Chapter 350 - Chapter 350: The World of Ice and Snow
Chapter 350: The World of Ice and Snow
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Since Miao Zhizhi would soon be a member of the Su family, Su Binglan would naturally treat her well and as one of their own. She would prepare everything Miao Zhizhi needed.
“Zhizhi has a good personality. I met her before. Your mother and I like her too. We’ll be a family in the future,” Ding Wan said smilingly.
Of course, Ding Wan hoped her brother-in-law would find someone with a good personality. Only then could the family live in harmony.
‘Indeed, Zhizhi is a good girl for Fengchen.’
Old master Su, old Madam Su, Su Fengchen, and Miao Zhizhi had been living under the same roof for so long. Everyone knew what kind of personality Miao Zhizhi had.
Therefore, everyone was at ease to let Miao Zhizhi and Su Fengchen be together.
“We’ll do as you say, Aunt Ding,” Su Binglan said.
“I watched your uncle grow up,” Ding Wan said smilingly, ‘Your Uncle
Fengchen was still a kid when I first came to the Su family. I treated him like a child. I couldn’t care about him so much when I was in poor health, but I was still worried about him.
“It’s great now that he’s going to get married. As his sister-in-law, I’m happy. Since I know how to embroider, I thought of doing something for him and his future wife. That’s why I’ve been busy at home over these past few days.”
Ding Wan would always tell her niece her thoughts. She would not treat Su
Binglan like a child just because she was young. Instead, Ding Wan genuinely admired her niece. She would keep some things from others but would tell Su Binglan everything.
“Our family will only keep improving, Aunt Ding,” Su Binglan said softly.
“Yes, with you here, I believe we will improve.”
The two talked for a while and discussed their embroidery business. Su Binglan then began teaching Ding Wan double-sided embroidery and cross-stitching.
She revealed her prepared drawings and said, “Aunt Ding, I call that drawing the Hall of Gold and Jade and that one World of Ice and Snow. I drew two embroidery samples first and will draw more later.”
She had many ideas but had to teach her aunt the double-sided embroidery and cross-stitching techniques first.
Ding Wan was stunned when she saw the embroidery patterns her niece had drawn. She praised the young lady, “Binglan, this one is gorgeous, and so is that one. The scenery is beautiful.”
Su Binglan referenced a memory she had of a modern anime. It was called World of Ice and Snow, which was a stunning picture. It was a fairytale world that could calm one’s heart.
Ding Wan held the embroidery and could not bear to part with it. “I’ve never seen such embroidery before. Binglan, I can guarantee everyone will go crazy over this if we sell it.”
Even famous embroideries of that era could not compare to the two drawings Su Binglan made. She also hoped it would have a place in the embroidery market.
If the sales and income were good, she could pay the future embroidery shop workers more. However, she still had to hire people to do these things first.
“I’ll draw more pictures later, Aunt Ding. Although the shop is incomplete, we can still hire people from our village. We can hire more people when Xueye and his team complete the shop.
“Do you have any recommendations, Aunt Ding? They must be diligent, have a good character, and know needlework.”
Ding Wan replied, “When I was still doing embroidery a few years ago, a few of our villagers would embroider with me. Although they only made purses and handkerchiefs, their needlework is decent. Still, I’ve been away from embroidering in recent years. Let me think about it some more.”
Ding Wan was learning double-sided embroidery from Su Binglan while wondering who among the villagers was best at needlework.
“Sun Damin knows a little embroidery, but because the things she embroiders aren’t perfect, she has trouble selling them. Later on, she stopped embroidering.
“There’s also Zhou Wen’e from the Dongzhou family. She’s Dong Xiaolei’s mother, and her needlework is impressive. I’m familiar with Yang Luqin from the Yang family. She also knows how to embroider.”
While thinking, Ding Wan continued, “The people I mentioned are good people and hardworking.”
Su Binglan thought about it and remembered these people. Sun Damin and Zhou Wen’e had gone to the tofu factory for an interview but were too weak and did not get hired.
Zhou Wen’e’s eldest daughter, Dong Xiaolei, was also too young. No one from their family got a job at the tofu factory, and their family’s conditions were not good either. That was because Dong Xiaolei’s father joined the army a few years ago and had never returned.
Yang Luqin was Su Binglan’s former neighbor. She was a good person and had a straightforward personality. She happened to be away when the tofu factory was hiring, so she did not get an interview. Yang Luqin got pretty annoyed.
She had greeted Su Binglan when she saw the young lady earlier and told Su Binglan to inform her if the factory was hiring again.
After some thought, Su Binglan said, “Aunt Ding, let’s hire these people first. I might trouble you to make a trip over these next two days and ask if they will work with us.
“Tell them I’ll pay them a basic monthly salary. The embroidery shop will rely on commissions, so the more they do, the more they’ll earn.”
“Binglan,” Ding Wan said, “They’ll agree if I ask them. It’s not easy to find a job like this these days. They will be willing to work by your side even if my embroidery skills are good. They’re clever.”
Ding Wan could understand how everyone felt. After all, everyone in the village knew how beneficial it was to work for Su Binglan. Everyone would be happy if she were to ask for their help.
Of course, Ding Wan was willing to travel and visit her old embroidery friends.
That was something she was happy about.
“We still have to go through the motions, “Su Binglan said, “Just ask for everyone’s opinion. Don’t wait until you’re working in our workshop and have other opinions.”
“All right, I’ll listen to you.” Ding Wan listened to her niece.
Su Binglan laughed, “You can tell me if you have any thoughts. You’ve done embroidery, and you know more than I do.”
Ding Wan was embarrassed. “I can’t compare to you in embroidery. You just taught me double-sided embroidery. It’s excellent and beautiful. It’s much easier than what I learned before.”
Su Binglan said, “When the embroidery shop is complete, we’ll hire people as we did at the factory. We’ll let everyone come for an interview. We won’t be asking for everyone’s opinion like this at the beginning.”
Ding Wan could imagine that scene.
“By then, Sun Damin and the others will be grateful to you, Binglan. They won’t have to go through an interview. Moreover, they’ll be senior workers at the embroidery shop, so they’ll have priority.”
Ding Wan had experience with these things, so she could roughly guess what everyone was thinking.
Su Binglan seemed to have thought of something and asked, “By the way, it’s expensive to put cotton in this doll. Is there anything else we can use that’s just as soft?”
Ding Wan’s hands stopped moving, and she started to think seriously. “Use rags. Most cloth shops have many rags that are too tattered to be made into anything. You can buy a few bags and fill the dolls up.
“You can also use wheat husks, which is even cheaper. Every household has them, so you can use those too. It’s in the pillows we use..”