Xiqiu smiled but said nothing. In the afternoon, she sat with Siliu and Sixing in the room and embroidered crabapple blossoms. The next afternoon, she took the finished embroidery to Tong Xiyan's room and asked someone to call over Tong Xiyu. The three of them sat together in the room and pasted the embroidered crabapples onto the overcoats that Tong Xiyan and Tong Xiyu made.
The bright red double-gold overcoat had seven or eight crabapples embroidered on it by Xiqiu. She used a double-sided needle technique to affix the embroidered flowers onto the garment. Then she asked Xinzhu to bring an iron and pressed it down thoroughly. Upon seeing it, Tong Xiyan's eyes widened: "How did Sixth Sister manage this? Without even discussing the embroidery technique, just the way the flowers are sewn on seamlessly is enough to amaze me." She held the garment, her eyes full of delight: "The Grand Dowager will surely love it. I even want to wear it myself."
