Teaching & Learning Methods [BL]

Untitled Part 17

Morning arrived. When I opened my closet, there were no clothes.

Tan had told me to try wearing the same clothes two or three times, but I still felt uncomfortable. I picked up and put down the clothes I had worn the day before, but in the end, I put them down. Although laundry was a hassle, I still wanted to wear clean, crisp clothes.

I went outside and checked the laundry I had put out to dry. I sighed. Not only were they still not fully dry, but they were also wrinkled to the point where I couldn't see straight.

I rubbed them with my hands, but the spiderweb-like wrinkles didn't go away.

I asked Tan, who I ran into in the house. He told me that the clothes would need another day to dry completely, that wearing clothes that weren't fully dry would make me smell, and that I would need to iron the wrinkled clothes.

With nothing else to do, I gave up on the new clothes and looked for the clothes I had worn the day before. But when I tried to put them on, I saw that they were still wrinkled, albeit less so than the clothes that were still hanging on the line.

I went to Tan and asked him to show me how to iron.

Ironing was just as much work as laundry. To make the collar stiff, I had to starch it, and I had to be careful not to let the iron get too hot or too cold. I couldn't just leave the iron on the clothes. And what's more, for every wrinkle I smoothed out, two more would appear somewhere else.

Tan asked, "Do you really need to iron? You're just going to be at home."

"I'm planning to go to work today."

Tan checked his watch and snatched the iron out of my hand. The shirt was instantly smooth and wrinkle-free. I gasped in admiration. Tan said as he took out another piece of clothing.

"You really don't have any knack for this, do you?"

"I'm sure I'll get better with practice."

"Well, I suppose so."

"Where did you learn to do all this?"

"From my mother. I'm the oldest among my siblings, so I had to do chores. I tried to pass it on to my younger siblings when they got older, but none of them have any knack for it either."
Tan handed me the ironed clothes. I thanked him and left the house.

I walked out to the main road, hailed a carriage, and got off in front of the Royal Academy. Perhaps because I had spent so much time ironing, the area near the school gate was already deserted.

As I walked towards the faculty room, I ran into Professor Oster in the hallway. He smiled broadly and extended his hand.

"Well, I never thought I'd see Professor Letier again within the Academy. It's a pleasure to see you."

I hesitated for a moment, then shook his hand lightly, careful not to be rude.

"I'm glad you're happy to see me. I think we'll be seeing each other quite often."

"Oh, really? You say you'll be here often?"

"I don't have much to do at home, so I'm thinking of filling in for other professors if they can't make it to their classes."

"That's a great idea. I always knew Professor Letier was conscientious, but you're even more conscientious than I thought."

I thought to myself, maybe Professor Oster actually wanted to use words like "stupid" instead of "conscientious," or "annoying and stupid," or "annoying, tactless, and stupid." He wasn't someone I wanted to have a long conversation with, so I didn't pursue the matter.