Zhang knew that this good-for-nothing was just flattering her. She never learned the good things, but she was very good at this kind of slap-and-give-a-treasure game.
“Your mother doesn’t need to cook, your Grandma Fan has already prepared all the food.”
"That's alright, let's have the two families eat together, that way we can chat and have some fun, Mother, don't you think?"
Zhang reached out and dusted off the cotton, hiding her smile inside, and said with feigned enthusiasm:
"You've already arranged everything, so there's no need to ask me if it's right or not."
"Of course I should ask my mother. She is the best person in the world to me."
What could Zhang say now? She couldn't say anything, and all her bad mood vanished completely.
They ate dinner with Grandma Fan's family. Because there were many people, the men were seated at one table and the women at another.
After placing the two bottles of fruit wine in front of her father, Yunling sat back down in her seat. Meanwhile, her mother and mother-in-law were already chatting away.
Sister-in-law Fan also chimed in with Zhang's gossip about the village, while Yun Ruoxia, naturally, listened attentively while cracking sunflower seeds.
There was a medical book next to Yun Chu's bowl. She was gnawing on a roasted chicken leg while flipping through the book. Although the environment was a bit noisy, she was engrossed in it and reading with great interest.
Yunling could also take this opportunity to sit next to Bingniang.
"Auntie, I have a new gadget here, and I was thinking of asking if you could embroider it."
Upon hearing Yunling say it was a new toy, Bingniang was naturally curious and responded:
"Show me, let's have a go."
Yunling took out the blueprint she had drawn on the Lu family's carriage yesterday from her sleeve, and pointed to the seam of the breast pads, explaining:
"This is it. Can this auntie, who doesn't skimp on the herringbone stitch, embroider it?"
Bingniang looked at the blueprints, somewhat bewildered.
"Ling-jie, what is this again? It looks a bit strange."
"This is called a bra, which is what you call a bellyband."
Zhang quickly whispered, "Ling'er, there are still men here. Don't act like this is a deserted place."
Yunling glanced back and saw Old Man Yun and Old Man Fan leading Yun Shenghua and the others in a game of rock-paper-scissors, drinking cup after cup of fruit wine. They probably didn't even know where they were, so they weren't paying attention to what they were saying.
But while that's what she thought, she couldn't say it directly, so Yunling had to say it indirectly:
“Mother, we are all family, so there’s no need for formalities. Besides, there are shops in the city that are competing with us right now, so I need to hurry up and discuss a strategy with my aunt.”
Yun Ruoxia spat out the melon seed shells, her eyes darting around a couple of times.
"Ling-jie, are you talking about the owner of that cloth shop? The black briefs that are all the rage in the city are her doing, aren't they? Bah, I knew she was no good. I was going to curse her out back then, but you stopped me. Otherwise, I would have smashed up her shop and made sure she had nowhere to be arrogant."
When Fan's mother and sister-in-law heard Yun Ruoxia's words, they felt that the situation was not good. If the business in the city was taken away by others and Yun Ling could not get orders, wouldn't their family have to go back to the hard life they had before?
In the past, they would have suffered, but they couldn't blame anyone. However, their lives are gradually improving now, and they can occasionally have some meat and extra food. If they were to go back to those days of hardship, it would be more painful than being cut with a knife.
With that thought in mind, the two stopped gossiping and focused on Yunling, wanting to hear what good ideas she had to solve the problem at hand.
Yun Ling smiled, took a sip of tea, and said to Yun Ruoxia:
"Don't get angry, Auntie. There's always a way to solve problems. If they come up with something new, we'll come up with something new too. If it's about money, we might even beat them."
That's quite true. Yun Ruoxia is now very skilled at inducing queen bees to produce royal jelly. With just the cost of royal jelly, her family won't be poor. Why would they be afraid of her small cloth shop?
Yun Ruoxia thought for a moment, and with a calm demeanor, she even softened the force with which she spat out the sunflower seed shells. She craned her neck to look at the blueprints on Bingniang's table, but she was still completely baffled.
"Ling-jie, is this a bellyband? It's so short, how can it cover you up? And it looks strange, those two pieces in the middle are like eggs, what's the point?"
Yun Ruoxia's description made Yun Ling laugh. The problem was that everyone around her thought Yun Ruoxia's words made no mistake and kept nodding. Then they frowned, thinking that Yun Ling was probably going to have a bad day and things weren't going to go well.
Yunling laughed for a while, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and then explained:
"Auntie, how can this not be covered? One radish, one hole, two holes match perfectly, right?"
The words were crude but the meaning was sound, instantly conveying the message. However, imagining the scene still made one feel somewhat embarrassed. Feeling ashamed, Zhang reached out and lightly tapped Yunling.
"You little rascal, watch your mouth."
“Mother, where did I not watch my words? Our reputation as Zhaoyeqing is to care for women’s safety and health. When facing problems, we should be direct and face them head-on, and we cannot back down.”
As the conversation got more excited, Old Lady Yun craned her neck to join in the fun. Seeing the drawing, she couldn't help but tease:
“Ling’er, this pit should at least look like a pit. You need to describe to us what it looks like. It can’t be like Xia’er said, like two eggs, can it?”
"Grandma, it's really not that bad. This pit is like this, and it's also like this."
As Yunling spoke, she gestured with her hands, but after gesturing for a while, she felt that her gestures were a bit too lewd, so she thought of another, more fitting analogy.
"A water ladle, yes, just like a water ladle."
"Oh dear, then my water ladle will have to be huge."
As soon as Granny Yun said this, everyone burst into laughter. Even Yun Chu, who couldn't concentrate on her medical books, joined in the conversation.
“Ling’er, your grandmother’s water ladle is big, but mine is a little smaller, otherwise it would probably wobble when I walk.”
Sister-in-law Fan laughed until tears almost welled up in her eyes, and looked at Yunling, saying:
“Ling’er, what they said makes sense. Everyone’s size is different. If we were to make them, wouldn’t it be like those custom-made clothes in wealthy families, which need to be tailored to fit? I think if we can’t make them like briefs, we might as well just embroider a bellyband and sell it. It’s a one-piece design that can cover anything, without having to put in much effort.”
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