Feast of Flowers

Chapter 10 An Old man?

She didn't even give a receipt yet, and this netizen kept transferring money to her, really treating money like dirt.

But... she likes it.

The next morning, she woke up naturally on the soft and comfortable big bed in the hotel. After washing up, Hua Jin took a taxi to the home of the master who was know for  panda embroidery.

In the past eight years, the entire Shu Province has changed a lot. Like highways extending in all directions, cement roads and asphalt roads that lead to villages of all sizes. Aunt Gao said that the panda embroidery master had a breathing problems, so she went back to his hometown to recuperate. Hua Jin thought that she would have to travel through mountains and rivers to find the master's home, but she didn't know that when she arrived in the village, she only needed to spend two yuan for the rural bus fare to get there to go to the village where the Panda Embroidery Master lives.

Most of the people on the bus were farmers returning home from the market. Most of these people knew each other. They got together and talked about the livestock and poultry they raised, and some old people were showing off the new home appliances their children bought for them. It was extremely lively.

There was an aunty who saw Hua Jin,who has thin skin and tender flesh, and is fashionable and beautifully dressed. She thought she was a daughter who had come to visit relatives in her hometown, so she took the initiative to ask.

"No, I'm here to look for Ms. Song Lian. My parents and seniors are old friends with her, so I came to visit her." Hua Jin answered the elder sister in Shu provincial dialect. She had never spoken the language of Shu province to anyone for many years. So her accent was a little lacking compared to the locals.

"Your accent doesn't sound like our locals." The eldest sister thought for a while, and asked another uncle in the car, "Hey, the Song Lian that this girl is looking for is from your your Song Family?"

"Song Lian Huh?" The uncle thought about it for a while, "Is she looking for Song Lian who used to work in the Furong Embroidery Factory?"

"Yes, yes, that's her." Hua Jin didn't expect that there would be news of Master Song Xiu? so soon. ,She said happily, "Uncle, do you live in the same village as Master Song Xiu??

"Oh, haven't you heard that Song Lian passed away last year?" The uncle continued, "We had her funeral last year and a lot of people came to offer their condolences, so how could it be possible to meet with her?"

 The uncle saw Hua Jin's face changed, and persuaded her: "Don't worry, she still has her eldest daughter and eldest son-in-law alive in her house right now, later, come with me , I will take you to her house."

"Thank you." Hua Jin was in a low mood, and Aunt Gao mentioned that this Ms. Song is a very great embroidery master.She had even told Aunt Gao that it was a pity that she hadn't found a successor yet, and that her craft might die with her.

She don't know if Master Song embroidery has found someone to inherit her craftsmanship before going west after all these years.

Song embroidery master's daughter lived in a small two-story building. Once she heard that Hua Jin came to find her mother, She, who was over fifty years old,  warmly greeted Hua Jin to sit down and went to cook sweet soup for Hua Jin. Hua Jin stopped her.

There are some embroidered paintings hanging on the wall of the home, they are all rare fine works, Hua Jin couldn't help but look at them a few more times. Noticing Hua Jin's interest, the eldest daughter was half proud and half regretful, "My mother's favorite thing in her life is embroidery. She even won a provincial award. Later, her eyesight became bad, so she often complained to that there were fewer and fewer people who like embroidery, and no one is there inherit her craftsmanship."

"Are all the works on the wall are work of a Song embroidery master?" Hua Jin asked while looking up at the wall, and the embroidery styles were different, and it didn't look like it was made by one person because each item had different styles.

"No, there are  works of my mother and some of her friends." The eldest daughter said, "In recent years, her legs and feet have not been very good, so she hangs the works given by her friends on the wall to admire them."

Hua Jin went with the eldest daughter of Master Song Embroidery to the cemetery to put scented wax on Master Song embroidery. On the way back from the cemetery, the eldest daughter said, "Ms. Hua, are you also engaged in embroidery?"

"Did you notice it?" Hua Jin was a little surprised.

"Although I have no talent in embroidery, I can see in you the unique temperament of embroidery masters." The daughter of Song embroidery teacher smiled bitterly, "When my mother was buried last year,r, there were leaders who valued traditional art that arrived to give their condolences so it was very lively. Since then, no one has even visited for almost half-a-year already."

"Before I came, my teacher said that she had a good relationship with Master Song Embroidery so she asked me to meet Master Embroidery Song to broaden my horizons." Walking on the field ridge, Hua Jin was able to smell the strong fragrance of golden rapeseed flowers, She said in a low tone, "It seems I am not fated with Master Embroiderer Song

"If you don't mind, I have a few copies of her notebook I can give you. Inside are the summaries of my mother's embroidery techniques before her death." 

"Those are all the painstaking efforts of  MasterSong embroidery, how can I..."

"My mother's biggest regret was that she failed to receive a young and talented apprentice. Today, it is rare to meet someone young who is so dedicated to embroidery. My mother will only be happy if I give you the notebook. The eldest daughter of Master Song Embroidery smiled, "What's more, it's just a copy, not the original."

Every master embroiderer not only had the skills to surpass normal ones, like in needlework or aesthetics, but each also had a talent unique to them. Master Embroiderer Song was worthy of being one of the most famous panda embroidery masters in the Shu Province. The oldest photos of panda embroideries she had in her reference collection were nearly a 100 years old.

Photos a hundred years ago weren't very clear, and were even a bit blurry, but one could still see the vivid appearance of the pandas in the embroidery pictures.

They looked realistic and lively, though they were obviously embroideries, they'd still give people the illusion that they were living things.

This was a true masterpiece.

After she had finished perusing the works of Master Embroiderer Song and all the reference material she had collected, Hua Jin had finally realized how far away she was still from these past masters.

Aunt Gao had always praised her talent, and Tan Yuan had always said that her embroidery was full of spirit, which almost made her think that she was a genius among all the young embroiderers.

'Inferior' wasn't in her vocabulary.

But a few blurry photos from a hundred years ago were enough to make her blush in shame.

On her way back to Furong City, Hua Jin had a lot of thoughts going on in her head, but it was mostly about the exquisite embroideries she was able to see. Rubbing her temple, she turned her phone on to take a look, and [Winter's Not Too Cold] had sent her a message again.

[Winter's Not Too Cold]: Master, my grandma lives far away, so you don't have to intentionally rush there. If you really want to go visit, you can go with my cousin, who just happened to be going back there to worship the ancestors. If you don't mind, can you add me on WeChat?

Hua Jin glanced at the WeChat QR code the other party had sent, which made her remember all the red envelopes he had sent, so she added him as a friend.

[Winter's Not Too Cold]'s WeChat avatar was a very popular anime character. After she had added him, the other party sent her several messages consecutively.

[Dong Dong]: I appreciate your hard work, old woman.

Hua Jin frowned upon seeing this sentence.

Old woman?

Who's the old woman?!

The author has something to say: Hua Jin: You can insult my high fees, but you can't insult my age!