Chapter 52: Agreement reached!
Seeing that Su Mengxue was silent, Xu Rong smiled and reminded her, "Xiao Su, tell Sister Tang what you think!"
Su Mengxue recovered, a smile appeared on the corner of her lips, and she said politely: "Hello Sister Tang, I am Su Mengxue, this time I..."
"I don't recognize you. Are you a student at Jiangbei Fashion Institute?" Tang Qing interrupted.
Su Mengxue twitched her lips and replied truthfully: "No."
"Then who did you learn your craft from?" Tang Qing looked at her and asked with a burning gaze.
Just as Su Mengxue was about to speak, Xu Rong said with a smile, "Sister Tang, don't underestimate Xiao Su's youth. She is an expert in craftsmanship! This Su embroidery cheongsam I'm wearing was made by her herself."
Tang Qing's face darkened, his tone cold and hard: "In other words, you brought a nameless stranger here?"
"Sister Tang, please believe me this time. Xiao Su's craftsmanship is really..." Xu Rong hurriedly explained when she saw Tang Qing's face change.
Tang Qing's eyes stabbed at Xu Rong like knives. "For such an important event, can any random person on the street make clothes for me? Okay, I don't have time to waste on you. Take everyone away."
Xu Rong said sincerely, "Sister Tang, I really want to help you."
Tang Qing raised his eyelids slightly and said sarcastically, "Xu Rong, do you want to help me or are you thinking about my family's land? We both know it very well."
Xu Rong's eyes twitched. She really lost more than she gained. She realized later that she was too reckless this time. Not only did she offend Tang Qing, but she also completely lost the opportunity to cooperate on the land in the north of the city.
She knew that staying here would only make the situation worse. She suppressed her regret and forced a wry smile: "Sister Tang, I was inconsiderate. I will take everyone away now."
After she finished speaking, she winked at Su Mengxue and turned around first.
Su Mengxue, however, stood still.
Just as Xu Rong's fingertips touched the door handle, she caught a glimpse of Su Mengxue still standing there without moving. She thought that she was young and impulsive, and was not convinced by what Tang Qing said.
But this was not the place for her to act silly. Xu Rong turned back and approached her, whispering a reminder: "Don't be silly, hurry up and follow me."
Su Mengxue still stood there without moving.
Seeing her like this, Xu Rong's temples throbbed. This ignorant girl couldn't afford to cause any more trouble. She suppressed the urge to yell and grabbed Su Mengxue's arm tightly. The moment she turned around, she heard Su Mengxue speak.
"Sister Tang, it turns out that for you, fame is more important than real skills. No wonder this flashy design was approved. Since you believe in this, I won't make this dress."
As soon as the words fell, the air froze. No one could believe that someone dared to contradict Tang Qing in public. They held their breath and looked at the woman named Su Mengxue. She really didn't want to live anymore.
Xu Rong glared at Su Mengxue fiercely and angrily scolded, "Su Mengxue, how can you talk to Sister Tang like that? You really don't know your place."
After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Tang Qing and explained, "Sister Tang, Xiao Su is from a small place and doesn't know the rules. You must not bother with her. I will take her away now."
Just as Xu Rong was about to drag Su Mengxue away, Tang Qing raised his hand to stop her: "Wait."
After she finished speaking, she turned to look at Su Mengxue, a hint of ambiguous arc on the corner of her mouth: "Little girl, you are the first one who dares to talk to me like this. Since you say that my taste is not good, then tell me how to design this cheongsam?"
Su Mengxue straightened her back to meet Tang Qing's gaze, and replied calmly, "According to the original design, just embroidering the buttoned collar would take up most of the time. But if we change the traditional straight collar to an asymmetrical bias cut, and use a twill machine to sew flowing patterns to create a sense of fluidity, it would be more neat and save time than embroidering the buttoned collar."
After she finished speaking, she saw that Tang Qing was silent. Fearing that she might not understand, she quickly walked to the table, grabbed a pencil, and quickly sketched on the back of the design drawing.
Two minutes later, she showed her sketch to Tang Qing and said, "Sister Tang, if the neckline of the cheongsam is changed to a teardrop neckline, decorated with diamonds instead of embroidery, and the hem is layered with gradient gauze, it will naturally create a gradient effect when walking. This way, while preserving tradition, it will also make the guests remember this unique visual impact."
