Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

Li Qiong was surprised. She looked at Li Guihua beside her and asked, ”Aunt Li, Nuanyue is willing to teach such a wonderful craft to everyone in the village, but it seems like nobody wants to learn. There are so few people here!”

Hearing this, Li Guihua felt a pang of bitterness. It was clearly a good opportunity, but some of the women had been swayed by Liu Lanhua and Wang Cuihua. They thought it was a waste of time, that no one would want such flower baskets these days, so learning to make them was pointless. As a result, many refused to learn. Others were pregnant and didn’t want to do anything they considered tiring.

”Sigh, they’re so shortsighted,” Li Guihua lamented. ”You can never have too many skills. They’re given this chance to learn a craft and they don’t appreciate it. I tried to persuade them, but it was no use. Still, we have almost twenty people here, young and old. Let’s focus on learning. Once we start making money, we’ll make the others green with envy. They’ll be begging to learn then.”

Li Qiong listened and nodded. ”Yes, you’re right. Not everyone is as farsighted as you are. Once they see the light, they’ll be eager to learn. Nuanyue’s methods aren’t difficult; it shouldn’t take long to master them. I heard Nuanyue mention it before—the most important things are good materials and good designs. The actual weaving isn’t hard.”

While learning from Zhao Nuanyue, Li Guihua smiled and said, ”Exactly! See? Even I can do it. If you learn diligently and put your heart into it, it’s a real skill. Who knows, maybe we can even pass it down to our children and grandchildren one day!”

Li Qiong agreed completely and focused on learning alongside the other villagers.

Li Qiong knew that her family could offer her very little support, so she never expected any help from them. Here in the remote Nianqiao Village, she understood perfectly that the principle ’you can never have too many skills’ applied everywhere.

Li Qiong might not have been the cleverest, but she was definitely practical and understood her own circumstances.

More than a dozen women and a few older girls followed Zhao Nuanyue’s instruction, studying with great concentration. Women have a natural fondness for small, beautifully shaped, and brightly colored objects, so they were diligent students and picked it up quickly.

After just three or four days of learning to weave these baskets, they could already make some simple items.

As they learned to weave, Zhao Nuanyue also taught them how to treat the willow branches to create different shades of color.

About ten days later, everyone had become quite proficient.

Liu Lanhua cracked pumpkin seeds as she sneered to the women beside her, ”Look at that Li Guihua, working people like they’re livestock. She’s making them learn to make useless things that will never sell for a dime.”

”That’s right. They say someone from the county town is supposed to come buy them, or that they’ll be taken elsewhere to sell, but they can’t sell a single one right now,” Wang Cuihua chimed in. ”We women have our fieldwork, our cooking, and our families—young and old—to look after. The little free time we get, we’re dragged over here to learn this nonsense. They’re being toyed with but don’t dare complain. It’s pathetic!”

”You have a point, but it’s not that simple. After all, Aunt Li means well,” another woman, who was pregnant, said as she walked over. Although she hadn’t joined the lessons herself, her little nun had. ”The things she’s woven to hold stuff at home are actually really pretty.”

Liu Lanhua was annoyed. She pursed her lips and retorted, ”If it’s so great, why aren’t you learning? Why just send your little nun?”

The woman rested a hand on her waist and said smugly, ”Heh, I’m carrying a future scholar in my belly. I certainly can’t tire myself out.”

The others looked at the woman with contempt. She was known for treating her little nun poorly, constantly ordering her around and being exceptionally harsh.

Just as they were busy gossiping, a few people pushing bicycles passed by.

Zhou Jian Country was pushing his bicycle and spotted Li Guihua from a distance. He immediately started shouting, ”Aunt Li! Aunt Li! Get Uncle Miao over here, quick! I’ve got good news!”

Hearing Zhou Jian Country’s voice, Li Guihua’s head snapped up, her face ecstatic. She turned to her daughter and said, ”Minglan, go get your Uncle Miao. Tell him the people from the county factory are here!”

”Okay!” Li Minglan answered cheerfully. She knew how much effort her mother had poured into promoting the basket weaving, only to be misunderstood by the villagers. ’Judging by Zhou Jian Country’s expression, this must be good news,’ she thought. ’Finally, I won’t have to see Mom sighing in secret anymore.’

Zhou Jian Country saw Zhao Nuanyue helping everyone with their weaving and gave her an appreciative look. ”Mr. Zhao, thank you for your hard work,” he said. ”This is going to make Nianqiao Village famous!”

”Heh, it’s no trouble. I’m just teaching everyone; it’s not tiring at all,” Zhao Nuanyue said with a smile. Even so, despite being careful, her fingers had grown a little rough.

The women who had been gossiping with Liu Lanhua were stunned to see people from the county town arrive.

’Oh my, could the county factory have actually agreed?’

’If that’s true, how much money could we get in a year?’

They stopped cracking their seeds and hurried over to eavesdrop on what the official from the county town had to say.

Miao Dahai rushed over as soon as he got Li Minglan’s message. He was delighted to see Zhou Jian Country and went forward to shake his hand. ”Welcome, Mr. Zhou! We’re honored to have you inspect our village!”

”Uncle Miao, you’re too kind,” Zhou Jian Country said with a smile. He pulled a contract from his bag, his expression thrilled. ”Uncle Miao, after an official appraisal, it’s been determined that your village’s willow baskets have excellent decorative value. Not only is the city factory heavily promoting them, but some staff from our head factory happened to see them. They made an on-the-spot decision to buy as many as you can produce.”

At these words, Miao Dahai, Li Guihua, and the many onlookers were ecstatic.

”Thank you to the county factory for your support, and thank you, Mr. Zhou.” Although Miao Dahai was thrilled, as an older and more experienced village official, he quickly composed himself. He took the document and looked at it, only to be stunned all over again. ”My goodness! Fifty cents for anything under half a chi, one yuan for over a chi, and one-fifty for larger, more complex ones!”

A woman could weave two of the large baskets in a day. That’s three yuan!

The women nearby heard this, and their eyes lit up. ’Good heavens, that’s so much money!’ they thought. ’Even if we don’t get all of it, we should at least get a third!’

The women immediately began to whisper amongst themselves, calculating how much they could earn in a day, and then in a month. The figures left them ecstatic.

Miao Dahai had deliberately read the contract aloud in front of everyone. He wanted them all to understand that the village committee’s decisions were carefully considered and meant to benefit the villagers, unlike the rumors some people were spreading—that the village leaders were just bored and looking for ways to torment people to flex their authority.

Li Guihua quickly invited the visitors from the county into the house to talk things over more comfortably. Li Minglan helped by serving tea. Perhaps because she was too excited, some of the steaming tea splashed onto Zhou Jian Country’s hand.