Chapter 15: The Lace Ribbon

The house on Pear Blossom Alley had found its owner and thus took on a new appearance. Chairs and stools were arranged, bed curtains hung, and the once empty courtyard suddenly felt warm and inviting.

The dental shop was responsible for furnishing, and to save costs, the furniture brought in was all ordinary household items. The paint was refreshed in a straightforward, standard manner. If tenants were dissatisfied, they could add their own pieces.

An Chunfeng had no extra money now, so she had no room to be picky about furniture. However, she did return the pink gauze curtains originally hung in the main room, replacing them with breathable, comfortable bamboo blinds hung under the eaves.

In the kitchen stood a medium-sized stove, suitable for cooking porridge, boiling soup, or heating water, but not for preparing large meals. An Chunfeng didn’t complain; living in a rented house was like this. Since she was on her own, as long as it was barely usable, it would do. She would gradually add more items later.

Water and firewood were delivered one after another, and she had already paid a month’s fee in advance. But she still had to buy her own grain, oil, flour, spices, bedding, and dishes.

She bought everything at a nearby grocery store on Chessboard Street. Rice, flour, bowls, chopsticks, bamboo mats, bed sheets, and mosquito-repelling incense burners cost seven hundred wen.

Fortunately, it was summer, so she didn’t have to buy winter clothes or bedding just yet. Feeling the remaining one hundred wen in her pocket, An Chunfeng sighed inwardly: a hundred wen was not enough; was she going to have to fall back on her old ways?

From past experience, she knew that just walking through crowded streets would earn her some silver.

Shaking her head, An Chunfeng thought: no, she had already decided to turn over a new leaf and start fresh. Those shameful past deeds were better left behind—she would find another way.

She still knew how to weave silk cords, and if worst came to worst, she could still do needlework.

Without waiting to rest, she took out the cords the original owner had woven and prepared to sell them.

In her memory, the original owner had exchanged these cords for silver at a cloth shop. There was one such shop on Chessboard Street now; she wondered if they would buy them.

She decided to give it a try.

The large cloth shop on Chessboard Street was quiet at noon, with few customers inside but plenty of goods—vividly colored silks, gauzes, satins, and brocades in dazzling array.

The shopkeeper, a graceful and elegant woman in her thirties, led An Chunfeng to a side room to examine the cords carefully. Afterward, she sighed in disappointment: “Madam, your craftsmanship is good, but these cords are outdated in style. These designs were fashionable years ago, but no one in the capital uses them now.”

An Chunfeng smiled bitterly. There was no way around it.

The original owner had lived in Xuzhou for years and only come to the capital a few days ago before disaster struck. The cords she wove wouldn’t match the current trends here.

“Shopkeeper, are these cords completely useless? Could you please take them off my hands? I’ll accept any price!” An Chunfeng needed money, and even if the styles were old-fashioned, she had to sell.

The shopkeeper smiled charmingly, raising her delicate finger to pick up a three-finger-wide silk ribbon from the pile. “Now, ladies in the capital prefer light gauze dresses that flow freely. They don’t use cords weighted with pendants to hold up their skirts anymore. Gentlemen’s fan cases are also made of embroidered silk, no longer requiring cord bags.

“Among your cords, only this ribbon has some novelty. Why don’t you make it wider and weave more of these? I can pay you fifty wen each for the ribbons.”

An Chunfeng quickly calculated. The original owner had spent a whole day weaving this ribbon. Even knowing it well, her own hands would be slower—about a day and a half. Working nonstop for a month would earn her only one or two taels of silver, still not enough for her rent.

“Shopkeeper, could the price be a bit higher? Only then can I supply your shop regularly,” An Chunfeng decided to bargain.

Before the shopkeeper could reply, a carriage stopped outside, and two women with veils covering their faces stepped in.

One wore a pink blouse tightly cinched at the waist, revealing a generous bosom, strikingly alluring.

The other was dressed in pale green gauze, ethereal as if about to float away.

Before they even entered the shop, a fragrant scent wafted in, and An Chunfeng frowned slightly. These two women did not look like respectable daughters of good families.

They lifted their veils inside, revealing delicate, charming faces, and headed straight to the side room, addressing the shopkeeper: “Sister Qiu, we heard you have new stock—give each of us one quickly!”

The shopkeeper smiled. “I only received five items and haven’t sold any yet. How did you find out?”

As she spoke, she took a wooden box from a nearby cabinet, but before she could open it, one of the women snatched it and hugged it to her chest. “Good sister, just give all to us! The sisters upstairs are waiting to wear them!”

The shopkeeper hesitated. “Others want some left. If you take them all, how can I explain?”

The woman who grabbed the goods clearly wasn’t doing this for the first time. She wrapped herself around the shopkeeper with a coquettish smile, alternating between mock anger and playful teasing.

Though her back was turned, the sway of her figure and the lilting melody of her voice were equally beguiling. Watching from the side, An Chunfeng felt a tingling sensation through her bones.

The shopkeeper seemed immune to these tactics. No matter how much the pink-clad woman tried to charm her, she refused and only allowed them to take two items.

They chatted openly without any attempt to avoid An Chunfeng’s presence, casually pulling out a pair of exquisitely embroidered bustiers to admire.

The design depicted a battle of naked spirits.

An Chunfeng was dumbfounded. They really didn’t consider her an outsider!

But despite her shock, An Chunfeng remained composed. Having watched reality shows in a bar in her past life, such erotic images were nothing to her.

The pink-clad woman clearly liked the bustier very much. She giggled and gestured over her own chest before happily putting it away.

The shopkeeper looked at An Chunfeng, who stood dazed at the side, and said before the two women, “I didn’t let you leave earlier because I wanted you to see how to modify your cords.

“That ribbon of yours goes perfectly with this bustier. If you do a good job, I can pay you eighty wen per ribbon!”

An Chunfeng realized the cords woven with silk thread could actually be used as lace edging… Hmm, that might work!

If they could be used as lace trim, wouldn’t they be even better for lingerie?

Thinking this, An Chunfeng smiled with narrowed eyes. “Thank you, Shopkeeper Qiu. I understand now!”

Shopkeeper Qiu was adept at flattering others; since she wasn’t paying, the price of the ribbons didn’t decrease, but rather increased.

The pink-clad woman, hearing the word “ribbon,” asked eagerly, “Sister Qiu, who is she? What ribbon? I thought you had hired a new seamstress!”

The shopkeeper said nothing about An Chunfeng’s identity but waved the ribbon before the pink-clad woman’s eyes. “When you wear the bustier, tie this ribbon close to your body first. It will tease those men—making them want to look but unable to!”

The pink-clad woman was delighted. She snatched the ribbon and giggled, “Sister Qiu, you’re so kind! Tonight, when I perform, with this ribbon and bustier, I’ll surely earn more on the wine!”

The green-clad woman remained silent, carefully putting away her own bustier before turning to An Chunfeng. “Please, madam, could you kindly weave a green ribbon for me? I will come to collect it in three days.”

An Chunfeng readily agreed. She sized her roughly with a glance and told her to come at the appointed time.

The two women hurried back upstairs to flaunt their new purchases to their sisters, leaving only An Chunfeng and the shopkeeper in the cloth shop.

The pink-clad woman promptly paid eighty wen for the ribbon, and the shopkeeper bought the outdated cords at a low price. Smiling warmly, she saw An Chunfeng out.

To outsiders, the shopkeeper seemed to make no profit from the ribbons, but no one knew that a single bustier could earn her five taels of silver.

As long as Apricot and Yuannang at the Hundred Flowers House continued to use these ribbons, more customers would come to buy bustiers from her shop.