Also, in truth, although Su Tang had studied fashion in her previous life, making clothes had always been a hobby for her. If she really had to make clothes all the time for her livelihood then she would definitely want to die.
Now, because of Song Yi's intervention, she could finally breathe a sigh of relief. If not for him she would have had to make both cotton-padded winter clothes and bedding in these next few days. Although she had known it would be an excessive amount of work, she had no choice but to do it.
When he heard her retort, Song Yi laughed and said, "You mischievous little girl, it's still early now. Come and practice your writing."
Su Tang sighed and followed Song Yi into the study. "This is really hard for me. It's too hard."
After that, Song Yi continued to laugh at her handwriting as Su Tang struggled, while Su Nuo continued to sit obediently at the door and listen in without speaking. And, for a while, Song Yi's lively courtyard quieted down again.
When it began to get late, Song Yi asked Su Tang to stop and, before Su Tang left for home, she specially prepared porridge for her master and Pengmo's breakfast the next morning.
Although Pengmo's ability to cook was in the negatives, he could at least heat something up.
After that day, Su Tang would could come to study and practice her handwriting with Song Yi after she delivered her fish balls to Madam Qian every day. For Song Yi's part, it was only after he had taught Su Tang that he felt that he truly knew what was meant by the word 'genius'.
Needless to say, writing was something that took a lot of hard work and practice, so that was normal. But Su Tang's ability to read and remember were incredibly good, and the ideas she had after digesting the material were very insightful, sometimes cutting and incisive and sometimes near to something like rebellious.
Her state of mind and her view of the world often left Song Yi feeling stunned, and sometimes he would get very angry.
Pengmo could only watch from the side as his master spent every day staring angrily at his little disciple with an expression like he wanted to beat her up. Whenever it happened, he would just quietly turn away while lighting a candle for Su Tang in his heart. He didn't see anything. It wasn't his concern. He only felt that their small courtyard had suddenly become more lively and energetic.
In a twinkling of an eye, autumn had nearly ended, the weather became very cold, and Su Tang and her brother started wearing their new winter clothes. Then on one particular day, she was walking with her brother into town to deliver her fish balls, and just as they reached the entrance of the town she saw a familiar figure waiting for her.
"Shopkeeper Yang?" When Su Tang saw him there, she was surprised. "Why are you waiting here for me? Have you already sold out all the soap from last time?"
Su Tang remembered very clearly that Yang Fude had just come to her a few days ago and ordered thirty bars of soap, but she had told him that he needed to give her a few days.
Yang Fude was also surprised when he saw Su Tang and he silently thought that her days were just getting better and better. After all, looking at her now, Su Tang was walking with her brother and they were both wearing white coats with gray trousers, which, though simple, were made from good cotton that would usually only be affordable to one of the better families in town. She looked almost nothing like the scruffy peasant girl who had wandered into his shop months ago.
However, he quickly shook off his ruminations and said, "Miss Tang, I wanted to buy some more soap from you."
"Have you already sold all the soap I gave you before? How much do you want this time?" Su Tang was surprised but, of course, since Yang Fude wanted to buy something from her she wouldn't refuse to take his money.
Yang Fude opened his mouth and said, "Miss Tang, give me three hundred copper coins worth..."
"Shopkeeper Yang, that's quite a lot!" Su Tang was shocked when she heard that he wanted so much soap. She was just about to open her mouth to ask more about it when she suddenly heard a voice interject from nearby.
The voice was slightly hoarse and it was coming from a carriage on the road not far away. Soon, the driver pulled the door of the carriage open, and a young man dressed in black brocade slowly stepped out.
The young man looked to be about 14 or 15 years old, with jade-white skin and phoenix eyes over peach-petal lips that were drawn into a cold arc as he looked at Yang Fude.
For her part, Su Tang looked at the young man carefully and her eyes couldn't hide their shock at seeing such a good-looking boy. She couldn't help but think that he was much better looking than those young fresh meats from the entertainment industry in modern times.