Chapter 40 A man who wanted to grow taller became a firefighter…
"The cat toy doesn't count; that was made by my older sister, not given to me."
Xiaohe pushed the money bag, tilted her head back and said, "I want you to make a big rat for Xiaoye, sister."
"Cats are supposed to catch mice, but this cat is too small and lazy to catch them. Sister, can you make one for it?"
Lin Xiushui paused in her hand as she opened the money pouch, then turned to look at her. She thought Xiao He could really come up with something good, but it turned out she was just being a scoundrel. There really wasn't enough of this kind of thing.
She could indeed make cloth mice, the kind that are tiny and pointy, with eyes and a tail sewn on. She could barely fulfill that wish.
"Besides rats?"
Xiaohe hugged her arm and said, "It's also related to Xiaohua."
Xiaohua wasn't asking Lin Xiushui to make flowers, but rather Xiaohua's good friend. Xiaohua's real name was Wang Lühe, and Xiaohua's real name was Fang Lianzi. The two had similar names and were of similar age. In the alley of Sangshukou, the two got along the best.
Before Lin Xiushui came, Wang Yuelan was busy with the dyeing business. She would come back at noon to cook for Xiaohe. Many times, Xiaohua would bring the lunch prepared by her mother and walk half a lane to share it with Xiaohe.
“Little Flower’s mother is always very busy, and like me, she doesn’t have a father. When she gets busy, I give her a few copper coins and tell her to go out and buy food,” Xiao He sighed like an old lady, hands on her hips. “She hasn’t come out to play with me in a long time.”
“Even when I brought Xiaoye the cat over, she wasn’t very happy. I just knew it.”
Xiaohe also has a little trouble; she can't sleep at night, even though Xiaohua used to be her best friend.
"Later I found out," Xiaohe pouted, "Xiaohua's mother didn't have time to sew clothes for her, so Xiaohua wore the same pair of shoes every day to buy food. The soles of the shoes wore out, and she couldn't mend them."
"
"Sister, I'll give you all the money I earn from now on. Can you sew clothes for Xiaohua?"
Lin Xiushui patted her head and softly asked Xiaohe, "Xiaohua, are you willing?"
In the years before she learned the craft of tailoring, her mother was often ill and had no time to mend her clothes. When Aunt Chen mended her clothes, she felt grateful, but there was always a small and hidden embarrassment, stemming from the inescapable hardship of difficult times.
Xiaohe leaned on her shoulder, and she lowered her head and said, "I don't know either, she didn't tell me."
Lin Xiushui hugged her. "Alright, Da Bao, let me ask you, what can Xiao Hua do, and what is she best at?"
"She knows so many things. She can light the stove, heat up food, wash clothes, sweep the floor, and do so many other chores. She's much more capable than me," Xiaohe recounted. In her heart, Xiaohua was only slightly inferior to her older sister and mother, not in terms of skills, but in terms of age.
Xiaohe thought, Xiaohua is still too young. If she were older, she would definitely be even more amazing.
Lin Xiushui thought for a moment. She had a job making cat toys for a shop in Cat Lane. She mainly continued to make them for Xiao He. There wasn't a lot of work in a day. Making the tassels at the bottom was very simple.
She then said, "Then you should have Xiaohua do your work too, so that she can earn money to mend clothes herself."
Lin Xiushui told Xiaohe that sometimes good intentions can lead to bad outcomes, especially when they are based on sympathy and go unnoticed from above.
Xiaohe was a little confused, but she clapped her hands happily, "I want to share my work with Xiaohua so that she can earn lots of money too."
She uttered a profound saying: "You can't do anything without money; it's easier to get things done when you have money in your hands."
“That makes sense,” Lin Xiushui wondered. She had said so many reasonable things, but the child only listened to this one sentence.
Xiaohe quickly packed her things and went to find Xiaohua. She dragged and pestered her relentlessly. Lin Xiushui didn't know much about what the two children were saying, but anyway, Xiaohe brought Xiaohua over the next afternoon.
