The next day, Lu Shuo woke up half an hour early, ate breakfast quickly, and recited the enlightenment poem several more times before heading to the Eastern Corridor with his book box.
He arrived a bit early; the room was still locked. He and Tianqing waited at the door for a while until Helan Pei and Zisu appeared.
"Young Master Lu, you're here so early?" Zisu said in surprise as she took out the key. "How long have you been waiting?"
Lu Shuo said, "Just arrived, just arrived."
Zisu unlocked the door, and Helan Pei and Lu Shuo entered the room one after the other, each taking a seat at their desks.
Tianqing moved to help Lu Shuo set out his study supplies, but Lu Shuo waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I can manage. You go ahead with your work."
He noticed that Helan Pei didn't have Zisu tidying things for her, so he wanted Tianqing to leave as well.
Helan Pei heard the rustling from the other side of the shelf, turned to look, thought for a moment, and stood up.
Perhaps because they had played a few rounds of Chupu yesterday and grown more familiar, Helan Pei was less formal than before. She walked over to the white porcelain water vat in the corner, used a long-handled ladle to scoop out some water, first poured clean water into her own empty water dropper, then walked to Lu Shuo's desk and poured the remaining water into his water dropper as well.
Lu Shuo felt honored and surprised: "Thank you, miss."
Helan Pei nodded, turned to put the ladle back, then returned to her desk, picked up her water dropper, dripped some water onto her inkstone, and began to slowly grind ink.
Lu Shuo secretly watched her through the shelf, noticing her slender, straight back, the delicate pearl flowers in her hair, and her slightly raised little finger.
He then followed suit, picking up his elegantly shaped water dropper, adding water to his inkstone, and grinding ink.
Yesterday's ink had been ground by Tianqing, and since he didn't need much, only a small amount was ground. Lu Shuo thought he would write a lot today, so he added more water, but the ink turned out too light, forcing him to grind harder.
Just as he was grinding vigorously, a shadow fell before him. He looked up and saw Helan Pei standing in front of him again, handing him a slip of paper.
So she had been grinding ink to write him notes.
Lu Shuo took it and glanced at it. His expression immediately showed embarrassment.
...He couldn't read it. The few characters he recognized didn't form a coherent sentence, and he couldn't guess the meaning.
Helan Pei had anticipated this. She pointed at the stationery on his desk, waved her hand and shook her head, then picked it up and set it down.
Lu Shuo looked at her blankly: "Is... is it not supposed to be arranged like this?"
He glanced at her desk. It looked the same as his.
Helan Pei: "..."
This was exactly why she disliked communicating with outsiders.
Not being able to speak was frustrating enough, but outsiders barely knew her. Her family and maids had been with her for years and could remember some of her gestures and habits, even guessing her meaning from a look or expression.
Without Zisu to translate, communicating with Lu Shuo was now extremely difficult.
A familiar sense of irritation surged within her. Helan Pei took a deep breath, then heard a familiar voice from behind: "Oh, what are you two up to?"
She turned and saw Jiang Siji entering, immediately relieved.
"Jiang Siji." Lu Shuo quickly stood up and bowed.
Jiang Siji smiled warmly. Seeing the slip of paper still in Lu Shuo's hand, she teased, "Just the two of you, and you're passing secret notes? What does it say? Can I read it?"
Lu Shuo blushed. Since he didn't know what it said, he wasn't sure if he could show it to Jiang Siji.
But Helan Pei deftly took the paper from his hand and handed it to Jiang Siji.
Lu Shuo pressed his lips together, unconsciously rubbing his fingers.
It was because he couldn't recognize all the characters and couldn't understand her meaning that all their communication had to rely on a third person.
If he were the Fourth Miss, after a few such incidents, he would definitely grow annoyed and no longer want to talk to her.
"Oh, little Pei'er is telling you that you can leave your stationery here instead of carrying it back and forth. It's less trouble, since you surely have other brushes and ink in your room. Just bring the books you need," Jiang Siji said after reading the note, returning it to Lu Shuo.
So that was the meaning.
Lu Shuo took the paper with both hands and said to Helan Pei, "Thank you for the reminder, miss."
Helan Pei nodded, turned, and returned to her seat.
Jiang Siji asked Lu Shuo, "Did you memorize the poem I assigned yesterday?"
Lu Shuo had prepared and was eager to be tested. He immediately nodded and recited it loudly and fluently.
Jiang Siji was pleased and patted his shoulder. "Good, good. You worked hard."
Lu Shuo took the opportunity to say, "Yesterday Tianqing bought me the storybook, and I read it carefully. Even though I didn't recognize some characters, I guessed their meanings based on the ones I knew. Could you check if my guesses were correct?"
"Oh?" Jiang Siji smiled. "Tell me."
Lu Shuo opened the book and showed Jiang Siji the unfamiliar characters he had marked, along with his guesses.
No teacher dislikes a student who actively learns and thinks independently. Jiang Siji praised him greatly, saying he wasn't stupid at all, just started late, and was actually a clever child.
The teacher said he was clever—Lu Shuo smiled sheepishly.
After receiving praise, he instinctively looked at Helan Pei.
But Helan Pei didn't show the look of newfound respect he had expected. She just stared at him indifferently, without any emotion. When she saw him looking, she averted her eyes, leaving him with half of her profile and most of the back of her head.
Lu Shuo was stunned for a moment, but Jiang Siji had already started explaining the meanings of those characters. Lu Shuo didn't dare get distracted and focused on the lesson.
Helan Pei was indeed unhappy again.