Zhong Wanwan smiled and said:
"Whether it's a cotton-padded jacket or cotton-padded trousers is up to my aunt, but it's not for me. It's a thank-you gift from Brother Wei and the other two for cleaning up my house and courtyard wall!"
Aunt Wei pretended to be angry and said:
"You're treating your aunt like an outsider. If you really consider me your aunt, then I'm your brother. Helping your own sister clean the house, would I be accepting things?"
Zhong Wanwan said with a grin:
"Alright, I'll skip giving the things that Auntie said she would give to Brother Wei and the other two!"
"The days are getting colder and colder. This is a gift for my aunt, she can't refuse it!"
"If my aunt doesn't want it, it will break my heart!"
Although Aunt Wei liked the cotton very much, this was too much, and she declined.
"It's a gift for your aunt, you don't need so much. A pound and a half of cotton and seven feet of cloth are enough to make the outer layer of a cotton-padded jacket!"
Zhong Wanwan joked:
"Who would give my aunt a cotton-padded coat as a token of respect? This is a big quilt I made for her, an 8-pound double quilt that's just the right size!"
Aunt Wei naturally knew that Zhong Wanwan was just making excuses. Such good cotton and such dense cloth would be wasted on making quilts!
However, Zhong Wanwan gave it sincerely, so Aunt Wei had no choice but to accept her kindness.
She gently stroked the dark blue cotton fabric and said happily:
"Are you kidding me? Such good fabric is such a waste to make a quilt. It would look so nice to make a cotton-padded coat!"
He then carefully measured the fabric dimensions and said:
"Sixty feet of cloth! Why did you buy so much? I'll make some for you three siblings too!"
Zhong Wanwan shook her head and said:
"I've prepared everything for the three of us siblings. My aunt can make some for us after she finishes making the ones for the rest of the family!"
"I don't feel at ease unless I watch my aunt finish cooking for her family, afraid that she might be secretly giving us extra money!"
Aunt Wei laughed heartily:
"Alright, Auntie won't subsidize you. Auntie will cook for her own family first!"
Aunt Wei calculated in her mind that with 8 jin of cotton, the family's existing cotton-padded coats could be thickened by one layer, and there would also be grain for her eldest grandson and rice for her granddaughter, and two pairs of thick cotton shoes for each of them.
Aunt Wei couldn't bear to use this dark blue cotton fabric to make the outer layer of her cotton-padded jacket.
She thought that she would make a smock for everyone in the family to wear as an outer garment, and if she made it carefully, it would be enough.
It's just a little short, only about 3-4 feet off. If the granddaughter had rice, she wouldn't need this blue cloth.
She still had a small piece of fine cotton fabric with floral patterns at the bottom of her trunk, which she used to make a smock for the little girl. It looked brighter and more vibrant than the blue fabric!
No sooner had Zhong Wanwan left than Wei Youliang and Wei Maisui, the aunt and niece, returned.
The two of them had been arguing about eating fish sauce since yesterday, so they went to the stream to catch small fish early this morning.
They handed the small fish to Sister-in-law Fengying to clean, and the two of them took off their shoes, covered their ears, and got onto the kang (heated brick bed). Wei Maisui even said to Aunt Wei:
"Mom, could you put more lard in the fish sauce today? If you don't put in enough, it'll be a disservice to you and me after all this suffering. The wind is so strong over there in the ditch, we're freezing!"
Aunt Wei laughed and scolded:
"How dare you say that? What 17- or 18-year-old girl would be like you, going fishing in the river with her nephew?"
"You've done something meritorious, and you even added extra lard. What will we eat when we run out of lard? The oil from your mother's cooking?"
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