TCRT_10
Chapter 10: Fitting — What a Good Use of Everything
After listing out the general task plan for the next two months, Ji Qingzhou glanced at the time and realized it was already two in the afternoon.
He had originally planned to visit the shop that made custom signboards, but when he got up and reached the door, he found that a strong wind was blowing outside, the sky was covered in dark clouds, and it looked as though heavy rain could fall at any moment.
Left with no choice, he temporarily changed his plans, locked the front and back doors of the shop, and hurried home before the rain came.
But the weather showed no mercy. By the time he ran to the intersection to wait for a car, a dense curtain of rain had already begun to fall.
With the arrival of this sudden downpour, the entire street became chaotic in a matter of moments.
Pedestrians quickened their steps without a word between them, a newspaper boy nimbly wove through the crowd and ducked into a nearby shop for shelter, vendors hastily packed up their stalls, a foreign man carrying a briefcase swiftly slid into a taxi, a rickshaw puller carried his passenger and strode swiftly across the road, his straw sandals splashing through puddles with a "pat-pat" sound...
Ji Qingzhou, like the others waiting for a car, raised his crossbody bag to shield himself from the rain, though it did little good.
Ji Qingzhou, like the others waiting for a car, raised his crossbody bag to shield himself from the rain, though it did little good.
By the time he got back to the Jie residence, his white shirt was more than half soaked through, and his hair was dripping wet, scattering droplets when he shook his head.
He had wanted to take a bath and change his clothes first, but the moment he stepped into the main hall, he was stopped by an elderly maidservant.
This maidservant was dedicated to serving the old madam, and Ji Qingzhou recalled that the other servants all called her Sister Chun.
Sister Chun seemed to have been waiting for him on purpose. The moment she saw him come in, she stepped forward and said, "Mr. Ji, the old madam is waiting for you in the small sitting room."
Hearing this, Ji Qingzhou had an uneasy feeling, suspecting he was most likely about to be reprimanded over the matter of opening a shop outside.
He pulled the corners of his mouth into a smile and said, "I just got caught in the rain. It would be rather impolite to see the old madam looking like this. Might I be permitted to change my clothes first?"
As long as he could get upstairs, he could call Jie Yu'an down to take the hit for him.
Sister Chun shook her head unhurriedly: "The old madam instructed me to wait here and bring you over the moment you returned."
Ji Qingzhou took a deep breath, casually smoothed his hair a couple of times, and nodded: "All right, let's go."
Following Sister Chun down the corridor and all the way to the east end, they entered the small sitting room, where the old madam was seated just as she had been the first time he saw her, on one side of the long black leather sofa.
On the tea table before her, an assortment of flowers and plants were arranged in their respective groups, along with a celadon plum vase, its glaze clear and luminous.
Seeing him come in, the old madam continued trimming flower stems and placing them into the vase, and said in a calm tone, "Come, sit down."
Ji Qingzhou sat without ceremony in the single armchair diagonally across from her, leaning his upper body slightly forward with both hands clasped together and resting on his knees: "What did you want to see me about?"
"How did you end up soaked like this..."
The old woman glanced at him sideways and gave a slight shake of her head: "I'll get straight to the point. This morning, Dr. Zhang came to examine and treat Yuanyuan. At such an important time, why weren't you there with him?"
"Today was his treatment day?" Ji Qingzhou raised an eyebrow in mild surprise: "He didn't mention it."
"If you don't ask him, he won't bring it up on his own," Old Madam Jie let out a quiet sigh: "I won't hold you accountable for today's lapse, but keep this in mind— Dr. Zhang comes every five days, at ten in the morning, to see to Yuanyuan's treatment.
"Any other time, I don't care where you go. But at moments that concern his health, you need to be at home."
Ji Qingzhou answered earnestly, "Understood, I will."
"Good, off you go," The old madam waved her hand, signaling that he was free to leave.
Ji Qingzhou rose and headed for the door, and as he walked out of the small sitting room, he could not help letting out a quiet breath of relief.
He then made his way up to the second floor via the east staircase and went straight back to his room to bathe.
Once he had changed into dry, comfortable clothes, Ji Qingzhou took a towel and headed to Jie Yu'an's study, drying his hair as he walked.
His strides were long and purposeful, carrying with them the air of someone about to demand an explanation.
He turned the handle and pushed open the inner door of the study. Sure enough, Jie Yu'an was resting in the armchair beside the writing desk.
Outside the window, the rain continued to fall in a gentle drizzle, making the room feel all the more dim and still.
A' You stood to one side with his head bowed, holding a copy of the "Xinwen Bao*", reading aloud from it in a steady, measured manner.
