After getting their rations back, the twins looked at their mother with new respect. This fierce mother is so nice, I wish she could always be this hard.
After the mother and her two children finished their meal, the two children went to fetch water to wash the dishes. Gu Yan started sewing the quilt again. After a few seconds, her hands were pricked again and she muttered to herself.
"A thick quilt is much harder to sew than a piece of clothing."
The second child turned around and said, "Mom, you don't have a thimble, so it's hard to use force."
Gu Yan looked up with confusion in his eyes, and after a moment he saw something called a thimble in his memory. An iron ring, worn on the middle finger of the right hand, is very useful for pushing needles.
But in later generations, neither clothing factories nor textile warehouses had this thing. Except for those who loved DIY handicrafts, it was completely useless in industry.
"Shall I go to Miss Liu's house and borrow one for you?"
The eldest brother just happened to hear it at the door, lifted the curtain and came in to make a suggestion. Gu Yan nodded slowly. He was used to buying everything in the future and had forgotten that in this era, he could borrow anything.
"Let's go together."
"Oh, I see."
While she was waiting for the needle to come out, she did not stop. The door was pushed from the outside, and then the voice of the third son's wife was heard.
"Hey, why did Second Sister-in-law close the door? Isn't it time to go to bed yet?"
"What are you doing in the dark instead of sleeping? I don't have lamp oil like you, so if I can't see, I can only sleep." Gu Yan lied with his eyes open under the bright light of the desk lamp.
Comparing myself with my sisters-in-law has never happened before. She felt that she had given birth to a money-losing child and dared not even breathe in front of her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. The third son's wife was a little caught off guard.
"Look at what my second sister-in-law said. Our room is also dark. Where can we get lamp oil these days? It's hard to find even a drop of oil..."
"Shut up." Gu Yan interrupted her before she could finish. My daughter will be back soon. How can they get home if you are like this? "If you have something to say, say it now. If you don't, get out of here."
"You... Second sister-in-law, are you crazy? Why are you biting everyone you catch?"
"Yes, I'm crazy. I'm afraid I'll infect you. So get out of here right away."
They are in cahoots with the vampire, and they conspired with each other to trick the original body into giving up his own rations. Why are you pretending to be so high and mighty in front of me? There is no need for you to be hypocritical, it would be much easier to just stay away from them.
"What a madman, he's going to die of madness." After saying these harsh words to save himself, the hypocritical Third Brother stomped his feet and went back to the south ear room.
The twin girls took the opportunity to knock on the door and enter the room. "Here, Miss Liu is using that one, and this one was borrowed from Aunt Xu in the east room of their courtyard."
Gu Yan nodded, she would remember this kindness. Although the thing is small, people nowadays do all their work by hand, so this small tool is really indispensable.
With the thimble, she worked much faster. The small quilt with a circumference of one meter was sewn quickly. She folded it and put it in the box, preparing to transform the two rotten quilts.
Since the matter had been exposed anyway, she simply took out two brand new quilts for the child. "Sleep with this tonight."
The two young ladies touched the quilt that was as soft as clouds and were so fond of it that they were reluctant to let it go. "Mom, it would be terrible if someone saw this. Would they snatch it away?"
"If grandma and the others report this to the brigade, will mom be arrested?" The second child was obviously thinking more. "Mom, let's just cover ourselves with the old quilt."
"I'll just use it temporarily. I'll modify this old quilt, and we'll naturally use the old one in the future."
"Well, that's good." The eldest brother rolled over on the newly laid mattress, his eyes narrowed in comfort.
"How do I change it? Let me help mom."
"And me, too."
"No, you two should go to bed. Children won't grow taller if they don't get enough sleep."
After sending the two children to bed, she unstitched the old quilt. The quilt lining and quilt cover were placed in the space for cleaning, and the compacted cotton was bundled up and thrown into the corner.
Take out the least eye-catching colors of cloth that you picked out earlier, cut them into small pieces, and then piece them together. Make a long strip 50 cm wide, and then connect it to the old quilt lining and quilt cover, so that there will be a large extra piece. The 1.5-meter single quilt became a 2-meter double quilt.
