Chapter 35 Chapter 35-Two in One Put on New Clothes (Catching Bugs)…
Lin Chuntao was checking whether the pig blood cubes were cooked. Upon hearing this, she turned around and looked at Lin Chunxing, who was laughing so hard that she couldn't straighten her back. She formed a sharp contrast with the angry Lin Duoer in front of her.
"Why did your second sister bully you?"
"She won't tell me how much money our family has."
Lin Chuntao looked at Lin Chunxing and said with a smile, "She doesn't know."
Lin Duoer frowned and put her hands on her hips: "Second sister doesn't know either?"
Lin Chuntao nodded seriously.
"Well, she doesn't know."
The little girl's expression changed instantly. She came up to her with a smile and asked, "Sister, how much money do we have?"
Lin Chuntao gave a long "hmm" and then spoke softly.
"We had some money originally, but we just bought some cloth, and it's gone."
Lin Duoer bit her lip, her eyes darting back and forth. Perhaps she had truly believed Lin Chuntao's words about running out of cloth, and said with some regret, "Okay."
After saying this, he skipped into the house and went to look at the two pieces of cloth again.
Lin Chunxing told her about the incident on the road, and Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Well done! If they want to cause trouble, we can just curse them back."
"When we came back, Miaomiao was almost mad to death."
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "If he's not dead, he might go back and complain."
"That's fine. If they have the guts, they can tell the whole village that the Lin family was spying on what we were eating."
After Lin Chunxing finished speaking, she looked at the pig blood in the iron pot and asked, "Is it almost done?"
"No, you need to cook it again. The jelly slices need to be cooked a little longer to taste better."
"Do you want to put it in a colander? I'll go wash one."
Lin Chuntao nodded, and Lin Chunxing turned and walked back into the house. As she walked, she said, "Aunt Guizhi just gave us another small bamboo basket. She told you to pick radishes yourself if you want to continue cooking after you finish the pickled cabbage."
Hearing this, Lin Chuntao looked at the brand new bamboo basket and said with a smile, "I see."
Lin Chuntao kept the half bucket of pig blood raw for two meals and cooked the rest. Before one pot was finished, she waited for Lin Chunxing to wash the colander and scoop out another pot to continue cooking.
While waiting for the pig blood to be cooked and the rice to be steamed, Pei Ying also came back.
Lin Duoer was particularly active in scooping water for him to wash his hands. Lin Chuntao jokingly said, "Sister has been waiting for you to come back to make clothes for a long time."
Pei Ying looked at Lin Duoer and smiled, "I'll do it in a moment." He then looked at Lin Chuntao and asked, "How much cloth did you buy?"
"Two pieces, one of white cotton and one of dyed."
Pei Ying nodded slightly, washed his hands, and went back to the house to look at the cloth.
"I bought too much dye. I won't be able to use so much, but that's okay. I'll think of a style for you."
Pei Ying went into his room after he finished speaking. He changed into clean clothes and came out with the dirty clothes. He asked Lin Chuntao, "Will dinner take a while?"
"Well, are you hungry?"
"I'm not hungry. If it takes a while, I'll go to the river to wash my clothes."
Lin Chuntao nodded and said, "Well, go ahead. Come back soon."
Pei Ying responded and went away carrying the clay basin.
When Lin Chuntao finished cooking and was about to call him, he came back.
After hanging up the clothes, we started eating.
They wanted to eat pickled cabbage and boiled pig's blood, and Lin Chuntao made scrambled eggs with cucumbers and spicy potato slices with green onions in them.
All three dishes were their favorites. Today, they were all thinking about making clothes after eating, so they finished lunch very quickly.
After lunch, Pei Ying wanted to move a grain cabinet over here to use as a table, saying that it would be more convenient to cut cloth.
Lin Chuntao said, "The grain cabinet is a bit high. Do you want me to wash the table for you?"
Pei Ying waved his hand. "We still need to use the table for eating. It would be troublesome to clean it up every time we use it. It would be better to just lay the grain cabinet flat."
Lin Chuntao suddenly realized that the grain cabinet was much wider than the table when it was laid flat.
She helped Pei Ying carry a grain cabinet into his house, and only after carrying it in did she find that Pei Ying had already laid straw where the grain cabinet was placed.
After putting the grain cabinet in place, Pei Ying took out a wooden ruler and a bamboo plaque from the package and handed them to Lin Chuntao.
