Traveled through time and became the darling of the whole family

After dinner, Ye Ziyu and Ye Qingyin took a walk in the courtyard, chatting about trivial things. As they walked, Ye Ziyu saw Yifeng and motioned him to wait in the room. Suddenly, Ye Qingyin asked, "Sister, do you have any special skills?"

"A special skill? No, what's wrong, sis?"

"I suddenly remembered that the New Year is just over a month away. The emperor will hold a palace banquet and invite everyone to attend. At the banquet, young ladies from various families will usually be invited to show their talents on stage."

"Everyone wants it?" Ye Ziyu looked bitter.

"Not really, but you just went home for the New Year this year. What if you get pushed out?"

"But I really don't know anything. If the emperor really points it out, will he forgive me if I say I don't know? After all, doesn't everyone know that I just returned home? It's normal that I haven't learned anything since childhood, right?" Ye Ziyu lost his confidence when he said this.

"We can understand, but others may not. We're afraid that it will spread a bad reputation. My sister's reputation is very important." Ye Qingyin said righteously.

Ye Ziyu: If it were in modern times, I wouldn’t care what others think, but in ancient times, reputation was taken too seriously. I don’t care, but the reputation of the General’s Mansion is…

"Well, is there anything that can be learned quickly?" It would be easy if there was piano in ancient times. After all, my mother forced me to learn it when I was a child.

"Dance! Compared to other things that need to be practiced from a young age, dance is better. As long as you master the strength and movements, simple ones shouldn't be a problem. How about this, I'll talk to mom tomorrow and ask her to hire a dance teacher for you?"

"Then let's dance and learn to cope with it first."

"Then you should focus on learning dancing first. I will teach you painting after the New Year."

"No, learning to paint is equally important to me. I'll just learn both of them together." Although pencils were invented to facilitate Ye Ziyu's design, the final result must still be presented with a brush. It is not convenient to just find an artist to paint such a private thing. If it is stolen by someone else, it will not be considered a custom model.

"But you'll be very tired." Ye Qingyin knew that although learning to dance could be a quick way to cope with it, the process was still very tiring. If she added learning to paint...

"Sister, I can do it. I will continue my painting studies as usual."

"Forget it, forget it. Let's do both at the same time. If you feel too tired, just tell your sister." Ye Qingyin had figured out Ye Ziyu's personality. She would definitely do what she wanted to do.

"Yeah, it's getting late. Sister, you should go back and have some rest. I'll go back to my room." Ye Ziyu bowed and left.

After returning to the room, I saw Yifeng, "How is it, do they have it?"

"There is no graphite powder, but there is graphite ore, but it needs this amount." Yifeng stretched out his hand and made a "1"

"Ten taels?" Ye Ziyu knew that graphite ore should be relatively rare.

Yifeng shook his head.

"One hundred taels?" Ye Ziyu was shocked.

"Yes." Yifeng nodded, "One hundred taels of gold."

"How much??? One hundred taels of gold? Why don't you just rob them?"

"And Miss, one hundred taels of gold can only buy one gram."

"..." The ore needs to be ground into graphite powder, which will be lost in the process of grinding. Then, it will be lost in the process of making the powder into pen refills. One gram is definitely not enough. To be safe, at least three grams of ore raw materials are needed. One gram is one hundred taels, and three grams will cost three hundred taels. How long will it take to get back the money? ! ! !

Ye Ziyu was very desperate...

"Forget it, forget it. Let's put this aside for now and work on the other things first." Get the down jackets out first. If the sales are good, we can make some money.

*

Early in the morning, Ye Ziyu went to Ye Qingyin to learn how to paint.

"Before you start learning, I want to see your calligraphy. Write two columns for me according to that notebook."

Ye Ziyu picked up the pen and found that this pen was much lighter than the ones she had used before. "Sister, this pen is so light."

"Yes, Third Miss, this pen was specially asked by the eldest lady to be found for you. The eldest lady said that you need a suitable pen to better master the technique."

"Thank you, sister." Ye Ziyu smiled at Ye Qingyin.

Because he had practiced before, these two columns of characters were not particularly difficult for Ye Ziyu. He quickly copied them and showed them to Ye Qingyin.

"Well, it's not too bad, but it still needs to be standardized. Today we are practicing horizontal and vertical lines in the center. First of all, your pen-holding posture is a little wrong. Look, the gesture is like this." Ye Qingyin took a pen and showed it to Ye Ziyu.

