Chapter 1212: The Pearl Collector and the Princess

Chapter 1212: Chapter 6: The Pearl Collector and the Princess

“Qinghe! You’re here.” Tianmiao smiled and waved at Li Qinghe. At this moment, Tianmiao appeared to be around ten years old, dressed in coarse cloth and with her hair in a bun, looking like an ordinary village girl. Yet her noble aura was quite striking, but young Li Qinghe couldn’t perceive this. She just assumed Tianmiao was a regular fisherman’s daughter.

Li Qinghe grinned and nodded vigorously, rushing forward to hug Tianmiao.

“Come on, after eating we’re going to learn to paint, then practice writing for a while, and also learn music.” Tianmiao counted on her fingers, “We have to make the most of our time.”

Li Qinghe pouted, looking at Tianmiao accusingly. She wanted to learn all those things but also wanted to play with Tianmiao. With so much to learn, there wouldn’t be any time to play.

“Then, let’s cut the writing practice time in half and use that time to make kites.” Seeing Qinghe’s eager expression, Tianmiao ultimately compromised.

Li Qinghe clapped her hands happily and nodded.

Li Qinghe had been coming here to learn for two years now. When she was six, Li Qinghe met Tianmiao on the beach, who was barefoot, collecting shells.

She had never seen such a beautiful child before, with snow-white skin, jet-black hair, and white teeth that revealed two dimples when she smiled. When Tianmiao greeted her, she was a bit scared, fearing that Tianmiao might not want to play with her once she realized Qinghe couldn’t speak.

Instead, Tianmiao gave her the shells she was holding and invited her to play together. Qinghe was so happy that she dove in and caught a small sea turtle to give to Tianmiao. That sea turtle has now grown into a big turtle. She and Tianmiao once released it, but it didn’t want to leave, staying here to eat and sleep, crawl around the yard occasionally.

Afterward, Tianmiao promised to teach Qinghe to read whenever she had time.

Reading? Her father could read too, although sometimes the characters he wrote seemed to lack strokes. But her father couldn’t paint or play music. When Li Qinghe first encountered a musical instrument, her eyes widened in surprise. Such a strange thing could produce such beautiful sounds.

When Tianmiao asked if she wanted to learn, she nodded repeatedly.

“I’m your master now, which means teacher, understand? You’re my student, you have to respect your teacher, okay?” Tianmiao said sternly.

Li Qinghe nodded.

Master! Teacher! She definitely understood. Masters are very knowledgeable people who teach children to read and recite ancient poems, and the boys could take imperial exams and become officials later!

Everyone in the village spoke of masters with great respect.

Tianmiao taught her many things; she was her master, and Qinghe would respect her master very much.

But Tianmiao was not only her master, she was also her good friend.

Because after teaching her things, Tianmiao always played with her.

She really liked Tianmiao, very much!

After they finished learning what they needed to, they made kites together. When it was time to leave, Li Qinghe reluctantly bid farewell to Tianmiao.

Back home, Li Anqing had already returned, bringing him two sticks of sugar-coated haws.

Li Qinghe sat under the window, eating sugar-coated haws and gazing outside, thinking about saving a stick for Tianmiao tomorrow.

The wind grew stronger and soon a heavy rain began to fall.

“Linglan, when I went to the town today, I heard there’s a new doctor. His medical skills are quite good. Let’s take Qinghe to see him tomorrow,” Li Anqing said.

Wang Linglan paused in her actions, turning to look at Li Qinghe sitting by the window. Her husband had never given up on Qinghe’s inability to speak, seeking many doctors and spending a lot of money, but there was still no progress. Thinking about this, Wang Linglan’s heart was filled with bitterness.