Chapter 102 The Delicate Embroidery and Toggle-And-Loop b.u.t.ton“Where are they? It is only a moment before I hear the laughter of both of them. Where did they go in just a moment?”
“Eunuch Liu, where are they?” The little boy blinked his eyes and asked.
Eunuch Liu also turned, looked around and said confusedly. “They… They are gone!”
“Go to find them!” The little boy trod with force and turned to run forward. It was only a moment. He believed that he could catch up with them.
Seeing his master run out, Eunuch Liu also hurried to follow.
After the two men went away, Qin Wanru appeared and clapped her hands with Yujie.
In fact, they were just in the corner of the parapet. The neighbor seemed to be a rich family. At first sight, the gap between the two households looked very small and was hardly available to hide people. However, Qin Wanru, who once saw Qi Baiyu hiding there, knew that the gap only looked small but could really hide someone!
After avoiding the strange master and servant, Qin Wanru left in the opposite direction, and then naturally went around the busiest street in Jiangzhou Prefecture.
There were a lot of people in the street. The shops on both sides seemed to be doing excellent business, but Qin Wanru didn’t stop but went straight to a satin store.
The satin store was very large. Yujie looked at it and thought it might be the largest satin store in Jiangzhou Prefecture. It was larger than the ones she saw just now. There were many people entering and leaving the store, and most of them were females.
After entering into the satin store, Qin Wanru began to select. There were various beautiful silks and satins, which were dazzling at first glance.
Instead of staying at the door of the store, Qin Wanru went inside. There was also a tailor shop. It was convenient for people here to select material and get tailor-made clothes.
Qin Wanru stood at the material in front of the tailor shop.
A shop-boy ran out at once. Seeing Qin Wanru, he guessed that she was either rich or respectable. He respectfully said, “What would you like, Miss. Would you like to take your measurements first before selecting the material?”
Qin Wanru picking up a few pieces of material and took a look. She seemed to be not satisfied with them. She said critically, “Are all your materials here?”
“Miss, if you don’t like the material here, you could go upstairs. There are something like embroidery and toggle-and-loop b.u.t.tons of the clothes upstairs. If you like, you could also choose some.” The shop-boy reached out and pointed to the stairway, which was at the end of the room and looked not very big.
“Is there enough good cloth upstairs? Or they just look like these materials? Qin Wanru put down the material in disgust and raised her head proudly. She looked around the store. Obviously, she was not satisfied with all the material at present.
“My Miss only buys exquisite materials and doesn’t care about money!” Yujie astutely continued saying and looked at the material around her in disgust.
So, she was a potential customer.
The shop-boy laughed happily and pointed to the stairs. He directed them vigorously. “Miss, this way, please. There must be some material you like. Please go up and have a look!”
As he spoke, he first took a few steps up, and then turned back respectfully, stretching out his hand politely. He nodded and bent down with a smile!
Qin Wanru nodded and then went upstairs with Yujie.
The shop-boy led them to a room and called a responsible supervisor on the second floor. Since she was a potential customer, he could not treat her rudely.
Therefore, at this time, the one who served Qin Wanru was no longer a shop-boy!
There was indeed a lot of material upstairs, which were placed differently from those pieces of material piled casually downstairs. Each piece of material here occupied the same room and was separated by category with delicate packaging.
In a corner, there were many accessories for ready-made clothes, including exquisite toggle-and-loop b.u.t.tons and embroidery. They were very beautiful and expensive.
However, as the accessories for ready-made clothes, there were only a few which were placed on a counter in the northeast.
Because of the inconspicuousness and the high price, there were very few people in front of the counter and no one was looking at them.
Qin Wanru was standing in front of this counter right now. She asked the shop-boy beside the counter to take out some toggle-and-loop b.u.t.tons and embroidery and looked at them carefully on the counter.
“Miss, this kind of b.u.t.ton is the best here. There is no such a b.u.t.ton in the whole Jiangzhou. Even our shop doesn’t have many such b.u.t.tons.” The supervisor said with his hand pointing at the toggle-and-loop b.u.t.ton which was taken out by a shop-boy at Qin Wanru’s request.
There were four types of b.u.t.tons: plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. All of them looked delicate and poetic. At first glance, she could tell that they were made by unordinary people.
“Miss, look at these kinds of embroidery. They are beautiful, aren’t they? If you have such embroidery on your clothes, it will be elegant and beautiful just like the fairy’s clothes in the sky.
The portrayal of the supervisor was so vivid that it was almost possible to fly to the sky!
He conveyed a feeling that their material was the best and the people who wore it must be more beautiful than fairies.
