米

mi

rice; meter

A cross (十) holds four grains (灬) of rice that fell from the harvest.

青

qing

blue-green, azure;

youth, young

young green plant (生) under "blue moon" (冃) are the colors of nature

精

jing

refined, skilled

essence, spirit

rice 米¹³⁸[mǐ] + blue/clarity 青 [qīng]

rice (米) is polished until it becomes pure azure (青) thus extracting its essence, and such a refined grain is ready to eat

女

nu

woman

a woman sitting with here hands on her knees

娄

lou

broken, hollow,

worn out

rice 米 [mǐ] + woman 女⁹⁶[nǚ]

娄子 - "trouble" (metaphor from something broken/hollow)

A woman (女) who is always carrying heavy sacks of rice (米) becomes worn out.

楼

lou

storied building; floor

tree 木 [mù] + rice 米 [mǐ] + woman 女 [nǚ]

A wooden tower (木) where rice (米) is stored by women (女) who are using this 

storied building as a storehouse

数

shu

to count; number;

frequent

rice 米 [mǐ] + woman 女⁹⁶[nǚ] + strike 攵 [pū]

a women (女) is carrying a sack of rice (米), which are hit by an official with a baton (攵), who is counting the number of rice sacks carried on their heads

唐

tang

the Tang Dynasty;

to exaggerate

(from the "grand speech" concept)

荒唐  =  absurd/ridiculous

in a classroom 广 the written 肀 poems are recited 口 by kids, thus giving an homage to the Tang Dynasty, China's golden age of culture and poetry

糖

tang

sugar, candy

rice 米 [mǐ] + pounding/Tang Dynasty 唐 [táng]

thanks to the abundance of rice, the Tang Dynasty was able to trade the surplus for sugar