Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 335: Issuing a Secondment Letter

Yi Chichi saw through his thoughts but didn’t say anything. Instead, she asked Gu Xinghua about the complexity of the designs.

Without knowing what politeness meant, Wen Sheng bluntly said, "Naturally, the more intricate, the better."

"Sure, but that will cost extra."

"It’s already been added."

"Not enough. This price is fine for simple designs, but not for intricate ones."

Her attitude was firm, "If you can accept it, we can continue talking. If not, do whatever you want."

The implication: She wasn’t going to budge.

Gu Xinghua heard the threat in her words and exchanged a glance with Ning Jiandong before nodding slightly.

"You draw a simple design and an intricate one for me to see first."

Yi Chichi nodded in agreement and started working with a paintbrush.

The simple one was naturally a floral design, while the intricate and exquisite one was a vibrant bamboo instead of flowers.

To showcase the difference between the two, she added color to both finished designs.

One on the left and one on the right stood like two door gods beside her. Ning Jiandong and Gu Xinghua stared at the completed drawings in prolonged silence.

Yi Chichi also kept quiet, put down her brush, took a leisurely sip of tea, and even peeled a lychee to chew on.

She hadn’t even spit out the seed when Ning Jiandong spoke.

"I think both the simple and the intricate can work."

Gu Xinghua rolled his eyes, "That’s obvious."

Indeed, putting hope in Yi Chichi wasn’t wrong. Her background was clean, her husband was a soldier with a not-so-low rank. Just this alone could give her an undefeatable edge.

Moreover, she’s talented in painting and exceptional in embroidery. No one could feasibly find fault with her designs.

As for those two worthless ones who got in through connections...

Just consider them as freeloaders. As long as they humor Yi Chichi, they can ensure the variety and quality of the products. That’s an achievement on their part.

"For a design of this type, what is your ideal price?"

He took the intricate one and asked Yi Chichi.

Yi Chichi’s response was to flip one hand, "A hundred!"

"You’re killing me."

Gu Xinghua couldn’t accept it and held out three fingers, "Thirty."

"Wishful thinking."

Yi Chichi’s response was to reach for the design in his hand, "Give it back. If anyone is willing to pay this price, go find them, don’t look for me."

Gu Xinghua quickly stepped back to avoid her hand, "Then how much do you say?"

"One hundred."

Yi Chichi stood firm, showing no sign of backing down. Gu Xinghua was so irritated that all his hair seemed about to bristle, "Niece, let me remind you, we need not one or two, but many of these. Your price is really too high."

"...Then, then let’s lower it by five."

She looked very aggrieved.

Gu Xinghua was equally aggrieved and continued negotiating with her.

Then, one party and another engaged in a fierce war of words.

Numerous times Ning Jiandong wanted to interject, but the two haggling fervently shut him up in unison, and then continued.

Ning Jiandong, "!!!"

He felt he shouldn’t be here but should have gone to squat at the door.

He sighed, silently gulping water from his exclusive tea mug.

Argue and quarrel all you want, as long as no one uses their hands, do whatever you wish.

After all, he couldn’t control it.

Time ticked by second by second until an exasperated Yi Chichi slammed the table, "Forty-eight is the absolute minimum I’m willing to accept. Any less and I’m leaving immediately."

"Deal!"

Gu Xinghua smoothly picked up the negotiations, and Yi Chichi, whose face was full of fury, felt relieved when she heard it. Good, she had achieved her goal.

Perfect!

"Well, Uncle, let’s have a pleasant cooperation."

Beaming, she extended her hand, and seeing her demeanor, Gu Xinghua shook his head helplessly, "Yangtze River waves push the older waves forward; the young ones nowadays are quite shrewd."

Ning Jiandong held a different view on this, "Only Yi Chichi is. Other young ones are not as crafty as she is."

Benefitting without planning to be humble and just wanting to quietly get rich, Yi Chichi modestly smiled and then asked Gu Xinghua, "How many intricate and how many simple ones do you need?"

"How many can you draw?"

This was a good question. Yi Chichi boldly responded, "Uncle, if you ask like this, I won’t play around..."

Pausing, she proudly declared, "I can draw until your accounts are empty."

"Pff..."

The words startled Gu Xinghua, who had just taken a sip of tea. Ning Jiandong wasn’t much better off, "You’re so ruthless?"

Yi Chichi said, "What’s this? You all know I’m good at drawing. Why question my professional ability in outputting designs?"

Of course, she was only responsible for the designs. As for whether the masters could create products based on them, that was their concern.

Ning Jiandong looked at Gu Xinghua, "You decide."

Gu Xinghua pondered for a moment and made a decision.

"Let’s first do ten of each."

The last batch of drawings could still last for a while.

This time, there are twenty in total, ten simple and intricate each. Keep eight of the remaining sixteen as stock for now. When the batch sells and the money comes in, it’ll be just in time for her to produce new embroidery pieces next year.

At that time, she can produce new designs again, timing it just right.

"Alright, I’ll start with a series for the intricate ones."

"Can it be turned into a series?"

"Yes, it can!"

"Let’s do it."

Gu Xinghua was excited, diligently setting up new paper and brushes for her, but Yi Chichi waved her hand, "No rush, let’s discuss the embroidery design price first."

She directed the latter half of her sentence to Ning Jiandong, whose previous smile while holding a tea mug faded.

He tugged at the corner of his mouth, found it too difficult, and gave up, with a wooden expression, he said, "Not forty-eight, right?!"

"Forty-eight is the price for the weaved pieces, not the embroidery designs."

Yi Chichi smiled, "The difference between weaving and embroidery can be described as the difference between heaven and earth. I assumed, Uncle, you knew that."

Ning Jiandong guiltily sipped his tea; of course, he was aware, he was just hoping to get a bargain.

Who knew Yi Chichi really wouldn’t take any loss.

He sighed helplessly, "I want Yue Embroidery designs. The composition must be full, with rich and vibrant colors." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Any size requirements?"

"Large, medium, and small are all needed."

This indicates fan shapes, ornaments, and screens all together.

Yi Chichi hesitated, "If it’s to this extent, I definitely can’t finish in a day or two."

The paid embroidery designs have to be the final drafts, colored, which are quite different from rough drafts or refined sketches. The final draft, just the coloring, is a huge endeavor.

Especially since he wants something large like a screen.

"First make two small ones; the big ones can be done gradually."

"My ticket to go back to the Northeast is tomorrow."

Meaning, she couldn’t even finish the small ones.

Ning Jiandong felt a bit frantic, how was the timing so coincidental?

"Can’t you stay a few more days?"

"No, my family leave is about to expire. If I don’t leave, I’ll be treated like a vagrant and arrested."

Gu Xinghua, thinking it wasn’t a big deal, clapped his hands, "This problem can be easily solved. We’ll issue a secondment letter to your hometown in the name of the Friendship Store."