Chapter 101 Miscellaneous Clothing Times
Lin Xiushui's words were very persuasive, and eighteen young ladies agreed to try again after the Lantern Festival, asking if they wanted to be a tailor.
When they got home at night, the lights and firecrackers went off. Xiaohe covered her ears and ran away from behind Wang Yuelan. Wang Yuelan picked up the large red candle she had prepared and went to the shrine in the side room, where she asked Lin Xiushui to light it with a candle.
"We can't delay lighting these silkworm lanterns," Wang Yuelan said, pushing Lin Xiushui forward. Actually, she herself didn't light many lanterns before, since she didn't rely on raising silkworms for a living.
Silkworm farmers would light oil lamps or red candles and extinguish them on the first day of the Lunar New Year. This way, the auspiciousness of the silkworm lamps would continue through the transition from the old year to the new on New Year's Eve.
Ever since Lin Xiushui became famous for her love of butterflies and flowers, Wang Yuelan has been obsessed with praying to the Silkworm Goddess and the Silkworm Flower Goddess. She secretly burns a lot of paper money, asking Lin Xiushui's mother to bless her. She also goes to temples and prays to all kinds of gods, always thinking that it might come in handy.
Lin Xiushui couldn't do anything about her.
The next day, the first day of the Lunar New Year, the weather was gloomy and it snowed lightly. Lin Xiushui put on her new red silk dress, and many people came to wish her a Happy New Year early.
Among a group of familiar faces, there were two unfamiliar faces. One was a man wearing a brown hooded cap with the sides turned down to protect his ears. He was dressed in a black cotton-padded coat and had a book box slung over his left shoulder. The woman standing next to him was not clearly visible. Her blue-green hood was wrapped tightly around her, revealing only her eyes.
Lin Xiushui saw off Wang Erniang and the others. When only Xiaohe remained in the courtyard, the two finally crossed the threshold and entered the house. They first bowed, and the man explained his purpose.
“We two make a living by publishing tabloids,” Wang Ding said, bowing as he stepped forward. He was very honest. “My name isn’t very well-known; everyone just calls me Dog Tooth.”
First, his surname is Wang; second, it's said that nothing good comes out of a dog's mouth.
Beside him was his wife, whose name was much more elegant, because her real surname was Wen, and her name was Wen Lin.
The two men made a living by writing tabloids, but they rarely sold. They were always a few steps behind others in reporting on secret imperial documents, government officials, local gossip, and entertainment news. Wang Ding even went so far as to sneak through dog holes to eavesdrop on others going to the rooftops to gather information from the government, and he was caught red-handed and given a severe beating.
Wenlin, on the other hand, dreamed of being a talented woman and always felt that she should conquer the world with her literary talent. Neither of their parents wanted to pay attention to them, which was incredibly embarrassing. They were only willing to give them some money, which was like feeding dogs.
After hearing this, Lin Xiushui secretly thought that the two were a perfect match. After brewing the tea, she brought it to the two of them and asked with a smile, "So?"
“Our tabloid wants to write about you.”
Wenlin took off her hood, revealing her delicate face. She spoke softly, "We've all seen your clothes. You said your scissors have a name, called Rift Maiden."
"Truly remarkable."
"The character '裂' can also be interpreted in other ways."
“The crack can also be called the line of clothes.”
Wenlin was very interested in the clothes made by Lin Xiushui for the Nuo ritual. Lin Xiushui was also a famous figure in Sangqing Town recently. If she could write a small newspaper about her, she wouldn't have to worry about not being in the limelight.
She had already decided before she came that this issue of the tabloid could be called "A Panoramic View of Clothing".
Lin Xiushui's gaze swept over the two of them. She admired Wenlin's sharpness. Unlike what the two had thought, she didn't need to be persuaded or directly refused. Instead, she frankly said, "Okay, I'm willing."
"The name 'Lieyi Wanxiang' is very good."
Wenlin vowed at that moment that she would definitely write this tabloid well.
Lin Xiushui spent half a day discussing with the two. During this time, Wang Ding squatted down the whole time, saying that it was too open and aboveboard and he was not used to it. Wen Lin, on the other hand, wrote very quickly, bending over to write, without ever raising her head.
