Chapter 9 Eight Years

Seeing that Hua Jin had not opened any of the red envelopes he had sent, [Winter’s Not Too Cold] wasn’t too happy.

[Winter’s Not Too Cold]: Master, please accept them. They come from my heart.

   What other choice could Hua Jin make? Of course, she had to accept the other party’s wishes. She even liked this sort of rich customer who wasn’t stingy. After all the years she’s been learning embroidery from Aunt Gao, she’s been able to meet all kinds of customers. She’s even had some who’ve scolded her for their high prices, reasoning that the price couldn’t be so high for just a few pieces of rags and a few threads, and that we’re just crazy for money. 

Perhaps, you being willing to spend a lot doesn’t automatically make you respectful of a profession, but if you weren’t even willing to spend a dime on it and even accuse them of being a cheat, that’s definitely just being disrespectful. 

    With the passage of time, embroidery techniques may not change much, but their aesthetic style definitely did. Aunt Gao had always said that throughout the long history of Shu Embroidery, it had always changed to suit the current preferences of the people. The designs from yesteryears may not remain popular until now, likewise, what’s popular now may not be popular a few decades later. 

Most of the embroidery stitches Hua Jin had learnt had already been improved over the generations, so she was not very well versed with how they did their stitches or designs seventy or eighty years ago. 

The morning after, she got up early to visit Aunt Gao at her house, when she ran into Mrs Chen coming from the groceries as she went downstairs.

“Xiao Hua.” When Mrs Chen saw her, she waved.

Hua Jin looked at the old lady that had an obvious ‘I-Have-Something-To-Gossip-About-So-Listen-to-Me’ face as she sighed but continued to walk with her. 

“Yesterday… the one next door told you about a possible matchmake, right?” Mrs Chen broached mysteriously. “Don’t listen to her nonsense. Her relatives on the maternal side, how decent can they really be? I mean, if they were really all that, how could they let her live here? How about I introduce you to someone from my family? Not only does his house have multiple rooms, he’s also an honest person, which should be more reliable than the one she introduced to you, right?”

Hua Jin: “…”

She only knew that Mrs Chen and Sister Qin didn’t get along, but she never expected that they’d even covertly compete with each other in a matter like this.

“Grandma Chen, I still have something to do, so I’ll be leaving now.” If she stayed any longer, the old lady would continue to chat with her for hours.

“Sigh…” Mrs Chen hadn’t expected that Hua Jin was in a hurry. Seeing her walk away so quickly, she quickly remarked, “Her knees are already not so good, but she’s still walking so quickly…”

When Hua Jin arrived at Aunt Gao’s house, the one who taught her embroidery, Gao Shu Lan, was watering the flowers on their balcony, while Uncle Tan was busy reading while wearing his glasses. Upon seeing her, the two elders welcomed her happily before offering her a seat.

They only ever had one daughter, Tan Yuan. Hua Jin, who they’ve all known for so many years, could be considered as half a daughter as well. 

“The next time you come and bring something over again, I’ll not let you in.” Gao Shu Lan served the melon and fruit desserts in front Hua Jin while lecturing her about her spendthriftiness. “I heard Yuan Yuan say that you recently spent a lot of time and effort making a dragon and phoenix quilt?”

“Yes.” Hua Jin nodded slightly, a little embarrassed. Aunt Gao had always emphasized the importance of striving for perfection when creating artistic embroidery. It only took her less than a month to make the dragon and phoenix quilt, which was really not enough if wanted perfection. 

“I know what happened, and you did a good job in this matter.” Gao Shu Lan did not blame her, but instead was very pleased. “Art and life are not in conflict. I am happy that you could, at the very least, reach an adequate level for this order.   

Hua Jin looked up and saw Gao Shu Lan had a smile on her face. She smiled helplessly before replying, “In that situation, I really had no other choice but to rush the product at night.”

Gao Shu Lan had always regretted not meeting this good apprentice of hers earlier. She believed that Hua Jin’s talent in embroidery had far exceeded hers, and although the two had been in a master-apprentice relationship for years now, she had always disliked Hua Jin respectfully calling her ‘master’. The two weren’t just a master and an apprentice, but were closer to family and friends. Her belief and passion for embroidery was not well understood by her husband and as well her daughter, which sadly lacked talent in this field. Only Hua Jin was able to completely inherit all teachings, and what’s more was she was paving her own road while she adapted to the current times.

“Kindness over perfection. This is a virtue.” Having said this, Gao Shu Lan glanced at her husband. Tan Qing knew he was being signaled once again, so he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and got up to go to the kitchen to cook.

‘Xiao Hua is here, so could you take out the things this old lady had made?’ 

Hua Jin small talked with Gao Shu Lan a bit before mentioning the panda embroidery style 70 years ago.

“Panda embroidery has always been one of the hallmarks of our Shu Embroidery. Although there’s been many changes over the years, there hasn’t been much deviance with regards to the method of stitching.” Gao Shu Lan got up and went to the study to pull out a photo album. “Here are some photos of exquisite Shu embroideries over the years. The earliest works featured are from the 1920s. Unfortunately, the photos back then were in black and white, so they could not adequately highlight the specialty of our Shu Embroidery.”

Hua Jin took the old, but well-maintained photo album and flipped through it casually. When she found the section about panda embroideries, the style was indeed different from the more current generations.  

