Re-embroidering life

The great pain made him curl up, he could no longer speak and burst into a violent coughing fit.

"Zimo, in the face of natural disasters, each of us is insignificant. We don't have the ability to protect everyone. This is not your fault." Shui Qinghua comforted him while crying.

After a long time, Ji Zimo finally calmed down. Shui Qinghua helped him take a bath and change his clothes. Doctor Cai came and prescribed a tranquilizing soup, and Ji Zimo finally fell asleep.

Doctor Cai whispered to Shui Qinghua, "He has been greatly stimulated mentally and probably hasn't slept for a long time. Now we need to find a way to get him to sleep more. He will be much more energetic when he wakes up. His family should pay attention to giving him more guidance."

Shui Qinghua nodded with a hint of worry. A pampered and weak scholar, who had seen hell on earth for the first time in his life when he went out far away, and also escaped death himself, this contrast was too strong, and no one could bear it.

The sky was bright, and there were murmurs of voices, footsteps, and his daughter's laughter in the yard. Ji Zimo suddenly woke up from his deep sleep. When he opened his eyes, he saw a tent made of light gauze, with a very delicate sachet hanging on the hook. For a moment, he didn't know what day it was. As soon as he closed his eyes, he was in a dim flood, and his ears were filled with heart-wrenching cries, but when he opened his eyes, he saw the world was peaceful and stable. For a moment, he didn't know which side was reality. Zhuangzi dreamed of a butterfly. Was it a dream? Or not?

Not far away, a woman was concentrating on painting, her black brush reflecting her fair wrist. It was Qing Hua. Seeing his wife, his heart suddenly calmed down.

Shui Qinghua felt a gaze and turned around. Ji Zimo had woken up and was looking at her silently.

"How do you feel now?"

Ji Zimo closed his eyes and said, "I'm much better, but not completely well yet."

Shui Qinghua stood up, sat down on the edge of the bed, and held his hand.

Ji Zimo held her hand tightly in his palm. He was silent for a long time, as if he couldn't speak, and finally spoke with difficulty: "I didn't tell you yesterday that Governor Deng ordered the breach of the Qingyuzui dike after discussion. Teacher and I both participated and agreed. If we don't do this, the entire Qianzhou Prefecture and Jiangxia Prefecture will be wiped out. Intellectually, I know this decision is right, but emotionally, I can't face it. That is also the home of the people, and the lives of living people. No one should be abandoned."

It turned out that his inner demon was here. He was not defeated by the scene of the disaster, but because he had weighed the importance of human life on the scale of reason. One village and two state capitals, making such a choice seemed natural, but how cruel it was to the people who were abandoned.

"I feel that I am guilty, guilty towards those who have been abandoned." His eyes were full of confusion and pain.

Shui Qinghua did not comfort him. Any comfort at this time would be pale and powerless. "Zimo, it is painful to make such a choice, but someone had to stand up at that time. This is also a kind of responsibility. Now that the decision has been made, it is useless to dwell on the past. What is important is the present. Since you feel guilty, then help the survivors get out as soon as possible and rebuild their homes."

"What can I do? I have no fame and no money." He lowered his head in dejection. He only had the three hundred taels that Tang Hao had lent him, which he had spent on Qing Hua's medicine and the trip to Qianzhou. He smiled bitterly, "I've lived for so many years, only to realize that I'm useless."

"You can take the exam to get a good reputation. You can sell your paintings to raise money."

Selling paintings? No matter how difficult the time was, he never thought of selling paintings. Those paintings were his hard work and his treasures. He could give them to his confidants, but he never thought of exchanging them for money.

"Okay, I'm willing to sell it, and all the money raised will be donated to Qingyuzui." Ji Zimo made up his mind without hesitation.

With a goal in mind, his eyes finally brightened and he became more energetic. He forced himself to get out of bed and went to Tang Hao to discuss organizing the auction.

Shui Qinghua was also very sad when she heard Ji Zimo's description of Qianzhou. She hoped that she could do something. Ji Zimo sold paintings, so she would sell embroidery paintings.

Time was running out and she couldn't finish the embroidery by herself, so she had to ask her friends for help.

Soon, Dong Yajing, Chen Jinlan, Shui Yuhua and Huixin gathered in the embroidery workshop of the Ji family again. After listening to Shui Qinghua's retelling, the girls all burst into tears. Except for Huixin, who had suffered some hardships, the other three girls, although from different families, were all the apples of their parents' eyes. They had never experienced such hardships or seen such tragic scenes.

I don't have any lofty ambitions or grand words, I just want to do something, that's all.

They chose a one-foot-square painting in Ji Zimo's study, titled "Looking", which was painted when Ji Zimo went out to collect folk songs. A person stood on a bridge, looking at the fields in the distance, where farmers were working hard and the rice seedlings had grown tall.

Hope, hope, watch, wish.

Five women stayed in the embroidery room, taking turns to embroider. When one got tired, the next one would take over.

After half a month of sleepless work, the embroidery was finally completed.

At this time, Ji Zimo's auction was ready, and was organized by Tang Hao and his friends on the third floor of Zhenjiang Pavilion. Shui Qinghua asked Ji Zimo to put the embroidery paintings created by several women on the auction list.

After looking at it, Ji Zimo said to Shui Qinghua seriously: "This is your intention and your masterpiece. It can be auctioned together with my painting, but it should not be named after Ji Zimo. You can add a signature to this embroidery."

Shui Qinghua thought what he said made sense. The women discussed for almost an hour but still couldn't decide on a name.

Shui Qinghua smiled and gave a suggestion: "We gathered in the Ji family's courtyard to learn embroidery, and we also completed this embroidery painting here, so why not name it after this courtyard."

"But second sister, your yard hasn't had a name for so many years." Shui Yuhua interjected.

Shui Qinghua smiled, "Yes, it's called Hibiscus Garden."

In fact, Hibiscus Garden was the courtyard where she lived before she died in her previous life. At that time, she had little say in the Ji family, except for that courtyard, which she built and arranged completely according to her own preferences. Hibiscus was planted all over the front of the house. Every late summer and early autumn, when the hibiscus flowers bloomed, the whole garden was filled with pink and white, like clouds and rosy clouds.

"Okay, from now on our embroidery will be named 'Hibiscus Garden Embroidery'." The four girls all nodded in agreement.

Dong Yajing had another idea: "Let's each give ourselves a nickname. I'll go first. My name is Xiuzhujun."

Chen Jinlan also became interested: "We, the descendants of the Chen family, have been learning to identify medicinal herbs since we were young. Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs, so I will be called Baicaojun."

Hui Xin smiled gently and said, "Although I haven't read much, I know that Hui means orchid, so I will call you You Lan Jun."

Shui Yuhua couldn't think of what to call herself, so Shui Qinghua touched her head and said, "You are innocent and naive, with a pure heart, just like a lotus flower. How about calling me Qinglian Jun?"

Yuhua nodded and asked her second sister with a smile: "What's your second sister's name?"

Qinghua seemed to be thinking of something in the past, and smiled with her hands covering her mouth: "I already had this name a long time ago, and it was our eldest sister who gave it to me."

She recalled the first time she met Shopkeeper Wang, who called her "Lady Furong," which confused her. At the time, the eldest sister blushed with embarrassment. The eldest sister certainly could not have imagined that the name she made up would be used one day.

To the women, these were just jokes in the boudoir. No one had ever thought that the brand name of "Furong Garden Embroidery" would one day be known throughout the country.