TRCT_40

Chapter 40: Getting to Work

"Sister Jin, off out again so early in the morning? Which gentleman is so inconsiderate as to send someone with a note at this hour?"

In the narrow lane, Jin Bao'er had just stepped out her door when, turning the corner, she ran into Xiao Liuzi, the attendant girl from Fengxi's household across the way.

This Xiao Liuzi had a round face, a flat nose, and upturned lips, giving her a rather simple, guileless look—clearly still a young girl not yet fully grown.

Municipal Council regulations within the concession stipulated that girls under sixteen could not work as prostitutes, so some girls of fourteen or fifteen would lie about their age, claiming to be sixteen, when going out on calls.

But for a girl like Xiao Liuzi, who genuinely looked young for her age, there was a real risk of being caught in an inspection, so she didn't dare put herself on the roster. Instead, she was kept in the house doing various attending duties, occasionally accompanying her older "sisters" out on calls, with the implicit purpose of keeping watch.

The houses lining both sides of this lane, facing each other across the way, were all brothels.

Naturally, there was competition among them, but they were all "sisters of the flower district," and relations between them on the whole were amicable enough. Jin Bao'er was fairly familiar with Xiao Liuzi as well, and hearing this, answered with a smile: "Who calls for company at this hour? I had a Western dress ordered at a tailor shop, and arranged with the owner to go have my measurements taken today."

"A Western dress? So does that mean Big Sister-in-law is supporting you entering that beauty pageant?"

"How could she not support it? If I become famous, it'll be a great boon for her too."

Hearing this, Xiao Liuzi's eyes lit up, an obvious look of envy crossing her face.

Though young in years, she'd heard enough stories by now to have a fairly clear-eyed understanding of her own life ahead. No one who'd entered this line of work was anything but unfortunate, and once mired in this swamp, there was no clean way out of it—things like striking it rich or marrying into a good family were mere fantasies. To live safely past thirty without falling ill was already considered a blessing from heaven.

Even for those who became celebrated courtesans, the most one could hope for was to be taken in as a concubine by a wealthy family, or, at best, kept as a mistress in a separate household—already considered a decent outcome.

As for girls like themselves, of ordinary looks and middling talent, the only thing left to do was save up what money they could while young, and later in old age, perhaps run some small business, or take in a few adopted daughters to rely on for support—these were, more or less, the only paths available.

So to Xiao Liuzi, the fact that Jin Bao'er had a chance like this to shoot to fame in one stroke was already enough to make her deeply envious.

"Sister Jin's so pretty, she's bound to place well. Once you've become 'Miss Fragrant Nation' and reeled in some rich husband, don't go forgetting us sisters, alright?"

"You can count on it. Never mind Miss Fragrant Nation, even if I only get third place, I'll bring the lot of you along to prosper with me."

Having wrapped up the joke, half in earnest and half in jest, Jin Bao'er turned and headed toward the mouth of the lane.

Her location was around where Hankou Road met Guangxi Road, roughly two kilometers from Love Lane.

Taking the tram would be faster, but walking there took only about half an hour or so.

Jin Bao'er didn't want to spend the extra money on the tram, and besides, as a slight woman, squeezing onto one wasn't easy either—she generally chose to walk both ways.

She had a brisk pace, and it took her only about twenty-five or twenty-six minutes to reach Love Lane.

As she turned the corner, thinking of seeing the handsome young owner of the tailor shop again, Jin Bao'er felt a faint stir of pleasure.

But when she stepped over the shop's threshold, she found there was indeed a handsome young man inside—just not the one she'd met the day before.

The man, upon seeing her, was momentarily startled as well, then quickly caught on and said: "You must be Miss Jin. The boss isn't here yet, but he should be arriving shortly. If you're not in a hurry, please, have a seat and wait."

"Didn't he say nine o'clock? I specially left half an hour early," Jin Bao'er said, with a touch of petulance in her tone.

There was no clock in the shop, and Zhu Renqing wasn't sure what time it currently was either, but going by feel, he guessed she'd simply arrived early, and replied: "Please wait just a moment, the boss usually arrives around nine."

Just as he finished speaking, a tram happened to pass by on the road outside, and Ji Qingzhou, using the momentum of jumping off it, came striding quickly into the lane.

As he ran, he absently smoothed down his wind-tousled hair, and upon reaching the doorway, was just about to greet his own shop clerk, when he looked up and saw a woman standing in the middle of the shop.