The pandas in the photos were mellow and mighty, whereas today’s panda embroideries were more cutesy and naive-looking to meet modern preferences. It was a typical example of a strong animal being born as a cute cub. 

Back then, the mother-nurse, who sacrificed for her country, did not use the embroidered handkerchief herself, but was given to her daughter who was only a few years old. When she embroidered the panda, did she make it aligned with the preferences of her child?

Hua Jin couldn’t make up her mind, so she contacted [Winter’s Not Too Cold] again. Afte asking about his grandmother’s ancestry, she began researching the local customs in their area.

Different towns and cities had differing customs, not to mention a big place like Shucheng, which definitely had their own preferences and taboos.

After checking for a few days, Hua Jin was ultimately unable to find a definitive answer. Later that day, Gao Shu Lan couldn’t stand it anymore so she called Hua Jin when she was at home to persuade her, “It’s useless trying to find information blindly. Why not just visit the locale? Ask the local elders for advice, and maybe you might even gain even more.”

Seeing Hua Jin hesitate to reply, Gao Shu Lan gave her an address. “This is the address of the best panda embroiderer. I had a bit of friendship with her back in the day, and her hometown happens to be in that city, so you can pay her a visit to further your understanding of that place.”

After taking the address, Hua Jin bit her lips, “Aunt Gao, I…”

She left her village at the age of seventeen, and since then, she had never returned to Shucheng for nearly eight years. Although she knew that her hometown was only a small mountain village within the Shucheng area, as long as she heard the familiar local accent, she would immediately recall the memories of her dark past. 

“Little Jin.” Gao Shu Lan patted her head while gently saying, “We humans all have to look forward. In the future, I believe you will become one of the best Shu Embroidery masters. But, only by breaking through your bottlenecks will you be able to make any progress. I think you know this as well. It’s been a year already, but your embroidery skills have remained stagnant.”

The paper that had the address written on it was slightly crumpled by Hua Jin. She took a deep breath before facing Gao Shu Lan’s gentle eyes of encouragement. “Aunt Gao, I understand.”

“But don’t force yourself too.” Gao Shu Lan smiled, “Life’s only a few decades long. The most important thing is to live happily.”

Hua Jin forced a smile, “You’re right.”

The most important thing in life is to live in happiness. Only by breaking through bottlenecks can we make any progress. 

A few days later, [Winter’s Not Too Cold] found that [Fan Hua], Hua Jin’s account, had finally updated her Weibo blog. This time, the photos she shared were not of embroidery products, but featured the majestic landscape of the beautiful Shucheng International Airport*. 

*Note: Totally fictional as the nearest international airport in the area is Hefei Xinqiao International Airport. Fun fact is Shucheng County isn’t too far from Wuhan City. Yes, that Wuhan. 

[Fan Hua]: Eight years later, I’m still a beautiful girl when I returned.

Shucheng International Airport was located in Furong City, the capital of the county. Hua Jin stood at the gate of the airport where a lot of people were passing by and was instantly surrounded by crowds of people. 

After queuing for a taxi, the driver turned out to be a very upright person who advised her against going to flashy restaurants to eat. He said they were not only expensive, but the taste was only average, which was why locals didn’t go there.

Listening to the familiar sounds of the Shu locals and looking at the high-rise buildings they passed by through the car window, Hua Jin recalled that she had fantasized about what Furong City would be like as a child, while the real city in front of her now was way more prosperous than she could have ever imagined. 

“Sister, are you here to travel?” The driver saw that Hua Jin was interested in the scenery of Furong City and introduced her to a few places. “Since you are alone out here as a girl, you need to choose a better hotel. It’s safer that way.”

Hua Jin smiled and expressed her gratitude.

The driver escorted her straight to the entrance of the hotel, and even carried her suitcase up as well, before happily leaving. It should be said that this uncle never lost his smile from beginning to end. 

Walking into the hotel, Hua Jin handed her ID to the front desk.

“Are you… Hua Jin?” A young man who was supposed to be assisting her with the check-in procedures just kept staring at her for a long time. “You’re Hua Jin, right?” 

Hua Jin turned to look at him calmly before saying, “Sorry, you have the wrong person.”

“I’m sorry.” The young man looked a little embarrassed, “It was just that you look a bit like my high school classmate, so…”

“It’s okay.” Hua Jin took the keycard from the front desk and smiled, “I have one of the ‘popular faces’. It’s normal for me to be mistaken for someone else.”

The young man laughed, as a beauty describing herself as just having a ‘popular face’ was a bit unconvincing. Thinking back, the girl he was thinking about had excellent grades, but ended up not taking the college entrance exams, still left him puzzled.

In a small place like theirs, college was the only way out for many girls. That particular classmate of his was so good that even the teachers had said that she could definitely enroll in a famous university. But on the day of the exams, she did not participate in it. Later, there were rumors going on that Hua Jin’s family didn’t want her to go to college so they didn’t let her take the exam. Some even said that Hua Jin was wedded out to a rich family.

He did not know whether the rumors were true because no one had seen her since.

Looking at the young woman who was already dragging her suitcase on the way to the elevator, the young man shook his head secretly.

The Hua Jin he knew was dark and thin. She was not as beautiful as this lady.