Shen Xiu asked: "Why do you need to embroider copybooks?"
I heard from Trini that Sister-in-law Xu wanted to give a gift to the county magistrate’s wife, but instead of giving an embroidered copybook, it would be better to give a copybook directly!
Sister-in-law Xu coughed lightly and said, "It's a long story. I told you today, but you are not allowed to tell anyone else."
Shen Xiu and Trini looked at each other and nodded: "We won't tell anyone."
Sister-in-law Xu then said: "I also heard that Axiu can embroider the Heart Sutra, so I thought of asking you to help embroider the copybook. I want to give this copybook to the county magistrate's wife. This county magistrate's wife comes from a scholarly family. What?
No gold, silver, or other commonplace objects can impress her. Only this copybook and calligraphy and painting can impress her."
"Then why not just buy a copybook?" Shen Xiu asked the question in her heart.
Sister-in-law Xu raised her eyebrows and said, "Do you think we didn't give it to you? It was precisely the gift of a copybook last year that made us lose face in front of the county magistrate's wife."
Why is this? Shen Xiu looked puzzled.
Fortunately, Sister-in-law Xu quickly answered. She complained a little: "The blame for this is that my man is a rough guy and doesn't know anything, and I am a womanly family and don't have much experience. When I was in Fucheng
When we saw someone selling copybooks, they said they were the famous Kuai Xue Shi Qing calligraphy, so we bought it back at a high price, thinking that the copybook was genuine. Little did we know that it was a fake after we gave it away.
Fortunately, the county magistrate's wife didn't care too much, but she was laughed at by the killer Chen Dianli for a long time.
I couldn't swallow this, so I asked you to embroider a copybook. I borrowed this copybook from Chen Dianli, and it said it was a thin gold body. Can you help me see if I can embroider it according to this?"
As Sister-in-law Xu spoke, she took a copybook from Hongxing's hand.
Shen Xiu took it and flipped through it. She had recently learned a lot of traditional Chinese characters with Wei Yan, and recognized that this copybook was indeed the famous thin gold calligraphy.
"This copybook can be embroidered." Shen Xiu finished flipping through the copybook and said, "But this copybook has a lot of words. It will take at least more than a month to embroider."
"If it takes more than a month, I can still afford it!" Sister-in-law Xu said, "The county magistrate's wife's birthday is in two months. As long as you can finish embroidering this copybook in two months, it will be fine. As for the wages, look at it.
How about ten taels of silver?" Sister-in-law Xu looked at her and said.
Shen Xiucai embroidered a copy of the "Heart Sutra" for Xiuzhuang. The number of words was not as much as this, and the wages were fifty taels of silver. Now, after two months of embroidering a copybook, Sister-in-law Xu only gave her twenty taels of silver.
However, this copybook was presented to the county magistrate's wife. Shen Xiu inevitably hesitated for a moment as to whether to raise the price.
Sister-in-law Xu saw it and knew that she was too little, so she said: "The wages are indeed not high, but I don't have that much money on hand. Well, I have a bunch of unused things in my warehouse. If you can see
Use the things you brought to pay your wages!"
Sister-in-law Xu's man, Wang Baotou, is a confidant of the county magistrate, so naturally someone will give him gifts on weekdays.
These gifts are of various kinds, including everything. For this reason, Sister-in-law Xu specially set up a warehouse according to the rules of the family.
Hongxing pushed open the warehouse, and Sister-in-law Xu fanned herself with a handkerchief, then stepped aside to let Shen Xiu go inside to pick things.
Many things in this warehouse were delivered in the past year, including faded mahogany boxes, large dusty porcelain bottles, and other bits and pieces.
There was almost nothing of value, and thinking about it, I knew that if there was anything valuable, it would have been collected by Sister-in-law Xu long ago.
Shen Xiu was choosing for a long time when he suddenly saw a brocade box with a missing corner in the corner and picked it up.
Sister-in-law Xu covered her nose and said: "There should be a square handkerchief inside. I heard it is some kind of Hunan embroidery. It's a pity that it was too old and I threw it here."
When Shen Xiu heard the word "Hunan embroidery", she couldn't wait to open the brocade box. As expected, there was a handkerchief inside the brocade box. Because of its age, the base material of the handkerchief had faded, and the peonies embroidered on it were no longer as bright as before.
.
But Shen Xiu's eyes lit up when she saw the peonies embroidered on the handkerchief. The peony embroidery was so meticulous, and the stitching techniques included included plain stitches, straight stitches, and mixed stitches that she knew.
Several acupuncture techniques that I don’t know about.
Shen Xiu remembered what her master had said. There are more than seventy kinds of acupuncture techniques in Hunan embroidery that have been passed down to this day, and some acupuncture techniques have been lost because there are no suitable inheritors.
And the acupuncture techniques used on this veil that she had never seen before were probably lost acupuncture techniques.
Sister-in-law Xu saw that Shen Xiu was fascinated by the veil, and she knew that it would be useful to her, and that it was the right time to bring her here, "If you like this veil, take it."
However, an old handkerchief was not worth much, so Sister-in-law Xu picked out a box from a pile of miscellaneous items and said, "I heard from Trini that your husband-in-law is a scholar, and there are some ink ingots here, which may be worth some money.
"
This box of ink ingots was randomly collected by Wang Captou from the family of a member of the Communist Party of China when he went to the countryside to investigate a case one year.
In fact, without the ink ingot, the square handkerchief alone would be enough to cover part of the wages.
But Sister-in-law Xu didn't know the value of the square handkerchief, so she just stuffed the box of ink sticks into Shen Xiu's arms.
When Shen Xiu left Sister-in-law Xu's house, she took with her not only the handkerchief and the ink ingot, but also a piece of plain satin used to embroider the copybook and the thin gold copybook.
She had been toiling in the county town for such a long time, and it was already getting late when she got home.
As usual, Yang left food for her and warmed it on the stove.
Shen Xiu finished her meal alone in the kitchen, and when she returned to her room, she placed the ink tablets in front of Wei Yan.
"Where did you get the ink ingots?" Wei Yan stretched out his white and slender hand to hold one of the ink ingots and looked at it, then put it under his nose and smelled it, "This should be the best Hui ink, and there is musk in it."
.”
After Wei Yan finished speaking, he glanced at her and said, "This Huimo shouldn't be cheap!"
Shen Xiudao: "This ink ingot was not bought, it was used to pay for my embroidery work."
Wei Yan glanced at the ink ingots in the box and said, "These ink ingots weigh more than a kilogram, and they are high-quality Hui ink. This box is worth at least a dozen taels of silver."
It cost more than ten taels of silver. Shen Xiu didn't expect this ink ingot to be worth so much. It seems that Wang Captou and Sister-in-law Xu really don't know much about goods.
"These ink ingots are a bit wasteful for us to use ourselves. You can take them to the shop another day and you should be able to sell them for ten taels of silver."
Shen Xiu pushed the box in front of Wei Yan, "These ink ingots were originally given to you. I won't sell them no matter how much they are worth."
Wei Yan smiled softly: "Fool, what should I do with such good Hui ink? Ordinary ink ingots can also be used for writing."
Shen Xiudao: "Who said you won't need it anymore? You have to take the county examination next year, so take this Hui ink with you. Maybe this Hui ink can bring you good luck!"