"Don't worry, Yunniang. I can't let myself down, no matter who I let down. This is something I'm willing to learn, so please teach me."
Sun Miao'er spoke sincerely, and her heart was set on remaining faithful to him to the end.
Yunniang picked up the cotton thread on the spinning wheel and said, “Remember this thickness. It takes about six threads to make one. If the thread is too thick, reduce the number accordingly; if it is too thin, increase the number. But do not do it haphazardly. If the thread is even slightly different, the final product will be completely different.”
"Hold it in your hand and feel it," Yunniang said.
Sun Miao'er twirled the cotton thread and caressed it carefully. The feel of cotton thread and silk was very different, and their softness and hardness were also very different. Cotton thread was rough and soft, while silk was stiff and smooth. She could only rely on her memory to find the feel.
She wasn't sure how much of it she could remember.
"Come, sit here."
Yunniang got off the wooden stool and stood behind Sun Miao'er, gesturing for her to sit down.
Sun Miao'er sat on the wooden stool, facing the huge spinning wheel in front of her, feeling completely helpless. She was at a loss as to which foot to step on or which hand to hold the shuttle.
Yunniang said patiently, "Don't rush, take your time."
"Put this foot here, and hold this hand." Yunniang held her wrist and guided her to the right position. After adjusting her posture, she began to let her practice.
Sun Miao'er's palms were already sweating as she held the shuttle. If she didn't have a talent for this, wouldn't she disappoint Yunniang?
However, Yunniang did not show any intention of urging, but said gently: "Feel it first, feel the feeling of holding the shuttle and stepping on the pedal. Memorizing the formula is useless. Only the feeling of your own body is real."
"If you only memorize the formulas, the things you make may be beautiful, but they will be soulless. On the other hand, cloth woven by feeling can be felt by others."
Yunniang recounted her secrets, hoping to enlighten Sun Miao'er.
She felt that this girl had a talent, not a talent for weaving, but a talent for perception.
As Sun Miao'er felt the wooden shuttle, the temperature of her palm gradually approached that of the shuttle. She could no longer feel the coldness of the wood; it seemed as if the shuttle and her hand had become one.
Mentally tapping out the rhythm on his feet, he muttered it aloud, one tap, two taps, three taps, and it seemed he had found the right feeling.
She looked up at Yunniang, and Yunniang looked back at her.
Yunniang smiled and said, "Why don't you give it a try?"
Sun Miao'er took a deep breath and finally took her first step, the shuttle in her hand slowly passing through and landing on her foot.
Yunniang affirmed, "Yes, that's it. Let's do it again."
Feeling reassured by the affirmation, Sun Miao'er worked faster.
Yunniang stared intently at her hands, just so she could remind her at any moment.
“No, here, go back and start over.” Yunniang interrupted her, and said seriously, “This is practice. You can go back and weave, but if you really start weaving, the traces of going back and weaving will be very obvious. In that case, the finished product will be defective and unusable.”
Sun Miao'er's heart tightened, she nodded, and dared not be careless.
After a short while, she was finally able to synchronize her hands and feet, but she was still clumsy at weaving through the threads.
Looking at what she had woven, it was worlds apart from what Yunniang had just woven.
The cloth woven by Yunniang was smooth and neat, shimmering with luster, while the cloth woven by her was crooked, rough, and painful to the touch, and less than one-tenth the length of the cloth woven by Yunniang.
It's too difficult.
Sun Miao'er sighed inwardly.
Yunniang put away the shuttle and said in a calm tone, "Let's stop here for today. You can come over to practice first thing tomorrow morning. If you've been staying at the manor these past few days, and if the silk is precious, you can bring some raw silk with you. I can weave a section for you first, but you can't slack off."
Sun Miao'er was more than happy to agree, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, Yunniang!"
Apart from the attic, Wang Xueru had already circled around the courtyards of the concubines and returned. "How was it, Miao'er? Why did you take so long to go up there?"
"It's difficult," Sun Miao'er sighed. "It's really difficult."
"Are you confident?" Wang Xueru pressed.
Sun Miao'er shrugged. She had only been knitting for a short while, and her shoulders and neck were already slightly sore. "Probably."
She rubbed her temples, tilted her head back to let the cool breeze blow on her, and asked, "Is Old Master Wei's house fun?"
"It's fun!" Wang Xueru nodded. "Those concubines are noisy, but they don't make things difficult for anyone."
They certainly wouldn't make things difficult for you; they'd be too busy trying to curry favor with you.
Sun Miao'er sighed, "We can't go back for a while. Even if Yunniang does it herself, it will take several days to weave the raw silk."
"That's alright, I'll just write a letter back to my father and tell him."
Sun Miao'er absentmindedly agreed and continued, "Xue Ru, remember to send a letter home as well. I'm worried that Grandma will be concerned if I stay away for too long."
"Don't worry, I was prepared."
Over the course of their time together, Sun Miao'er and Wang Xueru's relationship grew increasingly close, becoming more like sisters who could talk about anything. Wang Xueru had followed her father around since childhood and was unwilling to be confined to a caged bird. Sun Miao'er was knowledgeable and often shared interesting anecdotes to amuse Wang Xueru.
They were both delighted to have made such a friend.
Having solved the problem of raw yarn, the next thing to consider is dyes.
The unique feature of Xiangyun yarn is that it is also dyed by plants, using a plant called ochre, but she had never seen what ochre looks like.
Next, she will definitely need to test the color, test the dye, and then mix the color. She needs to personally control every step of this process, and there can be no mistakes.
Especially during the dyeing process, the colors of fabrics appear different depending on whether they are in hot or cold weather. She needs to control this extremely precisely, because if the weather suddenly turns cold, all her previous efforts could be wasted.
The most important step, she remembered, was crossing the river mud to get the Xiangyun yarn.
This step was the most perplexing for her: crossing the muddy river. How to cross it, what kind of mud to use, red mud or black mud? Because she only remembered the general idea, she had to try it one by one before she would understand.
She couldn't even fully restore it, only make a rough one, but that should be enough.
After considering this, Sun Miao'er's mind was filled with the scene of weaving cloth. She was afraid that she would forget it, so she repeated Yunniang's movements in her mind again and again. She almost bumped into the steps while walking.
Be careful!
Fortunately, Wang Xueru caught her in time and teased, "Looks like I've stumped you!"
Sun Miao'er came to her senses, her forehead damp with sweat, and her head felt heavy in the wind. It had really been tough. She cleared her mind and said, "Everything is difficult at the beginning. Nothing in this world is difficult if you put your mind to it."
These words were ostensibly addressed to Wang Xueru, but they were also meant for her own comfort.
Now, the only thing I can do is comfort myself and keep going. Challenging something you've never done before is full of unknowns for anyone.
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