You hidden in my heart - Chapter 50.2

Chapter 50.2

Despite it being their first encounter, Li Xining and Zhou Xiaolei clicked right away.

So it was easy for Li Xining to open her heart and share secrets with Zhou Xiaolei.

Zhou Xiaolei knew that every girl would have a fairytale dream in her heart, expecting the boy she liked to give her a romantic confession. She also felt that she and this girl would have a good relationship. Although she was much older than Li Xining, she liked chatting with her very much. She smiled and counseled her. “Don’t worry. He will come to you after the college entrance examination. Confession of love always requires a sense of ritual.”

“If he doesn’t come to see me after the college entrance examination, I will no longer be friends with him!” Li Xining snorted with pride.

“The next time you come to pick up the dress, it will be after the college entrance exam,” Zhou Xiaolei said, estimating the amount of time needed to make the dress. “I’ll be here waiting for your good news.”

“Okay!” Li Xining said with an eager nod.

They spoke for a long time.

“What took you two so long?” Li Xining’s mother, Yu Wenyin, asked impatiently as the girl and the woman exited the room. 

Zhou Xiaolei and Li Xining exchanged a smile before Zhou Xiaolei answered Yu Wenyin with a sly smile, “It’s our secret.”

Yu Wenyin didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry. “How can you two have little secrets?”

“There are secrets between customers and designers,” Zhou Xiaolei replied seriously.

Helpless, Yu Wenyin said, “Okay, I get it. It’s a business secret; I can’t ask.”

Li Xining found her mother amusing.

“Xining, do you want to be my apprentice after the college entrance examination?” Zhou Xiaolei abruptly asked Li Xining before the mother and daughter left that day.

Li Xining didn’t understand the deeper meaning of this sentence. She thought Aunt Zhou wanted to give her a part-time job so that she could experience society after the college entrance examination. After thinking about it carefully, she nodded and agreed, “Okay.”

Zhou Xiaolei smiled. “Then I’ll wait for you.”

On the way back home, Yu Wenyin asked after giving it a thought. “Why did you agree with Aunt Zhou?”

“Isn’t it just a summer job? And I think it’s quite interesting.”

“Why?”

“Hmm…” Li Xining recalled the studio and answered with a pleasant smile. “Human models, various fabrics, silk threads, sequins, and hand-painted design drafts. Oh, Mom, have you seen Aunt Zhou’s hand-painted design drafts?”

Yu Wenyin: “I’ve seen final clothing, but I’ve never seen a product’s draft design. That is private information.”

When Li Xining heard this, she became quite excited. “I have seen it. Aunt Zhou showed it to me. It’s really lovely! She even asked about my opinions.”

“What did you say?” asked Yu Wenyin.

“I felt that if I answered no, it would seem particularly insincere, but if I really gave suggestions, it would seem like I was showing off my skills in front of an expert, so I said that I didn’t know that much and didn’t know how to give suggestions, and then Aunt Zhou started to tell me what was wrong with the design and what needed to be changed. I originally thought that the drawing was already finalised, but later I found out that it was just a scrap.”

At this point, she sighed and couldn’t help but say, “Even the scrapped draft is so beautiful.”

Yu Wenyin did not appear surprised, as if she had expected this. “Do you like it?” She questioned her daughter seriously.

Li Xining couldn’t get why her mother had asked that. “What do I like?” she asked out of the blue.

“Do you like Aunt Zhou’s work?” 

After giving it careful thought, Li Xining nodded and said, “I like it; it’s quite interesting.”

“So do you want to learn?” asked Yu Wenyin.

Li Xining: “Not much. I also wish to make a stunning evening gown on my own by drawing such a lovely design. That seems like art to me.”

“Then you should learn well from Aunt Zhou,” Yu Wenyin said with a smile. “She would like to hire you as an apprentice.

Li Xining asked with a shock, “How did you know?”

Yu Wenyin clarified. “Did she not just ask you to be her apprentice? And you agreed.”

Li Xining remained confused. “Is this true? Is it true that Aunt Zhou wants me to be her apprentice? The godmother of designing wants to take me as her apprentice?”

Li Xining didn’t think she would be selected as the fairy godmother’s apprentice.

“Aunt Zhou and her husband have two daughters, but both of them are unwilling to learn dress design from her,” Yu Wenyin said, laughing at her daughter’s response.

Fashion design is also a craft, and dress designers are also craftsmen. Craftsmen have ingenuity, so Aunt Zhou has always wanted to take an apprentice to pass on her craft. Moreover, she is not young this year. She looks young, but she is actually in her fifties. It is not easy to find an apprentice. She has also looked for many candidates, but none of them satisfied her, so she is also very anxious.”

Li Xining was still in shock. “So why did she pick me? Did she notice my talent in this field?”

“You two have only met once, and she can tell that you have talent?” Yu Wenyin replied helplessly. “She would have long since gotten a good apprentice if that were the case.”

“Why did Aunt Zhou choose me?” 

Yu Wenyin: “Perhaps she believes that you and she get along. After all, fate controls everything. Don’t be overly proud either. She didn’t indicate that she would acknowledge you as her disciple; she just stated that you could be an apprentice. How well you do throughout the summer break will determine the outcome in the end.”

“Why don’t you say something to encourage me?” asked Li Xining, who was not happy.

“You don’t even share your little secrets with me; why should I encourage you?” Yu Wenyin replied bitterly.

“Ms. Yu Wenyin, are you still jealous?” Li Xining asked her mother smugly after laughing aloud.

Yu Wenyin said disdainfully, “I’m not jealous of you. Sooner or later, it’s all spilled water. I can’t care about you too much; otherwise, I’ll be sad in the future.”

‘What a heartless mother.’ But Li Xining finally shared this little secret with her mother: “Lu Yuling has never confessed to me. Aunt Zhou said that he would confess to me after the college entrance examination.”

With her eyes narrowed, Yu Wenyin asked her daughter, “Do you really want him to confess his feelings to you?”

“It’s not a question of whether I want to or not; it’s a question of his attitude…” Li Xining murmured, a little bashful.

She didn’t want to jump right into the old couple mode and spend her days listening to his wife’s daily gossip. She desired a tender love!

The girlish heart of her daughter was completely understandable to Yu Wenyin. Her daughter was only eighteen, after all. After she laughed, Yu Wenyin said, “I wish you success in getting a confession from your male god after the college entrance examination.”

Li Xining blushed and retorted. “What male god? He is just a fool!”

“Then I wish you success in getting the fool’s confession, okay?” Yu Wenyin said.

Li Xining: “…”

Have a nice day!