Before Master Ding could say anything, Clara calmly spoke first:
"The weather's been quite good lately. Miss Emily was feeling dizzy from reading indoors, so I took her to the mountains for a breath of fresh air and to lift her spirits."
The father and children all turned simultaneously to look outside—where wind and rain were howling—and silently questioned: You call this good weather?
Still, it was a decent excuse for Emily's "unladylike" behavior. Clara had offered a ladder for Master Ding to climb down gracefully from his high horse.
There were eight dishes laid out on the table, a nice mix of meat and vegetables, with a tray of pastries to match. The aroma was heavenly, yet no one made a move to eat. Clara thought to herself, Are you people trying to torture me?
So, in hopes of getting the meal started sooner, she added a few more comments.
Her point: upper-class noble ladies were now all taking riding and archery lessons. Emily was just getting a head start.
Master Ding would be sitting for the civil service exams soon. Once he passed and the family entered official circles, his daughter would need these upper-crust social skills to blend in. Knowing horseback riding and archery would only help the family thrive.
The three of them stared at Clara, watching her deliver her speech with such conviction that they nearly believed her.
But... how would a village woman like her know anything about the social customs of noble ladies?
Clara simply smiled at the trio. That's not the point. The point is: "If we don't eat now, the food's going to get cold."
Master Ding's stern face finally softened. If upper-class girls were really doing this stuff, then maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all.
He picked up his chopsticks and gave Clara a slight nod. "Let's eat."
Only after seeing Master Ding take the first bite did Clara move her chopsticks.
She ate far more elegantly than usual and kept her pace moderate—just three bowls of rice and one of soup.
Emily looked concerned. "Clara, did you eat enough?"
Clara gave a polite smile. "I did. Everything was delicious. Thank you, Master Ding, for the meal."
Truthfully? She was about sixty percent full. Let's just call today a diet day.
Still, she had to admit—Master Ding's household meals were top-tier. So much meat, so generous... anyone would be envious.
Of course, Clara was confident her future meals wouldn't be worse than this.
After dinner, Emily and Felix took their leave, leaving Clara and Master Ding alone in the dining hall.
As the servants cleared the dishes, Clara followed Master Ding to the lounge and sat across from him in a carved armchair. Butler Hugh came over and handed her a small cloth pouch.
Clara accepted it eagerly, weighing it in her hand—two taels of silver! Her wages had arrived.
"Thank you, Master Ding," she said with a polite cupped-fist salute.
Master Ding nodded. "You've worked hard this month, Miss Clara."
He added that if Clara wanted to rest a few more days, she was welcome to stay at the estate. He could have Giles drive her home later.
Clara gave him a grateful smile but politely declined. The offer was nice, but not something to take literally.
They chatted a bit more—mostly Master Ding asking about Emily's progress over the past month. Toward the end, he couldn't help asking again:
"So... noble ladies really learn riding and archery? I thought it was all about music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"
Clara didn't actually know. She'd based her claims on a historical-romance novel she once read.
Still, she kept a straight face and nodded. "Of course they learn the arts. But tea brewing, flower arranging, and horseback riding are just as important. They may not master everything, but knowing the basics is expected. Otherwise, how can they socialize if everyone else knows and they don't? Don't you agree, Master Ding?"
She added, "And I heard from Butler Hugh that you'll be heading to the capital for the autumn exams soon. Once you're there, you'll see firsthand whether what I said is true."
That last bit sealed the deal. Master Ding figured Clara wouldn't dare lie when the truth would soon be evident. He nodded again—convinced almost completely—and even asked if she'd stay another month to continue training Emily.
Clara smiled. "No need to worry, Master Ding. I've already taught your daughter all the techniques. All she needs now is regular practice."
"Miss Emily is bright and quick to learn. With effort, she'll master it in no time."
Hearing this, Master Ding felt a bit guilty about how harsh he'd been earlier.
Later that evening, Butler Hugh told him just how seriously Clara had taken the training—and how professional she'd seemed. The more Master Ding thought about it, the less he could believe someone like her was just a regular peasant woman.
In the middle of the night, he sat up in bed and made a decision.
He told Butler Hugh to fetch another tael of silver from the storeroom, and also to notify the kitchen to prepare extra pastries—Clara's favorites—for her departure the next day.
One command from the master sent the whole household scrambling.
Fetching the silver was the easy part. The hard part fell on the cook, who had to get up in the middle of the night to grind flour—since they'd run out of dough for pastries.
By the next morning, Clara had packed her things and was ready to leave when Butler Hugh brought her the two parcels of pastries and one tael in reward silver.
She was genuinely touched.
Emily had bundled up all the books Clara was borrowing, wrapping them with an extra layer of oiled paper just in case it rained.
These weren't just any books—they were annotated by Master Ding himself. For scholars, these notes were practically gold.
Clara checked the bundle carefully and slung the hefty nine books onto her back along with her bow and blade.
She held the still-warm peach blossom cakes and mung bean pastries in her arms. Emily stood at the gate, reluctant to see her go. Clara waved goodbye and set off.
It was still early, so Clara stopped by the town marketplace. She bought 2.5kg of meat and two racks of ribs from the butcher.
Then she visited the only general store that sold writing supplies and bought a thick stack of white paper.
The paper came uncut, bundled tightly and wrapped in oilcloth—which cost five copper coins by itself.
But she had to buy it. The rainy season was unpredictable, and at least the oilcloth was reusable. Next time, she'd bring her own.
Since she'd be copying books, she wanted to speed up the process. So she bought her own ink and brushes. That alone cost her half a tael of silver.
This was why reading and studying were expensive. Tuition was just the beginning—the real expense was paper, ink, and all the social costs that came with it.
Thanks to the Ding family's pastries, she skipped buying snacks.
Looking down at her current outfit, Clara realized the cotton fabric was too thick for summer. She was already sweating buckets under the rising sun.
The fine silk Emily wore was out of her league—but linen was still affordable.
She calculated how much fabric was needed to make one set of clothes per person at home and bought a bolt of linen and a roll of cotton thread. That cost another half tael.
Now she had two taels left out of the three.
Rice wouldn't be ready for harvest until mid-July. It was currently early June. They'd need another month and a half of food.
So she bought 75 kg of grains—half white rice, half mixed grains—for 1.5 taels.
That left her with just half a tael.
Normally, 75 kg of food would last a family of six nearly three months. But Clara alone ate enough for five...
Still, this couldn't be helped. Food was something she wouldn't cut corners on.
Thankfully, once they harvested this year's crop, their household's food situation would dramatically improve—and she could save this kind of money in the future.
(End of Chapter)
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