Afterwards, they went to the fabric store. Perhaps because it was nearing the New Year, the shop’s business was good, and the boss had hired a boy of about fifteen or sixteen to help out.
The boy had a round face and looked cheerful. He didn’t recognize the two, so he sweetly asked, "Miss, sir, what would you like to buy? We just got so new ready-to-wear clothes. Would you like to take a look?"
Lin Qiao smiled, "I’m not buying anything. I’m here to see the boss."
At this mont, the boss put down what she was doing and ca over, "Little Xian, you go ahead and get busy, I’ll take care of this."
After saying this, she looked at Lin Qiao and smiled again, "I thought you weren’t coming."
"I’ve been busy at ho preparing for the New Year, so I haven’t been to town much," Lin Qiao said, handing her the designs.
The boss took them and looked at them for a while, then couldn’t help but praise, "You have such a skillful hand."
"But it’s a pity that the embroideress can’t replicate it as well. At most, it looks seventy to eighty percent similar. I really liked the pear blossom jacket last ti, but it didn’t turn out so well." She slightly turned her head, signaling for Lin Qiao to look at the pear blossom jacket hanging there.
The pear blossoms on the jacket looked less lively than in the drawings and seed a bit stiff and cumberso.
Not very attractive.
Lin Qiao imdiately pointed out the problem, "Boss, you shouldn’t have used coarse hemp. Coarse hemp itself is quite thick, and with embroidery on top, it becos quite jarring."
The design of the pear blossoms is quite complex, and when the threads are piled together, it looks even thicker.
The boss said with a troubled expression, "I thought people in town don’t buy fine cotton clothes much, so I used the cheaper coarse hemp."
"I’ve made over a dozen of them. If they don’t sell, I’ll incur a big loss."
Lin Qiao thought for a mont, "If you change the design a bit, it should be fine. Boss, could I borrow a brush and so ink?"
The boss nodded quickly, then went to get a brush and ink. Lin Qiao paused for a mont, then swiftly started drawing. Once she finished the outline, she thought for a mont and noted the thread colors beside it.
The woman’s handwriting was elegant yet bold.
The boss, surprised, praised after a mont, "Your writing is very nice."
Lin Qiao’s hand paused, "..."
She got caught; the original host couldn’t write.
She kept a calm face, looking slightly embarrassed, "My uncle often practices calligraphy at ho. I secretly learned from him." Saying this, she intentionally added an extra stroke to a character.
"Oh." The boss saw her make a mistake but didn’t suspect anything. Soon, she refocused on the designs.
Song Tingfan didn’t doubt his sister-in-law at all, his eyes shining with admiration, as if saying "Sister-in-law is amazing".
Lin Qiao, observing his reaction out of the corner of her eye, "..."
She had worried too much.
The antagonist’s intelligence was currently as easy to fool as a three-year-old child’s.
The boss looked at the design for a while longer and then said to Lin Qiao, "Co with to the embroidery workshop. I’m afraid what I say might not match your intentions, and constant changes could ruin the material."
Having accepted the money for her work, Lin Qiao nodded, agreeing to help.
The boss looked at Song Tingfan, warmly handing him so lon seeds, "Sit here and play. Your sister-in-law and I are going out, and we’ll be back soon."
Song Tingfan pursed his lips, looking directly at Lin Qiao. Unable to resist his expression, Lin Qiao laughed and said to the boss, "He’ll co with . We won’t be coming back here later, we’ll head straight ho on the donkey cart."
The boss thought for a mont and nodded, "Alright, let settle the money with you first. Ten designs make five taels of silver, and adding the one just now makes it five and a half."
"No need, five taels from the boss will do."
"Oh co on, take it. Winter’s coming, buy yourself so extra food. By the way, with the New Year approaching, take these dried goods ho to eat. Don’t argue, just take them."
The dried goods included so lon seeds, peanuts, and so sugar.
With the boss insisting like this, Lin Qiao couldn’t refuse anymore, so she accepted them gracefully, putting them in her basket, "Thank you, boss."
"Thank what? If you want to thank , just draw a few more for ." The boss thought of the substantial money they had earned recently and couldn’t help but smile widely.
There was no way such a small fabric store could consu so many designs, but she had connections to sell them to other fabric stores.
Not all of them, of course.
...
The embroidery workshop was very close to the town entrance. It was a courtyard converted into an embroidery workshop, with five or six embroideresses.
Lin Qiao’s gaze fell on the loom at the far end, continuously operating with a "creak creak" sound. "Does the boss still weave the fabric herself?"
"Only a few, occasionally when a big family sends thread to process. The Pavilion Chief’s family brought over so good thread yesterday. It really is expensive. Just a small handful costs one hundred cents."
The boss walked over to check the weaving progress, reminding the embroideress at the loom, "Be careful, don’t spoil it, we can’t afford to pay for it."
The cheaper thread costs only one cent a handful. A hundred cents a handful is really expensive, and Lin Qiao couldn’t help but click her tongue.
Song Tingfan followed her gaze to the loom, observing it seriously for a while, committing it to mory.
Soon, the boss had the embroideresses making clothes stop their work, so Lin Qiao could explain how to adjust the designs to them.
Looking at his sister-in-law’s gentle profile, lips moving like she was seriously explaining sothing, Song Tingfan occasionally wondered if she would have lived better had she not married into the Song Family.
His sister-in-law was both beautiful and capable.
As he thought about this, he felt an inexplicable sourness in his heart. He still wanted his sister-in-law to marry into his family.
Their teacher always taught that a gentleman should not be selfish, that having a broad mind allows one to stand in the world.
In that case, he would not be a gentleman, nor did he want to be one.
They stayed for more than half an hour. Lin Qiao’s mouth went dry from speaking, and she couldn’t help but lick her lips, "Boss, we’re going back now."
The boss nodded, glancing at Song Tingfan, "Your little uncle is quite obedient, doesn’t make noise or fuss."
Lin Qiao turned her head and saw the boy standing there obediently, his deep phoenix eyes fixed unwaveringly on her.
For so reason, her heart ached a bit, "He’s quite sensible."
A sensible twelve-year-old must’ve endured a lot; no one is sensible from the start.
"Being sensible is good, otherwise it would be a headache," the boss praised.
Lin Qiao nodded, then said sothing before leaving with Song Tingfan.
While waiting for the donkey cart at the town entrance, Song Tingfan ran to a tea stand and soon brought back a full bowl of tea, walking very carefully without spilling a drop.
"Sister-in-law, drink up."
He noticed her licking her lips earlier.
Lin Qiao was indeed thirsty, so she took the bowl and drank half of it, leaving the other half for him, "I can’t finish it. You drink, little uncle."
Song Tingfan didn’t doubt her, took the bowl, and upon noticing so water stains on the rim of the bowl, felt his ears tingle and heat up.
He turned the bowl slightly and took a few sips, then returned the bowl when it was all gone.
They waited long for a donkey cart, and by this ti, it was already evening.
The snow, which seed to have stopped, suddenly started falling heavily again. Quickly, Song Tingfan took out an umbrella from the basket and opened it.
After waiting a while longer, a donkey cart from a neighboring village arrived, and seven or eight won sward up to grab a spot, causing the cart to almost tip over backwards.
The carter at the front hurriedly held the donkey down, then urgently asked a few people to get off, "We can’t take any more; the donkey cart from the neighboring village just tipped over."
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