Feast of Flowers

Chapter 2 - Viral News

    "Huahua?!" Tan Yuan looked at Huajin in surprise. Recently, they have received a few high-priced custom orders, but they already need to work overtime just to embroider these. Now they have to embroider such a large item, how can they have enough time and finish it?

Seeing Tan Yuan's strange expression, the middle-aged man guessed that the other party might not want to do his own business. He bent his shoulders and rubbed his hands together, and whispered, "I, I'd like to add more money, if you accept..."

"I'll give it to you ." Take a look at the catalog" Hua Jin handed the catalog to the man, without asking for a quotation, but she took time and carefully told the man about the different embroidery methods and how much time it would take.

The man listened carefully. He flipped through the catalog and photos of the real thing, hesitated again and again, and chose an embroidery method that could be completed in about a month.

When giving the payment, the man took out a dirty old wallet with a huge knock logo printed on it from the jacket pocket. While counting the money, the man said embarrassedly: "I don't know how to pay with my mobile phone. I heard that there are many viruses on the Internet, and the money in my mobile phone can be stolen by accident."

Nowadays , young people in big cities  likes to pay with their mobile phone, even when they buys a snack on the side of the road, they  scans it with their mobile phone. He was worried that his  old-fashioned payment method may not please the other party.

"Cash is great. It feels better to actually have it on hand." Hua Jin gave the man a copy of his payment receipt. "I've put down the numbers of my colleague and I. Please feel free to contact us if you need anything."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you all." The man repeated his thanks three times. He put the receipt in his wallet and quickly made his exit.

"Hua Hua." After the man left, Tan Yuan started to air her concern. "Previously, someone asked if you'd rush the work if he paid three times more, but you said no. Now, you're getting less money for an even bigger embroidery job. Is it that great to be from the same hometown?!"

"Even if he is from there, it's not worth the hard work. Did you know that staying up late is the chief cause of occupational injuries?" She stretched out her hand and took the opportunity to caress Hua Jin's face. "Such a pity that this jade-like face is so beautiful–even a woman can't help but be moved."

"Thanks for the compliment, but I won't be falling for you so you better give up." Hua Jin slapped Tan Yuan's claws away, and shoved her tea cup onto her. "Quickly make your flower-painted jewelry box to pay obeisance."

"Yes, my Queen." Tan Yuan smiled and went back to her workbench. She didn't have much talent in embroidery. Her mother has even told her that though she's been embroidering for 10 years, her work still had no spirit. She could only ever be an embroiderer, never a master. Hua Hua was different. She only learned Shu embroidery from mother at the age of 19, but in just 5 to 6 years, her embroidery already had the inkling of life in them. Imbued with Spirit Energy as mother puts it–work that even the ancestors would approve of.

Tan Yuan was very happy about this. Her mother's craftsmanship has finally found a worthy successor. Personally, she preferred to make lacquerware, so she's been making them together with her father over the last few years.

Whether it was lacquerware or embroidery, both were traditional crafts. They shared many artistic notions, but were also very different from each other. The biggest problem facing the industry was that many masters were already old, but many of the younger craftsmen and craftswomen had not been cultivated enough to take up their mantle. Thus, many techniques, including those of embroidery, have been lost.