When she arrived at Bao Niang Embroidery Workshop, Beisitian found herself in Zhang Baoli’s embroidery room. She sat there with a troubled expression, lost in thought.
"Sister Bao Li, what’s wrong?" Beisitian asked.
Zhang Baoli gestured for Beisitian to sit down, poured her a glass of water, and after closing the door, she whispered, "Uncle Quan is having some trouble on his end. Zhang Baoxia must have contacted higher-ups to prevent us from taking shortcuts. My grandfather and the others are trying to figure something out. How’s your embroidery coming along?"
"Just started stitching."
"You focus on your embroidery, we’ll handle the rest. You must not let yourself get distracted," Zhang Baoli advised.
No matter what, Beisitian’s embroidery piece is the most crucial!
Beisitian nodded and said, "Have you found out what design they’re using for the competition?"
"I’ve heard the double-sided embroidery is of the ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ design. It’s not easy to stitch, so it shows they’ve got some skill," Zhang Baoli said. Her tone seemed indifferent, but if you listened closely, you could hear the worry.
Though Beisitian could also do double-sided embroidery, she had only embroidered handkerchiefs and pillowcases. She had never worked on large pieces before. Her designs were generally simple.
For large embroidery pieces, complexity is generally required to showcase one’s skills.
That’s why the embroidery woman Zhang Baoxia found chose ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ to display her technique.
Beisitian nodded. ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ is indeed challenging to stitch.
Designs like ’Blossoming Flowers’, although they could be made into large pieces, don’t use many colors. As long as the color transitions aren’t jarring, they generally make good works. However, ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ is different.
In ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’, every bird is different, and each bird has several colors. If not done well, it may appear chaotic and overly colorful.
This design has high demands on color coordination. The piece might use dozens or even hundreds of colors, yet the final product needs to give an overall impression of a single ’yellow’ hue, or another hue, as long as it conveys the sacredness of ’paying homage to the phoenix’.
Therefore, those without the skill usually won’t choose this design due to its overwhelming complexity and energy demand. If it isn’t stitched well, there’s no opportunity to fix it.
"Little Tian’er, what design are you stitching?" Zhang Baoli asked.
Hearing that the other party was stitching ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’, she felt uneasy. She was worried since she hadn’t seen Beisitian work on large pieces and really didn’t know her true skill level.
"It doesn’t have a name yet; I drew it myself," Beisitian replied.
Why choose to draw by herself with so many excellent designs available?
One person’s strength is limited; it can’t compare to the wisdom accumulated over history!
Zhang Baoli was anxious but didn’t directly express her concerns. After considering, she said, "Little Tian’er, maybe you should also stitch ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’. This design really tests personal skill, and I think if you stitch this, you could definitely outshine that person!"
In the exhibition, identical pieces won’t appear, so if Beisitian also stitches ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ and does it better, the other person’s work won’t be exhibited.
This way, they would count as winning!
In a regular competition, this method would be good. However, even if Beisitian stitches ’Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix’ and it gets into the exhibition’s glass display, it wouldn’t achieve her goal.
Such a piece could indeed attract a lot of attention, but it would still fall short of attracting the owner’s attention from Bao Niang Embroidery Workshop.
Beisitian shook her head, "Sister Bao Li, leave this to me. The rest will take more effort from you. Check if you can make some arrangements on your family’s side. If not, I’ll go through the official review process, but once Zhang Baoxia finds out, a lot of trouble could arise, and the work might not even be submitted."
Zhang Baoli saw Beisitian’s calm demeanor and didn’t know if she was truly confident or just had that kind of personality. She sighed and nodded, "Alright, don’t worry about this side. Let’s work hard on our own parts!"
Beisitian nodded, chatted for a bit more, and then left.
After returning home, Beisitian secluded herself in the west room to stitch, leaving aside everything she could, except for cooking at noon and tending to the sheep in the afternoon.
Apart from her substitute clothes, Mrs. Qin did most of the washing. Although she couldn’t see, she tried to do whatever she could to lighten Beisitian’s load.
So, although Beisitian worked on many tasks, her hands remained delicate. Since coming here, she consciously nurtured her hands, making Zhang Baoli find them soft and gentle.
These hands were partly for embroidery work, but mainly she maintained them for writing. Even if not for writing, having a pair of beautiful hands was pleasing to the eye.
Luo Er’s family didn’t have much farm work, nor did anyone go hunting in the mountains. Compared to others, Beisitian had relatively more free time.
Even so, it took her almost a month to finish the embroidery work.
During this period, she went to town twice: once to deliver the agreed writings to the Wenfang Society and once to discuss matters with Zhang Baoli.
Zhang Ziquan had some ability; after many visits, he finally persuaded a senior uncle with family influence to contact the exhibitors in Shanghai and agreed to give Beisitian a shortcut, directly submitting the embroidery to the final review committee.
Being able to submit directly to the final review group was the greatest convenience. The senior uncle knew a coordinator there, allowing for communication with higher-ups.
But whether it passes the final review depends on Beisitian’s skill.
In any case, submitting directly to the final review group blocked Zhang Baoxia from interfering. Whatever price Zhang Ziquan paid was not Beisitian’s concern. She was confident that once her work passed the final review and was exhibited, it would bring more benefits to Zhang Ziquan’s lineage than what he sacrificed!
For embroidery exhibitions, the embroidery women need not be present at the center, so as long as the work is submitted, it’s all set.
Beisitian packed the embroidery and brought it to Bao Niang Embroidery Workshop. The overall framework suggestion for the screen was hers since it needed to complement this embroidery design. She hadn’t managed the other details, but she could see the complete screen today.
It should be said the photo of it, in color, had been delivered.
"Miss Bei, why are you just arriving? Quick, quick, quick, let us see your embroidery!"
When Beisitian arrived, Zhang Ziquan was already standing at the door, looking out. Upon spotting her, he hurried down the steps to greet her.
"Has the photo of the screen arrived?" Beisitian asked.
"It arrived long ago, just waiting for your approval," Zhang Ziquan said, glancing at the bundle on her shoulder.