Chapter 57: Choices and Dogs Biting Dogs

Inside Wen Ye's home—
Wen Ye, Wen Lan, and Yu'er were in the room doing embroidery.
"Look, Sister Ye, we've been practicing for so long. When can we make a proper piece of embroidery to sell?" Wen Yu'er asked, her eyes full of anticipation.
She picked up an embroidery frame on which a picture of orchids was embroidered. One side was red and the other was light yellow. It was extremely exquisite, showing that a tremendous amount of effort had been put into it.
This was embroidered jointly by Wen Yu'er and Wen Lan.
As Wen Ye looked at their work, she couldn't help but be startled.
In the past, their embroidery skills had been entirely ordinary.
However, ever since she taught them various needlework techniques and they went through rigorous practice, a certain spiritual flair had begun to emerge.
Especially Yu'er, who possessed exceptionally strong talent. Every single stitch exuded a vibrant spirit, and she was even faintly developing a style of her own.
From Wen Ye's experience, Yu'er had the potential to become a top-tier embroiderer.
This left Wen Ye in somewhat of a dilemma: "This different-colored double-sided embroidery... Are you planning to make a one-off deal, or do you want to open a shop in the future and turn this into your own career?"
The two exchanged glances. Wen Yu'er asked, "What do you mean?"
Wen Lan said, "If it can make money, of course we'd want to do it for a long time."
Wen Yu'er asked, "What was Sister Ye's original plan..."
Wen Ye said, "My original plan was for you to embroider several pieces of different-colored double-sided embroidery, and then sell them at a high price to an embroidery shop. By then, the shop would naturally want to know the method for the different colors. I would then sell the method."
Wen Yu'er said, "I understand. Just like our little cat handkerchiefs last time. Because Sister Ye wanted to sell the design, the embroidery shop was willing to pay one hundred and fifty wen. If Sister Ye wants to sell the method for the different-colored double-sided embroidery, the shop will have to buy our works at a high price if they want it. By then, even if we ask for ten taels per handkerchief, they'll be willing to pay."
Wen Ye nodded: "Right. That was my original plan. After all, holding a treasure is a crime. Fine embroidery is extremely sought after by the nobility, to say nothing of different-colored double-sided embroidery. These are things we cannot protect on our own."
"However, looking at your embroidery... both of you have immense talent and potential. If you gain backing and powerful patrons in the future, this different-color technique can become your unique trademark. If we sell it now, I'm afraid someone will monopolize it, and you won't even be allowed to embroider it afterwards."
Wen Lan and Yu'er were momentarily stunned.
Wen Yu'er frowned and said, "Sister Ye, I think we should just sell it! We're just humble village girls; we can't hold onto something like this. You sell it for a high price, and we can just share some of the profits with you. That will make all our hard practice worthwhile."
From the very beginning, they had aimed purely for the money.
Wen Lan nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Wen Ye asked, "Is Yu'er's family desperately short of money right now?"
"Not really. Last time I brought back over nine taels, and later Mother supplied your family with vegetables and bamboo shoots, earning another tael or so. Now, running the stall brings in a hundred and dozens of wen a day. This is more than enough for my older brother to have a splendid wedding, and there will still be money left over!"

