Wei Yan went to Mr. Meng's place to study every day. Sometimes Mr. Meng would stay with him for dinner and then come back half an hour late.
When Shen Xiu came back from Meng's house today, she saw Wei Yan coming back earlier than usual and standing quietly on the porch, not knowing what he was thinking.
Shen Xiu saw that he was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice her appearance, so she wanted to tease him. So she walked over quietly and was about to pounce on Wei Yan to scare him, but suddenly she saw him coming from the end of the corridor.
A young woman.
As soon as Shen Xiu saw the stranger, she immediately retracted her hand movements and coughed lightly.
When Wei Yan heard the sound, he turned around and saw Shen Xiu coming back, with a smile on his face: "Why don't you say anything?"
Shen Xiu smiled and said, "I originally wanted to scare you, so naturally I didn't say anything." As she spoke, she glanced at the young woman not far away.
Wei Yan then waved the young woman over, "Niang Rou, come here and see the mistress." He explained to Shen Xiu, "Niang Rou is the niece of Mr. Meng's housekeeper. I heard that I am short of people here.
The housekeeper recommended her over."
Rou Niang originally came over with a bowl of tea. After hearing this, she bowed to Shen Xiufu and said, "Young Niang has met Madam."
"If you don't dare to be a madam, you should call me Mrs. Shen!" Shen Xiu looked her up and down. This lady looked to be only in her twenties. She was fair and delicate, and she really didn't look like an ordinary servant girl.
"This young lady's parents died when she was young, and it was the housekeeper Weber who raised her. She grew up in the Meng Mansion. She is not only proficient in poetry and books, but also can do accounting. From now on, you can leave all the things at home to her."
Shen Xiu understood what Wei Yan meant. This lady was both literate and good at doing accounts, so she could be her helper. She was not as good as those servants who did menial work.
After all, she was recommended by the housekeeper of the Meng Mansion. Neither Shen Xiu nor Wei Yan treated Rou Niang like an ordinary servant, and they treated her politely.
Rou Niang herself was very sensible. There were no servants to do rough work in the house for the time being, so she took over all the work of cleaning the house and cooking.
While she was cleaning the yard, a small child ran over.
Rou Niang smiled sheepishly at Shen Xiu: "This is my son Ning'er. Ning'er, please say hello to Madam Shen."
Shen Xiu already knew about Rou Niang's situation from Wei Yan. Rou Niang was married to a steward of the Meng Mansion. The steward is still in the Meng Mansion, and the child is too young to live without her, so he brought her.
Rou Niang was originally worried that Shen Xiu would dislike her for bringing a child, but she was relieved when she saw that Shen Xiu did not show any dislike and instead took Ning'er to eat.
Ning'er looks like Rou Niang, fair and fair. Shen Xiu likes him very much. She not only gives him snacks, but also plays with him for a while.
There was no trouble from Rou Niang's son, so she quickly finished sweeping the yard and went to the kitchen to cook a sumptuous dinner.
When Rou Niang and Ning'er went to have dinner, Shen Xiu told Wei Yan about his meeting with Mrs. Meng today.
"The old lady is smarter than I thought. I think I have to wait a few days before telling her about Jinxinxiufang."
Shen Xiu said as he took a piece of meat for Wei Yan, "Ms. sir, do you have any good ideas?"
Wei Yan pulled the braised pork in the bowl and said, "If you have an idea, I have one. I'm just going to give you an idea. Can you put the meat back?"
"Ms. sir, you don't like eating meat so much. This is a really bad habit." Shen Xiu said, but in order to hear Wei Yan's idea, she still put the meat back.
Wei Yan didn't expect her to be so obedient, so he stopped teasing her and said directly: "Now that you have met Mrs. Meng and become the embroidery master of their ninth girl, you have established a friendship and can talk. But when to speak for Jinxinxiufang, we need an opportunity."
"What opportunity?"
Wei Yan said slowly: "Jinxin Embroidery Shop offended Mrs. Meng because of the embroidered statue of Guanyin. The opportunity lies in the statue of Guanyin."
