Chapter 33 The Parrot Who Learned Skills from a Master

"Then we definitely need to send something over."

In the evening, Wang Yuelan bought shepherd's purse, sat under the eaves picking the roots, threw them aside and said, "You were well taken care of by them during the years you observed mourning for your parents, so you should send something back with you."

"Then I'll buy some soy sauce, fragrant drinks, loose tea, and also some cloth and yarn."

Lin Xiushui walked from the kitchen to the room where the cloth was stored. She had been worried about this matter and had collected a lot of cloth with beautiful patterns and colors. She packed it into a bundle and divided it into three portions.

In fact, she had told the aunts in Shanglintang that she would go back before Qingming Festival to pay respects at her parents' graves, since a round trip would cost several dozen coins.

“Since you’ve already bought them, why not buy some more to make some soup, tea, or medicine? Spring plowing is busy, so it’s good to make some to nourish your body,” Wang Yuelan got up from the low stool and stood up, leaning against the wall. “Just pack them up, and I’ll have someone take them to you.”

"The Chen family, who run the freight business near the watermill, are well-known. The father and son have been doing quite well in business this year. I heard from your Aunt Chen last time that they went to Mingzhou to transport mulberry seeds. They won't be back for a long time."

Lin Xiushui tightened her pack. After thinking it over, she realized that Chen Jiuchuan's business had started last year, and he had been traveling between the town and Shanglintang for the past few years.

She didn't know much about it. "It should be this month. We can't expect Auntie and Sang Ying to farm ten or so acres of land by themselves. I heard that the land tax has increased again this year, and the price of rice hasn't gone up. Before I came, they said they wanted to switch to planting mulberry trees, but the higher-ups are preventing them from doing so."

“I suffered from having fields. There are still many sandy fields in Shanglintang. Mulberry trees are the best plant, but we end up planting early rice every year,” Wang Yuelan pouted. She just couldn’t stand working in the fields, having to plant two rice crops a year, so she sold her fields and came to the town.

The two didn't discuss this further, but Wang Yuelan brought it up again, "Go to the town government tomorrow morning. Your household registration certificate is with me, so you won't have to pay any extra tax."

"I can finally relax. Luckily, you're capable too."

Lin Xiushui then went to fetch three hundred coins to pay for household expenses. She had calculated the amount and knew that her aunt would not accept any more.

After she finished speaking, she threw the copper coin on the table and said, "I'm going to find Sizhen at the Li family's private school up ahead. I want to learn two characters."

"Go if you want, but why throw money around? You brat, invite them over for a visit."

Sizhen came earlier to ask her to sew and patch a schoolbag. Her family ran a private school, located south of the overpass. The school wasn't big, but it had quite a few children.

“You want to learn to write?” Sizhen, who was applying plum blossom makeup, ran over from under the eaves and took her hand. “That would be wonderful! Your hands are so skillful, practicing writing will definitely be no problem for you.”

"You're so busy, do you even have time to write? Don't go looking for my dad, he's an old-fashioned man, he'll ramble on and on when he's teaching. If you want to learn, come find me, I've practiced good calligraphy, and I can teach you the Three Hundred Characters and the Thousand Characters."

These three hundred and thousand are the Three Character Classic, the Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic, which are the first three things children learn when they go to elementary school.

Lin Xiushui was also delighted, her eyes crinkling with joy. "I was just worried about not finding someone to teach me, but thank you so much, Sizhen. I should become your student."

Sizhen said, "No, that won't do. I'll teach you calligraphy, and you can teach me needlework. My needlework skills aren't very good, so we can learn from each other's strengths and make up for each other's weaknesses."

She took a book of Chinese surnames from her father and stuffed it into Lin Xiushui's hand. "Here you go. Learn your surname first. Since you know a few characters, you should study it more and learn to write your own name before you start learning."

"Two trees make a forest, your surname is both pleasant to hear and easy to write."

Under her guidance, Lin Xiushui spent over a hundred coins to buy cheap paper and pens. Sizhen dipped the pen in ink and wrote a beautiful monogram, the character "Shui" (water), written very gracefully. Nowadays, people use monograms or signatures to replace their names.

"Since you're in business, you'll inevitably need to use monograms. Let me make a fool of myself and write one for you. You're good at drawing patterns, so your copying skills must be quite good. Writing is the same as drawing; just follow the pattern. Practicing calligraphy requires hard work. If you want to write well, you can't stop, no matter the weather. Just learn what you can use."

Sizhen's handwriting is not cursive script, but small regular script, with each stroke neat and elegant, which is very suitable for Lin Xiushui to write.

