Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 359: Not a Man-Eating Tiger

Yi Chichi didn’t say a word, pondering the feasibility in her heart.

After thinking it over, she still felt it was not workable.

Uncle Yaozi was also curious and asked, "If the secretary looks for you, will you take on this job?"

"No, I can’t."

"Why not?"

"Whether it’s embroidery or craftsmanship, they’re in the realm of light industry, and Baoshan doesn’t excel in this area."

Baoshan is more about heavy industry, like the Baoshan Machinery Factory, the Red Star Mine, and such. Then there is the Construction Corps, farms, and the like.

The corps and farms focus mainly on agriculture, with farmers ready to join battles in times of war.

Light industry is the exception here; except for producing matchboxes for self-consumption, there’s no fabric production or clothing factories.

"One raw material alone could be enough to exhaust the Baoshan committee."

Uncle Yaozi wore a confused expression, "Isn’t it just some fabric and thread?"

"Is that ordinary fabric? That’s silk and silk thread. Does Baoshan have silkworms?"

"...No, no one raises them here."

"What about mulberry trees?"

He thought about it seriously, "There are mulberry trees, but they’re scattered in different places."

"Raising silkworms and growing mulberries need to be on a scale to have production output. Silk reeling and dyeing also require skills. Let’s not even consider if Baoshan could find the talent for this; just converting good farmland to mulberry would be impossible for Baoshan."

Since ancient times, the Jiangnan region has been the hub for sericulture, while the Northeast’s climate makes it unsuitable for such endeavors.

Yaozi sighed, seeming like the secretary’s plans might fall through.

But it didn’t turn out that way.

On the third afternoon after Yi Chichi returned, just past one o’clock, she was busy at her embroidery frame when the commune secretary arrived, sweating all over, accompanied by the team leader and the others on a 28-inch bike.

Since they had met before, after Yi Chichi invited him in and exchanged a few simple pleasantries while serving him tea, he got straight to the point.

"Xiao Yi, can you tell me, what’s your relationship with the Yangcheng Friendship Store?"

"Please wait a moment."

Yi Chichi turned back into the house, retrieved the work certificate issued by Ning Jiandong and the others, and handed it to the secretary, "Take a look at this."

The secretary took it and read it seriously, then looked up at her, his expression slightly bewildered.

"Do you have a salary?"

"Yes, I do."

"Aren’t you a specially hired master?"

"Yes, even masters have a salary."

The secretary was silent for a while, then returned the work certificate with a broad smile.

"Comrade Xiao Yi is truly impressive."

If the Friendship Store hadn’t contacted him personally for a secondment before, he wouldn’t have known there was such talent in the area he managed.

The level of exquisite embroidery skill it must take to make the Yangcheng Friendship Store go to such lengths just to keep her.

"I have an immodest request."

Yi Chichi really wanted to say, since you know it’s inappropriate, then don’t say it.

However, rationality stopped her. This was an official of the Baoshan Commune, and she couldn’t act willfully. She had to give due respect; generous respect.

So, she smiled and said, "Go ahead."

"I’d like to see your embroidery work."

"...I don’t have any completed ones, just a half-stitched piece. Is that alright?"

"Sure!"

So, Yi Chichi led him to the embroidery frame, "This Three Strange Embroidery is scheduled to be handed over before the two exhibitions in early autumn next year."

The secretary nodded, stared at the half-stitched tiger’s head from all sides, and after a long look, asked Yi Chichi, "Can this skill be taught?"

"I’ve taught it before."

"And how did it go?"

The secretary’s eyes lit up, but Yi Chichi looked helpless.

"Not that well. I’m willing to teach anyone who comes, but only Liu Lan showed the talent and learned the Chaotic Needle Embroidery."

The secretary looked at the team leader, who hurriedly explained, "Liu Lan is Grandpa Liu’s granddaughter and an army wife."

The secretary suddenly saw the light, "Ah, her. I know."

Grandpa Liu is a well-known figure both in the commune and the county. During festivals and holidays, the armed department still organizes visits to see the old man.

Now that he knew who Liu Lan was, the secretary turned back to Yi Chichi, "No one else succeeded?"

"No."

He paused, seeing this line of work might be hard to promote, for sure.

"Do they lack dedication, or is it..."

The team leader, upon hearing this, was instantly anxious and ready to speak up for the unmarried young women and the wives in the village.

Yi Chichi, knowing him well enough, immediately gave him a look to stop him and explained, "It’s not about that; embroidery heavily relies on talent."

Needlework is simple enough. Those handcrafty wives, young women, and matrons are all adept at sewing and mending.

But embroidery and ordinary needlework are different.

She pointed at the half-stitched tiger’s head, "Don’t be deceived by the small embroidered area. In truth, just this half-tiger’s head uses over thirty colors of silk thread and seven to eight types of needlework, including differentiated techniques like straight grab and reverse grab, not to mention virtual-real needles, scattered-straight needles, and engraving scale needles."

A few guys wore the same puzzled expression, looking at the tiger’s head, then at Yi Chichi, and after two seconds of silence, they leaned closer to the embroidery frame to scrutinize the tiger’s head again.

"Old Liu, can you tell the difference?"

The secretary, who hadn’t been able to discern anything after looking for so long, asked the team leader next to him.

This question was good. The team leader scratched his head for a while, then hesitantly said, "Maybe compared to my wife’s needlework, Chichi’s tiger head is flatter and has more colors?"

Yi Chichi felt embarrassed, thinking that the evaluation was straightforward enough.

Uncle Yaozi couldn’t help it, "What do you mean by flatter; clearly, it’s flat and neat, so intricately done you can’t see the stitches."

He gave his concluding remark, "In short, Chichi’s embroidery is the best of the best." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

That Guanyin Statue was the best example; otherwise, it wouldn’t have sold for such a high price of 1200.

Moreover, successfully establishing a connection with the Yangcheng Friendship Store through that Purple Sound Guanyin just shows how solid her embroidery skills are.

"If you don’t believe me, let me show you a handkerchief she embroidered."

Before he finished speaking, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over.

The secretary took it and saw a lifelike cat embroidered on the small handkerchief. Its eyes were bright, and one paw was raised as if trying to grab something.

The distinct, silk-like fine hairs on the paw looked so real, as if they would sway in the breeze.

It made even someone indifferent to cats want to reach out and pet it.

"Did you embroider this?"

He asked Yi Chichi with an amazed look. She nodded, "I embroidered it when I was bored."

The secretary really wanted to ask if she could make one for him, but thankfully rationality held him back.

"Let’s sit down and have a proper chat."

Returning the handkerchief to Uncle Yaozi, he invited Yi Chichi to sit down.

"Go ahead."

Yi Chichi sat upright, looking like she was eagerly prepared to listen.

The sight made everyone chuckle as she looked so obedient.

"Relax, don’t be nervous, I’m not a man-eating tiger. We’re just chatting casually."

Yi Chichi, "..."

You don’t look like you want to chat casually.

She smiled, "Just say whatever you have to say. If you’re too nice, it worries me."

Worrying she’d be sold off without realizing and even helping count the money, concerned she was undersold.

The thought of that scenario sent shivers down her spine.