The old man had dealt with fabrics his entire life and could tell the quality of any material at a glance.
This piece of fabric was an improvement on the Song brocade production technique.
Song brocade, as one of the four great brocades, was undoubtedly beautiful, but its drawbacks were also obvious.
Almost all brocades shared a common flaw: their ornamental value far outweighed their practical use.
Song brocade became known as such because it was a later imitation of the colorful brocades woven in the Song Dynasty.
Song brocade was characterized by its intricate patterns, filling regular shapes like circles and polygons with motifs of dragons, qilin, decorative flowers, and calligraphy. The arrangement of patterns was mostly in squares and rhombuses, and the weaving was exquisite.
A piece of high-quality Song brocade was magnificent and solemn, with colors and patterns that were distinctly simple and elegant. It was not suitable for making clothes; more often, it was used for theatrical costumes, the lining of boxes, and the mounting of calligraphy and paintings.
However, this improved Song brocade before him greatly enhanced the practicality of brocade.
He didn't know how it was improved, but in the eyes of Mr. Feng Yushu, it was an extremely suitable material for clothing.
This Song brocade would be perfect for making a horse-face skirt, making it even more exquisite than a horse-face skirt made from ordinary silk.
He even felt that this skirt might be the most beautiful garment he would create in his lifetime.
The old man was so excited that his hands trembled slightly.
He secretly vowed to fully showcase the beauty of this fabric to everyone, allowing people from all countries to understand the beauty of Chinese brocade!
"Minister Duan, I want an assistant."
After taking a few steps, Mr. Feng Yushu suddenly stopped and looked at Duan Ziming.
Minister Duan had not expected Mr. Feng Yushu to suddenly make such a request.
Mr. Feng had not asked for an assistant before, so they had overlooked this issue. Now that he brought it up, what should they do?
The only person in the entire delegation who could do needlework was probably Wu Menglan.
However, Minister Duan felt that Wu Menglan was not particularly trustworthy!
Even though their investigation had not revealed any issues with Wu Menglan, Minister Duan still felt that this person was unreliable!
He dared not entrust the important task of garment processing to Wu Menglan, even if she was only involved in a small way.
Minister Duan was in a difficult position.
"Minister Duan, I request Comrade Su Xiaotian to be my assistant!"
Seeing Minister Duan's troubled expression, Mr. Feng Yushu knew that Minister Duan had misunderstood and quickly clarified his intentions.
He didn't care about anyone else. As for assistants, they were of little help and unprofessional assistants might just cause more trouble.
Upon hearing that Mr. Feng Yushu wanted Su Xiaotian as his assistant, Minister Duan hesitated but then agreed.
After the designer went to work on the garment, the others present obviously couldn't just sit around and wait. Therefore, this period was dedicated to fabric and garment negotiations.
Besides the translators brought by each factory, Su Xiaotian was the only translator for their delegation this time.
Later, Su Xiaotian's workload would still be considerable.
However, Minister Duan understood Mr. Feng Yushu's intentions.
After all, Su Xiaotian was the actual fashion designer. No matter how skilled Mr. Feng Yushu was in design, he might not fully grasp the designer's ideas.
By requesting Su Xiaotian as an assistant, it was likely that communication with Su Xiaotian would be necessary during the actual production.
"Alright."
Minister Duan understood the importance of prioritizing tasks.
Minister Duan nodded in agreement.
Mr. Feng Yushu quickly added, "Minister Duan, it will only take a moment."
He was not unreasonable. Su Xiaotian was here as a translator and could not afford to waste time on garment processing.
Especially since the child had clearly stated that she didn't know how to make clothes. If she were to be his assistant, she would likely be one of those who caused trouble.
Minister Duan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.
It would be best if it only took a moment.
Su Xiaotian had a more important mission during the upcoming negotiations.
Mr. Feng Yushu paid no mind to Minister Duan's thoughts. Having received approval, he beckoned Su Xiaotian to the workshop.
The old man was extremely excited at this moment. Along the way, if Su Xiaotian hadn't supported him in time, Minister Duan would have worried that the old man might have fallen.
He watched Mr. Feng Yushu cradling the fabric as if it were a priceless treasure, and suddenly felt that this fabric might be even better than he had imagined.
Although he had some knowledge of fabrics, he truly didn't know much.
He realized the preciousness of this fabric.
But he didn't have a clear impression of just how precious it was.
After all, someone who wasn't professionally trained inevitably had shortcomings.
His understanding of fabrics was superficial.
He subconsciously glanced at Fujiwara.
Very good, Fujiwara's face had darkened further.
It was fortunate that there was no one from a certain continent in the delegation today, otherwise, Fujiwara might have attempted a comparison of skin tones.
Minister Duan smiled meaningfully, which was caught by Fujiwara, who had been watching the Chinese exhibition booth, or rather, Minister Duan.
Fujiwara gritted his teeth and clenched his fist tightly.
Damn Duan Ziming, to be mocking him at this moment.
How could he be so detestable?
Damn it, truly damn it!
But no matter what Fujiwara was thinking, ultimately, nothing was changing according to his wishes.
The following time was for the various delegations to begin their negotiations.
On the Chinese side, Minister Duan and Deputy Head Wei were very composed, seemingly having no intention of going out to negotiate.
The people from other visiting groups considered the Chinese delegation arrogant. They had no idea that without a translator, these two were unable to communicate with others.
However, some people from the factories had already begun to find ways to talk to representatives from other countries.
In the past two years, domestic fabrics had begun to reach saturation, shifting from a seller's market to a buyer's market.
If they didn't actively promote their fabrics, the development of the factories would be affected.
Therefore, each factory attached great importance to participating in this exhibition.
To ensure smooth negotiations, most of them had brought translators.
Su Xiaotian's absence did not have a significant impact on them.
"Minister Duan, should we go around and look at the fabrics on other booths?"
"We won't proactively go out until Comrade Xiaotian finishes."
He also understood foreign languages, but apart from Japanese, he wasn't proficient in any others.
Without a good translator, it was a disadvantage during conversations.
Although he had only interacted with Su Xiaotian for a few days, Minister Duan felt that this girl, Su Xiaotian, was trustworthy.
Deputy Head Wei glanced in the direction of the workshop, feeling a slight unease.
He had a premonition that today would not be peaceful.
There might be more trouble, especially since the bags had already been snatched once in the morning.
These madmen might have other tricks up their sleeves.