The inner core was replaced with a new cotton batting made of six pounds of long-staple cotton, and the hard and icy old quilt suddenly became a fluffy and soft new quilt. After folding it in the morning, cover it with a rag. As long as you don’t get in close contact, it shouldn’t be noticed.
After the two quilts were modified, she drank a box of milk and ate a piece of cake to replenish her energy. It was already four o'clock and she was too lazy to sleep any longer, so she simply cut the dull and ugly fabrics into small pieces and prepared to piece together a small quilt.
The baby in her belly is twins, a boy and a girl. The cute little daughter should have had a pink and tender complexion, but in the end she was made dull and inconspicuous. Disguised as a patchwork.
Even so, this era is not easy. Everyone's leftovers are used for patching, and most people are reluctant to give them to others. As for factories, these old farmers don’t have the connections.
Holding the dull fabrics, he suddenly patted himself. "I'm so stupid. Since it's just splicing, what does it matter if the color is pretty?"
After putting these away, she took out pieces of beautifully patterned cotton cloth, cut them into small triangular pieces with scissors, and then pieced them together to form the shape of a windmill.
When I was searching for fabric just now, I found two factory sewing machines. I guess they were brought in from the warehouse. Now the speed has increased. The small quilt was quickly pieced together, and the simplest white cloth was used for the quilt lining. Nowadays, it costs one cent per foot, so this one only takes a little over three feet.
The sound of rain could be heard outside again. After making the small quilt and putting it in the box, she took out a few old-age sweatshirts with white background and pink flowers and cut them to make underwear for her unborn daughter. There were two pieces of single-bag cloth, and she cut two pieces of gray flannel for replacement. It would be great if I could live in the wilderness, without having to worry about being seen by others and having nice things but not daring to use them.
I didn't sleep all night and took a nap while sitting down in the early morning light. She actually saw another self. No, it was exactly the same body as this one. It should be the original owner. The man had a wry smile on his face and shook his head and said goodbye to her.
"These are all yours. I'm leaving now. I hope you'll be a good mother."
She was anxious and wanted to say something but couldn't make a sound. She wanted to reach out and pull her, but unfortunately she couldn't hold her at all. She woke up suddenly. The desk lamp was still on. The two children were sleeping soundly on the kang. She was still holding the unfinished vest in her hand.
"Damn it, what do you mean by giving it all to me? Is there anyone who forces people to win the lottery like you? I have my own life, and I don't need your charity."
If you grumble a few words out of anger, naturally no one will respond.
Well, don't think about anything now. She had never been married and was arranged to be someone's mother. Gu Yan, if you keep talking nonsense, be careful or God will banish you to the end of the world.
After mumbling to himself for a while, he officially finished working on the small vest in his hand. After putting them in the box, she also took down the blackout curtains on the doors and windows.
The two children woke up early and hugged the modified quilt and kissed it. "Mom, this quilt is so big, it should be enough for the four of us to sleep on."
Gu Yan was stunned for a moment, then he understood what it meant. Are you still thinking about that domestic abusive father?
"You two will build one, and Mom will build another with your younger brother and sister."
"Then...what about Dad?"
"He has a mother too, so just let him sleep with his mother."
The eldest brother clapped his hands and said, "Yes, go find your own mother and don't come back."
The second brother hesitated for a moment: "It's fine if he doesn't come back, but what if he insists on coming back?"
"Hit it out."
Gu Yan opened the door and left the house. The two girls looked at each other on the kang and gave their mother a thumbs up. Mom is awesome. Looks like they will have an easier life in the future.
The next day the sky cleared up and everyone was summoned to work by the bell after breakfast. She was assigned to the field to pick corn with her big belly. Nowadays, the poles are cut down first and then broken. Pregnant women can do this job while sitting.
The two children were assigned to pick sweet potatoes in the sweet potato field. This work was done by the children alone, so she couldn't say anything. It is not a bad thing to adapt to local customs and train children to be independent. Add two more custard buns for breakfast per person, and there will be no problem as long as you are not hungry.
