Qiu Yuling let her grandmother take a break first and steamed two bowls of soft-cooked eggs for her. After the two of them finished eating, they officially entered the part that Qiu Yuling was most looking forward to.
Grandma first walked her through the steps from the beginning.
The first step is to loosen and straighten the cotton fibers into strips for spinning; then the yarn is gathered for yarn processing; next, the debris and floating cotton in the yarn are cleaned and soaked for dyeing.
The indigo made from the indigo plant is used to dye the yarn. The color of the yarn is determined by the time, quantity, and number of dyeing cycles. After dyeing, the yarn must be washed repeatedly to remove any loose color.
The corn starch is then heated to bind the cotton fibers together. This step is to tighten the yarn. The warp threads need to be passed through the healds, and the yarn is tightened back and forth during weaving...
After sizing, the yarn needs to be waxed, the yarn is cut, the warp is threaded, the yarn is reeded, the yarn is gathered, the yarn is plowed, the yarn is reeded, and the yarn is put on the machine...
In addition to homespun cloth, there is also summer cloth, which is made from hemp silk extracted from ramie and is especially cool to wear in summer.
Qiu Yuling said she had noted it down and said, "Let's start practicing." Grandma said there was no need to rush and that they should prepare lunch first.
"Ah~ Humans are good in every way, except they have mouths!!!"
"The one without a mouth is a tree!" Grandma laughed.
At noon, under Qiu Yuling's strong wish for meat, the old lady made shredded pork and radish soup, vegetable steamed buns, steamed potatoes, and a spicy garlic and eggplant dish.
Qiu Yuling helped out and everything was soon ready.
It was not time to get off work yet. Grandma took Qiu Yuling out to pluck willow leaves. Boiling willow leaves in water can dye goose yellow cloth, which is just right for the little girl.
Qiu Yuling understood the instructions, so she asked her grandmother to sit still and watch her perform. Soon, she had collected a full basket.
"Mom, Yuling, what are you doing?" Mother Qiu saw her mother and daughter at the back of the house from a distance, and asked out loud before she even got close to them.
"Grandma is teaching me how to dye cloth. Later I want to learn how to weave cloth and how to cut and sew clothes." Qiu Yuling picked up the basket and saw that her mother Qiu had already helped her grandmother up, so she followed behind and replied.
Grandma looked up at Li Qingmei, meaning, "See, your daughter is more thoughtful than you, her mother."
Mother Qiu smiled ingratiatingly.
Qiu's father, Qiu Dashan and Li Qingmei all arrived home at the same time. No one was waiting for Qiu Dashu. He had gone back to the second grade of junior high school. He would not be back in the afternoon, let alone at noon. He would only go home on weekends.
Qiu Yuling peeled and mashed the potatoes, added some mashed garlic, eggplant and chili peppers, and stirred them. Her mouth immediately watered. She took a bite and found it very satisfying. She picked it up and put it on a steamed bun with vegetables, taking a bite of the steamed bun and a sip of the broth. She couldn't stop eating.
"My little girl Lingling's appetite has increased recently." Father Qiu also learned to eat by mixing the food like his daughter, and did not forget to praise his daughter for eating well.
Mother Qiu didn't say anything. She knew that if she dared to speak, her own mother would blame her for fooling around.
Qiu Yuling was also amused by Qiu's mother's predicament.
But to be honest, if Qiu's mother had the same dedication and fearlessness of trouble as her grandmother, Qiu Yuling felt that her family might be better off.
But it's hard to say. No sugarcane is sweet at both ends. Mother Qiu never slacked off in her work. She managed to send several children to school, which is already a big step ahead of other aunts in the team.
It was just dinner, and Qiu's mother didn't let the old lady get involved in washing the pot, so Qiu Yuling coaxed her grandmother to take a nap first. When they went to work later, she and her grandmother would also start working.
Qiu Yuling has moved her grandmother's bedding roll to her own room. Not only does her grandmother have many skills that she has only heard of but never seen in the 5G era, but her speech is also very interesting. She has endless old stories to tell and life philosophy that she inadvertently brings out.
She didn't want to waste any second.
The days passed in an orderly manner. On the seventh day, the grandmother and granddaughter had woven 84 feet of homespun cloth together, which was estimated to be about 28 meters. Qiu Yuling replaced the cotton thread with linen thread, and prepared to make another piece of summer cloth under the guidance of her grandmother.
But the work was divided into two groups, and she still had to learn cutting and sewing from her grandma.
After Qiu Yuling's description, grandma understood that the goose yellow double-breasted jacket and the burberry blue tapered trousers, the cotton and linen style that became popular in later generations, were old-fashioned and were being eliminated by people at that time.
Grandma didn't expect Qiu Yuling to like this style.
"The young wives and girls outside all wear loose-fitting pants and jackets with turned-down collars. How can you, a little girl, be so conservative?" Grandma joked.
However, it was still tailored according to what Qiu Yuling wanted.
When the finished product came out, she was wearing a round-necked, double-breasted jacket, paired with lantern-shaped tapered trousers, and black cloth shoes with square handles made by Qiu's mother. She had two small braids, and she looked fair, tender and pretty.
The old lady looked at it carefully, and found it beautiful no matter how she looked at it.
The remaining cloth was dyed red, but the color was not very bright, a bit orange. There was also black cloth dyed with gallnut, and another set was made according to the same style, red on top and black on the bottom. Qiu's mother even worked overtime to sew the soles of the pair of square-toed shoes with red uppers.
Originally, it would take five or six days to use the Vidal Sassoon, but Qiu Yuling couldn't wait, so she only left the shoes outside to dry for one day, and poured out the sand in the shoe cavity before it was completely dry before putting them on.
There was also a small flower bud tied on each of the two braids, which grandma sewed using scraps of red and yellow cloth.
During this period, they worked overtime to make sheets and quilts for Qiu Yuling, giving the whole cottage a simple and warm feel.
Grandma Xiabu couldn't wait to come out. Maizi had already lowered his head. Grandma was already starting to panic and was discussing with Mother Qiu about going back. Qiu Yuling felt deeply reluctant to leave and her tears kept falling.
"Why are you crying? It's only a few steps away. Why don't you go there more often?" Mother Qiu really couldn't bear to see her daughter being so useless. It made her nose sore.
These words seemed to be spoken to his daughter, but also seemed to be comforting himself.
"Don't hit the child anymore in the future. Your hands are so strong that you can hurt the child with just one slap. Don't hit him casually anymore." Grandma stopped Li Qingmei who wanted to slap Qiu Yuling. She was worried and made a special trip to comfort her.
Mother Qiu: ...
Qiu Yuling wiped her tears hastily, not caring about her mother Qiu being punished by her grandmother. She went into the kitchen and took out a cloth bag to fill with brown sugar steamed cakes and jujube paste xuan cakes. She then found Qiu's mother's key, opened the box, took out the remaining fruit candies and brown sugar, and put them all in a flowered cloth bag.
After thinking about it, I felt that it was not enough, so I put in the remaining two cans of rabbit meat sauce. Oh, and there was also soybean paste, which I gave to grandma. Oh, I also put in the camel oil tea noodles fried by grandma. No, I felt reluctant to leave it out, and I wanted to drop golden beans again.
After packing all these, Qiu Yuling couldn't figure out what else to take. Oh, the vegetables and rabbits in the backyard.
He took the flowered cloth bag out and put it on the donkey cart, then rushed to the backyard without looking back, looking at Mrs. Qiu's astonished eyes.
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