The Second Sister of a Farmer's Family's Path to Imperial Destiny

In Yuanlin Academy, as night falls, everyone is in their dormitories reviewing the day's lessons, or rushing to finish the assignments that are due tomorrow.

Guo Zhi thought that the embroidery homework would be handed over to Madam Ying tomorrow, and she only needed to catch up a little bit to complete it. However, she was not in a hurry, as it would only take half an hour to catch up.

She took out an oil-paper bag from the table. It was the dried meat that her sister brought her last time she went home. It is not available outside now, so it is unique to eat it.

"Guo Zhi, is this dried meat?" asked a classmate who came over following the smell.

"Yes, my sister made it. It's not available outside. Do you want to eat it?" Guo Zhi handed over the oil paper bag.

My classmate shook his head and said, "I won't eat. I haven't finished my homework for tomorrow's lesson. I have to embroider it quickly. I don't know when it will be tonight. Why don't you go and embroider it?"

"I'm not in a hurry. My embroidery is almost done."

"Can you show it to me? I still have some ideas."

Guo Zhi nodded. Her embroidery was praised by Madam Ying, so it was okay to show it to others, as they couldn't imitate her anyway.

She put away the dried meat, wiped her hands with a towel, took out an embroidery from the cupboard, and was about to unfold it to show her classmates when she saw that her embroidery had been cut with a big hole.

"what!"

Guo Zhi screamed instantly. Who was the black-hearted person who destroyed her embroidery? She had to hand it in tomorrow. What should she do? For a moment, she was filled with despair and anger.

When the classmate saw the embroidery, he didn't dare to say anything more and whispered, "It's due tomorrow. Why don't you see if you can save it? Madam Ying is very fierce when it comes to schoolwork."

After saying this, she hurried back to her bed, lit the oil lamp, and mended her embroidery in the moonlight.

Guo Zhi was stunned as she looked at the embroidery in front of her. She didn't know how to mend a torn piece of embroidery, as Madam Ying hadn't taught her that yet.

Is she going to be unable to hand in her homework?

Do you want to embroider a new one?

Guo Zhi shook her head. It was impossible to finish a new embroidery in such a short time, and to meet Ying's wife's requirements. This was even more impossible, unless she grew more heads and hands.

Guo Zhi walked out of the yard in frustration, looked at the embroidery in her hands, picked up the needle and held it for a long time, not knowing where to start. Would she be scolded tomorrow?

Although Madam Ying would listen to his explanation and help him find the perpetrator, she couldn't help but criticize him.

As she thought about it, she couldn't help but shed tears. She missed her sisters so much. If her sisters were here, they would definitely find a way.

"What's wrong with you?" A young lady in a thick cotton jacket walked up to her and asked puzzledly.

"It's okay, I just miss home."

The young lady looked at the embroidery in her hand, which had a big tear in it, and asked, "Are you worried about the embroidery?"

Guo Zhi nodded. She didn't want to let more people know about this because she thought that if she could figure out the trick to mend the damaged embroidery, she wouldn't be scolded.

"I can help you!"

"really?"

Guo Zhi instantly raised her head and looked at the young lady, but the young lady also lowered her head because she wanted to see the embroidery more clearly.

All of a sudden, their heads collided with each other with a "bang".

"Are you okay?" Guo Zhi didn't care about her own pain, fearing that she would accidentally anger the young lady and drive her away.

"It's okay, it's just a little painful. I bump into doors all the time, so I've become a tough guy!" The young lady explained nonchalantly, touching the embroidery carefully with her hands.

She had had such an experience before. At that time, her embroidery work was often praised by Ying Niangzi. On her grandmother's birthday, she thought about giving her grandmother a longevity picture embroidered by herself as a surprise.

But she did not know how to restrain her nature at that time. Every night after school, she would return to the dormitory and embroider in front of the oil lamp. She would sometimes show off her embroidery to her classmates. When Ying Niangzi learned that she was preparing a longevity painting, she praised her filial piety in class.

Unexpectedly, one day her embroidery was noticed by someone else. She took it out of the cabinet with great joy that day, and prepared to bring the longevity painting back home the next day to give it to her grandmother to make her happy.

When she unfolded the embroidery, she saw the same hole in it. She panicked and didn't know what to do with the embroidery, but she really didn't want to disappoint her grandmother.

The next day, she brought the embroidery to find Madam Ying. After hearing what happened, Madam Ying did not blame her as she had imagined. Instead, she patiently taught her how to sew. She also told her to be careful in the future and to be more careful with her belongings.

In the end, although she did not find out who destroyed her embroidery, she became more tolerant and locked up all her belongings.

Guo Zhi hesitated for a long time, and finally asked: "Why are you helping me?"

"Your situation today is very similar to my past, so I wanted to help you~ And I originally wanted to come out for some fresh air, but I didn't expect to run into this. It can be considered fate between us."

"My name is Guo Zhi, what's your name?"

Guo Zhi looked at the young lady in front of her, who seemed to be older than herself. She must be her classmate who had stayed in the academy for a long time.

"Ye Minzhi. You can call me Zhizhi. My friends around me all call me that."

After saying this, he moved the needle up and down while explaining it to Guo Zhi.

About half of the night had passed, and the two rubbed their dry eyes and yawned loudly.

Ye Minzhi handed over the mended embroidery and said, "Here, it's been mended. You can hand it in on time tomorrow."

Guo Zhi took the embroidery, looked at it carefully several times in the moonlight, and praised: "Zhizhi, your embroidery is so good! It's much better than mine. How long did you practice?"

Ye Minzhi smiled and said nothing.

Guo Zhi added: "Thank you so much, I won't be scolded by Madam Ying tomorrow! I was worried for a long time when I first held this broken embroidery."

Ye Minzhi smiled, shook his head, and said softly: "Although Madam Ying is strict about schoolwork, you have your reasons this time. Even if you don't make up for it, she won't scold you. You may even gain a lot of new knowledge."

Guo Zhi nodded.

……

The next morning, Guo Zhi handed in the embroidery. Madam Ying looked at the familiar stitches and felt a little confused.

After leaving the hall, he called Guo Zhi.

"Did you embroider this piece yourself?"

Guo Zhi pursed her lips tightly. She thought that everything would be fine after handing it in. But who would have thought that Madam Ying could see the difference in the embroidery at a glance. She had no choice but to tell her the whole story.

After hearing this, Lady Ying chuckled and said, "How terrible am I in your hearts? How could I blame you for this? Even if I had to blame someone, I would blame that classmate with bad intentions. But you must be more careful with your belongings in the future, and never trust others."