Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 276: Be a Quiet Handsome Man

Yi Chichi, it’s not about whether she tries her best or not.

The key point is Liu Lan.

But she still nodded and agreed.

"Okay, I’ll try my best."

With how much Grandpa Liu and the others value Liu Lan, it shouldn’t be a problem.

After all, Liu Lan’s embroidery pieces are valuable, and the income from two pieces a year is more than what a stable government job employee earns in over a year.

If we don’t talk about familial ties and just look at money, Grandpa Liu and the others know how to choose.

Plus, Liu Lan knows how to play the social game, and she generously shares her earnings with her elders and nieces and nephews. For their own interests, the family would lend a hand.

This is the fundamental reason Yi Chichi confidently agreed.

However, Ning Jiandong didn’t know this. Seeing Yi Chichi agree, he felt much more at ease.

"Don’t forget about your part; quickly decide on the next piece to work on."

"Alright."

Then, the two of them had a detailed discussion about what to embroider next.

Wen Shi couldn’t get a word in, completely absorbed as a spectator.

He watched them discuss birds, flowers, people, and animals in turn, unable to settle on a decision, and offered a suggestion.

"How about embroidering a tiger?"

Yi Chichi and Ning Jiandong simultaneously turned to look at him.

His wife shot him a glare as if she could eat him alive, but his Uncle Ning looked at him like he was a treasure.

"I think it could work."

"No way!"

Ning Jiandong turned to look at Yi Chichi, who had rejected the idea, "Why not? With your embroidery skills, you should be able to pull it off."

"I can pull it off, but to capture the spirit of the tiger as the king of the jungle, it needs to be larger than the Double Cat piece."

She looked at Ning Jiandong and asked from the depths of her soul, "Does the Friendship Store have silk of such dimensions?"

Ning Jiandong chuckled, "If you mention that, I’m happy to say, there actually is."

He wouldn’t tell Yi Chichi that since last year when they settled on the Double Cat piece, he ordered various sizes of embroidery fabric and all sorts of colors of silk embroidery thread from Jiangnan.

After all, her pieces could sell for a high price to foreign guests.

Foreign exchange, foreign exchange, everything serves foreign exchange.

Yi Chichi’s face fell as she incredulously asked, "Really?"

"Really, if you don’t believe me, I’ll take you to see it."

"...I believe you."

These words seemed squeezed out through Yi Chichi’s teeth. It’s not that she couldn’t embroider a tiger, but, "As for the tiger, maybe just single-sided embroidery."

"Huh?"

Ning Jiandong was taken aback, "But we agreed on double-sided Three Strange Embroidery."

Yi Chichi was exasperated, "What should I embroider on the other side? A cat?"

"A leopard, embroider a leopard."

Ning Jiandong’s words stunned Yi Chichi.

Oh gosh, she already found the workload of the tiger significant enough to consider single-sided embroidery.

And now, he wants her to do a Double-sided Three-different Embroidery featuring both a tiger and a leopard.

"No way, don’t even think about it, can’t do it."

At this moment, Yi Chichi wished she could give Wen Shi a good beating, her eyes sharp as knives stabbing at him for jumping into the conversation and landing her such a huge task.

Wen Shi, feeling guilty under her gaze, raised a hand to slap his own mouth lightly, then smiled at her apologetically.

What could Yi Chichi do but forgive him?

After all, he begged for mercy and didn’t mean any harm.

Still, she couldn’t hide her frustration, "You keep quiet and be a silent good boy; don’t say anything until I let you speak."

Wen Shi nodded quickly, indicating he understood.

Seeing this, Yi Chichi was satisfied and turned to Ning Jiandong, "Uncle, if you really want to do the Three Strange Embroidery with leopards and tigers, it’s not impossible—but a year’s timeline is too tight, it can’t be finished."

Ning Jiandong, not expecting this reason, instinctively glanced at the Double Cat Embroidery.

"Don’t bother looking at that; one is a cub, and the other is small. The workload is minimal. Tigers and leopards are different; they must be embroidered as adults to show the majestic aura and spirit of the beast king."

Except for being adorably clumsy and cute, cubs don’t hold any imposing majesty.

Embroidering only cubs would present them as charming, essentially belonging to the same category as the Double Cat Embroidery.

"How long do you estimate it will take to embroider fierce beasts?"

Ning Jiandong tapped his fingers on the table, calculating in his mind. The Double Cat Embroidery and the two Chaotic Needle pieces are this fall’s exhibition items and are already spoken for.

They can be directly delivered at that time, with no worries about buyers.

This Fierce Beast Double-sided Embroidery he planned to show in next year’s spring exhibition, but Yi Chichi’s words dashed his plans, now he could only hope to complete it by autumn next year.

Yi Chichi squinted and gave a longer time estimate.

"At least a year and a half."

Ning Jiandong did the math and realized it would miss next year’s autumn exhibition, so he negotiated warmly, "Can you aim to deliver half a month before next autumn’s exhibition?"

How can it not be possible? It sure can.

However, she still acted as if she was pondering deeply before reluctantly agreeing, "Only because you’re a nice person; otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed. But it might work, as long as I work overtime to ensure the quality."

Ning Jiandong was pleased with this, "This fierce beast piece is taxing on you. Once it’s sold, I’ll treat you and Xiao Wen to dinner at the state-run restaurant."

Yi Chichi and Wen Shi exchanged a look and nodded in agreement.

They didn’t particularly need the meal, but they appreciated the gesture.

"Should we finalize a draft?"

"Yes."

Then, Yi Chichi spent half an hour sketching a draft to hand over, "It’s clear enough."

Indeed it was, and confident in her painting and technical skills, Ning Jiandong took it and reviewed it carefully before they discussed some details about the fierce beast and its size, finalizing the plan.

The following procedures were simple: settling the bill, adding salary clauses to the existing employment contract, etc.

Silk and embroidery threads required some waiting. Ning Jiandong had already arranged someone to prepare these.

The expenses went through accounting, and it was half an hour later when all was ready.

Having counted the money and signed the new employment contract, Yi Chichi contentedly tucked the money and contract in her bag, ready to leave.

However, Ning Jiandong didn’t let her leave yet and had her follow to choose embroidery frames.

The design of the embroidery frame had to be hers, and she communicated details with the carpenter, choosing which wood type to use with him. It was past 11 o’clock by the time everything was set.

By this time, it was lunch hour.

Well, might as well stay for a free meal.

The staff lunch was not bad, with fish, meat, and water chestnut cake.

The taste of the water chestnut cake was much to Yi Chichi’s liking, so she ate two pieces, and Wen Shi, seeing this and worrying she might not have enough, promptly pushed his plate of water chestnut cake towards her.

Seeing more water chestnut cake appear in front of her, Yi Chichi paused, then smiled at him.

"You eat it yourself, I’m full."

She placed the water chestnut cake back in front of Wen Shi, and as Ning Jiandong sipped his soup, he looked from one to the other. Just as he was about to speak, an approaching person prompted him to speak, "Old Gu, why are you looking so worried?"