Ji Zhijun couldn't explain, so he gave a vague reply and hurriedly turned back to look for his mother.
Captain Chen shook his head and said to Secretary Ji, "The Zhang family is really courting death. How about I talk to the secretary and captain of the Xiapo Brigade another day?"
Logically, if someone in the brigade is bullied, Secretary Ji could stand up for them, but since the person being bullied is Secretary Ji's son, he doesn't feel comfortable speaking up.
However, it's still possible for the battalion commander to stand up for him and talk to another battalion commander.
Before long, Ji Zhijun managed to win back his mother's heart, and she agreed to come to the city to see the children.
There was no other way. Although he was angry with Zhang Hong, the two children were the only two biological grandchildren of the third generation of the Ji family, and they were twins. How could he possibly abandon them?
Of course, what she really wanted was to bring the child back to the brigade from the city; she didn't want to stay in the city to take care of the child!
In the evening, Ji Zhijun escorted Ji's mother into the city. Ji Xia breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her mother arrive.
Worried about something happening to her two children, she didn't leave the house all afternoon.
Ji Xia had intended to take the opportunity to teach Zhang Lan cross-stitch, but Zhang Hong left, and the two children were too noisy. In one afternoon, they hadn't even finished embroidering half of the collar.
When Ji's mother entered the room, Ji Xia was sitting by the crib teaching Zhang Lan cross-stitch. Hearing the sound, she couldn't help but wave excitedly: "Mom, you're finally here! I missed you so much!"
"I miss you so much! I haven't been home for a whole month."
Ji's mother rolled her eyes at her daughter. This brat, always meddling in her brother and sister-in-law's affairs, even egging them on to get a divorce.
Looking at the timid Zhang Lan, she refrained from nagging and asked impatiently, "How's the child? Is he crying?"
As she spoke, she walked to the crib and bent down. Two children were lying in the crib, playing with their fingers and blowing bubbles. Their two dark eyes were rolling around, and their little faces were round.
Upon seeing strangers, Lele suddenly grinned, revealing her gums as she smiled at Ji's mother, making Ji's mother beam with joy.
Ji Xia chuckled: "Aren't they adorable? These two little guys love to laugh. They only cried for a short while after their mother left. Alan is used to comforting them every day, so she calmed them down quickly."
Mother Ji reached out and picked up Lele, kissing him on the cheek as she tenderly comforted him, "My darling, Grandma's here. Don't be afraid, Grandma's with you..."
The two children were held and coaxed by their mother for a while, giggling and laughing. Ji Zhijun and Ji Xia both breathed a sigh of relief.
Ji Xia turned to Zhang Lan and instructed her to prepare dinner, while eagerly taking her mother's arm: "Mother, haven't you packed your clothes for the trip to the city? I'll take you to get some clothes later."
Ji's mother rolled her eyes at her: "Why go to the city? Why not just take the child back to the countryside? Anyway, when your sister-in-law comes back, she'll still have to leave the child in the countryside to take care of him, won't she?"
Ji Xia guessed that this might not be the case. If Zhang Lan wanted to stay in the city, she would definitely try to get Zhang Hong to bring the child to her side.
However, she did not refute it, but chuckled and said, "Mother wants to take them back to the countryside, that's fine too. Kang Kang and Le Le are chubby, fair-skinned, tender and cute. It's good to let them see our Ji family's eldest and second grandsons."
Soon after, Zhang Lan finished preparing dinner, and Chen Jing arrived.
As soon as Chen Jing saw Ji's mother, his mouth was full of sweet words, which made Ji's mother smile from ear to ear.
Before long, Chen Jing's status in Ji's mother's heart rose sharply, ranking only behind her two beloved grandsons.
Patting Chen Jing's hand, Ji's mother glanced at Ji Xia and said, "Speaking of which, it's time for both families to sit down and have a proper talk about your marriage."
Chen Jing was thinking about this when he heard this and his face lit up with joy: "Auntie, you really hit the nail on the head. I was just thinking of going home to talk to my parents about this."
Chen Jing glanced at Ji Xia with a resentful look. They had originally agreed to get married after the autumn harvest, once the house was ready.
He had repaired the house, prepared the "three turns and one sound" (a traditional Chinese house renovation project), and the bride price, but then this kind of thing happened to the Ji family.
Upon hearing this, Ji Xia smiled shyly: "Shouldn't we wait until Second Brother comes back to discuss this?"
Chen Jing's eyes grew even more resentful upon hearing this. Fortunately, Ji's mother spoke up fairly: "By the time your second brother returns, when will it be? Go home in a couple of days, and let the two families settle things first. Try to choose a date when your brother can come back."
Ji Zhijun looked around and said, "But my little sister has to go to class and work every day, where would she find the time?"
Upon hearing this, Ji Xia looked around and met Chen Jing's resentful gaze, feeling a little guilty.
She rubbed her arms and chuckled, "It feels a bit cold, can you guys feel it?"
"It's getting a bit chilly; it feels like the weather is about to change."
As she spoke, Ji's mother turned to look at the somewhat gloomy sky outside: "Have you prepared cotton-padded coats for the children?"
The autumn harvest is over, and it's now October. Although winter comes late in the south, it's time for temperatures to start to drop in October.
"Mother, it's already been made, it should be ready soon. Chen Jing and I will go get the cotton-padded jacket later."
Ji Xia quickly agreed, and Ji Zhijun sighed, "I can't let you pay for all the clothes. I'll pay for them!"
"Brother, there's no need for such formalities between us siblings."
Ji Xia waved her hand generously, quickly finished her meal, and rode off with Chen Jing on their bicycles.
She should have been able to make these children's clothes easily. In fact, although the small workshop made children's clothes every day, they had never prepared any for twins.
So the two of them had no choice but to go and make a few sets of cotton-padded clothes right away.
On the way, Chen Jing asked helplessly, "When are we going back to the brigade to set a date?"
Ji Xia thought for a moment: "I'll ask Sun Xiaoyu for help later. I'll ask her to cover my shift at the supply and marketing cooperative for half a month, and then we can go back when we have time?"
“Great! Tell Team Leader Sun she can cover for her, and she’ll get her full wages from the workshop.” Chen Jing grinned generously.
The two returned to the workshop, where all the employees had gone home for dinner.
Ji Xia called Sun Xiaoyu and Chen Qiuyu over and asked them to help make a few sets of cotton-padded clothes.
There are children's sets available, because there are two people in the workshop who specialize in making children's clothing. Ji Xia picked out eight sets that were already made, and specially ordered two sizes larger. Then, the group discussed and made several sets of cotton-padded linings.
In the 1960s and 70s, when people in the countryside made cotton-padded clothes, they would take the cotton out of the old cotton-padded clothes and sew it into the new ones.
Ji Xia skipped this step and made a separate inner lining. Then she used buttons to connect the outer cover to the inner lining, so she could take it apart or add it whenever she wanted.
When Ji Xiangjun took these detachable inner linings to other places, they were immediately sought after, and hundreds of cotton-padded coats were snapped up in just two days.
Ji Xia is now planning to add a lining to the outfit, and Sun Xiaoyu's eyes lit up: "My grandpa said that it's probably going to get windy these days, so why don't we add a lining to our children's clothes too?"
Ji Xia nodded: "Adding an inner lining is no problem, but how much cotton do we have left?"
Sun Xiaoyu smiled shyly: "There's not much left now, only thirty or forty catties, but your second brother said he'll try to get us another thousand catties when he comes back."
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