Chapter 20: Baoniang Embroidery Workshop
"Big sister, how much is this handkerchief?" Beisitian asked.
"Five cents for two, ten cents for five! Handkerchiefs are something you need to replace often, so buying a few more is convenient for whatever you need. Miss, would you like to get twenty cents’ worth?" the big sister said with a cheerful smile.
Beisitian wouldn’t buy this handkerchief even if she had money. They were thick, and the embroidery was terribly poor. There were several loose threads left on the little red flowers.
Beisitian chuckled and said, "It’s certainly cheap, but the embroidery is too poor. Do you have any with better craftsmanship?"
"For something you use to blow your nose and wipe your face, the embroidery quality doesn’t really matter; as long as it works, it’s fine. It’s just a handkerchief; who would put effort into this? If you want to see good embroidery, take a look at this curtain. The embroidery on this is quite good; all done by professional embroidery women!" The seller brought out a curtain embroidered with big peonies.
Beisitian glanced at it and didn’t want to look any further. Although there were no obvious loose threads on it, the embroidery was very coarse, and it didn’t appeal to Beisitian at all.
At such a stall, even if Beisitian showed her own craftsmanship, the seller probably wouldn’t accept it. So she merely glanced and left.
After visiting a couple more handkerchief stalls, Beisitian found that the quality was quite similar, leaving her somewhat disappointed.
At these temporary markets, you couldn’t expect much in terms of craftsmanship. They served the needs of people from nearby areas, and in such times of material scarcity, being able to eat and stay warm was enough. Asking for anything more would be a bit too much.
Beisitian, feeling a bit down, was prepared to head back to meet up with Mrs. Qin but paused as she passed by a shoe stall.