CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 52: LACKING SKILL

It just missed explicitly saying you do know how to diagnose.

Yi Chichi, ...if we continue like this, we can’t keep chatting.

"Auntie, I really don’t know how to treat illnesses!"

She helplessly explained under Aunt Ma’s suspicious gaze, "Aunt Wen’s situation is similar to an elder of mine, I have experience."

The implication being, she has no experience with anything else, don’t count on her.

Aunt Ma blurted out, "So you’re saying you just got lucky, like a blind cat finding a dead mouse."

That analogy was absolutely perfect.

Yi Chichi was embarrassed, "If you put it that way, okay."

"Why didn’t you study properly?"

"Studying medicine requires talent."

How many traditional Chinese medicine families have no one to carry on the legacy, is it because they don’t want to study?

Partly, but more so because of a lack of talent.

Like her uncle, like the several uncles and aunts in her great-uncle’s house, all lacked talent like her.

Even her father, who was the most talented in medicine in the Yi Family, his medical skills weren’t in traditional Chinese medicine, but in Western medicine.

Diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine varies from person to person, different symptoms require different treatment methods, it’s the same with medicine.

You also need to adjust the treatment methods and prescriptions based on the patient’s physical condition at any time.

She sighed and said, "If I could, I’d like to study, but I can’t learn it."

"So what did you learn?"

"Embroidery!"

Speaking of her specialized skill, she looked proud, "I have a talent for embroidery."

Aunt Ma’s eyes lit up, "Then can you embroider wedding dresses?"

"I can."

This she really could do.

Once, a bigwig was marrying off his daughter and through connections got to her father to have her help with a set of a handmade phoenix coronet and red wedding dress.

The commission offered was very generous, even though she was never short of money since young, it dazzled her.

Later...

That set of the phoenix coronet and red wedding dress, due to its high degree of restoration and exquisite embroidery, was collected by a museum.

Before that, she already had several pieces in the National Museum and the Provincial Museum.

Now, looking at her own hands, she sighed, "Not suitable."

"Suitable!"

Aunt Ma responded smoothly, Yi Chichi was surprised, "Where is it suitable?"

"You can embroider clothes for newcomers."

"But no one is getting married now."

"So, you can also make clothes?"

"I can."

Aunt Ma slapped her thigh, "I’ll get you a job, can’t you do it?"

"What job?"

"My grand-niece is getting married and wants a beautiful dress and is currently looking for a skilled craftsman to make her a dress."

Yi Chichi thought she could take the job, just worried Aunt Ma’s grand-niece might not want her to do it.

In the end, Aunt Ma told her not to worry; she would talk to her.

The prerequisite was that she could embroider a flower for her to see.

That wasn’t a difficult task, but—

"I need to first go to the county to buy colorful threads."

The flower embroidery requires a rich array of colors, unfortunately, she didn’t have any on hand now.

"Wait here, I’ll go get them for you."

Before the words finished, Aunt Ma swiftly got up and rushed out.

By the time Yi Chichi reacted, she had already run out.

The speed and agility left her speechless.

After about ten minutes, Aunt Ma came back carrying a sewing basket, which not only had white cotton cloth but also threads of various colors, scissors, top needle, and shoe soles.

Moreover, she didn’t come alone.

Aunt Niu and others also came, each carrying a sewing basket, working on the soles of layered shoes.

A bunch of women doing sewing work gathered together, beyond gossiping, they could only exchange some techniques.

Women of this era were mostly multifunctional; they could work in the fields, cook in the kitchen, give birth in bed, make shoes and clothes out of bed.

Embroidering insoles was also a must-have skill.

Unlike Yi Chichi who had professional training, Aunt Ma and others’ embroidery skills were more unrefined.

The patterns they embroidered were stiff and lacked life, too much craftiness.

But it wasn’t good to say it outright.

So, when Aunt Niu’s daughter-in-law, Yu Qingqing, showed off her insole to her, Yi Chichi could only praise it with a clear conscience, "It’s very well embroidered."

"So what about yours?"

Feeling proud having been praised, Yu Qingqing wanted to see her embroidery work.

Yi Chichi was sorting threads, and without even lifting her head, she said, "I haven’t embroidered yet."

"Then hurry up and embroider, I want to see how yours looks, maybe I can teach you a thing or two."

"...Okay."

Limited by the fabric and thread, Yi Chichi wasn’t prepared to do double-sided embroidery or any high-grade stuff but decided to try Bao Ying Embroidery first.

The characteristic of Bao Ying Embroidery is its rich colors and strong three-dimensionality, the needlework adopts chaotic stitching, and the embroidery thread does not need to be split, it can be done with a single thread straight through.

She didn’t need to draw a pattern, she could design it directly in her mind.

Ever since the ointment was made, Yi Chichi had been regularly maintaining her hands each day, and although she was still ten jars of ointment away from restoring to her original world’s standard, her hands were a lot softer and smoother compared to the once calloused state.

The flexibility of her fingers had also been cultivated.

So, Yu Qingqing and others watched her slender fingers, pinching the needle, nimbly darting up and down the cotton cloth.

Needlework...

"Yi Zhqing, what are you doing?"

Originally wanting to see if her technique was correct, Yu Qingqing became more and more confused, having never seen someone embroider like this before; it was such a mess it was hard to watch.

"Embroidering flowers."

Without stopping, Yi Chichi’s movements continued, as disordered and messy lines began crossing and crisscrossing the cotton cloth, Yu Qingqing and others felt like coughing up blood.

Aunt Niu further complained to Aunt Ma, "With such a disorderly skill, you still dare to let her make a wedding dress for your grand-niece?"

Aunt Ma also felt she might have jumped the gun, "I asked if she could, she said she could, and she said it so confidently, I thought she was really skilled, who knew..." shaking her head, she sighed, "Miss Yi, your skills are lacking."

"Wait till I finish, then you can say it’s lacking, no need to rush."

Yi Chichi was very calm, she had just begun embroidery, once finished if they still said her skills were lacking, she could consider changing professions.

Seeing her speak with confidence, Aunt Ma and the others exchanged looks.

"Why don’t, we take another look?"

She tentatively suggested, and Aunt Niu and others nodded in agreement, considering it wasn’t their grand-niece they were embroidering the dress for, it was up to whoever.

As seconds ticked by, Yu Qingqing, who was strongly inclined to teach her needlework, didn’t even embroider her own insole anymore, focusing her entire attention on her every move.

Then—

"Eh?"

Her eyes suddenly widened, looking at the red petal that appeared on the cotton cloth, her eyes grew wider again, "Isn’t that random stitching? Why did a petal appear?"

"What?"

Hearing her words, Aunt Ma and the others couldn’t focus on the gossip anymore, stopping their embroidery work and crowding over to watch.

Seeing it, none of them made a sound.

However, their faces all displayed identical question marks.

It was a bit miraculous, what initially appeared chaotic and disordered lines now revealed petals...

No way, they had to look further.

The result was, one petal appeared after another.

Next came the pistil, then the green leaves.