There were several women working in a field, two of them were pregnant. As the saying goes, three women make a play. Now the show has begun. The women are chattering and gossiping about all kinds of things.
A pregnant woman with a big belly turned her head to look at her and said, "Crow, you are not pregnant with twins again, are you? I remember you and I were pregnant together, and your belly is much bigger than mine. You are about to give birth."
Gu Yan didn't react for a moment. He lowered his head and cracked corn, thinking that he was talking to others. After the woman repeated the call several times, she finally realized that the crow was the original owner.
Ugh, what kind of names are these? She doesn't love her husband's family and she doesn't love her own family. Even if her mother is illiterate, "magpie" can't be a name, but she gave her such a nickname.
"Oh, I was distracted just now and didn't hear you." He threw the corn cobs into the basket. "Yes, they are quite big and moving violently. They might be twins."
"That's great. You'll be more efficient than us in having two children this time."
Gu Yan just smiled and said nothing. What's the point of such efficiency in this day and age? Are you waiting to starve to death? The famine continues, women are so hungry that they can’t have their periods anymore, and where will they get milk for their babies after they are born? Don’t even think about expensive milk powder; it’s good enough to feed your baby with millet.
"Why give birth to so many children when you're hungry? There's no other way." A thoughtful woman sighed and said, "I heard that there are ways to avoid having children in the city, but unfortunately we don't have that here. We can only give birth one after another. Whether we can support them or not depends on fate."
"Is there really a way to avoid having children?" a group of women were quite curious. "It has been like this since ancient times, giving birth one after another. Our neighbor Qiuyun's mother was pregnant with her seventh child, and she couldn't even get her belly down by putting it on a water tank."
Qiuyun's mother gave birth to eight children, and the eighth one is now three years old. This child has never worn pants since he was born. When it is warm, he plays outside naked, and when it is cold, he huddles by the fire at home.
"It would be great if we had this method. Having children one after another, it's okay to have clothes patched up, but it's really unbearable to have torn shoes." The woman said as she lifted her feet. The heels of her shoes were worn out and her soles were in direct and intimate contact with the ground. If it gets colder in a few days, many people will get frostbite.
"Same as you. My mom scolded me for wearing out my shoes. I never wore shoes when the weather was warm, but now it's too cold and I'm still wearing this pair of worn-out shoes."
"Be content, everyone is like this. Some people don't even have old shoes, and the straw sandals they wear are cold and uncomfortable."
It seemed like a grievance meeting, with a bunch of poor people talking about their own hardships. Before noon, everyone's stomach was rumbling and they were pointing at each other and laughing.
Gu Yan was also tired. He had just eaten a piece of chocolate while solving his personal problems, but he didn't feel that hungry feeling that made him weak all over, panicky and trembling.
When we got off work at noon, everyone's pockets were full. While breaking the corn, they were also picking up the rice grains. If you are quick, you can pick up a lot in the morning.
The team leader stood at the edge of the field to inspect, but it was just a formality. As long as your stuff doesn't leak out, he doesn't care. Life is not easy for everyone these days, just get by. Anyway, it’s all public property and I’m not eating his rice. He has no business offending anyone.
Of course Gu Yan knew about everyone's little tricks. In order not to stand out, she also put some in her pocket. It’s just a handful in total. She was also given several looks by Mrs. Xu, who had a good relationship with her.
"Why is it so little? Your mother-in-law...you can add more to help the children."
"It's quite a bit. I still have some in my stomach."
"Really?" Mrs. Xu glanced at her big belly and said, "Being pregnant has its advantages."
The two of them walked into the village while chatting. Two young ladies who were picking sweet potatoes in the fields were waiting for her at the entrance of the village. As soon as they saw her, they hurried to greet her. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Yan had already reached out to touch the second brother's forehead.
“How did this happen?” There are a lot of lumps and bruises. Was it caused by bullying or accidental bumps? The same goes for the boss's forehead. Could it be such a coincidence that he would hit it?
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