Flowers in full bloom

"Cousin Qingge, why are you here today? Is my aunt feeling better?" Pearl's voice came from the door.

The girl named Qingge stood up immediately, put away her contempt and disdain, and said happily, "Sister Zhenzhu, you're here. My mother is in much better health, so she asked me to come here early, fearing that I would fall behind in my studies. I went to see my aunt in the morning and didn't see you, so I came here first. I wanted to come and make up for the lessons." Her face full of joy and caution made Hualei feel that the girl's face-changing speed far surpassed that of the Sichuan Opera in her previous life.

Pearl nodded, ignoring her cautious expression, walked past her to Hualei, smiled sweetly at her, and sat down beside her.

"Sister Pearl, why don't you sit over here? You...?" Han Qingge hesitated to speak.

"Oh, today is the incense burning class. That seat is too far forward and I'm afraid of the smoke, so I'll sit a little further back." Seeing Han Qingge about to get up and come over, he hurriedly said, "Cousin, don't you like burning incense? That seat is just right." Han Qingge, who was halfway up, sat back down a little awkwardly.

The hand bell rang, and the class began. Master Guo, who taught the piano the day before, came in, followed by several servants holding jars. Another servant brought a large basket of dried assassin flowers, and another servant brought a large basket of fresh assassin flowers, which were distributed to each girl. Hualei looked at the assassin on the table. Was it the rose in the previous life? Master Guo said that he would not burn incense today, but would teach how to make incense balls, and then began to teach everyone how to make assassin incense balls.

Two people were assigned to each group, and each group was given several grinding bowls, grinding rods, and several kinds of scented powder. They were asked to pick the fresh petals of the assassin flower and put them into the grinding bowl to pound out the juice. Hualei saw Zhenzhu's tender fingers that could squeeze out water, and took the thorny flower branches to pick the petals, letting Zhenzhu hold the grinding rod to pound the juice. The two of them whispered to each other while busy with their work, and didn't notice Han Qingge's constipated face at all.

After picking the petals, Hualei cleaned up the branches and leaves on the table, wiped the tabletop, and carefully put several kinds of scented powder into another grinding bowl according to the proportions required by Master Guo, and pounded them evenly with a grinding rod. The fresh assassin petals in the grinding bowl in Zhenzhu's hand had already been pounded to produce a lot of juice. One of them used a wooden spoon to carefully scoop the juice into the grinding bowl containing the scented powder, and the other used a grinding rod to carefully pound the scented powder into a paste.

Seeing that it was almost done, Zhenzhu began to put the dried assassin flowers into a clean grinding bowl and pound them into powder, while Hualei washed her hands, wiped them dry, and carefully rubbed the paste into finger-sized balls, then coated them with the powdered dried assassin flowers, placed them in a small bamboo plate, and left them in a cool and ventilated place to dry.

When the two of them had finished, the others had almost finished. Master Guo looked around the tables and commented on the scented balls made by Zhenzhu and Hualei as the first place. He gave his own scented balls to Zhenzhu and Hualei as a reward, which made Zhenzhu very happy.

Carefully, she took the incense ball bamboo plaque from Mr. Guo and placed it next to her own bamboo plaque. Hualei was also very happy, although she didn't know what her group did well? Was it because they rolled the balls rounder than the other groups? But no matter what, she was still very happy to win first place.

The second class was chess class, and they played in pairs. Seeing Han Qingge coming over with a chessboard, Zhenzhu quickly took the chessboard and placed it between herself and Hualei. "Sister Hua, let's play in a group. We haven't played against each other yet."

Hua Lei nodded, not seeing Han Qingge coming over with the chessboard, and stopped stiffly. Hua Lei is good at chess. She had received many years of careful instruction from her grandfather, and had also learned Go for a long time in her previous life. Although Hua Lei had not played against anyone since she came here, she should not be blind.

Hualei was very confident, but as she played, she was still at a loss. No way, it couldn't be this bad. Looking at Zhenzhu scratching her head and making moves without any rules, Hualei silently changed the direction of the chess piece in her hand. Without making any noise, she started to make random moves.

The two played chess for more than half an hour. Zhenzhu took advantage of Master Guo's inattention and sneaked over to him. She lowered her voice to the lowest level and said, "Sister Hua, can we have a draw?" Hualei nodded. Playing chess with this bad chess player was also a torture. The two raised their hands to signal.

Master Guo came over, looked at the chessboard, then glanced at Hua Lei calmly, pointed out a few places, and then ruled the game a draw.

The two of them put the chess pieces into the chess basket. Zhenzhu leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Sister Hua, can I go to your yard to play later? I can bring lunch to your place and eat it together." Hualei nodded. "Okay, then let's go together after school?" Zhenzhu nodded happily.

After a cup of tea, the hand-cranked bell for the end of school rang. Hualei packed up and walked out of the classroom with Zhenzhu. "Sister Zhenzhu, let's go together. Auntie is waiting for us." Han Qingge took a few quick steps behind her and caught up with Zhenzhu, saying softly. "No, cousin, go first. I'm going to the yard of sister Hua to borrow a book." Zhenzhu evaded the question, pulling Hualei to take a few quick steps and turning into a forked path. Hualei glanced back slightly and saw that Han Qingge's already dark face seemed to be even darker.

The two walked for a while and looked back to see no one. Hua Lei asked softly, "She is your cousin? You don't like her?"

"Well, I don't like him. I have disliked him since childhood. Who would like a flatterer and a busybody?" Hua Lei laughed.

"I don't like my eldest sister, my second sister, and my eldest brother doesn't like her either. But I don't know why my mother likes her so much. She says she is kind-hearted, considerate, and clever. Anyway, she is good in every way. People who don't know her would think she is my mother's daughter."

Zhenzhu paused and continued, "But to be honest, she is really smart. Not only is she good at needlework, but she is also good at playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. She is the best in the girls' school. The pink lotus embroidery she made with jadeite won first place two days ago. That's because she was not here. If she were here, she would always win first place. No one else would have any chance."

Hualei was shocked. So powerful? "What did she do to you? You don't like her?"

"Oh, don't mention it. This person is indeed very smart, but... a troublemaker. You know, in the past, every time she learned or did something in the girls' school, she would tell my mother everything, especially about me. Even if I farted, she would tell my mother that my behavior was indecent and unsightly. You know, she still cares about my fart. Isn't it annoying?"

Hua Lei covered her mouth and laughed, "Don't disbelieve me, it's true. She also said that I didn't listen carefully in class, my embroidery stitches were not straight, I didn't make any progress in playing the piano, and I was so bad at chess. She kept saying everything. I also knew that I didn't learn well enough, especially chess, but she always wanted to play with me, and every time I lost miserably. So I lost. I admit that I'm not as good as her, but do you know what she does?