"Measure the height, shoulder width, sleeve length and trouser length of the sisters."
Lin Chuntao took the wooden ruler, a dark brown ruler that had become a little round from use and was visibly old.
Lin Chuntao knew very well what measurements were needed to make clothes. She called her sisters out, measured the data one by one, and wrote them down on a bamboo plaque.
Pei Ying took a look at what Lin Chuntao had written down, found nothing wrong with it, and put it on the grain cabinet.
"Yours hasn't been measured yet, let me measure it for you."
Lin Chuntao smiled and opened her arms, "Okay."
Seeing what the two were doing, Lin Chunxing pulled Lin Duoer and Lin Chunhe away and closed the door.
Pei Ying curled the corners of his lips and slowly approached.
He stood face to face with her, toes touching, his hand moving on her arm, and Lin Chuntao frowned slightly.
"No wooden ruler?"
"Need not."
His voice was low, and the two of them were so close that Lin Chuntao remained motionless like a wooden stake. After a while, he finished measuring the length of her sleeves and then asked her in a nonsensical manner, "Don't you know?"
"Know what?"
"A tailor's hand measures more accurately than a wooden ruler."
Lin Chuntao rolled her eyes at him as he took a step back. "It's a good thing you went to slaughter pigs. If you had been a tailor, wouldn't everyone have hated you?"
"That won't happen either. You're different."
"If it were someone else, I would definitely use a wooden ruler."
Lin Chuntao raised her eyebrows and smiled, "What a pity, I'm not a tailor."
Pei Ying stood behind her and measured her shoulder width. He remained silent and didn't respond to her until he finished measuring. Then the man walked up to her.
"It's not a pity. My wife is not a tailor, so you can do as you please. I will never say no."
Lin Chuntao looked at the man's half-opened collar, about to untie his belt, and exclaimed, "Are you crazy? Hurry up and make the clothes. I'm going to take them to work."
She spoke quickly, and her hand brushed across his chest even faster. She blamed him for being careless and being deceived by her words. Looking at Lin Chuntao who touched someone and quickly ran away, Pei Ying smiled and tightened his belt, which he had not tied tightly just now.
When Lin Chuntao came out of the house, Lin Chunxing had already prepared all the farm tools.
"Let's go, can we finish planting everything today?"
"Yeah, almost." Lin Chunxing replied, carrying the basket on her back. She turned back and asked Lin Chuntao, "By the way, sister, do we need to water the vegetable patch?"
"No, it rained a few days ago and the soil is still quite damp."
The sisters talked and left the yard. Pei Ying opened the door, found the needle and thread, cut a bamboo stick, and drew on the ground next to it. After she was sure, she took out the carbon powder, soaked some silk threads, and started cutting the cloth.
Lin Chuntao and her friends were working on the two plots of land by the river today. There was a gurgling stream not far away. In the afternoon, the women in the village came to the river in groups of three or five, carrying wooden basins, to wash clothes.
Seeing Lin Chuntao still planting beans in the field, she asked with a smile, "Chuntao, what are you sisters planting?"
"Aunt, you're here to plant beans and wash clothes?"
The woman laughed and said, "Yes, can you still survive if you plant beans now?"
"I think so. I don't know. It depends on the weather."
"If they can't survive, wouldn't it be a waste of bean seeds?"
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "If it survives, I can harvest my bean seeds."
The women smiled when they heard this and walked towards the river.
The sisters continued to plant until the evening, and there was still some left. However, the younger sisters were already impatient to go back and watch Pei Ying make clothes, so they had to give up and continue tomorrow.
When they returned home, Pei Ying was sitting in the yard waving needles.
Lin Duoer and the others gathered around Pei Ying without even washing their hands. "Brother-in-law, have you made any?"
Lin Chuntao was just about to ask, "How many pairs of trousers can you make in just one afternoon?" when she heard Pei Ying say, "I've made two pairs of trousers. They're in the food cabinet inside."
Lin Duoer said excitedly, "I want to go and take a look."
"Lin Duoer, come and wash your hands!" Lin Chunxing hurriedly called out to Lin Duoer who was rushing into the house. Lin Duoer ran over with a smile and washed her hands. After washing, she ran back to the house to take a look.
Lin Chuntao also went to take a look. They were two pairs of straight-leg pants with a belt at the waist and hems sealed with grass-green cloth with flower patterns stitched on. There were small green embellishments on the hems, which looked a little fresh.
