Pei Yan had a strange dream at night. In the dream, he was wrapped tightly in a long scarf and couldn't get out of it no matter what he did. He opened his eyes, took a few deep breaths, stood up, stuffed the soft cloth bag thrown on the table into the back of the closet, and closed the door heavily. The ups and downs of the uneasy feeling in his heart calmed down as the door closed.
Pei Yan got up and went downstairs to get a glass of water. He sat on the sofa and didn't want to turn on the light. Darkness brings fear to others, but sometimes it makes people feel extra safe. The light that came from nowhere flickered and moved on the walls of the house, a bit like... a glowing fish?
He remembered Hua Jin feeding the koi with fish food.
"Tsk." Pei Yan lowered his head and drank a sip of water, completely losing his sleepiness. He opened his phone to check his Moments, impatiently scrolling down, and he saw Hua Jinfa's Moments.
Fanhua: Seeing koi brings good luck.
Yang Shao liked this post on WeChat Moments.
Sooner or later, Yang Shao will be in trouble for his love of beauty. He threw his phone on the sofa and turned on the TV. The late-night show was not good. It was actually replaying the opening ceremony of an award ceremony. The male and female stars on it were competing with each other for beauty. He felt impatient after watching it for a while.
Insomnia is really annoying.
Hua Jin was still a little dazed when she squeezed into the subway and went to the store early in the morning.
"Huahua, you're here?" Tan Yuan looked unhappy. "When I was tidying up the store just now, I found something missing."
"What's missing?" Hua Jin put down her bag and recalled the customers she had met in the past two days. "Do you want to check out the surveillance footage from the store over the past two days?"
Tan Yuan felt a little guilty. Hua Jin was not in the store yesterday and she was the one looking after it, so things got lost. What was lost were very memorable things that Hua Jin bought when she just learned embroidery.
"It's the auspicious cloud pattern scarf you embroidered. I remember you kept it in the small drawer over here..."
"I took the scarf home when I closed the store the day before yesterday." Seeing that Tan Yuan didn't believe her, Hua Jin smiled and said, "I gave it away as a gift."
"Give it away?" Tan Yuan walked over to the side and sat down dejectedly. "Huahua, you don't have to say that the things have been taken away just to ease my guilt. I always remember how much effort you put into embroidering that scarf."
Back then, Hua Jin became her mother's apprentice. Her mother often praised Hua Jin for her talent and hard work. She was a little unhappy. Later, she found that Hua Jin was really talented in embroidery and was very respectful to her parents. Gradually, she became friends with Hua Jin.
She remembered that five years ago, Hua Jin, who had just learned embroidery for less than a year, had already mastered many kinds of needlework. In addition to learning embroidery, she usually read books to prepare for the self-taught college entrance examination. At that time, she was a sophomore and thought she knew more than Hua Jin. When she was ready to roll up her sleeves to teach her how to solve problems, she found that Hua Jin's thinking was very clear, and her level of answering difficult questions could be called a top student.
How could someone with such excellent grades not be admitted to university? She didn’t understand at the time, but later when they became good sisters who talked about everything, she realized that not everyone is born lucky.
"That scarf represents your growth. How could you possibly give it away?"
"What do you mean by growing or not growing?" Hua Jin was amused by Tan Yuan's literary statement. "That scarf is a men's style, but the embroidery pattern is rather fancy, and I don't have a boyfriend to give it to, so I just kept it."
"You have a boyfriend now?!" Tan Yuan's disappointment disappeared instantly, and she stared at Hua Jin with burning eyes, "Who?"
"The point is not about the boyfriend, but that the scarf was not lost, but was given away by me." Hua Jin laughed, "If I had a boyfriend, would I still hide it from you?"
"That's right." Tan Yuan nodded. "With our close sisterly relationship, if you had a boyfriend, the first thing you should do would be to treat me to a meal to celebrate your final release from singlehood."
"Then..." Tan Yuan approached Hua Jin, "Who did you give the scarf to?"
"I gave it to Pei Yan." Hua Jin said with emotion, "If such a handsome man uses the scarf I embroidered in winter, he will feel satisfied. I suddenly understand why some fashion designers or photographers sometimes favor a certain model. The essence of human nature is to like things that we think are beautiful, and we cannot escape the animal instinct to pursue beauty."
"What you said... makes sense." Tan Yuan nodded. "If there is a very handsome guy who is willing to display the lacquerware I made in his home, I would also be very happy."
"Eh~"
The two looked at each other and said in unison: "Vulgar!"
