She Only Cares About Cultivation
Chapter 337: [336] Tasty and Pretty Fisherman 187 (2 more updates)

Chapter 337: [336] Tasty and Pretty Fisherman 187 (2 more updates)

Xiao Yu knew that the Empress had her reasons for making such demands on her because by New Year’s Eve, she was to enter the palace.

By now, the Imperial Family had essentially acknowledged her relationship with Yan Qing, and the Emperor was set to grant them marriage on this New Year’s Eve.

What skills could she present at that time to make a suitable impression?

Therefore, learning the proper customs and etiquette was essential, although she practiced writing, she still had only a superficial understanding of the customs and culture of Yan Country; hence, a dedicated nanny was appointed to teach and guide her in writing and needlework, which had somehow become less significant in this context, as she was very resistant and secretly suggested to Yan Qing that they switch to vocal music, which Yan Qing attended one class of and found it unbearable, even wanting to sew for her himself at some points.

Noticing her lack of talent in this area, Yan Qing took it upon himself to find her a vocal music teacher and chose the lute among the many musical instruments available.

Though Western and Eastern music didn’t quite match, with her background in playing piano, learning ancient music seemed not too difficult, certainly much easier than needlework.

Becoming an expert within a month was impossible, and Xiao Yu did not set her aims too high; understanding musical scores and theory, enabling her to compose a simple nursery rhyme, would be sufficient.

Comparing herself with those highly cultured ladies was undoubtedly a dead end, her origins were known to everyone; there was no need to argue about that, so the best strategy was simply to let everyone see that she was making an effort.

Thus, for the next month, she would dedicate most of the morning or afternoon to classes, spend the rest of her time managing her business, and in the evenings, she continued to practice her writing and play the lute, her diligence reminiscent of her days studying for the college entrance examination.

Of course, to avoid any mishaps, she had also prepared a segment of Dance Rhythm Yoga; if aerial yoga weren’t so tricky to secure, she would have practiced that as well.

Since she lacked the skills typically known to refined young ladies, she could only prepare in areas where she excelled, which made her effort over the past month worthwhile.

By mid-December, the goods finally arrived from Port Town, nearly a ton of sea products sufficient for her shop’s use for half a year; because they were cheaply gathered from the seaside, Uncle Zhang didn’t charge her, but she roughly estimated the value to be six to seven thousand taels. Uncle Zhang paid for thirty percent of the freight charges, and she covered the remaining seventy percent, which amounted to less than 500 taels.

When these sea goods arrived at her store, she picked out items like nori, kelp, and seaweed, which were clearly of high quality, far better than what they purchased at the local grocery store, showing the great care Uncle Zhang had taken, which deeply moved Xiao Yu.

To thank Uncle Zhang, she bought a large quantity of high-quality fabric from the Space Mall, totaling fifty bolts of cloth, including popular fabrics from the 1970s like Dacron, cotton cloth suitable for children’s cotton clothes, floral fabrics, cotton batting, silk wadding, soap, and other daily necessities, occupying about four to five square meters. She spent one hundred taels on the shipping costs, leaving the remaining charges to be settled by Uncle Zhang upon receiving the goods.

After dispatching the goods, she immediately sent out a letter via the courier station. Of course, there was also a letter within the goods, and it was unclear which would arrive first. The goods included a detailed inventory with her signed personal inventory, allowing Uncle Zhang to verify the completeness of the shipment. The packing for each family’s goods was done under the supervision of the owner, ensuring stringent waterproofing. In fact, ancient maritime shipping was more reliable than she had imagined.