The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

Chapter 79: Embroiderer (1)

Lin Dan was awakened by a feather duster. When she opened her eyes, she found herself curling up in a corner. A thin woman was scolding while beating as if she was furious. Before Lin Dan figured out the relationship between the woman and herself, so she didn't dare to resist. She held her head and curl up herself even tighter and tried to sort out her memories.

Although she didn't figure out who she was and what she had experienced, she was already used to this situation.

The real owner was called Lin Dan. Her father, Lin Dafu, was a brigand who made a fortune by robbing merchant caravans. He had no son. He guessed that he had done too many evil deeds and lost his Yin Virtue, so he donated most of the robbed money to build Buddhist temple, Taoist temple, roads, bridges, and so on. The other half was used to do silk business and slowly embarked on the right track.

Perhaps because he had done a lot of good deeds, Lin Dafu's wife gave birth to Lin Dan when she was fifty. Although she didn't bring her with her, she was also the root of the whole family. Naturally, she was as precious as a pearl as if she would melt when put in the mouth and as if she would fall when held in hands. She was too pampered. When she was sixteen-year-old, she was ready to find a husband to inherit the family business.

However, good times didn't last long. When Lin Dan had just reached fifteen and was about to become a big girl, Lin Dafu was punished for his past evil deeds. The descendant of a family he robbed plotted to switch the Shu Brocade that he bought from Shuzhou with a lot of money into sackcloth, which made him lost a fortune.

Lin Dafu felt sorry for his wife and daughter, so he fell ill and died in less than two months. The family who plotted him made a fortune with the Shu Brocade. Moreover, his family had excellent embroidering skills and was favored by the nobles. So he took the opportunity to settle down in the Lin'an mansion, and from then on, he replaced the Lin family and became the largest embroidery shop in the place.

The Lin family had no more reputation, no more shop, no more money, only left with an orphan and a few widows. Life was tough. The thin woman who was whipping Lin Dan with a feather duster was Lin Dan's mother, Zhang Hui. She had just recovered from a severe illness. Seeing that her daughter was still so unruly, she was so angry that it caused her to bet her.

While she was beating, she scolded in disappointment, "I asked you to learn embroidery and needlework from the third and fourth aunt. Yet, what did you do today? Do you still think the Lin family is still as wealthy as before and can do whatever you please? One hundred and twenty taels of silver for a pottery jar. How could you do such a stupid thing! Do you know how long does one hundred and twenty taels of silver can last for our family? You have spent the money that can last for the entire year. From today onwards, are you going to live with just breathing the air? If you learn the embroidery skill well, you can also make a lifelike and invaluable embroidery like Meng Si. Then why should we worry about not having back the glory and falling into straitened circumstances? When your father was alive, he always asked you to learn something to support the family business in the future. But look, he just died not long ago, and you have used up the last bit of money. Do you want to make him come back to life, or do you want to piss me off to death? Do you have a conscience? "

The real owner had a conscience; it was just that she was naive and was cheated. Someone told her that the pottery jar was an antique from the early Qin Dynasty and was worth tens of thousands of gold, so she bought it. Initially, she wanted to give it to her mother to make her happy, but she didn't expect that would cause her mother to almost died of anger.

From now on, you will stay at home and learn embroidery and needlework. When your skills are compatible with Meng Si, then you are allowed to go out." Lin's mother whipped her another two times before she stopped. A pitying look appeared on her face. As the saying goes, a mother's heart hurts while beating her children.

Meng Si was referring to the younger sister of Meng Zhong, who had set Lin Dafu up. The two had a grudge against the Lin family could be traced back to the previous generation. In the past, Lin Dafu led a group of bandits to plunder Meng Zhong's father and Meng Si, which caused his father to lose all his property, and his wife and children left him. The two grew up amidst suffering, but they developed their own skills. The brother was good at business, and the sister was good at embroidering. The two worked together to rebuild the Meng family. When they found that Lin Dafu opened an embroidery shop in Lin'an mansion, they quietly followed him and waited for an opportunity to take revenge.

Meng Zhong was a resourceful man. He soon won the trust of Lin Dafu and introduced him to a big business. At that time, Lin Dafu was the only imperial merchant in the Lin'an mansion. He provided cloth and embroidery for the imperial family, so he went all out to search for rare fabrics. Among all the valuable goods, the Shu Brocade produced in Shuzhou was the most delicate in the world, but it was difficult to buy it because of the small production.

Meng Zhong arranged Shuzhou's cloth merchants for Lin Dafu, while he took a large amount of money and bribed Lin Dafu's subordinates to ask him to switch the goods. In the end, Lin Dafu lost everything he owned, whereas Meng Zhong took that opportunity to replace him and became the imperial merchant of Ling'an mansion.

His resourcefulness made him quickly gained a firm foothold in the Lin'an mansion, but he couldn't do without Meng Si's help. Meng Si was beautiful and obedient. She had learned embroidery from her family since she was young. As soon as she came to Ling'an mansion, she won the favor of the governor's daughter with her unique skills. Through the recommendation of the governor's daughter, she got to know many noble local ladies. Gradually, the Meng's Embroidery shop became well-known and won the imperial merchant qualification.

