Chapter 10 If you can't even do this, how are you going to serve your wife in the future?

The location of this hole is just too coincidental.

She turned and went into the main room, where Zhao Wenchang was squatting at the kitchen door, using a small brush to brush the mud off Zhao Ping'an's shoes.

“Come here for a second,” Jiang Wanqiu beckoned to him, “It looks like there’s a hole in our window.”

Zhao Wenchang responded, put down his shoes, dusted off his hands, and followed her out of the house.

He glanced at the window, and his face instantly darkened.

Even the sharpest claws of wild cats and mice in the mountains couldn't possibly tear such a neat little hole in a thick plastic sheet. Not to mention, the bricks pressing down on the plastic sheet were clearly moved by hand.

This was clearly done by a human!

Who's staying up all night, peering through his window? What do they want?

A surge of anger welled up in Zhao Wenchang's eyes.

But when he turned his head, he saw Jiang Wanqiu standing beside him, her clear eyes looking at him with a probing gaze, and he forcefully suppressed his anger.

She's a girl from the south, unfamiliar with the place and its people; we can't scare her.

“It’s nothing,” he said casually, turning his head away. “It’s probably just a weasel that came down from the mountains, trying to sneak in and steal food. I’ve nailed it shut tight, so it won’t be able to get in again.”

As he spoke, he turned around and went to the corner of the yard to find some scrap wood and nails, picked up a hammer, and got to work with a clang.

He worked quickly and soon tightened the plastic sheeting again, and then nailed a wooden strip around the window frame securely.

Zhao Wenchang looked at the hammer in his hand and thought to himself, "I need to keep a close eye on Jiang Wanqiu these next few days..."

After hammering in the last nail, he straightened up, intending to brush the dust off his clothes. Unexpectedly, his sleeve got caught on the tip of a protruding nail, and with a sudden effort, "rip!" his brand-new work shirt was torn open, the tear running from the cuff all the way to his elbow.

Zhao Wenchang: "..."

He looked at his exposed half-arm and sighed helplessly.

Back in the main room, he rummaged through a cabinet in the corner and found a tin biscuit tin filled with various needle and thread scraps that Grandma Zhao had collected. He picked out a black ball of thread and, mimicking what the military instructor had taught him, licked the end of the thread with his mouth, squinted one eye, and painstakingly threaded it through the eye of the needle.

Jiang Wanqiu followed the man in and burst out laughing when she saw his clumsy appearance.

"Oh, you can do needlework too?" She put her hands behind her back and leaned closer to look.

Zhao Wenchang poked around for a long time before finally managing to thread the needle. He clumsily began to sew, responding to the woman's words, "Of course."

The stitching was crooked and twisted; when the thread was pulled back, the fabric crumpled into a ball, looking just like a black caterpillar crawling on the sleeve.

"Did you learn this skill from Master Caterpillar?" Jiang Wanqiu's teasing was tinged with undisguised amusement.

Zhao Wenchang had no choice but to give up and sighed, "Don't make fun of me. I learned a few needles back in the army, but I've forgotten them all."

"Give it to me," Jiang Wanqiu said with a smile, extending her hand.

She untied the stitches Zhao Wenchang had made, smoothed out the fabric, and asked him to extend his arm. The man's thick, bronze wrist lay across her face, and her slender, fair fingers held the needle, deftly moving it up and down beside his wrist.

Their hands were very close, and occasionally, her fingertips would inadvertently brush against the rough skin on the back of his hand.

Zhao Wenchang subconsciously looked over and saw that her hands were so white, like freshly peeled eggs. Then he looked at himself, and his hands were dark, like yams dug out of the ground. They were two completely different people.

Jiang Wanqiu sewed quickly, her stitches fine and even. When she got to the last stitch, she couldn't find scissors, so she simply lowered her head slightly and gently bit off the thread with her teeth.

A warm breath, almost imperceptible, landed on the back of Zhao Wenchang's hand, light and ticklish, like a feather, tickling all the way from the back of his hand to the tip of his heart.

Zhao Wenchang's Adam's apple bobbed uncontrollably.

"Oh my, what are you doing here?" Granny Zhao came in from outside carrying a basket of cornmeal. Upon seeing the scene, she immediately laughed. "Wanqiu, what clothes are you sewing for him? Look at him, a grown man, he can't even do needlework. How will he take care of you, his pampered daughter-in-law from the city?"

Jiang Wanqiu blushed at what was said and was about to speak when a clear and warm voice came from the courtyard gate.

"Brother Wenchang! Are you home?"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Hui had already rushed in like a gust of wind. She held up two brand-new thousand-layer soles in her hands, presenting them to Zhao Wenchang as if they were treasures.

"Brother Wenchang, thank you for carrying me to the clinic yesterday. I'd heard that your shoes were worn out, and here you are, you've made two new pairs!"

As she spoke, she naturally leaned closer, affectionately grabbing Zhao Wenchang's newly sewn sleeve with one hand, almost hanging on him.

Then, she glanced meaningfully at Jiang Wanqiu beside her, a smile on her lips but her words laced with barbs: "Sister-in-law, you've just arrived, so you probably don't know, do you? Wenchang and I grew up together, I know his shoe size with my eyes closed. I'm clumsy with my hands, I can only do some needlework, and it took me several nights to finish this. Unlike you city people, you're so pampered, you don't have to do anything, you're born to enjoy life."

These words made Zhao Wenchang feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

He frowned, subtly pulling his arm away from Zhao Hui's grasp, and his tone turned cold: "I already bought a new one, I don't need it, you can take it back."

He looked Zhao Hui up and down again, somewhat puzzled: "When did you learn to do this?"

He remembered clearly that Zhao Hui had hardly ever done needlework since she was a child, and she would pretend not to see when her clothes were torn, no matter how many times her mother scolded her.

Jiang Wanqiu, who was standing to the side, picked up the soles of the shoes.

She glanced at it over and over, a teasing smile playing on her lips.

The soles of these shoes have messy stitches, and several places where the stitching is loose and flimsy. They look like half-finished products made by working late into the night, and they haven't even mastered the most basic skills.

She pinched a loose end of the thread and gave it a gentle tug.

The thousand-layer sole, which was said to have been stitched over several nights, instantly crumbled into a pile of tattered pieces in her hands.

Zhao Hui's face turned pale instantly, then flushed bright red.

She spent the whole night mending the shoe soles, her hands riddled with holes, and then it just fell apart!

"What are you doing!" she shrieked, reaching out to grab it. "You owe me for my shoe soles! You can't do anything right, you're so clumsy, you can't stand seeing others do better than you, can you?! Did you deliberately ruin all the effort I put into giving to Brother Wenchang?!"

"Zhao Hui!" Zhao Wenchang's face darkened. He took a step forward, shielding Jiang Wanqiu behind him, and stared at her coldly.

"Even a pampered young lady like Jiang Wanqiu, who doesn't have to do any work, can easily tear the soles of her shoes. If I were given them, I'm afraid they would fall apart after only a few steps."

Looking at Zhao Hui, who was trembling with anger, he suddenly put on a smiling face, whether to provoke her or to offer a genuine suggestion, and said, "If you really want to thank me, why don't you go home and get some eggs? I can give this 'spoiled young lady' Jiang Wanqiu an extra meal at lunch to help her recover."