*t/n; Xinwen Bao (新聞報) was a Chinese-language newspaper published in Shanghai. Founded in 1893 and operating until 1949, it was known for its commercial orientation and broad readership, covering news, business, and social affairs.
Noticing Ji Qingzhou enter with an unhappy expression, he gave him a nod in greeting, finished the paragraph he was on, and then, with a good sense of the mood, stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him.
"You had your treatment today. Why didn't you tell me?" Ji Qingzhou took his usual seat in the chair on the other side of the writing desk: "I came home and got called in by the old madam for a scolding the moment I walked through the door."
Jie Yu'an said nothing in return, resting quietly against the chair without so much as moving his lips.
It was only then that Ji Qingzhou noticed his complexion seemed paler than usual. Whether it was an aftereffect of the day's treatment or simply the dull, grey light of the rainy weather, he could not tell.
His tone softened without him quite realizing it: "How did the treatment feel? Was it any help?"
"It was only the first session," Jie Yu'an said, with a hint of weariness.
"So, no effect to speak of then," Ji Qingzhou nodded: "Never mind, with a great lucky star like me around, you'll surely be cured."
Jie Yu'an made no reply. He raised his right hand and knocked on the desk twice with his knuckle, "tap tap".
Ji Qingzhou stared at his pale fingers for a moment, puzzled: "What does that mean?"
"Read the paper."
Ji Qingzhou clicked his tongue softly and, resigning himself to his fate, picked up the "Xinwen Bao", spread it open, and glanced over it: "Where did A' You get up to?"
"Different one."
"Hm?"
Ji Qingzhou paused in confusion, then his eyes shifted, and he spotted another newspaper on the right side of the writing desk, the "Zilin Xibao*", its pages filled from top to bottom with dense English text.
*t/n; Zilin Xibao (字林西報) was an English-language newspaper published in Shanghai. Founded in 1864 and running until 1951, it was primarily aimed at the foreign expatriate community in Shanghai, particularly British residents and businessmen, and covered international news, trade, and affairs relevant to the foreign settlements in China.
"You really do make use of everything you've got," he muttered to himself. He tossed the white drying towel carelessly onto the desk, picked up the newspaper, leaned back in his chair, and began to read aloud.
The towel slid a short distance along the tabletop and came to rest half-hanging over the edge.
Jie Yu'an did not know what Ji Qingzhou had done. He only felt a gentle breeze brush in from the side, and then a light, moisture-laden fragrance drifted past his nose. It was that same scent again, the kind that made one think of sweet, fresh honeydew melon.
The acupuncture treatment that day had been far from comfortable. When it was over, rather than feeling any relief, the neurological headache had only grown more intense, radiating outward in waves through his entire body.
Jie Yu'an was not someone who could not endure pain, but if there was a way to ease it, that was naturally preferable.
At this moment, breathing in the faint fragrance and listening to the young man's voice reading aloud, his nerves slowly began to unwind, and the pain seemed to gradually fade.
Perhaps the Taoist priest by the West Lake all those years ago had not been an entirely ordinary charlatan after all...
Since returning to the country, it was the first time Jie Yu'an had felt even a small measure of agreement with the decision his grandmother and family had made.
.
That same evening, Shen Nanqi returned to Shanghai from Suzhou.
However, as she arrived home quite late and had missed dinner, Ji Qingzhou did not see her in the dining room. It was not until the following morning, when he and Jie Yu'an came downstairs together for breakfast, that he ran into her in the main hall.
Although it was the weekend, Jie Jianshan and Jie Yuchuan still had work to attend to, and both left the house after finishing breakfast.
Ji Qingzhou and Jie Yu'an had risen a little later than the others, and as they descended the central staircase to the ground floor, they happened to see Shen Nanqi coming in through the entrance hall with Master Yan from Yuxiang Fashion Shop.
"You're up?" Shen Nanqi glanced at the two of them and beckoned to Ji Qingzhou: "Perfect timing. That qipao you designed last time, Master Yan has brought it over. I'm going to put it on and try it, and then you can take a look and see if there's anything that needs altering."
Ji Qingzhou gave Master Yan a nod of greeting and replied, "Sure."
Between the banquet hall and the main dining room on the ground floor of the west wing, there was a shared dressing room, ordinarily used by guests to change during banquets.
Too lazy to go upstairs to change, Shen Nanqi came into the main dining room with them, instructed Aunt Liang to pour tea for Master Yan, then took the carefully wrapped parcel of clothing and went into the adjoining dressing room.
Master Yan was evidently a frequent visitor and settled into a seat at one side of the dining table with practiced ease.
