A Petty Official Chapter 3

Although she wanted to improve the food, she was helpless. As a young child, Ethan Yun could only look on helplessly at Grace Zheng, the only person in the family who could earn money, with worry in her heart.

But in fact, Ethan Yun was thinking too much. Indeed, in ancient times, women were restricted by their gender and could not engage in many industries. Most of them just did housework. But it does not mean that the family cannot support three children without a man.

Ethan Yun's worried look instantly turned into ecstasy after Grace Zheng brought out the embroidery loom.

Great ancient working women!

Embroidery loom, Grace Zheng can actually embroider silk!

Ethan Yun interviewed local inheritors of intangible cultural heritage in modern times and found a lot of information. During the interview, he also learned about it on the spot and watched the kesi craftsmen at work, which left a deep impression on him.

Kesi is a kind of silk fabric, which has a unique weaving method, takes a long time and is expensive. The best Kesi works are worth an inch of gold. For a long time, this was a fabric exclusively enjoyed by the royal family, and there were not many people in the folk who could do this skill.

The heyday of kesi in history is now, the Song Dynasty. Because of the aesthetic taste of the emperors of the Song Dynasty, kesi works changed from practical and decorative to more artistic, and a large number of calligraphy and painting works were used as originals.

The craftsman interviewed by Ethan Yun takes several months to even a year to complete a kesi work, and he himself has and must have a deep understanding of calligraphy and painting.

As for Grace Zheng... When Grace Zheng was drawing, Emma Yun took a look. It seemed that she only planned to embroider a ribbon. The technique was monotonous, and the pattern was monotonous. Even for Emma Yun, an outsider, there was nothing novel about it.

It's not just kesi silk. Even for ordinary embroidery, artistic creativity is a very important part in selling it.

In this case, considering the time it takes to make kesi silk, and the size and value of the silk ribbon...it seems unlikely that Grace Zheng can make a good living by making kesi silk.

Ethan Yun was a little disappointed. He was too happy before and forgot to think about why Grace Zheng went to work in Ciyou Village. Besides, it takes too long to embroider a larger work, and the return is slow, which is not suitable for their family at all.

However, although he could not get rich, at least he did not have to worry about starving to death. With Grace Zheng's craftsmanship and the level of wealth in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was enough to feed everyone.

In addition to kesi, Grace Zheng can also embroider. After she brought Ethan Yun, Chloe Shuang and Xiaobao back home, she never went out except to buy things, and sat at home embroidering every day.

Ethan Yun is very well behaved now, and Chloe Shuang can help take care of Xiaobao, so Grace Zheng can focus on her work.

Sarah Hu, who lived next door, often came to Grace Zheng's house to do embroidery together. She came during the day and at night, but she often brought her own lamp, so that she and Grace Zheng could share the lamp fee.

When Sarah Hu came, she usually brought her seven-year-old daughter with her. At first, she would also bring her youngest son. However, her son was about the same age as Ethan Yun and was very troublesome. He always liked to bother Xiaobao. Xiaobao would cry when he was bothered, which made it difficult for Grace Zheng to work.

Especially at this time, Ethan Yun standing next to him formed a sharp contrast. You can see that her son has wet his pants, but Yan Ge'er will go to the toilet by himself, and after that he will wash his hands and dry them very cleanly.

So after this happened two or three times, Sarah Hu felt embarrassed to bring her son along, so she let her mother-in-law take care of him.

Sarah Hu's daughter was much quieter. She followed Sarah Hu to learn embroidery and practiced with some scraps of cloth. Grace Zheng asked Chloe Shuang to play with her and practice for a while, while she chatted with Sarah Hu while working.

It was from the casual chat between Sarah Hu and Grace Zheng that Ethan Yun learned some information.

For example, it was Sarah Hu who introduced Grace Zheng to work in Ciyu Village. At that time, Grace Zheng had just given birth to a child and there was no man at home. She could not get enough sleep to take care of the child by herself, and she had no time to do embroidery and no income. So she went to Ciyu Village, where several women could take care of her and provide food and accommodation.

The work Grace Zheng is currently doing is also introduced by Sarah Hu. Bianliang was a prosperous city, and there were many places that needed embroidery. The works of Bianliang embroiderers could be seen everywhere, from the shop signs to the new clothes worn by passers-by. Their works decorated the entire Bianliang.

There were even streets and alleys in Bianliang dedicated to the embroidery business, where many embroiderers lived. Sarah Hu and her friends sent their embroidery works there, and Grace Zheng also had to find a market for her kesi works there.

Also, the current era is roughly the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. The transformation and prosperity of Kesi was in the late Northern Song Dynasty. Although Kesi works are still mainly practical or decorative, they have already shown a trend of development to a higher level, but they have not yet been popularized.

It's a pity that Grace Zheng doesn't seem to have any artistic talent... Ethan Yun began to daydream that if Grace Zheng suddenly had an epiphany, she would embroider a work of art, sell it at a sky-high price, and lead her family out of poverty...

This is Ethan Yun's beautiful hope. As he is not even as tall as a jade loom now, he can only daydream besides eating, drinking, defecating and urinating every day.

After slurping the saliva of Mengxiang, Emma Yun pushed the dozing Chloe Shuang back and encouraged her with her eyes to look at Grace Zheng's brocade carefully. "Little sister, learn the craft well. Not only will you have the skills to survive, but you may even become rich overnight..."

