Zhang Hui put down the feather duster doubtfully, took the embroidery cloth, and then was stunned. The two aunts saw that she looked strange, and hurried over, also stunned.
"This, was this really embroidered by you?" Zhang Hui's voice was trembling as she spoke.
"I embroidered it. It took me a whole month." Lin Dan was finally able to sit down and take a breath.
Fourth Aunt stroked the peony's pistil, and then the dewdrops on the leaves, and sighed, "This pistil is embroidered with the quilting method. Wrap the embroidery thread around the needle three times and tie it into a knot, and you can simulate the real shape of the pistil; the petals are embroidered with the quilting method, and the color is very natural, from light red to crimson, smudged one by one, and it is almost impossible to find the connection between each color, and the transition is extremely natural; the flower path is quilted, with a sense of convexity and concavity, and the veins of the flowers and leaves are clear and lifelike. The most outstanding thing is these dewdrops, which are embroidered with pads to form a convex surface. Looking through the dewdrops, there is the flash of sunlight, the fading of colors, and the bending of lines. Everything looks real. If I hadn't touched them with my own hands, I would really think that these dewdrops were dropped by Dan'er."
The Third Aunt nodded and smacked her lips, "Incredible! Our Dan'er is truly amazing. In this embroidery, Dan'er used more than twenty needle techniques, many of which are extremely difficult. Even my fourth sister and I cannot perform them. That's fine, but the most outstanding thing is her color matching. A good embroidery requires seven key points, namely, evenness, brightness, straightness, uniformity, thinness, smoothness, and density. Dan'er's work completely breaks these concepts. It does not simply pursue evenness and uniform brightness, but combines the changes in light and shadow with the intensity of colors. The side facing the light is bright and clear, while the side facing away from the light is dark and rich. The transition between light and shadow is also very natural, as if it were a real object. These dewdrops are the best example of this quality. The needle techniques are still the same, but once the color matching is changed and light and shadow are added, the flower becomes lifelike."
The third aunt found a piece of Meng Si's work and said proudly, "Sister, come and take a look. This is a peony embroidered by Meng Si. What do you think of it?"
Zhang Hui doesn't know how to embroider, but anyone with eyes can tell the difference between the two pieces of embroidery. She stared at her daughter's embroidery and said in a trembling voice, "I think the peony embroidery of our daughter Dan'er is a thousand times better than that of Meng Si."
The Third Aunt smiled comfortably, "That's right. Dan'er's embroidery skills may not be as good as Meng Si's, but her color matching and painting skills have left Meng Si far behind. There is no other embroidery like Dan'er's that is so realistic, not to mention that there is no such thing in Suzhou and Hangzhou. Even if you travel all over the Great Zhou Kingdom, you can't find a second one like it. A top embroiderer must first have her own style so that others can call out her name when they see her works. Our Dan'er has not yet graduated, but she can already do this. In time, she will definitely be a top-notch embroiderer in the world. Sister, don't use Meng Si to belittle our Dan'er in the future. Our Dan'er is no worse than anyone else."
Lin Dan, who was gulping down water, quickly put down the cup and straightened his chest. Although she is very confident in herself, she also needs affirmation from others.
Zhang Hui nodded happily, and her eyes turned red without her noticing.
Lin Dan felt sad. He walked over, patted her on the back, and called her "mother" softly. Now that she has come here and transformed into the original owner, she will take on the original owner's family and responsibilities, and will also restore the Lin family embroidery shop to its former glory.
Fourth Aunt shook her head and said, "Third sister, you are wrong. What do you mean that Dan'er's embroidery skills are not as good as Meng Si's? I see that this embroidery uses at least twenty kinds of needlework, including the mixed needle and applied needle that Ye Jinxiu created. Ye Jinxiu was the imperial embroiderer of the previous dynasty and was known as the needle goddess. Our Dan'er can learn her unique skills, so how can she be worse than Meng Si!"
The Third Aunt stared at the embroidery cloth for a long time, and said hesitantly: "How can you be sure that Dan'er used the mixed needle and the applied needle? I think it is just a little similar. You know, Ye Jinxiu's Ye's needlework has long been lost, and no one knows how to use it."
The fourth concubine said confidently: "The master once gave me an embroidery of the Leaf Needle God. I watched it every day and studied it every night. How could I not recognize it? This is the mixed needle and the applied needle. Dan'er, how did you learn it? Tell me quickly!"
Lin Dan ran to the yard, took out her own needlework box, and said frankly, "I cut open the embroidery of the Leaf Needle God, found the needle holes one by one and marked the positions, and only then did I learn how to mix and apply needles. Not only that, I also cut open Su Xiu Niang's lion and tiger painting and Fang Xiu Niang's elephant of the former Chu Ping Wang, and learned their unique skills of fluffy needlework and face-opening needlework respectively. Here, the cut embroidery is all here, and the black dots on the embroidery cloth are the needle holes I marked. You can figure out the tricks by following the needle holes."
Su Xiu Niang and Fang Xiu Niang were two other top embroiderers of the same era as Ye Jinxiu. One was good at embroidering ferocious beasts and the other was good at embroidering figures. They each invented the fluffy needle method and the face-opening needle method, which earned them their names by showing the fluffy and soft hair of animals and the texture of the skin of figures. The style of their works is the same as Lin Dan's, emphasizing only one word - authenticity. How to make embroidery look like the real thing is their lifelong pursuit.
