Days passed in undulating waves, and time, impartial, refused to halt its relentless march forward. Qíngwén, bestowed by Lady Jiǎ to Jiǎ Bǎoyù, found herself in a favorable position as a maidservant. Lady Jiǎ, being in her advanced years, cherished luxury, reputation, and face, thus exhibiting generosity and tolerance towards her servants.
For Jiǎ Bǎoyù, who regarded women as delicate as water, indulgence was the fitting description for his treatment of the maidservants around him. It was in the presence of Lady Jiǎ and Jiǎ Bǎoyù that Qíngwén learned many things. In Lady Jiǎ's company, Qíngwén's aesthetic discernment soared. As a struggling commoner on the brink of survival, the transition from feeling out of place to adapting to the opulence of the Róngguó Mansion took only a few days. Exquisite jade carvings, redwood dressing tables, and closets filled with treasures opened Lǐ Píng's eyes to a world of luxury.
To be honest, transforming a reserved and self-conscious individual into a spirited and bold one was akin to a fantasy. However, Qíngwén later accepted this change. After all, the transmigrated women who came after, regardless of their lively or aristocratic nature, and regardless of their intelligence or cunning personality, shared a common flaw—they believed in their own superiority. They thought the world revolved around them, often possessing a misguided sense of being more intelligent than people of the past. Consequently, they rarely noticed Qíngwén, the cannon fodder maidservant.
Well, Lǐ Píng's life in the Red Mansion seemed leisurely, but it was far from that. In an ancient feudal society with no human rights and clear class distinctions, as a lowly servant, Lǐ Píng had to be cautious at all times, even if it meant being exhausted. Everything was for survival.
Have you not seen how, after creating a new embroidery technique—cross-stitch—Qíngwén was rewarded to serve Miss Lin (Lin Mèimei)? Later, due to insulting Miss Lin, she was beaten to death. Have you not seen how, resembling Xi Shī in her illness, Lin Mèimei repaid tears with a glance, not at the stone but at the mirror, and entered the imperial palace after becoming a candidate for palace selection? Have you not seen Lady Jiǎ suggesting the use of cowpox to prevent smallpox, while Lin Fēi coincidentally discovered a thunderous explosive? A fierce palace intrigue unfolded among the time-traveling women. Well, it's not that Lǐ Píng had too much leisure; it's just that her fellow time travelers were too terrifying.
Quickly adapting, Lǐ Píng not only learned to read characters by Jiǎ Bǎoyù's side, even in traditional script, but also acquired excellent culinary skills from Lài Mómo (Old Lady Lài). With a majority of women being food enthusiasts, why not? Her embroidery skills also became more profound.
As Qíngwén, now expelled, left the Jiǎ family, she didn't show surface-level sadness. Clad in carefully sewn, worn-out clothes (with hidden exchanged silver notes in the lining), she departed for a life with a conservative and ugly scholar (with a scar on his face). Lǐ Píng's farming life began, and with family matters and teaching children, she thought this was how life would unfold.