In the market, one of her embroidered works could be sold at a high price of thousands of taels of silver, which was equivalent to the annual income of an embroidery shop. A few days ago, the "Picture of Wind and Snow" that she meticulously embroidered was bought by the governor's son for five thousand and two hundred taels of silver. The price was shockingly high.

Seeing that the Lin family was getting worse, while the Meng family was getting better and better. How could Zhang Hui be reconciled? She looked at the famous Meng Si and then at her useless daughter. She was determined to force her daughter to learn embroidery. Fortunately, for the sake of the family's business, Lin Dafu did marry several skillful embroiderers as concubines. Otherwise, based on the current circumstances of the Lin family, they couldn't afford to hire a talented embroiderer to teach Lin Dan.

It was a pity that the real owner was not up for it and was unwilling to learn seriously. Instead, she hoped to become wealthy overnight, and she wasted a lot of money. She deserved to be beaten, so Lin Dan didn't struggle. When Zhang Hui was tired, she said tentatively, "Mom, learning embroidery is not a day's work. How about I go to the beach to fight against the Japanese pirates? As soon as I earn military merit, I will immediately be able to honor my ancestors."

Somehow, she thought she is better off being a soldier than be an embroiderer.

"What did you say?" Zhang Hui stared at her, dumbfounded.

"I said I wanted to join the army to kill the Japanese pirates. Beheading a hundred Japanese pirates can be worthy of the first-level military merit. When I accumulate enough military merit of level twenty, I will make you an honorary noblewoman." Lin Dan stood up slowly with a severe expression.

Zhang Hui took a deep breath and jumped up abruptly. She hit her head and scolded, "Did I told you to daydream all day long? You bought a useless pottery jar and said that it was an antique from the early Qin Dynasty. You took an embroidery needle, and now you told me that you wanted to be a general. Why didn't you go to heaven? If I don't beat you to death today, we will be over! "

Lin Dan, who just stood up, immediately held her head and curled back up. She felt distressed. She was telling the truth. Why didn't anyone believe her?

But soon, she knew that it was impossible for her to join the army. The kung fu named Asura Sword' that appeared in her mind for no reason was not suitable for this body to train. She could only practice the most basic breathing skill and could not advance further, except for a slight improvement in her strength and physique; it had no significant effect.

After breathing several times, she couldn't condense a cyclone in the lower part of her belly, so she gave up and said, "Mom, don't beat me. I will never go out to play anymore. I will stay at home and learn embroidery. Is that okay?" Now that she had replaced the real owner, she had to take responsibility for the real owner and rebuild the family.

"Alright, sis. Don't beat her anymore. The child has admitted her mistake. Please forgive her this time." The two concubines rushed over to stop her. After Lin Dafu's death, more than a dozen concubines he had married hadn't given birth to children, and they were still in their youth. They felt it was a burden, so they left. Only these two old concubines stayed and lived with Zhang Hui and her daughter.

"If she sneaks out again in the future, y'all will help to break her legs! Use this to beat her, and don't show mercy! Zhang Hui inserted the feather duster into the crack of the ground and warned sternly.

The two ladies nodded and sent Zhang Hui, who was exhausted, back to her room.

After they went far away, Lin Dan slowly stood up. She lifted up the messy hair on her forehead, revealing her face covered with red marks. She looked a mess and funny.

"Hah." low and inaudible laughter came from nearby, making her ears move slightly. She walked along the yard wall and finally found a boy in the thick shade of the tree. The boy's eyes were bright, and his nose was sharp. His thin red lips curved into a breathtaking arc. He was debonair and unparalleled in the world.

He poked his head out of the shade of the tree and said in a low and hoarse voice, "Little girl, I didn't mean to peep here. It's because your house is so noisy that I can't sleep. So, I climbed up the tree to find out what happened."

It turned out that the man was her neighbor who had just moved in. There was only a yard wall between the two houses.

The boy's appearance was even purer than the bright moon and more scorching than the blazing sun. However, Lin Dan just glanced at him indifferently, nodded, and left. The tree actually belonged to the boy, so he could climb it as he liked. There was nothing to do with her. Besides, it seemed that Lin Dan was used to being watched and didn't feel embarrassed or ashamed.

The boy looked at her back in a daze. He didn't come to his senses until he heard his servant shouting from under the tree. Then he jumped off the tree. She didn't seem to be ashamed when she was seen in such a farce, nor was she disturbed by her appearance. This girl was quite interesting.

"Who is the opposite neighbor?" After moving in for a few days, he finally became a little curious about his neighbor.

"Opposite is a poor family. You don't have to care about it." The servant waved his hand and said.

"A poor family?" The boy's eyes flashed, and his thin lips were slightly curved. He looked very gentle, but the servant was sweating profusely and almost scared to pee. He had forgotten that his young master had become poor now.

On the other side, Lin Dan was holding a servant's hand and asked the same question, "Who is that opposite neighbor? What's its background?" She could tell from the boy's face that he was not an ordinary person.