"Mom, is what Pengpeng said true?" Wen Qing asked.

Yao Shiling glared at Wen Peng.

Wen Peng quickly put the tomatoes into the bamboo basket, said, "I'm going to do my summer homework," and then ran off in a flash.

Yao Shiling laughed, then looked at Wen Qing and said, "Don't believe Wen Peng's nonsense. The village chief's wife just mentioned it casually, and I replied."

"Oh." Wen Qing didn't mind. She bent down and sat down in front of Yao Shiling, took out some floral fabric from her bag, and asked, "Mom, do you like this kind of floral print?"

Yao Shiling didn't answer, but instead sized up Wen Qing. She knew how much Wen Qing liked Ji Yanjun. She hadn't planned to tell Wen Qing about the village chief's wife arranging the marriage, fearing Wen Qing might have other ideas. After all, she knew Wen Qing and Ji Yanjun had been together before, and the word "matchmaking" was taboo for the time being. Who knew Wen Peng would blurt it out? But judging from Wen Qing's reaction, she didn't seem to have any other thoughts about "matchmaking" and didn't seem to mind.

Yao Shiling thought that she was right to refuse. Neither Ji Yanjun nor the mayor's son were a good match for the Wen family. Wen Qing was not capable of handling them either. It was better to let Wen Qing study hard and get into university so that he could have a solid skill. Then, no matter if he married someone from the town, the county, or the city, Wen Qing would have confidence.

"Mom, look, isn't this fabric pretty?" Wen Qing urged.

Yao Shiling put down the vegetables she was holding, wiped her hands, leaned closer, and touched the fabric, saying, "It's cotton, hmm, the pattern is just right, it's pretty good, but isn't it too flashy for making shoes?"

Wen Qing laughed: "It's not about making shoes, it's about making you a summer outfit."

Yao Shiling quickly refused: "No, no, no, don't waste the fabric. I have more clothes than I can wear, why would I make anything? Save it and sell it to someone else."

“No way.” If Wen Qing remembered correctly, Yao Shiling hadn’t worn clothes for many years. Her so-called “clothes she could never wear” only consisted of two sets, which she wore over and over again. One set was unpatched and she would only take it out to wear when she went to the county town. “It’s decided then.”

"Wenqing, don't do it, it's a waste of fabric!" Yao Shiling insisted, "Save it to earn more money, you still have to go to school."

Wen Qing smiled and said, "Mom, whether I'm making money or going to school, my ultimate goal is to ensure that you, Liangliang, and Pengpeng have enough to eat and wear. If you don't care about your food and clothing so that I can go to school, then I won't go. Besides, don't worry, I will definitely earn enough for my, Liangliang's, and Pengpeng's tuition in this year."

Yao Shiling was speechless for a moment, staring straight at Wen Qing, unable to express the warmth in her heart, she just felt especially happy to have this daughter.

"Shall we make clothes?" Wen Qing asked with a smile.

"I'll do it," Yao Shiling finally agreed.

Wen Qing then took out two more pieces of cloth: "These two pieces of cloth are for Liangliang and Pengpeng."

"They both have it too?"

"Of course! I'm planning to make short-sleeved shirts for both of them, since the weather will be a bit cool when school starts."

"Make long-sleeved ones, so you can wear them in summer and autumn."

Wen Qing: "No way, summer is summer, autumn is autumn, we'll make new clothes in autumn."

Yao Shiling couldn't argue with Wen Qing, so she had to let her be. However, she would nag her from time to time, telling her not to be like her second uncle, who was living hand to mouth. She would tell her to use less fabric and spend less money. Wen Qing would agree readily, but she wouldn't skimp on the fabric or money she needed to spend.

Every day, during my breaks from returning from the county town, I measured Yao Shiling, Wen Liang, and Wen Peng's body sizes, then cut, sewed, and ironed. In half a month, I made two sets of clothes for Yao Shiling: a floral print short-sleeved round-neck shirt paired with wide-leg round-waisted pants; and a dark blue polyester short-sleeved jacket paired with polyester trousers with heat-pressed seams.

