Little Douzi’s happy laughter, along with the lifelike patterns on the clothes in Ye Xiaohua’s hands, made it impossible for the two women to look away.
What rural woman didn’t know how to do needlework? But everyone knew the skill level of the women in the village. This girl, who had suddenly transformed from a fool, turned out to have such exquisite embroidery skills that the two women exchanged surprised glances.
Perhaps they figured that even if Ye Xiaohua wasn’t as silly as before, she was still just a half-grown child, no match for their cunning adult minds.
The woman named Liang, who had such a sharp and nasty tongue, put on a face of mocking curiosity. “Silly… cough, cough, Xiaohua, dear, did you embroider that?”
Little Douzi beat Ye Xiaohua to the punch, holding his head high with pride. “Yeah, it’s a little dog my sister embroidered.”
When Ye Xiaohua had embroidered it, she had asked for little Douzi’s opinion. He didn’t like flowers or plants, but loved little animals, so she just stitched a few lines. The truth was, the holes in the clothes were so large they couldn’t be mended without patching a piece of cloth inside. Patched clothes weren’t very attractive, which was why Ye Xiaohua had embroidered orchid grass over the holes on her own clothes. Under her skillful hands, the tattered rags looked much better.
She had grown up in an orphanage. Children were mischievous, and clothes were inevitably ruined. Living in hardship, they couldn’t just get new ones like children in normal families. The Director—their “Mother”—would mend those torn clothes until they looked brand new. As she grew older, she learned the craft from her and helped mend clothes for the other children.
Liang glanced at little Douzi, not wanting to engage with him. She might have put on a front in front of others, but she couldn’t be bothered to pretend in front of the Ye siblings. If she didn’t hold them in high regard, she didn’t; children without parents would never earn respect. “Xiaohua, your skill is not bad. That little dog you embroidered, tsk tsk. If you have some free time, could you embroider one on my Huzi’s clothes too?”
The other woman, Chen, was afraid of missing such a good opportunity. “Yes, my Er’niu likes flowers. Help us embroider one too. It’s really beautiful.”
Having said all that, only the final compliment was genuine. Though they were women too, they could only embroider basic flowers; they knew clearly that they couldn’t produce patterns like the ones the girl had. Even if they could, they were too lazy to bother. Liang and Chen were simply trying to use sweet talk to get Ye Xiaohua to work for free.
If it hadn’t been for the disgusting things they had said earlier, Ye Xiaohua would have helped. There were only two of them, and maintaining good relations with the villagers would have been beneficial. But she had already seen through their petty minds; their true colors were exposed.
However, Ye Xiaohua’s refusal was quite clever. “Sure.”
The two women smiled at each other again. They had even prepared a few more compliments, but it seemed that even though this silly girl wasn’t a fool anymore, her brain still wasn’t as sharp as theirs; she was too simple-minded.
“I said it! Xiaohua is a good child,” Liang said, glowing with joy.
Ye Xiaohua mused to herself: Just a moment ago, she was saying the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree and that my mother’s nature was my nature.
Chen chimed in, “Exactly! Xiaohua is diligent and has a good temperament.”
“That’s right, Xiaohua is truly a good child.”
Ye Xiaohua didn’t care what others said; she didn’t take their empty praise or insults to heart. She looked at the two beaming women and kept her smile. “I’m not as good as the two aunts say. From now on, it’s just the two of us siblings. Douzi is still young, so if I’m not diligent, we’ll starve to death.”
“Nonsense! If you need anything in the future, just let your aunts know. We’re all living in the same village; if we can help, we certainly will,” Liang said with a smile.
Chen nodded along, but Ye Xiaohua knew clearly that if she really went to them for help, she probably wouldn’t even be able to find them. Seeing them so delighted, Ye Xiaohua almost felt bad about what she had to say next. “My two aunts are truly so kind to me. Don’t worry, if I have any difficulties in the future, I will definitely come to you for help. I won’t be shy at all.”
Liang turned her head and shot a look of disgust at Chen, implying that this silly girl was really getting ahead of herself.
However, before she could turn back, Ye Xiaohua’s crisp voice reached her ears, and the more she listened, the more something felt off.
What Ye Xiaohua said was: “Since my two aunts are so good to me, I can’t be too distant either. Embroidery is no problem at all. I charge other people 30 coins a day for labor. Since we aren’t outsiders, I’ll just charge the two of you 20 coins a day.”
“What?” Liang stood up abruptly, but being in too much of a hurry, her feet slipped. Had Chen not caught her, she would have certainly tumbled into the river.
Liang’s face turned green. “Did I hear you right? You want 20 coins from us?”
Everything was exactly as Ye Xiaohua had anticipated. She opened her eyes wide, pretending to look at Liang in confusion. “Aunt, don’t feel like you’re paying too little. We’re all in the same village and see each other every day; just give me 20 coins.”
That wasn’t what Liang meant! She would rather break a single coin into eight pieces to spend; how could she possibly pay to have someone embroider? “Screw your mother!”
When it came to money, Liang couldn’t hide her fox’s tail anymore; her true colors were fully exposed.
“20 coins a day? Do you think you’re embroidering a real dog? Ptui! Charging for embroidery—have you gone money-mad?”
Although Chen wasn’t as agitated as Liang, she was clearly displeased. They had no intention of paying Ye Xiaohua; they had purely thought that since the siblings were helpless and the eldest branch of the Ye family was ignoring them, they could get free labor. But Ye Xiaohua countered every move, using a soft touch to deflect their strength, instantly making both women explode.
Liang swallowed hard, furious. “No, Ye Xiaohua, what are you thinking? 20 coins a day? Ptui! I’m letting you work—that’s me doing you a favor.”
Ye Xiaohua didn’t rush. At this moment, she looked at Liang as if she were looking at a monkey. She smiled slightly and said, “Aunt, hearing you say that, I should thank you for giving me this opportunity to work for you for free, right?”
Liang had never dealt with Ye Xiaohua’s sharp tongue before; hearing her finish, she doubted her own ears. “You…”
“Aunt, don’t worry. Just come to me once you’ve made up your mind. If you have a lot of embroidery, I can even give you a discount.”
The clothes were washed. Ye Xiaohua wrung them dry, placed them in the basin, and glanced at little Douzi. “Let’s go home.”
Little Douzi happily took her hand, and the siblings turned and walked away gracefully, leaving the two women behind, absolutely furious.
They had walked quite a distance when Liang finally reacted. “Damn it all! You dead fool, daughter of a rotten woman—daring to ask me for money? Keep dreaming!”