"My oldest sister took care of Linfeng when I was away. For my daughter, my sister was more of a mother than me. I was like a relative she saw only once a year," she said.
As Linfeng grew up, Cai and her husband Yang Zeyou sought jobs in the trade and manufacturing hubs of Yiwu and Shenzhen, where shoe, backpack, clothing and electronics factories gather.
"I worried most when Linfeng got sick. Once she had a high fever and breathing difficulties. My sister cooked pork heart with cinnabar to treat her, and it took her a long time for her to recover. I wanted to go home, but the factory did not allow any leave in that period. It pained me like a needle stabbing into my heart," Cai said.
Cai made up for her absence by making hand-embroidered dresses for her daughter. She sewed as many auspicious patterns on her dresses as possible.
Her daughter Linfeng, 20, got married in January, wearing her mother's hand-sewn dress. She is a nurse in the city hospital.
Almost every woman in her village knows embroidery, but Cai is probably more talented and skilled. She does not have to uses rulers or compasses to draw the patterns. She has the parameters in her mind.
In 2007, Cai joined a provincial folk art competition and won a prize for her wax painting.
"The competition was an eye-opener. My husband and I made up our minds to open a workshop at home," she said.
Cai expanded her house into a factory and founded a company under her own name. In 2013, Cai was elected to the national legislature for her efforts in preserving ethnic craftsmanship and success in creating jobs for women.
MOTHERS SHOULD STAY
Cai's embroidery products are popular at a karst cave tourist destination about 2 kilometers from her home. Last year, the shop's turnover was 8 million yuan (about 1.15 million U.S. dollars).
She employs about 300 women, and half of them used to be migrant workers. "The older women are more skilled, but I'm persuading more young women to come and work for me," Cai said. "When there are many orders, women come to work at her shop, but they can also work at home if necessary."
"In our village, many women have more than one kid. When their mothers are away, I saw brothers taking younger ones and running around in the field without people to look after their safety. Their childhood shouldn't be like that, without a mother," she said.
At her shop, one woman straps a baby on her back while she draws on the paper using wax.
"Wax painting and embroidery are mainly the hands' job. A baby on the back hardly affects anything for a Miao woman," Cai said.
Yang Zhongmei, a 29-year-old mother, joined the workshop in 2015. Before, she worked at an electronics factory in Shenzhen. She earns about 3,000 yuan (about 434 U.S. dollars) every month, a few hundred less than what she earned in Shenzhen.
"My older boy is in third grade, and my girl is in kindergarten. My son, in particular, is happy to see me back," Yang said.
"When I was young, my mother would sing when she sat down, resting from a day's work, sewing by candlelight. It is hard to forget the scene. I hope embroidery can change the lives of more Miao women, like it did for mine," Cai said.
