Chapter 24 Getting Along
Any household in Beiguan Village can find several women who are skilled in simple laundry, mending, cutting and sewing normal fabric to make clothes, or sewing soles and cutting uppers.
But you can turn one or two old clothes into a new one that you can't tell where it came from; or embroider a hole so that the patch doesn't look like a patch; or even embroider beautiful patterns on good fabrics with silk thread...
This kind of craft is far beyond the skills of an ordinary village woman.
Xia Daohua was overjoyed to learn that Jiang had such ability.
She recalled carefully and finally remembered that when the original owner was very young and Linghua was not yet born, Jiang often did embroidery work, such as shoe uppers, handkerchiefs, purses, etc., and took them to the embroidery workshop in the town to sell.
But all the money she got had to be handed over to the government, and Jiang had to add fabric and embroidery thread. As time went on, Jiang felt more and more frustrated, and gradually, she was unwilling to do it anymore.
Later, when Linghua was born, Jiang had to take care of the child and the family, and she had no time to think about this matter.
Now that the family has split up, it’s time to start making Jiang’s embroidery pieces again.
Xia Daohua happily came up with several emergency plans.
Food, drinks, game, herbs, embroidery, there are many ways to make money...
Of course, the plans are relatively rough at the moment, but to make more detailed plans, we have to wait for market feedback!
Xia Daohua was lost in thought when she suddenly felt a pain in her ears. Lihua's voice almost broke her ears: "Daohua, I've been talking to you for such a long time, what were you thinking about? Your drool is almost falling on your feet!"
Xia Daohua couldn't help but wipe her mouth with her hand. Tsk, Lihua is always scaring people! The corners of her mouth are obviously dry, where does the drool come from?
"You're still not convinced, right?"
Lihua said this while twisting Xia Daohua's ear.
Although she didn't use much force, Xia Daohua still felt very painful and begged for mercy: "Sister, sister, I was wrong! I won't dare to do it again!"
Lihua let go of her hand and said, "Do you think I'm idle and have nothing to do? I'm here to tease you. I'm teaching you cutting and sewing. These are all skills! They will be useful to you when you grow up!"
Xia Daohua said seriously: "Sister, you are right. I was wrong. I will study hard next time."
Xia Daohua doesn't have much talent when it comes to making clothes.
But the clothes of this era require neither three-dimensional tailoring nor precise pattern making.
Especially for this kind of clothes made by farmers for their own family members to wear, they don't have to consider how to modify the body shape, how to highlight the advantages, how to cover up the flaws and so on.
Both cutting and sewing were much simpler than in later generations.
The main problem Xia Daohua is facing now is that she has never done any needlework.
As soon as you pick up the needle, the secret will be exposed.
Fortunately, it is still the first month of the year and we cannot do any needlework easily.
Seeing that Xia Daohua sincerely admitted her mistake but looked so sad, Lihua also lost her enthusiasm to continue teaching. She quickly folded up Jiang's summer shirt and put it in the box:
"Just be lazy! You will suffer in the future!"
Wu Lang leaned close to Xia Daohua's ear, lowered his voice, and whispered:
"Don't be afraid, Daohua. I've memorized everything our sister said. I'll teach you again later."
Xia Daohua was touched and a little amused by Wu Lang's gentle comfort.
Becoming a handicraft expert and learning labor skills such as needlework were not originally in Xia Daohua's plan. But for the sake of her new family who sincerely cared about her, she was willing to change it.
Xia Daohua found Lihua, admitted her mistake to her sincerely, and promised that she would work hard to learn all of Lihua's skills.
Lihua touched Xia Daohua's half-inch-long stubble and sighed softly. Her originally impatient state of mind also relaxed a lot:
"You are still a child."
She took Xia Daohua into her arms and patted her back very gently:
"I know you've forgotten a lot of things, maybe even how to hold a needle. Don't worry, just learn one thing at a time. It's the first month of the year now, and we can't use scissors or needles. There's no point in worrying!"
With this last sentence, I don’t know whether she was advising Xia Daohua or herself.
Lihua slowed down her progress, and Xia Daohua's learning process became much easier.
She quickly "re-acquainted" herself with the various types of clothing that ordinary people wore, the names of the various parts of the clothing, and learned a little about fabrics and colors.
The life of the fourth branch of the Xia family was peaceful and warm.
After several days of observation, Xia Daohua discovered that her parents' relationship, although seemingly pure and innocent, was actually somewhat sweet in secret.
Xia Youtian always looked simple and honest in front of outsiders, but when there were no outsiders around and he was only in front of Jiang, he was very clever.
This was far beyond Xia Daohua's expectations.
Jiang was gentle and kind-hearted. She also attached great importance to etiquette, especially to her good looks, and did not want to be laughed at by outsiders. But it was not the case that she would completely ignore her own family for the sake of her reputation.
The more Xia Daohua got along with the people from the fourth branch of the Xia family, the more she found them all lovable in their own ways. She didn't know if it was because of this new body and the blood connection between her and the people from the fourth branch.
The fourth branch of the Xia family was in harmony, but the other branches were not so happy.
Since the eldest wife did not bring back any maids or servants, Liu had to serve the whole family by herself.
Originally, she could have let Jinhua and Yinhua work with her, but Xia Youcai and Liu were both obsessed with having Jinhua marry into a wealthy family.
Apart from embroidery, she was reluctant to do anything else, for fear that her hands would become rough and look ugly.
As for Yinhua, she was still young after all. She was a little clumsy and had no good eyesight. She was just like the beads on an abacus, moving around a little bit.
Even if Liu was willing to let her do it, there wouldn't be much she could do.
Liu was used to a life of luxury in the town, so she was naturally unhappy to return to this state. After serving the whole family for a few days, she was inevitably a little angry.
Originally, Liu could have acted like a mother-in-law and ordered her daughter-in-law Zhu to do work without any scruples.
But that’s not possible now - Zhu is pregnant and she walks unsteadily, which makes people scared. How can anyone dare to order her to do any work?
It was such a cold day and the ground was hard and slippery. If Zhu accidentally fell and hurt her grandson, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Liu was furious, so she couldn't help but speak in a bad tone and her actions were somewhat violent.
Xia Youcai was sleeping on the kang, snoring loudly. No matter how much Liu threw and hit him, it couldn't affect him.
Xia Dalang felt annoyed and walked out with the book.
It's snowing in Beijing. Outside the window, tiny snowflakes are flying all over the sky, and the world is quiet and gentle.
(End of this chapter)
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