Feast of Flowers

Seeing that Hua Jin hadn't accepted the red envelope, the person opposite her became unhappy.

Dong Tian Bu Tai Leng: Teacher, please accept it. This is just a small token of my appreciation.

What else could Hua Jin do? Of course, she could only fulfill the other party's wish. She loved this kind of generous spending style of her customers. Having learned embroidery from Aunt Gao all these years, she had encountered all kinds of customers. Some even cursed her for charging high prices, saying things like, "Isn't it just some scraps of cloth and thread? You're asking for such a high price, you must be crazy for money!"

Willingness to pay didn't necessarily mean respect for her profession, but those who didn't want to spend a penny and scolded her for cheating definitely had no respect at all.

With the changing times, embroidery techniques might not have changed much, but aesthetic styles had. Aunt Gao had said that throughout the long history of Shu embroidery, it had always changed with people's preferences. Patterns that were once popular might not be appealing now, and patterns that were most popular now might have been considered vulgar decades ago.

The techniques Hua Jin learned were mostly improved over generations. She wasn't really familiar with the styles and patterns from seventy or eighty years ago.

The next morning, she got up and prepared to go to Aunt Gao's house. Downstairs, she ran into Old Mrs. Chen, who was returning from grocery shopping.

"Xiao Hua," Old Mrs. Chen called out to Hua Jin, waving her hand.

Seeing the "I have gossip, you must listen" expression written all over the old lady's face, Hua Jin sighed inwardly and walked over to her.

"Yesterday… did that neighbor of yours try to set you up?" Old Mrs. Chen asked mysteriously. "Don't listen to her nonsense. What promising relatives could her family have? If they were truly successful, would she be living here? How about I introduce you to someone from my side? His family not only has several houses, but he's also a decent man. Isn't he more reliable than the boys she introduces?"

Hua Jin: "…"

She knew that Old Mrs. Chen and Sister Qin didn't get along, but she didn't expect them to compete even in this aspect.

"Grandma Chen, I have something to do, I'll be going now." If she stayed any longer, the old lady could chat with her for an hour.

"Hey…" Old Mrs. Chen didn't expect Hua Jin to be in such a hurry. Seeing her walk away so quickly, she stood on tiptoe and looked at her back. "Bad knees, yet still running so fast…"

When Hua Jin arrived at Aunt Gao's house, where she learned embroidery, Gao Shulan was watering the flowers on the balcony, and Uncle Tan was reading with his glasses on. Seeing her arrival, the elderly couple were very happy and invited her to sit down.

The couple only had Tan Yuan as their daughter. Hua Jin had been with them for many years and was practically like another daughter.

"If you bring any more gifts next time, I won't let you in," Gao Shulan scolded Hua Jin for spending money recklessly while placing fruits and snacks in front of her. "I heard from Yuan Yuan that you spent a lot of effort recently rushing to make a dragon and phoenix quilt?"

"Mm." Hua Jin nodded slightly, a little embarrassed to look at her. Aunt Gao always emphasized that true embroidery art was about striving for perfection. It took her less than a month to rush the dragon and phoenix quilt, which couldn't be considered striving for perfection.

"I know what happened. You did a good job in this matter." Gao Shulan didn't blame her but was instead very pleased. "Art and life are not in conflict. I'm very happy that you can grasp the right balance in this matter."

Hua Jin looked up and saw Gao Shulan looking at her with a smile. She smiled helplessly. "In that situation, besides rushing it overnight, there really wasn't any other way."

Gao Shulan always regretted not meeting Hua Jin, such a good apprentice, earlier. She believed that Hua Jin's talent in embroidery would far surpass hers. Although they were master and apprentice, she didn't like Hua Jin respectfully calling her "Teacher." They were master and apprentice, but also family and friends. Her husband didn't fully understand her philosophy and persistence in embroidery, and her daughter didn't have enough talent. Only Hua Jin had completely inherited her philosophy and was even more adaptable to the current environment.

"Kindness without being inflexible is a virtue." Saying this, Gao Shulan glanced at her husband. Tan Qing knew he was being looked down upon again, pushed up his glasses, and got up to cook. Xiao Hua was here; how could the food his wife made be presentable?

Hua Jin chatted with Gao Shulan about some trivial matters and then brought up the panda embroidery style from seventy years ago.

"Panda embroidery is one of the representatives of our Shu embroidery. Although it has changed over the years, the techniques haven't differed much." Gao Shulan got up and went to the study to find a photo album. "This contains photos of exquisite Shu embroidery from over the years. The earliest works date back to the 1920s. It's a pity that the photos from that time are black and white and can't highlight the characteristics of our Shu embroidery."

Hua Jin took the old but clean photo album and flipped through it. She found two panda embroideries inside. The style was indeed different from what young people liked now.