But writing is a completely different thing. Holding a pen and holding a needle are two completely different things. Drawing a paper pattern and writing are also two completely different things. Lin Xiushui can write, but when she writes, she always swallows the pen and makes it sticky and messy, as if she wants all the ink to stick together.

Sizhen spoke gently, “Take it slow, you’ll get much better with practice.”

Lin Xiushui was at a disadvantage in writing, but Sizhen was not good at needlework, so she taught her how to hold a needle and tie a thread, how to practice sewing, and how to be clever if she couldn't do it well. She taught her how to make sachets by tying persimmons with orange round cloth, or embroidering goldfish, etc.

The two didn't talk about money; instead, they learned each other's strengths without holding back, teaching each other what they knew, and their relationship naturally grew closer.

In any case, Lin Xiushui learned a lot in just one hour. At least she could write a monogram. She would practice more when she got back. She firmly believed that with hard work, she would be able to write beautiful characters one day.

I would go back and write, writing by candlelight for half an hour at night, carefully scribble on the edges, and then, ignoring the ink on my fingers, I would pick up the paper and admire my writing by the candlelight.

The more I look at it, the more satisfied I become. My self-evaluation: Excellent.

In reality, there was no stroke order or structure; it was purely based on drawing, and she was extremely satisfied with it.

So much so that she woke up late the next day when someone called her from downstairs. She combed her hair into a simple bun, put on her clothes, and went downstairs. When she opened the door, she saw the bird keeper, with a bird on each of his shoulders.

Cuihua flapped her wings and gently flew to her shoulder, asking, "Have you eaten? Have you eaten?"

"You haven't eaten yet? You got up early to eat bugs?" Lin Xiushui nodded its head.

Cuihua turned her head away; it wouldn't eat insects.

Lin Xiushui thought it was a business opportunity, but when she saw it was just the man and two birds, she waved, "Come in, don't block their way." Wang Yuelan was cooking beans inside, and there was a fragrant drink on the stove. She went in, poured a cup, and handed it to the bird keeper, then turned to the two birds and asked, "Would you like some?"

"Drink!" Cuihua shouted, and Abao, hiding behind the bird keeper's neck, cooed.

Lin Xiushui brought a bowl of water for the two birds to drink. The bird keeper put Abao down and smiled at Lin Xiushui, saying, "Thank you for your help, young lady. The magpie hasn't come back, and Abao is finally no longer frightened."

He then pointed at Abao, his mustache twitching with a smile. "I came early to tell the young lady that Madam Su knows someone with amazing ventriloquism skills who can sing the songs of a hundred birds. She introduced him to me, and since Abao likes to imitate bird calls, I thought it would be better to let him learn from a master. I don't want to hinder him in the future."

Lin Xiushui was not surprised at all that the bird had learned from her. She teased Abao, "Come and sing it out."

Cuihua exclaimed, "Listen!"

Po took a sip of water, preened its feathers, and, to its credit, looked up and called out, "Cuckoo, cuckoo."

Lin Xiushui laughed heartily, "It should be sent there, but what about Cuihua?"

"Cuihua and I will take Abao to school in the morning, and in the afternoon we will go to the pine forest in the west, ride on people's firewood boats, collect some pine cones, and let them fly around in the forest."

After the bird keeper finished speaking, he rubbed his hands together and finally revealed his purpose for coming. He said hopefully, "It's about taking them as apprentices. It's not appropriate for Abao to go naked. I wonder if the young lady could make some clothes for them?"

“I saw that miserly rooster wearing a bright red floral coat, swaying back and forth on the street, and I was very envious. After all, chickens and birds are inseparable, and I also wanted to get my two birds to wear clothes.”

"What kind of product? Thirty coins per piece."

Lin Xiushui had no more hesitation or inner struggle. She had already made clothes for chickens, so what difference did it make to make clothes for parrots?

And coincidentally, there was a newly made small cloth ruler that she had used while making clothes for the dolls. It was just right to use on the parrots. She took the cloth ruler and asked the bird keeper, "Are these two both female?"

"No, Cuihua is male, and Abao is female."

Lin Xiushui looked at Cuihua and asked calmly, "You said, is this a male?"

"Gong dong dong!" Cuihua jumped up and flew around Lin Xiushui, calling out.

"Okay, stop shouting, I know you're male," Lin Xiushui was about to be driven crazy by the noise. She asked Abao to come over and measured his chest circumference. She then measured his abdomen with the measuring tape and muttered to herself, "This is the first time I've made clothes for a bird. You'd better do your best and find a good master. When I see you again, you'll be the bird that speaks the best bird language in the world."

