It rained lightly last night, and when I woke up in the morning, there was a bit of chill in the air.
In the Yishou courtyard where Mrs. Meng lived, a fire dragon had been burned. As soon as she entered the room, a wave of hot air accompanied by the aroma of fruit hit her face.
Miss Ninth was peeling tangerines. When the maid heard that Shen Xiu was coming, she dropped the unpeeled oranges and went to welcome her happily.
"Ms. Shen, it's so hard for you to hide it from us." Miss Ninth's words were full of resentment, but her face was full of smiles, "I don't care, I want you to give me a double-sided embroidered handkerchief."
Old Mrs. Meng said: "Jiu Yatou, this is too much. It is not easy for Mrs. Shen to embroider a double-sided embroidery, so you can't mess around."
"Old lady, don't scold her. I came today to give you a double-sided embroidery piece." Shen Xiudao: "You are willing to attend the embroidery event. I have nothing to repay, so I will give you a double-sided embroidery piece." , it can be regarded as a little bit of my thoughts.”
As she spoke, she took out a two-foot-square piece of embroidery from a baggage she had brought.
Miss Jiu couldn't wait to take it and show it to Mrs. Meng.
Old Mrs. Meng looked at it for a while, then nodded and praised: "Ms. Shen's embroidery skills are indeed outstanding. I had one of these double-sided embroideries before, which is about the same size as this one. It's just not as sophisticated as yours."
Shen Xiudan smiled and said nothing.
Mrs. Meng's vision is still very good. Although the double-sided embroidery technique used by Shen Xiu was born out of the double-sided embroidery of this era, it can learn more from the techniques of later generations.
The double-sided embroidery technique of later generations is not only not inferior to the double-sided embroidery technique of ancient times, but is actually better.
For example, the double-sided embroidery technique of this era can only keep the pattern and color consistent on both sides, making the front and back sides look exactly the same.
However, later generations of embroidery masters invented double-sided heterochromatic embroidery and double-sided completely different embroidery based on the original double-sided embroidery.
Double-sided heterochromatic embroidery is embroidery with the same pattern but different colors on the front and back sides of the same piece of plain satin.
For example, the embroidery on the front is pink peony, and the embroidery on the back is purple peony. This is called double-sided heterochromatic embroidery.
The double-sided completely different embroidery is more complicated.
Compared with double-sided heterochromatic embroidery, which is only different in color, double-sided completely heterochromatic embroidery is not only different in color, but also in embroidered patterns.
For example, a skilled embroidery master can embroider lotus, mandarin duck and hibiscus carp on both sides of a piece of plain satin at the same time, creating two different patterns.
Shen Xiu's skills are far from reaching this level. She only learned a little bit from her master.
And these superficial things are enough to amaze a well-informed person like Mrs. Meng.
Miss Jiu didn't understand the difference between Shen Xiu's double-sided embroidery and other people's. She just wanted to learn this double-sided embroidery from Shen Xiu.
Shen Xiudao: "It's not that I don't want to teach you everything, it's just that Miss Jiu, your stitching skills still need more practice. When you learn how to trocar stitches, I will teach you the technique of double-sided embroidery."
Miss Jiu became interested in this aspect after seeing double-sided embroidery yesterday.
She originally wanted to strike while the iron was hot and took Shen Xiu to learn acupuncture.
Shen Xiu smiled and declined: "I'm afraid that's not possible today. I still have to go to Mr. Meng's place."
Mentioning Mr. Meng, Shen Xiu saw a flash of discomfort on Mrs. Meng's face.
At that moment, Shen Xiu suddenly thought of the angry look in Mrs. Meng's eyes yesterday.
Something flashed through Shen Xiu's mind. Could it be that the reason why Mrs. Meng blamed herself was Mr. Meng?
With this doubt, Shen Xiu went to Mr. Meng's place.
Mr. Meng and Wei Yan were both in the study. One was reading by the stove under the window, and the other was practicing calligraphy at the desk.
Originally, this picture looked extremely elegant, especially in such an elegant place as the study. It was just the scent of roasted chestnuts wafting from the charcoal basin that gave the study a bit more smoky atmosphere.
"Girl Shen is here." Mr. Meng introduced Shen Xiu as a fellow traveler because he also loved food. For this reason, Mr. Meng always only called her "Girl Shen."
Shen Xiu understood what the old gentleman meant. He valued himself not because of Wei Yan, but because of himself.
In order to feel close to each other and to thank Mr. Meng for attending the embroidery event, Shen Xiu not only brought a few snacks this time, but also gave Mr. Meng a double-sided embroidery piece.
This double-sided embroidery piece is the same size as the one given to Mrs. Meng, both two feet square.
"I didn't expect your embroidery skills to be so good, Miss Shen, even better than your cooking skills." Mr. Meng happily accepted the offer, then looked back at Wei Yan who was practicing calligraphy, "Wei Yan married you, it's really great." Be blessed!”
Others always said that she was really lucky to marry Wei Yan. Few people said that Wei Yan was really lucky to marry her.
There was a bigger smile on Shen Xiu's face, "To tell you this, old man, I will make some more snacks tomorrow and ask Wei Yan to bring them to you."
Mr. Meng liked Shen Xiu's directness and said with a smile: "That's all. I just like the egg tarts you make."
Shen Xiudao: "I know, I will definitely make more egg tarts tomorrow. I just have something to ask for."
"I made a promise first, so I won't have to show up in public." Mr. Meng said, "Old man, I'm old and I don't like places with many people."
"I know you don't like crowded places." Shen Xiu said hurriedly: "What happened last time was already very disappointing. This time I just want to ask you to carve a seal for me."
Shen Xiudao: "I heard from Wei Yan that your calligraphy is not only good, but you are also good at engraving seals. I would like to ask you to engrave a seal for me. As long as the seal has the two characters 'Chen Xiu' on it, it will be fine." .”
"If you find it troublesome, why not give me an inscription with two characters. I will embroider it on the embroidery, so that when people see these two characters, they will know that it is something I embroidered."
Mr. Meng listened carefully and said, "I understand what you mean. You want to make a mark on your embroidery so that it will not be easily imitated by others, right?"
"The old gentleman is so smart." Shen Xiu said, "That's what I mean."
Mr. Meng smiled and said: "I am the person who doesn't get compliments the most. Since you praise me so much, I will carve a seal for you. Don't worry, all the seals I make have a unique feature, that is, what others think You can't even imitate it. In this case, even if someone imitates your embroidery in the future, as long as there is this seal mark, others will be able to distinguish the genuine article from the fake."
"That would be the best." Shen Xiu said with a smile, "Old sir, you are a good person and will do your best to the end. Please help me inscribe a few more words! Just write the words 'No. 1 Embroidery in Fucheng'."
When Shen Xiu and Mr. Meng were talking, Wei Yan remained silent until he heard these words, and then he said: "The number one embroidery in Fucheng, isn't this too exaggerated?"
Mr. Meng turned around and said, "No, Miss Shen deserves her name. I have to think about it carefully before writing these words to you."
Shen Xiu winked at Wei Yan, indicating that he knew what was going on.
The news about the embroidery event has spread throughout the city, but there are still many people who don't know about the fact that Shen Xiu won the first place.
Shen Xiu wanted to use these words mentioned by Mr. Meng to completely establish the reputation of himself and Jinxin Embroidery Workshop.