Traveling through ancient times, storing supplies and not fleeing famine

Before Xia Shengsheng left Mr. Yu's place, he specifically asked Aunt Zhang, who came to see him off, what he needed to become his disciple tomorrow!

The main purpose of the gift for paying homage to a teacher is to convey a moral; the gift is not expensive.

Among them, celery symbolizes diligence and studious nature, and success comes from hard work.

Lotus seeds symbolize painstaking education.

Red beans symbolize good luck.

Red dates mean early high school.

Longan means complete merit and virtue.

Dried lean meat strips to express the disciple’s gratitude.

One has to pay half a year's tuition at a time, plus the cost of Liu Yiyi's food and lodging at the teacher's house, a total of six taels of silver.

There are two days off on the first and fifteenth day of every month.

After finding out all this, Xia Shengsheng first drove the donkey cart to send Qing'er back.

Then, I went to Mrs. Su's home according to the address given by Mr. Yu.

The place where Mrs. Su lived seemed to be a wealthy area. Each courtyard was very large, and there was a plaque on the gate of each mansion with the owner's family name, such as Liu Mansion and Yuan Mansion.

It was quite easy to find. Mrs. Su's husband's surname was Huang, and the door of the Huang Mansion was not open.

Xia Shengsheng went to the East Corner Gate as instructed by Mrs. Yu.

I found a woman named Wang and handed in Mr. Yu's letter of introduction.

Because the old woman surnamed Wang knew that they were introduced by Mr. Yu, she was very polite to them.

They asked the maid to lead them to a small hall not far from the corner gate, and served them some tea and snacks before going to the inner courtyard to look for Madam Su.

"Mom, this place is so big!" Shanshan was a little nervous, just like Yiyi felt when she first met Mr. Yu.

"It is very big. This is the first time I have seen a mansion of a wealthy family!"

Modern luxury villas are not uncommon, but this kind of quaint courtyard is rarely seen.

After talking for a while and drinking a cup of tea, the old lady Wang came in with a girl who was dressed exquisitely and had a slender figure.

Xia Shengsheng guessed that this girl should be a maidservant beside Madam Su, but she didn't dare to greet her rashly before knowing her identity.

"Madam Xia, this is Miss Xier who is by your side. She is here to take you and Miss Shanshan in!"

After Mrs. Wang finished the introduction, the girl named Xier greeted Xia Shengsheng first without waiting for her to speak.

"Mrs. Xia, how are you? My wife specially asked me to take you and Miss Shanshan to the inner courtyard for a chat. Please follow me!"

Xier's manners were very standard and her tone of voice was very polite. She did not treat Xia Shengsheng and the others differently just because they were from the country.

I don’t know if it is just like this or if it is just to give face to Mr. Yu.

"What about them?" Xia Shengsheng pointed at the other children.

Xier turned around and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Madam Xia, there will be little maids to take care of the young masters and young ladies."

Xia Shengsheng gave the children a few more instructions before taking Shanshan and Xier into the inner courtyard.

There were maids guarding the porches on the left and right, all the way to Mrs. Su's courtyard.

It's very grand.

Entering the reception room, there sat a graceful and elegant lady at the top of the table.

Different from Mr. Yu's clear and cool temperament, her face looks more calm and her clothes look more dignified and elegant!

"Madam, this is Madam Xia and her daughter Shanshan!"

Xier walked up to Mrs. Su and introduced the identities of Xia Shengsheng and Shanshan. Mrs. Su then stood up and came over.

"This must be Madam Xia! I heard Pingping mention her in the letter.

Come, let's sit down and talk. Don't be polite."

Mr. Yu's name is Nianping. Mrs. Su and Mr. Yu have been friends since childhood, so they have always addressed each other by a close name.

“Thank you, Mrs. Su. This is my daughter Shanshan. She likes embroidery very much, but she has never learned it in detail.

I can only teach her how to mend clothes. I have learned a few tricks from a sister-in-law in the village, but they are only simple embroidery skills, which I am afraid will not be acceptable to the lady..."

Xia Shengsheng gave a brief introduction to Liu Shanshan's situation.

To be honest, Shanshan really likes embroidery, and Ma's craftsmanship is considered good among the villagers, but Shanshan has only learned from Ma's for a few days and has not had much chance to practice before, so her skills are still quite raw.

After hearing this, Mrs. Su carefully comforted Xia Shengsheng and Liu Shanshan.

Let Liu Shanshan take out something she usually embroiders and show it to us.

It just so happened that Xia Shengsheng’s purse was just embroidered by Liu Shanshan in the past two days.

A bunch of small flowers are embroidered on the light blue purse, with two dragonflies perched on the flowers. Although the pattern is simple, Liu Shanshan embroidered it delicately and with careful stitching.

Mrs. Su read it and did not comment much.

Embroidery work like this is actually not as good as that of the maidservants around her.

But from the first moment she saw the child Shanshan, she felt a special affinity with her.

Moreover, since you want to take in an apprentice, of course you have to choose one that suits your taste, rather than just looking for one with good skills. Those with good skills already have basic skills, while a beginner, who is a blank slate, is easier to teach.

However, although she liked it, Mrs. Su did not make a decision right away.

Instead, he took a dozen kinds of silk threads, gave a topic, and asked Shanshan to match the colors according to her own ideas.

Xia Shengsheng saw Shanshan pick out a few silk threads from a variety of them and use them to make a simple pattern.

Xia Shengsheng didn't quite understand.

But when I saw Mrs. Su nodding with a smile, I knew that Shanshan was only one step away from success.

In the end, Mrs. Su lived up to everyone's expectations and accepted Shanshan.

"Come, Shanshan, come here..." Mrs. Su waved at Shanshan.

Shanshan obediently walked to Mrs. Su's side.

"From today on, you will stay in the Huang Mansion, okay? You are allowed to go home once a month.

Embroidery is a rather hard job. If you cannot endure the hardship, you may not be able to persist in it in the future. You must think carefully in advance whether you want to learn it or not.

If you want to learn, there is no turning back. If you don’t learn well, I will punish you.”

Shanshan thought about it seriously for a long time. She especially liked women's work and loved embroidery. No matter how much suffering she would have to endure in the future, this was what she liked to do. If she did not do well, she would be willing to do it even if she was punished.

So she nodded obediently and answered firmly, "I will study hard, no matter how much hardship I have to endure..."

When Xia Shengsheng left the Huang Mansion, there were only four children left by her side.

Looking at the gate of Huang's house, she couldn't believe it. Why did she just stay? At least she could go back and stay for another night!

Mrs. Su did not accept the gift money, but only the basket of gifts that Xia Shengsheng brought in for the first time.

Xia Shengsheng didn't even prepare any spare clothes for Shanshan.

Mrs. Su said that the Huang family would prepare everything, so Xia Shengsheng didn't have to worry.

On the first day of every month, I can pick up Shanshan and have her stay for two days. The rest of the time she has to stay at home to study.

The Huang family had a school, but Mrs. Su’s children were already grown up and did not study in the school.

However, among my close friends and relatives of the Huang family, some of them would send their children of school age to study here.

In the future, Shanshan will also study in the provincial school.

On even-numbered days, I would read and learn to read in the morning, and learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting in the afternoon.

On single days, I learn embroidery.

However, Madam Su clearly stated that although she had accepted Shanshan for now, if she found in the future that she was not qualified enough to inherit her craft, she would still send Shanshan back.

So now Shanshan is not allowed to call her Master, but only calls her Madam Su like everyone else.