Through their tireless pursuit and polishing, they eventually became great figures of their generation and, like Ye Jinxiu, shone in the long river of history. Therefore, their works rarely appear on the market. They are either treasured in the palace or in the hands of wealthy families. Any one of them can be sold at a sky-high price.
Lin Dafu risked his life to collect these three works, but now, they have become three pieces of rags, casually placed in Lin Dan's sewing box.
The third and fourth concubines sat down shakily, holding their chests. Zhang Hui picked up the feather duster tremblingly, and tried to tell herself that the child was her own and she had to be patient, she must be patient!
Seeing that things were not going well, Lin Dan immediately explained, "Mother, two aunts, please don't feel sorry. These three works are indeed valuable, but shouldn't the needlework used to embroider them be more valuable? I have learned the needlework of the three embroiderers, and I will be able to embroider more flower and bird pictures, lion and tiger pictures, and human figures and elephants in the future. Perhaps after a few hundred years, people will also treasure my embroidery and call me the needle god. Don't you think so?"
"Yes, that's right." The two concubines broke free from their heart-breaking feelings and said with tears in their eyes: "Dan'er, since you have cut open the embroidery, you must study it carefully!"
"Don't worry, auntie. I've almost finished my research." Lin Dan comforted her.
Zhang Hui gritted her teeth, finally threw away the feather duster, and said with a smile: "Things are mortal, but people are alive. As long as my daughter Tan'er has a promising future, mother will be happier than anything else. Third sister, fourth sister, you should also take the embroidery works you cut and study them. In the future, we will work together to open an embroidery shop. Today, Tan'er has graduated, let's kill a chicken to celebrate. By the way, Tan'er, you said you took an embroidery job, who is the employer?"
"It's Miss Du from next door. She is going to attend a Buddhist meeting in half a month." Lin Dan finally breathed a sigh of relief. She also knew that the embroidery works left by her father were very precious and should not be destroyed unless absolutely necessary. However, the embroiderers with superb skills all come from embroidery families and will never pass on their family skills to outsiders. The reason why Meng Si became famous in Suzhou and Hangzhou was also because of her family's profound academic background.
Under such circumstances, Lin Dan simply couldn't find a top embroiderer to be her teacher. If she were allowed to figure it out on her own, perhaps one day she would be able to surpass Meng Si, but it would take a very long time, three to five years, or even ten or twenty years.
If Lin Dan wants to achieve success quickly, he can only take an unconventional approach.
Zhang Hui could naturally think of what she could think of. Looking at her daughter again, the anger she had just felt had completely dissipated, and she was relieved and happy. "Our Tan'er has grown up and is becoming more and more decisive, just like your father in the past. You should do a good job on the embroidery this time, and don't let Miss Du down."
"I know. I've already thought of what to embroider. If I can make Miss Du look stunning this time, I can make a name for myself and my business will slowly pick up. When I save enough money, I'll rent a small shop and do odd jobs. When I'm famous in the future, I'll hire a few more embroiderers to open an embroidery shop. What do you think, mother?"
"Okay, let's take it slow, there's no rush." Zhang Hui turned her head away and wiped her tears. My daughter is becoming more and more calm and organized. If her father were still alive, I wonder how happy he would be.
…………
Du Ruyan was so busy looking for good fabrics to make dresses that she completely forgot about the five taels deposit. Du Rushong has already joined the army and has to go to the military camp for training every day, so he has no time to ask Lin Dan. On the morning of the day when the Buddhist meeting was to be held, Lin Dancai walked out of the door that had been closed for half a month, carrying a deerskin package in his hand.
At the same time, Du Ruyan also got up early and was taking out the clothes in the box one by one and spreading them flat on the bed.
"This one is too plain, this one is too bright, this one is a bit old-fashioned... No, no, none of these are acceptable!" She stamped her feet, pulled her hair, and looked like she was on the verge of collapse.
The maid was even more devastated than she was, and she stammered, "But young lady, these are all your newly made clothes. If you can't pick them out here, you'll only have your old clothes to wear."
Ever since she saw the piece of silk that looked like a lotus emerging from clear water, Du Ruyan no longer looked down upon any other fabric. Her head is now filled with the hibiscus flowers embroidered by Meng Si, which are both clear and bright, with just the right amount of shades. Whose embroidery skills can surpass hers? Is there any cloth more beautiful than hers?
"I'd rather stay at home than make a fool of myself wearing these clothes." After choosing over and over again, Du Ruyan's anxiety turned into despair. She used to be the daughter of a high and mighty marquis, and even though she became a commoner, she was unwilling to be inferior to others. She either doesn't go, or she astounds everyone and outshines all the other girls.
She rummaged through the boxes in despair, but finally sat down dejectedly. Without her status as a daughter of a marquis, no matter how rich she was, she could not buy expensive fabrics, because expensive fabrics were often reserved by local wealthy families before they arrived, and others could only buy what they had left. And she was once someone who enjoyed this privilege.
She tried hard to maintain her pride, but reality told her again and again that she could never go back. A phoenix without its feathers is no better than a chicken. These words stabbed her heart like a knife.
She sniffed and tried hard to hold back the urge to cry, but she saw a maid come in with a package, and took out a bra dress, a blouse, a set of jewelry, and a pair of embroidered shoes from the package, and placed them neatly on the bed.
"Miss, this was just sent by Miss Lin. I think you should go to attend the Buddhist meeting as scheduled. If you don't go, Lin'an Prefecture will lose its most beautiful scenery." The maid said with a smile.
Du Ruyan opened her eyes wide and covered her mouth, looking extremely shocked. After a long while, she shouted ecstatically, "Go, I must go today!"
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