After a brief silence, Tang Qing narrowed her eyes and scanned Su Mengxue from head to toe as if examining her prey. "According to what you said, you can make eight pieces in three hours?" Her voice suddenly lowered. "Little girl, if you mess it up, how are you going to compensate me?"
Su Mengxue met Tang Qing's sharp gaze and replied truthfully: "Sister Tang, I'm just an ordinary citizen. I can't afford to compensate you for your losses."
Tang Qing spread his hands and sneered: "Then why should I believe you!"
Su Mengxue's fingertips traced across the crumpled blueprint on the table, her tone ending in an unquestionable certainty: "But do you have a second choice now?"
She paused and added, "At least according to what I said, you still have a chance of success."
Tang Qing saw Su Mengxue speak so bluntly, her face tense. She picked up the cigarette on the table and put it to her lips. The man standing beside her saw this and immediately trotted forward, took out a lighter and bent over to help her light the cigarette, but was scared back by her look.
She pulled a lighter from her pocket and lit a cigarette. The cigarette flickered between her fingers in the silence. Just as the cigarette was about to be finished, she suddenly sneered, slammed the metal lighter heavily on the table, and said, "Okay, I'll believe you this time."
As soon as the words fell, Xu Rong's heart finally relaxed. She said with a smile, "Sister Tang, Xiao Su will definitely not let you down."
Tang Qing glanced at Su Mengxue and instructed Lin Jie, "Give her the measurements, and then take her to the warehouse to select the fabric for cutting."
The man named Lin Jie bowed and replied, "I understand, Sister Tang." He then said to Su Mengxue, "Come with me."
Su Mengxue looked at Xu Rong, gave her a reassuring look, and quickly followed the man away.
After they left, Tang Qing said meaningfully to Xu Rong, "Xu Rong, since you're willing to take a gamble, I'll oblige you. If the finished product she makes satisfies me, I'll give you a fair chance to compete for that piece of land."
She changed the subject and said sternly, "If what she does does not satisfy me, I never want to see you in Jiangbei again."
Xu Rong's eyes darkened. At this point, they had no other choice. She nodded and said, "Sister Tang, I understand. However, I believe in her abilities and look forward to our future cooperation."
…
The moment the man named Lin Jie pushed open the iron door of the warehouse, Su Mengxue's breathing suddenly stopped. The sandalwood shelves against the wall were stacked with layers of silk, brocade, Hangzhou silk, and Sichuan brocade. All kinds of precious fabrics were available, much more than the rare fabrics kept in the bottom of the master's box.
The fact that they were able to gather so many scarce fabrics and arrange them so casually shows their strength.
Moreover, these fabrics are rare even in modern society, let alone in this era of material scarcity.
Seeing her standing there in a daze, looking like she had never seen the world before, Lin Jie sneered, "What? Never seen it? Little girl, you don't have to sit here for three hours. Let me kindly remind you, if you can't make clothes that satisfy Sister Tang in three hours, given her personality, you will definitely be in big trouble."
Su Mengxue came back to her senses and said calmly, "I'm sure, so you don't need to worry."
Seeing that the woman was young but still quite arrogant, Lin Jie chuckled and nodded, teasing, "Okay, okay, I'll see how you're going to handle this later."
Su Mengxue went forward and quickly selected the fabric. Lin Jie sent someone to help her move it and then took her to the tailoring place.
After Su Mengxue sat down in front of the sewing machine, she thought for a while and then started to get busy.
………
Sweat trickled down her neck into her collar, but it didn't slow her movements. She paused to adjust the stitch density on her sewing machine, then snatched up a pair of scissors to trim any excess thread. The fabric flew through her hands, gradually taking shape as a cheongsam.
At 11:50, Tang Qing and Xu Rong came with the girls who were displaying their collections. At the same time, Su Mengxue cut off the last thread with scissors and completed the last cheongsam.
Tang Qing walked up to her, looked up and down at the cheongsams neatly stacked on the table, took one out and shook it open. Her face was slightly gloomy, and her eyes revealed a dark emotion.
She looked at Su Mengxue and asked in a deep voice, "Is this your design?"
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