“Okay, I’ll like anything you make.” Zhao Jingyu stood beside her, watching her cut with great interest. He had never known that his wife had such skills.
Even as a layman, he could tell that she wasn't just cutting things randomly; each stroke showed considerable skill.
Yang Yuelan had never seen such a long pillow before. When she learned that Xu Qingning had made it for Zhao Jingyu to take on the ship, she immediately went to the wardrobe, took out a roll of new cotton, and used a piece of white raw cloth to measure the size to make a pillow insert. Then she filled it with cotton.
He specifically instructed Zhao Jingyu: "It's humid at sea. When you wash it, just take off the pillowcase and wash it. You don't need to wash the inner lining. It's all cotton inside, so just air it out."
"I understand." Zhao Jingyu looked at the finished cushion and liked it more and more. He looked at Xu Qingning in a great mood and said, "I have never seen such a beautiful cushion before. It is so pretty."
The green and white color scheme is very refreshing, and she also added two small green ears on the top of the pillow. The design of the small ears is very clever, and they can also be hung up.
His wife is not only beautiful, but also skillful.
He loved the pillow I gave him.
"I'm glad you like it." Xu Qingning smiled at him and continued to stuff other small toys with cotton. "It's just that it's too big to put in your bag, so you'll have to carry it with you."
She bought this cotton at a department store a couple of days ago when she and Yang Yuelan were shopping; they originally planned to make quilts for their child.
She made the doll on a whim, and will buy cotton to make a quilt later; there's no rush.
"No need to put it in your bag, I'll carry it the whole way." Zhao Jingyu looked at his charming wife and felt very reluctant to part with her as he thought about his upcoming journey. He had never felt this way since he started working.
He doesn't want to leave anymore, what should I do?
This feeling persisted into the evening. Xu Qingning and Yang Yuelan sat chatting in the living room, and he sat beside her.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking about the kang (a heated brick bed). Yang Yuelan said she wanted to make a cotton mat to put on the kang, and that she would go and buy some white raw cloth tomorrow, which would be cheaper.
Unbleached cloth is the most primitive state of fabric, without printing or dyeing, costing 33 cents a foot, and importantly, it didn't require cloth ration coupons.
“Mom, let’s buy it and dye it ourselves.” Xu Qingning knew about this kind of raw white fabric; she used to use it to make sample garments. “I know how to dye fabric. Tomorrow we’ll go see what dyes we can buy and then decide what color to dye it.”
"You can dye cloth?" Yang Yuelan was surprised. "Back in the countryside, there were cloth dyers in the neighboring village, but they didn't have many colors. Most of them were blue, black, and red, and the colors of the cloth they dyed weren't very nice."
Zhao Jingyu was also surprised to hear this; there were still many things about his wife that he didn't know.
"I had read a book on dyeing cloth before, so I remembered it." Xu Qingning kept her accomplishments to herself.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted for a while before going back to their rooms to sleep.
As soon as they got into bed, Zhao Jingyu hugged her without saying a word. Xu Qingning let him hold her, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Time flies, and he's leaving again.
As the separation drew near, she felt a pang of reluctance.
Since she married into the family, he has taken care of things outside the home, and her mother-in-law has taken care of things at home. She has lived a comfortable and peaceful life.
With him away, everything falls to her.
After being held by him for a while, she felt a little uncomfortable and turned over: "It's getting late, let's go to sleep!"
"Qingning, don't think about divorce anymore. I will not divorce you. I want to be with you forever." Zhao Jingyu released her, his tone calm. "You like money, so I will work hard to earn it. I will never do anything you don't like. Promise me you won't leave me."
"I understand," Xu Qingning replied, showing no sign of leaving. Why was he still thinking about this...?
"You have to keep your word." He squeezed her hand. "Go to sleep!"
Neither of them felt sleepy.
No one spoke.
Xu Qingning tossed and turned for a while before finally falling into a deep sleep in the middle of the night. Once she was asleep, he pulled her into his arms and looked at her again and again, but he couldn't get enough of her.
The next day, Xu Qingning slept soundly until after eight o'clock. Zhao Jingyu had already left. There was a stack of pretty postcards next to her pillow. She picked them up and looked at them. They were the ones Zhao Jingyu had sorted out the day before.
Each postcard had a sentence written in his handwriting. It was the first time I'd noticed how beautiful his handwriting was—a vigorous and powerful cursive script that suited his personality.
The top one reads: On my long journey, you are my only concern; missing you is my entire baggage.
The date is written below; it's today.
Xu Qingning felt her face flush. Was it written for her?
Thinking of this, she smiled again.
Of course it was written for her. If it were written for someone else, why would he put it next to her pillow?
He actually wrote her love letters?
The thought of him sitting by her bedside writing these postcards made Xu Qingning's face flush again. She had never received a love letter before!
She didn't look at the postcards below.
I'll check it out tomorrow.
The old lady next door, Wang Cuifen, came over to chat with Yang Yuelan. She spoke loudly, and Xu Qingning heard her clearly: "I heard that Xiao Tingshen went to see Tang Wenya and said he wanted to get a marriage certificate. I wonder when he will be back!"
"Really? We haven't heard of that." Yang Yuelan chuckled. Unlike Yang Yuexiang, she didn't like to talk about these things and focused only on her own housework.
"If you ask me, it's Xiao Tingshen's family who are in the wrong. They knew the girl was pregnant, but instead of hurrying to marry her, they insisted on adhering to some customs. That's why things have been delayed until now." Wang Cuifen gossiped, spittle flying everywhere. "I heard the girl's family is very anxious. They run to their house every few days, but they just won't budge. So, young ladies should still be chaste and self-respecting."
"Ah, I still need to tidy up the house and prepare to build the kang (heated brick bed). Let's talk another day." Yang Yuelan only then realized that Tang Wenya was also pregnant, so she quickly stopped Wang Cuifen from speaking and turned back into the house.
"Such a blockhead, all she knows is how to work." Wang Cuifen, feeling rebuffed, lost interest in chatting with Yang Yuelan. Yang Yuelan never visited other people's homes; she spent her days doing housework. Wang Cuifen wondered where they got so much housework to do.
Yang Yuexiang was different; she became familiar with all the old ladies in the courtyard within just a few days of arriving.
Yang Yuexiang knew everything about the neighbors in the tenement, from whose daughter-in-law didn't wash the dishes to whose daughter-in-law did. She even said that Xu Qingning didn't wash the dishes at home.
After Yang Yuexiang left, the old ladies really missed her.
A week passed in the blink of an eye, and Xiao Tingshen and Tang Wenya still hadn't returned to the city. Jiang Yumei couldn't sit still any longer and had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to find Xiao Yaodong and Liu Yuzhen to find out what was going on.
Logically speaking, they should have returned long ago.
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