Wait, no, this Abao is speaking bird language. Lin Xiushui then said to Cuihua, "Then you should learn more and become a bird that speaks human language."

“Speak bird language, speak bird language,” Cuihua cupped her hands in front of her.

Lin Xiushui couldn't speak bird language, so she shut up. She took out some paper and drew several paper patterns. Birds don't have many clothes to wear, especially to expose their wings so as not to hinder them from flying.

Moreover, parrots are not very big, so sleeves cannot be long. The most suitable garment is a suspender-style cover-up, with the fabric covering the parrot's bottom. She calls the one she makes a "butt pocket".

She made a light blue coat for Abao, sewed a small white hat on the back, and sewed a small ball of yarn onto it. The little green parrot wore a blue silk coat, put on the hat, and showed its tiny eyes, tilting its head and cooing.

Cuihua insisted on wearing red, a bright red and bright green combination that Lin Xiushui couldn't bear to look at. She also wanted a red hat and kept tugging at Abao.

Lin Xiushui suppressed a laugh, made a God of Wealth hat for it, a right-angled turban style, put it on its head, and taught it to say, "Wishing you prosperity."

Cuihua shook her little head, her red hat swaying back and forth, and circled around, calling out, "Wishing you prosperity!"

The bird keeper was overjoyed; he was practically dancing on the spot. He wished he could travel from the south to the north, from the east to the west of Sangqing Town, so that everyone would know about his parrot. But he was afraid of being targeted, so he had to suppress this thought.

He simply said calmly, "Young lady, make a few more outfits; I have money."

Finally, Lin Xiushui also went to observe A Bao's apprenticeship. A Bao didn't have much talent for imitating human speech, but he could imitate other bird languages ​​very well.

The old master imitated the cooing sound of a turtledove, and Abao followed suit, calling out, "Coo-coo, coo-coo."

When it comes to learning the melodious and long calls of the thrush, Abao learns them effortlessly, their calls are beautiful. He can also learn the small and delicate calls of the lark after listening to them only once, while lowering his voice.

The old master laughed loudly and deliberately teased it, barking like a puppy.

Abao was clearly stunned. He raised his head to look for the dog, jumped around on the bird keeper's shoulder, and finally stared at the man, calling out uncertainly, "Woof!"

The master craftsman cherishes talent, whether it's a human or a bird. "Hey, this is a good bird. I've been in this business for over twenty years and have taken on about ten apprentices, but they've all been human. I've never taken on a bird apprentice before. Bring it over every day and learn how to amuse me."

“Good! Good!” Cuihua exclaimed, “Good, Abao!”

Ah Bao, on the other hand, was very reserved. He flew around in circles inside the house, and the master bird master was satisfied with his apprentice in every way.

Lin Xiushui smiled and went out, walking slowly down the road with her hands behind her back. In the deserted alley, she cleared her throat and imitated a bird call, "Coo-a-coo," which was extremely unpleasant and startled two sparrows perched on the eaves, who kept staring at her.

Sigh, it seems she's really not cut out for this line of work.

Lin Xiushui decided to sew her clothes instead, and picked up the needle as soon as it was convenient.

As Lin Xiushui entered the clothing shop, she glanced at the signboard in front of the door. Gu Niangzi was hanging a pleated skirt made of pure gauze. The spot where it was hung was perfect, with light shining right in. The gauze looked its best when it was illuminated by the light, shimmering with a bluish glow.

It attracted many young ladies who came to take a look, wanting to buy one to wear on the Shangsi Festival. When they heard the price was three strings of cash, they hesitated and wanted to find fault with it. However, the silk satin was so fine that there wasn't even a single loose thread, let alone any other flaws. One young lady said, "It's really beautiful, but it's a pity that the price is too high."

Another young woman stared at it closely and said, "Look at this satin. In other cloth shops, there are other dark-colored threads mixed in, but you see there aren't any here. There isn't even a regular weave gap. I really like it. I can't find anything I like, so I think I should buy one. I think it's worth it. I want to buy it."

Lin Xiushui listened from the side, tilting her head slightly. This was something she had painstakingly woven and mended, and there were absolutely no mistakes.

Unexpectedly, before noon, while she was chatting and laughing with Xiao Chun'e while Da Chunling was practicing ironing the cloth, Gu Niangzi came to call her, "A Qiao, come out for a moment."

"We'll talk about it when we get back."

Lin Xiushui ran out and saw the two young women she had seen that morning. One of them had tears streaming down her face and her eyes were red and swollen. She was crying while hugging the new satin dress she had bought that morning: "I wanted to buy a pair of embroidered shoes, but someone pushed me and I fell. This dress happened to be hanging on the side of the carriage and it got ripped in a big way. It's a brand new dress that I wanted to wear tomorrow."