Qin Wanru smiled faintly and thought, “The supervisor is indeed a glib talker whose praise can make people fly.”
“How many toggle-and-loop b.u.t.tons do you have? And this kind of embroidery?” Qin Wanru liked these accessories taken out and asked with a smile.
“There are ten pairs of this kind of b.u.t.tons. If you like, Miss…” The supervisor smiled and thought that she was indeed a potential customer. None of these things were touched and today, he could finally sell them.
“It’s not enough!” Qin Wanru shook her head.
“No… It’s not enough?” The supervisor was stunned for a while. Each kind had ten pairs, and four kinds meant forty pairs. She really wanted to use these b.u.t.tons until she was old!
“Are there more b.u.t.tons?” Qin Wanru asked softly.
“This… I’m afraid it’s going to take some time!” The supervisor said with embarra.s.sment.
“Why? I also want these kinds of embroidery. They are beautiful! How many do you have?” Similarly, there were four patterns of embroidery, including plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, which had different charm.
“This… I’m afraid that’s all here. If you want them all, you can take them, but we don’t have more.” The supervisor said with hesitation. The embroidery was different from the toggle-and-loop b.u.t.ton and it took a lot of time for each piece.
Yujie said after Qin Wanru, “Can you make more embroidery? My Miss likes them, and money is not a problem!”
Even the girl servant was ostentatious, the lady was indeed rich.
The supervisor felt embarra.s.sed. He looked at the master and servant who were “rich and generous” and told the truth. “These embroidery items and toggle-and-loop b.u.t.tons are made by an embroidered maid. But the contract between the embroidered maid and our shop will expire soon. We have made it clear that we will not renew it!”
Qin Wanru looked at Yujie who nodded while taking out two wallets from her sleeve and handed to the supervisor. “Tell us about the embroidered maid. Why are you going to stop hiring such an excellent embroidered maid?”
Having received two wallets, the supervisor touched them and felt relieved. He looked around and found no one was around before he said in a low voice, “She can make delicate toggle-and-loop b.u.t.tons, but the price is too high and few people buy it. So our shopkeeper doesn’t think it’s cost-effective, so we fired her. It happened recently!”
Qin Wanru asked, “Where does she live?”
Because of the two wallets, the supervisor was very active and didn’t feel that Qin Wanru’s question was rude. “She lives at the corner of Tangdong Street. You can ask around. Many people know Madame Dong, who made toggle-and-loop b.u.t.ton and embroidery!”
He was talking about the store’s secrets, so his voice became lower and lower.
Fortunately, he was a supervisor. If he were a shop-boy in the store, he would know nothing.
“Thank you very much!” Seeing that Qin Wanru was about to turn around and leave, Yujie said with a smile and followed Qin Wanru downstairs.
Qin Wanru knew Tangdong Street, which could be found after turning two intersections. The two people walked and asked an old woman in a grocery store at a turning who directed them the way.
They turned into a small alley.
The alley was not wide, and the ground was covered with scattered bluestone slabs. Several places had been broken. There were several small courtyards on both sides with the doors open. Many people came in and out. It could be seen that several families were living together, and the environment looked not good at all.
Fortunately, Madame Dong lived in a small separate courtyard at the entrance of the alley. After asking pa.s.sers-by, Qin Wanru was sure and Yujie went forward to knock at the door.
They waited a long time before someone opened the door. A middle-aged, thin woman was surprised to see a lady in beautiful clothes standing outside the door.
“Is this Madame Dong’s house, please?” Yujie came forward to greet with a smile.
“Yes, I am. What can I help you, young lady?” Madame Dong stopped at the door and looked at Qin Wanru. She was not sure who the young lady was, but she was sure that she had never seen her before. Otherwise, she could not have forgotten such an excellent face.
“Could we talk inside?” Qin Wanru smiled slightly and said softly.
Madame Dong looked at them again and did not find malice on their faces. Then she let them in and closed the door of the courtyard.
The courtyard was very small, with three bungalows, and it was full of clutter which looked a bit dilapidated.
Madame Dong led them into the room. There were a table and a few benches at the front door. Another table near the window with some unfinished embroidery, cloth for b.u.t.tons, and brackets on it. They looked undone and were piled up in disorder.
“Miss, sit down, please. It is a little humble here. Please forgive that!” Madame Dong invited Qin Wanru to sit down, picked up a teapot with a broken corner on the table, and poured Qin Wanru a bowl of tepid water.
The water was put in a large porcelain bowl and she handed it to Qin Wanru!
“Mom, is there a guest? Who is it?” Suddenly, a woman’s voice came from the right compartment who sounded surprised.
Half of the curtain which was made by figured cloth was flipped and a girl came out of it!