She frowned, suspecting that Lu Shuo had shaved the sticks incorrectly, so she pushed the items over to him and gestured for him to try.
Lu Shuo coughed lightly, arranged the items, and like Helan Pei, first weighed the long stick with the two jujubes, then slowly placed it on the pit tip.
Helan Pei watched Lu Shuo's every move intently.
At that moment, she suddenly noticed that Lu Shuo's hands had many thick calluses and many small, healed scars. Their slightly darker color compared to the surrounding skin made them noticeable.
Even the servants around her might not have as many calluses; only those who did the heaviest rough work would have them.
So he must have had a hard life in the countryside before.
Helan Pei suddenly felt a pang of guilt. He just wasn't born as fortunate as she was. Why had she been irritated at him for not understanding her note? And why had she been displeased because she couldn't play the game he suggested? This was not the behavior of a gentleman.
She had been away from strangers too long; her mindset needed cultivation.
Lu Shuo had no idea of the rich inner thoughts of Helan Pei. He simply took a deep breath, steadied himself, extended his index finger, and gently pushed the jujube on the long stick with his fingertip.
The long stick began to spin gracefully. It wobbled a few times in the middle and seemed about to fall, but it never did. Finally, it made one and a half rotations before coming to a steady stop.
"Wow, Little Lu is really skilled," Jiang Siji praised. "Is there a trick to it?"
Lu Shuo scratched his head: "Nothing special. I've just played a lot, so I have the feel for it. If Miss tries a few more times, she should be able to get the hang of it too."
He turned to Helan Pei: "Miss, would you like to try again?"
Helan Pei had lost the desire to compete with Lu Shuo. Since she was inferior in skill, she admitted defeat.
Lu Shuo suddenly felt that the way the Fourth Miss looked at him had changed a bit... somewhat like the way the Duke or the Lady looked at him.
"Not playing anymore? Then let's continue with class!" Jiang Siji finished her tea, stood up, and said, "Let me see how well you've been tracing, Little Lu!"
Lu Shuo quickly got up and walked to his desk, letting Jiang Siji inspect his calligraphy.
"Hmm... the strokes were a bit messy at first, but they became much steadier later. Good, there's obvious improvement," Jiang Siji commented.
Lu Shuo didn't dare say anything. The messy strokes at the beginning were because he had been eavesdropping on their lesson. Compared to the intelligent Fourth Miss, he was so mediocre and shallow. Immersed in self-pity, naturally he couldn't write well.
Fortunately, he later adjusted his mindset, stopped listening to their lesson, and focused on tracing.
Jiang Siji said: "Write these characters you've traced separately for me to see."
Lu Shuo then picked up the brush and wrote. Although it still wasn't good-looking, at least the strokes were roughly horizontal and vertical, and the overall structure was more regular and square, much better than yesterday.
Jiang Siji: "Practicing calligraphy is a long-term effort. You must not slack off."
Lu Shuo nodded in agreement.
...
In the latter part of the lesson, Jiang Siji taught Lu Shuo some common radicals and single characters, so that when he encountered new characters in the future, he could guess the meaning by breaking them down. She also wrote him name tags for common items, telling him to stick them on the corresponding objects at home. That way, by seeing them every day, he would quickly memorize them.
After Lu Shuo's lesson, Jiang Siji continued teaching Helan Pei.
Helan Pei had already read another article and marked the parts she didn't understand, waiting for Jiang Siji to explain.
While Jiang Siji explained the article to her, Lu Shuo continued practicing his calligraphy.
It was not until noon that the morning's lessons finally ended.
Jiang Siji didn't eat at the Duke Mansion. She packed up and left. Lu Shuo rubbed his slightly sore wrist, ready to put the brushes and ink back into his book box, but then remembered that the Fourth Miss had told him he could leave these things here. So he put them down.
Tianqing came in: "The kitchen has finished the dishes. The master and madam are waiting for Miss and Young Master to have dinner together. I'll take these things back for you, Young Master."
Lu Shuo quickly said: "Just bring the books. The rest can stay here."
Tianqing was surprised, but soon smiled: "That's good. The Fourth Miss is considerate, saving us a lot of trouble."
Lu Shuo looked at Helan Pei, hesitated, and asked: "Fourth Miss... shall we go eat together?"
Helan Pei shook her head.
Lu Shuo pressed his lips together. It seemed the Fourth Miss really didn't want to be around him. She had probably been annoyed by the jujube mill game during the break. Even though they could have gone to eat together, she insisted on not walking with him.
"I'll go first then," Lu Shuo said softly, and left with Tianqing, feeling dejected.
"Miss, why didn't you go with Young Master Lu? Do you have something else to do?" Zisu poked her head in from the window.
Helan Pei walked to the window, handed her book to Zisu, then slowly raised her arms, tilted her head back, and stretched languidly.
——Yes, she had nothing else to do. She was just tired from class and needed to stretch to relax.
But there was no way she would make such a move in front of Lu Shuo.
She stretched her arms, bent to the left, then to the right, and slowly turned her head around.
Since she stayed at home all day without going out, her father said she didn't exercise enough, which was bad for her health. He told her to stretch often, and she took it to heart.
After finishing her exercises, Helan Pei finally felt much lighter. She was also a bit hungry, so it was time to eat.
Feeling happy, she was just about to lower her arms when she suddenly saw Lu Shuo appear at the door, staring at her in shock.
Helan Pei: "..."
Lu Shuo: "..."
Helan Pei's face instantly flushed red. She quickly lowered her arms, straightened up, turned her face away, and glared fiercely at Zisu.
——Why didn't she warn her?!
Zisu felt wronged too. Young Master Lu had come running. She only saw him when he was already at the door! Before she could warn Miss, Miss saw him herself!
"Ahem, Young Master Lu, why have you come back..." Zisu said awkwardly.
Lu Shuo hadn't expected to see the Fourth Miss stretching like that. He had no particular thoughts, just sheer surprise. Now, seeing both of them looking strange, he belatedly realized it was somewhat inappropriate. He also blushed and stammered: "I... I forgot something, came back to get it..."
After saying that, he rushed to the desk, pulled out the note Helan Pei had written him that was under the inkstone, and gripped it in his hand.
"Th-then I'll be going now..." He left these words and ran out again.
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