Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 499: Stifled

"Little one, which family are you from?"

Ning Jiandong felt a bit anxious being stared at by He An, so he softened his voice and talked to her.

"I’m from the He Family."

He An replied crisply, and then asked him which family he belonged to.

And so, the two of them, one big and one small, started chatting.

As they chatted, Wen’s mother brought over tea and snacks, and Yi Chichi brought over some embroidery patterns she had drawn before.

"Take a look at these."

Ning Jiandong, who had just picked up the tea to drink, quickly put down the cup and took the embroidery patterns to look at them one by one.

There were 37 patterns in total. After looking through them, he picked out six and handed them back, "You keep these six for yourself to embroider."

Yi Chichi glanced at them, nodded, "Alright."

Compared to the 31 patterns he took, these six were more complex in design, with an overwhelming variety of colors.

She put the six patterns away, just about to speak when Ning Jiandong took out a photo from his bag and handed it over.

"This photo is from the foreign client who previously bought your Double Cat Embroidery. He wants you to help embroider a family portrait!"

Before he finished speaking, he added, "It’s a task assigned from above."

It meant it was a task she could only accept, not decline.

Yi Chichi swallowed back her words, reached out to take the photo, and her face turned green at the sight.

A family of four, two adults and two children, plus a Yorkshire terrier with a red bow.

The photo seemed to be taken in their own yard.

The flowers and plants were lush.

She moved her lips slightly and squeezed out, "When is it needed?"

If the deadline was too tight, she was prepared to end her cooperation with the Friendship Store rather than accept it.

It was simply unachievable.

Luckily, Ning Jiandong’s words put her mind at ease.

He said, "Knowing you’re pregnant, I got you an extension until October the year after next."

It was now mid-November 1978, so October the year after next would be October 1980, giving her nearly two years, which was pretty sufficient.

Her heart that had been hanging could finally relax.

She let out a long breath, her eyes falling on the package beside Ning Jiandong, "Did you bring the materials too?"

Already preparing to refuse and thinking of how to persuade, Ning Jiandong immediately became joyful.

"I brought them."

He cheerfully took the package, opened it, and said, "Since I didn’t know what size you needed, I brought silk of several sizes. Pick the one you think is suitable, and I’ll take back the rest."

Silk is expensive, especially the nearly transparent lightweight silk, which is the most expensive type of embroidery fabric, not to be ruined or snagged.

Therefore, he put on gloves, took out several sizes of silk, and unfolded them for her to choose.

It was the first time He An saw such nearly transparent fabric, and her small hand immediately reached out to touch it, but a large hand suddenly appeared and held her hand.

"You can’t touch this!"

Wen’s mother picked her up and moved away from the silk, gently explaining to her how delicate and valuable the silk was.

He An understood, and after she finished explaining, she summed it up, "Expensive, like a lot of Big White Rabbit candies."

This comparison...

Wen’s mother thought it over and found it very apt.

"Yes, this thing is worth a lot of Big White Rabbit candies."

Mentioning the candies made He An drool, and she started clamoring to go back and eat some.

However, Zhang Xin hadn’t finished work yet, He Yunsong had gone on a training mission, and the old man wasn’t back either, so no one dared let her go home.

"Mom, go get her the Big White Rabbit candies, but don’t let her eat them directly. Melt them into water for her to drink."

This kid once choked on a Big White Rabbit candy. If there hadn’t been people around to save her in time, she might have suffocated.

Even as it was, it caused her to suffer, and she cried until the heavens shook, losing her voice for several days afterward.

With that experience in mind, safety came first.

Wen’s mother agreed, carrying He An to make some Big White Rabbit candy water.

Yi Chichi, on the other hand, withdrew her gaze and chose the middle size from the silk, "This will do."

Ning Jiandong didn’t say a word, rolled up the middle size, packed it up, and handed it to her, along with embroidery threads and needle sets.

