"In order to intimidate and frighten my mother and the workers on the tea plantation, my father's body was hung on the tea mountain. For three whole days, my mother went crazy, started babbling nonsense, and laughed like a madman, but she still didn't say a word."
"I was the only child left in our family, and I knew nothing. The workers were only responsible for picking tea leaves, and they knew nothing else. Those beasts didn't get what they wanted, so they burned the entire tea garden in anger. The fire was so huge that it covered the entire sky and even turned the horizon red."
"The workers fled in all directions. They even wanted to kill me and my mother. My mother... my mother saved me with her own life. I took the notebook my father left behind and escaped. I took a boat alone to Suzhou and Hangzhou, my grandparents' home. Now that I think about it, I don't know how I got there safely. Maybe I was just lucky."
Qin Xun didn't say anything. The air in the room seemed to have stopped flowing, with only the sound of Yu Wan's slow narration.
"My grandmother was a famous embroidery master in Suzhou and Hangzhou. She spent her entire life making clothes for others, from high-ranking officials to peddlers and hawkers. She accepted everyone's requests, all for the sake of studying embroidery."
"I ran to my grandparents' house for help, but I forgot one thing: Suzhou embroidery, a world-renowned skill. How could it not be targeted by those beasts?" Yu Wan's eyes welled up as she recalled the past. "A Japanese officer asked my grandma to make him a piece of clothing. He was to wear that clothing when he spoke to the entire Suzhou and Hangzhou population. In other words, as long as my grandma made that clothing for him, everyone in Suzhou and Hangzhou would know that the Ning family had defected to the Japanese."
"My grandma made clothes all her life and never refused anyone, but she didn't make this one."
"What's the price of not doing it?" Yu Wan smiled sadly. "It's her hands, which were still as beautiful as a girl's at the age of fifty. Her fingernails were plucked out one by one, and her fingers were cut off one by one."
"My grandmother, who embroidered Suzhou embroidery her whole life, has lost her hands, which she was so proud of. She didn't shed a single tear. Instead, she gently told me to keep the Ning family's Suzhou embroidery legacy safe and to leave quickly with the money and live well."
"Then she committed suicide on the third day after losing her hand."
"In less than a year, I lost all my loved ones. All I had left were a few thin books. They had bought them with their lives, and I had to protect them, even if it meant risking my own."
"I went to Shanghai again. I was seven years old at that time. To survive, I stole, robbed, begged... I did everything. Later, because I was good-looking, the owner of a dance hall took me in. She taught me singing and dancing, saying that she hoped I would make money for her."
"Actually, I knew it would take a girl in her teens forever to earn money, and I might not even get back what I invested. Besides, how could they teach me anything about singing and dancing? They only taught me textbook knowledge. The owner of the dance hall was just kindhearted and took me in out of pity. I'm very grateful to her. I spent a few very easy and happy years there."
"When I was fourteen, the country finally welcomed light. The darkness had faded away, and people began a new life. I also began a new wandering because the owner of the dance hall died on the eve of dawn."
"Actually, I've heard that the women in the dance halls, whenever they were drinking with customers, would vaguely inquire about something. I've also seen unfamiliar faces cautiously entering and leaving the dance halls. They weren't singers or dancers, they were heroes, warriors!"
Qin Xun's body trembled, and his heart trembled as he looked at Yu Wan's passionate face.
At this moment, he felt extremely sorry for the woman in front of him. She had experienced so much at such a young age.
"Before the owner of the nightclub died, she left me a sum of money. She only said one thing to me, which was to find a way to make a living." Yuwan continued.
"People around me left me one after another. They only stayed in my life for a short time. I thought about it for a long time. What can I do?"
"I remembered my father's body hanging on the tea mountain, my mother's desperate cries, and my grandmother's broken hand telling me to live on. I finally remembered what I wanted to do."
"I planted tea leaves all over the mountain bit by bit, and began to learn Suzhou embroidery stitch by stitch. I was walking the path my elders had taken, carrying on their unfinished work. This is how I spent many years."
"later……"
Having said this, Yuwan stopped and showed a complicated expression.
"Later, the tea mountains were given to the state, and Suzhou embroidery became known as 'dross'," Yuwan said with a bitter smile. "Overnight, I was left with nothing again."
Qin Xun looked reluctant when he heard this. She had endured pain that ordinary people could not bear countless times. What kind of strong mentality did she have to allow her to describe it in such a calm tone at this time.
"I was assigned to work in a remote village. The villagers liked scholars and treated me well. I became a teacher there, day after day, and many years passed like this."
"Then, the sky changed again."
"Suzhou embroidery is a skill that the country must vigorously protect and pass on. My maternal grandfather's ancestral home has been returned to me, and all the previously confiscated property has also been returned. But I am at a loss again. What can I do?"
"The tea mountain no longer belongs to our Yu family, but the tea-making craft remains. The Ning family's Suzhou embroidery no longer has any Ning family members, but the Ning family's Suzhou embroidery will be passed down forever. What about me? What can I do? From that time on, I really started to think about what I wanted to do, not what I should do."
“I wanted to open a shop that would retain customers with its flavor, so I created Yashe.”
Yuwan finally finished her story. Her story was like the cup of tea in front of her: clear, fragrant and with a long aftertaste.
Qin Xun handed her a cup of tea at the right time to moisten her throat.
"Thanks."
After taking a sip, Yuwan looked at him with a smile.
"Mr. Qin, I've finished my story. Now, are you still willing to bet with me on a blossoming and fruitful outcome?"
"Of course, why not?" Qin Xun answered without hesitation.
"You said you've been wandering all your life, so let me be your harbor." Qin Xun looked at her with the same smile, "Are you willing, Miss Yu?"
He held out his hand and waited for her answer.
"certainly."
This time, Yuwan did not hesitate at all. She stretched out her white hand and gently placed it in his palm.
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