The day Yao Shiling put it on, she was quite embarrassed, as she hadn't worn new clothes in years. The neighbors all looked on with envy, saying it looked beautiful. Especially Aunt Wang; ever since she received the corncobs and sweet potato vines from Wen Qing and Yao Shiling, Aunt Wang's attitude towards them had completely changed, becoming incredibly kind.

Seeing how beautiful Yao Shiling looked, I genuinely praised her and envied her for having such a wonderful daughter as Wen Qing.

Yao Shiling loved clothes very much.

In addition, Wen Qing made a set for Wen Liang and Wen Peng respectively.

Wen Liang put the clothes away, intending to wear them when school started. Wen Peng, however, couldn't wait. He put them on and ran around catching shrimp, fishing, gathering firewood, and chasing cicadas. The neighbors were incredibly envious.

It's not easy for Shuiwan Village to get a new outfit. A few years ago, you needed cloth coupons to buy fabric, but there were no cloth coupons back then. Now, you need money to buy fabric, and people can't even get enough to eat, so who cares about clothes? People usually store a piece of cloth for half a year or a year, then make a piece of clothing that the whole family takes turns wearing for several years. The mother wears it, the older sister wears it, the older sister wears it, the younger sister wears it, the younger sister wears it, the younger brother wears it. Nobody's like Wenqing's family, who made four or five sets of clothes at once.

The neighbors gradually accepted the fact that Wen Qing's family had become wealthy, and their gaze towards them shifted from contempt to equality, even awe. Furthermore, with the village chief and team leader in charge, and the help of the shrewish Aunt Wang, no one in the village dared to mess with Wen Qing's family. Besides, Wen Qing's two younger brothers were growing up and becoming increasingly capable.

After Wen Qing finished making clothes for Yao Shiling, Wen Liang, and Wen Peng, she made schoolbags for Wen Liang and Wen Peng.

Back then, the most popular backpacks were military satchels, also called military shoulder bags. They were made of military green canvas, with a flat bag sewn on, and a portrait of Chairman Mao printed on the bag, with the words "Serve the People" embroidered in red below. They were then slung over the shoulder, which in 21st-century terms would be called "extremely cool".

When Wen Peng received the schoolbag, his eyes lit up, and he hugged it tightly, asking, "Big sister, is this for me?"

Wen Qing handed one to Wen Liang, then to Wen Peng.

Wen Liang, who is usually composed, couldn't help but show his liking for this bag.

"Second brother, look, there's Chairman Mao on this! And there's a rope on the flap of the bag that you can tie up." Wen Peng was so happy he didn't know what to do.

Wen Liang was secretly pleased, then looked at Wen Qing and asked, "Where's your schoolbag?"

“I’m in high school now, which is different from yours.”

Wen Liang: "Oh, as long as you have it."

Hearing Liang say that, Wen Qing smiled happily.

During the summer vacation, Wen Qing made shoes for her family, and then made her own clothes, shoes, and schoolbag. All of these things for her own family were made in her spare time after returning from Aunt Xiao's tailor shop.

So, after everything was ready, there was still a week before school started.

The school children in the village are all busy. Busy with what? Of course, they're catching up on their summer homework. At this time, there are no extracurricular books or test papers. During the school year, the teachers create the test papers and print them out with a brush. The so-called summer homework is simply copying the textbook and having the teachers write the questions on the blackboard before the holidays, which the students then copy down to complete during the summer. When school starts, the teachers will test them and also test their memorization.

Wen Liang is a good student and has never had any problems.

But Wen Peng is different. Wen Peng is playful. Every time he says he's doing his homework, he'll go catch grasshoppers and cicadas instead. So now he's hunched over his desk, frantically trying to finish his homework. Hearing that Da Dao and the others have already copied all the texts, he's even more anxious.

"Second brother, second brother, can you help me copy the text? I can't finish writing it."

"Big sister, big sister, please help me copy this. Big sister, Mom..."

"Second brother, I don't know how to do this math problem. Can you help me? Second brother, Mom..."

"..."

No matter what Wen Peng said, no one helped him.

Wen Qing smiled and said, "Write well. If you can finish it in two days, I'll take you to the county town to buy school supplies in three days. Wen Peng, I'll buy you a pencil case." Having a pencil case can attract the attention of all the girls in the class. Maybe some girls will even fight to put their pencils in your pencil case.

