Luo Jingyu gave Zhan Xi a brief introduction. The girl's embossing technique actually belonged to another school and was more popular in Europe.
He thought for a long time and typed to Zhan Xi: Barlotte
Zhan Xi: “?”
She also typed: Baroque
Luo Jingyu slapped her forehead, shook her head and laughed at herself, and signed in shame: You are right.
Zhan Xi did some searching on the Internet and found out that the embossing school had a strong Baroque style and advocated luxurious and grand artistic effects with strong visual stimulation. The flower shape they were best at was roses, all kinds of roses.
If we use paintings as an analogy, Luo Jingyu's style is traditional freehand ink painting, while the girl's style is Western oil painting with heavy ink and colors.
Zhan Xi knows that the cultural and artistic industry is all-encompassing, and different art forms have various branches, even such a niche hot stamping. There is no good or bad between schools, but the techniques and performance styles are different.
Zhan Xi understood what Luo Jingyu meant. Flowers like that were beautiful, but he didn't like them, so he chose to learn the school taught by Xu Qingyan, and he would not be hostile to him. Everyone makes a living based on their own abilities. At such an exhibition, Luo Jingyu only needs to do her best.
After leaving the exhibition hall, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi went to eat first.
They were busy from morning till night that day, and their bodies were wet and dry, dry and wet, and they were almost covered in dust.
Luo Jingyu felt very sorry. She looked at Zhan Xi. She was a well-dressed white-collar worker when she worked in the company, but now she was following him, wearing a dirty T-shirt and casual pants, without any makeup. She had even pierced her hand with a splinter when she was moving things before, but she didn't complain. She just put on a Band-Aid and continued to work.
After sitting down in the small restaurant, Luo Jingyu took Zhan Xi's hand and took off the Band-Aid to look at her wound. The wound was quite deep and a little blood flowed when it was pierced. He looked up at her and Zhan Xi smiled at him: "It's okay, it's just a small cut, it doesn't hurt anymore."
Luo Jingyu thought for a long time and said in sign language: The exhibition is over and I want to give you money.
Zhan Xi was confused: "Ah?"
Luo Jingyu herself felt it was strange to say that, but if she didn't say it, she really couldn't get over it, so her sign language became lighter and lighter, as if she was saying in a weak tone: I'll give you your salary.
"No need for that!" Zhan Xi covered his mouth and smiled until his eyes narrowed. "Really, Xiaoyu, I'm actually very happy with what I did this time and learned a lot. We shouldn't be so clear about the difference. You paid for all the expenses of the exhibition. You've been spending so much recently and I just spent some time on it. If the situation changes and I ask you to help me, will you ask me for salary?"
Luo Jingyu naturally wouldn't do that.
But Zhan Xi's help to him is not just limited to helping him. She treats this matter as her own business. If it weren't for her, things would not have gone so smoothly.
He was in a dilemma. Zhan Xi held his hand and said with a smile, "Xiao Yu, don't think too much. Let's finish the exhibition first. This is a good opportunity. It will allow more people to see you and it may be a turning point for your career. Forget about the salary. How about this, when we are free, you can treat me to a trip as a thank you, how about it?"
Let’s go out for some fun… Luo Jingyu thought, this doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
He finally nodded, gave Zhan Xi an "ok" gesture, and stopped worrying about the matter.
—
After two days of exhibition preparation, the Qiantang Makers Festival opened in a grand ceremony at the Convention and Exhibition Center on the morning of July 17.
The exhibition started to build momentum in May. It was large-scale and nationwide. Various TV stations and various print and online news platforms sent reporters to cover the event. The open-air opening ceremony in the square was quite grand. Several provincial and municipal leaders came, and celebrities were invited to perform, attracting a large number of fans and visitors.
Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xilao arrived at the venue early in the morning and, together with all the exhibitors, made final adjustments and arrangements for their booths.
Zhanxi has posted three days of activities, with one interest class experience each morning and afternoon. It is a paid program, with two to three people each time and a duration of two hours. Reservations can be made in advance and the fee is 400 yuan per person.