Adjust Ye Ziyu's pen-holding posture, "When you write horizontal strokes, keep it parallel to the edge of the table. After pressing the pen tip, keep it pointing in the direction opposite to the movement until the line is even and smooth." Ye Qingyin said as she practiced, "You try it." After demonstrating, Ye Qingyin asked Ye Ziyu to follow suit.

"Relax your shoulders and coordinate with your hands." Ye Qingyin patted Ye Ziyu's shoulder.

After practicing for a while, Ye Qingyin saw that Ye Ziyu had mastered it well, "I will teach you the next one, hidden tip. The so-called hidden tip means that the trace left by the pen tip when it touches the paper is hidden inside the dot and stroke."

Ye Qingyin picked up the pen. "Look, the pen is straight, the pen tip gently falls on the paper, and it makes a small circle in the counterclockwise direction, while continuing to press down. When the pen tip is behind the running direction, the pen tip is pressed down just enough to reach the width of the line; the pen tip moves to the right to write horizontal lines; when finishing the writing, lift the pen up, use your wrist to drive the pen to make a small circle clockwise, and finally lift the pen."

After Ye Qingyin finished writing, she looked up at Ye Ziyu and asked, "Do you understand?"

Ye Ziyu nodded.

"Try writing the horizontal line first. The same principle applies to the vertical line. Practice the vertical line after you've finished writing the horizontal line." Ye Qingyin put down her pen and made room for him.

After writing for nearly half an hour, "Okay, let's stop here for today. Take a break. I will teach you how to practice your wrist later. The purpose of practicing your wrist is to make all the joints of your hand work together flexibly, because that is the key to completing complex strokes and is related to whether you can master some techniques."

When Ye Ziyu heard her sister call for a stop, she put down her pen and stretched her arms. "I'm so tired. Did you practice for so long before?" Ye Ziyu walked to the table and sat down.

"When we were young, we practiced for a longer time. Our teacher always said that you need to be calm when practicing calligraphy. Only when your mind is calm can you write well. So the practice of pen tip and wrist later are all for the purpose of helping you learn to be calm. You should take a break first and relax." Ye Qingyin poured a glass of water and pushed it to Ye Ziyu, and also pushed the pastry in front of her towards her.

"Oh, red date cake. My sister actually has red date cake." Ye Ziyu was also hungry, so she happily picked up a piece.

"The eldest lady didn't like sweets before, so there was never any pastries in the house. But since we knew that the third lady liked sweets, we have had this pastry in the house." Xiaoxue smiled, and after filling the teapot with water, she stepped aside.

"You are the only one who talks too much." Ye Qingyin pointed at Xiaoxue.

"Hey, Sister is so nice to me, can you please..."

"No, you said you wanted to learn this. Since you want to learn it so hard, I have to teach you well."

"Oh, okay, okay." Ye Ziyu compromised.

After a quarter of an hour's rest, Ye Qingyin began to teach Ye Ziyu how to practice wrist exercises. "Let me show you how. First, hold the pen without touching the paper. Keep your forearm still and use your wrist to control the pen. Rotate it continuously clockwise in the air. Relax your shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints. Then practice continuous counterclockwise rotation. You can practice this for a while."

Ye Ziyu followed Ye Qingyin's instructions and began to practice wrist rotation. After practicing for a while, Ye Qingyin taught the next two movements to be practiced in the air. They practiced until lunch time, when Ye Qingyin asked Ye Ziyu to stop, "Practice more on your own when you go back. Only when you practice more flexibly, you will be able to master the skills quickly in writing or painting in the future. Let's eat first."

The two began to eat. Now the whole family knew what dishes Ye Ziyu liked, so the dishes cooked in the kitchen were all Ye Ziyu's favorites, but they were just changing the dishes. "By the way, sister, come with me to find mother later?"

"Hmm..." Ye Ziyu swallowed the food in her mouth, "What do you want to see mother for?"

"Didn't I mention learning dancing yesterday? Today I wanted to talk to my mother about it and let her decide whether to find a teacher for you. Later, I went back to my room and thought about it. Maybe my consideration of this matter is not appropriate. I went to listen to my mother and others' opinions."

"Oh, then let's go together. I don't have anything to do in the afternoon."

"Okay, eat slowly, Xiaoxue, go to the kitchen and bring me the warm soup from the stove."

"Yes." Xiaoxue responded and retreated.

"And soup? Why not serve it together?"

"Didn't your mother ask the court doctor to check your health a few days ago? The doctor said that you were a little weak. Originally, you were going to take some medicine to nourish your body. The medicine would work quickly, but I was worried that you wouldn't be able to drink it, so I asked the court doctor to write a recipe for food to nourish your body. It was only delivered yesterday. Today, I asked Xiaoxue to prepare some food to nourish your body and make soup for you. Bring it here first. Won't it be cold by the time you finish your meal? I asked the cook to keep it warm in the stove."

