Re-embroidering life

After leaving the embroidery workshop, Shui Qinghua still remembered Wang's words. Shui Minghua didn't say a word the whole time, just glanced at her curiously.

Shui Qinghua felt a little uncomfortable and asked her sister: "What's so good about my face?"

"I am looking at you. My second sister is very different now!"

The speaker didn't mean it, but Shui Qinghua felt a sinking feeling in his heart and asked hesitantly, "What's the difference?"

"Second sister's words are always like boiling dumplings in a teapot - they can't be poured out. I never thought that you would go out to discuss business one day, and act decisively, with such a great style! Tell me, have you had any adventures?"

"Yes, I also think that my second sister is very different and has become more beautiful!" Shui Yuhua also joined in the fun.

She didn't lie. The second sister had a beautiful face, but she used to be a little timid in her actions. She was always timid when she looked at everyone, and her mother-in-law always said that she was not presentable. Now the second sister's shoulders are open, her back is straight, and her eyes are firm and steady. She seems to have been reborn.

Shui Qinghua felt a little guilty. In her previous life, she had been the third wife of the Ji family for several years after the restoration. She had made some progress and her aura was naturally different from that of the 24-year-old Shui Qinghua. She could only say, "The day I gave birth to Wei'er was like a near-death experience. After that, I thought it through. Life is short, why should we look back and forth? Just do whatever you want! When you think this way, you are not afraid of anything!"

She was telling the truth. She had a close call with death.

The sisters walked into the market together, laughing. Shui Yuhua asked the question that had been on her mind for a long time: "Second sister, where did you learn your new needlework? Can you teach me?"

This is a long story. Shui Qinghua took her sisters into a teahouse, ordered a pot of Biluochun, and then told the story.

"As you know, I learned needlework from my mother since I was young, and I started taking embroidery jobs when I was ten years old. One time, I went to a small embroidery workshop to deliver embroidery work, and a embroiderer praised me for my talent. She asked me if I wanted to learn from her, and I said yes. My mother was busy taking care of my younger brothers and sisters and ignored me, so I would go to the embroidery workshop whenever I could. Every time, she would point out what was good and what was bad about my embroidery, and also taught me several needle techniques."

Shui Qinghua's gaze became distant, and her thoughts seemed to travel through time and see herself when she was more than ten years old.

"I didn't become her disciple. She said that her skills were inherited from her family and she had sworn that she would never accept outsiders as her disciples. But she saw that I had great talent and couldn't bear to miss this opportunity, so she gave me some pointers. She couldn't teach me more advanced skills, so she let me figure it out on my own."

When Shui Yuhua and Shui Minghua heard this story for the first time, they were so fascinated that they didn't even bother to taste the snacks brought by the waiter.

"I found that I do have some talent for embroidery. I can tell at a glance what kind of silk thread is used, how to match the colors, and how to stitch the needle when others have embroidered or unembroidered something. After three years of learning from the embroiderer, I have mastered the most common needlework techniques. I can even embroider the most difficult double-sided embroidery."

When Shui Qinghua was a young girl, she was not liked by her parents and felt lonely at home. Embroidery was the only place where she could calm down and spend time with herself. She traced patterns, split the silk, and inserted needles. The rolling needle came out of the receiving needle, and the rotating needle came out of the rolling needle again. The needles were connected and linked one by one. In an instant, the world was quiet. In front of her was brocade and colorful embroidery, and in her ears was the murmur of swallows. Her heart felt fulfilled and satisfied in the pulling of these threads.

At that time, Shui Qinghua's biggest worry was that there were no decent patterns. The ones she could get were too ordinary. Until one day, she saw a butterfly emerging from its cocoon in the backyard of her home. The patterns on its wings were exquisite. Under the sunlight, it emitted different colors at different angles, and each one was completely natural. She suddenly had an inspiration. If she could incorporate the textures of nature into embroidery, could she create a unique embroidery?

Shui Qinghua's eyes were shining, as if she had returned to the moment when inspiration came.

"From then on, I began to pay attention to various natural scenes, mountains, rivers, flowers, trees, birds and animals. I tried to incorporate the look and feel of these things in motion into my acupuncture techniques, and my hands were full of bloody holes." Shui Qinghua stretched out her hands to show her sisters, and the scars recorded her hard work and efforts.

"Later, I finally figured out a needlework method. I rotated the needle to embroider according to the natural texture, and then combined multiple colored threads into one strand and rolled the needle. As the silk texture changed, it complemented each other. The embroidered items were delicate, smooth, soft, and more lifelike. I secretly named it 'natural embroidery'."

Shui Yuhua was stunned. She didn't expect that her second sister, who looked ordinary, had such extraordinary understanding and perseverance.

"Second sister, you are so amazing! I wish I had half of your embroidery skills." Shui Yuhua said enviously.

Shui Minghua also said with emotion: "Qinghua, your persistence and talent are really rare."

Shui Qinghua smiled. Natural embroidery is very demanding on thread and color matching, and takes three times as long as ordinary embroidery. After getting married, she was busy with housework and children, so she had not used natural embroidery for a long time. Until she stood in front of Ji Zimo's "Running Horses", she seemed to hear the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground firmly, coming from far away, and it seemed as if thousands of troops were coming in overwhelming waves. At that moment, her blood rushed, and she couldn't help but have the desire to embroider it.

She knows that there is still a lot of room for improvement in her skills, but she has found the direction for the future.

"That's why I want to open an embroidery workshop instead of selling my skills. I want to keep the secrets in my own hands and compile them into embroidery manuals in the future, leaving a way out for Fei'er and her family to make a living, so that generations of daughters in our family can earn a living with their skills."

Shui Minghua and Shui Yuhua looked at each other in surprise. To make a living by one's own ability is not only Shui Qinghua's dream, but also the dream of many women in the world.

"Second sister, I support you! I am willing to learn and make embroidery patterns and open an embroidery workshop with you in the future." Shui Yuhua said excitedly.

Shui Minghua also nodded: "Qinghua, be brave and do it, we will all support you."

Shui Qinghua looked at them with gratitude, her heart filled with confidence and strength.

"By the way, second sister, where is that embroiderer? Can I learn the skills from her?" Shui Yuhua asked.

Shui Qinghua's face showed a trace of sadness when she heard this. She lowered her head and said, "She has passed away."

More than 20 years have passed since her last life, but she still remembers the scene when they first met. That beautiful woman, who looked like the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River, looked at the silk handkerchief she had embroidered and said softly, "You are a very talented child. Would you like to learn embroidery from me?"

From then on, she followed her, walking into the spring rain and apricot blossoms, savoring the mist and clear water, and admiring the lotus flowers on the eaves through each embroidery. She learned how to do flat stitch, loop stitch, connecting stitch, rolling stitch, and also invented the spiral stitch.

Not long after she got married, Shen Xiuniang died of illness. The woman who had illuminated her girlhood and was as warm as a teacher and a mother disappeared from her life.