trct_62

Chapter 62: A Dream Come True

By the time Ji Qingzhou had led Shi Xuanman and the other two women back downstairs from their tour, Luo Mingxuan, Qiu Wenxin, Yuan Shaohuai, and Jiang Xuehong had already claimed the four chairs by the butterfly table and started up a game of cards.

Seeing the table and chairs taken over, the three young women settled together onto the leather sofa instead, nibbling on pastries and chatting.

The temperature wasn't high today, so just the breeze from the electric fan was enough to keep things cool, and the guests' spirits were correspondingly high.

"Whose deck of cards is this?" Ji Qingzhou strolled over to the table and asked Song Youling, who was standing by watching the game.

"This gentleman's, naturally." Song Youling draped an arm over Yuan Shaohuai's shoulder, teasing, "Brother Yuan here said I know how to work a room, but I say you're the truly clever one. The grand opening gift was paid for by our newspaper office, and you still went and got a brand-new deck of cards specially."

Yuan Shaohuai laughed good-naturedly. "That's right, I picked it out, Brother Xin footed the bill, consider it a gift from all of us!"

Ji Qingzhou shook his head with a smile. "Just having you all here to celebrate is more than enough, no need to fuss over that."

"Brother Qingzhou, why don't you sit down and play a couple rounds? I'll give you my seat in a bit," Jiang Xuehong offered.

Ji Qingzhou glanced sideways at Jie Yu'an, who was sitting on the sofa, and said, "No need, you all go ahead and play!"

With that, he picked up a glass from the tea table, poured himself a cup of half-cooled coffee, and sat down on the arm of the sofa beside Jie Yu'an.

Jie Yu'an sensed someone approaching beside him—though the other man made no sound at all, and all he could smell was the ordinary scent of coffee, he could still instinctively tell who it was.

So the moment Ji Qingzhou settled onto the arm of the sofa, Jie Yu'an shifted slightly aside, leaving a narrow gap of space open for him.

"What's this supposed to mean, Bao-gege, having me sit here?" he asked in a low voice.

"How thoughtful of you, but this spot's much too small. Why don't you just sit in my lap instead?"

Considering there were a few ladies nearby, he kept his teasing voice pitched very low, even though there was a steady buzz of noise coming from the card table.

Jie Yu'an felt his slightly low, husky voice brushing against his ear like a feather, and instinctively reached out to hold his hand, hoping to ease that inexplicable itch in his heart—only to grasp at empty air.

"Lots of people around. Mind yourself," he reminded him in a low voice, then, as if nothing were amiss, lifted his arm and rested it along the back of the sofa.

Who would've expected that the inside of his wrist would just happen to brush against the small of the other man's back as it slid down, and the naturally cupped palm was instantly met with a certain particular sensation.

The silky fabric of the clothing carried a faint trace of body warmth—it was only the lightest of touches, the sensation not even especially pronounced—yet Jie Yu'an drew back sharply as though scalded, a wave of numbness prickling across his skin.

Ji Qingzhou hadn't noticed the movement at all, taking a sip of his coffee and continuing on casually, as if in idle chat: "Oh, mind yourself with lots of people around, so at home it'd be fine, then?"

"Of course not fine either," Jie Yu'an said, his voice low and calm, carrying a deliberately feigned composure.

"Then why bother saying all that? Why not just say 'don't come near me' straight out?" Ji Qingzhou shot back, standing up and setting his cup down on the tea table.

Just then, Shi Xuanman turned her head and asked him, "Mr. Ji, that banner outside said something about a gift with custom orders, what exactly is the gift? Could you tell us?"

"Ah, that gift—it's not any one fixed item. It depends on what accessories would suit the garment the customer's having made, and then I put together a matching piece for her," Ji Qingzhou explained, sitting back down on the arm of the sofa.

Not paying attention, he ended up sitting a bit further back than before, his arm now pressed right up against someone else's.

Jie Yu'an's whole body went stiff. He neither pulled his arm back nor dared to move it carelessly.

"Hearing you say that makes me want to order another outfit," Shi Xuanman said. Though she didn't actually need any new clothes at the moment, she was quite intrigued by this gift-with-order promotion, feeling that with Mr. Ji's thoughtful skill and creativity, it was bound to be a nice little surprise. "Is your schedule pretty full these days?"

"Not too many orders lined up, but the turnaround time will be fairly long, about a month and a half, so roughly toward the end of next month." Ji Qingzhou could tell Shi Xuanman's request was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and after a moment's thought, gently advised, "I'll be taking on costume design work for a film crew after this, so I won't have much free time."

Hearing the latter half of what he said, Shi Xuanman caught his meaning.

So Mr. Ji has already passed the audition with that film production... he's hinting that if I pass the female lead selection, there'll be plenty of beautiful custom costume accessories down the line anyway, no need to specially spend money on this now?