Once Aunt Liang brought the hot tea, he picked up his cup and took a sip, then looked over at Ji Qingzhou with a kindly gaze. Ji Qingzhou was seated diagonally across from him, helping himself to soup dumplings one after another. Master Yan asked with a smile, "Mr. Ji, how have you been thinking about my offer to come work at my shop?"
Ji Qingzhou had spent the past few days entirely occupied with finding a shop and had nearly forgotten about the matter. Hearing this, he took a sip of milk from his glass, cleared his throat, and said:
"I already have work, but if the opportunity arises in the future, I would still be very glad to collaborate with you, Master Yan."
"Is that so. Well, all right then," Yan Weiliang nodded with a touch of regret and did not ask what he was doing.
He assumed that since Ji Qingzhou was Shen Nanqi's nephew, he was most likely working at a company under the Jie family, probably the Jie family's mechanical garment factory.
"By the way," Master Yan suddenly recalled something else: "The Western suits for the two gentlemen are already being sewn. I'll have them delivered before the end of the month. Several of our senior tailors, myself included, are making them by hand. We haven't let any apprentices touch them, so it does take a bit more time."
"Understandable, neither of us is in any rush to wear them. Please don't feel pressed for time," Ji Qingzhou replied on Jie Yu'an's behalf.
Eight suits, handmade, all to be completed and delivered within a month. That already struck him as remarkably fast.
Ji Qingzhou ate his breakfast and chatted casually with Yan Weiliang beside him.
After roughly seven or eight minutes, Shen Nanqi came in through the side door of the dining room, dressed in a pale peach, low-slit full-length qipao.
"I've never worn anything this form-fitting before. The moment I fastened the buttons, my whole back and waist straightened up on their own."
Shen Nanqi walked up to the dining table and addressed the group: "It felt a little strange before putting it on, but when I looked in the mirror, I thought it wasn't bad at all. What do you all think?"
She opened her arms slightly and turned a full circle to show off the garment.
"I think it looks quite good," Master Yan stood up at once and said to Shen Nanqi with sincerity:
"Actually, when I was making this qipao, I had the same concern as you. I worried the color might be too young and too bright, but now that it's on, it feels neither too heavy nor too light, just right. It has the modishness of a Western-style dress while keeping our traditional character. It's simply wonderful."
"It is quite nice," Ji Qingzhou paused his breakfast and followed up with a remark of his own.
In truth, while drawing up the design, he had already imagined in his mind roughly how it would look on Shen Nanqi, and so he felt no particular sense of surprise at this moment.
But there was no question that Shen Nanqi, dressed in this qipao, was decidedly more eye-catching than usual.
She was naturally tall, and her figure was well-proportioned. The darts at the bust and the cinching at the front and back waist of the qipao traced her figure's curves with just the right touch.
She also happened to be wearing a pair of low-cut heeled leather shoes today, and as she moved, the low-slit hem swayed gently, with her pale yellow heels appearing and disappearing beneath it, elegant yet full of charm.
All the same, despite the pleasing effect, Ji Qingzhou could see two small issues that still needed addressing.
The first was the drooping of the bustline.
In this era, the vast majority of women still considered a full chest a source of shame, and would bind and press it flat with undershirts, some even treating the misshapen chest binder as a fashionable thing. It was clear that Shen Nanqi was not wearing that kind of tight binding cloth or stiff underbodice, but her natural figure was evidently not as lifted as it would have been with the support of a modern brassiere.
Even so, this lent the qipao a certain ease and casualness, so it could not quite be called a flaw.
The second issue was still a matter of the fabric's color.
A peach-pink printed cloth made into a long-sleeved, full-length qipao was, when worn, simply too saturated in color. If it had been made with short sleeves, moon sleeves, or no sleeves at all, allowing more of the arms to show, the overall look would surely have been more pleasing to the eye.
Unfortunately, shortening the sleeves would not be easily accepted given the social norms of this time.
"The two of you were both involved in planning this garment, so asking you to evaluate it is hardly impartial."
Shen Nanqi's confidence had grown considerably under Master Yan's praise, but she still held some doubts in her heart.
She glanced over at Jie Yu'an, who was eating his meal in silence, passed over him without a word, and turned instead to Aunt Liang: "Aunt Liang, what do you think?"
"Madam, is this a qipao you're wearing?"
Aunt Liang first asked uncertainly. When Shen Nanqi gave a nod, she immediately praised, "I've never seen a qipao like this before, but I think it looks truly beautiful on you, even lovelier than that Western dress you used to wear."
"Is that so," Shen Nanqi looked down and glanced over herself a few times, then turned to Ji Qingzhou: "I noticed you seemed to have something to say just now. Go ahead and speak plainly. Is there something that needs fixing?"
Master Yan, hearing this, also turned his head at once to look at him.
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