Once he recognized who the visitor was, he quickly offered an apologetic smile: "Sorry, I'm running a little late."

With that, he opened his backpack, pulled out his sketchbook, flipped rapidly through to the most recent page of design, and handed it to Jin Bao'er, saying: "Please have a look and see if you're satisfied with it."

He then removed his crossbody bag, stepped into the shop, and stowed the bag away in the fabric crate at the back.

Before Jin Bao'er could get a word out, the sketchbook had already been placed into her hands.

She was standing in a spot lit directly by sunlight, and looking down at the design, she couldn't make it out clearly at first.

Once she turned her back to block out the strong glare and looked more carefully, she suddenly widened her eyes in astonishment, instinctively raising a hand to cover her parted lips.

Influenced by those questions Ji Qingzhou had asked her the day before, Jin Bao'er had assumed the Western dress he'd designed would lean toward the risqué—something like those blonde, blue-eyed foreign women on the advertisement boards of Western goods shops, baring their chests, shoulders, arms, even their thighs.

Who would have guessed—the Western dress in this drawing was actually quite proper, its style even elegant and understated, and yet it somehow still struck the eye with a bold, vivid visual impact.

On the pristine white sketch paper, a woman with deep, striking features stood with her face turned languidly to the side, her hands in white lace gloves—one resting on her hip, the other lifted casually—her legs crossed as she stood.

She wore a knee-length, vintage-style, waist-fitted dress, the collar a crossed notch-lapel style over the chest, with mid-length sleeves gathered moderately at the sleeve cap, giving a slight puffed-sleeve effect.

The shoulder line was flat and crisp, clearly requiring padded shoulders to achieve, while the skirt below used a seamless half-circle design, its pleats falling naturally to create better flow and movement—one could easily imagine just how effortlessly romantic the swing of the skirt would be while walking.

The entire garment, sash included, was rendered in the same pattern, and set against the large expanse of white polka-dot background, those touches of red at the lapel and cuffs stood out all the more strikingly.

Combined with the vivid red rose tucked into the model's dark hair at her temple, the whole design conveyed a dazzling sense of allure edged with danger, as if one careless glance might leave you utterly captivated, your soul stolen away by the woman in the drawing.

Jin Bao'er stood as if turned to stone, staring at the design for a full five or six minutes before slowly lifting her head, and sighed to the boss watching her:

"Seems I've come to the right place. Boss, this outfit you've designed is honestly even more fashionable than those Western paintings! It suits my taste perfectly, no need for any revisions."

Having voiced her thoughts so candidly, Jin Bao'er found herself feeling somewhat regretful afterward.

On her way there, she'd already made up her mind—no matter how beautiful the design the boss showed her turned out to be, she'd act reserved about it, keeping a straight face and discussing the price with cool detachment, all to guard against him raising the price on her at the last minute.

And yet, in the end, she still hadn't been able to hold back her surging enthusiasm.

"As long as you're satisfied." Ji Qingzhou pressed his lips together in a small smile—naturally, he was quite pleased too, to have his design win the customer's approval.

Feeling a touch of regret, Jin Bao'er let out a soft sigh, but as she looked at the design again, the corners of her mouth couldn't help curving upward once more.

She'd already begun picturing herself wearing this dress, gloves, and rose accessory, imagining just how beautiful and striking she'd look in the photograph, turning every head.

Originally, Jin Bao'er had only planned to have the Western dress made, figuring she'd handle the hairstyle and such herself, imitating whatever those foreign women in the pictorials did.

She hadn't expected the boss to go ahead and design even the hairstyle for her, let alone the shoes, accessories, and gloves as well!

That pair of white lace gloves in the drawing, along with the red lace-up high heels—how perfectly they matched the outfit!

Unfortunately, she didn't currently have the money to buy leather high heels, but fortunately, the photograph wouldn't capture her ankles anyway.

Jin Bao'er knew well enough that her strongest asset was her face and features, while her figure was only so-so, and she was on the shorter side too, so she planned to have the photo taken at most from the knees up.

Still, while the shoes could be dispensed with, the rose paired alongside it was the finishing touch, not something she could go without... and those white lace gloves were likewise rather exquisite and alluring.

Thinking this over, after a moment's hesitation, she asked Ji Qingzhou: "This dress I'm having made, does it include the gloves and this red flower for the hair?"