Upon hearing this, Wen Peng perked up and stopped thinking about playing. He buried himself in copying the text and solving problems, and continued writing by the kerosene lamp at night.

Two days later, it was indeed completed. On the third day, Wen Qing also kept his promise and took Wen Liang and Wen Peng to the county town.

Yao Shiling stayed home to look after the house.

Wen Liang was initially unwilling to go, not wanting to spend the money, but Wen Qing had recently been earning a lot of money because she was getting clothes from the factory and selling them well, and Yao Shiling was also there to persuade him.

So Wen Liang and Wen Peng put on new clothes and shoes and followed Wen Qing to the county town.

Wen Liang had never been to Aunt Xiao's tailor shop before. Wen Qing took him and Wen Peng to sit in Aunt Xiao's tailor shop for a while and told him, "Wen Liang, this is my shop, so I'm not someone who only spends money and doesn't know how to make money."

Wen Liang remained silent.

Aunt Xiao smiled as she looked on. All three children of the Wen family were good-looking. Wen Qing was bright and beautiful, Wen Liang was steady and handsome, and Wen Peng had recently gained weight and was even cuter.

Wen Qing told Wen Liang to greet Aunt Xiao, then pulled him and Wen Peng to the market, saying as they walked, "Liangliang, this Aunt Xiao's tailor shop belongs to our family."

"Ours?" Wen Liang asked, puzzled.

Wen Qing nodded: "Yes, it's ours." Wen Qing briefly told Wen Liang about how Aunt Xiao's child was sick, how she sold her paintings to Tang Quan and earned 600 yuan to redeem the cow, and how she bought Aunt Xiao's tailor shop, etc.

Wen Liang was dumbfounded.

Wen Qing: "The reason I'm telling you all this is because you're the eldest man in the family. I'm going to school in three days. The school isn't close to the station, so it's inconvenient for me to come back. I've asked Mom to come to the county town to help out at the shop whenever she has time, and she'll collect the money once a month. Just know that."

Wen Liang nodded: "I know."

"That's good." Wen Qing was completely convinced of Wen Liang's character and conduct; in his past life, Wen Liang had been the pillar of the family. "Let's go buy some school supplies."

As they spoke, Wen Qing, Wen Liang, and Wen Peng entered the school supplies store.

"Big sister, what grade are you in?" Wen Peng asked.

"Second year of high school," Wen Qing replied.

"What do you want to buy?" Wen Peng asked again.

"I bought some before, but they're probably more expensive in the city, so I'm planning to buy two more ballpoint pens, a pencil, and a notebook," Wen Qing said.

Wen Peng nodded his little head, then walked to a sticker the size of an A4 sheet of paper and couldn't move: "Big sister, I want to buy a Sun Wukong sticker to stick on my pencil case. Some of my classmates do it like this, it's so cool."

"I won't buy it!" Wen Liang was the first to refuse.

Wen Qing glanced at the sticker, which depicted the four characters from Journey to the West, along with the white dragon horse. It was quite nice. She asked, "Boss, how much is one of these stickers?"

"One cent per sheet," the shopkeeper said.

"I won't buy it!" Wen Liang insisted.

Wen Peng pouted and said in a voice that was barely audible, "Buy, big sister, buy! I want a Sun Wukong sticker."

Wen Qing found Wen Peng's appearance hilarious and was just taking out money when she heard two voices outside the door.

"Ningzhi, you'll be a sophomore when school starts, right?" Zhang Fangfang's voice asked.

“Yes.” Ji Ningzhi’s voice rang out.

"Did you choose humanities or sciences?"

"Humanities. We chose humanities in the second semester of my first year of high school. My previous homeroom teacher was Mr. Liu, but he taught the science class. My current homeroom teacher is a woman, Ms. Zhao."

"Humanities is good too. School starts in three days. Your brother is home too, so I'll give you a fountain pen on his behalf as a back-to-school gift."

"Thank you, Sister Fangfang."

Upon hearing this, Wen Qing saw Zhang Fangfang and Ji Ningzhi enter the stationery store at the same time. Almost simultaneously, Zhang Fangfang and Ji Ningzhi looked up and saw Wen Qing inside the store.

Wen Qing.

Zhang Fangfang and Ji Ningzhi were stunned.