Xiaohua is only seven years old. She is small in stature, with a small face and big eyes. She wears an ill-fitting blue coarse cloth dress, which is loose and oversized, like a lampshade covering a candle.
She wasn't so flustered. Holding a few copper coins, she said, "Xiaohe said that Sister Aqiao's clothes mending is very cheap. I also want to mend my clothes."
Xiaohe interjected, "I'm really not lying."
"Haven't you heard I mend clothes? I'm the cheapest, only a penny or two. Take a look and see where it's torn," Lin Xiushui said, treating her like an ordinary customer, as she went to get her needle and thread.
Xiao Hua breathed a sigh of relief. She had nine coins, enough to mend her clothes. She took them off and showed them to Lin Xiushui. The clothes had many holes and the edges were torn. She wasn't very good at washing clothes.
Lin Xiushui reached out and took a look. The tear was easy to sew, but there were many holes, so patching it wasn't very suitable. No child likes to wear patched clothes.
She took out a small wooden box of fabric patches and beckoned, "Little Flower, how about I sew some flowers onto your clothes? Come and choose."
Lin Xiushui used scraps of cloth to cut out flower patterns, small and large, four or five petals, in various colors, which looked natural when sewn into the holes.
Xiao Hua hesitated before choosing yellow and white flowers. Lin Xiushui took them out with tweezers, placed them on top, arranged them in different sizes, and then sewed them on with needle and thread. In the eyes of the two children, she was like the Goddess of Silkworms, spinning silk and sewing up the holes little by little, turning them into flowers growing on the clothes, which was not out of place at all.
It transformed into a beautiful embroidered dress on Xiaohua's body, gradually calming her small and anxious heart. She repeatedly stroked the dress, and the corners of her mouth slowly turned up.
Lin Xiushui took three coins from her. Xiaohe wanted to comfort Xiaohua, so she lied through her teeth: "Actually, I also charge my older sister for mending my clothes."
"??"
Lin Xiushui was putting the needle and thread back into the needle holder when she heard this and slowly turned her head. What nonsense are you talking about?
She watched as Xiaohua and Xiaohe played with a cloth mouse, teasing the cat Xiaoye as it pounced on them. She heard Xiaohua whisper, "I used to think my mother was the best. I want to be a midwife too."
"So you don't want to be a midwife anymore?"
Xiao Hua squatted there, touching her clothes. "But right now, I think being a tailor would be nice too."
Especially later, as she used money to mend her clothes, one torn garment after another was mended and became beautiful clothes with flowers. Her shoes were no longer wide open and no longer made a clattering sound when she walked. When she went out to play, people would praise her clothes. Xiao Hua sincerely believed that Sister A Qiao's needlework was even better than that of the doctor.
She thought more than once that when she grew up, she would be a tailor, a good tailor, and she would mend clothes for many people.
However, after the clothes were mended, Xiao Hua Niang, the midwife, came over in a hurry early in the morning. She looked to be in her twenties or thirties, with her hair neatly combed, wearing a narrow-sleeved dress, carrying a wide wooden box on her back, and dark circles under her eyes.
Everyone called her a midwife, and she also called herself Li the Midwife.
“I just got back from delivering a baby. There was another baby coming to the front street last night, so I’ve been busy until now. Actually, I’ve wanted to come here for a long time,” Midwife Li said, taking the money pouch from her waist, her fingers still stained with blood. “How much did you pay for Xiaohua’s clothes? I’ll pay you back. I really feel bad about it.”
Lin Xiushui pressed her hand down, "No, Madam Li, I've already given Xiaohua to you."
“Those few coins are nothing,” said Li, the midwife, as she put her medicine box behind her and took Lin Xiushui’s hand. “It’s all thanks to you. Otherwise, it would have taken me a long time to realize that those of us in this line of work, to put it bluntly, only care about other people’s babies and don’t care about our own. If someone calls for help, we have to go even if we’re still half asleep in the middle of the night.”
There's no such thing as a "time off" for midwives, just like with traditional Chinese medicine doctors. If someone needs to give birth, no matter how late it is, she has to go right away. Sometimes, if the distance is far, she even has to ride a donkey.