"Wow, you are really my dear elder sister." A few days ago, when the court physician examined her and said that she had qi deficiency and needed to prescribe Chinese medicine, Ye Ziyu was really desperate. She had to drink the bitter Chinese medicine even though she was not sick. Later, the Chinese medicine was not delivered, and she thought the servants had forgotten.

After Ye Ziyu finished drinking the soup, "Li Qiu, remember to get soup every day from now on," Ye Qingyin reminded.

"Yes, I have remembered this."

After finishing the meal, Ye Ziyu went back to the room for a nap. As expected, carbohydrates after eating would make one sleepy. Ye Ziyu slept until 4:15 pm. When he woke up, it was already slightly dark outside. "Beginning of Autumn and Beginning of Summer." Ye Ziyu shouted.

Lixia came in, "Miss, you're awake."

"Well, what time is it now?"

"It's four quarters past three in the afternoon." Lixia lit the candles.

"I slept for so long. Oh no! He said he was going to look for mom with his sister, so why didn't he wake me up?" Ye Ziyu patted his head.

"The eldest lady didn't go to see the lady either. Li Qiu just told me that he saw the eldest lady and Xiao Xue hurried out of the house, as if there was something urgent."

"Oh, okay. I'm a little hungry after a good night's sleep. Let me see how the dinner is prepared in the kitchen. I'll have them bring it over when it's ready."

"Miss, why don't you meet the Second Young Master first? He has been waiting here for a while."

"Second brother is here? Hurry up and help me wash up."

*

"Second brother." After cleaning up, Ye Ziyu came to the outer room, "Who is this?" Ye Ziyu noticed a woman standing next to him.

"This is the embroiderer I found for you. Don't worry, she is absolutely reliable. She is Fucai's childhood sweetheart and they are going to get married next year. Her embroidery skills are very good. I also wanted to have her work in Caiyi Pavilion after she got married to Fucai. Her name is Xiaohua."

"Oh oh oh okay. Then let her stay at my place for the next few days. Li Qiu, take her downstairs and settle her down." The two of them bowed and left.

"Whatever duck or goose feathers you want, Fucai has prepared them. I don't know where you want to receive them, but they are now in your yard."

"Yifeng, go and put those furs into the warehouse first."

"Sister, what are you going to do? Those things are smelly and dirty, what do you want them for?"

"We'll clean them and make them into down jackets. They'll be warm to wear, and we won't feel cold like we are wearing thick clothes now."

"Down jacket? I've never heard of it. Where did you hear it from?"

"Of course I know. I've worn it before."

"You've worn it?" Ye Jiaxuan asked in shock.

It's over. I spoke too quickly and forgot that I had traveled through time. "I saw it when I was a child. I thought it was curious and tried it. The kind-hearted older sister told me the name and how to make it. But I haven't tried to see if it will work. I still have to experiment. If I succeed, I should be able to sell it for a good price." Ye Ziyu said vaguely.

"Okay, then tell me what you need. By the way, have you finished drawing the custom design you mentioned?"

"Ah, that, maybe we have to put it aside for now. We're still short of something. Let's do this first. If the weather gets warmer, we won't need it."

"Well, what else do you need? Tell me."

"We are short of something called graphite powder. It is quite scarce and I guess my second brother can't find it either." Ye Ziyu replied, "Well, only Lingxinge has a mineral ore, but it is too expensive." Ye Ziyu murmured.

"Graphite powder? I've never heard of it. I'll ask around for you."

"Okay, oh, by the way, second brother, you can ask around, but don't buy it yet. Don't let others cheat you and waste your money."

"It's okay. I'm your second brother and I have money. It's okay as long as I can buy it in the end after spending some money."

"No, you can't spend money like this even if you have money. Of course you have to save it. Who knows if you will need the money in the future? Remember this! You can't spend that money, otherwise... otherwise I won't help you design and let your money go to waste, humph!" Ye Ziyu "threatened" Ye Jiaxuan.

"Hahaha, okay, my dear sister, I didn't expect you to be such a money-grubber."

After Li Qiu settled Xiao Hua, he came back and asked if they wanted to serve the meal. The kitchen had already prepared it. "Go ahead, second brother should eat here too. We two siblings haven't had a good meal together for a few years."

"Okay, Fucai will ask the kitchen to add two more dishes."

Fucai and Liqiu took the order and retreated.