The flower patterns for the experience class are displayed in the form of pictures on the course schedule. There are introductory single-branch flower making and small embossed flower jewelry, which customers can take away after finishing.
Every afternoon, Luo Jingyu will give a live demonstration of hot stamping production from start to finish, and the content of the demonstration will be announced in advance.
He also made some finished products specifically for this exhibition, all of which are related to the theme of the booth, clearly marked with prices, and can be purchased directly.
All guests who participate in the trial class and purchase products can participate in the final lucky draw after leaving their contact information. The grand prize is a hot-stamped ornament custom-made by Teacher Luo, which will be ordered by the lucky winner.
Other visitors who follow and forward the exhibition tweets of "Xiyu Hot Flower" on site, or take photos of the booth and send them to their friends, can also participate in the daily lucky draw, with prizes of several small brooches.
Before the venue opened, everything was ready and Zhan Xi went to the bathroom.
She washed her face, put on makeup directly in the bathroom, and went to the cubicle to change her clothes.
After coming out of the bathroom, Zhan Xi was quite shy and walked hurriedly back to the booth. When Luo Jingyu turned around and saw her, a smile immediately broke out on her face.
Zhan Xi was wearing a lotus pink Song Dynasty Hanfu, which consisted of a tube top, a long jacket, and a folded skirt. It was a cool summer style, almost solid color, with only some small embroidery of lotus elements on the neckline, which was embroidered by Yan Yajuan herself with the permission of the store to match the theme of the booth.
She had long hair draped over her shoulders and her makeup was light, but her eyes were as bright as ink. She smiled at Luo Jingyu with her teeth showing, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Luo Jingyu stared at her smiling face and couldn't take her eyes away.
Zhan Xi had only tried it on for him at home, and now she was so embarrassed that she almost hid behind him, whispering, "Oh, this is my first time wearing it outside, I'm so embarrassed, does it look good?"
Luo Jingyu looked her up and down and said in sign language: Very beautiful!
He pulled Zhan Xi to sit on the chair, picked up the comb and hair tie that he had prepared long ago, and carefully combed her hair. This time, the bun was more complicated than the one during the Flower Festival. Luo Jingyu's gestures were very light. After combing, he picked up a lotus hairpin and carefully inserted it into Zhan Xi's bun.
The lotus on the hairpin was made of hot flowers, very small, and was the only ornament on Zhan Xi's body. Luo Jingyu finally combed Zhan Xi's long hair, brought her a mirror, and asked for her opinion with her eyes.
"It looks good!" Zhan Xi turned his head in front of the mirror, "Xiao Yu, you are amazing. I think you should stop doing perm treatments and open a styling studio. I guess you can make a living there."
Luo Jingyu smiled so much that her eyes curved.
Zhan Xi stood up, straightened her skirt, and asked Luo Jingyu: "It's about to start, Xiaoyu, are you ready?"
Luo Jingyu nodded to her.
"Don't be nervous, I'm here with you. Just make flowers like you usually do." Seeing that there were no people around, Zhan Xi hugged Luo Jingyu's waist, stood on tiptoe and kissed his lips.
There was a little lipstick mark on his lips. He licked it with his tongue and it tasted strange.
"It will go well." Zhan Xi said again, "Have confidence, Xiaoyu."
Luo Jingyu nodded again and turned to look at the huge venue. Each booth was ready to open. The staff and booth owners were walking around. Some were taking pictures, some were setting up, and some were chatting...
Zhan Xi told him that there was music playing in the venue, sometimes cheerful and sometimes passionate, and there was also a radio broadcasting various activity information. Luo Jingyu couldn't hear, so Zhan Xi would pick out the important ones and tell them to him.
She said she was his ears and mouth, and she said she would always be here.
She told him not to worry, and that as long as she was there, he should just quietly attend class and make flowers.
