Chapter 2: Unpicking the Dress, Sewing Couture

The rain had stopped, but the air still hung heavy with the damp, earthy smell of wet soil. Dark green moss crept up the old brick walls lining the alley, and water still dripped from the eaves, plop after plop hitting the stone slabs and echoing into the void. Somewhere in the distance, the brakes of an early morning bus squealed, the sound swallowed up by the narrow street until it was just a fuzzy, low-level hum in the background.

Su Jin clutched her worn-out bamboo basket, standing in the narrowest cobblestone alley in the old district, her fingers trembling slightly. Her fingertips brushed the scrap of wedding dress silk she’d just taken off. The dark, murky Color Halo of Resentment looked like a puddle of wet ink, creeping along the threads. The silk beneath her pads was rough and coarse, like a face that had been crumpled up and then pressed flat.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let Shen Yan’s sharp, cold face surface in her mind. Only he could read the blood smell hiding behind that decay. She pushed the last needle through the fabric, her gaze turning razor-sharp for a second, as if she were seeing through the entire Gu Family’s hypocritical facade.

The morning market hadn’t fully woken up yet. Su Jin set up her stall at the alley entrance. Just across the way, the soy milk shop had lifted the steamers’ lids, and the white vapor billowed out, blurring the entire street in a haze. A farmer crouched by the wall with his greens, his carrying pole resting across his feet, eyes half-closed as he dozed. A plain white cloth was spread on the ground, displaying the newly finished cloud-shoulder handbag.

The handbag looked eerie, its edges curled inward as if it had been just dug out of a ruin. The food vendors passing by cast it strange looks. Some leaned in curiously, but the moment they registered the material, a flicker of disdain crossed their eyes. Su Jin sat expressionless on a low stool, a Silver Needle pinched between her fingers. The tip gleamed coldly, reflecting her slender but resolute profile.

"Oh my, isn’t this the rejected reject from the Su family?" A sharp, condescending voice cut through the air. Liu Ruyan glided over in a glittering long dress and high heels, two spongy assistants trailing behind her. Her heels clicked into the gaps of the cobblestones. She lifted her ankle every few steps, forcing an air of leisurely grace.

She stopped, sizing Su Jin up and down, a mocking curve on her lip. "So, the Gu Family didn’t want you, and you’re selling trash here? Or maybe you want to use this chance to package yourself up and sell yourself to that Gu heir again?"

Su Jin didn’t look up. Her fingers kept working on the handbag’s tassels. At the tips, a dark golden sheen flickered in and out, like jellyfish breathing in the deep sea. She spoke softly, her voice flat and calm without a ripple. "Miss Liu, your presence is too much for my humble stall to handle. If you can’t afford it, please step aside. Don’t block the others who want to look."

Liu Ruyan choked on her words, a flash of annoyance crossing her face before it was quickly replaced by smugness. She crouched down and poked at the handbag with a delicate finger, sneering. "This junk? Made from leftover wedding dress scraps? I thought you were going to burn it as paper money for ghosts."

"If Gu Chengze, that fool, found out you took the Wedding Dress apart, he’d probably kick up a fuss." She deliberately raised her voice, drawing glares from several passersby.

Su Jin ignored the provocation. She simply used the Silver Needle to pick at a button in the center of the handbag. As the button opened, a strange fragrance spread out— the charred scent of burned gold thread mixed with the calming aroma of specific herbs.

A middle-aged woman passing by stopped. Her nostrils flared, and her pace slowed instinctively, like she was trying to identify a distant scent in the air. She frowned and sniffed, surprise showing in her eyes. The smell was unique. It made her feel inexplicably calm, as if all her anxiety had just been smoothed away.

"The craftsmanship..." The woman couldn't help but reach out to touch it, but Liu Ruyan swatted her hand away.

"Don't dirty your hands." Liu Ruyan lifted her chin haughtily. "This crude, shoddy stuff is only fit for the unsophisticated to play with. You want to buy it to show off how much you sympathize with these discarded people?"

Her words were like poisoned needles, stinging right at Su Jin’s ears. But Su Jin’s focus wasn’t on her. It was locked on the young mother in the distance pushing a stroller.

The young mother was frantically patting her crying child. The stroller’s wheel was stuck in a crack in the stone, and the mother was holding the handle with one hand while soothing the baby with the other. Her hair was stuck to her forehead with sweat. The baby’s cry was piercing. The mother looked frantic, her whole body wrapped in a murky, gray haze of emotion.

Su Jin’s pupils contracted slightly. She saw the haze—that was the color of anxiety. She stood up, grabbed the handbag, and walked straight over to the mother and child.

"Miss," Su Jin said gently, offering the handbag. "Try this. It’s called 'Calm Heart'. It’s specifically for when you’re feeling unsettled."

The young mother froze, instinctively wanting to refuse. But looking into Su Jin’s clear, steady eyes, she accepted it out of the blue. When she tied the handbag around her chest, something miraculous happened. The dark golden sheen on the handbag seemed to flow, and the murky gray haze dissipated quickly, like clouds parting under the sun.