"Do you want to keep these too?"

As he spoke, his eyes kept glancing at the six patterns she had set aside, "I think this large-sized silk suits the design of the ’Prosperity Blooms’ you drew."

"Let Master Tang turn it into Yue Embroidery."

Yi Chichi directly declined; although she had drawn ’Prosperity Blooms’, she hadn’t planned to embroider it now, simply because she lacked the energy.

The twelve-colored peonies of ’Prosperity Blooms’ had colors numbering in the hundreds, with some parts having gradients that needed a misty visual effect. This required highly precise thread splitting.

A single thread needed to be split into at least over 200 strands.

Truly as fine as hair, putting a heavy burden on the eyes and consuming a lot of mental energy.

"Master Tang took on a ’Birds and Phoenix Chorus’ project."

Wow, that difficulty level is no less than ’Prosperity Blooms’.

"Whose design is it?"

This question shouldn’t have been asked. Once it was, Ning Jiandong almost exploded; he slammed the table angrily, "It was a foreign business proposal, designed by Master Xiong from Jiang Province. It’s his ultimate piece, drawn in 1933 in Shanghai under pressure from those living well, and even has blood on it."

Yi Chichi knew immediately the nationality of this foreign client upon hearing this, no wonder Ning Jiandong was in such a bad mood.

At this moment, she was tremendously relieved that this project didn’t fall into her hands.

Otherwise, she would feel awful even if she earned the money.

"How much did they offer?"

"The price is definitely high, and it’s in foreign currency, but earning this foreign exchange is not satisfying."

Ning Jiandong said weakly, Yi Chichi could see how frustrated he felt.

He really felt oppressed.

He couldn’t talk about this in Yangcheng, not even complain to his family, but here he could.

She wasn’t sure what to say to comfort him, nor did Ning Jiandong need her comfort.

He was just a bit lost.

He said, "At that moment, I wished I could grind my teeth to powder, I couldn’t even get angry, let alone furious..."

It’s not that he didn’t dare; he couldn’t.

The word ’couldn’t’ added a weight to his frustration.

He took a deep breath, waved his hand with a bit of helplessness, and said, "Forget it, we shouldn’t continue this topic, talking any longer will just make me angry."

"What’ll make you angry?"

Wen Shi, who had just walked in, asked in surprise.

Yi Chichi was puzzled, "Why are you back so soon?"

"The handover’s complete, so I’m done."

The rest was handled by specific personnel, his task was finished.

When he reached them, Wen Shi immediately noticed the items on the table, and his smile disappeared instantly, shooting a sharp look at Ning Jiandong, "Uncle, my wife is pregnant and will give birth soon, and you’re still giving her jobs?"

His tone was unfriendly, and he clenched his fist.

Ning Jiandong rolled his eyes, "I’m not Zhou Bapi. I did give her work, but I got an extension until two years later, it’s plenty of time."

With Yi Chichi’s skill and speed, starting next October, she’d have ample time.

After all, the family portrait was a single-faced embroidery, not double-sided, let alone a Three Strange Embroidery.

The technical difficulty had significantly decreased.

Two years?

He looked at Yi Chichi, "Wife, is it really due in two years?"

"Yes."

Yi Chichi nodded, picking up the photo and handing it to him, "Embroider this."

He took it and, upon seeing it, frowned, "Foreigners, huh."

"Be respectful, they’re foreign partners."

Ning Jiandong said in a huff, "They help us earn foreign exchange, got it?"

The sky is big, but foreign exchange is bigger. With it, they can buy things internationally; without it, they’re stuck.

Wen Shi, "..."

Okay, any client who helps earn foreign exchange is a good one.

"This dog looks a bit odd."

Ning Jiandong nodded, "I thought the same."

Yi Chichi was silent; though Yorkshires did look somewhat different from local dogs, it wasn’t to the point of being odd.

This sense of aesthetics...

Forget it, better not comment on it.