These two men used to gather all sorts of information. In order to save time, they did not use woodblocks for woodblock printing, but instead used wax blocks made of beeswax and rosin.
Within two days, while the people were immersed in New Year's greetings, rest, and entertainment, a tabloid about Nuo costumes suddenly appeared.
“A myriad of things,” the man muttered as he received the black-and-white tabloid. He opened it, then paused to examine it closely.
What does it mean to be on the list of clothing items, without distinction of high or low, encompassing everything?
Even the first large black banner tells the little-known story of Jumang, the god of spring.
He curled his lip, feeling somewhat disdainful, yet unable to look away.
His wife asked curiously, "What's unknown to others?"
Upon seeing the page, it was written that when the Spring God paraded through the streets, he had a huge flower branch on his head, among which were dozens of kinds of flowers. Real flowers such as winter plum came from the four gardens in the east, west, south and north of the town, while green sage, white daffodils, green calyx plum and so on came from the homes of people in various places. The rest of the flowers were made of silk to resemble flowers, made by the dough figurine shop.
This includes how to extract green moss, and what kind of bird mask to choose for a bird-faced human body, etc.
Further down, there are titles such as "The Unsolved Mystery of the Sunshine Maiden's Birthday," "Is She a Spirit Maiden or a Witch?", "The Long-tailed Green Silkworm Moth Flying Over the Three Rivers Estuary," "A Path from Penglai Mountain Leads to the Bluebird," "Cats, Dogs, and People's Porridge," and finally, the story ends with the auspicious combination of scissors, rulers, needles, and thread.
The whole story is very captivating. For example, the Rain-Sweeping Goddess is born in every rainy season to stop the rain and bring sunshine. She is actually born alongside the rain, so the red of her top is a watery red, and the sleeves are embroidered with swirling patterns, which are similar to water eddies, like raindrops falling into water and shaking out. The swirling patterns symbolize the endless water patterns, and also resemble bright and burning fire patterns, because the Rain-Sweeping Goddess always disappears in the end by being thrown into the fire.
The shaman is a woman. The deep blue color of the shaman's clothes comes from the bronze green of the former Chu region. Shamanism was prevalent there. The patterns on her body were embroidered talismans and blessings. Several colors of cyan, blue, yellow and red were embroidered with the lines for the eyes. The talismans were used to drive away ghosts and spirits, while the blessings were used to please them with words. Therefore, the shaman's clothes were complicated.
The bluebird's coat is entirely made of feathers, using more than a thousand feathers of various sizes, including its back feathers, belly feathers, forehead feathers, tail feathers, and eyebrows.
Finally, Lin Xiushui took the opportunity to thank everyone for their love and support. She said that her achievements were small, and that clothing originated from all things, hence the myriad forms of clothing.
Tabloids are usually for entertainment and sell for at most ten coins, but this one was priced at twenty coins and still sold out quickly, circulating among the wealthy and powerful.
The text, spanning several thousand words, describes all the subtle details that were unknown to others, as well as the many thoughtful touches of the tailors, even though the Nuo ceremony could only be viewed briefly on that day and people could not observe it in detail.
“I told you, we made the right choice in hiring the editor-in-chief this year,” the young woman, who had met Lin Xiushui a few times, said confidently. She held the tabloid in her hands and examined it repeatedly.
She had a thought: she really wanted to be a tailor like that.
This idea didn't just take root in her mind.
As the tabloids spread, the story behind the clothing business became known to everyone. Shui Ji was no longer just a good business; it had left an indelible mark on the hearts of most people in Sangqing Town: if you want to make good clothes, go to Shui Ji.
Some women valued Lin Xiushui more and wanted to hire her to make clothes at their homes for a large sum of money, but Lin Xiushui refused outright. The women were not giving up and kept increasing the money, which had already reached five or six hundred gold coins, but she remained unmoved.
Finally, unable to do anything about her, he angrily ordered more than a dozen pieces of clothing and gave her a large sum of money, trying to torment Lin Xiushui in this way.