The midwife, Li, came to ask Lin Xiushui to mend Xiaohua's clothes, offering to pay her several hundred coins a month. She also said, "I would also like to trouble you to make her a new pair of shoes and a new outfit. I heard about the cat-head shoes you were selling earlier, but I forgot about them when I got busy."
Lin Xiushui readily agreed, she was happy to take on this kind of work. Of course, she didn't expect that after taking on one, there would be a second and a third. She had only known that many people in the alley were busy making a living, but she didn't expect that many of them were so busy that they didn't have time to take care of their children. As long as they had clothes to wear, that was enough.
“We heard it from midwife Li. My husband and I are very busy planting and tending to the mulberry trees. We don’t have a day to rest, especially these past two months,” the mulberry-picking woman said, pulling her two children over.
“I myself live like I’m rolling in the mud, but these two kids, I’d say they’re dressed like beggars, leaning on a cane, carrying a broken bowl, and they actually manage to beg for money.”
Lin Xiushui glanced at it and realized that it was indeed very dirty. The clothes of the two children, especially around the knees, were completely black, with no other color.
She seemed a little disgusted, and said tactfully, "How about you wash my clothes and bathe yourself first, my lady?"
"I don't have the time. If you're willing to take on these two jobs, I'll pay you more."
Lin Xiushui shook her head more vigorously than a rattle drum; she was completely unwilling, but she knew someone could do it.
"Xiu-jie, are you looking for me?" Chen Guihua came out with her hair tied in an oilcloth bun. When she saw it was her, she put down her crossed hands and thought it was Wang Yuelan who had come to annoy her again.
Chen Guihua clearly distinguished between Wang Yuelan and Lin Xiushui; they were not the same.
"Come, come in and sit down. It's rare for you to come all this way. Have you changed your mind? Do you think I'm actually quite meticulous despite my rough exterior, and that I could make a name for myself in the tailoring business?"
Lin Xiushui stepped across the threshold, stopped upon hearing this, and wanted to tell her that she was overthinking it.
"Aunt Guihua, just focus on your current job. I think tailoring is a waste of your talents. There's a job that only you can do." Lin Xiushui looked at him with an expression that said, "This job is indispensable to you."
Chen Guihua found it particularly strange. She stopped lighting the stove and came over to ask, "What kind of work is this?"
Lin Xiushui said, "People give you eighteen coins for washing a child's hair and body, and washing one or two sets of clothes."
She couldn't think of anyone else who could take on this job besides Chen Guihua. Although Chen Guihua looked rough and careless, her house was spotless, and she worked in the perfume shop, doing things like wiping people's backs and manicuring.
The fact that they can watch for so long shows that their skills are excellent; they should be able to do this job, but they need to distinguish between boys and girls.
Chen Guihua almost dropped the bowl. She quickly covered it with the apron and looked at her strangely, "Why didn't you give this good job to your aunt? Why are you giving it to me?" Lin Xiushui spoke the truth: "No one but you can do it."
"Oh my, Sister Xiu, I really didn't misjudge you. I didn't expect you to think so highly of me. You've come to the right place. I promise to wash each and every one of them clean."
Chen Guihua patted her chest and assured everyone that she might hesitate to do other jobs, but she had been doing this job for two or three years, and apart from people saying that she had a strong hand, no one had ever said that she didn't wash things clean.
She's been able to work in the perfume shop for so long because she's learned some techniques. At most, she's been asked to scrub the backs of women, but most of the time she's been washing babies. Their skin is delicate, so she knows how to clean them without hurting them by using hot or cold water.
Especially when she washes her hair, she makes sure to wash all the lice out.
She also told Lin Xiushui, "Boys should be under five years old, girls should be around seven, and girls should be taught by their parents to wash clothes by the age of eight. But it doesn't matter how old they are, they can wash clothes."
Chen Guihua spoke frankly, "I promise I'll do a good job. I just want to make some money. I'll draw the curtains and have the lady come over to take a look. If she's satisfied, then we'll talk."
