The wind is gentle and the fun is endless

The days passed peacefully until May. Ever since she married into the Xu family, flowers could be seen blooming in the Xu mansion garden from time to time. First, the winter jasmine blossomed and then withered, and then the pear blossoms, apricot blossoms, elm-leaved plum blossoms, peach blossoms, forsythia, and magnolia blossomed one after another. The magnolia blossoms had not yet fallen, and along with the new green, the lilac blossoms bloomed again, still exuding fragrance, and the beautiful peonies bloomed again.

"The gardener is such a skilled worker." Huanhuan and Xiaoyu couldn't help but sigh, but Qingxing said, "These are nothing. After the Dragon Boat Festival, there will be roses blooming in red, orange, yellow, and green, and jasmine and sunflowers will also bloom. That will be so gorgeous."

The Dragon Boat Festival is coming soon. On this day, Mrs. Xie asked Xu Qu, Huan Huan and Xiang Yue to have lunch with her. After lunch, Mrs. Xie took out an invitation with a smile and said, "This year's Dragon Boat Festival, your second uncle's brother, Lord Shen Zhongjun, is going to hold a banquet. He has sent an invitation to our family. We are all relatives, so we should go and show our support. I think if you have nothing to do that day, you can all come with me."

Xiangyue lost interest and said, "I don't want to go." The second son of Lord Shen Zhongjun's family has always loved to stay close to her since he was a child, but she hated him since she was a child.

Mrs. Xie said, "You should go, there will be many young men and women there." Her tone was unquestionable, and Xiangyue, who seemed to want to say something, was silent again. Mrs. Xie's intention was actually very clear. Xu Qu was already married, and her daughter had reached this age, so her lifelong affairs were naturally on her agenda.

Huanhuan also discovered that Mrs. Xie treated Xu Qu and Xu Xiangyue differently. After all, Xu Qu was her stepson and had a disease. His ear disease was somewhat related to her, so her attitude towards him was inevitably more subtle. But towards Xiangyue, she was much more direct, revealing more of her strict mother nature. According to Huanhuan's observation, Xiangyue's personality was not the kind of person who would completely listen to her mother. Didn't she tell her about Xu Qu's ear disease on her own initiative?

Thinking about this, she slowly said, "Sister, go too. Just think of it as accompanying me, your sister-in-law. This is the first time I've attended such a party since I got married. I can't help but feel a little nervous."

Xiangyue heard this and smiled on her usually cold face, and said, "Okay."

"She has a charming smile and eyes full of longing." Looking at Xiangyue's smile, I couldn't help but think of these two lines from the Book of Songs. Sister Xiangyue is so beautiful whether she is cold or smiling. No wonder she is such a famous beauty.

Mrs. Xie was very happy to see that the two sisters-in-law were so close, and said, "Tomorrow, no, in the afternoon, in a while, you go to Yongshengfang to pick out fabrics and ask the shopkeeper Sun to arrange for someone to make a new dress for each of you."

After the three of them came out from Madam Xie's place, they got on a carriage together and headed to Yongshengfang. In the carriage, he slowly and quietly asked Xiangyue, "Does Yongshengfang sell fabrics?"

Xiangyue answered patiently, "Yes, it is a clothing shop in my family. This shop is very big and has been in business for 20 to 30 years. It not only sells clothing materials, but also makes clothes. You will know when you go to see it, sister-in-law."

Xiangyue mentioned that Yongshengfang was very big, and Huanhuan imagined what Yongshengfang looked like in her mind, comparing it to the appearance of the largest fabric shop in Heyang. In fact, when Huanhuan first heard her mother-in-law talking about going to Yongshengfang to choose fabrics, she guessed that Yongshengfang must be an unusual shop, because after spending these days together, she knew that the Xu family's food, clothing and daily necessities were all luxurious but moderate, and among these, the shop that her mother-in-law specifically mentioned must have its own special features, but the Yongshengfang she saw was still beyond her imagination.

The carriage carried the three of them for a while and finally stopped in front of a two-story attic. Xu Qu said "We're here" and then lifted the curtain and bent down to go out first. Then he turned around and stretched out his arms to help Huanhuan and Xiangyue out of the carriage.

He slowly got off the carriage and looked up. This was not the "shop" Xiangyue had mentioned, but a shop with two floors of attic, which made the medicine shop next to it look very small. The attic was more than 20 meters long, with beautiful eaves and corners. There was a big plaque on the middle porch of the first floor between the carved beams and painted buildings, with three vigorous and powerful characters "Yongshengfang" written on it.

