Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 426 - 436: Resentful Like a Vengeful Spirit

Chapter 426: Chapter 436: Resentful Like a Vengeful Spirit

Two hours later, the initial draft of the design revised according to Ning Jiandong’s suggestions was finally approved.

She put down the pen, flexed her wrist, massaged her slightly sore fingers, glanced at Ning Jiandong who was staring at the drawing without blinking, and got up to peel an orange.

She didn’t know what variety of orange it was; its skin was green and thick, and while peeling it, the juice on the skin was quite fragrant.

Catching the familiar scent, Ning Jiandong looked up from the drawing.

Yi Chichi happened to scoop out a segment, noticed his gaze and handed one over, "Want one?"

"No!"

This thing is horribly tasteless; if it didn’t smell good, he wouldn’t have agreed to keep it in the office.

Seeing Yi Chichi about to pop the orange segment into her mouth, Ning Jiandong, out of concern for the younger generation, reminded her, "It tastes bad, sour, bitter, and dry."

Yi Chichi didn’t believe it, "It smells nice, and the segments look plump."

Ning Jiandong let out an "Oh," "Go ahead and eat it."

He had advised her, but she wouldn’t listen.

As the saying goes, good advice is hard to convince a doomed ghost; some bitterness must be tasted before it’s etched in memory.

So, with an amused attitude, he watched Yi Chichi stuff the segment into her mouth, chew a few times, then swallow it whole while grimacing.

She then grabbed her water cup and drank furiously.

"Oh my, what kind of orange is this, how can it taste this bad!"

Looking like a large, round, and fragrant orange, it turned out to be all show and no substance.

Too skilled at deceiving.

"Uncle, you knew this thing tasted bad, why keep it in the office?"

The well-informed Ning Jiandong, hearing her words, knew she was trying to shift the blame, so he rolled his eyes without any decorum.

"I kept it here not to eat it, but to smell it. Besides, I warned you it didn’t taste good, but you didn’t believe it."

Yi Chichi pouted, putting the rest back on the platter, "Are you finished looking?"

"Finished!"

Speaking of business, Ning Jiandong’s expression returned to seriousness, and he selected two from the five drafts, passing them to her, "These two styles, finish the final draft, they need to be colored."

Yi Chichi checked the time, "If I work on it now, I won’t catch the last ferry. I need to tell Master Qiu and the others that I’ll be borrowing their bed tonight."

This was business, and Ning Jiandong had no reason to refuse.

Still, he nagged her like Zhou Bapi, "Say your piece and come back quickly; the final draft is due to be submitted tomorrow morning."

"Got it."

Yi Chichi grabbed her bag and rushed to the embroidery room to tell Qiu Yu about borrowing the bed.

Qiu Yu agreed right away, "What’s the problem with that? Do you have spare clothes?"

"Yes."

Patting her bag, Yi Chichi said, "I’ve got everything with me."

She had prepared for not being able to go back; bedding is too bulky to carry comfortably.

It’s convenient to bring spare clothes and toiletries since they’re compact. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

She gave her backpack to Qiu Yu, saying, "I’ll probably finish around eight or nine, so make sure to leave the door unlocked for me."

"Okay."

Qiu Yu took the backpack and agreed.

Content, Yi Chichi returned to the office, finding Gu Xinghua there.

Upon seeing her, Gu Xinghua was like a cat seeing a mouse, eyes sparkling as he rushed over, "Release the drawings, release the drawings."

His excitement was evident.

"Release what drawings?"

"Crochet patterns."

"??? Didn’t a lot of them come out last year?"

Why are they asking for drawings again?

"They sold like hotcakes!"

Gu Xinghua explained with enthusiasm, "By spring, they were bought up overseas, and today we received a large order, but the client requests new styles."

Understanding the situation, Yi Chichi said, "I can’t do it today; Uncle Ning’s is more urgent. The final draft is due tomorrow; after that, I’ll do yours."

After all, drawing earns money; whether it’s one or ten, it’s the same drawing to her.

Since it’s about her own benefit, there’s no way she would refuse.

Gu Xinghua expected this and was not disappointed, instead saying, "This time, the drawings need to follow a luxurious style."

"Can do."

However, "Are you sure Master Tan and the others can crochet this luxurious style?"

"No problem."

Their skills are solid; even if there’s no initial confidence, with practice, they’ll get it eventually.

Never underestimate the craftsperson’s ability.

The artisans at the Friendship Store might lack innovation, but their ability to follow instructions is unmatched.

Gu Xinghua had confidence in Master Tan and the others.

Yi Chichi nodded in acknowledgment, then picked up her tools to continue her unfinished work.

Ning Jiandong and Gu Xinghua initially stood by and watched, but left after a few minutes.

When they returned, it was already dinner time.

"Let’s eat first, then continue after."

Ning Jiandong, priding himself not to be like Zhou Bapi, brought back some food from the cafeteria for her.

The meal was pretty good: roast goose, steamed turbot, stir-fried vegetables, and a bowl of mung bean soup.

Two taels of rice.

Yi Chichi ate until her belly was round, and when she looked at the time, goodness, it was already past six.

She looked at Ning Jiandong and the others, "Are you guys about to get off work?"

"Yes."

Usually, they’d be off work at this time, but today was a special case.

"Don’t worry about us, keep on working; we’re going to a meeting."

"Okay!"

The meeting room was next door, with people coming and going. Once the meeting officially started, it got noisy.

With the door open, Yi Chichi, engrossed in refining the draft, seemed deaf, oblivious to the noise, lost in her work.

Until—

"Don’t even think about it. We earned this order with our hard work, and now the textile factory wants to put their name on it just like that? They’ve got some nerve."

A stranger’s loud voice rang out like thunder, startling Yi Chichi, causing her hand to tremble and mix the colors.

She looked at the nearly completed refined draft, now completely ruined, and after a brief silence, was so angry she wished she could fight the loudmouth.

However, reason held her back; the person didn’t do it on purpose, she shouldn’t lose her temper.

But she was still fuming.

So, taking a deep breath to calm herself, she got up and went to the meeting room door, raising her hand to knock.

"Come in!"

Yi Chichi opened the door and entered, while everyone attending the meeting turned to look at her.

Most people knew her; only a few didn’t.

A tall figure, full of surprise, looked at her, "Who are you?"

Great, this was the one responsible for ruining her refined draft.

She gave a wry smile, "Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Yi Chichi, the victim whose design for Manager Ning, due tomorrow, was ruined by your loud voice."

The tall one hadn’t yet reacted, but Ning Jiandong sprang from his chair like he’d been shocked, "The draft’s ruined?"

"Ruined!"

She looked annoyed, "Just a tiny bit more and it would have been done. Now it’s completely ruined and needs to start over."

Gu Xinghua made a sound, "Can you still finish it tonight?"

She could, but she’d have to work overtime to do it.

What was originally a task that could’ve been done by eight or nine would now likely extend into late night or early morning.

Anyone would feel bad about that.

She scowled at the tall man, her voice sorrowful as if a ghost from beneath the earth, "Don’t you have something to say?"