Chapter 273: Sewing by Lamplight

"Hiss!" The needle pierced into Su Ying's fingertip, causing her to grimace in pain.

"Aying, what are you doing?"

After dinner, Mrs. Du rarely saw her eldest daughter cutting gauze, folding it into palm-sized squares, and picking it up with a needle.

"Making masks!" Su Ying sewed the clothes crookedly, it was really horrible.

"Forget it, let me do it!" Mrs. Du took it with a smile.

The eldest daughter is good at everything, smart and capable, but she is not good at housework.

"Mother is still the best!" Su Ying was very happy.

Sitting next to her, I watched her skillfully sew the needle. The stitches were so fine and even, as if they were made on a sewing machine.

"Why did you think of making this? What's it used for?" Mrs. Du looked at the strange block and folded it six or seven times.

"I sewed this for my second uncle. The lime kiln is so dusty that I have to wear a mask to block the dust. If I breathe too much, the dust will accumulate in my lungs. Over time, my lungs will become as hard as rocks!"

Su Ying gestured and said, "Mother, I still need to sew a hat."

"What are you doing again?" Mrs. Du smiled. It was rare for her eldest daughter to sit down and chat like a little girl.

In Chang'an, she liked to follow her husband to the fields to work. Now in Huanggou Village, she is still busy all the time and has no time to rest.

Mrs. Du suspected that the eldest daughter was not a girl, but a young man who was more troublesome than her two older brothers.

"A mask alone is not enough, you also need a hat with a face shield for double protection. Even so, at the end of the day, your nose is full of dust."

Su Ying drew a sketch of a baseball cap with a brim and a small bulge in the middle to cover the bun on top of her head.

It is like a pullover from the front to the back along the brim, and reaches the shoulders.

Only a two-finger-wide horizontal opening was left at the eye position.

"Is this a hat?" Mrs. Du looked at the ugly hat with some disgust, thinking it looked so weird.

“Well, wear a mask inside and this hat outside, so there will be less dust on your head and face.

"Mother, you haven't seen it. Second Uncle, Second Uncle Yang, Third Uncle Wang, they're all like clay figures, covered in dust. If you pat them, two pounds of dust will fall off their bodies." Su Ying said exaggeratedly.

"You little girl, how dare you make up stories about your second uncle? You have no respect for your elders!" Mrs. Du poked her daughter's forehead.

"Sister, where is Xiaotao's red dress?" Xiaotao and Atang came in.

Su Ying said she would make a red dress for her from winter to spring, and now it's summer, but she still hasn't seen it!

"Uh! Do, do, do!" Su Ying smiled awkwardly, "Let's go find some red cloth!"

There were so many things that Fu Dongjia and Hu Erlang sent. Fortunately, my brothers were not at home, so they could squeeze everything in as there was some space in the house.

The three sisters opened the rooms of their two brothers and found more than a dozen large wooden boxes neatly stacked there, which had not been opened in recent days.

When the boxes were opened, seven or eight boxes contained brocades that could be used instead of coins. They were brightly colored, including crimson, pink, green, and purple.

"Wow, so beautiful!" Xiaotao exclaimed, and gently stroked it with her little hands, feeling soft, smooth and skin-friendly.

Atang also reached out and touched it, holding onto the crimson hand and refusing to let go, "Sister, I want this!"

Atang has lived with wild beasts for several years, and has only lived with Su Ying and the others for a few months, so he has no concept of money.

This bright and bold crimson caught her eye. She liked bright red, which was rich, warm, smooth and soft.

"Atang, no! This is money! It's worth a lot of money! It would be a waste to make clothes with it!" Xiaotao hurriedly stopped him.

She looked painfully embarrassed, but she liked it too, but she didn't dare ask for it. If it were replaced with fine gauze, it would be worth dozens of pieces.

Atang looked at Su Ying blankly. Isn't it cloth? Why can't I wear it?