She boasted that she knew everything now and was the Wang Yuyan of the hot flower world! Luo Jingyu didn't even know who Wang Yuyan was, so she searched for her name and laughed for a long time after finding out.
Looking at Zhan Xi's confident look, he felt that she was probably Wang Yuyan, the fairy sister, the most beautiful, fairy-like and lovely! She was his little fairy.
The venue finally opened and the first wave of visitors poured in.
Each section of the Maker Festival has distinct features, and most booths have interactive projects that quickly attract visitors to have fun.
The booth experience in the handmade market section was extremely lively. Although most items were charged, many popular stalls were still surrounded by visitors.
Charging is not all for the purpose of making money, the greater purpose is to control the number of people experiencing the project. After all, most projects are very time-consuming. It is handmade, and it will take at least one or two hours to make a simple small object.
Luo Jingyu's booth started the first trial class at 10 o'clock. No one had signed up yet, but two old friends came first - Sister Shao and Sister Xiao Zhu.
The two sisters searched for a long time before finding this booth. When they looked at it from afar, they were amazed.
The booth was so small that it only had a 1.5-meter-long white table and a depth of 2 meters. It was decorated in Chinese style by Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi.
Luo Jingyu sat behind the table, with a classical screen behind her. On the screen was a detailed lotus pond pattern, which was very suitable for the current solar term.
The embossing materials and tools were neatly arranged on the table, and the only exhibit was a lotus pot.
More decorations are developed in the three-dimensional space. There are no partitions between each booth in this exhibition. Only pillars and a ceiling similar to a sunshade are used to separate them. Luo Jingyu fixed large lotus flowers, lotus pods and lotus leaves on the pillars, and also made a few dragonflies with embossing to rest on them, which means "the little lotus has just shown its pointed corners, and there are already dragonflies standing on them."
The most eye-catching one is actually Zhanxi.
She was standing gracefully beside the booth in an ancient-style dress, waving a lotus green round fan in her hand. When she saw Sister Shao and Sister Zhu, she immediately covered her face with the fan.
Sister Shao was so happy: "Wow! Where did this He Xiangu come from? Hahahaha... She's already dressed! Why are you still shy?"
Zhan Xi lowered her fan, revealing only her two big, blinking eyes, and greeted them sweetly, "Sister Shao, Sister Xiao Zhu, are you here?"
"That's great, very thoughtful! Xiao Zhan, you look very beautiful in this outfit!" Sister Shao praised repeatedly, and then asked Luo Jingyu, "Whose idea was this?"
Luo Jingyu pointed at Zhanxi, and she was so embarrassed that she covered her face with her round fan, and said a colloquialism in the Wu dialect area: "Sister Shao, we are just doing the Taoist temple in a snail shell, don't laugh at me!"
"I can't praise you enough. You are so capable, why would I laugh at you?" Sister Shao looked at Luo Jingyu again and asked with a smile, "Why doesn't Xiaoyu wear Hanfu?"
Luo Jingyu was wearing casual clothes, a pure white T-shirt and jeans, and her hair was cut short, looking very clean and fresh. At this moment, she was looking at her with a smile. Zhan Xi explained: "He has to work, and he is afraid that it will be too hot to wear Hanfu."
Sister Xiao Zhu looked at the trial class schedule and quietly asked Zhan Xi: "Can Xiaoyu teach others? Do you need our help?"
"Not for now. He and I will cooperate. He will teach and I will explain." Zhan Xi said, "Thank you, sister. You can go shopping first. Come and sit with us when you are tired. There are materials and a few stools behind the screen. Come to our place for lunch at noon. Xiaoyu and I will treat you to a big dinner outside in the evening!"
"Okay, we have a base camp to rest." Sister Zhu was very happy. Seeing that Luo Jingyu had already started preparing things for the first trial class, she shared her experience with Zhan Xi. "If there is no one later, Sister Shao and I can act as a proxy for you. Don't worry, as soon as someone starts to experience it, a bunch of people will come to watch it. As they watch, they will get itchy and want to do it themselves. There are only a few places, and they will be booked up quickly. Most people can't do it yet."
