Chapter 3 Not a Good Guy  

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A little past one o’clock in the morning, Hua Jin felt so sleepy that she decided to stop for the night.
She put away her needles and threads, showered and put on a facial mask.
She tried to fool herself into believing that applying one would cancel the adverse effects of her staying up late on her face. 

That night, she dreamt about that small blue-tiled house in her hometown and the meandering mountain road around it.
She ran and ran, trying to get out, but to no avail. 

The nightmare dampened her mood when she awoke that morning.
So much so that she was only able to down half a bowl of soy milk for breakfast–much lower than usual.
A text message suddenly arrived inviting her to a wedding.
It was from her former colleague, who she hasn’t talked to for years.
She didn’t even know how the other party got her number.
Now, they’ve recently been catching up over the phone. 

Initially, she assumed that this former colleague of hers only contacted her to sell her some insurance.
In the end, the woman never did.
Did she misunderstand this person? Not only did she not try to sell her anything, she even invited her to her wedding. 

Upon telling Tan Yuan about this when she arrived at the store, she remarked, “I knew it! People you knew in the past who suddenly appear out of nowhere are all up to something fishy!”

“Are weddings fishy? Not only are they joyous occasions, they are also lucky events.
My luck has been down recently and attending this wedding might just change all that.” Hua Jin yawned and took out two snack packs from her drawer.
She handed one to Tan Yuan, saying “When my luck comes back, I’ll be able to make bank everyday, be successful in everything, and marry a rich handsome man.” 

“Keep on daydreaming!” Tan Yuan shook her head and sighed.
“A beautiful woman like you can do anything she wants.
You were only into koi or pandas before, but now you’re already starting to pine for weddings! Don’t you know old superstitions can cause people harm?!”

Looking at the snack in her hand, Tan Yuan prattled on, “You truly are a loyal fan of this company! You buy their snacks, use their toothpaste, and not to mention you even prefer to stay at their hotels.
Luckily, you don’t have a lot of money, otherwise I bet you would even buy their jewelry.”

“If you don’t want to eat it, give it back.” Hua Jin’s eyes narrowed. 

“I’ll eat, I’ll eat.” Tan Yuan opened the snack and took two bites.
“Why not eat when it’s free?”

After Hua Jin washed her hands, she resumed her embroidery.
If she wants to produce impeccable products, there is no room for mistakes.
Though the client might not be able to tell the difference between an extra stitch here or one less stitch there, she could. 

Aunt Gao had once told her that as an embroiderer, each and every job was a crossroad.
Other people might not know if you tried your best, but you certainly would. 

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She was desperate during those days to get to the realm of Aunt Gao.
She was the one who allowed her to get this far by teaching her Shu Embroidery.
Hua Jin wants to never disappoint Aunt Gao or herself.

The days passed by and Hua Jin was able to complete two custom pieces.
The large red dragon and phoenix quilt have almost reached the half-way mark Her former colleague’s wedding date was also fast approaching. 

This former colleague recently dragged her into a WeChat group, which included two or three people she once worked with, but most were people unknown to her, so she never talked in the chat. 

　

At night, Hua Jin heard a notification from WeChat, and upon clicking it, saw that her former colleague had mentioned her specifically for reasons unknown. 

When she checked the chat records, she found that they were all flattering the bride, and congratulating her for marrying into an affluent family.
The fiancé was not only a local, he also already possessed a car and a house.
If she were to have children, their future education would not be a concern.

　　

The atmosphere in the group was very wholesome and Hua Jin felt that it was unnecessary for her to answer questions about her own marital status.
She opted to turn off her phone to continue searching for just the right colored threads to embroider the scales and feathers. 

Scale embroidery was a relatively ordinary technique in Shu Embroidery.
While learning it was easy, doing it had proven to be a challenging task.
The stitching was exceptionally strict, in both the threading technique and even the color gradients.

　

As she stood up to stretch her neck, the WeChat app rang again.
The colleague who had asked if she was married or not noticed the lack of reply and purposely inquired once again, even asking her where she was employed.

“Tsk.”

Hua Jin quickly replied. 

Jin Embroidery Hua: I am not married.
Simply doing business.

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Who wouldn’t pretend to be better off?

After a minute, the questioner replied.

Da Long: Hehe, you’re a beauty, and now your own boss.
You’re definitely way out of the league of average men.

Hua Jin: Yes.

Her curt reply killed the conversation.
Da Long managed to squeak a few more sentences, but made no further remarks after.
No one deliberately mentioned Hua Jin again.

Hua Jin sneered and put the phone away.
How do you deal with such a tedious colleague? Be a relentlessly chilly wind to snuff any ideas anyone might be having. 

On the day of the wedding, Hua Jin rushed to the hotel with a red envelope prepared.
Her former colleague had a gorgeous wedding dress, with a shawl draped over her shoulders since it was a bit cold.

Yang Lin was slightly puzzled when she saw a striking woman walking towards her.
Perhaps one of her husband’s relatives?

