Re-embroidering life

"Madam Shui, what are you going to do?" asked the old lady.

Shui Qinghua remembered that Shen Xiu Niang had told her that the key to hair embroidery lies in the material. Old people's hair cannot be used because it is too brittle and easy to break. Men's hair cannot be used because it is too thick and difficult to shape. Young women's hair is the best choice because it is long enough and tough enough. Hair is easy to break, so only those with a calm mind and delicate fingers can do it.

Embroidery is stressful, and she had planned not to hold a needle this year, but now she has no choice but to break her vow.

"I will make a list of materials and ask you to prepare them in one day. I will also go back to make arrangements at home. I need to stay at your house for the next few days. Also, please ask the old lady to find one or two women who are careful, steady, and good at embroidery to assist me."

"I'll do it!" Jin Lan walked over quickly.

"I'll come too!" Xiu Lan followed. Shui Qinghua glanced at her and shook her head firmly. She was too young to be patient. Xiu Lan immediately lost her temper and walked aside with her head down.

Shui Qinghua didn't care about anyone's feelings. After making a list of materials, she said goodbye to the Chen family and went home to prepare.

Old Madam Chen was very thoughtful and sent a nanny to go back with her so that she could explain the situation to the elders at home.

After walking out of the courtyard, Dou Jianzhi was so anxious that he was about to smoke. He circled the door for more than thirty times, but Shui Qinghua did not come out. There were many young women inside, and he did not dare to go in. After listening to Shui Qinghua's story, he was overjoyed and wanted to kneel down to Shui Qinghua: "Second sister, if you can really ask Old Madam Chen to do anything for me, just tell me!"

After returning to the Ji family, Shui Qinghua brought Nanny Chen to see Old Madam Ji. She did not mention the embroidered portrait, but only said that she had been taking medicine for a while and needed a follow-up visit. Old Madam Chen arranged for her to stay at the Chen house for a few days to observe her condition and adjust the prescription.

Old Lady Ji saw that Nanny Chen was well-spoken and well-mannered, and that she came from a medical family, so she secretly praised her. She had never been harsh on her daughter-in-law, and when she heard that it was for a follow-up visit, she readily agreed and sent her personal maid to send Nanny Chen out.

After returning to the third room, Shui Qinghua immediately called Lanxin and Huixin and explained to them that one of them needed to stay at home to look after the children, and the other would follow her to Chen's house. A few days ago, Qinxin was worried about the old lady, and seeing that the third room no longer needed her, she asked to return to the main courtyard to serve. Shui Qinghua gave her a letter of silver and sent her away politely.

Huixin took the initiative to say, "I'd better go with my wife. Lanxin is lively and both ladies like to play with her."

Shui Qinghua also had the same idea. Huixin was steady and calm, a good candidate for learning embroidery and could be cultivated.

Lan Xin had no objection, but just asked: "The Third Master is coming to see the young ladies, what should I say?"

Shui Qinghua only then remembered that she had forgotten to inform Ji Zimo! In her previous life, she always put Ji Zimo first. After only a few months of rebirth, she had already gotten used to making her own decisions. Even she herself was shocked by this change.

Ji Zimo spent the whole day studying hard in Dong Daru's study. He returned home in the evening and found Shui Qinghua waiting for him. Shui Qinghua told him about what happened at Chen Mingyi's house and also told him about her decision.

Ji Zimo didn't say anything after listening to him, but tapped the table rhythmically with his fingers like playing a musical instrument. Shui Qinghua knew that this was his habit when thinking about something, so she sat quietly aside and didn't disturb him.

After a while, he spoke: "Since the skills have been lost, it is not easy to pick up. I have some impression of hair embroidery. It seems that there is an ancient book from the previous dynasty that mentioned it. I will look for it. Maybe it can be useful to you."

After saying this, he didn't even bother to eat and hurried to the study.

They waited until the moon was at its highest point in the sky. Ji Zimo rushed into Shui Qinghua's bedroom excitedly. "Found it, found it!" He handed the copied paper to Shui Qinghua. "Ancient books say that the most important thing in hair embroidery is the processing of the hair. Not only does it require collecting, screening, and grading the hair, but it also requires color separation, softening, and degreasing."

Collection and screening are easy, but how to soften and degrease? Shui Qinghua is at a loss.

"There are several kinds of medicinal herbs written here. Maybe they can be used to soak hair?" Ji Zimo pointed to a few lines of words and said.

Shui Qinghua looked carefully. It was not difficult to collect the herbs, but it was not enough to have the herbs without the formula. Too much or too little of each herb would affect the actual effect. If there was time, I could try it slowly, but now there were less than seven days.

"You can only work harder now, find a few more people, and try and adjust as you go along."

Shui Qinghua nodded, thinking that he should bring a few more people with him, as it would be more convenient to use his own people. So he sent letters to his fifth sister Yuhua and Dou Jianzhi at night, telling them that it was their duty to help their own sister (wife).

The next morning, Shui Qinghua brought Huixin and Yuhua, and the carriage drove to Chen's house. Dou Jianzhi had been waiting here for a long time, holding a bunch of herbal medicine bags in his hand. Seeing his aunt and cousin, he scratched his head a little embarrassedly: "I was afraid of delaying things, so I knocked on the doors of several herbal medicine shops overnight to collect these herbs."

Shui Qing took a look at his expression and wondered if he had knocked on the door or smashed it open. Without asking any more questions, the group came to the embroidery room of Chen's house. Chen Jinlan and a girl named Chen Cailan were already prepared, with embroidery frames, hair, and silk cloth neatly arranged.

Shui Qinghua divided the people into several groups according to the process. Dou Jianzhi was responsible for mixing the herbs in different proportions and boiling them into medicine. Huixin had to select the hair with uniform thickness and strong quality, and the discarded hair was used for soaking experiments. Yuhua was responsible for recording the effects of soaking in different proportions of medicine. Cailan and Jinlan helped with fabric processing, stretching, and drafting. Shui Qinghua was responsible for the final needlework, which was a crucial link and she did not dare to entrust it to anyone.

In the open space outside the embroidery pavilion, eight small medicine stoves were lined up in a row, and eight medicine pots were bubbling with steam. A strong smell of medicine filled the air above the embroidery pavilion. Summer was coming, and the midday sun was getting scorching. Dou Jianzhi was scorched by the eight stoves, and sweat poured down his forehead and hairline onto his face and body like water.

Everyone knows that the success of hair embroidery depends not only on the embroidery process, but also on whether the potion is prepared successfully to make the soaked hair soft and resilient. Without previous experience, we can only try it based on our feelings. Although Chen Jinlan is young, she is very smart. She has always taken Chen Cailan to stay in the embroidery pavilion and not go near the medicine furnaces. Shui Qinghua nodded secretly. This girl's character and upbringing are first-class. She is worthy of being the eldest granddaughter of a medical family.

The first day of the experiment went smoothly. Four of the eight mixtures had been eliminated. It looked like they would succeed in one more day. When the sun was setting, Shui Yuhua suddenly screamed and said to everyone with a sad face, "The booklet where I recorded the mixture results is missing!"