Chapter12

Distinguished Guests Arrive (Five)

Song Qi spent the entire meal worried about Yu Manyi being troubled, yet his teacher sat right beside him, constantly patting his shoulder and urging him to give his opinions about the upcoming literacy course. After enduring until the end, Yu Old Master still had important matters to discuss, and the students finally could take the carriage back to the Yu residence. Before leaving, Yu Old Master had already had servants help them choose rooms. Song Qi had barely taken a few steps apart from his classmates when he saw Yu Manyi standing in the shadows.

The moment he saw her, Song Qi knew it was good news.

Her face bore a smile, hands clasped behind her back, and when she saw him approach, she slightly lifted her head—not like usual when she always looked down. Seeing Song Qi quicken his pace, Yu Manyi stepped out from the shadows. At that moment, she noticed something strange: Song Qi would smile simply because she wore a smile on her face. This was rare in the Yu family. Yu Manyi once felt everyone disliked her smiling, especially Third Madam, who always wore a cold expression whenever she saw Yu Manyi happy.

Two people, both smiling, stood together. Because of the smiles, they didn’t need to say much about the details of the literacy class. But after a moment of hesitation, Yu Manyi brought up another matter—about clothing.

Besides the teachers and Song Qi, there was one male student and two female students visiting the Yu family this time. Yu Manyi had purposely observed the two girls while in the main hall and noticed their clothes were different from hers. Their clothes were simpler in color, with fewer patterns. Their sleeves were tight at the cuffs, and their hems were short, ending at the abdomen. Most noticeably, their skirts were pleated and only calf-length, whereas Yu Manyi’s skirt reached her ankles, creating a completely different visual effect.

Yu Manyi thought that if she really had to attend the literacy class, it would be better not to dress as she did now but to dress like those two girls. She wanted to borrow a set from one of them and, before classes began, tailor one for herself.

“You can wear what you have now,” Song Qi said, seeing no need for a change.

“But you said it looks like your grandfather’s late Qing dynasty patchwork robe come to life,” Yu Manyi replied.

Song Qi felt as if a stone he had thrown a year ago had just hit his forehead. He could only turn and take her to find the classmate. They walked to a door that had just been lit, and Song Qi pointed and said, “Her name is Fang Qian, her figure is about the same as yours. You should borrow from her.”

Yu Manyi nodded and nervously knocked on the door.

She hadn’t known girls her own age before; she only had an elder sister much older than herself and a younger sister much younger. After two knocks, the door opened, and Yu Manyi immediately recognized—Fang Qian was the same girl who had cursed Third Madam in the main hall with that cutting tongue.

Fang Qian’s face was not unpleasant in private; it seemed her harsh expression was reserved for special occasions. She had the shortest hair of all the girls Yu Manyi had seen, with wisps tucked behind her ears, revealing a slender neck. Folding her arms, she understood Yu Manyi’s request, then turned and took out a set of clothes from her luggage for Yu Manyi to take and use as a reference for tailoring.

“Will it be finished by tomorrow?” Fang Qian asked Yu Manyi.“It should be possible,” Yu Manyi said. “I have some old clothes that I can alter.”

Fang Qian’s expression as she spoke was somewhat similar to Song Qi’s. Both spoke quickly but patiently listened to her slowly without any sign of impatience. She told Yu Manyi there was no rush to return the clothes since the course would start the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, they all had to go to the school to discuss the course with the local teacher. Also, the other girl’s spot hadn’t been finalized yet.

At this, she looked up at Song Qi, crossed her arms, and asked, “Do you have any ideas?”

Song Qi said, “Actually, I do. Let’s wait until everyone arrives tomorrow and talk then.”

Yu Manyi quietly listened to their conversation. She noticed that when Fang Qian spoke with Song Qi, their tone was relaxed, nothing like the respectful manner men and women used at home. Fang Qian was very pretty and had even cursed Third Madam on her behalf. Yu Manyi somewhat liked Fang Qian—a liking similar to seeing an image she wanted to become, beyond what she had seen before.

Her liking began with copying Fang Qian’s clothing style.

She took apart one of her old clothes because its fabric was plain, without the rustic mandarin ducks or petals. The hardest part was the pleated skirt; she studied for a long time how the folds were made, finally sewing them from the back with a thread matching the fabric’s color.

Both Fang Qian and Song Qi told her not to rush, but she stayed up the entire night. When dawn came, she went downstairs at the usual time to eat. The students weren’t there; the servants said they had gone out early with the teacher. At the table, Third Madam’s nose and eyes were scowling, but Yu Manyi had no time to care. She had to go back to continue making clothes. When she lowered her head and then looked up again, it was already afternoon. Third Madam hadn’t even sent anyone to call her for lunch.

Yu Manyi carried Fang Qian’s clothes downstairs, wanting to see if she had returned, and found her sitting on a stone in the garden, feeding fish.