Lin Xiushui actually trusted Chen Guihua's character quite a bit. It wasn't a big problem for her to like taking advantage of others, and she was willing to take on any work that came her way.
Of course, Chen Guihua did not disappoint her trust. She knew all too well that no one could turn down money. If she did not do well once, no one would hire her next time.
Anyway, the kids go in all dirty, but come out incredibly clean, especially their heads and faces. Chen Guihua washes them twice, and if they have a lot of lice, she washes them three or four times. She's very meticulous about making money. She really has a skill; she can earn an extra seven or eight hundred coins a month by doing this job.
Chen Guihua's husband said he was out selling mulberry seedlings and rarely came home. He would send money only once every two or three months, and not much at that. He didn't have any money on hand and was in debt. He wasn't stingy or trying to take advantage of others; he couldn't bear to lose anything.
Wang Yuelan came out to empty the rice-washing water and saw Chen Guihua scooping water from the river. She came back and said to Lin Xiushui, "This work should be done by her. She's struggling to earn money in the perfume business."
"Aunt, did you know she works in the perfume shop?"
Lin Xiushui put down the mended clothes; she had never told anyone about it.
Wang Yuelan snorted, "I'm a dog, how could I not smell it?" "She doesn't want to say it, so why should I? It's not easy to make money these days. The less money you have, the more you like to be stingy. Anyway, if there's work, let her earn some money."
Lin Xiushui nodded, and indeed she hadn't expected that there would be a downside: Chen Guihua would get up early to do the laundry.
She covered her ears with a pillow and listened to the dull thud of the wooden stick hitting her clothes. You should know that Chen Guihua used to go three to five days without washing her clothes.
To earn money, I get up early to do laundry and then wash my children after work.
Lin Xiushui, with her messy hair, sat up in a daze. She heard the light rain pattering down from the eaves and lay back down, feeling at ease. She decided to sleep a little longer.
There was so much work to do. Even though she had given many gloves to Grandma Zhang and Chen Shuanghua to make, there were still many odd jobs, such as mending clothes for her children on a monthly basis. There was a whole pile of them, and they were already washed. Some of them were being washed by Chen Guihua.
She patched up a lot of things and found that these little brats were really capable of making a mess. Their knees could have two or three holes, or even a big hole. Even beggars wouldn't dress like that. If she were their mother, she wouldn't want to sew them up at all; she would just cut them up and use them as mops.
She was so tired from sewing that she planned to sleep a little longer, but her aunt would wake her if she overslept.
Wang Yuelan was very successful in her work at the silk shop. She wasn't busy, so she had time to go to the market across the street to buy vegetables. She was willing to splurge early in the morning and cut some fresh meat and bones, instead of cooking them with rice, and instead making big bone rice and stone marrow rice.
She would also braid Xiaohe's hair into a three-pronged bun and comb Lin Xiushui's hair into a bun. The two of them would discuss what flowers to wear that day. As the burden of life gradually lessened, Wang Yuelan looked younger.
Lin Xiushui has definitely gained weight.
Xiao Chun'e looked her up and down. "You've really gotten fat. You look better when you're a little chubby."
This was a compliment to Lin Xiushui, because when she first came to Sangqing Town, she was so thin that Xiao Chun'e thought she used to not eat and only drink water to fill her up.
Lin Xiushui also said of herself, "I have indeed gained weight and am more energetic. I couldn't even lift a piece of cloth before."
“You can’t move it right now,” came Da Chunling’s leisurely voice.
Lin Xiushui looked at her, and was about to say that she really hated her, but at this moment she looked at Da Chunling as if she were looking at a piece of juicy meat.
Because the task of ironing linen could finally be handed over to Da Chunling. She had been thinking about this for a long time; she really didn't like ironing as much as sewing, and finally someone could take over.
Da Chunling actually has quite a talent for ironing cloth, probably because she helps her mother roast meat. She treats the cloth like meat, ensuring it's not burnt and is flat, and that's how she becomes a master.
Lin Xiushui, on the other hand, could put down half of her burdens and concentrate on sewing and mending clothes. Even in the clothing shop, she couldn't escape the task of mending clothes.