All Lin Xiushui wanted to say was, "Give me more."
The circulation of tabloids was a good thing for Lin Xiushui, but it made Gu Niangzi very uneasy.
Finally, on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, he paid a visit to Lin Xiushui, not even waiting until the eighth day to start work.
When Lin Xiushui returned from her trip, Madam Gu had been waiting for over an hour, without drinking a drop of her tea.
She saw Madam Gu in the hall and looked somewhat surprised, but then smiled and said, "Why did you come all this way today, Madam? If I had known you were coming, I would never have gone out today."
Madam Gu said, "There are so many good dishes and meats this year, but I really can't eat or sleep. I thought I'd better come over."
Lin Xiushui understood. "It seems it's because of me."
“There’s no need for such formalities between us,” Madam Gu said, rising to her feet with the help of the black lacquered square table. “What are your plans for the future?”
Will you leave Gu Family Tailor Shop?
In fact, since the Butterfly Love Flower became popular at the end of last year, Madam Gu had wanted to ask, but after much deliberation, she ultimately did not speak. Even when Lin Xiushui said she wanted to leave, she could not actually stop her.
Even though Lin Xiushui was standing at the door, backlit, her eyes were still bright, and her tone was gentle, but her words were not, "Yes." She would indeed leave the Gu family tailor shop.
Lin Xiushui then said, "Don't worry, my wife, I will definitely leave the tailor shop in the future, but not this year."
"My wife, you have shown me great kindness, and I cannot part with my tailoring skills. I remember it all."
Lin Xiushui was always so frank, “But I also have ambitions. I think that in the future, when people mention tailors, they can compare us, or at least call us Gu in the North and Lin in the South.”
Gu Niangzi's heart sank, and she chuckled softly, "Perhaps, it's Nanlin Beigu."
"Let's discuss this properly when you come to the tailor's office the day after tomorrow."
Lin Xiushui's future should not be underestimated. Gu Niangzi was well aware that no one had ever shown their talent in the tailoring industry in just one year. A seed flies over thousands of mountains, takes root, and grows into a forest.
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Lin Xiushui sat in front of Madam Gu. This was the umpteenth time she had sat on equal footing with Madam Gu in this spacious yet exquisitely furnished room.
Madam Gu's expression remained unchanged, but Lin Xiushui seemed to see it in her mind. She remembered how Madam Gu had been so kind and tolerant after Man Chi Jiao's defeat in Lin'an.
“I still can’t be completely open-minded,” Gu Niangzi sighed. “I really want to keep you here.”
"Of course I am well aware of that."
After Gu Niangzi finished speaking, she slowly pushed a red contract in front of Lin Xiushui.
Lin Xiushui placed her right hand on the red contract, slowly pinched one corner, turned it over and held it in her hand, then looked down to examine it closely.
When her gaze fell upon the few lines of text on the paper, her eyes closed slightly, her lips gradually pursed, and she looked up at Madam Gu.
The paper stated that the Gu family tailor's annual harvest would be divided into five parts, with one part being a partnership with her as the tailor.
Below it is written the name of Madam Gu, Gu Lan.
The tailor's harvest last year was probably tens of thousands of taels of silver, and Lin Xiushui's harvest from Manchi Jiao and drawn thread embroidery alone amounted to several thousand taels.
Talking about feelings can hurt relationships, so Madam Gu chose the most practical way. She also promised that even if Lin Xiushui leaves the Gu family tailor shop and starts her own business in the future, this promise will still be valid, as long as she can create some new designs for the Gu family tailor shop every year.
Lin Xiushui did not agree; she knew that the partnership would eventually fall apart.
She said, "Before realizing the goal of looking north to the south, it's better to focus on the north."
Madam Gu didn't quite understand what she meant, but Lin Xiushui published a miscellaneous clothing newspaper at the end of the month.
This tabloid differed from the "Comprehensive View of Clothing" published at the beginning of the year; it included full-color clothing illustrations, which were very rare in the Song Dynasty at the time.
The first article in the Miscellaneous Clothing Times was about Sheng Qingsha.
Author's note: I apologize for the change in update time to 11 PM.
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