"Uh, Atang, how about we choose another piece of cloth? These boxes of cloth are very expensive, and the clothes made from them are not suitable for wearing in the fields. The clothes will be ruined if scratched by thorns or branches." Su Ying coaxed.

Atang often took Xiaotao to the woods to look for Huahua, Xiaohei and the Bai siblings.

Every time he came back, his clothes were torn to shreds. You didn't need to ask to tell that he was running around in the mountains again.

"Can I wear it when I'm on a big ship?" Atang asked after thinking for a while.

"Uh! Sure!" Su Ying felt guilty. Atang had put in so much effort and fell in love with this scarlet brocade, but she couldn't bear to part with it.

"Since Atang likes it, let's keep it. When we take a big ship in the future, we can make new clothes for Atang and Xiaotao, okay?"

"Okay!" Atang and Xiaotao said happily.

Su Ying put the brocade aside and muttered, "This is new clothes for Atang and Xiaotao!"

"Hehe!" The two sisters smiled happily.

After searching through more than a dozen boxes, he found a piece of red gauze cloth. It was not as dazzling and gorgeous as the scarlet brocade, but it was also very beautiful in its bright red color.

"Here, let's use this one first, okay?" Su Ying asked her two sisters.

"Yeah!" The little girl took it happily.

Thinking that his second brother, Zhaoyan and Bingyan were going on a long journey and needed two sets of decent clothes, he dug out a few pieces of fine gauze in lake green, light blue and pink gold.

"Oh, are we making a fortune?" Wei felt heartbroken when she saw the three maids coming into the house with big and small bags.

Even my sister-in-law who is in charge of the household is not so free and easy. My niece doesn’t take money seriously!

"Haha, Xiaotao and Atang can't go, so I'll make them some new clothes to cheer them up!" Su Ying said with a smile.

"Aunt San, make a new set of clothes for Bingyan!" Su Ying handed the lake green gauze to Wei.

"Oh! Bingyan just made new clothes for the Chinese New Year. How long has it been since then? He made another one! Don't spoil him! Keep it so that you can use it in the future when something happens!" Wei refused to take it.

"Third Aunt, take this. Bingyan and his friends are going on a study tour, so they can't wear anything too shabby. The fine gauze isn't particularly good, but it's brand new and clean. If they meet someone with discerning eyes, they won't be disrespectful."

"This! Then Third Aunt will shamelessly accept it. Thank you, Aying!" Wei said gratefully.

"What are you thanking me for? We are a family, why should we thank each other so much?" Su Ying laughed.

He came to Yang Chunhua's door and knocked, "Second Aunt!"

"Aying, come in quickly!" Yang Chunhua got up and opened the door.

"What is Second Aunt busy with?" Su Ying came in with a light blue hemp cloth.

"Prepare clothes for Zhaoyan!" A piece of indigo gauze was spread on the bed.

The betrothal gift that Su Laoer had given was brought back as a dowry.

"Second Aunt, you keep that one and use this one! Zhaoyan likes bright colors." Su Ying handed over the cloth.

"Then I won't be polite!" Yang Chunhua accepted it readily.

I was just worrying about this, and Su Ying's gift was really a timely relief.

"Mother, how about using this cloth to make a new robe for my second brother?" Su Ying asked Mrs. Du while placing the pink and gold cloth on her chest.

"Oh, this color is suitable for you!" Mrs. Du felt that the pink and gold color was more feminine.

"It will definitely look good on Second Brother!" Su Ying insisted.

The pink and gold color enhances the skin tone, and when worn by an eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy, he looks like a handsome young man.

The third wife of the Su family was sewing by lamplight, while Fu Zhong, who lived in the guest room, was writing furiously.

Report to Empress Changsun about the natural colored silkworms, silk reeling machines, looms, soybean oil pressing, mung bean vermicelli, and the children's upcoming study tours.

He was amazed at the endless new things here, and what shocked him even more was Su Ying's knowledge and insights. It was a pity that such an extraordinary woman was buried in the remote and wild Lingnan.