He followed Xu Qu and Xu Xiangyue in slowly. There were many customers inside. When the shopkeeper who was sitting at the counter saw that it was Xu Qu and Xu Xiangyue who came in, he hurried out to greet them personally, saying, "Sir, Miss, why are you two here?"

Slowly looking at the shopkeeper, he is of medium build, wearing a businessman's hat, a light blue gown, pale complexion, a slightly long and thin face, and bright eyes. At first glance, he is a shrewd businessman.

Xu Xiangyue said, "Shopkeeper Sun, the three of us are here to select fabrics and make the garments before the Dragon Boat Festival. Please arrange it for us."

When Shopkeeper Sun heard the three people, he realized that there was a young woman with a pretty face and a bun following behind Xu Qu. He guessed that this should be Xu Qu's newlywed wife, so he bowed to Huan Huan and said, "Greetings, Madam."

He slowly responded, "Manager Sun, you are too polite."

Shopkeeper Sun then took over Xu Xiangyue's words and said, "You want to make ready-made clothes, right? I will definitely arrange the best craftsman for you." After that, he called two more shop assistants to follow the Xu brothers and sisters to choose fabrics, and Shopkeeper Sun was arranged by Xiangyue to personally accompany Huanhuan to choose fabrics.

Shopkeeper Sun first gave a brief introduction to Huanhuan, saying that the first floor of Yongshengfang mainly displays various fabrics for customers to choose from, while the second floor is mainly used for tailoring.

Afterwards, Shopkeeper Sun took Huanhuan to look around the fabrics on the first floor, and Huanhuan was able to observe the Yongshengfang carefully. The Yongshengfang on the first floor was filled with rolls of fabrics on all sides, with colorful and various patterns, which amazed Huanhuan.

Shopkeeper Sun introduced the fabrics on display to Huanhuan one by one: silk, gauze, satin, brocade and so on.

Finally, Huanhuan stopped in front of several cloth paintings and was attracted by their exquisite and gorgeous patterns and varied patterns. Shopkeeper Sun immediately stepped forward to introduce Huanhuan: "Madam, this is kesi. Different from the "through warp and weft" method of embroidery and brocade, it adopts the "through warp and broken weft" weaving method: raw silk is used as the warp, and colored cooked silk is used as the weft. The weft follows the pre-drawn pattern and is only interwoven with the warp where the pattern is needed, but not through the whole fabric. Only multiple small shuttles are used to weave according to the color of the pattern, so that there are some broken marks between the pattern and the plain background, and between the colors on the fabric, similar to knife carving. This technique has existed at least since the Han and Wei dynasties, and was called "carving like a hollow image" by the ancients." (Note 1)

He asked slowly, "It's so special, it must be very precious, right?"

Shopkeeper Sun replied, "Yes, the patterns and colors of kesi are all woven at once, which is not only very labor-intensive and time-consuming, but also cannot be changed once woven. It requires highly skilled craftsmen to devote a lot of effort. It is common for a piece of work to take a year or so to make. Therefore, there is often a saying that 'one gram of kesi is worth one gram of gold'."

While Huanhuan was listening to Shopkeeper Sun talking about fabrics, Xu Qu and Xu Xiangyue had already chosen their fabrics. Xu Qu randomly picked a plain white ripple brocade, while Xu Xiangyue chose a Ruyi peony scattered flower pattern brocade. Huanhuan was already overwhelmed by the selection, let alone choosing. However, seeing that Xu Qu and Xiangyue had gone to the second floor, she didn't want to delay any longer, so she randomly picked a piece of water green fabric.

Shopkeeper Sun immediately complimented her, "Young Madam, you have a good eye. Silk, satin, and brocade are all valuable, and among silks, floral silk is the most valuable. This is top-quality double-sided silk with the same floral pattern but different colors." He then showed Huanhuan the front and back of the material. One side of the same floral pattern was aqua green, and the other side was black and gold jacquard.

"So this is Luo!" She slowly responded to Shopkeeper Sun while stroking the material with her hand. The silky and light feeling made her marvel in her heart.

