Chapter 4 What does the Huayun Pavilion's brocade resemble? It is like fine silk and brocade.
As soon as I stepped into the Huayun Pavilion, I sensed that it was something special.
The shop's entrance was grand and imposing, and the walls inside were adorned with brocades in the shape of lotus flowers and eight-colored patterns. Embroidery frames stood in rows, displaying exquisite embroidered items such as fan-shaped embroidered scrolls and sutra scrolls. Near the window, several embroiderers were busy at their work, their needles flying across the paper.
It must be one of the most reputable embroidery shops in Bianjing. If I could work here...
As she pondered, a waiter in a blue cloth gown came up to her. Seeing that she was only carrying a bamboo basket, he immediately frowned and said, "Go, go, go. If you want to eat and stay at an inn, go next door. This place sells silk and embroidery."
"I'm looking for Manager An; I have some embroidery to sell."
The shop assistant looked her up and down. He noticed that she was dressed in simple clothes, but her eyes were confident and clear. He hesitated for a moment, then looked at her embroidery before calling out, "Manager!"
Someone inside responded, and then the beaded curtain rustled softly as a woman emerged, dressed in embroidered silk, stunningly beautiful, holding a silver needle in her hand. She called out, "Want to sell embroidery? Let me have a look."
Su Jinxiu hurriedly lifted the cloth covering the bamboo basket and handed over the embroidery.
The woman took it, ran her fingertips over the stitches, and exclaimed softly, "Your double-sided embroidery is quite good, even more exquisite than the embroiderers here." She then asked, "Young lady, who is your apprentice?"
Su Jinxiu simply said, "I'm from Embroidery Lane." She paused, then added tentatively, forcing herself to speak, "A Taoist priest said... mentioning his name will get me more money. He said his name is..."
The woman pondered for a moment, then clapped her hands: "Oh, is it Ying Bumei?"
Su Jinxiu nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, yes."
"Since you were recommended by Ying Bumei..." she murmured, sizing up Su Jinxiu with a knowing look, and said to the waiter, "Serve the young lady tea."
After carefully examining the embroidery, she looked up at Su Jinxiu and said, "My surname is An, and my given name is Chisu. These pieces of your embroidery are truly exquisite." After calculating, she said to the shop assistant, "Bring me seventy coins."
The shop assistant responded by fetching a copper purse, wrapping it up, and handing it over. An Chisu took it and passed it to Su Jinxiu, saying gently, "If you have any good embroidery in the future, feel free to come to me again."
Su Jinxiu sensed the approval in her words and seized the opportunity: "Thank you, boss. Do you... still hire embroiderers here?"
An Chisu paused for a moment, then glanced at the embroiderers next to her: "Your skills are good, but I'm really full."
Su Jinxiu remained calm upon hearing this, and simply smiled knowingly.
When she came in, she first observed the camellia embroidery pattern on the embroidery table. The petals were embroidered with traditional flat stitch, and the threads had to be changed three or four times to achieve a smooth transition when layering colors.
She took out two fine needles and two strands of silk thread from her embroidery pouch, one in rouge and the other in pale yellow. She then twisted the two strands together, making them even with her fingertips, and said while holding the needle, "Don't be in such a hurry to refuse, madam. I've been thinking of a little trick for color-twisting embroidery for the past few days. Take a look."
An Chisu raised an eyebrow but did not stop her.
Su Jinxiu began to embroider beside the half of the pattern, the stitches following the lines of the petals. Because the two colors of thread were twisted evenly, each stitch revealed a hint of pale yellow in the rouge red, making the petals appear more tender than when they were half-open, even more so than when embroidered with a single color.
Normally, to achieve a natural gradient effect in embroidery, one would need to change needles three times and layer four times. Her method, however, involves a single stitch all the way through, requiring only seven or eight stitches to create a gradual transition in color on a small petal, with the stitches being even denser and more even than before.
An Chisu leaned closer to take a look, her fingertip touching the stitches: "Two colors twisted together? That saves the trouble of changing needles."
Su Jinxiu lowered her eyes and put down her needlework, her voice still soft but firm: "Yes, if the thread is twisted evenly, the colors will blend more naturally, and you won't have to keep starting and stopping the needle. If the boss thinks it's too crowded, I don't need to take up a regular spot. I can use this novel method to do some color matching work for you. I'll charge you per piece. It saves time, and the colors will be more vibrant. What do you think?"
An Chisu stared at the petal for a long time, then suddenly laughed: "You clever girl found an opening. Alright, you can stay. From now on, these color matching tasks will be yours."
Clutching the packet of copper coins, Su Jinxiu was overjoyed to have secured a stable job. Her steps were light and cheerful as she walked back.
She first went to the calligraphy and painting shop, picked out a set of ordinary bamboo pens and pine soot ink, along with rough paper and a small ceramic inkstone. Then she went to the market to buy meat and eggs. Passing by the sugar cake stall at the alley entrance, she saw that the sesame sugar cakes were golden brown. Remembering that Wen Shiqin had glanced at them a few times the day before, she spent five coins to buy two more, wrapped them in paper, and put them in her sleeve pocket.
After calculating it this way, she only had seven coins left out of the sixty coins she had spent, but she had filled a basket to the brim. As she carried the basket home, the air was filled with the aroma of meat and the sweet scent of sugar cakes. She thought that Ah Qin would be overjoyed to see the new writing implements, and his eyes would surely light up with delight.
