Chapter 60 Secret
Tools and materials?
The shopkeeper felt he hadn't quite heard clearly. This delicate young lady came to the cloth shop not to buy cloth, but to have brocade made?
Seeing the shopkeeper's doubtful look, Gu Shuyan smiled slightly: "Don't worry, shopkeeper. There will be a generous reward after the job is done. As for the cost of the materials, we'll settle that separately."
Looking at the ten taels of silver in his hand, the shopkeeper, who had been hesitant, was tempted.
“Alright, young lady, please follow me.”
After saying that, the shopkeeper led Gu Shuyan to the cloth shop's workshop.
Looking at the fabrics hanging all around, Gu Shuyan felt a long-lost sense of familiarity.
In her previous life, the Li family sent her to a cloth workshop in town to learn weaving when she was ten years old. It was there that Gu Shuyan met her first teacher.
She was an elderly woman nearing sixty, with a somewhat gloomy appearance. Years of working in the workshop had made her severely hunched over.
But because of her excellent dyeing skills, the shop owner was reluctant to let her leave.
At that time, Gu Shuyan had just arrived at the family home. Because she was young and alone, the old woman took good care of her. Gradually, their initial greetings turned into mutual concern.
The old woman had no children, and the longer she spent with Gu Shuyan, the kinder she became to her. When she had free time, she would even teach Gu Shuyan to read.
However, the days of relying on each other for survival were always short-lived. Not two years later, the old woman developed some health problems, and the master of the house kicked her out when he saw that she could no longer work.
With the little savings she had accumulated over the years, the old woman rented a room and slowly made ends meet. Gu Shuyan would still visit her whenever she had time, bringing her some good food.
As the old woman's health deteriorated, on her deathbed, she revealed her secret to her, a unique skill unknown to the world.
Furthermore, the old woman passed on this unique skill to Gu Shuyan. However, by the time Gu Shuyan finally mastered it, the old woman had already passed away.
Not long after, Gu Shuyan returned to the Li family and was then taken back to the Gu family.
From then on, Gu Shuyan never wove brocade again.
Now, after a lifetime apart, as she entered the workshop again, Gu Shuyan inexplicably thought of that hunched old woman, that man who could hardly be called a teacher.
"Miss, what are we doing here?"
Looking at the somewhat messy place, Pearl Mingyu couldn't quite figure out what her young mistress was thinking.
Upon hearing this, Gu Shuyan gave the two of them a mysterious smile and immediately directed them to get busy.
The three of them, master and servant, stayed in the workshop until nightfall.
When Gu Shuyan returned, she had two pieces of brocade in her hands.
It doesn't look like there's much brocade, but it's enough to make a set of clothes for each of the two Gu brothers.
After thanking the shopkeeper and paying the agreed-upon reward, Gu Shuyan returned to the Marquis's residence with her maids.
The next day, Gu Shuyan had Pearl Mingyu invite a famous embroiderer from the capital.
When the embroiderer's hand touched the seemingly unremarkable brocade, she was completely stunned.
"Miss, this fabric is light and comfortable, soft and smooth to the touch, and it even has a subtle coolness to it. Where did you find it?"
Over the years, the embroiderer had made clothes for countless high-ranking officials and nobles, from tributes to those offered to the palace to various fabrics from all over the country; she had seen it all. But the one piece made for Gu Shuyan was unique, and she simply couldn't describe it in words.
"I just bought it by chance on the roadside. What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the material?"
Gu Shuyan naturally wouldn't explain the origin of the brocade to these people; she hadn't forgotten what the old woman had told her back then.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