Ji Qingzhou had a rough guess as to what she was hesitating over, and said: "I can just tell you the price outright. The fabric cost for the dress runs about two yuan, the tailoring fee is three yuan, the rush fee is one yuan, and the rose hairpin and gloves are extra accessories, counted at half a yuan—so the whole set comes to six and a half yuan. See if that price works for you."

In truth, he would normally also charge a design fee, but guessing that she likely couldn't stretch to something like that, and considering the design for this particular dress hadn't taken him much time anyway, he decided to waive that charge—chalking it up to expanding his business.

The quoted price of six and a half yuan was half a yuan more than Jin Bao'er's original budget; had it been any other tailor, she likely would have haggled over the price upon hearing it.

But the design Ji Qingzhou had shown her was genuinely far more beautiful than she'd expected, and the pricing details he'd laid out so openly seemed reasonable enough, leaving her feeling that six and a half yuan for a set like this, however much it pained her wallet, was still worth it.

"I suppose I've only myself to blame for it, you being so good at business, matching everything together so perfectly for me. If I skip those two accessories now, it'll only feel like something's missing." Jin Bao'er let out a soft sigh, and finally made up her mind: "Then I'll take the whole set."

Ji Qingzhou nodded, unsurprised, and took out a tape measure from his tool basket: "Then let me get your measurements."

.

After seeing off the customer, Ji Qingzhou left Zhu Renqing to mind the shop, while he himself tucked some money into his pocket and headed out to a nearby foreign goods shop to pick out fabric.

Originally, his plan for the day's work had been to make the pattern sample for Shen Nanqi's formal gown, but now that a more urgent order had cut in, he had no choice but to prioritize this business first.

After wandering along Tongfu Road for a while, popping into two neighboring foreign goods shops in a row, Ji Qingzhou still hadn't found a polka-dot fabric that matched the design.

It wasn't until he reached the third fabric shop that he finally spotted a bolt of milky-white twill cotton printed with black polka dots.

Being an imported fabric, even though it was pure cotton, the price wasn't cheap.

Ji Qingzhou cut nine chi of the material, which came to one yuan six jiao two fen. The shop owner rounded down the odd change for him, charging him one yuan six.

Seeing how accommodating the owner was, he went on to pick out the red fabric for the collar and cuffs at the same shop.

Of the same fabric material, there were two shades of red to choose from—one a pure, true scarlet, the other a slightly orange-tinted sunset red.

Ji Qingzhou hesitated for a long while, finding it hard to decide, half-tempted to just cut a chi of both and take them back with him, but worried that doing so would push him over budget.

After repeatedly comparing them on the spot, he ultimately settled on the sunset red.

The reason was simple enough—this red was a touch more eye-catching, and once made into the rose, it would come across as more youthful and fiery.

Having bought the fabric, as soon as he returned to the shop, Ji Qingzhou handed the newly purchased material over to Zhu Renqing, saying: "Spray it with water and press it, the way I taught you, to pre-shrink it."

Zhu Renqing, who had been worrying about having nothing to do, responded eagerly at this: "Yes, sir."

Ji Qingzhou then wheeled the female mannequin form out into the open space of the shop, spread out the ready white muslin fabric on the table, took a sip of coffee from his cup twice, and set the cup down at the corner of the table.

Next, he picked up his pencil and wooden ruler, let out a breath facing the smoothed-out muslin, and said: "Alright, let's get to work!"

.

Compared to the earlier qipao and Western suit, this dress for Miss Jin was relatively simple and straightforward to make—one could even say it fell entirely within Ji Qingzhou's comfort zone.

First he worked out the cutting plan based on the design sketch, draping and constructing an initial pattern for the dress, joining the muslin pieces on the mannequin form and then making more detailed adjustments according to Jin Bao'er's body measurements.

Once he had a precise pattern, he moved on to laying out and cutting the fabric, followed by the usual process of sewing and pressing.

The twill cotton had a full, substantial feel to it, with a solid texture and decent drape as well, and was, moreover, easy to work with and low-maintenance in terms of care.

Working day and night, he finished the entire garment in under three days, with only the rose and gloves left still to be made.

That evening, in the east bedroom on the second floor, the light from the chandelier filtered through the sheer curtains and cast a hazy glow across the window glass.

After finishing his evening wash-up, Jie Yu'an settled into his usual spot to bask in the moonlight.

