"Dani, why do you buy a piece of cloth and it will take you several days to make it? Aren't the cloth coupons I gave you enough?"
Jiang Dazhen came home from work at noon and saw her niece holding a piece of cloth while her mother-in-law Qu Ying was helping her measure the size with a tape measure. She immediately guessed that her niece might not have bought ready-made clothes in order to save money, and said with some dissatisfaction.
She has already told her husband to bring Xiang Qianjin along when he brings his coworkers home for dinner tomorrow. But her niece is wearing only old clothes, and she wonders if it will leave a bad impression on others.
Jiang Dazhen was full of fantasies. She always wanted her niece to leave a good impression on the other party during their first formal meeting. Regardless of whether this was successful or not, she had to show her attitude first.
"It's too late to make a new dress. I still have a dress that I made last year that I haven't worn much. I think if I make some minor changes, Dani can wear it."
Jiang Dazhen gestured on herself and her niece, thought for a while and clapped her hands, thinking that her idea was absolutely great, and hurried upstairs to rummage through the cupboard to find the clothes at the bottom of the box.
Seeing her aunt like this, Jiang Dani felt uneasy, wondering if she had done something wrong. She put down her hand that was originally happily holding the cloth and gesturing with some trepidation.
"Alright, alright, Dani wants to save some money, I think it's good for Dani to do this." Qu Ying spat at his wife and said to Dani, "I'm a little thirsty, Dani, go get me a glass of water."
Dani put down the cloth in her hand, responded and left to go to the kitchen.
"Mom, am I not impatient?" Jiang Dazhen smiled embarrassedly, but the thought just now still remained in her mind.
"Young girls are shy, so don't make things clear yet. Let them do it naturally. Maybe Dani and Xiang Qianjin don't get along at all."
Qu Ying paused, "Also, I don't think clothes are important at all. Xiang Qianjin is marrying a wife or clothes. Dani is not ugly and hardworking. She is in such a hurry to buy new clothes. Maybe people will think that Dani is in a hurry to find a partner. I think it's just a coincidence. It's just right."
Jiang Dazhen felt that her mother-in-law had some truth in what she said, and her niece's conditions were not too bad. Her ancestors were poor farmers for three generations, her grandfather was a retired veteran, she graduated from elementary school, and was diligent and efficient. Except that there were too many brothers and sisters in the family, so they might not be able to give her too much dowry, her other conditions were simply the best candidate for a daughter-in-law these days.
At that time, it was not like later, when choosing a wife, one had to consider the other's appearance, family background, whether they were rich, and whether their family had officials. In those days, being rich and being an official was a problem. What kind of person was the best to find a partner? The children of soldiers, workers and farmers were the most popular.
Three generations of poor peasants, this is simply a good seedling with a good pedigree. Jiang Dazhen is very sorry that her niece did not finish junior high school, otherwise she could help out and give her a position as a formal employee when the textile factory recruits workers. Many people are blocked at the political review stage. Except for the eldest nephew and the second nephew, the other children of the Jiang family have no such worries.
Thinking of this, Jiang Dazhen breathed a sigh of relief. She had only been thinking about how harsh the old men and women in her family were to their nieces and worrying about their marriages, but she had forgotten that it was this birth in this era that actually gave them a more favorable condition.
What my mother-in-law said was right. Even without Xiang Qianjin, she still has other partners. Besides, the last time Xiang Qianjin saw Dani, she was also wearing this dress. Doesn't Xiang Qianjin still like his niece?
"Grandma, the water is still a little hot. You should let it cool down before drinking it." Not long after the two finished talking, Dani came out holding an enamel cup. Maybe it was because of the hot steam or because she heard something, but her little face was flushed, she bit her lower lip with her pearly teeth, and her eyes were a little wandering.
Qu Ying and Jiang Dazhen are both experienced people. Looking at her expression, they knew that Jiang Dani had overheard the conversation between them just now, which is why she showed this little girl's attitude.
