Chapter 388: Chapter 397: Ha, That’s Wonderful
The morning dew gently trailed down the vines; wisps of cooking smoke curled up, softly unveiling the curtains of dawn.
The sky brightened.
By the time Shen Hua woke up, there was no one beside her.
She touched the pillow; it bore no trace of warmth. The girl suddenly sat upright, forgetting even to slip on her embroidered shoes as she got out of bed, and with her hair disheveled, she hurriedly chased after.
"Madam."
Shen Hua asked in a low voice, "Has he left?"
Ningzhu replied, "The Marquis left early in the morning."
Shen Hua pressed her lips together, standing stiffly for a long while before slowly walking back with a weary stride.
She felt only a little bit of loss.
Definitely not much.
It was better this way, anyway; it was less painful than seeing him off herself.
This emotion enveloped her, lingering until she had finished her morning meal.
Er Rong came.
Ever since their last encounter in Shengjing, Yicui had discreetly given him a substantial amount of Silver Coin. Upon returning to Fengzhou, occasionally assisted by Manager Sun, he had long been won over.
He paid Shen Hua a deep respect.
Shen Hua prompted him to rise, "How is your Mama doing?"
"Thanks to Madam’s fortune, everything is going well."
Er Rong rarely showed a smile, "After she suffered a stroke, I couldn’t help but worry, and we couldn’t be without someone to care for her. Thanks to Madam, I could afford to hire the old woman next door to look after her. At least, she could ensure Mama had one meal at noon, and I didn’t need to rush back and forth; it eased my burdens a lot."
Shen Hua nodded.
"My Daddy always mentioned how filial you were."
Er Rong’s eyes reddened.
In previous years, he had indeed received many kindnesses from the Madam.
"You’re doing odd jobs in the embroidery workshop; surely you know more about the workshop’s affairs than Aunt Sun. Tell me about it."
Er Rong dared not hide anything.
"Ever since Yifeng Hall stopped collaborating with the embroidery workshop, our reputation has surely been tarnished. Because of this, the stepson has been hiring embroidery ladies at high wages. Just from the Zhou Family Embroidery Workshop alone, he poached ten people."
"The embroidery ladies in our workshop were all under contract, and the cost for breaking such contracts is inherently high. Madam, as you know, the stepson has spent a fortune on this."
"Not just the Zhou family, but also the renowned embroidery ladies outside Fengzhou City have been aggressively recruited with high pay."
"Putting it mildly, if our Shen Family’s Embroidery Workshop isn’t ranked first in Su Embroidery, no one with eyes dares to claim the top spot alone. Over the years, the Zhou Family Embroidery Workshop has been doing well, but it has always been inferior to ours."
The embroidery ladies hired by Shen Qu may have better skills than some who are still in the workshop, but when compared to the old embroiderers under Shen Hua’s name, they fall short.
Otherwise, the Zhou Family’s Embroidery Workshop wouldn’t have remained overshadowed.
No matter how much money they pour into it, they’ve already lost the advantage.
The intricacies of Su Embroidery run deep.
What good does it do for Shen Qu to hire the Zhou family’s embroidery ladies? In the end, they still make no significant mark.
Seeing Shen Hua not responding, Er Rong hurriedly continued.
"Not long ago, I overheard the stepson discussing with Shopkeeper Cheng to further lower the price of the embroidery products."
This was a taboo.
Shen Hua abruptly looked up.
"Why?"
"The silk, satin, thin silk, damask, and other base materials used in the embroidery workshop are all of the highest quality and are the most expensive. Lately, they’ve been mixed with inferior materials. Buyers who don’t understand embroidery naturally can’t tell the difference. Passing off inferior goods as fine ones hasn’t caused any issues recently. The materials are cheaper, hence profits are higher."
"However, within just a few months, the Zhou Family’s Embroidery which had been suppressed for years, seized the opportunity and surged ahead. They snatched quite a bit of business from us."
The embroidery products underwent successive price reductions to win back some regular customers.
After all, as Fengzhou City’s largest embroidery workshop, even a lean camel is larger than a horse—the majority of buyers come for Shen Family’s Embroidery Workshop’s reputation."