Across a small tea table, Ji Qingzhou sat with one leg crossed over the other, absorbed in his needlework, a small bamboo basket beside his leg. Aside from the pincushion, scissors, and other hand-sewing tools inside, the basket was filled entirely with scraps of red fabric.

On the stool beside the sofa, Huang Youshu sat holding a magazine, reciting a vernacular poem printed in it aloud, his rising and falling recitation filling the room.

At first, Huang Youshu had read without much variation in tone at all, but lately something had changed, because he'd noticed that his young master seemed to particularly enjoy the expressive, emotive tone Ji Qingzhou used when reading aloud.

Every time Ji Qingzhou read one of those foreign stories about that Sherlock fellow, the young master always listened with rapt attention.

So he, Huang Youshu, as the young master's personal attendant since childhood, naturally had to keep up with the times. He couldn't read foreign languages, but at the very least, when reading Chinese texts aloud, he ought to learn from Ji Qingzhou's example, adding more rhythm and variation in tone.

Just like those professional storytellers, resonant and forceful, each word landing with weight—that way the young master would find it more engaging to listen to as well.

Jie Yu'an, listening, was on the verge of falling asleep.

He thought to himself that he really had no ear for poetry after all—no matter how elegant the verses, he found it hard to feel any resonance with them.

Rather than passing the time listening to Huang Youshu recite poetry, chatting idly with Ji Qingzhou would be far more interesting.

Thinking this, he tapped his cane lightly against the floor twice, and once Huang Youshu stopped reading, said: "That's enough, off to bed with you."

"Yes, young master." Huang Youshu still seemed a bit reluctant to stop, and before closing the magazine, deliberately folded down the corner of the page, so he could pick up where he left off tomorrow.

After setting the magazine on the black walnut cabinet, he said to Ji Qingzhou: "Mr. Ji, if there's nothing else, I'll head back to my room now."

Ji Qingzhou nodded: "Go ahead."

As Huang Youshu's light footsteps receded, the room settled into a quiet stillness.

In the dark, the only sound to be heard was the faint rustle of Ji Qingzhou stitching together the rose accessory.

Jie Yu'an leaned back against his chair, expressionless, lost in thought. After a while, as if unable to bear the prolonged silence any longer, he spoke up first, asking: "Are you going down to work the sewing machine tonight?"

Ji Qingzhou shook his head: "Not tonight. The piece I've been busy with these past couple days is already finished, just need to finish this rose tonight and that's it."

"A rose?" Jie Yu'an's brow twitched slightly, catching onto the key word.

"A customer ordered it."

"What customer orders a rose from you? Aren't you a tailor?"

"It's an accessory, part of a full outfit set—perfectly normal to have it custom-made here, isn't it?"

Jie Yu'an fell silent for a moment, then asked again: "This customer who asked you to make the rose, male or female?"

"A customer's a customer, does it matter which? Why ask so precisely?"

Ji Qingzhou glanced over at him, and seeing him looking rather listless, said: "If you're tired, go on to bed, don't wait up for me."

"Aren't you flattering yourself. I'm just sitting here thinking."

"Alright, alright, you're not waiting for me... hiss." Ji Qingzhou's words cut off halfway, drawing a sharp breath, thinking to himself that Jie Yu'an really was his nemesis—it was precisely because of his endless idle chatter distracting his train of thought that he'd carelessly pricked his finger with the needle.

Hearing his sharp intake of breath, Jie Yu'an felt an inexplicable tightening in his chest: "What happened?"

"What do you think happened, got pricked by the needle. And it's all your fault, if you hadn't been pestering me, my attention wouldn't have wandered."

"...…"

Jie Yu'an, on the receiving end of this misplaced blame, fell silent for a moment, then finally retorted flatly: "Isn't it because you've been working yourself tired?"

"Even working myself tired, I could still thread ten needles a minute," Ji Qingzhou said dismissively, though behind the words he lifted a hand to rub at his eyes.

Though he wouldn't admit out loud that it was his own fatigue that had caused his lapse in focus, having stared at red for so long into the night, things had genuinely started to blur before his eyes.

He'd originally planned to finish the rose entirely tonight, but hearing what Jie Yu'an said, he changed his mind.

There were still two days left in the timeline anyway, no need to rush quite this hard.

Otherwise, if he damaged his eyesight, he and Jie Yu'an would end up as fellow sufferers in misfortune together.

So once he'd finished sewing the petal in his hand, he packed up his things, set the small bamboo basket on the tea table, stood up and stretched lazily, and said with a hint of teasing: "I'm done for tonight. Going to keep sitting there contemplating life?"

