Re-embroidering life

Everyone in the room was shocked. The booklet contained the core secrets of hair embroidery, and everyone was aware of not touching it, so how could it be lost?

"Only six days..." Chen Cailan sobbed. She had also helped embroider this portrait. The fire had already dealt her a heavy blow, and now another disaster had struck!

Shui Qinghua kept staring at her toes, not knowing what she was thinking. After a while, she turned around and asked Jin Lan, "Who knocked over the candle last time?"

Jin Lan immediately realized what she wanted to ask: "It was Madam Chang, my grandmother's maid who came with her as a dowry. Later, she became the housekeeper of the Chen family and the person my grandmother trusted the most. She really knocked over the candle by accident. As she got older, her hands and feet were not as nimble as before. My grandmother didn't blame her."

"Then, who is the person in charge of our food supply these days?" Shui Qinghua asked again.

"It's Mother Chang..." Chen Jinlan seemed to realize something and widened her eyes, "No, it can't be Mother Chang..."

Mother Chang watched their parents and their own generation grow up, and they were not much different from her own grandmother, so how could this be?

Shui Qinghua is an outsider and has no feelings for Chang Mama. She is just analyzing the facts. "The only ones who can enter this courtyard today are the maids who deliver food and water. We can tell if there are any problems by checking them."

Chen Jinlan's face turned pale, but she still nodded firmly, "I know, I'll ask someone to check it out."

"Investigation is one thing, but the most important thing now is to retest the potion ratio. We don't have time."

Shui Yuhua had not yet recovered from her self-blame and guilt: "It's all my fault. Why didn't I bring the book with me? I just drank a sip of water..."

Shui Qinghua put his arms around his sister's shoulders: "Every failure is a learning experience. Let's start from the beginning and cheer up!"

Shui Yuhua wiped her tears and said nothing more. She turned around and ran outside. She emptied all the medicinal materials in the eight medicine furnaces and then put them back in according to her memory. Dou Jianzhi also came forward to help.

That night, the fire in the yard never went out and no one slept a wink.

At daybreak, Shui Yuhua's record book was filled with new, densely packed data. The progress had finally caught up, but several people were already exhausted.

Shui Qinghua couldn't hold on any longer. She looked like a normal person, but she showed signs of weakness when she stayed up all night. Even if she stayed up like this for a few more nights, Dr. Chen couldn't save her. She missed Dong Yajing. Among all the girls she knew, Dong Yajing had the best embroidery skills. It would be great if she could help her. But she was in a bad mood recently because of her marriage, and she hadn't come to Ji's house to learn embroidery for several days.

Someone was knocking on the courtyard door. Now everyone was extremely alert to any outsiders. Jinlan and Cailan personally went to the kitchen to fetch food and water. More than a dozen eyes stared at the courtyard door. The door opened with a swish, and a beautiful face appeared outside the door. A little maid followed behind, looking at everyone timidly.

"Yajing?" Shui Qinghua exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you here?"

"Today is the day I learn embroidery. I went to Ji's house and found out that you were admitted to Chen's house for a follow-up visit. I was worried about your physical condition, so I hurried to see you. But this little girl refused to let me see you!" Dong Yajing said angrily.

The little maid looked innocent. Didn’t the eldest lady order her not to bring outsiders in?

Seeing how familiar Shui Qinghua and Dong Yajing were, Chen Jinlan knew there was no need to stop them and signaled the maid to leave.

Shui Qinghua introduced Dong Yajing to everyone. Chen Jinlan and Chen Cailan were both attracted by her beauty when they saw her for the first time. Shui Yuhua was familiar with her and quickly told her the story.

"Doing hair embroidery? Sister Shui, how could you not call me for such a meaningful thing?" Dong Yajing became even more angry.

"Now you're here, right? You've come at the right time. We're all almost exhausted. Come and help us." Shui Qinghua said bluntly.

With Dong Yajing's participation, everyone felt much more relaxed. Shui Qinghua took advantage of the time to take a nap, and when she woke up, she found that Dong Yajing had helped her carefully cut off the burnt part of the old silk cloth, and had stitched a new silk cloth. The stitches were fine and smooth, and you couldn't find any traces of splicing without a close look.

"Yajing, thank goodness for you." Shui Qinghua said gratefully.

"No need to thank me, just teach me embroidery!" Dong Yajing said quickly.

"You are already learning hair embroidery, but whether you can succeed depends on God's will."

By the end of the day, they had a potion formula that performed relatively well. It might not be the best, but it was the best they could come up with in two days.

Only five days left.

After two sleepless nights, everyone slept very soundly that night, with Dou Jianzhi's snoring almost deafening. Shui Yuhua hugged the record book tightly in her arms and slept soundly.

Shui Qinghua was extremely tired, but still gave Chen Jinlan some instructions. Jinlan nodded and went to make the arrangements.

The next morning, everyone heard that a drunk servant almost broke into the embroidery pavilion by mistake last night. Fortunately, the eldest lady arranged guards to guard the gate in advance so that no one was alarmed.

Shui Qinghua ignored all this, she had too much to do. Now the staff had been re-divided into five girls, one to sift the hair, one to soak it, one to dry it, one to split the silk, and one to outline the draft. Dong Yajing was good at painting, so she was naturally responsible for the task of outlining the draft.

Shui Qinghua repeatedly practiced hair embroidery on a piece of white silk. Hair is shiny, smooth, fine and soft. If you use too little force, the hair will easily get tangled, and if you use too much force, the hair will easily break. Shui Qinghua spent a whole day just to figure out how to master the force.

Dou Jianzhi had no place to use his talents, but he did not leave. He stayed in the yard and acted as a security guard.

With only four days left, all the hair was processed, the draft was completed, and it was finally time to the most difficult part: embroidery.

Qinghua was exceptionally calm and composed. She seemed to be born with this ability. She might be timid, weak, and inferior in life, but as long as she sat in front of the embroidery frame, she would become confident and bold, and move the needle decisively and swiftly. At this time, the softness and gentleness on her body retreated, and her calm and resolute face exuded a stunning glow. Several girls surrounded her, and when they looked at each other, they saw surprise and amazement in each other's eyes.

They looked at the originally incomplete face of Medicine Buddha on the white silk, and gradually a pair of eyes appeared, filled with compassion for the world, as if they could see through all the truths of the world and the most secret corners of people's hearts. Under the Buddha's gaze, all falsehoods were exposed, and all sufferings were gently soothed.

Jinlan and Cailan couldn't help but burst into tears. At that moment they thought of their grandfather who was still bedridden, and it seemed as if they had received healing power from the Buddha's eyes.

Their movements startled Shui Qinghua. She stopped needlework and looked at the two of them.

“Let me ask you, what is the most difficult thing about embroidering figures?”

"It's the eyes." Jin Lan was the first to answer, "The finishing touch is the eyes, which reflect a person's spirit and energy."

Qinghua nodded. Are there any other answers?

"It's the sleeve." After a long time, a timid voice sounded.

Everyone looked over at the same time, and no one expected that the person who spoke was Hui Xin, who had no sense of existence.

"Why?" Qinghua asked with great interest.

"Because there's wind in my sleeves."

Qinghua looked at her steadily. As her name suggests, Huixin really has a kind heart.

Qinghua didn't say anything else and continued to embroider.

Then, on the white silk, folds like flowing clouds appeared on the original Buddha statue. The Medicine Buddha was sitting in the wind, with a cloud of clouds on his back. The Buddha's light did not come from his eyes, but from between his sleeves.