Shen Xiu understood immediately, "I understand. In two days, I will find an opportunity for them to take the initiative to bring up this matter. Then I can do the tracing for Jinxin Embroidery Workshop."
Shen Xiu had an idea, and when she went to Meng's house the next day, she brought her usual embroidery tools.
Miss Ninth had been waiting for her all morning and was very happy to see her come for her appointment.
"Ms. Shen, should we learn Su embroidery or Hunan embroidery today?"
Shen Xiudao: "Then I want to see how you are doing first."
Miss Ninth asked someone to bring her the handkerchief she had embroidered herself, "This is the peony I spent several months embroidering last year. What do you think?"
In any case, Miss Ninth has been studying with the embroidery master for several years, and her basic skills are quite solid, but some of the techniques are just so-so.
This is also a common problem among young girls. They are not patient enough. They have to wait until they get married before they can really settle down.
Shen Xiu read it carefully and pointed out two areas for improvement to Miss Ninth.
"Miss Ninth's foundation is pretty good. From today on, Miss Ninth will learn Hunan embroidery from me!"
Jiuniang's embroidery tools are all ready-made.
Shen Xiu picked up a Su needle, taught her an acupuncture technique, and then watched her practice.
Miss Jiu has a lively personality. She only sat and embroidered for two quarters of an hour before she became impatient.
Shen Xiu said at the right time: "If Miss Ninth feels bored, you can get up and walk around so that your eyes can rest for a while."
Miss Ninth was eager for her words. After leaving her seat, she pulled Shen Xiu with a smile and said, "Master still loves me. By the way, I remembered that someone sent two pots of chrysanthemums from my grandmother's place. I heard they are very rare varieties. .Let’s go and have a look.”
There are indeed two pots of green chrysanthemums placed under the corridor of Yishouyuan.
Miss Ninth was taking Shen Xiu to look at flowers on the porch when she heard voices coming from inside the room.
"Are there any guests today?" Miss Ninth asked the maids next to her.
The maid said: "It's Master Yun Xin from Shuixian Temple here."
"Who is Mrs. Yun Xin?" Shen Xiu couldn't help but ask.
Miss Ninth whispered: "She is the abbot of Shuixian Temple. Because my grandmother believes in Buddhism, she often comes to give lectures to my grandmother."
"This spring, my grandmother also promised Shuixian Nunnery a thousand taels of incense money and an embroidered statue of Guanyin. Master Yun Xin was so happy that he even said that my grandmother was compassionate."
Shen Xiu's heart skipped a beat. She didn't expect that even God was helping her in this matter. Not only did she send Master Yun Xin here, but she also asked Miss Ninth to take the initiative to mention the embroidered statue of Guanyin.
She calmed down and continued what Ninth Girl said: "The old lady is really pious. Once Ninth Girl learns embroidery, she can embroider a Guanyin statue for the old lady herself, which will make her more pious."
Miss Jiu sighed: "It is not easy to embroider the Guanyin statue. I don't think I will be able to embroider it in my lifetime."
Shen Xiu smiled and said: "You are still young, don't say such things. There will be a long time to come."
She was afraid that the topic would go too far, so she asked again: "Who embroidered the Guanyin statue that the old lady promised?"
Miss Ninth said: "Don't mention it now. I originally gave it to Jinxin Embroidery Workshop, but I didn't expect that what they sent was a stained embroidery statue. My grandmother is still upset about this matter!"
"Why are you upset?" Shen Xiu asked: "The embroidered image is stained. You can find someone to embroider it again!"
"You don't know, my grandmother thinks that staining the embroidered statue is disrespectful to Guanyin. She even had several nightmares a few days ago!"
Only then did Shen Xiu understand the reason why Mrs. Meng was angry. It turned out that she was afraid of being blamed by the gods and Buddhas.
"Actually, the old lady doesn't need to worry so much. The staining of the embroidered image is just a minor matter and can be easily solved."
"How to solve it?" Miss Jiu said, "We have tried many methods to remove the stain, but we still can't remove it."
Shen Xiudao: "Anyway, I have a way. If you believe me, you can let me try. I promise not to damage the embroidered Guanyin statue at all."