Re-embroidering life

"Why do you deserve to teach us embroidery? Even if someone can teach, it should be Sister Meng. Sister Meng's double-sided embroidery with different colors is unique in Jiangxia. Can you do it?" A petite embroiderer standing beside Meng Xiu Niang said indignantly.

"I can't." Shui Qinghua answered calmly.

"Haha--" Several embroiderers booed collectively, while others looked at everything in front of them in surprise.

Shui Qinghua had an idea in her mind. The embroiderers who were causing trouble were probably transferred from Siyifang.

She found a chair and sat down. Chen Jinlan and Hui Xin stood behind her, like guardians on both sides. Hui Xin even cleverly brought her a cup of tea.

Shui Qinghua slowly picked up the tea bowl, opened the lid, stirred it gently, and took a few sips.

She didn't say anything, but several embroiderers at Siyifang already felt embarrassed and their faces looked very ugly.

Shui Qinghua then slowly spoke: "Double-sided embroidery with different colors is unique only in Jiangxia, but in Jiangnan, there are many embroiderers who can do it. I can guarantee that in Shui Xiufang, you can learn the unique needlework in the world."

"Boasting!" the short embroiderer shouted, "You are the only one in the world, how dare you say that! No one in Shen is as arrogant as you, what's your reason?"

"With my skills and techniques." Shui Qinghua remained calm. The louder the little man spoke, the calmer she became.

Seeing that the little guy couldn't hold his ground, Meng Xiu Niang finally spoke up: "Craftsmanship can't be proved by words, it must be proved by hands. Do you dare to compete with me?"

"How do you want to compete?" Shui Qinghua knew that she had to accept the challenge today, otherwise she would not be able to secure her position as the boss.

"Please ask the shopkeeper to set the questions and everyone will judge. Any way of competing is fine." Meng Xiu Niang is proud.

"can."

Soon, Shopkeeper Wang was invited in. He had a professional smile on his chubby face, and he seemed not surprised by the scene before him.

There is no room for two tigers in one mountain. Everyone knows this truth, and the old fox Wang knows it too. It can only be said that he did it on purpose. He also wanted to see how much he weighed and whether it was worth investing in the long term. If she could win over Meng Xiu Niang today, Shuixiufang would be even more powerful. If not, Shuixiufang might always be just a small shop among shops.

It is not easy to open an embroidery workshop. Everything has just begun.

Shopkeeper Wang pretended to think for a moment and then told the test question: Within three hours, choose one of the nine themes of flowers, birds, insects, fish, dragons, butterflies, people, landscapes, and architecture, and freely create an embroidery with no limit on needlework.

Shopkeeper Wang said, "Mrs. Shui has three people on her side. To be fair, Mrs. Meng Xiu, you should also choose two people to form a team."

Meng Xiu Niang first chose the short embroiderer named Zhao, and then chose the older embroiderer named Han.

Meng Xiu Niang is famous for "The Soaring Dragon". Embroidering dragons is her specialty, so choosing a dragon naturally gives her the best chance of winning.

Shui Qinghua thought for a moment and chose the butterfly.

Meng Xiu Niang was relieved. From the perspective of subject matter, butterflies were not an advantage. The dragon's body structure was complex and had many details, especially its eyes, which were bright and vivid. The eyes alone were the finishing touch. Butterflies were small insects. No matter how well they were embroidered, they were just beautiful. Without momentum, they could not attract people.

To prevent others from stealing their skills, the two teams worked in two separate rooms and submitted their work three hours later.

Shui Qinghua slowly sketched on the embroidery silk. She used a charcoal pencil to sketch, with only black lines, but Shui Qinghua had already quickly determined the color scheme in her mind. She uttered one instruction after another, and Jin Lan quickly found the silk thread of the corresponding color according to her instructions. Hui Xin took the silk thread and began to split it skillfully. After spending the past few months together, the master and apprentice, the master and servant, had already developed an indescribable tacit understanding and trust.

