The soft Wu dialect drifted through Embroidery Lane in Suzhou as Zhang Yifan's wooden ox caravan turned the corner past the carved gateway, its hooves making a crisp "clack-clack" sound against the bluestone pavement. The noise startled Huwa, who had been catching up on sleep sprawled across the ox's back, busy clumsily sewing embroidered satin onto the wooden ox's ears with stitches as crooked as crawling silkworms.
"You little rascal!" Zhang Yifan approached, clacking his abacus. "Did you rip up Xiaoxiu's Suzhou embroidery handkerchief?"
Huwa held up half a half-embroidered mask-patterned handkerchief, the corner still smeared with sweet-scented osmanthus sugar crumbs. "Brother Fan, look! A silk cloth embroidered with a ghost face. Bugs will definitely think it's a moving bug net when they see it!"
Chapter 39