The pandas in the photos looked round yet still somewhat mighty, while some current panda embroideries, to cater to current preferences, depicted pandas as more naive and cute, a typical example of "could rely on strength, but chooses to rely on cuteness."

But the nurse who sacrificed herself for the country wasn't embroidering the handkerchief for herself, but for her daughter, who was only a few years old. When she embroidered the panda, would she have made it more in line with a child's aesthetic?

Unsure, Hua Jin contacted "Dong Tian Bu Tai Leng" again and, after asking about his grandmother's ancestral home, began researching local customs and practices.

Different counties and cities had different customs, not to mention a place as large as Shucheng, which also had variations in preferences and taboos.

After several days of research, Hua Jin still couldn't decide how to proceed. Finally, Gao Shulan couldn't stand it anymore and called her back home, advising her, "Just reading materials is useless. Why don't you go to the place yourself and ask the local elderly? Maybe you'll gain more that way."

Seeing Hua Jin remain silent, Gao Shulan handed her an address: "This embroiderer specializes in panda embroidery. I had some dealings with her back in the day. Her ancestral home happens to be in that city. If you want to understand the local situation, you can visit her."

Taking the address, Hua Jin bit her lip: "Aunt Gao, I…"

After escaping from that village at seventeen, she hadn't been to Shucheng for nearly eight years. Although she knew clearly that her hometown was just a remote mountain village in Shucheng, as long as she heard the familiar accent, she would recall the dark memories of the past.

"Xiao Jin," Gao Shulan gently stroked her head, "People have to look forward. You will become one of the best Shu embroidery masters in the future. Only by breaking through bottlenecks can you improve. I think you know yourself that your embroidery skills have stagnated in the past year."

Hua Jin crumpled the paper with the address written on it. She took a few deep breaths and looked up at Gao Shulan's gentle and encouraging eyes: "Aunt Gao, I understand."

"But don't push yourself too hard," Gao Shulan smiled. "Life is only a few decades long. Living happily is the most important thing."

Hua Jin forced a smile: "You're right."

Living happily was the most important thing. Only by breaking through bottlenecks could she improve.

A few days later, Dong Tian Bu Tai Leng, who had been following Hua Jin's Weibo, discovered that the blogger named "Fan Hua" had finally updated her Weibo. This time, the photos she posted were not of embroidery, but of majestic mountains and the beautiful Shucheng International Airport.

Fan Hua: Eight years later, the me who has returned is still a beautiful girl.

Shucheng International Airport was located in the provincial capital, Furong City. Standing at the entrance of the bustling airport, Hua Jin was instantly surrounded by the lively atmosphere.

After queuing for a taxi, the taxi driver, a straightforward man, told her not to eat at flashy restaurants, which were not only expensive but also tasted mediocre. Locals never went there.

Listening to the familiar Shucheng accent and looking at the skyscrapers outside the window, Hua Jin recalled how she had fantasized about what Furong City would be like when she was a child. However, the real Furong City was much more prosperous than she had imagined.

"Little sister, are you here for tourism?" The driver, seeing Hua Jin's interest in the scenery of Furong City, introduced her to several places. "But since you're a girl traveling alone, you should choose a better hotel, for safety."

Hua Jin smiled and thanked him.

The driver dropped her off at the hotel entrance, helped her lift her suitcase onto the steps, and cheerfully left. It should be said that the driver's smile never faded from beginning to end.

Walking into the hotel lobby, Hua Jin handed her ID card to the receptionist.

"Are you… Hua Jin?" A young man who was also checking in stared at her for a long time. "Are you Hua Jin?"

Hua Jin calmly turned her head to look at him: "Sorry, you've mistaken me for someone else."

"I'm sorry," the young man said, looking a little embarrassed. "You look a bit like my high school classmate, so…"

"It's okay." Hua Jin took the room card from the receptionist and smiled. "I have a common face, it's normal to be mistaken."

The young man chuckled. It wasn't very convincing for such a beautiful girl to call herself common-looking. But thinking of the girl in his class who had excellent grades but inexplicably didn't take the college entrance exam, he felt a little depressed.

In their small town, the college entrance exam was the only way out for many girls. His classmate had such good grades that even the teachers said she would definitely get into a prestigious university. But on the day of the exam, she didn't show up. Later, there were rumors that Hua Jin's family didn't want her to go to university, so they didn't let her take the exam. There were also rumors that Hua Jin was getting married, and the man's family was very wealthy.

He didn't know if the rumors were true or false because no one had seen her since.

Looking at the young woman who was already dragging her suitcase towards the elevator, the young man shook his head inwardly.

Hua Jin was darker and thinner, not as beautiful as this lady.

Author's Note:

Hua Jin: I have a common face, a common face, excuse me.

ʕ◉ᴥ◉ʔ

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