As Shi Xuanman thought this through, she saw the gentleman across from her, in his pale turquoise long robe, smile and wink at her, and immediately felt certain her guess was right.

She couldn't help but break into a smile. "Alright then, since you're so busy these days, I'll come find you to order something once I actually need it."

Ji Qingzhou was just about to nod when Shi Xuanman continued, "Though Birong doesn't mind the long wait, before we came, she mentioned wanting to order a Western-style dress from you, something new for after autumn sets in. Right, Birong?"

"Mm." Fang Birong had just been hesitating over whether to bring this up—everyone who'd come today seemed to be here purely to socialize and make friends, so she'd felt a little shy about mentioning buying clothes. Now that her friend had brought up what she needed on her behalf, she quickly voiced her agreement.

"Autumn wear, is it? Of course, that can be arranged." Ji Qingzhou replied, then turned to the young lady in the pale-yellow dress and asked, "Do you have any requirements for the style? Is it for some particular occasion, or everyday wear?"

"Just something to wear out day-to-day, right around the start of autumn," Fang Birong said, her tone gentle.

Having thought it through beforehand, she now stated her requirements without hesitation: "The clothes I usually wear tend to be either plain and elegant, or on the more youthful side. This time I'd like something a bit more mature, the colors and patterns should be fairly understated, but not too dark either. I don't think black or dark blue really suit me."

Ji Qingzhou waited patiently for her to finish, studying her for a moment in thought before saying, "I understand. Give me a moment."

He then stood up, went to the drawer of the cabinet by the wall, and took out a sketchbook he kept there, along with a fountain pen from the pen holder. Returning to his seat, he crossed one leg over the other, and as he flipped open the sketchbook, sketching out a slender-figured model in a few strokes on the blank page, he asked the customer, "Does Miss Fang usually enjoy reading or writing?"

He asked this to confirm whether she might be that well-known contemporary popular fiction writer.

Fang Birong was somewhat taken aback at the question. She did enjoy reading, her friends around her all knew that much, but her writing she did entirely on her own, and no one else knew about it.

Still, it wasn't exactly some shameful secret that couldn't be known to others, so she gave a soft "Mm" in response.

"Have you read Sherlock Holmes?"

"I, I have."

"What do you think of the English style, then?" Ji Qingzhou asked, looking at Fang Birong. Seeing her expression turn blank, as though she didn't quite follow what he meant, he rephrased: "The Western literary sort of air."

The moment Fang Birong heard this, she felt Boss Ji truly understood what she'd meant, and couldn't help nodding with a smile. "Yes, exactly, that's the kind of style I had in mind."

Hearing this, Ji Qingzhou set his pen to paper with confidence.

Since it was meant for early autumn wear, lightness would still be the priority.

Thinking of autumn, thinking of steadiness and calm, warm and gentle brown tones were undoubtedly the best fit.

Though he wasn't ready to add color yet, the image of the outfit had already taken shape in his mind as he sketched.

A long-sleeved linen shirt in chocolate brown, paired with a dark gray thin wool-blend vest, and finished with a straight-cut skirt in a young-mature style, its fabric matching that of the vest, cut on the bias so the skirt's lines would flow smoothly with more drape.

A brown leather belt at the waist, onto which a small waist pouch matching the skirt's fabric could be clipped.

As for the skirt's color and pattern, Ji Qingzhou thought back to the thin wool-blend fabrics he'd seen at the foreign goods shop... one striped variety in particular would suit perfectly.

Against a light tan base, evenly spaced stripes in caramel red and olive green—a color scheme with a distinctly academic feel.

With the skirt hem falling at mid-calf, it would need to be paired with solid or plaid mid-calf socks, which could then work with either mid-heeled leather shoes or plain flats.

At this point in the drawing, Ji Qingzhou glanced up to study Miss Fang's face shape, and finally added a newsboy cap onto the model.

The newsboy cap's slightly curved, generous brim would flatter a round face shape nicely, making the facial contours appear more delicate and refined, while its unisex design would also add polish to the whole outfit, giving it a more youthful, fashionable feel.

"There we go."

Though there was plenty of time, since Ji Qingzhou hadn't yet brought his gouache paints over from the Jie residence, he wasn't able to color in the design sketch just then, and simply handed the sketchbook directly to Fang Birong, explaining the coloring and pattern of each piece to her.

Ever since he'd started drawing, Fang Birong's heart had been full of anticipation, but out of respect for his creative space, even knowing the outfit was being designed for her, she hadn't leaned over to peek.

Not until Ji Qingzhou handed her the sketchbook did she, in the same motion as reaching out to take it, glance down at the fashion sketch on the page—and her lips parted slightly in surprise.

"This top looks just like a men's suit jacket..." Fang Birong murmured softly.

