Chapter Sixteen: Embroidered Brocade Village

  Xu Mingjin took advantage of Madam Fan's excitement about her response to return to Beijing, and tactfully brought up the matter of going to Embroidered Village to settle accounts with Fan Dichen. Madam Fan thought that no matter what, he was still her own brother, and Xu Mingjin's uncle. After they returned to the capital, it would be unlikely for them to meet again. Therefore, she gladly agreed to Xu Mingjin's request.

  Unlike the joy she felt when looking for Fan Yicheng last time, Xu Mingjin's mood this time was tinged with a hint of disappointment. As soon as Fan Yicheng saw her, he noticed that she wasn't happy and asked what was wrong. He found out that they would be going to the capital in half a month. His initial excitement at seeing Xu Mingjin immediately vanished into thin air. Originally, he had wanted to tell Xu Mingjin that he had already tidied up the embroidery workshop inside and out, trained all the apprentices and seamstresses, and the seamstresses had mastered the ten-character embroidery technique taught by Autumn Cloud. The "Clear River and Mountains" painting was already half-finished thanks to everyone's efforts, and it would definitely be completed before the opening of the workshop. He had even thought of a name for the embroidery workshop - Jinxiu Embroidery Workshop. However, despite having a thousand words to say, Fan Yicheng found himself speechless after Xu Mingjin mentioned that one thing.

  They returned to the capital, and he was truly left alone. In the past, even as a beggar, he had never felt so helpless. Xu Mingjin letting him be the manager of this embroidery shop was like a flash of light in the dark night, fleeting. He hadn't even had time to enjoy it for a few days before this dream-like situation would come to an end. Xu Mingjin was here to remind him that he should return to his own world. From now on, they would never appear in his world again.

  Fan Yicheng's hands trembled, and his heart was also trembling: "Will you come back after you leave? Is this embroidery workshop going to close before it even opens?"

  "No, the Embroidered Villa will operate as usual." Xu Mingjin smiled slightly: "Uncle, what are you worried about? Even if we don't come back in the future, you can still go to the capital!"

  Fan Yicheng was taken aback by the words, seemingly not expecting Xu Mingjin to say that: "Jin'er, can you elaborate?" His expression was tense and expectant.

  Xu Mingjin stood up and walked around the embroidery shop, touching and looking at everything. She nodded her head from time to time, with a satisfied smile on her face. Suddenly, she frowned: "Uncle, what's going on here?" It turned out that there was a large quantity of poor-quality embroidery thread on the counter, which clashed with the elegant atmosphere of the entire shop. Fan Yicheng calmed his nervous and excited mood, walked forward to take a look, and said: "Oh, this is the embroidery thread found by the apprentices when they were cleaning up the counter. I guess it was left behind by the previous owner, and I was just thinking about how to deal with it."

  Xu Mingjin took the ball of thread and examined it carefully, finding that the quality was still good, but for some reason, the color was extremely ugly. Xu Mingjin saw that the quality of the thread was still superior, so he said: "How do you plan to deal with this?" Fan Yicheng replied without hesitation: "Of course, throw it away! If this thread is used to embroider something, it will definitely ruin it." "Not necessarily!" Xu Mingjin said lightly: "If you dye it again, it can still be used, right?"

  "It can be used, but it's still different from the top-grade embroidery thread. If you use it to embroider something, people who know their stuff will easily notice, and that would damage the reputation of our embroidery shop." Fan Yicheng asked in puzzlement: "You're not thinking of embroidering something with it and selling it off, are you?"

  "How is that possible." Xu Mingjin said: "You have explained the consequences of using it so clearly, how would I use it."

  "What do you mean?" asked Fan Yicheng strangely.

  "It's a pity to waste it. The cost of re-dyeing the embroidery thread is not high, but using it would be a loss. Xu Mingjin said with confidence: "We can embroider some handkerchiefs, small pouches and other things, and give them away as gifts to customers on the opening day." Xu Mingjin smiled: "Since they are gifts, customers won't pick faults. On the contrary, every customer who buys embroidery products will be delighted to receive these gifts made with this thread."

  "In this way, we can sell our own embroidery products well."

  After hearing Xu Mingjin's words, Fan Weichen suddenly enlightened and repeatedly praised: "Good idea! Let's do it this way!"

  Xu Mingjin said: "It's just that those embroiderers will have to work a bit harder."

  "It's just a matter of time, it's a bit hard work, and when the time comes, everyone will get more wages." Fan Yicheng said: "Don't worry that no one will do it, you can rest assured."

  Xu Mingjin nodded slightly, and Fan Yicheng finally couldn't help but ask: "Jin'er, what did you mean by that sentence just now?"

  Xu Ming Jin dressed up silly and stupid: "Which sentence?"

  "It's just that sentence: 'Even if we don't come back later, you can still go to Beijing'!"

  "Oh!" Xu Mingjin dragged out the tail of her sentence: "That sentence, yeah!" She saw Fan Yicheng getting more and more anxious, and sneered in her heart: Humph, look at you not believing me! Do you think we'll just abandon you once we go to Beijing? After she had enjoyed Fan Yicheng's anxiety for a while, she slowly and calmly said: "What I mean is, after I leave with my mother and brother for Beijing, this embroidery shop will be handed over to you. By the way, what name did you give it?"

  "Jin Zhuang." Fan Yicheng stared blankly and said: "Why is this?"

  "Uncle, you should also know that once we enter the capital city, we'll be isolated and helpless. Don't you think that in front of the renowned Lady Ye, the wife of the Minister, my mother, I, and my brother will be like fish on a chopping board, waiting to be slaughtered?"

  Fan Yicheng heard this and his whole body trembled.

  "Uncle, mother and I and brother, we are your relatives, we need you to cheer up, when we are your solid backing!" Xu Mingjin said word by word.

  Fan Yicheng became excited, it turned out that I'm not a useless waste! They need me! For a moment, a surge of excitement and passion made him say magnanimously: "Jin'er, what do you need your uncle to do?"

  "Uncle, I need you to expand this embroidery shop. You can cultivate a group of trusted people and then hand over the shop to them. Uncle, you can go to the capital city and open another embroidery shop! No, in the future, we will open many more! You must quickly develop and grow stronger in order to protect Mother, me, and my brother!"

  Fan Yicheng was thrilled to hear this. He had never thought that his sister and niece would have such high expectations of him!