.

More than half a month later, Grace Zheng and Sarah Hu went to Xiuxiang together to deliver embroidery products. When they came back, they were carrying a lot of things in large and small bags, including food, useful things, silk threads and other items. It seemed that their works were recognized, and they not only got paid but also got new work.

Ethan Yun was also very happy, as this was a sign that the family's only source of income was showing signs of stability.

Grace Zheng opened a small oil-paper package, and a sweet fragrance wafted out. Inside was five or six yellow snacks dotted with sesame seeds. "Here, mother bought some sesame dumplings."

Grace Zheng placed the snacks on the edge of the bed, and Ethan Yun and Chloe Shuang came over. Xiaobao smelled the sweet fragrance and waved his fat arms, but unfortunately he couldn't eat it yet.

Chloe Shuang swallowed his saliva and said, "I don't want to eat it, Yan Ge'er eats it."

In the past, "Yan Ge'er" would have gobbled it up immediately after grabbing it, but now, Grace Zheng was surprised to see her son slowly pushing the sesame dumpling towards Chloe Shuang.

She is so sensible. Grace Zheng said gently, "Chloe Shuang, eat it."

Chloe Shuang took a piece with a red face and started eating slowly.

Ethan Yun said to Grace Zheng again: "Mother eats too."

Grace Zheng was stunned for a moment before she ate a piece with emotion.

At this time, Ethan Yun picked up a piece, observed it for a while, and then took a bite. After distinguishing it, it should be made of grains. In addition to the sesame seeds on the outside, there is also the fragrance of lard and peanuts inside. It is not as sweet as Ethan Yun imagined, but it is quite delicious overall.

Children have small appetites, and Ethan Yun knows how to restrain himself, so he ate one piece and stopped, "Mom and Chloe Shuang can eat it."

Grace Zheng thought Ethan Yun didn't like sesame dumplings, as she had never brought this kind of snack before.

Chloe Shuang ate the sesame dumplings and glanced at Ethan Yun, feeling particularly satisfied.

Grace Zheng opened the new paper she had bought, and Ethan Yun thought she was going to write to her husband again. But in fact, Grace Zheng was preparing to open Ethan Yun's heart.

Grace Zheng wrote ten capital numbers from one to ten on a piece of paper and called Emma Yun back, "Brother Yan, do you remember this?"

Ethan Yun said casually: "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, ten."

Grace Zheng was still a little surprised, so she changed the order and wrote, "How about this?"

Emma Yun replied: "...five seven three □□ twelve one."

Grace Zheng taught her son to count a month ago, before Emma Yun came back to wear it. During this month, she fell down, lost her job, and was busy with embroidery after returning, so she didn't supervise him. She didn't expect that Yan Ge'er still remembered it!

Grace Zheng was naturally delighted after being surprised, "Brother Yan is awesome, can I teach you to read now?"

Ethan Yun nodded. He had practiced calligraphy before, and his friends often asked him to help write fans, spring couplets, etc. This might be considered good in modern times, but it would probably be nothing in ancient times.

Although he had a headache with classical Chinese, being able to recognize characters and write well was very helpful in both modern and ancient times. Therefore, he would definitely cooperate with Grace Zheng's request to give him enlightenment.

Not only that, Ethan Yun pretended to play and picked up a pen to learn how to write numbers.

Grace Zheng was very surprised. She took her son's first calligraphy and said she would send it to her husband. But then she suddenly thought that although she insisted that her husband was still fine, this unique first copy would not be seen after it was sent out.

So, Grace Zheng came up with the original idea and embroidered it based on Ethan Yun's "calligraphy".

Ethan Yun was very happy!

Of course, it was not because his deliberately poorly written handwriting was to be preserved forever, but because Grace Zheng embroidered the words very well. It was obviously an ordinary child's handwriting practice, but she used black silk threads of varying shades to show the changes in ink color and the child's immature handwriting.

This is the unifying feature of kesi, embroidery and other crafts; nothing is simply a color.

Just like modern sketches, any part has changes in depth and shade. Only by showing such changes can the object appear three-dimensional and lifelike.

Such superb skills made Ethan Yun feel that his deliberately messy handwriting had become works of art!

From this, we can conclude that Grace Zheng's embroidery skills are definitely not low. At least the ribbons that Ethan Yun saw her embroidering were definitely not her true level.

The embroidery and tapestry that Grace Zheng usually made did not change much, which led Ethan Yun to think that she not only had no artistic creativity, but also ordinary skills. Now it seems that it was only because the things she embroidered did not need much change, so she did not pay attention to it, otherwise it would take a long time and the cost performance would not be high.

...But, if that is the case, then why doesn’t Grace Zheng embroider some exquisite works?

Ethan Yun gradually became confused. If Grace Zheng's family had no money to support her long-term creation, then if she really had such skills, she could definitely talk to the shops in Xiuxiang and even work there directly.

Moreover, even for smaller works that do not take relatively long to make, such as the ribbon, there are still areas where more effort can be put in, and the price has definitely doubled compared to before.

Also, Grace Zheng mentioned before that she had to work in Ciyu Village because she had to take care of her child after giving birth. If you think about it carefully, it seems a bit far-fetched. There are obviously better jobs that can make her life easier.

Ethan Yun suddenly realized that his current mother seemed to be very unusual.