"I, I'll go upstairs to cut clothes first." Jiang Dani saw her aunt looking at her with ambiguous eyes, as if she wanted to say something. She twirled on the smooth floor with her toes, picked up the cloth placed on the back of the wooden chair, spoke in a panic, and ran upstairs.
The Meng family's sewing machine was placed in the study on the second floor, which was the room where Jiang Dani lived now. Qu Ying had just helped her measure the size, so it was not wrong for her to use the excuse of cutting clothes.
Qu Ying smiled and shook her head: "It's great to be young." She had the same expression when her old man was pursuing her. Now he is old and has a stubborn temper. He is not as romantic as he was when he was pursuing her. In the blink of an eye, she is about to become a grandmother. Qu Ying's smiling face paused when she thought of her eldest granddaughter, and her face became much better when she thought of her youngest grandson.
"Now that Xiaobao is here, let him stay for a while. I think Xiangxue and his cousin get along best. With Xiaobao around, Xiangxue is much happier and doesn't run out as often."
How could she know that Meng Xiangxue was so happy because of the picture books in Jiang Yilu's hands. Jiang Yilu restricted him from reading too late at night, but let him do whatever he wanted at other times. Firstly, the content of the picture books nowadays were all healthy and interesting stories, and secondly, there were many new words in the picture books. In order to understand those new words, Meng Xiangxue had to look up the dictionary, which he hated the most. In this way, it could be regarded as a kind of subtle learning.
Jiang Dani hurried to her room with the cloth and saw her brother sitting on her bed. He was looking at some small cloth bags that he had sewn when he was free and wanted to put them away shyly.
Jiang Yilu was holding three small cloth bags in his hands, all of which were hand-sewn with fine stitches. There were some small patterns sewn on each bag, one was a blooming chrysanthemum, and the other two had two identical peonies on them, but one of them was embroidered with exquisite skill and ingenuity. Looking at the blooming peony, one could almost smell the fragrance it exuded. The other one was slightly inferior, with sparse stitches, but the color matching was very good. Although there were many flaws, it revealed an indescribable spirituality.
"I'm not good at embroidery. When I get better, I will sew a shoulder bag for you and Erni, Sanni, and Sini respectively." Jiang Dani collected the small items scattered on the bed and carefully placed them in a small wooden box beside her. Jiang Yilu vaguely saw some silk threads and some discarded fabrics from old clothes.
"Sister, I've never seen you practice these before. Was it the Grandma Bai you mentioned during the day who taught you?" Jiang Yilu asked curiously.
"Yes." Jiang Dani smiled a little embarrassedly, thinking about her experiences in the past few days, and forgetting the shyness she felt when she heard her aunt wanted to find a partner for her downstairs just now.
"The person who taught me embroidery was Grandma Bai, who cleans the toilets in our textile factory. She is very good at embroidery. The beautiful peony flower you just saw was embroidered by Grandma Bai." Jiang Dani's eyes sparkled when she mentioned her favorite things.
"But Grandma Bai has a bad fate. She used to be an embroiderer in a wealthy family. Now there are struggle sessions everywhere. Grandma Bai is falsely accused of being a cancer of the old society and is required to clean the toilets on the street. No one wants to get close to her." Jiang Dani's tone was a little low: "In fact, Grandma Bai is very kind. She is not like what those people say."
Jiang Dani felt a little depressed. Grandpa Ruan, Grandpa Bai, and Uncle Dawu from Qingshan Village were all good people. Why did they have to be treated like this? Compared with the elders living in Qingshan Village, Grandma Bai, who had no relatives or friends, seemed even more pitiful.
Jiang Yiliu was silent for a moment: "Sister, how could the Grandma Bai you mentioned teach you embroidery?"
When Jiang Dani thought of the cause of the incident, she was a little embarrassed and whispered in her brother's ear: "I was working in the factory that day, and the sleeve of my clothes was accidentally caught by the nail of the wooden door of the toilet, and half of the sleeve was torn off."