Moreover, the patterns on the two pairs of trousers were different. Lin Chuntao took them and looked at them. The needlework was very well done and the color of the thread could not be seen from the outside.
Lin Chuntao was very surprised. Duo'er, who was standing beside her, took out both pairs of pants and asked Pei Ying, "Brother-in-law, are these mine?"
Pei Ying, still holding the needle in his hand, casually replied, "Let's see if they're all done. Yours is the smallest."
Holding two pairs of pants together to compare their sizes, Lin Duoer pointed to one and said, "I like this pattern."
Pei Ying said, "I don't know what kind of flowers you all like, I just made them randomly to make it easier to tell whose clothes they belong to."
Lin Chuntao looked at the one in his hand, which was almost halfway done, and couldn't help but sigh, "How come you're so fast?"
"Only pants are quicker, as there aren't as many details. Tops take more time."
Lin Chuntao said, "Take your time. There's no rush. Have you been sitting here all the time and not getting up to walk around?"
Pei Ying heard her concern and smiled.
"Won't."
He just stood up and walked around without stopping his hands.
After dinner today, no one rushed to bed even though it got dark. Instead, they lit a big fire in the yard, and the firelight illuminated the entire yard.
Pei Ying continued to make clothes by the light of the fire. Lin Chuntao watched him sewing stitch by stitch. Asking her to do this felt like asking her to die.
The moon is bright in the sky and the stars are sparse, and the fire in the yard is shining brightly.
Seeing the village becoming increasingly quiet, Lin Chuntao urged Lin Duoer and the others to wash up and go to bed. She also said to Pei Ying, "Pack up and get ready for bed. You have to get up early tomorrow."
Pei Ying nodded.
"Go wash up first."
After everyone finished washing up, Lin Chuntao put out the fire, made sure the courtyard gate was closed, and then went back to the house to sleep.
Just after the Yin hour of the next day, the system started to make a lot of noise.
She slept a little late yesterday, and she got up yawning. Pei Ying also got up at the same time, and they went out together.
In the next few days, Lin Chuntao went into the mountains to pick mushrooms as usual, and Pei Ying went to work in the butcher shop. In the afternoon, Lin Chuntao took them to the fields, and Pei Ying made clothes at home.
It took eleven days to finish the clothes. Because Lin Chuntao was making small clothes for herself and her sisters, her hands were not under her control. The needle poked and pulled the thread, and the clothes were either wrinkled here or loose there. It took several days to finish the clothes. Pei Ying had already finished the undershirt, pants and shirt and was waiting for her.
The sisters really wanted to change into new clothes, but they also wanted matching ones. They stared at the clothes in Lin Chuntao's hands every day, and waited impatiently until they were finally done.
Only one set of new clothes could be made, but Xiaoyi Lin Chuntao made two sets for them so that it would be more convenient to change them.
Just a few small things, but she almost pierced her fingertips with them.
Looking at the sisters who were looking anxiously, Lin Chuntao handed over their clothes separately and said, "Wash them, dry them, and then change your clothes."
The sisters quickly took it and looked at the small clothes with joy on their faces. The coats and pants had been washed and dried long ago, so they didn't have to go to the river to wash these three or four small pieces. They could just scoop some water in the yard to wash them.
Lin Chuntao really didn't want to move, so she handed hers to Lin Chunxing.
"Wash mine too and hang them up. My fingers hurt and I don't want to touch the water."
Lin Chunxing took it with a smile and said, "Call me if you need any work involving water."
She was particularly happy holding these two sets of clothes and pants. If having new clothes made her happy, then this one made by Lin Chuntao made her even happier.
Duo'er and Chunhe are still young and ignorant, but she is no longer a child.
If my mother were still alive, she would have prepared these things for them long ago.
She had wanted it before, but they had no money at that time. Lin Chuntao went to Tian to ask for money and cloth, but Tian refused to give them.
With a father like Lin Changhe at home, it is useless to ask him for help when you have nothing to eat, not to mention such private matters, which you cannot even talk about.
Now, Lin Chuntao made two sets for them at once, so they can walk out with their heads held high in the future.
She had seen the pattern of Lin Xianer's small clothes, which were made for Lin Xianer by a tailor hired by Tian in the county town. She was very envious at that time.
