The morning mist in the East Market had not yet cleared when the gilded sign of the Hongxiu Weaving Workshop already glittered in the sunlight. Xiao Moli looked at the three brocade carriages parked before the door, her fingertips unconsciously tightening around her cuffs. Those carriages were all embroidered with Pei Hongxiu's signature twin lotus pattern, their petal edges outlined in gold thread—making them ten times grander than any coarse-cloth merchant caravan from the West Market.
"Scared?" Zhang Yifan rattled his abacus bead pouch, his cyan robe pinned with a newly carved merchant protection figurine by Huwa, its abacus bead eyes wide open. "Though Pei Hongxiu's looms are fast, they cannot weave fabrics that smile." Huwa squatted on the threshold, using a carving knife to chisel a "threshold-guarding grimace" into the sole of a shoe. "Miss Xiao, do not worry! Brother Fan says our dyeing method is sharper than her comb!"
Pushing open the door, a blend of sandalwood and woven brocade fragrance rushed over them. Twenty looms emitted a rhythmic clacking sound, and the twin lotus patterns on the brocades rippled in the morning light. Pei Hongxiu leaned casually against the carved railing, tapping it rhythmically with an ivory comb, her gold hairpins swaying gently with the motion. "I wondered who it might be. So it is the young fellow from the West Market who loves carving grimaces."
Chapter 95