Any household in Beiguan Village can find several women who are skilled in simple laundry and mending, cutting and sewing normal fabrics to make clothes, or making soles and uppers.
But you can transform one or two old clothes into a new one whose origin is unrecognizable; or embroider a pattern on a hole to make the patch look less like a patch; or even embroider beautiful patterns on good fabric with silk thread...
This kind of craft is far beyond the skills of ordinary village women.
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 town to sell.
But all the money she earned had to be turned over to the government, and Jiang had to add fabric and thread to the embroidery. As time went on, Jiang felt increasingly frustrated and gradually stopped doing it.
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 business has split up, it's time to start embroidering again.
Xia Daohua happily came up with several contingency plans.
Food, drinks, game, herbs, embroidery, there are many ways to make money...
Of course, the plans are pretty rough at the moment, but to make more detailed plans, we still have to wait for market feedback!
Xia Daohua was lost in thought when she suddenly felt a pain in her ears. Lihua's voice nearly broke her ears: "Daohua, I've been talking to you for so long, what were you thinking about? You're drooling! "
Xia Daohua couldn't help but reach out and wipe her mouth. Tsk, Lihua is always scaring people! The corners of her mouth are obviously dry, where does the drool come from?
"Still not convinced, huh?"
Lihua said as she twisted Xia Daohua's ear.
Although she didn't use much force, Xia Daohua still felt pain and begged for mercy: "Sister, sister, I was wrong! I won't dare to do it again!"
Lihua let go of her hand. "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'll be useful when you grow up!"
Xia Daohua said seriously, "Sister, you are right. I was wrong. I will study hard from now on."
Xia Daohua doesn't have much talent when it comes to making clothes.
But the clothes of this era do not require three-dimensional tailoring or precise pattern making.
Especially for those made by farmers for their own family members, they don't have to consider how to modify the body shape, highlight the advantages, cover up the flaws, etc.
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 can’t do needlework easily.
Seeing that Xia Daohua had sincerely admitted her mistake but looked so sad, Lihua also lost her enthusiasm for continuing to teach. She quickly folded up Jiang's summer shirt and put it in the box.
"Just be lazy! You'll have to 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 like 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.
Xia Daohua found Lihua, sincerely admitted her mistake to her, and promised that she would work hard to learn all of Lihua's skills.
Lihua stroked Xia Daohua's half-inch-long stubble and sighed softly. Her originally somewhat impatient mood 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 worn by ordinary people, the names of the various parts of the clothing, and also 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 and affectionate 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 could speak very cleverly.
This was far beyond Xia Daohua's expectations.
Jiang was gentle and kind-hearted, and she valued etiquette, especially maintaining a good appearance, and didn't want to be laughed at by outsiders. But to say that she would completely disregard her own family for the sake of face was not the case.
The more Xia Daohua interacted with the people from the Xia family's fourth branch, the more she found each of them endearing in their own ways. She didn't know if it was the influence of her 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, Jinhua and Yinhua could have worked with her, but Xia Youcai and Liu were both obsessed with having Jinhua marry into a wealthy family.
Apart from embroidery, I was reluctant to let her do almost anything else, for fear that it would roughen her hands and make the work look ugly.
As for Yinhua, she was still young, a bit clumsy, and had no good eyesight. She was like the beads on an abacus, moving around as you pushed them.
Even if Mrs. Liu was willing to let her do it, there wouldn't be much work she could do.
Liu had been used to a life of luxury in town, so returning to this state naturally made her unhappy. After serving the whole family for a few days, she couldn't help but feel a little angry.
Originally, Liu could also act like a mother-in-law and order 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's freezing cold and the ground is hard and slippery. If Zhu accidentally falls and hurts her grandson, wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Liu was furious, so her words were unpleasant 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.
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