"Really? That's good." Zhan Xi asked a little worriedly, "Sister Xiao Zhu, isn't 400 yuan a session too expensive? It was Xiao Yu who set the price."
Sister Xiao Zhu shook her head: "It's not expensive, it's the cost price. I usually charge 600 yuan for each interest class, at least 500 yuan."
Zhan Xi nodded in understanding and looked back at Luo Jingyu. She had heard from Xiaoyu that the sisters usually taught interest classes, and even online classes, but he had never taught one. In his situation, he had never thought about teaching people before, and he also lost a big source of income in his business.
Visitors came over here one after another. Sister Shao and Sister Xiao Zhu stood by the booth and watched Luo Jingyu making flowers. They did not block him and praised him from time to time. They were two very dedicated waiters. Zhan Xi stood by the side, fanning herself, looking very handsome. She was a very dedicated guest greeter.
Someone saw her makeup, then looked at Luo Jingyu who was working quietly, and asked, "What are you doing?"
Zhan Xi smiled and said, "It's handmade embossing. There will be a trial class later. You can try it."
More and more people gathered around, some took a quick look and left, while others watched for a long time, but no one signed up to experience it.
Luo Jingyu hardly raised his head. Such a scene was too unfamiliar to him. It was also his first time to make flowers in front of so many people. He could feel all the eyes on him, making him at a loss. He didn't dare to look the guests in the eye.
The only consolation was Zhan Xi. He would look for her out of the corner of his eye and see her explaining something to the visitors, pointing to the course schedule and introducing them one by one. Seeing her, Luo Jingyu would feel much more at ease and continue to lower her head to do the work in her hands.
Someone asked Zhanxi if he could take a photo for her and post it on social media. Zhanxi said yes, but he had to take a photo of the entire booth, not just one person.
There was even a reporter from a local newspaper who took a few photos of Zhan Xi with a SLR camera. She was very generous and introduced her booth to the reporter, saying that she could write about it in the press release and asked the reporter to help promote them.
It was almost 10 o'clock, and just when Sister Shao and Sister Xiao Zhu were getting ready to be the first wave of "experiencers", three young girls came to the booth, all of them around 20 years old.
"No. 67... Hey, it's here! Xiyu flower embossing, I found it!" A girl with an oval face said to Zhan Xi happily, "Hello, we are friends of Pipixia. I saw his circle of friends. Can I experience making flowers by myself here?"
Zhan Xi pointed to the course schedule and said, "Sure, but we charge a fee."
The three girls looked at the price list, discussed it for a while and said, "It's a bit expensive, sister, can you give us a discount? We all want to do it."
Zhan Xi glanced at Luo Jingyu. The "shopkeeper" didn't even look up and was dyeing seriously. She, the "boss lady", made the decision on her own and said generously, "Okay, since you are Pipixia's friends, I'll give you a 30% discount to open your business. Thank you for your support!"
The three girls sat down side by side at the table. Luo Jingyu finally condescended to raise his head. After seeing his face clearly, the girls were a little shy. Luo Jingyu was even more shy, and the tips of her ears soon turned red.
The girl with the oval face was bolder and said to Luo Jingyu: "Teacher Luo, you are more handsome in person than in the photo!"
Luo Jingyu: “…”
Zhan Xi then said to them, "Three of you, let me explain something. Teacher Luo is hard of hearing, so he will teach this class and I will help him explain. You can ask me any questions you have, and I can help you translate. Teacher Luo usually communicates in sign language."
The girls were all stunned for a moment, but since they had already sat down, no one wanted to leave. However, when they looked at Luo Jingyu, their eyes no longer had the previous excitement and shyness, but instead had a layer of sympathy and pity.
After all, it was the first time they faced a deaf-mute person at such a close distance. They didn't know if there would be any problems with communication, so they were somewhat hesitant.
Luo Jingyu noticed their uneasiness, smiled slightly, and made a few words in sign language.
