince's imposing aura, the kind that makes one submit at a single glance.
Pangya pinched herself hard. She thought she must have been beaten silly by Li Da's wife.
How could she have such a thought? How dreadful!
At that moment, Nanny Li came out.
"Are you finished writing?"
Duoduo bowed respectfully. "Yes, I am finished."
Nanny Li walked over and looked at the characters Duoduo had written.
From the initial clumsiness, some long and some short, to the later ones, uniform in size and smooth.
Not bad!
Nanny Li nodded inwardly, though her face remained stern.
"That's enough writing for today. Put your things away."
"After one cup of tea, I will teach you some basics of embroidery."
The moment Pangya heard "embroidery," she immediately grew restless.
What she feared most was embroidery.
She wouldn't feel tired from running all morning.
But if she had to sit still all morning, she would die.
Especially that embroidery thread, splitting it would make her eyes go cross-eyed.
After speaking, Nanny Li went into the room to prepare materials.
Duoduo carefully gathered the rice paper she had written on and set it aside.
She planned to find Lüdou later when she had a moment; they had agreed to study together.
As Duoduo picked up the brush to go wash it, Pangya snatched it from her hand.
"I want to discuss something with you," Pangya said, her tone not very pleasant.
Duoduo stared at Pangya without agreeing.
"I'm not feeling well. Later, please ask Nanny for leave on my behalf."
Duoduo eyed Pangya suspiciously. Pangya instinctively lowered her face.
Even so, Duoduo saw Pangya's pale complexion.
"What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"
Duoduo asked without thinking.
Pangya was startled. She lifted her head and looked at Duoduo.
Duoduo's expression held only concern, no mockery.
"None of your business. Remember what I said. I'll wash the brush and bring it back later."
Seeing Pangya walk out without even looking back, Duoduo was very puzzled.
If she was sick, why not ask for leave herself to see a doctor?
Although Nanny is strict, she wouldn't refuse a legitimate request for leave.
Although Duoduo had doubts in her heart, she didn't press further.
She blew on the rice paper to dry it, carefully folded it, and placed it in her sleeve pocket.
Then, she obediently sat on the stool, waiting for Nanny to come.
Nanny Li finished preparing and came out of the room.
She saw at a glance that only Duoduo was there.
Duoduo stood up and bowed to Nanny Li.
"Nanny, Pangya said she isn't feeling well and asked me to request leave for her."
Nanny Li asked nothing, as she was originally only responsible for teaching Duoduo.
If Pangya had the sense to want to learn along, she would teach her.
If she wasn't willing to learn, that was her own affair, not Nanny's concern.
Nanny Li put down the embroidery basket in her hand, which contained embroidery threads of various colors and styles.
Nanny Li explained the use of each type of thread to Duoduo.
Then, she taught Duoduo how to split the thread.
The most fundamental skill in embroidery is knowing how to split thread.
Splitting a single strand of embroidery thread into countless finer strands, the finer the better.
This was also a test of patience.
Only after learning to split thread would one begin to learn embroidering straight lines.
Nanny Li's plan for today was simply for Duoduo to learn thread-splitting.
After demonstrating, she had Duoduo try splitting the thread herself.
Imitating Nanny Li, Duoduo divided the thread in half, then split one of those halves in half again.
And so on, until the thread could be split no finer, and success meant it hadn't broken.
Unfortunately, halfway through Duoduo's attempt, the thread began to break.
"Keep practicing. You'll be done when you can split the thread as fine as a needle's point."
Having said this, Nanny Li left again.
She wouldn't watch over Duoduo while she worked; she needed to test Duoduo's self-discipline.
Earlier, during the writing practice, she had secretly observed several times.
Each time she peeked, Duoduo was practicing her writing.
When tired, she would hop in place a little, shake her hands, and then start writing again.
Nanny Li was very satisfied with Duoduo's attitude.
For a four-year-old child to settle her mind to a task and persist through such a monotonous exercise...
For this alone, Nanny Li felt she was willing to teach her everything she knew.
Duoduo buried her head, slowly splitting the silk thread, half, and then another half.
Outside the door, Pangya stole a glance into the room.
Seeing Nanny Li wasn't there, she walked in.
"I've washed the brush. It's hanging on the brush stand."
Pangya acted as if she were just passing by, walking past Duoduo.
Although she didn't want to learn embroidery, she was worried that Nanny Li might teach Duoduo something else behind her back.
So, the uneasy Pangya took the opportunity of returning the brush to come and check.
When she saw the bewildering array of silk threads in Duoduo's hands, her eyes nearly spun in circles.
Pangya hurriedly ran off.
Lucky she wasn't there! Otherwise, the one tangled in embroidery thread right now would be her!
Just as Duoduo was about to ask how Pangya was feeling, she looked up and saw Pangya running away swiftly.
Duoduo lowered her head again. If she could run that fast, she was surely fine.
It never occurred to Duoduo that Pangya had claimed illness because she didn't want to learn.
Even if she knew, she would find it hard to understand.
How could someone not take such a good learning opportunity?
Only a fool wouldn't learn!
Duoduo buried her head, carefully arranging the silk threads and splitting them strand by strand.
Having kept her head down for too long, she felt a soreness in her neck.
Duoduo lifted her head, wanting to rotate her neck, when she suddenly noticed Nanny Li standing in the doorway, watching her.
Duoduo quickly lowered her head, thinking Nanny had caught her slacking off.
After waiting for a good while without any scolding from Nanny, she secretly lifted her eyelids to glance in Nanny's direction.
Huh? Nanny was gone!
