CHAPTER 53: CHAPTER 53: UTTERLY CRUSHED!

Looking at the vivid and lifelike flowers on the cotton cloth, Aunt Ma and the others who were skilled in needlework were stunned.

Yu Qingqing was even more dumbfounded, her mind filled with disbelief. How could these chaotic lines turn into a flower? How was this even stitched?

Liu Lan, however, sensed something. She recalled Yi Chichi’s needlework and turned to her, "Chichi, are you creating the shading of the flower by crisscrossing the arrangement of different lengths of thread?"

Yi Chichi’s eyes lit up. She knew Liu Lan was favored and smart, but she didn’t expect her to have a talent in embroidery.

She identified one of the characteristics of Chaotic Needle Embroidery on her first encounter.

Yi Chichi nodded with interest, "Besides that, what else did you notice?"

Aunt Ma and the others blinked. Was Chichi planning to teach Liu Lan?

Yu Qingqing had already slipped into silence, seemingly introverted, the moment Yi Chichi finished her embroidery, with no sense of presence.

Liu Lan glanced at her, and her gaze returned to the cotton cloth in Yi Chichi’s hands, "I don’t quite understand. You don’t have a pattern; how do you determine the stitching transitions and separations as you go?"

She asked sincerely, with a humble attitude of seeking guidance.

Yi Chichi sighed inwardly. She had not given the reply she hoped for.

To be honest, she was somewhat disappointed.

She initially thought that if Liu Lan had talent, she could teach her on the side.

Once learned, they could agree to collaborate on some works and send them to the Friendship Store as a test.

Her grandmother had said that in the 1970s, the Friendship Store had a wide range of operations and sold a variety of items.

These included cultural artifacts representing China’s traditional crafts, such as cloisonné, carved lacquerware, jade carvings, stone sculptures, drawnwork embroidery, etc.

The Friendship Store had regular collaborations with master embroiderers; under normal circumstances, they would not accept embroidered works from private embroiderers for sale.

But exquisite crafts were different.

Back then, her grandmother knocked on the Friendship Store’s door with a two-sided color embroidery.

She became a specially appointed grand embroiderer for the Friendship Store.

Yi Chichi didn’t intend to become a specially appointed grand embroiderer for the Friendship Store; she just wanted to establish a cooperative relationship with them.

However, it was difficult for her, a rural educated youth, to take this route. If she could team up with Liu Lan, it would be different.

But unfortunately, the focus was wrong.

However, it’s not the time to lose heart; she could try again!

Thinking of this, she smiled and explained, "I don’t need a pattern; I can create the composition directly in my mind."

"Huh?!"

Liu Lan thought she was hearing things, "Create a composition directly? How do you do that?"

Aunt Ma and the others became interested, looking at her eagerly.

Yi Chichi thought for a moment, "I just imagine the design I want to embroider directly in my mind."

The room fell silent.

Yu Qingqing stood up and left; she couldn’t play together with this.

Yi Chichi’s skills were beyond someone like her who had only learned a bit to handle.

"Qingqing, where are you going?"

Yu Qingqing’s sudden departure awakened the stupefied people, and Liu Lan quickly grabbed her sleeve with a face full of surprise.

"I’m going home; she’s completely crushed me."

Yu Qingqing replied without turning her head, the disappointment and inferiority in her words made Aunt Niu chuckle and cry.

"Then you shouldn’t leave. With a ready-made master here, aren’t you planning to learn a trick or two? Running away, isn’t that silly?!"

Liu Lan, good at playing along, heard Aunt Niu’s words, smiled, and chimed in, "That’s really silly. Anyway, I’m going to learn from Chichi."

Yu Qingqing stopped. Right, why was she leaving? If she couldn’t compare, she couldn’t compare. Admitting she’s inferior to others wasn’t embarrassing.

Learning a trick or two would still be beneficial.

Turning around, she looked at Yi Chichi with burning eyes, "Chichi, will you teach us?"

"If you’re willing to learn, I’ll teach."

If they weren’t willing to learn, she wouldn’t insist.

She didn’t say this, but everyone present understood the profound implication of her words.

Aunt Ma and others exchanged a glance, thinking Yi Chichi was a generous child.

"Qingqing, quickly pay your respects to the master!"

Such a good opportunity?

Yu Qingqing’s eyes lit up instantly, and she dashed back to Yi Chichi, "Master, please..."

"Stop!"

Yi Chichi quickly grabbed her arm, preventing her from bowing down, "I can teach, but I don’t casually accept apprentices."

Are you kidding? She had very high standards for accepting apprentices.

She didn’t even know what level Yu Qingqing and the others were at. Taking them in rashly and failing to train them later would only delay people.

Such foolish things must not be done.

Yu Qingqing and Liu Lan were very disappointed, saying in unison, "If you’re willing to teach us, why not take us as apprentices?"

"Without a master-apprentice relationship, there’s no responsibility. How much you learn depends entirely on your comprehension, or you could say it’s a matter of talent."

Accepting apprentices would mean imparting all knowledge, not to mention worrying about whether the apprentices have enough to eat.

So, taking apprentices is impossible unless Yu Qingqing and the others have extraordinarily outstanding talent.

Yu Qingqing and Liu Lan, eager to learn Chaotic Needle Embroidery, exchanged glances. Was she implying they lacked talent?

After thinking about it, they felt it was normal, just like how school teachers prefer smart students, and family elders favor sweet and intelligent children. If you have no talent and aren’t smart, even dogs wouldn’t bother with you.

But—

"If you don’t take us as apprentices, you don’t. Teach us anyway. How much we learn is up to us."

Yi Chichi just smiled, thinking they had an open mind.

She spread out the embroidered flowers in front of them, smiling, "Come on, talk about the characteristics of this flower."

The two felt a pang of anxiety. Oh no, the assessment starts right away.

Quickly, they looked for the characteristics.

Neither of them blinked as they scrutinized the flower from top to bottom and all around. They even picked it up to look at it from the front and back afterward. One of them took a close-up look, then a distant one, and then they switched.

After checking it thoroughly, Liu Lan hesitated, "I’m not sure if what I’m saying is correct..."

Looking very hesitant, her eyes remained fixed on Yi Chichi’s face, trying to discern her thoughts from her expressions.

"You don’t need to look at me, just speak freely. It doesn’t matter if you’re wrong."

Yi Chichi raised an eyebrow, smiling as she encouraged her.

Liu Lan exhaled deeply, "I’ve observed carefully. Your needlework isn’t actually that complicated... When embroidering petals, the first stitch comes out at this point, then enters at another, pulls out the thread to draw the whole line, and then tightens it... The needlework for the leaves is actually similar, just that the distance between the two points is a bit different... And then the flower stamen..."

Here, she bit her lip, looking like she was struggling to find the right words.

Yi Chichi didn’t rush her, patiently waiting for her to organize her thoughts.

Yu Qingqing genuinely lacked insights, even when Liu Lan explained so clearly, she still looked bewildered, as if she didn’t know what year it was.

She hadn’t grasped a single bit.

Seeing this, Yi Chichi gave up on her entirely, placing all her hopes on Liu Lan.

This girl didn’t disappoint her, finally finding the right words, and with excitement, she slapped her thigh and exclaimed,