Feast of Flowers

Stepping into the elevator, the two swiped their cards and pressed the same floor button.

“What a coincidence.” The young man seemed unskilled at initiating conversations with women, his ears and neck flushing red. “My name is Zhou Dong. Although I’m not from Furong City, I am a native of Shu Province, so perhaps I understand Furong City better than you out-of-provincers. If you have any questions, you can ask me. Here’s my business card.”

As he spoke, he took a business card from his wallet and offered it to Hua Jin.

Looking at the blushing man before her, Hua Jin took the card and said with a faint smile, “Mr. Zhou, your pick-up line is quite old-fashioned.”

“No, no, no.” Zhou Dong’s face, teased by Hua Jin, turned as red as the sunset. “I didn’t mean anything else, it’s just… just…” He fumbled, lowering his head to explain, “You look like someone I liked in high school…”

“Am I interrupting something interesting?” The elevator doors opened just then, revealing Pei Yan standing outside with his arms crossed, looking at them askance. “The elevator is a public utility. If you two want to pour out your hearts to each other, you can do so after you get out.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Pei.” Hua Jin put Zhou Dong’s business card into her handbag. Zhou Dong, standing beside her, blushed and reached out to help her with her suitcase, but Hua Jin stopped him.

“Mr. Zhou, if you continue to be so attentive, I’ll start to think you’re interested in me.” Hua Jin raised an eyebrow at Zhou Dong, her red lips curving into a smile.

Startled by her smile, Zhou Dong grabbed his own suitcase and fled.

Unable to help but laugh at Zhou Dong’s reaction, Hua Jin leisurely stepped out of the elevator and gestured with her hand. “Mr. Pei, after you.”

Pei Yan didn’t enter, but instead narrowed his eyes at her. “You know who I am?”

“Of course.” Hua Jin coughed lightly with a smile. “After all, not everyone is as lucky as I am to overhear someone berating Mr. Pei so vehemently and with such spirit.”

Although the man had cowered after turning around and seeing Pei Yan, at least in the moment of his outburst, he was filled with the aura of a lone warrior holding a pass against a thousand enemies.

“It seems you haven’t seen much. There are plenty of people who curse me behind my back. If that man wanted to take a number in line, he’d probably be somewhere after two hundred.” Pei Yan raised his wrist and adjusted his cuff, his beautiful eyes sparkling. He was a walking fox spirit in human form.

Hua Jin was silent for a moment. “Is it something to be proud of, having so many people curse you?”

“Being cursed isn’t something to be proud of, but having many people who want to curse me yet praise me to my face, that is something to be proud of.” Pei Yan raised his wrist and lifted his chin slightly. “Move aside, you’re blocking my reflection.”

Glancing at the highly reflective elevator doors, Hua Jin took a small makeup mirror from her handbag. “A high-definition mirror, a free gift for you. No need to thank me.”

Pei Yan disdainfully tossed the mirror back into Hua Jin’s arms. Just as he was about to make a sarcastic remark, his phone rang.

“What is it?” Pei Yan glanced at Hua Jin, pressed the elevator button, and stepped inside. “Embroiderer?”

“Bad signal in the elevator. I’ll talk later tonight.”

Watching the elevator doors close, Hua Jin sighed regretfully. Such a handsome man, it felt like a loss not to look at him more. Especially those slightly proud eyes, truly a rare gem.

Back in her room, Hua Jin opened Weibo and found that the user who commissioned the panda embroidery had sent her another red envelope. The user had discovered she was in Shu Province and guessed she was there to research the panda embroidery style of the last century, hence the additional red envelopes.

She hadn’t even given a receipt, yet this user kept sending her money, truly treating money like dirt.

However… she liked it.

The next morning, after waking naturally in the hotel’s soft, comfortable bed and freshening up, Hua Jin took a car to the home of the master panda embroiderer.

In eight years, Shu Province had changed drastically. Expressways crisscrossed the land, and cement and asphalt roads led to villages of all sizes. Aunt Gao had said that the panda embroidery master had respiratory problems and had returned to her hometown to recuperate. Hua Jin had expected a difficult journey to find the master’s home, but after arriving in the county town, she only needed to spend two yuan on a rural bus to reach the master’s village.

The bus was mostly filled with farmers returning home from the market. Most of them knew each other and chatted about their livestock and poultry, while some elderly folks showed off the new appliances their children had bought them. It was a lively scene.

Seeing Hua Jin’s delicate features and fashionable attire, an older woman assumed she was a successful daughter returning home to visit her family and struck up a conversation.

“No, I’m looking for Ms. Song Lian. My elder and she are old friends, so I came to visit her.” Hua Jin replied to the woman in the Shu Province dialect. Having not spoken it for many years, her accent seemed to lack a bit of the local flavor.

“From your accent, you don’t sound like a local.” The woman thought for a moment and asked another older man on the bus, “Hey, this young lady is looking for Song Lian, is that Song Lian from your Songjiawan Village?”

“Song Lian?” The older man pondered. “Is she looking for the Song Lian who used to work at the Furong Embroidery Factory?”

