Pangya smiled sheepishly. "Nanny."
Nanny Li shot her a glance but said nothing.
Pangya hurried into the room and stood at her spot.
As Nanny Li continued teaching the strokes, Pangya realized that she had already taught something new just moments ago. She was filled with regret.
If she had known, she would have come back sooner and not dawdled for that extra bit of time.
However, these few strokes looked relatively simple; they shouldn't be too hard to learn.
Duoduo followed the nanny's instructions very earnestly.
Because the nanny had just said that strokes were the foundation, and only by mastering them could one write well.
Seeing that it was about time, Nanny Li told them to practice on their own while she went into the inner room to rest for a while.
She would come out later to teach Duoduo embroidery.
Pangya knew the schedule that followed and felt somewhat hesitant.
She didn't like embroidery, but she didn't want to fall behind Duoduo.
If Duoduo could learn it, wouldn't it be a loss if she didn't?
Therefore, Pangya decided to stay behind today and learn embroidery from Nanny Li.
When Nanny Li finished resting and brought out the embroidery tools, she was slightly surprised to see Pangya still there.
Pangya offered a fawning smile. "Nanny, I want to learn too."
Nanny Li glanced at her but didn't say anything to chase her away.
Hearing that Pangya wanted to learn embroidery, Duoduo suddenly felt nervous.
Pangya learned writing faster than she did. If Pangya also learned embroidery better than her, Nanny Li would definitely be displeased.
Driven by this nervousness, Duoduo became even more focused.
Duoduo could already split the threads very finely, a skill she had learned yesterday.
Today, the plan was for Duoduo to familiarize herself with the various types of embroidery needles, split a strand of thread, and then embroider a straight line.
Nanny Li first laid out the various embroidery needles in front of the two girls.
Then, she began to explain the purpose of each type of needle.
Duoduo listened with keen interest, but Pangya grew dizzy just looking at the multitude of needles, which were as fine as cow hair.
Good heavens, so many embroidery needles, and each one was a different thickness!
What was even more absurd was that each one had a different use!
Pangya felt her scalp tighten, and her fingers began to ache just thinking about it.
After Nanny Li finished her explanation, she took a relatively thick needle and a strand of silk thread for each of them and placed them in front of the girls.
"Now, we will start. First, split the thread. Split it until it is as fine as possible, and then thread it through the eye of the needle."
As she spoke, Nanny Li swiftly split the silk thread into several strands.
The silk thread seemed incredibly obedient under her fingers, and in no time at all, it was transformed into extremely fine filaments.
Duoduo's eyes sparkled as she watched.
Nanny Li threaded the needle and then embroidered a row of straight lines on the embroidery hoop.
"Did you see that clearly?"
Duoduo nodded, while Pangya felt like her eyes were spinning in circles.
Nanny Li gestured for Duoduo to begin. Duoduo took the embroidery thread and started splitting it earnestly.
Seeing that Duoduo had already started, Pangya braced herself, picked up the embroidery thread at hand, and attempted to split it.
Because Pangya had learned how to split threads before, she was faster than Duoduo in the initial steps.
Duoduo accidentally caught sight of this and felt a bit anxious.
"Ahem!"
Nanny Li cleared her throat twice in dissatisfaction.
Duoduo hurriedly calmed her mind and focused on separating the threads.
Pangya felt somewhat smug. It wasn't that she couldn't learn; she was simply a genius.
Seeing that Duoduo had gotten into the zone, Nanny Li returned to the inner room.
Being older, standing for too long gave her a sore back and aching waist.
So, after standing for a while, she would go back inside to lie down for a bit.
Duoduo let out a long sigh of relief when she sensed Nanny Li's departure.
With the nanny standing right next to her, the pressure was immense!
Pangya smugly waved her split embroidery thread at Duoduo.
"Hmph! I don't even need to learn, and I still split it better than you, dummy!"
Duoduo pouted. She remembered what Nanny Li had said: doing it fast didn't necessarily mean doing it well.
Duoduo lowered her head and focused earnestly on her own task, ignoring Pangya.
Pangya snorted. Just as she was about to pull the embroidery thread back, she realized that while waving it around, the thread had gotten caught on her hairpin.
It took Pangya a tremendous amount of effort to finally pull the hairpin out and untangle the embroidery thread.
She shoved the hairpin back into her hair bun.
However, the embroidery thread had turned into a tangled mess.
Pangya hesitated for a moment and looked over at Duoduo, who had just finished splitting a strand of thread and set it aside.
Gritting her teeth, Pangya began trying to sort out the tangled ends.
With great patience, Duoduo split a strand of thread into many fine filaments until she felt it couldn't be split any further. Then, she picked up the needle beside her.
Duoduo had good eyesight, and the silk thread slipped right through the eye of the needle in one go.
Delighted, Duoduo picked up the embroidery hoop and began to embroider, mimicking Nanny Li's movements.
Stitch by stitch, Duoduo firmly kept in mind the key points the nanny had taught.
Finally, Duoduo finished the last stitch.
She removed the needle and examined her completed work.
Aside from the first two stitches, where she hadn't quite mastered the tension and made them uneven, the rest of the stitches were very well done.
Duoduo smiled with satisfaction.
Just as she was about to set down the embroidery hoop, she caught sight of Pangya sitting opposite her.
Duoduo's eyes couldn't help but widen into perfect circles.
Across from her, Pangya looked as if she had fallen into a spider's web.
Somehow, the silk thread in her hands had managed to wrap around her head and body.
And the tighter Pangya became entangled, the more frustrated she grew.
Pangya noticed Duoduo's surprised expression.
She was furious. "Are you satisfied now? Seeing me like this, you must be thrilled, right?"
Duoduo found this very strange. "I did not!"
"I didn't make you look like that, so why are you mad at me?"
Duoduo expressed her lack of understanding.
"It's all your fault! Why did you have to go and learn embroidery out of nowhere? If you hadn't learned it, would I have ended up like this?"
Duoduo tilted her head.
"That's not right. Nanny Li taught me, so that's why I'm learning."
"Oh, I get it now. You're mad at the nanny!"
Pangya's mouth almost twisted in anger.
"Stop spouting nonsense! I'm mad at you! You're the one who caused this!"
Duoduo stood up.
"I didn't cause anything! I was originally going to help you, but it looks like there's no need for that now!"
"Well, I'm going to the washroom. You take your time untangling that!"
After saying that, Duoduo set down her embroidery hoop and walked out.
Pangya yelled in anger, "Stupid Duoduo! How dare you run away? Hurry up and come here to help me untangle this!"
Ignoring Pangya completely, Duoduo skipped out of the room.
Inside the inner room, Nanny Li dropped the door curtain, a look of satisfaction appearing on her face.
Hmm, not bad. She finally knows how to fight back.
She had genuinely been worried that Duoduo would be soft-hearted and help Pangya.
Duoduo went out for a stroll in a great mood. By the time she returned, Pangya had already untangled the embroidery thread and was sitting by her chair, smiling at her smugly.
"Aha, Duoduo! You actually dared to go out and play!"
"Just wait until the nanny comes back. I'm definitely going to tell on you!"
Duoduo replied righteously, "I only left after I finished my work. The nanny won't blame me!"
Pangya triumphantly waved the embroidery hoop in her hand.
"Who saw you finish your work?"
