Purchase tools
Mrs. Chen excitedly shook Ling Xiuqing's hand and declared loudly, "It's worth it! It's absolutely worth it! Master Xiu, I'm convinced that these sixty dollars are well spent!"
Sixty dollars!
This number exploded like a thunder in the living room of Jin Mansion.
The ladies gasped, their expressions changing as they looked at the stack of bills on the table. Just patching a small hole in half an hour, and they'd earned sixty dollars? This wasn't just a craft anymore; it was a money-printing machine!
Those who had just laughed at Ah Xiu's exorbitant mouth in their hearts were now left with only shock and burning jealousy.
Ling Xiuqing, with her irrefutable strength, perfectly backed up her astonishing price. Far from being criticized for her "sky-high" price, it actually added a touch of legendary charm to her.
In Shanghai, a place where people chase fame and fortune, sometimes "expensive" itself is the best form of publicity.
The title of "Master A Xiu" was thus finalized.
Over the next few days, orders, along with prepaid deposits, poured into the small building in the backyard of the Jin Mansion. The items delivered were diverse: scratched designer handbags, moth-eaten precious furs, and even antique embroidery with unraveling threads.
Ling Xiuqing accepted the offer, but she wasn't in a rush to get started. She understood that a good craftsman must first sharpen his tools. What she needed most now was a set of top-notch tools and materials that would truly belong to her.
She declined Jin Meiling's offer to send a car to follow her, and went alone, changed into an inconspicuous plain cloth shirt, and disappeared into the prosperous and complicated streets of Shanghai like a fish into the sea.
She didn't go to the luxury stores on Xiafei Road that catered to foreigners and wealthy wives, but went straight to the Chenghuang Temple and Laoximen area. That was where the real artisans of Shanghai gathered, where there were hidden talents and the best treasures.
She first went to the Zhang Xiaoquan scissors shop. When the old shopkeeper saw her, a young girl, coming in, he thought she was buying a pair of household scissors and handed her a pair.
Ling Xiuqing took the scissors, weighed them on her fingertips, listened to the sound of opening and closing, then shook her head gently and put them down.
"Master," she said in a clear voice, "I don't want this kind. I want the 'Silk Scissors' with the thinnest blade, the sharpest edge, and the best steel."
The old master's cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, and he reassessed the unassuming girl before him. Silk scissors are the most advanced type of embroidery scissors, specifically designed to cut extremely fine silk threads without damaging the surface. The craftsmanship required is extremely high. Ordinary people simply don't have access to them, and only truly top-tier embroiderers know how to use them.
"Little girl, you are an expert." The old master became interested and took out a wooden box wrapped in velvet from the deepest part of the counter.
Opening the wooden box, a pair of small and exquisite scissors lay quietly inside. The scissors were completely black, but the edge of the blade flashed a chilling light that captivated the heart.
Ling Xiuqing picked up the scissors and felt a slight heaviness in her hand, a chill reaching deep into her heart. She took out a strand of her own hair and gently placed it against the blade. Without a second's movement, she heard a soft "pop" and the hair was snapped in two.
It's so sharp that it can cut hair!
"Good scissors." Her eyes sparkled. "I want this pair."
Next, she went to the time-honored needle shop known as "China's No. 1 Needle Shop." She didn't buy the beautifully packaged finished embroidery needles, but instead personally selected a dozen steel blanks of varying thicknesses and lengths from a pile of seemingly ordinary steel needle raw materials.
The apprentices in the shop were all dumbfounded, not knowing what she wanted to do with these semi-finished products.
Ling Xiuqing said to the old master behind her, "Can I borrow the sand and fire from your shop?"
Then, as everyone watched in amazement, she took matters into her own hands and began polishing the needles herself. Filing, grinding, polishing, quenching... Her movements were as deft as a veteran craftsman steeped in the art for decades. In just an hour, a dozen ordinary steel billets were transformed in her hands into top-notch embroidery needles, their tips round yet sharp, their shafts as smooth as mirrors.
The old needlework shop master was stunned. Finally, he clapped his hands and sighed, "I have been making needles for fifty years, and I didn't know there was such a skill in the world! Girl, your craftsmanship is amazing!"
After purchasing the most important tools, Ling Xiuqing plunged into the fabric market in Shiliupu.
This was the largest cloth distribution center in Shanghai, a place where all kinds of people came together. She moved among the piles of cloth and silk threads like an industrious bee.
She didn't buy the most expensive and gorgeous brocades, but rather a variety of seemingly humble yet distinctive materials: sheer silk gauze shipped from Suzhou, homespun cloth hand-dyed by ethnic minorities in Yunnan and Guizhou, and even special metallic threads resold from Western ships.
She has a sharp eye and can always find the most valuable treasures from a pile of garbage.
She spent almost all the first commission that Mrs. Chen paid her that day. When she returned to the Jin Mansion with bags of "trophies", it was already getting dark.
The maids guarding the door saw her returning from a shopping spree, and a hint of confusion and contempt flashed in their eyes. In their opinion, this master Ah Xiu had earned money, but instead of buying beautiful clothes and jewelry, she had spent all of it on these rags and thread. She really didn't know how to enjoy life.
Ling Xiuqing ignored their gazes.
When she returned to her studio and neatly arranged these carefully selected tools and materials one by one, an unprecedented sense of satisfaction and control filled her heart.
These are her magic weapons that will soon sweep the Shanghai fashion world.
And she is a female genius who is able to plan and strategize among the various departments.
The chess game of revenge was truly laid out from this moment on.
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