“Yes, yes, that’s her.” Hua Jin hadn’t expected news of Embroiderer Song so quickly. Delighted, she asked, “Uncle, do you live in the same village as Embroiderer Song?”

“Oh dear, you don’t know? Song Lian passed away last year.” The older man said. “Many people came to pay their respects at her funeral last year. You won’t find her there anymore.”

Seeing Hua Jin’s face fall, the older man consoled her, “Don’t worry, her eldest daughter and son-in-law still live in her house. Come with me later, and I’ll take you there.”

“Thank you.” Hua Jin felt a pang of sadness. Aunt Gao had mentioned that Ms. Song was a remarkable embroiderer and had lamented to Aunt Gao that her skills might be lost without a successor.

She wondered if, in the intervening years, Embroiderer Song had found someone to inherit her craft before passing away.

Embroiderer Song’s daughter lived in a two-story house. Hearing that Hua Jin was looking for her mother, the woman, now over fifty, warmly invited Hua Jin to sit and offered to make her sweet soup, which Hua Jin declined.

Several embroidered pictures hung on the walls, each a rare masterpiece. Hua Jin couldn’t help but take a closer look. Noticing Hua Jin’s gaze, the eldest daughter said with a mixture of pride and regret, “My mother loved embroidery her whole life. She even won provincial awards. Later, when her eyesight failed, she often told me that fewer and fewer people were interested in embroidery and worried that her skills would be lost.”

“Are these on the wall all Embroiderer Song’s works?” Hua Jin looked up at the wall. The embroidery styles varied, making it unlikely they were all by the same person.

“No, these are works by my mother and some of her friends.” The eldest daughter explained. “In recent years, her legs and feet weren't good, so she hung her friends’ works on the wall to admire.”

Hua Jin accompanied Embroiderer Song’s eldest daughter to the cemetery to offer incense and candles to Embroiderer Song. On their way back, the daughter asked, “Ms. Hua, are you also in the embroidery business?”

“You could tell?” Hua Jin was surprised.

“Although I have no talent in embroidery, I can see in you the unique aura of a skilled embroiderer.” Embroiderer Song’s eldest daughter smiled wryly. “When my mother was buried last year, because some leaders who valued traditional arts came to pay their respects, many people followed to join in the event. However, no one has come in the past six months.”

“Before I came, my teacher said she had met Embroiderer Song a few times, so she asked me to seek out Embroiderer Song to broaden my horizons.” Walking along the ridge between fields, inhaling the rich fragrance of golden rapeseed flowers, Hua Jin said in a low voice, “It seems I have no fate with Embroiderer Song.”

“If you don’t mind, I have some photocopies of notebooks I can give you. They contain my mother’s summaries of her embroidery knowledge.”

“These are Embroiderer Song’s life’s work, how can I…”

“My mother’s biggest regret was not having a young and talented apprentice. It’s rare to meet a young person so passionate about embroidery like you. Giving you the notebooks would only make my mother happy, not sad.” Embroiderer Song’s eldest daughter smiled. “Besides, they are just photocopies, not the originals.”

Back at the house, Embroiderer Song’s eldest daughter gave Hua Jin the photocopied notebooks and showed her many photos of Embroiderer Song’s panda embroidery works, as well as the materials Embroiderer Song had collected.

Every top embroiderer not only possesses exceptional needlework skills but also a unique artistic aesthetic. Embroiderer Song, worthy of her reputation as one of Shu Province’s most famous panda embroidery masters, had a collection of panda embroidery photos, the oldest of which dated back almost a century.

The clarity of the century-old photocopies wasn't great, but even through the blur, one could see the vivid pandas in the embroidery.

Lively, vibrant; though just embroidery, they created the illusion of living creatures.

This was the work of a true master.

After seeing Embroiderer Song’s works and her collection of embroidery photos, Hua Jin finally understood the vast gap between herself and these masters.

Aunt Gao always praised her talent, and Tan Yuan also said her embroidery was full of spirit, almost making her believe she was a genius among young embroiderers.

What did it mean to feel ashamed of one's inferiority?

A blurry, century-old photo was enough to make her blush with shame.

On the way back to Furong City, Hua Jin’s mind was filled with thoughts, the most vivid being those exquisite embroideries. Rubbing her temples, she opened her phone and saw a message from WinterIsNotCold.

WinterIsNotCold: Master, my grandmother lives quite far away, so you don’t have to rush over. If you really want to go, you can go with my cousin; he’s going back to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors. If you don’t mind, could you add me on WeChat?

Hua Jin looked at the WeChat QR code image he sent, remembered the red envelopes, and silently added him as a friend.

WinterIsNotCold’s WeChat profile picture was a popular cartoon character. After they became friends, he sent several messages.

DongDong: You’ve worked hard, old lady.

Seeing this, Hua Jin frowned immediately.

Old lady?

Who was he calling old?

Author's Note:

Hua Jin: You can insult my high fees, but you cannot insult my age!

ʕ◉ᴥ◉ʔ

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