Among all kinds of embroidery threads, silk thread is the thinnest, and it is hard to see clearly in the eyes of others, but in the eyes of a good embroiderer, it is a rope made of several strands, which will separate at the touch of the needle tip. One splits into two, two splits into four, Huixin's hands, like petals, fly up and down, splitting out spider-like threads, which finally condense on the surface of Qinghua's silk and become a painting.

As Shui Qinghua sketched, he recalled what he had learned from Ji Zimo. Nowadays, literati paintings emphasize the interest of brush and ink, express the spirit, and emphasize the charm of painting, not the resemblance of form. But Ji Zimo did the opposite. He pursued the resemblance of form and realism. For this reason, he spent a lot of energy studying line sketching and coloring, and now he is studying the effect of light and shadow contrast. Light and shadow, Shui Qinghua's mind moved, and he had an idea.

Time kept moving. Three hours was not enough time for a top-quality embroidery. No one spoke. Everyone was focused on the task at hand. Shui Qinghua took a breath, as if she had encountered some problem. Seeing Jinlan and Huixin looking at her, she frowned and said, "What kind of silk thread should be used for the butterfly's antennae? Can you give me some advice?" Jinlan thought for a moment, took out a sachet from her sleeve, and pulled out a strand of hair. This was the remaining material for her embroidery of the Bodhisattva.

Shui Qinghua's eyes lit up immediately: "Jinlan, you are such a smart girl!"

After the draft, coloring and silk cutting are all completed, Jinlan and Huixin take turns to embroider, with Qinghua as the guide. She only does it herself when the techniques are particularly complicated.

When Hui Xin put away the needle, the clepsydra had just ticked for three hours and the sun was already setting.

They returned to the front hall and found that everyone in Siyifang, including the customers in the store, had gathered here, with dozens of people. Meng Xiu Niang's group had already stood still, and the petite Zhao Xiu Niang kept looking at them, with an unconcealed look of pride on her face, as if she had already won.

Seeing them coming, Shopkeeper Wang said with a smile, since everyone is here, just display them in order.

Meng Xiu Niang and the other two walked to the center of the crowd and unfolded the silk in their hands.

Suddenly, the crowd gasped loudly and exclaimed in admiration.

"This dragon is so majestic and its eyes are so vivid!"

"Its dragon scales are shining with gold. Maybe it has gold threads mixed into them."

"Not only that, the front is shining with gold, and the back is shining with silver!"

"So this is the legendary double-sided different-color embroidery!"

The layman watched the excitement, the expert watched the doorway, the customers were amazed, and the embroiderers had already measured the huge gap between themselves and Meng Xiu Niang in their hearts, and they all cast their eyes of warm admiration towards Meng Xiu Niang.

The smug look on Zhao Xiuniang's face became even more intense. She raised her head, glanced at Shui Qinghua, and snorted through her nose.

Shui Qinghua and the other two were not moved at all, and even their smiles did not change at all. They also walked to the center of the crowd and slowly unfolded the works in their hands.

There was no exclamation, everyone fell silent, frowned, and looked up and down at the embroidery.

After a long while, a customer pointed at the embroidery and said hesitantly, "I say, isn't this an embroidery competition? Even if you can't beat the dragon, you can't just stick a real butterfly on it!"

"How did you know that?" someone asked.

"Don't you see the shadow of the sun under the butterfly's body?"

"But now the sun has set."

Everyone looked up and saw that the sun was really only a little weak afterglow left. But the sun was still shining brightly on the embroidery.

"The antennae of this butterfly can move!" another customer discovered.

Everyone looked again and saw that the butterfly's antennae were extremely thin, but they were indeed standing upright, trembling slightly on the embroidered cloth.

Did they really catch a live butterfly to cheat? This is too arrogant. Everyone was whispering, and many people looked at Shui Qinghua and the other two with contempt.

Chen Jinlan glanced at the crowd, and after the discussion died down, she said openly, "You are all mistaken. This is indeed not a real butterfly, but one we embroidered. Feel it with your hands if you don't trust it."

The first customer who raised doubts walked forward, looked at the pink butterfly with quivering antennae, reached out and touched it, and his face changed. He touched it a few more times and even scraped the silk thread with his fingernails. He took a step back and said in disbelief, "It's really embroidered, embroidered with silk thread!"