Jie Yu'an fell silent for a few seconds, then stood up with composure, cane in hand, and made his way toward the bed.

Seeing this, Ji Qingzhou inwardly snorted with amusement, and as he turned to draw the curtains, muttered: "And here he claimed he wasn't waiting for me. Stubborn as a dead duck's beak..."

"What did you say?" Jie Yu'an had actually heard him clearly, but feigned ignorance and asked again anyway.

"I said, you should get some sleep. Tomorrow starts the second phase of treatment, so get some rest early and build up your strength."

Ji Qingzhou was genuinely quite exhausted, and too tired to spar wits with him any further. He yawned and walked into the washroom.

Hearing this, Jie Yu'an found no good excuse to press the matter further either, and walked calmly to the bed, untying the gauze band before lifting the thin blanket and lying down.

After a while, Ji Qingzhou finished in the bathroom and came out, turned off the main light, and felt his way into bed in the dark.

The moment he lay down, Jie Yu'an, following the motion, turned onto his right side.

As the distance between them closed, a familiar fragrance drifted over faintly from beside him, cool and light, with a touch of sweetness underneath, and it made his nerves unconsciously relax.

Taking a few deep breaths, he hesitated for a few seconds before asking: "What perfume do you put on every night before bed?"

He thought this perfume might have some sleep-aiding effect, and that perhaps he could buy some to use in places like the study as well.

Hearing the voice by his ear, Ji Qingzhou first frowned in confusion, then caught on and let out a soft laugh, propping himself up on one elbow to ruffle his own hair and ask: "Is it this smell?"

The melon-like fragrance grew a touch clearer to Jie Yu'an, and he gave a soft "Mm-hm."

"That's just shampoo, you know? Who puts on perfume before bed, where'd you even come up with that idea."

"Shampoo?" Jie Yu'an repeated in confusion, unable to place what he meant for a moment.

"It's like soap, sort of—a liquid specifically for cleaning the scalp. If you're curious, I'll wash your hair with it tomorrow."

With that, Ji Qingzhou lay back flat on his pillow, letting out a faint sigh: "Though that bottle's almost used up, and I won't be able to find more of it after this."

Jie Yu'an caught a faint trace of dejection in his tone, and asked: "What brand is it?"

"There isn't one anymore. Discontinued."

"If it's an imported good, I could have someone track it down and bring it over."

"I told you, it can't be found, that's just how it is. Doesn't matter how capable you are."

Bringing this up stirred up a wave of hard-to-articulate emptiness in Ji Qingzhou's chest, and feeling somewhat irritated, he rolled over, turning his back to him: "Just go to sleep already, I'm exhausted."

"..…."

It wasn't often that his own good intentions got rebuffed like this, and Jie Yu'an lay back flat, feeling a bit stifled.

After a silence of two minutes, he spoke up again, feigning indifference: "Don't you feel like you've forgotten to say something?"

Ji Qingzhou had nearly drifted off to sleep by then, and jolted awake by his words, was about to snap at him, but catching his meaning, suddenly found it funny instead, and added, voice slightly hoarse: "Goodnight then, Jie Yuanyuan."

Jie Yu'an gave a noncommittal hum in response, and said nothing further after that.

Just like looking after a child...

Ji Qingzhou muttered inwardly, and not long after closing his eyes, drifted off into sleep.

T/N;

1) 'a woman with deep, striking features stood with her face turned languidly to the side, her hands in white lace gloves—one resting on her hip, the other lifted casually—her legs crossed as she stood', 'She wore a knee-length, vintage-style, waist-fitted dress, the collar a crossed notch-lapel style over the chest, with mid-length sleeves gathered moderately at the sleeve cap, giving a slight puffed-sleeve effect', 'The shoulder line was flat and crisp, clearly requiring padded shoulders to achieve, while the skirt below used a seamless half-circle design, its pleats falling naturally to create better flow and movement—one could easily imagine just how effortlessly romantic the swing of the skirt would be while walking', 'The entire garment, sash included, was rendered in the same pattern, and set against the large expanse of white polka-dot background, those touches of red at the lapel and cuffs stood out all the more strikingly', and 'Combined with the vivid red rose tucked into the model's dark hair at her temple, the whole design conveyed a dazzling sense of allure edged with danger'. The following are sketch and dress generated by AI based on the description for reference:

Previous | TOC | Next