As soon as she woke up, although her whole body was sore just like the previous days, Lin Xiaoguai’s mood was exceptionally bright.
Her Sewing profession had finally reached Master Level!
In fact, she had felt a year ago that her original Advanced-level professions in Sewing, Gardening, Cooking Skill, Pharmacist, and Jeweler had hit a bottleneck, just a hair’s breadth from the Master Level.
She had been anxious about this before, but the more anxious she got, the worse things became, it could even cause her skills to regress. After that period of urgency passed and her mindset stabilized, no longer forcing progress, it seemed that just yesterday in her sleep, she entered the System Space as usual to practice. On a whim, she combined the Xiang Embroidery techniques from the Book Collection Hall and the top needle techniques from an Alien Civilization to embroider an Orchid Painting, which led to her being informed that her sewing skills had cumulated enough to officially advance to Master Level.
After breaking through to Master Level, not only did her professional stipend increase tenfold, but Lin Xiaoguai also found out that she no longer needed to spend Gold Coins in her practical workshop.
Although she had never been short on Gold Coins, the miscellaneous processing fees for the multitude of items she made added up to no small sum. Even though she could afford it, she always disliked spending unnecessary money and preferred to do everything herself, which always ended up being very tiring.
Most importantly, before she had been somewhat clueless about how to reach Master Level, but now she had a clear understanding.
To say that the Orchid Painting was well done was an understatement, but it wasn’t her best work to date; the only difference was the technique.
—This was the first time she had combined the techniques learned from the Book Collection Hall with those learned from the system.
If she wasn’t guessing wrong, the key to reaching Master Level was in the innovation of techniques, and for her, who possessed countless secret techniques from the Book Collection Hall, this was not a difficult task.
She could foresee that, in no time, her other Advanced-level professions would also break through to Master Level.
Overjoyed, Lin Xiaoguai, who ordinarily only liked to collect and admire jewelry, exceptionally wore a Silver Cat’s Eye Stone bracelet she made.
That evening, when Shen Chi came home, he immediately noticed, "Where did this come from?"
Lin Xiaoguai was taken aback, realizing his gaze was on her wrist. She felt a twinge of guilt and said somewhat sheepishly, "I saw it was good and bought it." She knew that the current jewelry styles were rather bland, but she couldn’t think of any other excuse.
Shen Chi then noticed her guilt, but he assumed it was because she feared he would scold her for squandering money, which instantly made him somewhat remorseful.
He wasn’t short on money, so why hadn’t he thought of getting Wanwan some jewelry even after several years of marriage?
Thinking this, he decided that when he got the chance, he would buy Lin Xiaoguai a couple of sets of gold jewelry.
—From this, it was apparent that Shen Chi came from the countryside; in his view, jewelry should of course be gold—it’s valuable and luxurious, sure to be envied when worn.
Unaware of her husband’s unsophisticated aesthetics, Lin Xiaoguai saw that Shen Chi didn’t pursue the matter and breathed a sigh of relief, reminding herself not to get carried away again.
While the family was finishing dinner, Lin Xiaoguai and Shen Chi were listening to Little Niangao chat away about his day with smiles on their faces when suddenly an urgent knocking came from outside the courtyard.
The three were startled, but Shen Chi was the first to run out and open the door, only to see Han Shouzhen with Xu Ji standing outside.
"Shoulu, Wanwan, could you take care of Ping’an for a few days? I’ll pick her up when I’m free," Han Shouzhen said hastily.
"Sister, what happened?" Seeing her turn to leave, Lin Xiaoguai quickly grabbed her.
"The old man fell at home and broke his leg. I have to go stay with him. Nannan had a fever that turned into pneumonia a few nights ago. Wan Quan needs to be at the hospital to take care of her, and there’s nobody at home to look after Ping’an." Normally, Han Shouzhen would have preferred to take her son to the hospital rather than entrust him to others, but recently her son’s health had improved a lot, and her sister-in-law was a reliable person, so she made this decision.
Nannan is Han Shouzhen and Wan Quan’s daughter, full name Wan Youle, only two years old this year, a year younger than Little Niangao, and normally very healthy; this fever was unexpected.
"Then you be careful on the road, sister," seeing her rush, Lin Xiaoguai didn’t say much, just gave the instruction.
Han Shouzhen nodded hastily and left.
"Ping’an, what happened to your face!?" As Lin Xiaoguai pulled Xu Ji into the house and saw his face under the light, she exclaimed in shock.