She had been crying all the way here. She had spent the money she had saved up for half a year to look at Gu Niangzi's clothing shop for two days. In the end, she couldn't bear to part with it and reluctantly bought the dress, thinking that she would wear it out on the Shangsi Festival tomorrow.

She was so happy when she bought it, holding it in her arms and loving it dearly. But when it fell and tore her skirt, she was heartbroken and cried uncontrollably. It was only after her friend persuaded her to come back to the shop, saying that there might be a solution, that she returned.

Lin Xiushui couldn't bear it, so she gave her a handkerchief and comforted her, "Alright, don't cry. Let me see your dress; maybe I can mend it."

"Really, really?" the young woman sobbed. "It was all my fault. There's nothing I can do. Waaah!"

Lin Xiushui took the gauze skirt first. She looked over the hole. If it were an ordinary hole, she could take the thread and mend it. But when she turned to the tear in the middle, near the bottom, she tugged at it and found that it was obviously caused by a broken warp thread. The tear looked like a spider web. It wasn't completely torn, but the threads that were supposed to be broken were all snapped.

This kind of tear can't be completely cut off and patched up, otherwise when she cuts it, all the seams will break, and the lower half of the skirt will be ruined, turning into a short skirt, and nobody wears short skirts on the street.

"I'll give it a try first," Lin Xiushui said, not entirely sure. This was something she had never encountered before in her sewing work. The only way was to pick out the broken threads as she went, picking out each broken thread and patching it one by one. The worst thing was that when she finished picking out the broken threads and cut them to patch, the other threads would break.

Gu Niangzi assured Lin Xiushui and the young lady, "If it's mended, everyone will be happy. If it's not mended, it's okay. I can buy the dress from you, but you'll have to spend a hundred coins to pick out another dress."

The young lady nodded in agreement, but in reality, she still wanted the dress, which she had been looking at for a long time before finally buying it.

This time, four or five people surrounded Lin Xiushui to look at her. She had been looked at so many times that she was not afraid. She took out an embroidery frame, scissors and tweezers, sat down, fixed the gauze skirt on the embroidery frame and began to pick out the gauze.

With many threads broken, she carefully picked out one, cut it under the watchful eyes of several people, took out the remaining thread, threaded it onto the needle, and tied it to the far left. Since the vertical threads were also breaking and coming back together, she had to be even more careful to mend them.

Picking out the threads was difficult, patching them was difficult, so she rubbed her eyes, shook her hands, and then slowly picked up the threads, removed them, and immediately patched them up. Gradually, the tattered fabric, which was originally like a spider web, was transformed back into a perfectly intact gauze skirt as she picked up the needle and started stitching.

Those who saw it were dumbfounded, blinking hard and not daring to utter a sound. She simply put away her things, stood up, and handed over the skirt, saying, "Take a look."

The young woman wiped her face and then quickly rubbed herself thoroughly before taking the dress for a closer look. She grabbed her friend and exclaimed, "It's really mended! There's no trace of it! Waaah, I can wear this dress out now! This young woman is amazing; she saved my dress!"

She was crying and laughing at the same time, which made everyone laugh. Lin Xiushui said with a smile, "As long as you can wear it, it's fine. It's not a waste of money. A nice dress suits a beautiful woman. Stop crying."

“I can’t stop, I, I cry like this every time I cry, I’ll give you money.”

Madam Gu said, "No need, just take the skirt back with you and put in a good word for us. Skirts bought from my shop can be repaired for free if they have holes. For other skirts, bring money and we'll see if the repairman can fix them."

The young woman finally smiled, bowed to Lin Xiushui, shook hands, and expressed her sincere gratitude, her eyes full of appreciation for Lin Xiushui's skills. Only then, urged by her friend, did she leave, turning back every few steps.

Gu Niangzi secretly gave Lin Xiushui one hundred coins, saying, "You've worked hard these past few days. I've already said that if any of your gauze skirts get torn, you'll have to mend them. The money for mending the gauze is all yours."

Gu Niangzi gained fame through this incident, while Lin Xiushui made a real profit. The two of them made money from each other, and the young lady also spoke highly of it outside. Many people knew that there was a young lady in Gu Niangzi's clothing shop who was very skilled at mending clothes.

Lin Xiushui didn't show her face, but she became somewhat famous in Sangling Lane. People even came to her to mend their yarn, which brought some business to Gu Niangzi's shop.