Moreover, Madam Gu discovered that she was exceptionally skilled at mending clothes. Some difficult jobs that other clothing shops wouldn't take on, she would try to do, always saying, "What if you can mend?"
For example, this screen, or rather, half a screen, or rather, a screen, is quite small, taller than a palm, and about a foot long.
The waiter who brought the screen said, "It can be considered a screen, but this is called a food screen. When we hold a banquet, there are many kinds of food, including meat, vegetables, and side dishes, so we use food screens to separate them on the table."
"Food screens are much more expensive than ordinary screens, it would be a shame to throw them away. I wonder if you could replace them, my wife?"
Lin Xiushui held up the food screen. The gauze on it was woven with landscape and floral patterns in a bluish-green color. The colors were not complicated, but the holes had to be arranged according to the colors, making them difficult to repair.
Unlike before, when she would refuse to do any difficult patching, now she wants to try it out and experiment with different patching techniques.
"Let me see. But let me be clear from the start, this stuff is hard to repair. It's hard to say that the repair will be exactly the same. I can only say that it will be so close that it's hard to tell."
The shop assistant nodded quickly, "As long as it's not noticeable, it's fine."
Lin Xiushui placed the screen on the table and began to remove the wires. She was very skilled at removing the wires, starting from the bottom and picking out the usable ones one by one.
Anyway, no one could figure out what kind of thread she had chosen; only she herself knew. The thread she had chosen slowly pieced together in front of her eyes, basically forming the pattern of mountains at the hole.
Fortunately, the pattern on the screen wasn't particularly striking; it was rather conventional, and she was able to piece it together.
But in the shopkeeper's eyes, she unraveled the threads quickly, arranging them one by one, faster than watching a cook cut fine shreds. Especially when she was patching the hole, the needle went back and forth. He closed his eyes, wanting to take a closer look, when a thread slid past the screen in front of him and covered the hole. Then came one thread after another. He counted and found that it would take thirty-six threads just to patch this hole.
He watched for about half an hour, his legs were extremely sore, but he was in high spirits. When Lin Xiushui finished the last stitch and cut the thread, he shouted in approval, "Good!"
It was repaired so well. He had clearly stared at the hole for a long time and remembered exactly where it was. But when he looked at it after it was repaired, it was completely integrated into one place. He could only see the complete green landscape painting, just like the food screen he used to use.
He was delighted and muttered to himself as he picked up the food screen and examined it closely. "It's really amazing. I can't tell anything about it at all."
He gave Lin Xiushui a hundred or so coins as a thank you gift, gave her a serious look, and then left with the food screen in his arms after bowing.
Lin Xiushui picked up the money, but Gu Niangzi said, "Those are people from the Accounting and Settlement Department."
Otherwise, she wouldn't have taken this kind of job.
Lin Xiushui said "Oh," thinking, "Can't the Office of Setting Up the Table repair a food screen? Anyway, I've already repaired this food screen."
Seeing how clever she usually was, but now acting silly, Madam Gu waved her hand and said, "Go and sew your clothes quickly."
It's really unfair that someone who should be happy isn't happy at all, but instead is foolishly laughing.
Lin Xiushui not only laughed foolishly, she was also dumbfounded.
"I, Zhang Musheng, have become a submarine soldier!" Zhang Musheng cried his eyes out as he ran over to Lin Xiushui.
Lin Xiushui looked at the sky; it wasn't even dark yet, so why was she already dreaming?
Zhang Musheng jumped up and down, "If it's true, and I'm lying, I'll never grow any taller in my life."
The oath was so venomous that Lin Xiushui immediately believed it and asked, "How did you become one?"
Zhang Musheng wiped away his tears and said, "It's a long story, full of twists and turns. We went through wind and rain that day."
"Can you get to the point?"
“They said they saw how high I jumped,” Zhang Musheng couldn’t tell the truth at all. He would never say that people saw him jumping around a lot, and that when he jumped, he was like a firecracker soaring into the sky.
Author's Note: A red envelope is included in this chapter! [rainbow emoji][rainbow emoji]
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