"That's right! Luo had already appeared in the Shang Dynasty, and local Luo was already famous in the Tang Dynasty. Its characteristic is that the warp is twisted to form a distinct twist. There are single-warp, three-warp, and four-warp twisted plain Luo, as well as plain and twill flowered Luo. The material you chose is made into clothes, and covered with a layer of monofilament Luo, which is what we often call yarn, it will look very rich."

Huanhuan was very happy to hear that and followed him to the second floor to measure the size. The three of them measured the size on the second floor and then went downstairs.

After going downstairs, she slowly discovered that there was a small area on the first floor where summer cloth was placed. She felt a little confused, so she asked Xiangyue, "Most of the clothes sold in Yongshengfang are high-end fabrics. Few customers buy summer cloth, and people who wear summer cloth generally don't come to buy it. Why is the summer cloth placed here?"

Xiangyue replied, "My mother asked me to put it here. She said summer cloth represents the foundation of the people and it must be placed in the store."

So that's how it is. Huan Huan thought to herself, "I didn't expect Madam Xie to have such a vision. She is indeed worthy of being the daughter of the famous Xie family."

The work was done, and the three of them slowly got on the carriage and went back to Xu's house.

The day before the Dragon Boat Festival, Yongshengfang sent someone to deliver the newly made clothes early in the morning. It was brought in by Nanny Quan. Nanny Quan helped Huanhuan to change into the new clothes. Unexpectedly, the material she randomly chose was quite suitable for her. Huanhuan happily walked around the room a few times.

Seeing how happy she was, Nanny Quan couldn't help but laugh and said, "Yongshengfang is very good at handling things. This dress is perfect for the young lady."

Upon hearing this, Huanhuan asked, "Madam Quan also knows about Yongshengfang." She thought that the servants in the mansion should not know the situation outside the mansion.

Nanny Quan said, "Of course I know. Yongshengfang is a big business of the Xu family. It is a golden signboard for providing imperial products to the palace." Then she whispered to Huanhuan, "Yongshengfang is one of the madam's dowry."

"Oh?" Huanhuan was a little surprised. She knew her mother-in-law's family was very powerful, but she didn't expect them to be so generous and give her such a big shop as a dowry, and it was a shop that provided imperial products for the palace. Thinking of herself, Huanhuan couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

Seeing a trace of embarrassment flash across Huanhuan's face, Nanny Quan knew that she had said something wrong, so she said, "Old servant, I talked too much. It's my fault."

She hurriedly said, "It's okay, Madam Quan, don't worry too much. But it's okay to tell me. Actually, I want to know too." After saying that, she smiled embarrassedly.

Seeing Huanhuan being so graceful and elegant, Nanny Quan felt quite fond of her and continued speaking.

"Back then, Yongshengfang was just a small cloth shop of the Xie family that produced tie-dyed, batik and blue printed cloth. Madam had been running it since she was still an unmarried girl. At first, she just helped her brother, the frail brother you have seen, to take care of the business. But Madam had a talent for business management. Within a few years, she turned Yongshengfang from a small cloth shop into a large cloth shop that not only produced cloth and various silks, but also sold cloth and silks. At that time, Yongshengfang was well-known in Shanghuai."

Nanny Quan said with great joy, "When Madam got married, the Xie family gave Yongshengfang to Madam as her dowry. Madam has managed it well over the years. Now Yongshengfang is not only the largest cloth shop in Shanghuai City, but also a major merchant that provides imperial products to the palace. Wow, our Madam is really capable."

Hearing this, Huan Huan couldn't help but respond, "I didn't expect my mother-in-law to be so capable."

"Isn't it? Well, I'm not saying this, Madam? Look, it's been Madam who has been taking care of the Xu family's business for more than a decade since the master passed away. If someone couldn't hold on, the Xu family would have declined long ago. But with someone as capable as Madam, who has managed the Xu family's business in perfect order, the Xu family has continued to enjoy such a good life to this day." Madam Quan spoke her mind in one breath and looked at Huanhuan.

What Nanny Quan said was indeed something Huan Huan had never thought of before. She felt that what Nanny Quan said made sense, but she felt that something was wrong. However, as a new bride, she could not say much, so she just said, "I didn't expect Nanny to know so much about my mother-in-law's family."

Upon hearing this, Nanny Quan hesitated for a moment and said, "To be honest, young madam, this old servant is just like Nanny Zhang who is beside you. We are your maidservants who came with your dowry." After hearing this, I slowly understood why Nanny Quan seemed to be biased towards my mother-in-law in both her words and deeds.