Re-embroidering life

Ji Fei had long discovered that her little sister was special. When she was still a swaddling baby, her twinkling eyes could speak. Later, she learned to speak, but she was very frugal with words. Her eyes seemed to always silently look at the people and things around her, and then fall into deep thought. Can you imagine a baby in deep thought?

Ji Fei didn't know if her parents had noticed Ji Wei's difference. Maybe they had. When Wei'er was just born, her mother didn't hold her. It was better after she came to Beijing. She didn't know what was going on. She only knew that Ji Rui and Ji Wei were her closest sisters. Ji Rui was heartless and spent all her time on making snacks. Ji Wei was the opposite. She was full of tricks and was her military advisor.

"Weier, tell me, how can my elder sister start a business?"

Ji Wei motioned for her to lower her head, and the two furry little heads touched each other and started chirping.

Shui Qinghua has already started her next Furong Garden embroidery. This time, she chose a landscape painting modeled after the famous artist Mi Fu of the previous dynasty. Even the eldest sister knows that living in the capital is not easy. As the mistress of the house, she naturally cannot sit back and enjoy the benefits. She knows Ji Fei's thoughts, but she has to be cautious. In Jiangxia, she was plotted against by her opponents because of her excessive popularity. In the capital where she is unfamiliar with the place, she must not act rashly. Starting from Furong Garden embroidery, slowly building up the reputation of Shui Xiufang, accumulating customers, and then opening an embroidery workshop is a natural outcome.

Jinlan's body has recovered a lot, she has gained some weight, her hair and skin are shiny again, but her eyes are empty and numb, she often stares at the same place and doesn't speak for a whole day. She always has nightmares at night, sinking into that dark and terrifying time and unable to break free.

"Master, the court has issued the seal, right?" Her eyes finally showed a ripple of hope, "When can I go to the government to sue Zhao Jun? I want a divorce.

Shui Qinghua sighed and helped her sit down: "Don't worry, you must sue, but be patient and wait."

"Why?" Jin Lan suddenly became excited.

Shui Qinghua and Ji Zimo discussed this matter. Ji Zimo suggested waiting until after the imperial examination. He was confident that he could pass the imperial examination and then be appointed as an official. With an official title, it would be easier to get in the officialdom and have a better chance of winning the lawsuit. It was just one more month to wait, but this month was like a year for Jinlan.

"Jinlan, come and help Master embroider. Master really needs you." Shui Qinghua tried to divert Jinlan's attention.

Jin Lan had no intention at first, but thinking of the kindness her master had shown her along the way, she nodded and agreed. She picked up the needle, twisted the thread, and sat in front of the embroidery frame. Her heart magically calmed down, as if she had returned to the days when she worked tirelessly in the Chen family's embroidery pavilion to embroider the Buddha statue. She also suddenly remembered what her master had said in the Chen family, "Women also have their own weapons, which are the needles in their hands." Suddenly, her thoughts were flooding, and she couldn't help herself.

It was she who easily gave up the path her master had paved for her, refused the opportunity to be the foreman of the Shuixiu Workshop, and obeyed her mother's order to return to Beijing to get married, almost ruining her life. Fortunately, her master never gave up on her and still gave her a chance, and this chance was the embroidery needle in her hand.

She took a deep breath, and light appeared in her silent eyes. This time, she would not be wrong again.

At the beginning, her needlework was a little slow, but the skills accumulated over time did not betray her. She embroidered faster and faster, and gradually immersed herself in it.

Time passed quickly, and on the ninth day of the second month, Ji Zimo entered the Spring Examination. Shui Qinghua was still worried about her husband, and her elder sister Minghua found her and asked, "Do you know what Fei'er is doing recently?"

Shui Qinghua didn't understand. Ji Fei was the eldest daughter and the most obedient child. What could happen to her?

"Recently, she always asked me to take her out. We would separate when we got to South City and wait for me to come back together at night. I thought it was you who asked her to do it, but later I found out it wasn't the case."

"I thought you were the one who took her out to play every day, but that's not the case, is it?"

The two sisters looked at each other and saw surprise and worry in each other's eyes.

The next day, Ji Fei went with her aunt as usual. When they arrived at Nanshi, she said goodbye to her aunt and disappeared into an alley.

Shui Qinghua followed behind from a distance, watching Ji Fei walk into a house along the street with familiarity. After a while, he came out with a boy pushing a cart, and the two of them walked into the bustling market.

The boy took out the things in the car and set up a small stall in an instant. When the boy turned his face, Shui Qinghua was shocked. Isn't this the boy selling lanterns? Compared with the Lantern Festival, he was much cleaner and tidier, and looked handsome and energetic.

At this time, Ji Fei opened her voice and shouted: "A sachet that cures all diseases! A secret recipe passed down from ancestors, it cures insomnia, dreaminess, back pain, leg pain, and loss of appetite, just put it on and they will be cured!"

"how much for one?"

"Five cents of silver!" Ji Fei looked back happily and saw her mother looking at her angrily. Ji Fei lowered her head guiltily.

The two walked to a secluded roof. Shui Qinghua suppressed his anger and said, "You should give me an explanation. You hid it from both mother and aunt just to open a stall?"

Ji Fei stammered, "Mom, it was wrong of me to hide this from you and aunt, but I think there is nothing wrong with doing business."

After her mother rejected her proposal to open an embroidery shop, Ji Fei decided to start her own business. Not knowing what to do, she wandered around the South City, where she unexpectedly met a boy selling lanterns.

"You don't sell lanterns anymore, why are you still here?" Ji Fei asked him.

"I'm waiting for you." The boy was very happy to see Ji Fei. He had been waiting for many days. He said that on the day he brought the silver home, his father scolded him severely. His father said that several hundred taels of silver was something they could never earn in their lifetime, so he asked him to return the money to the benefactor immediately.

He didn't know his benefactor and didn't know where to look for him, so he just stayed at the place where lanterns were sold, thinking that maybe his benefactor would come to Nanshi for a visit one day.

"Miss Fairy, I left a silver ingot for my father's medical treatment, you can take the rest back!" said the boy.

Ji Fei's eyes turned and he had an idea: "I won't take the silver back. I'll leave it here. It's just the capital for doing business! If you want to repay me, do business with me!"

After listening to Ji Fei's explanation, Shui Qinghua became even more angry: "So, you two are just cheating?" She didn't believe that Fei'er understood pharmacology.

Ji Fei almost jumped up: "Mom, we are not cheating. Xiao's family has been collecting herbs for generations, and he has learned a lot of herbs from his father. Some of the prescriptions were passed down from his family, so I had an idea and mixed the herbs and sewed them into sachets. I can sell them for twice as much silver as selling the herbs alone. I have earned dozens of taels these days."

Shui Qinghua's anger subsided a little: "Fei'er, mother knows that you like doing business, but you are only nine years old, and that Ah Xiao is only about ten years old. It's very dangerous for the two of you to do this."

Without an adult around, anyone with bad intentions at the market could bully her daughter, and she felt terrified.