Chapter 14: The Painting Li Nu

Miss Zhou from next door arrived in the evening.

She was silent, like a kitten walking on tiptoe.

He Shanyue didn't notice at first, but Wang Erniang was highly alert. Her upper body pressed tight against the wall, and she tilted her face so far to the side she might as well have shoved her ear into the bricks. "Someone's coming."

Wang Erniang was certain: "A very thin and weak young girl, as tall as me, but only half as wide—there's someone else inside, too."

A trace of surprise flickered in He Shanyue's eyes, which usually remained devoid of emotion.

Wang Erniang waved her hand dismissively. "Those who kill people often can always tell."

As dusk fell, He Shanyue was carrying a box of mung bean cakes, preparing to knock on her right-hand neighbor's door, when she heard muffled voices through the wood.

"...The Cheng family has four daughters in total; why on earth do they need two female teachers? One teaching two? Is she the lead and you the assistant? Or you the lead and she the assistant? It makes all the difference! It's all about the silver!"

"The Cheng family is wealthy, but they won't just scatter money everywhere. If she stays and you leave, I want to see how you explain yourself when you get back!"

"Your father might be literate and help people write letters, but he doesn't have much money! Your brother is getting married soon and needs silver for the dowry. Your mother came to me, telling me to keep our kinship in mind and to help you out—the Cheng family is hiring a painting teacher mostly because their young lady has reached marriageable age, and they want to give her a skill to make her look more prestigious!"

"Once the young lady marries, between your tuition and your gift money, won't you have a bulging bundle of savings? Your parents will be proud, your brother will have a grand wedding, and everyone will be happy!"

"You must work hard; don't let that outsider 'dead crab' snatch the opportunity! If this job doesn't work out, you'll be painting fan covers for the embroidery workshop for the rest of your life!"

"Even though I took your mother's silver, I am truly doing this for your own good!"

This was followed by a series of submissive, muddled "mhm, mhm, mhm" sounds.

For a girl from a commoner family with a specialized skill, she had to not only save for her own dowry but also lighten the burden on her family. Serving as a female teacher in a moderately wealthy merchant household was a very respectable, popular, and lucrative job—after all, no matter how much money a merchant family had, they couldn't afford a famous master.

To a commoner girl, this job was incredibly tempting.

He Shanyue, branded as a "dead crab," knocked on the door with a calm expression.

The voices inside stopped instantly. After a moment, the person who poked her head out to open the door was the maid who had been speaking—she wore her hair in twin buns and a pale green short tunic. Her gaze was wary. She wore the uniform of the Cheng household and looked two or three years older than Huang Zhi; her ornaments were also far more expensive than Huang Zhi's. While Huang Zhi had only a single small silver flower on her person, this little maid even had a string of tiny rice-grain pearls in her hair.

He Shanyue looked past the little maid and saw, as expected, a thin and small young girl standing there. Her complexion was frail and pale, and she looked timid, with two large eyes set in a small face.

"I am from the room next door. My surname is He, He Jiabei. I am also a female teacher hired to teach the Cheng family's daughters how to paint."

He Shanyue smiled gently and shook the paper-wrapped box of mung bean cakes. "Have you had dinner yet?"

The little maid opening the door had shrewd eyes, but she said nothing.

Miss Zhou hurried forward to open the door wider, rubbing her palms against her skirt, looking awkward and lost. "Please come in, please come in. Please, come in."

As He Shanyue entered the room, her eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. The bundles of cloth had already been put away. Some painting manuals, tracing papers, and rubbings were scattered on the table, and a few pieces of plain clothing were piled loosely on the bed.

The only thing neatly arranged was the middle shelf of the display rack, which held about a dozen palm-sized wooden carvings of cats—some pouncing on butterflies, others chasing their tails—all neatly placed and varying in shape and color.

They were clearly hand-carved, with powerful, deep strokes, yet the coloring technique was very gentle and practiced.