"The hat's quite masculine too—no, actually, the whole outfit looks rather like menswear, except for the skirt," Shi Xuanman remarked, tilting her head to study it. "But it's so fashionable, clean and sharp, with such a literary air to it."

Song Yu'er, not being particularly close with the other two, had originally felt too shy to go look at someone else's design sketch, but hearing them discuss it with such astonishment, she finally couldn't resist edging closer to the two of them.

Seeing this, Fang Birong didn't hide it either, generously showing it to her.

The moment Song Yu'er laid eyes on it, her eyes lit up: "What a fresh, original style!"

The cut hugging close to the body's contours, the delicate and subtle details—the pairing of shirt and vest resembled a men's suit somewhat, yet worn here it came across unexpectedly graceful and refined.

And the drawing style of the design sketch itself was just as distinctive and original, striking right at the heart of her own aesthetic sensibilities.

So it really was true—Mr. Ji was exactly the teacher she'd been dreaming of, wasn't he?

With this thought, Song Yu'er stole a glance at the elegant, refined man sitting on the arm of the sofa, secretly harboring both excitement and unease.

Ji Qingzhou listened quietly to their discussion for a moment. Though both Shi Xuanman and Song Yu'er seemed to approve of the design, what mattered most was Miss Fang's own feelings on the matter.

This particular design was, admittedly, on the more androgynous side by the standards of women at the time—even female students with fairly progressive views might not necessarily embrace it.

He noticed that Fang Birong had only spoken once throughout, and guessed she might not be too fond of the style, so he said, "If you don't like it, Miss Fang, feel free to say so. I can revise it."

"No, it's not that. I really do like it," Fang Birong said, her face flushing slightly.

"Really?" Ji Qingzhou asked, as if to confirm. "Since it's a custom piece, I'll certainly keep revising it until you're satisfied, no need to force yourself to like it."

"No, I truly do like it." Fang Birong, worried he might misunderstand her attitude, hastened to explain: "At first glance I thought it seemed quite bold and avant-garde, but after looking closely, I felt this outfit you've drawn is actually rather dignified and elegant—especially the way the vest, skirt, and hat come together, it immediately brought to mind some of the foreign books I've read before. I'm delighted. This is exactly the kind of dress I wanted. Please go ahead and make it just like this."

Hearing this shy young woman suddenly string together such a long explanation, Ji Qingzhou was finally certain she was indeed satisfied with the design, and the corners of his mouth lifted. "Alright, since you like it, I'll make it just as it is. As for the price, I'll check on fabric costs afterward and discuss it with you then."

"Mm." Fang Birong nodded her head decisively, then, after one last glance at the sketch, handed the sketchbook back to its owner with a sense of pleasant anticipation.

Ji Qingzhou put away his drawing tools, stood up, and went to return them to the cabinet drawer.

Just then, a sudden burst of raucous laughter erupted from the card table. He was about to go over and see what was going on, but as he turned around, he found Song Yu'er, her two braided pigtails resting on her shoulders, had somehow come to stand beside him without his noticing.

She stood with her head slightly lowered, her face flushed red, her lively almond eyes glancing at Ji Qingzhou again and again, looking as though she wanted to say something but didn't know how to begin.

Seeing this, Ji Qingzhou waited by the cabinet at his leisure, asking in a gentle tone, "Is there something you need, Miss Song?"

"There's... a request I'd like to make..." she stammered.

Faced with a man she'd only just met, Song Yu'er truly felt too embarrassed to bring up wanting to be his student right off the bat. Her brother had said he'd help her find a teacher when they'd come, yet now, utterly unreliable, he'd gone off to sit at the card table playing poker.

She hesitated for a good ten-odd seconds, then lifted her eyes to meet Ji Qingzhou's questioning gaze, and summoning her courage, said, "It's like this, I've always loved making clothes... I really love your design sketches. Could you, could you take me on as your student?"

T/N:

1). "A long-sleeved linen shirt in chocolate brown, paired with a dark gray thin wool-blend vest, and finished with a straight-cut skirt in a young-mature style, its fabric matching that of the vest, cut on the bias so the skirt's lines would flow smoothly with more drape", "A brown leather belt at the waist, onto which a small waist pouch matching the skirt's fabric could be clipped", "As for the skirt's color and pattern, the thin wool-blend fabrics... one striped variety in particular", "Against a light tan base, evenly spaced stripes in caramel red and olive green—a color scheme with a distinctly academic feel", "With the skirt hem falling at mid-calf, it would need to be paired with solid or plaid mid-calf socks, which could then work with either mid-heeled leather shoes or plain flats", and "The newsboy cap's slightly curved, generous brim would flatter a round face shape nicely, making the facial contours appear more delicate and refined, while its unisex design would also add polish to the whole outfit, giving it a more youthful, fashionable feel." The following are sketch and dress generated by AI based on the description for reference:

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