Xiao Chun'e clicked her tongue in amazement. "When did I become so famous for burning charcoal? Someone came to my door saying, 'I came specifically to find Xiao Chun'e, the charcoal burner. Without her, my stove at home just won't burn properly. I beg her to come and take a look. I'll give her ten coins.'"

"Can you say more about the money?" Da Chunling glanced at her sideways, thinking how she had no ambition at all.

Xiao Chun'e spat, "What do you know? I'm just exaggerating to make myself seem greedy."

Lin Xiushui coughed and laughed from the side, "Then you can be my assistant, and I'll give you ten coins."

“That’s not right,” said Xiao Chun’e. “I should be holding the bowl and saying, ‘Please, give me some,’ and then you should say, ‘I’ll give you a hundred coins.’”

"I'll give it to you tonight."

Xiao Chun'e didn't believe it: "Really?"

"I'll give it to you if you can dream about me."

Lin Xiushui started sewing clothes again, feeling very happy. She had finally saved some money, about five or six hundred coins. Moreover, Madam Gu told her that she didn't have to work tomorrow and that she could also celebrate the Shangsi Festival.

During the Shangsi Festival, the two most lively places in Sangqing Town are the perfume shops, because people flock there to bathe and scrub themselves thoroughly.

Secondly, there's the Qiantang River and West Lake. Those with boats would head there, while those without would spend a dozen or so coins to take a boat trip. There were water puppet shows where the artisans would manipulate the puppets to paddle the small boats. There were also vendors selling fish soup and various other foods on the boats. The water was so crowded it was like fish laying eggs.

There are many boats going out and many boats coming into the town. People gather in the stream and boats sail on the river.

From the fifth watch of the night, Lin Xiushui heard someone opening the door and scooping water from the river, carrying buckets of it home. She yawned and got up. It was foggy outside. Looking around, she saw that people on the opposite bank were boiling water, and there was a smell of soapberry.

She heard Wu Dabing screaming and Chen Guihua scrubbing him. Just from the sound, Lin Xiushui felt it was torture. Sometimes she wondered how Chen Guihua could scrub someone's skin off with that kind of strength.

Lin Xiushui found it terrifying just thinking about it; Chen Guihua must have some extraordinary abilities to survive in the perfume industry.

After she finished combing her hair, she opened the window and saw more and more boats appearing on the river. She saw several familiar faces, leaned out, and asked, "Lotus Maiden, where are you going?"

“I told you, don’t be shy, we’re going to the temple to pray for a child.”

After Lotus Maiden finished speaking, she and the other ladies burst into laughter. "Look at her, she doesn't understand at all. The Shangsi Festival is also a good day for praying for a child."

"I don't believe it," Lin Xiushui knew that the people in Sangqing Town didn't have much desire to have children. If a boy was born, the government had to provide salt, silk, and cloth; if a girl was born, the family had to prepare a dowry. Most families couldn't afford to raise so many children, so the most popular and numerous temples here were the Silkworm Flower Bodhisattva Temples.

Lotus Lady pointed to the other ladies and said, "I told you not to make fun of her, or she wouldn't mend your clothes next time."

"To be honest, we're going to dig shepherd's purse. The shepherd's purse in the south is better. We'll dig some up later and send some to you. You can wear it in your hair as a shepherd's purse flower and it will protect you from headaches."

Lin Xiushui believed it; it was indeed a custom of the Shangsi Festival, which said that wearing shepherd's purse flowers would prevent headaches for a year and eliminate the root of illness.

She waved to the ladies and went downstairs. There she saw a pile of shepherd's purse on the table, which Wang Yuelan was picking. Seeing her come down, she said, "I'm only doing this because of you. It's all for you."

“That was given by Madam Zhao, and by Madam Zhang. They came by boat from across the street from the Li family. They told you to wear shepherd’s purse flowers all over your head. Come here, let me put them on for you.”

Fortunately, the shepherd's purse flowers were also beautiful, small clusters of white flowers. Lin Xiushui wore them all over her head, making it look like she had grown white hair, which was quite funny.

Today, Wang Yuelan wore a brand-new plum-green jacket, which Lin Xiushui made overnight. She didn't plan to wear it to work; she wanted to show it off outside.

Lin Xiushui opened the door to go out and take a look, just in time to run into a group of people from the Street Office carrying ladders, heading forward. She took two steps forward and asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

“Young lady, let’s go down to the old mulberry tree in Nanwazi. A litter of kittens has been born there, and the mother cat is meowing. Let’s think of a way to get them down.”

"Why don't you go and take a look? Maybe you can get the cat lady's permission and even hire one to take home and raise."