Zhan Xi said: "Teacher Luo said, please don't worry, he just can't hear, but he can understand your lip language. As for the content of the class, don't worry! I am here, I promise to teach you all, even the mantis shrimp can learn it!"
Thinking that even the mantis shrimp could learn it, the three girls felt relieved for the time being.
The first class was to make geraniums. After Luo Jingyu handed the materials to them, the experience class began.
Sister Shao and Sister Xiao Zhu watched from the side for a while and finally understood how Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu cooperated in class.
Gradually, more people came to watch the trial class. Sister Shao and Sister Xiao Zhu were very pleased, with aunt smiles on their faces, feeling like their beloved little brother had finally grown up. Seeing that there was no problem, they made a gesture to Zhan Xi, and then walked arm in arm to play somewhere else.
At noon, all three girls had finished making geraniums. They all felt a sense of accomplishment and clamored to take photos with Teacher Luo and Sister Xiaozhan. They left contentedly only after posting their works and photos on their Moments.
There was no one in front of the booth, Luo Jingyu quickly pulled Zhanxi to sit down and handed her a bottle of water. He felt so distressed, Huanhuan had been standing all morning and kept talking, she must be tired and thirsty at this time.
Small beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose. Luo Jingyu gently wiped them away with a tissue and couldn't help but touch her face.
Zhan Xi gulped down the water in one breath. The venue was very noisy, so she had to raise her voice when she was explaining, otherwise the guests would not be able to hear her clearly. After two hours of speaking, she felt her throat was a little smoking, and she thought she had to buy some throat lozenges after the end, otherwise she would not be able to bear it for the next two days.
Seeing Luo Jingyu's concerned expression, she stopped talking and just used sign language to tell him: I'm not tired, you can take a rest at noon.
Sister Shao and Sister Xiao Zhu came back after a tour. They each made a wooden spoon and planned to play embroidery in the afternoon. They also brought two cups of iced milk tea for Luo Jingyu and the others.
At lunch time, there were fewer people in the exhibition hall, so Zhan Xizhen invited them to eat box lunches at the stall. The two sisters were not picky and chatted with Luo Jingyu while eating.
"Xiao Yu, have you been there? There is also another store that does embossing, and their booth is so big!" said Sister Shao.
Luo Jingyu nodded. After everyone finished setting up the exhibition the day before, he and Zhan Xi went to see the booth again. It was indeed a magical rose kingdom, and there were many girls taking pictures there.
Sister Zhu said, "I just went to get some information. The girl's surname is Guan. She learned embossing when she was studying in Russia. She has returned to China now. She mainly makes Lolita-style accessories."
Zhan Xi sat on the side, listening quietly to the two sisters chatting. There were some things that Luo Jingyu couldn't tell her due to her limited expression, so she could get a lot of information from the sisters at this time.
"Experts look at the details, while laymen look at the excitement." Sister Xiao Zhu said to Zhan Xi, "Xiao Zhan, don't be fooled by the fact that those flowers are particularly bright and beautiful. In fact, they are just like that to us. Ordinary people will feel differently when they see them. The first thing they see is, wow! So beautiful! So gorgeous! Blue, green, black, and purple roses!"
Her tone was particularly exaggerated, which made Zhan Xi laugh continuously.
"That school is more popular in Europe, but not so popular in China. Her style is not suitable for making Hanfu. She doesn't know many patterns. Russia doesn't like this." Sister Shao added, "Xiao Zhan, I'm telling you, don't be fooled. Let me put it this way..."
She pointed at Luo Jingyu and said, "Your Xiaoyu can make all the flowers that girl can make, but your Xiaoyu can make many, many different shapes of flowers, but that girl can't!"
Zhan Xi turned his head to look at Luo Jingyu, who was sitting there obediently, holding a lunch box and opening it to read. It was unknown whether he saw what Sister Shao said or not.
Seeing Zhan Xi looking at him, he smiled that harmless smile again, his eyes sparkling, and put the fried egg from his lunch box into Zhan Xi's lunch box.