The morning mist in the west city's dyehouse carried the scent of sour plums. Moli wrinkled her nose and stepped back from the steaming vats, only to see Huwa squatting on the rim of a vat, carving a "dye-protecting ghost face" onto every stirring paddle. His abacus bead eyes stared at the churning indigo water. "Sister Moli, look! Brother Fan says the ghost faces make the dye behave!"
Zhang Yifan stood by the dyehouse vat with his sleeves rolled up. The cord of his abacus bead pouch was already dyed a deep sapphire blue from dipping into the indigo. He shook a bamboo slip at Moli. "Watch closely. The magic of this Fermentation Dyeing Method lies in 'three dips and three sun-dryings'—" The abacus beads on the bamboo slip clicked into numbers. "The first dip lasts seven days to draw out the raw heat of the cloth; the second dip lasts ten days to let the indigo settle into its soul; the third—"
"Young master—no, Yifan," Boss Pei tapped the wooden door of the dyehouse with her ivory comb, the pearls on her gold hairpins trembling slightly with the motion. "The dyers say your method takes too much time. It would be better to stick to the old ways." Behind her stood several dyers gripping old dyeing manuals, their eyes full of doubt.
Chapter 96