“Sister Yang, I wish you and your husband a good relationship for a hundred years!” Hua Jin handed her the red packet with a smile.
“I haven’t seen you for several years, but you’re getting more and more beautiful.”

“You are… Hua Jin?” Yang Lin was shocked, almost to disbelief.
When she first met Hua Jin, she was only 18 years old.
She was thin and her complexion sallow, and the clothes she wore were dirty and worn.
She couldn’t even speak the language well!

A vivid memory she had of Hua Jin was when she saw a customer pour a whole pot of soup on her when she was about to get off work.
She felt sorry for her, so she lent her a coat she wasn’t using often anymore.
She had expected the small girl to burst into tears that night, but instead she cheerfully thanked her.
A few days later, she returned her coat neatly ironed.

If it weren’t for this incident, she probably would have never recognized Hua Jin as the person in front of her.
She had happened upon Hua Jin’s contact information two months ago.
Since she herself didn’t have a lot of friends or family here, she thought it might be embarrassing for her husband’s family if she had too few guests from her side, so she decided to invite a few more people to make the ceremony a bit more grandiose.
Although she only broached the idea in passing, she hadn’t expected Hua Jin to accept so readily.

　

Though, what was really unexpected was that skinny little girl in the past has morphed into a woman with a water spirit.

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Yang Lin could not recall why Hua Jin resigned back then, but as she seemed to be living a good life now, she felt a little emotional.
A tad bit jealous, but mostly happy.

Giving Hua Jin a wedding candy, Yang Lin sincerely smiled.
“Thank you for coming! Please head to the third floor for the banquet.”

　

Hua Jin smiled and shook her head, “I should.”

Yang Lin laughed when she heard her say “should”.
To her, they didn’t have a deep enough relationship to have “obligations” between them.
At first, she only invited Hua Jin out of vanity.
She even regretted doing so because why would anyone come to an acquaintance’s wedding? 

The groom looked at the red envelope in his bride’s hand.
After Hua Jin left, he whispered, “Is that friend of yours available? I have several buddies that are still single.”

“I don’t know.” Yang Lin then remembered how her husband-to-be’s friends were usually and shook her head.
“They’re not suitable for her.”

In light of the reply, the groom did not ask any further questions.
Yang Lin then opened the red envelope and was surprised at the amount inside.

“Your friend’s quite generous.” He remarked.
“It’s even more than what your best friend gave.”

The cash felt hot in her hand.
Yang Lin was vexed on why Hua Jin would give them such a lavish wedding gift. 

Several relatives on the groom’s side witnessed this event and were also secretly flabbergasted.
It was rumored that the bride was from another town, came from a poor background, and did not have any wealthy friends.
So where in the world did such a generous friend pop out from?

It seems the rumors were untrue.
Since the bride was sociable and gorgeous, perhaps some disgruntled relatives spread these rumors because they envied the groom finding such a virtuous wife.
They tried to put her down to feel better about themselves.

Most weddings followed the same pattern, the only major difference is its scale.

When the bride threw the bouquet at the end, Hua Jin didn’t join the melee to catch it.
But when the groom started throwing out lucky red envelopes, she did not hesitate to scramble to pick up one or two of them.
Luck follows those who don’t give up.

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At the end of the wedding banquet, the newlyweds stood at the exit of the dining hall to see the guests off.
When Yang Lin saw Hua Jin coming out, she quickly grabbed her hand and said, “Hua Jin, you…” She wanted to ask her why she gave so much, but with her new husband and others still here, she hesitated to ask.

“You’ve been in heels all day today, so please remember to rest.” Hua Jin smiled.
“Back when I first started working, there were a lot of things I didn’t know.
I’m here now because you took care of me, Sister Yang.”

Hearing her say this, Yang Lin grew thoughtful.
Did she really take care of Hua Jin back then?

“I reckon you’ve still a lot to do today, so I won’t be taking up anymore of your time.
Call me when you have some free time,” Hua Jin said this while shaking her hand.
“Take care.”

“Wait!” Yan Lin just had to ask something.
“Back then, why did you suddenly quit?”

　

Hua Jin paused her footsteps.
She turned to face Yang Lin with a smile.
“Something just happened.”

At her answer, Yang Lin wanted to ask further, but a few more guests came that needed sending off.
After she finished, she tried to look for Hua Jin once more, but she was already gone.

After exiting the hotel, Hua Jin saw an unoccupied taxi approaching.
She was just about to hail it, but a man directly ran towards the taxi and got inside without waiting for it to come to a stop.

Hua Jin: “…”

She was dumbstruck as to why people would risk their lives just to snatch a taxi.

　

“Yo~ Miss Beautiful.
Where are you going? Want me to give you a ride?” A dazzling red sports car stopped right in front of her.
The driver was wearing an exquisite suit, but his tie was loose.
‘Dreamy Eyes’ donned an alluring smize. 

Drives a sports car.
Casually tries to pick up women on the roadside.
Dreamy eyes.

She could tell right away that this wasn’t a good guy.