The baby’s crying faded, replaced by even, steady breathing. The panic in the mother’s eyes drained away, replaced by a peace she hadn’t felt in ages.

"That's amazing..." The young mother’s voice trembled. "I feel like I just woke up. I’m not so scared anymore." She looked at Su Jin, her eyes full of gratitude and disbelief. The onlookers began to whisper, their attitude shifting from gawking to genuine curiosity.

Liu Ruyan’s face went pale. She hadn’t expected this "trash" to have such an effect, or that Su Jin would dismantle her mockery so easily. She clenched her lips, her nails digging into her palms. Jealousy grew in her heart like weeds. She couldn't lose to a dumped woman. Absolutely not.

"Hmph, it's just a coincidence," Liu Ruyan scoffed coldly, trying to save face. "Maybe you drugged her. These witchy, cultish tricks will eventually get you killed."

Her sharp tone drew more attention. At that moment, a well-dressed older man squeezed through the crowd. He moved slowly from the back, his gray cloth sleeves worn and frayed, his knuckles thick and knobby, dirt still under his fingernails. His gaze was locked tightly on the handbag, a sharp light in his eyes.

The old man’s name was Zhou Bo, a longtime servant of the Gu Family. Though he technically cleaned the Gu Family grounds, he knew better than anyone that the once proud young master had changed for the worse. He had witnessed Su Jin’s masterful skills in her youth and heard rumors of Shen Yan’s moves behind the scenes. He walked up, ignoring Liu Ruyan completely, and pulled a thick stack of bills from his pocket, placing them on the white cloth.

"I'll buy this." Zhou Bo’s voice was raspy but powerful. "How much?"

Su Jin blinked. She had only planned to sell it to that mother or hang it in a shop for a slow sale. She hadn't expected a direct deal. She looked at the money, then at Zhou Bo, and nodded. "No full price required. This handbag is a one-off. If you just want it as a toy, I won't sell it."

Zhou Bo laughed heartily, appreciation flashing in his eyes. He pointed at the handbag. "I'm not playing. I'm taking it to my old lady. She’s been restless lately, dwelling on the past day and night. I looked at the patterns on this bag; it seems capable of soothing the mind."

He paused, lowering his voice. "Things are changing at the Gu Family soon, Miss Su. What you have in your hands is worth far more than you think."

Liu Ruyan was shaking with rage. She tried to interrupt, but Zhou Bo’s single glare sent her back. He didn't give her the chance to speak a word. He turned and left, his back hunched but firm. A murmur of surprise erupted in the crowd. The estimated price skyrocketed, spreading through the market in an instant. Su Jin’s stall was surrounded by people, vying to ask if there was a next piece.

Liu Ruyan stood there, her mask completely shattered, left with only deep humiliation and fear. She watched Su Jin calmly accept the payment and carefully wrap the handbag, and a cold dread washed over her. She realized she had stumbled onto someone she shouldn't have messed with, and touched a power that was fathomless.

She fled the scene in a mess, shoving her assistants aside, who didn't keep up. After taking a dozen steps, she looked back, but her previous arrogance was gone, replaced only by the embarrassment of being seen through. Her heels clicked frantically and erratically on the stone path.

Su Jin dropped the last copper coin into her cloth bag. It made a crisp sound, like shattering a hard wall. She looked up toward the direction Zhou Bo had disappeared, a complex look in her eyes. The Gu Family’s old lady? That meant she was about to step back into the center of the vortex that had once abandoned her.

But she was no longer that timid, discarded daughter. She was a Haute Couture master, holding gold thread, weaving destiny.

The sun was setting, its afterglow spilling onto the cobblestones and stretching Su Jin’s shadow long. The street lamps flickered on one by one, the orange light falling on her shoulders and then being left behind as she moved. She packed up her stall with efficient, clean motions, no dragging or hesitation.

The wind tugged at the floral hem of her clothes—the latest pattern she had stitched, representing new life and hope. She looked up; the clouds were clearing, revealing a patch of deep blue sky.

"Shen Yan," she murmured the name, the corner of her mouth lifting. "See? I didn't need you to help me take apart the Wedding Dress. I can turn them into Haute Couture on my own." She believed that with his insight, he would have already seen all of this. The game had only just begun.

She turned and walked deeper into the alley, her steps light and steady. Behind her, the market's noise gradually faded, while her legend was just opening its first act. That handbag would be like a seed, blooming the most dazzling flower at the base of the Gu Family’s rotting old tree.

Zhou Bo’s footsteps faded into the distance; Su Jin didn't look back. She knew the wind was shifting at the Gu Family, and she was the one who could guide the direction. Where the needle points, that is where the heart desires. Whether it’s the black of Resentment or the pink of Love, in her hands, it will eventually become a unique luster. Tonight, she would sleepless; tomorrow, she would face the storm.