Looking at the one in my hand now, I feel that it looks better than Lin Xianer’s.
"Sister, are we going to Sister Qiaoer's house for a banquet tomorrow?" Lin Duoer asked.
Lin Chuntao smiled: "Her mother told me the other day that she was going."
"Can we go then?"
Lin Chuntao was about to agree when Lin Chunxing next to her said, "Sister and brother-in-law can go. If we all go, people will say we are greedy ghosts."
This is the case in the village. Every household has too many people, so most banquets only have one or two people. If there are three people, one of them will be a child around four or five years old or younger.
Lin Duoer is not a child anymore, and she will have new clothes to wear tomorrow. She must want to go out for a walk in her new clothes.
Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "Why don't your second sister take you two there tomorrow?"
Lin Chunxing uttered an "ah" and slowly turned to look at Lin Chuntao, "Is this okay?"
"What's wrong with that? I'll give you the money for the gift. You can put it in either of our names when you record it in the account. We sisters won't separate anyway."
Lin Chunxing had never given a gift before and suddenly felt a little nervous.
"I've never delivered it, how should I record it?" Lin Chunxing looked at her and asked.
Lin Chuntao smiled. She didn't know if there was a special table for bookkeeping here, so she smiled and said, "Aunt Guizhi is here, just ask her to take you to bookkeeping."
"Oh well."
Lin Chunxing agreed, and Lin Chunhe asked expectantly, "Then can we go wearing new clothes?"
Lin Chuntao nodded and said, "Okay, clothes are made to be worn. Wear them whenever you want."
"What if I can't bear to wear it and go out?"
After Lin Chunhe finished speaking, Lin Chuntao smiled and said, "How about I buy some linen and patch up these old clothes, and continue to wear them to work in the fields?"
As soon as he finished speaking, his sisters nodded vigorously.
"Okay, I'll go buy it tomorrow."
In fact, it would be okay to save some money to buy a new set of clothes, but Lin Chuntao also wanted to save money to build a house. Most importantly, she wanted to finish building the house before the New Year so that she could move into her own home during the New Year.
It's not a big deal to live in someone else's old house for a long time.
So I made a set of clothes, and I'll just use them for a while.
The next day, Lin Chuntao also changed into new clothes. The cotton fabric was soft and fitted, and the style made by Pei Ying was also very nice. There were some details made on the sleeves and neckline, which was very eye-catching. With this color, it looked even better.
The work in the fields was done, and Lin Chunxing and the others no longer had to rush to the fields. They were going to Qiao'er's house for lunch today. In order to avoid going to the fields to cut grass for pigs today, they had already cut the grass yesterday.
This morning, as soon as it was light, the three sisters got up and put on new clothes.
You look at me and I look at you.
"Second sister, third sister, yours look so good."
Lin Chunhe looked at her and smiled, "Yours looks great too."
"whee."
Although their clothes were all the same color, Pei Ying had made different patterns on them, with slightly different styles, which made it easier to distinguish them with embellishments.
They walked around the yard in their clothes, looking very happy.
After the hour of noon, the wedding procession came in from the village entrance. Lin Chunxing gave the pig feed to the piglets, then locked the door and took her sisters to watch the wedding.
Most of the people in this village are from the same clan. Except for those who don't associate with each other because of fighting, everyone else will participate in weddings and funerals.
The villagers had not gone out to work this morning. There were people everywhere, inside and outside the yard, on the roadside, and at the intersections. There were even more children running and playing in the alleys.
Lin Chunxing and the others ran down. Just as the wedding procession passed by with drums and gongs, they were followed by many people, all heading to Qiao'er's house.
The light green color was particularly beautiful in the sunlight. Some girls looked at it eagerly and pulled the adults around them to say, "Mom, look, Duo'er and the others' clothes are so beautiful."
The adults looked over and were all shocked.
"Hey, have the Chunxing sisters made new clothes?"
"It's so beautiful, was it made by a tailor from the county town?"
…
The women were talking at once, one talking at a time.
Lin Xian'er, Tian, and the sisters-in-law of the old Lin family were all among this group of people.
After hearing what everyone said, they all looked over. Lin Chunxing and the others were walking in front, and they could only see their backs. But even from their backs, they could clearly see that the clothes they were wearing were not made of linen, but dyed cotton.