After selling an embroidered round fan and a gold-painted lacquer box in the morning, Tan Yuan took a look at the income from the past few months and looked at Hua Jin with a serious expression: "Hua Hua, I found something."
"What's the matter?" Hua Jin lowered her head and embroidered the panda without looking at Tan Yuan.
"I think your prayers to the koi fish may be useful. Only half of this year has passed, and our income has already doubled what we had last year." Tan Yuan said excitedly, "If we work harder in the second half of the year, we may be able to move towards the road to success and have a smooth future."
"Why don't we consider making the panda embroidered screen first?" Hua Jin changed a needle and carefully outlined the glossy texture of the panda's fur. "After finishing this, we can take another big step towards success."
"You have a point." Tan Yuan opened the video playback website on his tablet computer. "I was so busy with work these past few days that I even forgot there was a celebrity awards ceremony last night."
When Tan Yuan is working, she often has the habit of turning on the video. Even if she is fully engaged, she will turn on the video to add to the atmosphere. Hua Jin has long been accustomed to her little hobby and continues to embroider her own needle.
After an unknown amount of time, Hua Jin heard Tan Yuan suddenly exclaim in a low voice. She turned her head and looked at Tan Yuan: "What's wrong?"
"Hua Jin, look at the cheongsam this female artist is wearing." Tan Yuan paused the video and held the tablet in front of Hua Jin. "Is this the one you embroidered?"
Hua Jin looked at the video. The female star on the screen was wearing a well-tailored cheongsam and holding a hand-embroidered handbag. She clicked to continue playing, looked at it carefully for several times, and then nodded slowly, "It's made in our store."
Hua Jin and her colleagues have fixed partners in the process of making cheongsam handbags, and all are handmade by craftsmen. In recent years, most people engaged in the handicraft industry have had a hard time, so when they can cooperate, everyone chooses to eat from the same pot.
Sometimes when tailors encounter customers with high demands, they will ask them to embroider some beautiful patterns, and they will also put some cheongsams or shoes with beautiful embroidery patterns in the store to attract customers.
The cooperation of different traditional handicrafts makes it easier for customers to feel the unique beauty of traditional handicrafts.
Watching the actress walking under countless cameras on the screen, Hua Jin touched his chin and thought: "She looks very beautiful in this dress." It has both an ancient oriental beauty and a slim and graceful figure. Among the many female artists wearing evening gowns, she is unique.
"She is the female artist I told you about."
"Which one?"
"The one whose blood is sucked by his parents and who fills his brother's hole without limit."
"It turned out to be her." Hua Jin suddenly realized. No wonder she wrapped herself up tightly when she came to the store. When she mentioned the deposit, she reacted strongly and said in an almost forceful manner that she was not the kind of person who would buy something without paying. Some people who grew up in an unfair environment are particularly sensitive. Sometimes a simple sentence will make them think that others are deliberately targeting them. But often this kind of people are willing to show their generosity when others tell them how miserable they are. This kind of "magnanimity" will satisfy their hearts and give them a feeling that they are very powerful and needed. So when she said that she would be fined by the boss, the actress paid the deposit on the spot.
After dragging the progress bar back a little, Hua Jin sighed softly as she looked at the female artist with a perfect smile, waving to both sides of the red carpet from time to time. The glamorous red carpet, the perfect smile, who knows how much fatigue is hidden behind it?
After returning the tablet to Tan Yuan, Hua Jin asked, "What is the name of this female artist?"
"Zhao Ni."
When Zhao Ni woke up in the morning, she received a call from her assistant, who happily told her that her outfit last night was rated as the most beautiful outfit among female artists by netizens. Ever since she was repeatedly exposed by netizens for wearing fake dresses, she has been ridiculed online.
Some people mocked her for being rustic and unsophisticated, and some mocked her for being a black chicken pretending to be a phoenix. The more she was mocked online, the less sponsorship she could get. When she attended such events, no respectable fashion brand was willing to provide her with clothing. But she didn't dare to wear a knockoff dress again, so she had to grit her teeth and go to a seemingly reliable embroidery shop to order a cheongsam.
She thought netizens would laugh at her for being poor and not being able to wear branded goods, but she didn't expect to receive so much praise.
After hanging up the phone with her assistant, she opened the webpage and saw people praising her good figure, the tailoring of her cheongsam, and the embroidery on it. Some netizens took a screenshot and enlarged it, saying that it must have been handmade and the embroidery artist was very skilled.
Is the level very high?