Just past Quyuan Street on the west side of Zhouqiao Bridge, Su Jinxiu saw two people standing by the hitching post on the side of the street. She noticed that one of them was tall and slender and looked very familiar. Upon closer inspection, she realized that it was Wen Shiqin.
The young man was as handsome as a figure in a painting, but a silver coin rolled on the bluestone slab at his feet, its gleam dazzling.
Across from him, leaning against a post, was a young man in a lake-silk robe, handsome and refined. He casually pointed at the silver at his feet and laughed, "Pick it up. If you pick up this silver, you can copy two pages of a book for me tomorrow. It won't be a bad deal for you."
Wen Shiqin's expression remained calm, revealing neither joy nor anger. He merely glanced at him indifferently before bending down to pick it up.
Su Jinxiu hurried over, her heart pounding.
Who is this, acting so arrogantly?
If they really force Wen Shiqin to turn to the dark side, none of them will escape unscathed.
Su Jinxiu first grabbed Wen Shiqin's wrist and pulled him behind her. Before the two could react, she bent down, picked up the silver coin, and threw it back at the young master. The silver coin hit his brocade robe and bounced to the ground.
The young man froze, then glared at him: "You...you dare to throw me?"
Wen Shiqin gently tugged at her sleeve and whispered, "Sister."
Su Jinxiu stared at the young man and said, "What, you can't stand being treated the way you treat others?"
After she finished speaking, she grabbed Wen Shiqin and left, leaving Xie Hongying standing there, pointing at their retreating figures, speechless for a long time. Although his father, Xie Dechang, had obtained his official position through donations from his family's vast fortune accumulated through ancestral business, the title of a seventh-rank official was still respectable. Furthermore, the Xie family's shops lining half of Quyuan Street meant that, even if they weren't considered a noble or aristocratic family, they were undoubtedly a respectable family in the eyes of their neighbors. He had been pampered since childhood; even children of minor officials would offer him fruit, and neighbors would politely call him "Young Master Xie." He had never received such treatment before. Immediately, he raised his voice:
"Do you know who I am? My father is a high-ranking official! How dare you treat me like this?"
“So what if he’s a Chengshilang?” Su Jinxiu turned her head, her tone becoming more resolute. “My younger brother is mild-mannered and doesn’t hold it against you, but that doesn’t mean you’re right. As the son of an official, you should be even more virtuous and upright. If word gets out that you’re belittling commoners like this, it won’t just be your own face that’s being lost, but your father’s reputation.”
These words were logical and forceful, drawing the attention of several passersby who stopped and began pointing and whispering about Xie Hongying. Xie Hongying's face flushed and paled by their comments, and he was speechless. He had been spoiled and pampered by his family since childhood; no one had ever dared to point out his faults so bluntly, nor had anyone told him that bullying others was wrong.
"You..." Xie Hongying hesitated for a long time before finally finding her voice, but the arrogance from before was gone, replaced by a sense of grievance and resentment. "It's not like I'm refusing to give him money, so how is that considered humiliating him?"
Su Jinxiu softened her tone: "Copying books is a matter of mutual consent, yet you threw money at it. Isn't that humiliation?"
When asked this question, Xie Hongying was speechless for a moment, and the strange feeling in her heart intensified.
He looked at Su Jinxiu and suddenly felt that this girl was very novel and different from everyone he had ever met. She was fierce, but her fierceness was reasonable and justified, and even made him feel that she was... somewhat special.
Seeing that his expression softened, Su Jinxiu knew that he was not inherently bad, so she stopped arguing with him and pulled Wen Shiqin around.
The two had only taken a few steps when Xie Hongying's voice suddenly came from behind: "Hey! What's your name?"
Su Jinxiu didn't turn around or answer, but simply pulled Wen Shiqin away quickly.
Wen Shiqin was pulled away by Su Jinxiu. Seeing that her face was tense and the tips of her ears were a little red, he knew that she was still angry. He slowed his pace and did not dare to make a sound.
After walking side by side for a while in the fading light of the setting sun, Su Jinxiu finally spoke, her voice a little muffled: "Sister can earn money now. Look at the things in this basket, they were all bought with the money I got from today's embroidery work. From now on... I won't have to do odd jobs for others anymore."
Wen Shiqin recalled that her elder sister used to always keep her head down, speak softly, and be gentle. Even when she was slighted, she would just silently endure it and never argue with anyone. But just now, Xie Hongying was being lectured by her like that, her face turning red and white, like a defeated rooster, unable to squeeze out a complete rebuttal.
He lowered his eyes, looking even more dejected than when Xie Hongying had cornered him earlier, his eyes revealing a clear sense of self-reproach: "I want to earn money for my sister to spend, so doing odd jobs is fine."
Su Jinxiu paused, and the anger in her heart suddenly dissipated, leaving her feeling weak and flustered.
The two walked silently down the street, through the crowd, and when they were almost at the alley entrance, Su Jinxiu looked at Wen Shiqin. She didn't mention the argument they had just had, nor did she talk about their future plans. She simply raised her hand and gently squeezed his arm, her voice soft, as if comforting a wronged child.
“Achin has grown up and knows how to care for others.”
A note from the author:
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