Xiao Yunying then realized that, apart from skilled embroiderers, no respectable girl would make clothes for an unrelated man.
She hurriedly apologized to Zheng Yunwan: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just didn't think straight for a moment, please don't take it to heart."
Zheng Yunwan was already used to Xiao Yunying's occasional somewhat nonsensical remarks. She knew what kind of person Xiao Yunying was and knew that she didn't mean it, so she naturally didn't take it to heart.
“Sister Yunying, I’ve heard from my godmother that you are an excellent embroiderer. Since there’s nothing particularly busy to do in the coming days, why don’t you make a dress for Young Master Luo yourself? It would be a good opportunity for me to see your skills.”
Xiao Yunying avoided her gaze: "Me? I'll pass. I haven't used a needle and thread in a long time, I'm rusty."
It's not that I haven't picked up a needle and thread in a long time; I haven't even touched one myself. I don't know how to make clothes; being able to draw a pattern is already quite an achievement.
She fiddled with her fingers, then looked up and saw Luo Sheng staring intently at her, his eyes full of expectation, as if he really hoped she would nod and say she would make him something.
Xiao Yunying immediately waved her hand at him and said, "What are you looking at? Don't look at me. I don't have time to make clothes for you."
Luo Sheng remembered that she had said before that she knew nothing about needlework, let alone making clothes, she couldn't even sew socks, so he didn't want to make things difficult for her.
"How about this, you draw a few patterns for my clothes, and I'll have Granny Chang make them, okay?"
Xiao Yunying breathed a sigh of relief: "No problem, leave it to me."
Luo Sheng was charmed by her cute little expressions, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up.
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By mid-December, northern China had fully entered the depths of winter.
The heavy snow that fell a couple of days ago still hasn't melted. The cold weather is bad enough, but the cold winds typical of the north make the once lively village look like it's deserted, with hardly anyone going out.
Fortunately, smoke was billowing from the chimneys of every household, which added a lot of life to the village.
When Xiao Yunying woke up in the morning, she was putting on her coat when she pushed open the door. A gust of cold wind hit her face, making her gasp and instantly wake up.
"It's so cold."
Luo Sheng said from behind her, "Don't stand at the door in the cold wind. Quickly put on your cotton coat. It's warm inside. Be careful not to get chilled by the sudden change in temperature."
Xiao Yunying closed the door a little, leaving only a small crack: "I just wanted to open the door to let some fresh air in. It's too hot in the room. I'll have to turn the charcoal fire down a bit when I go to sleep tonight."
Luo Sheng peeked at the sky through the crack, wondering why the white fox cloak he had requested hadn't arrived yet.
Mingming wrote a few days ago saying that she had gathered all the white fox furs and had someone sew them, and if they weren't sent soon, winter would be over.
Xiao Yunying, with her hair tied up, saw him standing at the door in a daze and asked, "What are you thinking about so intently?"
Luo Sheng came to his senses and said, "I see that the sky to the south is gloomy with dark clouds overhead. I think there will be a blizzard in the next few days."
Xiao Yunying put down the comb, reopened the door, looked at the southern sky, and found that it was indeed so.
How much can it go down?
"The dark clouds over there look much bigger than the snow that fell a couple of days ago."
The snow a couple of days ago was quite heavy; overnight, the snow reached above the calves. I heard that the sheds of two families in the village had collapsed under the weight of the snow.
"Is it that big? I need to go and tell the farmhands to clear the snow from the vegetable greenhouses in time, so they don't collapse."
After washing up and eating something, she went to the farmhands' place and told her family about the matter, also asking them to come and take some extra charcoal and grain back to her home in case of emergency.
When they returned, they saw a familiar carriage tied to the sycamore tree at the entrance, and knew that the Chen family had come.
Sure enough, as soon as she entered the courtyard, she heard Chen Yuanyao's energetic voice urging Zheng Yunwan to put it on and take a look.
Xiao Yunying walked into the reception room: "You've arrived."
The group greeted each other, and Chen Yuanyao pulled her aside, opened the brocade box on the table and said, "Sister Yunying, look, this is a cloak that my elder brother asked the embroiderer to make. What do you think? Isn't it beautiful?"
Xiao Yunying touched the smooth satin surface: "It's really beautiful."
The cloak is a warm, pale yellow, embroidered with exquisitely detailed cherry blossom patterns, which greatly enhances the overall look.
Chen Yuanyao pointed to the cloak on the clothes rack: "We are all the same color, but I embroidered a kite on mine and Yunwan embroidered a lotus flower. What do you think? Aren't they both beautiful?"
Chen Yuanyao had already draped the dress over Zheng Yunwan's shoulders, and Xiao Yunying gently removed the hair that was pressing down on her shoulders: "It really looks beautiful, and the pattern is also well chosen, which makes our Yunwan even more beautiful."
"Sister Yunying, please stop teasing me."
Zheng Yunwan blushed at the praise, and somewhat embarrassedly untied her cloak, carefully folded it, and put it back in the brocade box.
This was the first time she had received a gift from someone other than Xiao Yunying, so she valued it very much.
She didn't think she could hide what had happened from Chen Yuanyao, after all, Chen Yuancheng was her biological brother. But the two siblings had never looked at her differently, and for that reason alone, she was willing to befriend Chen Yuanyao.
Chen Yuanyao proudly said, "I chose the pattern. Doesn't it suit you both well? Sister Yunying is naturally a cherry blossom, and Yunwan is a lotus flower, which rises from the mud unsullied..."
Chen Yuancheng had to interrupt his sister, who was getting carried away with her pride: "Yuanyao, you're talking too much."
Chen Yuanyao quickly fell silent, looking as if she had said something wrong, and cautiously glanced at Zheng Yunwan.
Zheng Yunwan didn't seem to mind at all, and said with a smile, "Thank you, I really like it."
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