Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 244: Spare a Bit of Self-Esteem

She stared for a long time, occasionally biting a nail, muttering something under her breath.

Wang Nan saw her like that and said softly, "It’s too difficult for her."

Yi Chichi began to lose confidence in her due to her performance, so she sighed, "Let’s see how she responds."

If it doesn’t work, we’ll have to change.

Wang Nan glanced at her without saying anything, quickly threading and pulling the string, then snipped the thread and handed the finished shoe sole to her, "See if the size fits."

Yi Chichi took it, measured the length with her hand, and nodded to signify it was fine.

"I think the sole is a bit thin."

Wang Nan’s eyes widened suddenly, "Too thick won’t follow the foot shape."

"Durable."

Is there any problem with this statement?

No problem.

But the crux of the matter is it’s a thousand-layer sole, not a Liberation shoe.

Wang Nan was puzzled, "Why don’t you buy Old Wen the Liberation shoes?"

That stuff is so durable.

Yi Chichi sighed, "We have them, but Liberation shoes make the feet stink."

They aren’t breathable, cause sweating, and Wen Shi is quite active. Plus, when he wears non-absorbent nylon socks, every time he takes off his shoes, it’s like a hellish torment for her nose.

It’s truly unbearable.

"I was just thinking of getting him a couple of pairs of thousand-layer soles to alternate and let his feet breathe."

Wang Nan was helpless, "Alright, I’ll add two more layers for him."

"Thanks for your hard work."

Yi Chichi couldn’t make shoes, nor could Wen’s mother.

In the past, the mother and son’s cloth shoes were made by taking their materials to Aunt Ma and her friends for help.

They didn’t let people work for free.

This time, Wen’s mother wanted to find Aunt Ma and her friends again, but they were unavailable, so Yi Chichi thought of Wang Nan and asked her to help make a few pairs of shoes.

"It’s no trouble at all, I’m grateful for the added income."

Yi Chichi laughed, "Then make a few more pairs, and I’ll give you two pounds of meat for it."

Wang Nan swallowed her saliva, "Make it fat meat."

"I can’t promise, but I’ll try my best."

She looked troubled; fat meat wasn’t something she could just buy as she wished. It was too in-demand, unless she knew a slaughterhouse worker who could get it through internal connections. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

However, she didn’t have those connections.

"Trying is enough."

Just then, Liu Lan pressed her fingertips to her brows and spoke.

"Chichi, I’ve looked at this pattern closely. This design is too complicated for me."

She wasn’t confident in perfectly recreating the colors, and the needlework was also challenging for her.

Wang Nan heard this and winked at her, as if to say, "See, I told you it was too difficult."

Yi Chichi, who was already prepared for this, wasn’t too disappointed but instead glared at her, then turned to Liu Lan, "I’ll draw another for you."

"Make it simpler. This one’s colors are just too much."

Yi Chichi nodded in agreement, but inside she sighed, initially thinking that with the success of the Spring Bunting, Liu Lan would have the courage to push a bit further.

Who would have thought she still preferred to play it safe.

Well, it’s also good to further solidify the basics.

However, "Do you have a particular design you’d like to embroider?"

She wanted to see if Liu Lan had her own ideas.

Liu Lan pondered seriously for a bit, then looked up and asked her, "Does my idea match market trends? Will the Friendship Store want it?"

This was truly hard to say. To be safe, it was better for her to do it.

"Forget it, I’ll provide the embroidery pattern, and you just follow it."

Wait for the opening-up policy, then have her come up with her own designs.

"Okay."

Liu Lan promptly agreed, and Yi Chichi, seeing her evident relief, said with a mix of amusement and helplessness, "You can’t always rely on me; it’s better to start early with coming up with designs and sketching your ideas."

"I’ve been practicing, but the results are less than ideal."

On this topic, Liu Lan admitted her frustrations, "What I have in mind and what actually gets drawn are two different things."

Yi Chichi grew interested and handed her a pencil, "Draw something for me."

"Okay."

Having a professional on-site for guidance was beneficial for Liu Lan.

Therefore, she took the pencil and started working on the paper Yi Chichi had placed on the table.

Yi Chichi and Wang Nan stood on either side like door guardians, watching. The more they watched, the more their expressions became blank. Once she finished, the two of them remained silent.

Liu Lan looked at the drawing she’d produced and also fell into silence.

A quiet enveloped the world.

Uncle Yaozi, carrying a basket, entered from outside and saw the three of them standing like statues before the table. Sneaking quietly over like a thief, he asked, "What’s everyone looking at?"

"Looking at Lanlan’s drawing."

"Where? Let me see too."

Three fingers simultaneously pointed to the table. Uncle Yaozi leaned in to look and burst out laughing.

Liu Lan glared at him in discontent, "Uncle, consider my self-esteem."

Uncle Yaozi roared with laughter, "You’ve drawn like this, still need self-esteem?"

Then, teasingly, "Lanlan, tell Uncle what you’ve drawn."

"A big cat."

Uncle Yaozi’s smile froze instantly, and Yi Chichi and the others weren’t much better.

The three of them lowered their heads to look at the mess of strange lines on the paper and, in unison, said, "Is this a cat?"

"I drew a cat, but what came out isn’t a cat. I don’t even know what it is."

Liu Lan’s words sounded like a tongue twister.

Seeing she was about to continue, Yi Chichi quickly stopped her, "Don’t explain anymore; drawing isn’t for you."

Those ’soul artist’ paintings, although abstract, pour in spirit so that even the unskilled can tell what’s depicted at a glance.

The cat Liu Lan drew couldn’t be said to look like a cat; it had nothing to do with a cat.

More like a tangled mess of yarn, a chaotic ball wrapped randomly.

Liu Lan, labeled as unsuited for drawing, was silent for two seconds and then, with a relieved air, remarked, "Looks like I’m destined not to be an embroidery master."

Saying so, she grabbed Yi Chichi’s hand, "Chichi, I’ll rely on you for patterns from now on."

Yi Chichi’s mouth twitched, "You’ll have to repay this in the future."

The sheep she was nurturing would surely be harvested once the reform and opening policy commenced, so early investment was prudent.

But this needed to be said first.

"Repay."

Liu Lan agreed without hesitation, and Uncle Yaozi, seeing this, reminded her, "You agree without asking how to repay; aren’t you afraid of being sold out?"

"No, I trust Chichi."

If she intended to sell her, she wouldn’t have given her the Spring Bunting to sell or misled her about the sales, leaving no profit undisclosed.

Just for that, she could trust Yi Chichi for life.

"I’ll visit your home tonight, remember to wait for me."

"What for tonight?"

Yi Chichi curiously asked, and Liu Lan didn’t say, only told her to wait.

Fine, she’d wait.

In the end, she waited until past nine at night, and even Wen’s mother grew impatient, urging Yi Chichi to go to bed.

"So late now, that girl Lanlan most likely won’t come. You’ve done enough; get some rest."

Yi Chichi murmured an acknowledgment, just packing up when a sudden knock sounded.

Wen’s mother and her exchanged glances; it was Liu Lan.

Wen’s mother stood up and walked toward the door, "Who is it?"

"Auntie, it’s me, Lanlan. Please open the door."