The entrance to the county government office was one of the few spacious places in the entire Fenggu County, and it was crowded with people at the moment. Inside the courtyard, there were fifty embroidery frames, and next to each frame was an embroidery basket, which was full of embroidery thread and needles.
Before dawn, the county magistrate ordered the selection of embroiderers to begin. Fifty women entered neatly through the main gate and, guided by the yamen runners, sat down in front of the embroidery frames.
The embroiderers who came to participate in the selection of embroiderers had registered their names at the government office two days ago with their works. At that time, Zhao Fang was there to help judge their work. Zhao Fang's embroidery skills were average; she could only sew and mend, but she could still tell whether the stitches were neat and whether the embroidery was good or not.
Those whose names were acceptable were recorded, while those whose names were not were dismissed. This is how these fifty embroiderers were selected.
After exchanging greetings with the county magistrate, Qin Xiaozhou stepped forward, facing the rising sun, and said, "You have all come from afar and must be tired. My surname is Qin, and my name is Qin Xiaozhou. I am the owner of the embroidery building in the western suburbs, and will also be the future employer of many of you. I thank you all for coming from afar. This time, when selecting embroiderers, there are no restrictions on the colors, materials, or stitches used, nor are there any limitations on what to embroider. The only requirement is that they can embroider beautiful and pretty pieces within one hour."
Many renowned embroiderers have their own inherited needlework techniques, so it's rare to find someone who doesn't care about anything else and only cares about the result.
Su San Niang came from Jiangnan. She was quite talented in embroidery and was envied by her master's own children. Forced by them, she had no choice but to take her household registration and travel permit and leave that place. A few days ago, she heard that there was a selection event for embroiderers in this county, so she came. Now, hearing such requirements, she couldn't help but take a closer look at the woman speaking in front of her.
The woman had a full, fair face and delicate features. She wore a light, fitted dress that accentuated her graceful figure, making her look like a wealthy woman. However, her demeanor was not as serious as that of a lady from a prominent family. She spoke with her head held high and her voice strong, her eyes resolute, and she was full of vitality, without a trace of weakness.
Su San Niang had never seen such a woman before, like a bamboo shoot in spring, possessing endless vitality, able to sprout half a zhang long overnight!
She selected embroidery thread from the basket, quickly came up with what she wanted to embroider, and began to work with great skill.
Outside the government office, a crowd of people craned their necks to peer inside, whispering and gossiping among themselves. Qin Xiaozhou was not one to sit still. After drinking her tea, she got up and wandered around, looking at the embroidery in one shop and the koi fish in another. She smiled slightly, quite satisfied. This was exactly the kind of unrestrained creativity she wanted. Spring is when all flowers bloom; what's so interesting about one flower standing out?
Li Zhenqing rushed over from Wangjia Village early in the morning. He was wiping away sweat as he finally managed to squeeze through the gate of the yamen, only to be stopped by the yamen runners guarding both sides of the gate. "There is business at the yamen today. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to enter."
Li Zhen dared not speak loudly, and explained to the yamen runner in a low voice. When Qin Xiaozhou saw this, he quickly brought the person in and whispered to her, "From now on, there will be someone in charge of the embroidery building. You have to be impressive. I called you here today to recognize the person so that it will be easier to manage in the future."
Yesterday, Li Zhen suddenly received a message from Wang Lan saying that Qin Xiaozhou asked her to come to the county government office. She was worried about what it was about and didn't dare to sleep all night. She got up early this morning and rushed over, but there was no ferry or oxcart, so she had to walk alone. When she heard this, her heart skipped a beat.
He started stammering, "I... I can't do it well."
Managing a few embroiderers in the village was already unprecedented; how could she possibly manage an entire embroidery workshop? She'd heard that the workshop was as big as Wangjia Village, which must have a huge number of people.
Qin Xiaozhou patted her hand, "You used to manage things quite well, whether it was managing four or five people or dozens. You'll get used to it after a while. Go and take a look at their embroidery."
Li Zhen had no choice but to bite the bullet and go. After looking around, she roughly had a plan in mind.
With the sun high in the sky, the intense concentration required for an hour left several embroiderers drenched in sweat. Unwilling to give up such an opportunity, they could only grit their teeth and continue embroidering. When the time was up, Li Zhen, accompanied by the county clerk, would inspect each embroiderer's work. Those with good embroidery skills would have their names noted down, while those with poor skills would be eliminated.
Of the fifty people, thirty remained. Some were dissatisfied, but the woman raised her hand and said, "Young lady, I have been making clothes for the Tan family for three years. Why do you look down on the flowers I embroider?"
When Li Zhen was questioned, her momentum instantly weakened. "I..."
Qin Xiaozhou stepped forward, took the woman's embroidery, and handed it to Li Zhen, saying, "Tell me your thoughts."
After saying that, he stood behind Li Zhen.
Li Zhen took a few deep breaths, then held up the embroidery in her hand. "Sister, your embroidery looks alright at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the stitches are loose and not firm. Therefore, your embroidery is not up to standard."
The woman was still unwilling to give up, and turned her gaze to Qin Xiaozhou, "Manager Qin, I've heard of your reputation, and that's why I came here. I was originally an embroiderer for the Tan family. Since you're on good terms with the Tan family, I'll only listen to you today."
These words drew the attention of the others. Most of the embroiderers here today were from Fenggu County and neighboring counties. They had come because they had heard of Qin Xiazhou's reputation, but it turned out that someone was blatantly using connections.
Qin Xiaozhou remained unmoved. "My good relationship with the Tan family has nothing to do with your substandard work. Besides, I also value rules. This was the case with Yifanfengshunlou back then, and it's the same when selecting embroiderers today. We follow the rules. If you're still not satisfied, there's only one way to go: practice your embroidery skills diligently and meet my standards. Otherwise, we have no chance to work together."
The woman's face turned pale and then red, and she stamped her feet in shame and anger as she ran out of the government office.
Those who were not selected could only lower their heads and leave. Qin Xiaozhou then welcomed the thirty people who remained, saying, "Since the embroidery building is not yet completed, you can all go to Hua Xiangrong's shop to do embroidery on a regular basis. Once the embroidery building is completed, you can move in together."
Su San Niang considered the amount of money she had on her, and since she was an outsider and unfamiliar with the area, and it was not safe for her to be alone as a woman, she asked, "Miss Qin, do you have a place to stay?"
This put Qin Xiaozhou in a bit of a dilemma. If the embroidered building were completed, it would definitely provide food and lodging. But right now, the building was just a foundation, and her small courtyard was already overcrowded. Where could anyone else live?
"Outsiders may stay at my residence for now." Zhu Xian strolled over, carefree and radiant, and bowed before the magistrate. "Your Honor, I would like to trouble you to handle the household registration of outsiders."
People from other places who are not registered in the local area face many restrictions on their movements. Moreover, it is not easy to register their household registration. On weekdays, they do not hire people from other places, and they cannot stay in the county town for more than three months, otherwise they will be expelled.
Magistrate Sun waved his hand, "As long as outsiders work in the embroidery building for three months, their household registration can be transferred to Fenggu County."
Su San Niang was overjoyed. She had been forced to leave her hometown, and there was no certainty about her future. She was worried that if her household registration was delayed, she would be driven away from all sides and eventually become an unregistered resident. She had even planned to use her embroidery skills to curry favor with Qin Xiaozhou and ask him to help her. Unexpectedly, everything went so smoothly.
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