Zhao Ni thought of the girl who received her in the embroidery shop. That girl didn’t look older than her. This cheongsam... shouldn’t have been embroidered by her, right?
That afternoon, an online video media came to interview Zhao Ni. At the end of the conversation, the reporter asked Zhao Ni why she changed her previous dressing style and chose embroidered cheongsam and embroidered bag.
"In fact, traditional craftsmanship also has its own unique beauty, but sometimes we forget it. The cheongsam I am wearing is not only cut entirely by hand, but the embroidery on it is also embroidered by the embroiderer stitch by stitch. I didn't know what this kind of embroidery was before, and it was not until the other party told me that this kind of embroidery is in the Shu embroidery style that I realized that there are different types of embroidery."
"As a public figure, I feel that I also have an obligation to promote traditional handicrafts so that more people can see and appreciate its beauty."
At this time, Zhao Ni naturally couldn't say that she really didn't have the money to hire a designer to make a custom dress for her, so she turned the topic to traditional art, which not only concealed her embarrassing reality, but also took the opportunity to improve the public's favorability. Another point is that the store helped her to redeem herself from the past, so she could say a few more words, which was also a return of favor.
The fact turned out to be as Zhao Ni had expected. After the interview video was broadcast, several artists in the circle who had a good relationship with Zhao Ni came to ask her which master embroidered the embroidery on her cheongsam.
Zhao Ni did not hide anything and told the other party the name of her studio.
Seeing so many people like the embroidered cheongsams made in their store, they were very happy, but they could not rush out and say that the cheongsams were from their store. Moreover, the hot topics on the Internet change three times a day. Within a few hours, the hot entertainment news has become that a certain artist is in love.
A day or two later, the business in the store did not change much, and Hua Jin and Tan Yuan also let it go. During lunch, Tan Yuan asked curiously: "Hua Hua, Mr. Pei didn't come to see you in the past two days?"
"Is this weird?" Hua Jin took a sip of the soup. The free seaweed soup she ordered tasted a bit like hot pot water. She put down the plastic bowl and said, "We are from two different worlds. Do we really have to be good friends who can talk about anything?"
"But..." Tan Yuan bit his chopsticks, "I think Mr. Pei is a very nice person."
"If he was a bad person, why would he stand up and stop us two girls from being bullied by Cao Yi when he saw us two girls being bullied?" Hua Jin glared at Tan Yuan, "Don't bite the chopsticks."
"Oh." Tan Yuan put down his chopsticks obediently.
"But I can't really forget who I am just because he's nice to me." Hua Jin smiled, "But no matter what, knowing such a person, and him helping us beat up the scum, that's enough for us to be proud of for a long time."
"There's no 'we', there's only 'you'." Tan Yuan held his face and blinked teasingly, "Mr. Pei didn't invite me to see the internal exhibition."
"That can't be helped. I'm beautiful after all."
"Forget it, I still choose to sever ties with you and beat you to death."
While they were bickering, two men walked into the store. The man in front was in his thirties and was dressed very fashionably. The man behind him was carrying a camera and a bag, and looked like his follower.
As soon as Tan Yuan saw the two guests, he knew they were difficult characters, so he pushed Hua Jin and asked her to go and receive them.
Hua Jin is more experienced in dealing with these picky customers.
"Are you an assistant in the store?" The middle-aged man glanced at Hua Jin, as if he was picking out a piece of work that was not perfect. "Who are the embroiderers in your store?"
"Hello, customer. I am one of the embroiderers in the store." Hua Jin gave a standard smile.
"You are also an embroiderer?" The middle-aged man looked at Hua Jin's still very young face and was a little surprised. "I heard that the embroidery on Zhao Ni's cheongsam was done by the embroiderer of your studio. I don't know who this embroiderer is. I would like to discuss a cooperation with him."
"Thank you for your kindness. I will embroider the patterns on Ms. Zhao Ni's cheongsam."
Seeing the other person looking at her in surprise, Hua Jin's smile became even brighter.
This shocking and unexpected feeling was so pleasant, she liked it very much.
"I didn't expect that the embroiderer is so young and has such skills." The middle-aged man was shocked and then showed respect, "It's really surprising."
"Sir, you are too kind." Hua Jin shook hands with the other party, and turned her head to see Pei Yan standing outside the window. She was about to smile at him to show her courtesy, but Pei Yan turned around and walked away, as if a horror movie was playing in the store.
What's wrong with this?
The author has something to say: Pei Yan: As soon as that woman smiled, I knew she had bad intentions towards me╭(╯^╰)╮
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