Chapter 45.2

Translated by Aviana

Finished having breakfast, Lin Qingwan took the cutlery to the kitchen, washed them, and returned back. She then started doing double-sided embroidery.

She was planning of embroidering for a screen – not too big or too time-consuming. She just wanted to give it a try to see how it goes in Jinxiufang. If it clicks, she can make a bigger one next time.

Yesterday, she had bought herself one embroidery frame. After coming back, she had wiped it clean thoroughly and had placed it under the window.

Lin Qingwan cut out the fabric and clamped it on the embroidery frame. She didn’t trace out the design first. Since she reached the stage where she could embroider double stitches, tracing out the design was nothing.

To put it another way, if you can only embroider after tracing the design, then you won’t be able to learn double-sided embroidery. Because in double-sided embroidery, the patterns on both sides are different, and both sides are done simultaneously. As such, tracing the pattern doesn’t have much importance at this time.

Thus, when doing double-sided embroidery, one has to be completely focused without getting distracted. Because if there is a misstep, all the previous efforts will go to waste and have to be redone again, which would be quite inconvenient.

After clamping the backing fabric, too, Lin Qingwan began threading the needle. The embroidery thread also was bought at Jinxiufang, and was of first-rate quality. Not only that but it could also be divided into several fine filaments. Each filament of an embroidery thread could be considered as a strand. Six of such strands could make up to floss, while 12 of such stands make up to a silk embroidery thread. The thinner and finer the thread is, the more delicate and exquisite the embroidery would be.

The type Lin Qingwan bought was single-strand thread one. Its price was also many times higher than that of normal embroidery thread. These embroidery threads themselves costed her more than a tael – even more expensive than the fabric.

Lin Qingwan’s action of threading the needle was quite slow – this was her personal habit. This slow-motion of threading a needle helps to empty her mind completely gradually.

After threading the needle and pulling out the thread, Lin Qingwan sat down in front of the embroidery frame and slowly pierced the needle for the first stitch.

After piercing the first stitch, one could see that although Lin Qingwan’s stitching was slow, it was quite steady. It seemed as if she need not have to think about where the next stitch should be and what type of stitch should be employed – it was as if all the stitch patterns and design were already in her mind.

She stopped only when it was almost noon, and the breath she was holding also loosened as she relaxed.

Before starting this, Lin Qingwan was anxious that she could not embroider well. After all, this skill was not something she knew. Only when she lowered the needle did she find that several things were engraved in the depths of her soul.

This sort of state of mind was kind of fantastic as if she was Lin Qingwan and knew whatever she knew. Although not that skilled initially, her hand unconsciously moved on after she got familiarised. Only at this moment was Lin Qingwan’s heart truly at ease. She finely got the confidence that she could perfectly finish this embroidery piece and no longer harbored any hesitations in her heart.

“Wife, you must be tired, right. Quickly come here and have a cup of water.”

Yang Tiezhu, who had been lying on the kang, finally dared to speak after seeing her relax her shoulders. Although he doesn’t understand embroidery, but her sitting posture and appearance let him know that his wife was deeply concentrating on it. As such, he didn’t dare to disturb her.

Lin Qingwan stood up, rotated her neck and shoulders, walked to the table, and poured herself a cup of water. After drinking, she poured another glass of water for Yang Tiezhu and walked to him.

After drinking the water, Yang Tiezhu said, “Wife, what are you embroidering this diligently?”

Lin Qingwan smiled, her mind still in a trance from being in concentration for long. “After embroidering these good pieces, I will take them to Jinxiufang and sell them and see if I could get them for a good price.”

Yang Tiezhu knew that his wife has been receiving work from an embroidery workshop. Feeling distressed, he couldn’t help but hate his injured left shoulder.

If he was still alright, his wife need not be this tired day in and day out.

Lin Qingwan could tell what her husband was thinking for his expressions. As such, she couldn’t help but comfort him, “Anyway, I have nothing to do and am idle. It’s good to use this time to earn a bit of silver.”

After thinking for a while, Yang Tiezhu also felt it made sense; as such, he wasn’t tangled over this issue any longer. However, he still didn’t forget to repeatedly warn Lin Qingwan not to get overstressed and sit for a longer period of time, lest she harms her eyes.

Lin Qingwan naturally understood his reason. From the distant memories of the original owner, she came to know that most of the full-time female embroidery artists lose their eyesight because of long-term fatigue. As such, she also made sure to pay attention to her eye health. While embroidering, she took short breaks periodically and did few exercises such as looking at distant objects, just as she did in the school in her past life.

After resting for a while, Lin Qingwan heated yesterday’s leftover pig trotter soup in the kitchen. Seeing that there weren’t any side dishes, she cleaned and chopped some lotus roots and added them along with few soybeans.

As it was Yao-shi’s turn cooking, after heating pig trotters’ soup, Lin Qingwan went to help Yao-shi, and also chitchat with her.

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