Chapter 294 - Ninety Four - We welcome in Spring (2/2)
”Shh! Don't let the Teachers hear you!”
Two sides of the fence, yet from the same family, Merylin summoned her sister in order to ensure that their relationship would not be affected by the schism of schools. Merylin was a Di daughter, Maimai a shu-born, Miss Merylin's supporters thought she was too virtuous and kind a person, overly worrying about how Miss Maimai was coping due to her inferior position.
Actually, it was not that at all. Merylin was not like those girls who only schemed to suppress their sisters in order to ensure those girls 'knew their place!' Only by maintaining a good relationship could Merylin continue to rely on Maimai's support in the future or else, wouldn't she simply be severing unknown connections and paths that she could use at that time? Maimai was not unaware of her sister's thoughts, however it was better for a shu daughter with less background to maintain a cordial relationship with her legitimate siblings so that she would not find herself without a place to go one day. At the same time, neither girl would continue to hold onto the other's hand if there came a time when they had no other choice but to separate. So their relationship was just like this.
”Sister,” Merylin grasped Maimai's white hands with their now broken nails and tinted stains of mud and looked at her with grieving eyes. ”You've suffered! If only I could arrange for someone to replace you there, I'd willingly allow you to shelter with me until all of that ghastly work was done!”
”No need!” Maimai said cheerfully, shaking off her sister's hands so she could pour a cup of tea for them both. Merylin had better quality of tea than herself and it had already been brewed by the girl as well. All Maimai had to do was pour and enjoy, which she did with a savoured sigh.
”Sometimes I find this school's rules so absurd,” Merylin muttered, taking the offered cup in one hand and sipping lightly. ”How is it that well bred girls should be expected to traipse through mud with boys and commoners? If father knew...”
”If father knew, I'd be withdrawn from home and bored to tears in Li Yiniang's courtyard,” Maimai interrupted her. Li Yiniang was her biological mother. She was a delicate lady, prone to tears and a cousin of Merylin's mother. She had come to care for Merylin's mother during the woman's confinement after birth and had ended up staying permanently after falling in love with her daughter's father. Naturally, Merylin's mother was not happy about the matter, but the rice had already been cooked and Li Yiniang was a weak woman who never pitted herself against her cousin, so Merylin's mother tolerated her presence a little more than the other concubines.
”Besides,” Maimai smiled warmly to assuage her sister, ”it wasn't bad, maybe even a little fun!” Maimai was not great at making pills and was stronger than ordinary girls. Using her natural endurance, smiling without complaint as she worked alongside others, there was a satisfaction to it that she'd not really experienced before. She'd even volunteered to help weed the fields, learning how to identify the plants that sucked out the vital nutrients of the fields, potentially damaging the growth of the herbs alongside Leon who'd come to her aid when he'd noticed that she was about to pull out a seedling.
It turned out that she had better ability, in the end, at removing the weeds intact, not leaving any root behind to regrow and begin to harm the fields once more. This matter required not only physical strength, but also spiritual sight (pouring spiritual energy into the senses), something Maimai was particularly good at. So with Leon identifying the weeds and her removing them, they'd cleared one mu well and efficiently and earned Teacher Sagi's praise.
Using her body in this way had proven to be beneficial in more ways than one. Just yesterday afternoon, while she cultivated after lunch, she noticed that there had been a change in her innersea; she was about to break through into secondary stage.