"The use of mulberry wood ash water must be flexible. I have only given a rough demonstration. There are many intricacies involved, and this is all I can tell you."

Sun Miao'er wiped her hands clean and looked at the cloth fluttering in the wind under the sun, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Having gained Chen Ping's approval, the workers had nothing more to say and consciously shut their mouths.

"Miss Sun, these are sorghum cakes I made myself. I heard you haven't eaten yet, so I brought two for you to try."

In just one day, the spinners had become acquainted with Yunniang and were very hospitable to Sun Miao'er, lining up to offer her food and drinks.

Sun Miao'er took the still-warm sorghum cake, and a fragrant aroma of roasted grain wafted towards her. "Thank you so much, sisters. You are all so skillful, able to spin cloth and cook delicious food. I really admire you!"

"You have such a sweet tongue, young lady. You can talk a good game about sorghum cakes, but all you make are simple, rustic farm foods," the spinner said modestly.

Sun Miao'er held the sorghum cake, chatted with the spinning girl for a few more minutes, and then planned to go inside to practice what Yunniang had taught her.

"Red and yellow, let's tear off some floral fabric to make a skirt—"

Suddenly, a strange singing voice came from outside the workshop. The voice sounded sharp and mournful, and also seemed to be talking nonsense.

Sun Miao'er looked outside in the direction of the sound and saw several workers pushing and shoving a disheveled woman.

"Sister, what is this?" Sun Miao'er asked.

The spinners immediately showed expressions of utter disgust, wishing they could get away as quickly as possible.

Someone explained, "This is the crazy woman from our village. She went crazy many years ago and comes here every day at the appointed time to beg for food."

Sun Miao'er nodded in response; the woman looked rather pitiful.

Before she could take another look, several weavers kindly pulled her away, advising, "Don't look anymore! Anyone who crosses her will be unlucky for months! Hurry up and go!"

Sun Miao'er was pulled forward by the spinning girl. After taking only two steps, she heard the workers outside the door shouting, "The crazy woman has broken in!"

"Oh dear! What bad luck!" the weaver stomped her foot and cursed.

Before Sun Miao'er could react, the crazy woman had already rushed in front of her.

Beneath his disheveled hair was a dirty face smeared with mud and ash, but one could still vaguely make out his delicate features.

The madwoman stared intently at the sorghum cake in Sun Miao'er's hand, blocking her path.

Sun Miao'er looked at her, then down at the pancake, and asked softly, "Do you want to eat a pancake?"

The crazy woman nodded hurriedly, swallowing a few times as she did so.

As Sun Miao'er hesitated, several spinning girls nearby, fearing trouble, quickly said, "Miao'er, give her the cake! I have more at home, it's not worth fighting with a madwoman, let's go!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Miao'er handed over the cake, saying, "Here you go."

When the madwoman saw that she had been given the sorghum cake, a smile spread across her face, revealing a set of yellow teeth. She snatched the cake and danced around, shouting, "Hehehe, I have a cake to eat! I have a cake to eat!"

"You're so beautiful! I've seen you before, I've seen you before! Hahahaha!" The madwoman suddenly looked up, pointed at Sun Miao'er, and burst into a strange scream.

Sun Miao'er was frightened by her crazy behavior, especially the sentence "I've seen you before".

The other spinners nearby were also dumbfounded and interrupted, "Miss Sun, she usually likes to talk nonsense. Don't take it seriously. Let's go."

Where have you seen me before?

Sun Miao'er casually mentioned it before being pulled away by the spinning maid.

The crazy woman chuckled憨憨地, "In my own home, hehehe!"

Sun Miao'er's heart tightened. She wanted to ask something more, but the crazy woman had already been carried away and thrown out by the workshop workers.

Then, with a loud "bang," the workshop door slammed shut from the inside, but the madwoman's strange singing could still be faintly heard.

Sun Miao'er kept thinking about the phrase "I've seen you before." Was the madwoman's words true? If she had seen her body, where would it have been?

Or is it just ravings of a madman?

Unexplained doubts suddenly arose in her heart like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Since they were both madwomen, it was hard for her not to connect this woman with the original owner's missing mother, Song.

But she confirmed that the face was not the same person as the one in her memory.

"Sister, where does that woman live?"

Despite their disdain for the crazy woman, Sun Miao'er persisted in pressing for answers.

Mentioning the madwoman was fine, but as soon as she mentioned where she lived, Fangniang's face changed instantly, revealing a look of deep disgust. "Don't even mention it, a whole bunch of lunatics. What good could that guy surnamed Jin possibly be?"

Is your surname Jin?

Sun Miao'er immediately realized that it was related to Jin's family. She remembered that Aunt Liang had mentioned that Jin's father used to work in a brothel and had sold human flesh quite a bit.

Could it be that the disappearance of the Song family is also related to the Jin family?

It did serve as a reminder to her that her trip to Dahuai Village was worthwhile.

Back then, Song was angered by Jin's words and lost her mind in grief and indignation. Could it be that Jin did it intentionally? If so, it would be too horrifying.

Thinking this, Sun Miao'er felt a chill run down her spine. She still needed to find out whether the disappearances of the Jin family and the Song family were related.

It would probably be unwise for me to rush out and inquire about the Jin family. After all, the Jin family is a notorious family that everyone in Dahuai Village hates. Just by looking at the reactions of the spinning girls in the workshop, you can tell that I would probably be chased out with a broom before I could even find out anything.

She suddenly remembered that one of Old Master Wei's concubines had been acquired from the Jin family, and an idea came to her.

Sooner or later, we'll have to find out the truth about the Sun family's past. We can't let the original owner and Xiao Ning suffer all these years of injustice without knowing why.

When she started work in the afternoon, Sun Miao'er chose to sit on an empty spinning wheel and sat there for two whole hours before she finally managed to weave a few inches of yarn.

Yunniang came over and stared at Sun Miao'er's "masterpiece" for a while before slowly saying, "It's an improvement over yesterday, but you still need to speed up. If you keep weaving like this, you won't earn two qian of silver a month."

Sun Miao'er felt a little smug after receiving Yunniang's affirmation. It was rare for her hard work to be recognized, which gave her even more motivation.

When she arrived at Yunniang's spinning wheel and saw the raw silk being wound on it, she realized that her skill level was far inferior to Yunniang's.

The white raw yarn has already taken shape, with lifelike small jacquard patterns on it, revealing the creator's dedication in every detail.

"Can I do private work in the workshop?" Sun Miao'er asked in a low voice, afraid that others would hear her.

Yunniang smiled and said, "Don't worry, they won't recognize it anyway." Her slender fingers brushed across the satin. "The raw silk is of very good quality, it's top-grade."

Sun Miao'er smiled slyly and said, "I bought it at a higher price."

The two exchanged a knowing smile, understanding each other perfectly.