Chapter 61: Chapter 61
In fact, Madam Lin’s real breaking point came even later.
“Look, look at all this stuff!”
“A pale green jade cloud-patterned incense box, a sandalwood carved crabapple embroidery folding screen, a hollowed silver small-leaf incense burner, a string coral screen couch……”
Clutching tightly the list just delivered to her, Madam Jiang leaned back in her luxurious chair, gasping angrily for breath:
“Wang Ma, tell me, what’s her meaning here? After all the trouble and effort I put into arranging such a new bridal chamber for her, plus the study outside, she actually looks down on it a little bit!”
Madam Jiang was about to explode with anger.
It had only been a short time since the marriage, yet the things in the room had been completely replaced. The Huanghuali dressing table she had specially bought at great expense was so beautiful, with dragons and phoenixes presenting auspiciousness, gold and jade accents—looking so rich and noble.
But what happened? The daughter-in-law couldn’t even spare a glance at it and the next day quickly threw it all into storage without waiting even an extra day.
Then there were the gold and silver jewelry pieces—these were the latest from the largest jewelry store in the county, highly sought after by many ladies and daughters of the county. Yet her daughter-in-law preferred to design her own patterns, spending money to have the silver workshop remake them, rather than lifting a finger to appreciate these.
“Heavens above, the one I married isn’t a daughter-in-law, she’s an ancestor!”
Madam Jiang was so furious she almost howled to the sky on the spot.
God pity her, how was her life so bitter? She had suffered under her mother-in-law for so many years, endured so long, and just when the old hag finally died, this kind of talent arrived at the family.
Even before entering the door, the old man had repeatedly warned her not to show attitude to others.
Once inside, it became even more serious.
Other daughters-in-law would attend carefully to their mother-in-law morning and evening without fail, and when the mother-in-law casually gifted something, it was cherished.
But her daughter-in-law?
Good grief, she wouldn’t even spare a glance, and for even using a teacup daily, she had to draw a design herself and have someone fire it.
She understood the reasoning, but as a mother-in-law, this life was just too frustrating!
“Hmph, it’s just changing some things! What’s the big deal? Is it really worth you fussing over, Madam? Our family certainly isn’t short of silver coins either way!”
Sipping the tea freshly handed to him by a maid with satisfaction, Master Lin clearly didn’t care about his wife’s breaking point.
Money was nothing; once at a certain level it was just numbers. Especially for merchants like them, no matter how wealthy, some things were just unnecessary.
In this dynasty, it was still better than some earlier years when merchants weren’t even allowed to wear silk and satin.
Besides, his daughter-in-law wasn’t randomly messing around; she truly had taste!
He hadn’t seen the bridal chamber, but he had definitely seen the front courtyard study, and how to put it?
It looked exceptionally comfortable at first glance—what scholars called elegant and refined, much like the style he had seen at his cousin’s place in the capital.
His cousin’s wife was the daughter of a minister, with impeccable taste to say the least. He never expected his own daughter-in-law to have such discernment.
Could this be the power of a top-tier genius?
Master Lin took another sip of his tea.
It made sense, after all, just by reading books she had managed to teach two scholars. Without a teacher, just by copying, she had developed excellent painting skills. Just yesterday, his son said that no matter how complicated or obscure the classical texts were, his daughter-in-law never needed a second reading.
A legendary genius beyond description, how could one judge her by ordinary standards?
What Master Lin didn’t say was that after seeing the couple’s study that day, he had arranged for their front courtyard study to be properly redecorated, but somehow, even with similar items and placements, his study lacked that elegant taste.
Sure enough, only true scholars had that special touch!
Setting down his teacup with a satisfied smile, completely ignoring his wife’s nagging beside him, Master Lin patted his pants and went back to the front courtyard.
Come to think of it, last time in the prefecture city, he seemed to have come across a ceramics business named Yang something. At first, he thought their products were good quality but too plain, so he didn’t pay much attention. Now, it seemed his daughter-in-law might actually like that style!
He could even have them custom-make patterns for her.
Looks like next time he’d have to get in touch with them again when he went to the prefecture city.
So what had she been doing just now? Singing an opera? And a one-person show at that!
Meanwhile, on the other side, An Ning, who had been repeatedly nagged by her mother-in-law, was reclining leisurely on the couch, casually reading a book. A little maid occasionally brought peeled crystal grapes to her lips.
Even so, after more than half a day, the desk was already piled with several stacks of books she had read through.
Thanks to the large sums of money sent annually and other support, the Lin family’s official uncle in the capital had indeed done his best. At least now, the household had no shortage of various books (copies), classical notes, and so forth.
This was indeed a good thing for An Ning.
There’s a saying: even a clever housewife can’t cook without rice. For scholars, it’s easier to prepare for the exams because the content, whether poetry or policy essays, is relatively basic.
But once you reach the provincial or metropolitan exam level, the breadth and depth of knowledge become especially important.
This is one reason why poor children in ancient times rarely got ahead unless they had luck or a good teacher.
At this level, one realizes that the difference in teaching resources and faculty is something that effort alone cannot overcome.
Of course, geniuses had certain privileges—if their talent was high enough, they could still attract teachers willing to invest.
After all, in this era, teaching relied on intuition and hints, leaving the rest for the student to comprehend, unlike modern teachers who try to spoon-feed every piece of knowledge.
In such an educational environment, without sufficient talent, not only was the imperial exam gate closed, but even the books themselves might be incomprehensible.
Right now, An Ning was flipping through the books in her hands with ease, showing no signs of difficulty, occasionally stopping to look over a chess manual to relax her mind.
Opposite the desk, her husband Lin Xiuyuan was struggling much more. Poor guy, after more than half a day, he had only read about twenty pages of a book. Mostly he barely understood, skimming through quickly.
The content he barely remembered was soon forgotten as he turned the page.
Occasionally, he would stop and ask An Ning: “……”
Hmm… it was clear that Lin Xiuyuan had definitely worked hard to pass the initial scholar’s exam.
It wasn’t a memory problem; classical Chinese was often obscure, and if you couldn’t grasp the true meaning, it was very hard for ordinary people to memorize.
Unfortunately for Lin Xiuyuan, his comprehension and insight were really lacking.
He was somewhat sharp with numbers, but too bad, science wasn’t popular in this era.
But for An Ning, it wasn’t difficult at all. She simply copied down the notes she had previously made for her younger brother and Chubby Boy, occasionally reading them aloud in real time.
Fortunately, she had been foresighted and made an extra copy for her younger brother earlier.
Strictly speaking, the three of them were actually quite comparable!