It was the first time she saw someone like that—holding a piece of mung bean cake, eating one bite, then feeding the fish one bite. Yu Manyi smiled as she walked over to call her. Fang Qian turned and smiled too; both were the kind of people who became happy when seeing Yu Manyi smile.

The two girls sat beside the pond. It was Yu Manyi’s first time sitting together with a girl close to her age. Fang Qian was the only student who had come back and told Yu Manyi that she really couldn’t lose face.

“What’s wrong?” Yu Manyi asked.

“Don’t we still need one more girl’s spot?” Fang Qian said. “No one in the village wants to send their daughters to class.” She added, “Song Qi said that the You family should fill this spot.”“The You family?” Yu Manyi was very surprised and a little worried.

“Yes, the same You family that almost beat him to death before,” Fang Qian said. “I think he went there for revenge, bringing the teacher and the school’s master, standing in front of Old Master You and speaking recklessly. He even mentioned the concubine he took away, saying that the You family did such backward feudal things because they lacked modern education...”

That really was something Song Qi would do.

“How is that concubine now?” Yu Manyi was reminded by Fang Qian.

“At first, not very well,” Fang Qian said. “Song Qi is quite thoughtless. He took her away but had nowhere to put her. Although some newspaper readers heard about it and later donated money, the teacher still scolded him thoroughly.”

Yu Manyi didn’t understand why it wasn’t good. Based on what Second Madam described, she thought anywhere was better than being locked in the attic.

“She can’t do anything,” Fang Qian explained. “She only knew how to play the zither and sing before. Should we just send her back to playing and singing? How is that different from leaving her at the You family? Miss Yu, think carefully — just running away isn’t enough. A person must have the means to support themselves. Without that, at least there’s a meal at home.”

Yu Manyi quickly understood. “So what happened after?”

“My uncle-in-law owns a wool factory,” Fang Qian said. “I used connections to get her in. She was very willing. She said as long as there’s a way, she doesn’t need to go back.”

Yu Manyi nodded, relieved for the concubine of the You family. Along with relief, she realized that although Fang Qian seemed like an ordinary female student, she had some background. Unlike Song Qi, who was truly poor.

After chatting a bit more, Fang Qian took her clothes and left. Yu Manyi felt that this conversation with Fang Qian held a lot of information. She carefully pondered and finally found the main point: a person must have the means to support themselves.

Did she have that?

Yu Manyi fell into thought.

…Yu Manyi’s student uniform, after two nights of alteration, finally became indistinguishable in style from Fang Qian’s. She wore this outfit downstairs and stood among a group of students about to go to the school to teach. Everyone smiled at her and praised her beauty. Except for Yu Shen, everyone was happy, and no one cared about Yu Shen’s mood.

Song Qi had told her before that this literacy course indeed was “not just about teaching literacy.” The course was completely modeled after university education, with a schedule: morning had one English class and one arithmetic class, afternoon had two Chinese classes, and participants could choose according to their needs. Most chose two Chinese classes. Yu Manyi initially had the same idea, but when Song Qi heard it, he asked if she wanted to learn English. She shook her head, thinking she wouldn’t use it.

The class was to start today. She hurried through the crowd to find Song Qi, who was loading textbooks onto the carriage. He had finished his part and was lounging awkwardly in the driver’s seat, watching his classmate—the one who drew bizarre animal sketches for the newspaper—work. Nearby, Fang Qian was holding up the English lesson plan preparing to teach. The three students sat there, full of energy.

Yu Manyi approached this energetic group and, because she wore similar clothes, blended in with their vitality. She tugged on Song Qi’s sleeve, one of the energetic group, asking him to bend down.

Song Qi lowered his head, surprised to see it was Yu Manyi. He was too tall on the carriage, so she had to stand on tiptoe to speak. He braced his hand on the carriage rail and bent down again, finally allowing her to grab the fabric on his shoulder and lean close to his ear. She still wasn’t used to speaking loudly in public, and Song Qi was patient, fully accommodating her.

She whispered a few words into his ear. After listening, Song Qi looked at her expecting eyes and smiled: “Of course, I’ll get it for you later.”

Yu Manyi breathed a sigh of relief and ran back.

The “bizarre animal” classmate kept working diligently. The only one who noticed all this was Fang Qian. She put down the English lesson plan and said thoughtfully, “She really is quite likable.”

Song Qi ignored her.

Fang Qian continued, “Don’t tell me you’re so stunned by her cuteness you can’t speak.”

“You’re sick,” Song Qi said.

“What does she want from you?” Fang Qian didn’t feel attacked at all; she often teased Song Qi like this.

“Nothing,” Song Qi closed his eyes, leaned back against the carriage, and inhaled the lingering scent Yu Manyi had left—a fragrance with a hint of osmanthus. He adjusted his shoulder, stretched the student uniform fabric Yu Manyi had just grabbed in his hand, and recalled the scar left on her palm.

“She asked me if the textbooks are enough,” he said, “She wants to study all three subjects.”