Re-embroidering life

Ye Jincheng was enraged. The cold smile on his face disappeared and his eyes were as cold as ice.

"Double-sided embroidery with different colors is not as good as your skills! You have unique skills, but you use them in Jiangnan Embroidery Workshop. Do you know how to remember the source of your water?"

Shui Qinghua laughed in anger: "Speaking of remembering the source of water, it was the Jiangnan embroidery lady who taught me embroidery, it was the Jiangnan embroidery workshop who bought my first work, and it was the Jiangnan owner who was willing to support me in opening an embroidery workshop. How can I not remember the source of water? In my eyes, people have their hometowns, but skills do not. Only by absorbing and integrating can we go higher. Not only Suzhou embroidery, in the future, I will also learn Sichuan embroidery, Hunan embroidery, and Guangdong embroidery. If everyone is as prejudiced as you, there will be no embroidery in Chu. Have you forgotten that women's needlework originated in Wu?"

"You mentioned so many types of embroidery, but you didn't mention Chu embroidery. Do you look down on Chu embroidery?" Ye Jincheng became more and more angry.

"Of course not," Shui Qinghua felt that he was talking to someone who had nothing in common with him. "The biggest difference between my Shuixiufang and Siyifang is that I have integrated the styles of Suzhou embroidery and Chu embroidery."

"Haha..." Ye Jincheng sneered loudly, "What Lady Shui meant by integrating Su embroidery and Chu embroidery is to draw a few colorful pictures of Chu scenery and then embroider them with Su embroidery? Do you understand Chu embroidery? Have you studied Chu embroidery techniques? Do you think that Su embroidery techniques are invincible in the world?"

Shui Qinghua was furious, but after hearing his questions, she suddenly calmed down. She felt that Ye Jincheng's questions made sense. Her understanding of Chu embroidery was limited to watching it at the Chu Embroidery Pavilion. Her eyes felt that the needlework was neither complicated nor delicate, but the dragon and phoenix screen in front of her told her that it was not the case.

Shui Qinghua pondered for a moment, suppressed the anger in his body, and said to Ye Jincheng in a serious tone: "Please teach me, Mr. Ye."

Ye Jincheng's expression also eased, and he turned and walked out: "If you want to know, just follow me."

Following Ye Jincheng out of the private room, Dou Jianzhi was waiting anxiously outside. He heard the quarrel between the two people in the private room getting louder and louder, and was really afraid that they would fight. Fortunately, both of them were respectable people.

Ye Jincheng glanced at Dou Jianzhi who was like a guard and said, "Little brother, it's not convenient for you to go with us. Go home first."

Shui Qinghua and Dou Jianzhi's faces froze at the same time. Ye Jincheng noticed their hesitation and said impatiently, "Are you afraid that I'll kidnap her?"

Since he said so, Shui Qinghua was curious about where he was going to take her. Thinking that he was a well-known businessman, he would not do anything out of line, so she persuaded Dou Jianzhi to send a message to the Ji family that she would be home late, and she followed Ye Jincheng on foot towards the south city.

Shui Qinghua had never been to the South City area, where a large number of poor people lived. Even if the Ji family was in decline, there was always an old house for them to live in, so they had never set foot here. Ye Jincheng seemed to be very familiar with the place, moving back and forth in the spider-web-like narrow alleys, making Shui Qinghua dizzy. Looking at the low and dilapidated houses on both sides of the road, the ragged children running around in front of and behind the houses, and the shirtless men working in the yard, she became more and more nervous. If Ye Jincheng had bad intentions, she would be helpless.

Just as he was about to catch his breath, Ye Jincheng suddenly stopped in front of a small courtyard paved with bluestone steps. There was an osmanthus tree planted at the gate of the courtyard. It was the blooming season, and the breeze blew, bringing a faint fragrance. Shui Qinghua took a deep breath, and the fragrance of the flower penetrated into her heart and relieved her tension.

"Go in!" Ye Jincheng signaled her with his eyes. She hesitated, and Ye Jincheng became impatient and pushed open the old wooden door, which made a creaking sound.

"Who is it?" A woman's voice came, with an authentic Jiangxia accent.

She was a plump woman with a round face and a kind smile on her face.

"Who are you looking for, ma'am?" the woman asked.

Shui Qinghua subconsciously looked towards Ye Jincheng. The door was empty, where was the person?

"I... I came here with Mr. Ye." She could only explain reluctantly.

The woman smiled, "Madam, are you here to look for my mother-in-law? She is in the yard, come in."

After saying that, he turned sideways and let Shui Qinghua into the yard. The yard was not big, it could be said to be simple, but it was well organized and not shabby at all.

A white-haired old woman was sitting in the yard with an embroidery frame in front of her. She was embroidering in the light from the yard.

"Qiong Niang, who's here?" the old woman asked without raising her head.

"Mom, Mr. Ye brought a lady with him."

The old woman stopped her needlework and looked at Shui Qinghua. People who have been doing embroidery for many years have poor eyesight as they age, and the old woman is no exception. She squinted her eyes and looked at Shui Qinghua for a long time, and finally her eyes fell on her hands.

"You have a pair of good hands, hands for embroidery." The old woman motioned Shui Qinghua to come forward and took her hand for a closer look. "There are calluses on your hands from the needles, and there are also bloody holes from the needles. As soon as I see your hands, I know you have worked hard."

The old woman said nothing, and handed the needle to Shui Qinghua, "I'm tired, can you help me embroider a few stitches?"

Shui Qinghua did not refuse. She took it and saw that the old woman was embroidering a picture of cranes, with red and black colors. The needlework was quite different from Suzhou embroidery. She started from the outside and moved the needle inward layer by layer. The edges of the pattern were very neat, and the pattern was layered and broken. Shui Qinghua could not break the needlework rules for a while. She was eager to try several times, but finally put down the needle and looked at the old woman apologetically: "Grandma, I don't know how to embroider."

The old woman smiled, revealing a mouthful of broken teeth. She said in a leaky voice, "Don't be afraid, I'll embroider it the way you want."

Seeing the encouraging look in the old woman's eyes, Shui Qinghua concentrated and embroidered a small piece. She used flat stitch, loop stitch and spiral stitch to embroider a small piece, which was also very beautiful. When put together with the old woman's embroidery, they were obviously different. The crane embroidered by Shui Qinghua was elegant, noble, beautiful and holy. The crane embroidered by the old woman was three-dimensional and plump, with eyes as bright as lightning, which contained the primitive vitality of wild birds.

The old woman looked at the crane embroidered by Shui Qinghua and nodded repeatedly: "Well done, you have talent!"

Shui Qinghua blushed. She was proud of her embroidery skills, but she couldn't even figure out the old woman's needlework. The crane she embroidered was beautiful, but it seemed to lack a soul.

The old woman had no time to pay attention to her, and lowered her head to continue embroidering. Shui Qinghua was a little at a loss. She couldn't bear to leave. If she didn't leave, would it be considered stealing the old woman's skills? Seeing that the old woman had no intention of driving her away, she was thick-skinned and sat aside steadily, watching and taking notes.

When the sun set in the west, the old woman put away her embroidery frame and smiled at her: "It's late, it's time to go home. Come back tomorrow."

Can you come tomorrow? Shui Qinghua was delighted and answered loudly subconsciously, "Okay!"