"But nowadays, the embroidery isn’t selling as well as before, and profits have drastically diminished. Presumably..."
He trailed off, his voice growing softer and softer in speculation.
But Shen Hua still understood.
Shen Qu was tasting success.
The path the embroidery workshop had taken for many years was cut off early by Shen Hua, so Shen Qu had to find another way.
She sneered and tugged at her lips.
"That’s about all they’re capable of."
"Did Manager Cheng agree?"
"He did not. That day, the stepson left with a cold face. It’s clear they didn’t come to terms."
Shen Hua was somewhat fair-minded: "Manager Cheng might not handle personal relationships well, but under his management, the embroidery workshop has never been in disarray over these years. He’s a sensible man. If he had agreed, I’m afraid it wouldn’t take a few years before not only the Zhou Family but also various other embroidery workshops would spring up like bamboo shoots after rain. The Shen Family’s Embroidery Workshop would probably not have much of a chance."
With that,
Shen Hua’s lips curved into a smile.
"What about Aunt Sun?"
Yicui answered, "Early this morning, she took the servants from the house to clean up the shop. I heard that shop hasn’t been lived in for a long time; a light sweep of the broom raises clouds of dust, it’s very dirty."
Shen Hua asked Er Rong to go back, then she rose from the stone bench.
"Does my lady plan to go take a look?"
Shen Hua: "I’ll go later."
She needed to check on the embroidery first.
In the back courtyard, the embroidery ladies were sewing, stitch by stitch.
The dye for the thread wasn’t purchased from outside but extracted by the old embroiderers from plants, with control over temperature, dying process, and other aspects, to bring out a myriad of colors.
Upon entering, she saw hundreds of dyed threads hanging on the railings, with long threads treated for varying weights and precision, arrayed from dark to light, gently swaying in the wind.
Shen Hua felt at ease looking at it.
She walked quietly, and the embroiderers, absorbed in their work, naturally did not notice another person had joined them in the room.
Shen Hua stayed in the room long enough for the time it takes to burn one joss stick before she slowly left.
————
Meanwhile,
By the time Shen Hua arrived, the shop had already been nearly cleaned.
Before Cui Yun took over the premises, they were used to run a restaurant, so things like menus and tables and stools were naturally unusable and were all cleared out by the servants.
Therefore, the main hall looked particularly empty.
Madam turned around, and it was just like in her memory—the plaque above the opposite door carved with the glittering golden words "Shen Family’s Embroidery Workshop" shone brilliantly under the light.
It’s just a pity that no one could peek into the sordidness hidden within.
Shen Hua couldn’t help but ponder how much of a failure Shen Wei was, and how long he had plotted before he could bring himself to poison Mama.
Relying on Mama for a smooth future, having an affair with Shen Xue-shi, and fearful of outside talk that he was inferior to his wife, he resorted to such dirty and shocking methods.
He truly had everyone dancing in the palm of his hand.
That man was the Daddy she had called for more than ten years.
Shen Hua did not want to think anymore but instead instructed everyone to bring out all the prepared firecrackers.
Ignite them.
With a crackling and popping sound, she wished she could set them off for a whole day. Loud and mighty, the noise brought the entire street to life, and the commotion attracted many onlookers.
"Are they preparing to open for business?"
"What a prosperous opening! The firecrackers haven’t stopped. It seems like all the firecrackers in all of Fengzhou have been bought. Big spender."
Shen Hua walked out, her face showing no fear, and at that moment, she changed her mind. Instead of leaving it empty, it would be better to frustrate Shen Qu.
"Yes, we are preparing to open."
"Are you opening a restaurant?"
Shen Hua: "No."
She gave a shallow smile: "A coffin shop."
"Isn’t that just seeking bad luck for the embroidery workshop across the street?"
Shen Hua didn’t hide her feelings: "Hah, that would be fantastic."
In the distance, someone inside a carriage lowered the curtain.
The brashness of the girl still seemed to loom before his eyes, and Cui Yun chuckled to himself.
Only then did he give the order.
"Let’s set off."
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