Time Travel: The Noble Family
Chapter 430 - 154: Difficulties

Chapter 430: Chapter 154: Difficulties

Chapter 154: Hardship

Before going to sleep, Bai Yi noticed the study still had lights on and quietly asked Xi Yu, "Why hasn’t the young lady gone to sleep?" It was so late, what was Third Miss Lian still doing in the study?

Xi Yu said with a smile, "Miss Bai doesn’t know, our young lady practices writing every night till the Hai Hour; she won’t go to sleep until the time comes." It was precisely because of her excessive dedication that calluses had formed on her hands. Despite applying ointment every night before bed, it was useless, and Yueyao’s attendants were very worried about her because of it.

A look of contemplation appeared in Bai Yi’s eyes. Since her arrival at Begonia Garden, she had never seen Yueyao rest; this level of earnest dedication shook her profoundly.

The next day, two quarters past the Mao Hour, Yueyao got up on time. Just after washing up, she saw Bai Yi waiting for her in the courtyard. Bai Yi looked at Yueyao’s loose clothing and was not very pleased, but for now, there was no choice but to make do. The first thing Bai Yi taught Yueyao was the standing post method, introducing, "Starting today, you will stand in the post position for half a shichen every morning." Besides assuming the horse stance, two sandbags were also added to her hands.

Yueyao did as told. At first, it was alright, but after five minutes passed, Yueyao began to realize the agony involved; anyone lacking willpower would have surely sat down by now. Yueyao held on for dear life, with sweat drops the size of beans falling to the ground.

After half an hour, Bai Yi came out and saw Yueyao still in the horse stance, though by now she was wavering.

Yueyao’s mind was fuzzy at the moment; she truly wanted to sit down on the ground so the pain would stop. However, a belief supported her, urging her not to give up and to persist. Each time she felt like she couldn’t hold on, Yueyao thought of her past experiences. She always reminded herself that it’s better to rely on oneself than on others. Now that she had such an excellent opportunity, she had to persist and gain Bai Yi’s approval to learn the skills to protect herself.

Yueyao kept telling herself that compared to her previous life, this pain was nothing. What matters in one’s endeavors is willpower; not giving up is the victory.

Bai Yi saw Yueyao’s beautiful face contorted in agony, but she still continued without giving up, and Bai Yi felt a silent admiration for Yueyao’s tenacity.

After half an hour, Bai Yi finally said, "That’s enough." Half an hour in the horse stance wasn’t really much; she used to persist for an hour each day. But considering Yueyao was a pampered young lady, she couldn’t use the same standard for her. Moreover, Yueyao was not following her path; learning these things was at most for self-defense and increasing hand strength.

Yueyao’s legs were already so stiff she couldn’t straighten them; any movement felt like someone was slicing her flesh, causing Yueyao such pain she thought she might faint.

Yueyao said to Xi Juan and Xi Yu, "Come and help me up."

After taking a step, she nearly collapsed. If it weren’t for the two supporting her, Yueyao would have definitely fallen.

Bai Yi disagreed with letting Yueyao sit down immediately and instructed, "Keep supporting Third Young Lady and walk around the courtyard twice before sitting down." Since it was her first time squatting for that long, her legs must be in terrible pain, and sitting down right away would be bad for the legs; walking around, on the other hand, would be better.

Xi Yu whispered, "Miss Bai, should we take the sandbags off now?"

Bai Yi shook her head, "No, the sandbags must not be removed, they need to stay on." Yueyao’s goal was to increase hand strength, and to make the wrist strength grow, perseverance was the most important. As long as she kept it up, in the future, her wrist strength would not be inferior to that of a man’s.

Bai Yi felt that Yueyao could do it.

Yueyao consumed three bowls of rice for breakfast as her energy expenditure had been too great.

After breakfast, Bai Yi said, "Young lady, I will teach you a set of boxing techniques. This set is not only good for strengthening the body but also for protecting oneself."

Yueyao nodded with a smile, as that was indeed her intent, "Can I learn it from you half an hour later?" Yueyao was extremely tired and needed to rest for a bit.

Bai Yi shook her head, "You can’t learn it this morning, rest well now, I will teach you this afternoon." Seeing Yueyao’s expression, Bai Yi said with a smile, "Learning martial arts also requires a balance between work and rest; being too anxious for success is actually inappropriate." She felt that Yueyao was too eager and couldn’t understand why a privileged young lady was so keen on learning martial arts, typically, only people without the ability to defend themselves would practice martial arts.

The horse stance Yueyao practiced affected her legs, causing them to ache, but sitting in a chair to read was not too much of an issue. However, when it came to writing, it was impossible. Her legs kept trembling, and just when she finally managed to stand steady and hold the brush ready to write, a tremble caused the ink to drip onto the pristine Xuan Paper.

Yueyao managed to write two characters, but her hand quickly began to ache. After a rest, she continued writing, but the characters came out twisted and askew. Even Yueyao couldn’t help but laugh at them, "These characters really do look awful." They were almost as bad as when she first started learning to write with her father.