Ink Burns

Chapter 14: The Drawing Raccoon Slave

Miss Zhou from next door came in the evening.

Quietly, like a kitten walking on tiptoe.

At first He Shanyue didn't notice it, but Miss Wang Er was very alert, with her upper body pressed against the wall and her face turned sideways, almost sticking her ears into the bricks: "Someone is coming."

Miss Wang Er was very sure: "It was a very thin little girl, as tall as me, but only half as wide as me - there was another person inside."

There was a hint of surprise in He Shanyue's eyes, which usually showed no emotion.

Miss Wang Er waved her hand disapprovingly: "People who kill people frequently can tell by hearing it."

As night fell, He Shanyue picked up a box of mung bean cakes and was about to knock on the door of his right neighbor when he heard muffled voices through the door.

".The Cheng family has four girls in total, why do we need two female teachers to teach them? One person teaching two? Is she the boss and you the assistant? Or are you the boss and she the assistant? It makes a difference! It's all about money!"

"Even though the Cheng family is wealthy, they don't spend money everywhere. Don't let her stay and you leave. I wonder how you'll explain it when you go back!"

"Although your father can read and write letters for others, he doesn't have much money! Your brother is getting married soon and needs money for the bride price. Your mother came to me and told me to remember the closeness of your cousins and to help you well. The Cheng family hired a female painter probably because their cousin is old enough to get married, and they want to help her quickly learn a skill to make her look better!"

"When your cousin gets married, your dowry and gift money combined will add up to a bulging bag. Your parents will be proud, and your brother will get married handsomely. Everyone will be happy!"

"You must fight for your life, don't let that idiot from outside snatch your chance away! If this job doesn't work out, you'll have to paint fan covers for the embroidery shop for the rest of your life!"

"Although I accepted the money from your mother, I did it for your own good!"

Then there was a series of timid “hmm” sounds.

A girl with a skill in a commoner family not only had to save up a dowry for herself, but also had to help relieve the burden on her family. However, being a teacher in a merchant family of moderate status was a very respectable, pleasing and profitable job - after all, no matter how much money a merchant family had, they could not hire a famous teacher.

This job is very tempting for a common girl.

He Shanyue, nicknamed "Dead Crab", knocked on the door calmly.

The sound inside the door stopped suddenly. After a while, the person who stuck his head out and opened the door was the maid who had just spoken. She had a double bun and wore a green short shirt. She had an alert look in her eyes and was wearing the clothes of the Cheng mansion. She was two or three years older than Huang Zhi, and the decorations on her body were much more expensive than Huang Zhi's - Huang Zhi had only a small silver flower on her body, while this little maid even had a string of small rice pearls inserted in her bun.

He Shanyue looked past the little girl and looked back. Sure enough, there stood a thin and short girl with a pale, weak and timid complexion, and two big eyes on her small face.

"I'm from the next room. My last name is He, Gabe He. I'm also a female teacher who teaches the girl from the family how to paint."

He Shanyue smiled gently, picked up the green bean cake wrapped in oil paper and shook it: "Have you had dinner?"

The little girl who opened the door had a shrewd look in her eyes and eyebrows, but didn't say anything.

Miss Zhou hurried forward to open the door, rubbing the hem of her skirt with her palms, and said awkwardly and helplessly: "Please come in, please come in, please come in."

He Shanyue walked into the room and quickly glanced around. The wrapping cloth in the room had been put away. Some picture albums, tracing and copying rubbings were scattered on the table, and three or five plain clothes were also scattered on the bed.

The only neatly arranged thing is the middle section of the museum shelf, where a dozen palm-sized wooden carved kittens of various shapes and colors are neatly arranged, some catching butterflies, some chasing tails.

You can tell at first glance that it is hand-carved. The knife technique is powerful and deep into the wood, while the coloring technique is gentle and skillful.

He Shanyue retracted his gaze and nodded to the little girl with broken rice beads first: "Usually, it is Sister Huang Zhi who interacts with me. I have never seen this sister before. I wonder which room she is from? May I know her name?"