"Then let's wait a bit!" Wen Ye said. "I intend to keep climbing upward! Within two years, if I manage to climb up, I will be your backing! If I can't climb up, we'll sell it then."
Wen Lan and Yu'er stared at her blankly, feeling that Wen Ye had gone slightly mad.
Climb up? Climb up to where? How to climb?
Is this a baby pig trying to climb a tree?
Yet Sister Ye had always been full of ideas; listening to her could never be wrong.
Besides, it didn't matter if they couldn't climb up. Selling it now was selling it, and selling it two years later was still selling it. The technique remained in their own hands and wouldn't run away.
Wen Yu'er smiled sweetly: "Alright."
Wen Lan asked, "Then what should we do with the silk fabric we bought? And the floss silk and the six round fan frames? These are expensive things."
"That's easy enough. You won't embroider the different-colored ones; just embroider regular double-sided ones. I've already taught you the techniques anyway."
The eyes of the two lit up: "Alright."
Wen Ye pondered: "Hmm... Let me draw some patterns for you!"
"Like the cute little animals from last time?"
"Anything is fine, depending on what you want to embroider. This is just a transition period for now; your main event is still the different-colored embroidery."
After a moment of thought, Wen Ye drew cute pictures of bees gathering nectar for them—featuring both pretty flowers and adorable cartoon bees, hitting the aesthetic sweet spot of young girls precisely.
Since there were six round fan frames, she drew six designs. Although they were all about gathering nectar, the flower species and the postures of the bees varied in each.
Wen Lan was pleasantly surprised: "They're both pretty and cute."
Yu'er: "Very novel."
"You can normally work on these. But don't slack off on practicing the different-colored double-sided embroidery either. Practice pieces must also be done carefully and meticulously. Save them up properly. If we can truly open an embroidery shop in the future, these will be our inventory. If not, they can still be sold for money. Also, before that happens, a fourth person must not know about the different-colored double-sided embroidery. Keep it hidden, understood?"
Wen Lan and Yu'er nodded earnestly.
"Ah!" Wen Lan suddenly let out a startled cry. "Last time Mother gave us all the fabric for making clothes to practice on, and everything embroidered on it was different-colored double-sided work!"
Wen Ye's face stiffened: "You'll have to pick out the stitches."
The two could only nod with tearful eyes.
"Duoshi! Duoshi! Your eldest brother and second brother are fighting!" Er'gou's mother's voice suddenly rang out from outside.
Wen Ye's eyes lit up: "Let's go, let's go watch the show!"

The three of them hurriedly hopped off the bed.
Stepping outside, they saw Wen the Third holding a firewood chopper, sitting on a small wooden stool with piles of chopped firewood stacked around him.
Frowning, he spoke to Er'gou's mother: "Out of nowhere, how did they start a ruckus..."
Er'gou's mother said excitedly, "I don't know either! As his own younger brother, aren't you going to go take a look? Let's go!"
Wen the Third didn't want to go, but he couldn't withstand Er'gou's mother's overwhelming enthusiasm, so he half-reluctantly set out.
Wen Ye and the other two quickly followed behind.
Before long, they arrived at the old family estate.
They saw a crowd of villagers already gathered around the entrance, watching the commotion.
Er'gou's mother had said the brothers were fighting, but when Wen the Third and Wen Ye's group arrived, what they witnessed was Wen the Eldest and Wen the Second jointly beating up Mrs. Luo.
Er'gou's mother exclaimed in shock, "Ah, how did it change?"
The two brothers were beating her while hurling curses.
Old Madam Wen was also crying out angrily from the side: "Ungrateful wretch! Beat her to death! Beat her to death!"
A cold smile flashed across Wen Ye's eyes, and she asked a bystander nearby, "What's going on? Didn't they say my eldest uncle and second uncle were fighting?"
This villager happened to be Er'gou's mother's son, Chen Er'gou.
Chen Er'gou's family lived right next door to the old estate, so his sources of information were extremely well-informed.
Chen Er'gou said, "Just a moment ago, this Wen the Second came back from outside. He saw the eldest brother's wife hanging out laundry and rushed right over with a punch. Seeing his wife getting hit, Wen the Eldest naturally stepped up to brawl with the second one."
"Wen the Second was cursing away, saying the eldest brother's wife had leaked the recipe to her maternal family, and her maternal family had even sold the recipe to a tavern. As soon as the eldest heard that, he joined the second one in beating his wife."
With that, he shook his head: "Tsk tsk. No matter what, even if Wen the Second was angry, he should have gone to reason with Wen the Eldest, and if anyone was going to hit her, it should have been the eldest himself. There's no reason to rush up and knock his sister-in-law flat on the ground."
Wen the Third listened in a daze. The eldest sister-in-law had actually leaked the recipe to her maternal family, and it had even been sold by them? How could the eldest sister-in-law do such a thing!
Wen the Third couldn't help a surge of anger.
Wen Ye's eyes flashed, and she let out a cry of surprise: "Ah! So Second Uncle wanted to sell our family's recipe to a tavern, only to find out that the recipe had already been sold by Eldest Aunt's maternal family! It's dogs biting dogs!"
Wen the Third was startled. The second one wanted to sell it too?