By afternoon, these young men and women had formed a gathering to compete in poetry and the arts of Qin, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting.
Ye Shiqi did not shamelessly plagiarize a private collection of 300 Tang poems, nor did she frivolously display modern poems and prose about love.
She was just herself, and if she truly had literary talent, then at her current age it wasn’t appropriate to show it off too much, especially since she was someone who had not attended an academy.
The teacher Scholar had taught her to read and write, choosing a method suited for teaching girls, which included understanding and applying poetry. The educational approach was different from that for boys, and somewhat simpler.
Seeing her own sister, Ye Fengqi, not prominently displaying her talents though she had also learned to recognize characters over several years, she still did not perform well in poetry.
Si Ma Roumei had no such concerns; she was used to competing with these boys in the academy, being the only female student at Xinghe Academy.
It was fortunate that she usually dressed as a boy while studying, the academy had provided her a private room complete with a latrine, so she didn’t have to crowd in with the boys.
The head of the academy had received a letter sent from the Capital, which was why they made an exception to admit Si Ma Roumei to study.
If it had not been for that, even with her status as the daughter of the County Magistrate, Si Ma Roumei would not have been allowed to enter the academy.
Some daughters of wealthy families within the county had also been suggested for academy admission, and their indulgent fathers had used their connections to inquire, but they never received approval from the academy.
Some had even d substantial amounts of money to the academy or given gifts to the teachers or headmaster.
If the headmaster did not agree, the teachers had no say and dared not accept money recklessly—none wanted to risk losing their secure jobs.
Though Xinghe Academy was just an academy in the county, it was very famous; its fame did not come from producing a large number of officials or because many passed the Capital’s examinations every term.
It cared more about nurturing more students who, after growing up, might become promising and would be recommended to attend the academies in the Capital.
Such famous academies in the Capital were not places you could simply buy your way into; one needed recommendations from well-known academies to study there.
Ye Shiqi saw it this way: Xinghe Academy was like kindergarten, primary, and secondary school combined, whereas university level required going to the Capital to study.
There were also some students from poor families; unless they were extraordinarily smart, they couldn’t enter such prestigious academies.
The young men and women there enjoyed composing poetry, painting, playing the zither, and having fun.
Some scholars and refined gentlemen, whether youths or adults, also organized such activities.
When they organized these events, they had to order musical instruments or entertainment tools here, unless they brought their own.
The estate provided musical instruments, but they had to be rented in advance; perhaps these people didn’t want to bring their own instruments and entertainment tools from home since they were just out to have fun and renting wasn’t too expensive.
But only the wealthy often indulged in spending and playing here without feeling the expenses were too high.
Real students from poor families were content if they could afford brushes, ink, paper, and tuition fees.
Ye Shiqi and her elder sister did not dine at the estate that evening; summer nights arrived late, and although they had their friends over in the morning and afternoon, they wanted to reserve the evening for their family.
The same old man who had driven the ox cart before came to pick them up, now with a horse carriage, not overly luxurious but quite comfortable,
Si Ma Rou wanted the two sisters to stay, suggesting they could have fun together in the evening too, but since she couldn’t persuade them to stay, she only asked them to come again the next day to play.
Si Ma Rou particularly loved playing with the Ye Family’s sisters because they were genuine and relaxed, and there was no competition in needlework; sometimes they would talk about fashion or trendy items.
She had already considered these two girls as her close friends, unlike those wealthy girls from the county with whom she couldn’t relate—she didn’t understand why.
She only felt they were too pretentious, too good at acting, and they didn’t complement her straightforward personality; it was boring to play with such people.
Ye Shiqi, while riding in the carriage, observed as they entered the village and passed by two factories where the machinery still buzzed with activity.
At present, the factories operated not only during the day but also had workers at night; however, the most dangerous tasks were left to the daytime shifts since candlelight was insufficient and posed a risk of accidents.