He Shanyue withdrew her gaze and nodded first to the little maid with the rice-grain pearls. "Usually, it is Sister Huang Zhi who handles the handovers with me. I haven't met you before; which room do you belong to? May I know your name?"

The little maid's gaze remained wary. "I am in the same room as Huang Zhi, under the Mistress. You can just call me Huang Lian."

He Shanyue smiled. "The Mistress is a person of high status and 'fiery' temperament; she is surrounded by 'cooling' ingredients. It is truly a perfect balance of Yin and Yang."

It was a very polished compliment, but Huang Lian was not pleased. What level of person was Huang Zhi to be compared to her?

Huang Lian shot a sidelong glance at Shanyue. "No matter how pretty your words are, they are useless to me. Huang Zhi and I are different. She was sold by human traffickers and mingles with all sorts of people—I, however, stick to my duties. No matter how well you speak, it won't get past me to the Mistress."

Her Songjiang dialect was fluent, marking her as a true local girl.

After speaking, Huang Lian turned to Miss Zhou. "Little sister, tell me if you lack anything. Although I am not as high-ranking as the two elder sisters, Huangqi and Huangshen, in the Mistress's room, I have worked for the Cheng family for two or three years. I am more experienced than some newcomers."

With that, she lifted her chin and walked out without looking back, clearly intending to show support for Miss Zhou in front of He Shanyue.

Miss Zhou hurriedly helped open the door in gratitude.

The door shut with a "thud," leaving only the two of them in the room. Miss Zhou instantly appeared quite uneasy.

He Shanyue smiled at her. "Sister Huang Lian is very outspoken; she seems quite close to you, Miss Zhou."

Miss Zhou's eyes flickered. "...She is a sister from my family."

He Shanyue said admiringly, "Large households are wonderful; even if relatives are three hundred miles away, you always find family everywhere."

Miss Zhou lowered her head, revealing a slightly balding crown. "You are the impressive one. I heard you are the one teaching painting at Shantang Street..."

Miss Zhou spoke timidly, never looking people directly in the eye.

He Shanyue said with a smile, "The past doesn't matter. What matters is doing this teaching job well. Tomorrow afternoon, we will have our first lesson with the young ladies. Do you have any thoughts on that, Miss Zhou?"

Miss Zhou kept her head down. "No... no thoughts..."

She looked embarrassed. "Just... just call me Li Niang. My zodiac sign is the Tiger, and my family thought it would be easier... just call me Li Niang."

He Shanyue agreed. "Li Niang, I think for the first lesson, we should see what level the young ladies have reached in their painting. Since they are all to marry into families of equal status, we shall first discuss the Four Great Masters, and then the difference between landscape and fine-line painting. Which style are you most skilled in?"

At the mention of painting, Li Niang lifted her head slightly. "I like... I like painting trees, and I also like painting *linu*..."

*Linu* was another word for cat.

He Shanyue smiled. "No wonder there are so many wooden cat carvings on your shelf."

Li Niang's eyes gradually lifted, a hint of tenderness appearing in her gaze. The timidness faded slightly, and the corners of her mouth curled up. "Those are my treasures."

Perhaps Li Niang truly loved painting; once she started talking, she gathered the hemp paper from the table and handed it to He Shanyue, stammering, "...I don't understand techniques, or brushwork, or the Four Great Masters. I just like painting. I just paint trees exactly as they look... Perhaps I can show the young ladies how to follow a line when they start?"

He Shanyue reached out and took them.

There were many sketches.

They were all trees and cats.

Perhaps due to poverty, the colors were sparse, but fortunately—trees mostly only required one color: green.

For dark green, she used less water; for light green, she used more. To save pigment, Zhou Li Niang had even learned to use the pressure of her brush to create variations in light and shadow.

As He Shanyue looked at the last few paintings, her hand paused slightly.

The final few were all cats—cats of various forms, some adorable, some lazily sleeping, all very lifelike.

But in several strokes, the force, the brushwork, and even the way the brush was held were clearly different.