The little girl looked at He Shanyue with a vigilant look: "Huang Zhi and I are both from the Madam's room, so you can just call me Huang Lian."

He Shanyue smiled: "Madam is a noble person with a strong fire element. She is surrounded by people who are good at clearing away heat and removing fire. It is really the balance of the eight trigrams and the coordination of yin and yang."

This was a beautiful statement, but Huang Lian was not very happy: How could Huang Zhi, who was of such a high level, be worthy of being compared with her?
Huang Lian glanced at Shanyue out of the corner of his eye and said, "No matter how beautiful she is, it's useless to me. I'm different from Huang Zhi. She was sold by a human trafficker. She makes friends with all kinds of people and tries to get advantages everywhere. But I'm a man of my duty. No matter how nice your words are, they won't get through to my wife." She spoke fluent Songjiang dialect, and one could tell at the sound of it that she was a genuine local girl.

Huang Lian finished speaking, and turned to Miss Zhou and said, "Little sister, tell me what you need. Although I can't compare with the two first-class sisters Huangqi and Huangshen in the Madam's room, I have worked in the Cheng family for two or three years, so I am more clear-headed than some new girls."

After saying that, he raised his chin, pushed the door open without looking around, and made it clear that he wanted to support Miss Zhou in front of He Shanyue.

Miss Zhou hurriedly helped open the door with gratitude.

The door slammed shut, leaving only two people in the room. Miss Zhou suddenly looked a little embarrassed.

He Shanyue smiled at Miss Zhou and said, "Sister Huang Lian is a quick-witted person, and she has a very close relationship with Miss Zhou."

Miss Zhou's eyes flashed: "It's my sister at home."

He Shanyue envied: "It's good to be a big family. We have relatives all over the place. We have family members everywhere."

Miss Zhou lowered her head, revealing her slightly bald head: "You are amazing, I heard that you are painting for Shantang Street"

Miss Zhou spoke timidly and never looked up at people when she spoke.

He Shanyue said with a smile: "It doesn't matter what happened to him in the past. What matters is to do a good job as a female teacher. I will give the first class to the girls at noon tomorrow. Let's see what Miss Zhou thinks."

Miss Zhou still lowered her head: "I don't have any ideas."

She looked embarrassed: "Just, just call me Li Niang. My zodiac sign is tiger, and to save trouble at home, just call me Li Niang."

He Shanyue said "OK", and then said: "Li Niang, I think the first class will be to see how far the girls have learned in painting. The girls all want to marry someone of equal status. Let's talk about the four great masters first, and then talk about the difference between landscape and fine brushwork - what kind of painting is Su Niang good at?"

Speaking of painting, the raccoon girl raised her head slightly and said: "I like to draw trees, and I also like to draw raccoon slaves."

A raccoon is a cat.

He Shanyue smiled and said, "No wonder you have so many civet cat carvings on your museum shelf."

The raccoon girl gradually raised her eyes, her eyes became a little gentler, her timid look was gone a little, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly: "These are all my treasures."

Maybe Li Niang really likes painting. She started talking. She gathered up the hemp paper on the table and handed it to He Shanyue. She stammered, "I don't know the technique, the strokes, or the four masters. I just like painting. I paint the same way a tree looks. Maybe I can tell the girls how to draw the lines according to the strokes?"

He Shanyue reached out and took it.

A lot of drawings.

It's all trees and cats.

Maybe because of poverty, many colors are scarce, but fortunately - the trees only have one color, which is green.

For darker green, add less water; for lighter green, add more water. In order to save pigment, Zhou Liniang even learned to use the weight of the brush to achieve changes in light and shadow.

He Shanyue looked at the next few paintings and was slightly stunned.

The next few pictures are all paintings of cats. They are of various shapes, some are cute, some are lazily sleeping, and they are all very lively.

But there are several strokes in which the strength, the way of holding the pen, and even the action of holding the pen are obviously different.

　Make up for yesterday’s (I worked overtime yesterday), and send it tonight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)