Lin Xian'er clenched her teeth. The last time they went to the cloth shop, she asked and was told that the dyed cotton cloth would cost seven hundred coins, so the old lady only bought her a few feet, enough to make the lining of the jacket. She still bought linen for the pants.
At this moment, she looked at the way Lin Chunxing's trouser legs swayed gently as she walked. Just by thinking about it, she knew that the fabric must be very soft and comfortable to wear.
Lin Chunxing and the others actually wore the fabric that she hadn't even worn!
The woman next to her hadn't noticed Lin Xian'er's mood yet, and she said with a smile, "Xian'er, your outfit is about to be outdone by your niece."
Lin Xian'er's face suddenly changed, and she turned her head away without saying anything. The woman was embarrassed for a long time, and she stopped walking with Tian and the others, and walked forward to join the others.
Lin Changhe looked at the jumping figures in front of him and was very confused. He didn't understand where these little girls got the money.
Finally, he couldn't help but shout first: "Lin Chunxing!"
The person in front didn't answer. Lin Changhe thought the voice was too soft and he didn't hear it, so he shouted again at the top of his voice: "Lin Chunxing! Are you deaf?"
Lin Duoer heard Lin Changhe's voice and was about to turn around, but Lin Chunxing held the back of her head and said softly, "Don't look back, you can't hear me."
Duoer nodded obediently.
Everyone heard Lin Changhe calling out, but Lin Chunxing turned a deaf ear. The old lady next to her said with a smile, "Chunxing, your father is calling you from behind."
Lin Chunxing looked at the old lady and said with a fake smile: "Auntie, you must have heard it wrong. We have no father for a long time."
Her voice was clear and everyone around heard it, but when they thought about the situation when the sisters were driven out, and saw that they were living well now and they all loved watching plays, they did not speak up for Lin Changhe.
Lin Changhe called out twice, watching Lin Chunxing talking to someone else and ignoring him. Someone nearby even joked, "Third Brother, why are you calling Chunxing? Didn't you two break up? It's normal for them to ignore you."
"Son of mine, can you just cut off ties with me just like that?" Lin Changhe said angrily.
Others laughed and said, "I can't stop being with my son, but aren't they girls?"
Lin Changhe's face turned red, and he was still cursing. Qian Shi scolded beside him, "Why did I marry such a loser like you? You can't even control a few girls."
In front of outsiders, Lin Changhe was so angry that he wanted to hit someone, but when he looked at Qian's bulging belly, he swallowed his anger back.
Weddings in the village are mainly about having fun, without too many rigid rules. The banquet is held in the drying yard, and people who eat at the banquet also go to the drying yard. Many people from surrounding villages also come to such events, and the whole village is very lively.
After Lin Chuntao and the others followed them in, they met Lin Jiaye, Lin Qingqing and a group of their friends.
Seeing them wearing new clothes, Lin Qingqing exclaimed: "Wow, Chun Xing, when did you make these new clothes? They look so beautiful."
Lin Duoer looked up and called out "Sister Qingqing," then said, "I did it a few days ago."
Lin Qingqing pulled Lin Chunxing's sleeve and looked around, "Wow, is this made of cotton? It's so soft~"
"Sister Chuntao didn't come?"
Lin Chunxing replied, "She and my brother-in-law went to the county town and asked us to bring Chunhe and the others. Have you seen Aunt Guizhi?"
Lin Qingqing pointed in a direction, "Aunt Guizhi is in the kitchen. We are going to see Qiao'er. Do you want to come with us?"
"Are you sending anything to Sister Qiao'er?" Lin Chunxing asked.
Lin Qingqing shook her head and said, "My mother is sending it to my aunt, so we won't."
"Are you going to give it to Sister Qiao'er?"
Lin Chunxing shook her head and said, "You guys go first, I'll come over in a while. I'll go and take care of what my sister asked me to do first."
Lin Qingqing took her arm and asked in a low voice, "Are you going to give a gift to your aunt?"
"Um."
"Then I'll go with you."
As she said that, she asked the other friends to go find Lin Qiaoer first, and she took Lin Jiaye and her sisters with her to follow Lin Chunxing to find Aunt Guizhi.
The three sisters walked through the crowd wearing brand new clothes, and everyone looked at them in surprise.
Lin Qingqing asked in a low voice: "Everyone is looking at your clothes. Where did you make them? I will ask my mother to find this tailor to make them for me during the Chinese New Year this year."
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