Fortunately, it was in a textile factory, and there was never a shortage of needles and thread for mending. But Jiang Dani was a little embarrassed to let others know about her predicament, so she took the needle and thread and hid secretly, wanting to sew her sleeves before going out.
When she was halfway through sewing, she heard a voice from behind. It turned out that Grandma Bai had been standing behind her since some time. It might be related to her living environment and personality. Jiang Dani was one of the few girls Bai Yunya had met who did not despise her current identity and the smell of feces and urine. Bai Yunya saw that she sewed the sleeves crookedly and could not bear it. She took the clothes and needlework from her hands, took apart the half she had sewn before, sewed up the torn edge tightly, and helped her reinforce some of the loose seams on the clothes. If you don't look carefully, you can't see the traces of the seams at all.
Jiang Dani was fascinated by her smooth movements and thought that if she learned it, she could help her younger brothers and sisters mend clothes when she returned home. Yes, her original intention of learning embroidery was just that simple.
"Grandma Bai said that I have a good sense for color matching and I am very patient. If I can keep practicing, I can be half as good as her."
Jiang Dani's usually gentle eyes were now sparkling with light. When she talked about Bai Yunya's praise, her whole face exuded a radiance that Jiang Yilu had never seen before.
Jiang Dani is very gentle, even timid in some aspects. Her life experience since childhood has made her afraid to have her own ideas. Every time she does something, she considers others first, then herself. When her younger brothers and sisters talk about their future ideals, Jiang Dani has always been an excellent listener, cheering them up. Jiang Yiliu thought about it and felt that he had never heard what his elder sister wanted from her.
Jiang Yiliu was silent. Perhaps it was because of his elder sister's gentleness and indulgence that he gradually began to change his elder sister's life with his own ideas after his rebirth, but he never thought about what his elder sister was thinking. For example, at this blind date party, he didn't consider his elder sister's thoughts at all. He subconsciously wanted to reject the man, but he didn't think that maybe his elder sister would really like that man, and maybe that man would really be his true home.
Just because he thinks he will achieve something in the future and give his elder sister a better life, can he control his elder sister's emotions based on this?
Maybe he was wrong, and what he should have done was to avoid things that shouldn't have happened instead of trying to control the lives of those around him.
Just like now, the eldest sister is so happy because of the praise from an old grandmother. In life, the eldest sister has given so much for them and taken good care of their lives. Grandparents, parents, several sisters, including him, have they ever praised or thanked the eldest sister?
"Unfortunately, Grandma Bai said that my hands are too rough and I can't embroider those gorgeous silks at all. Otherwise, the dry skin on my hands might snag the silk threads." Jiang Dani looked at her hands, which were a little rough from working since she was a child, but she didn't mind at all and smiled happily: "But I can't touch silk either. I just want to learn a little skill and make beautiful clothes for you kids."
Jiang Dani didn't say that Grandma Bai advised her to do less housework and take care of her hands. She had a rare talent for patterns and colors, and if she concentrated on embroidery, she might achieve something in the future.
"Sister, I just bought this secretly at the supply and marketing cooperative. Just wipe your hands with it every day from now on. It should be of some help." Jiang Yilu took out a can of clam oil and a can of vanishing cream from his arms and placed them on the bedside.
"Xiaobao, why did you buy such expensive things? Isn't that a waste of money?" Jiang Dani felt a little distressed. She had no use for these things.
"Sister, actually when I came to the county, my mother gave me some money and asked me to give it to you, but I spent some of it, and now this is all I have left. Please don't tell my mother."
Jiang Yilu took out a pile of small change from his pocket. Of course he couldn't use the money his mother gave to his elder sister. The money he used to buy clam oil and fried dough twists was his own. He just said this to make it easier for his elder sister to accept it.
Jiang Dani looked at her brother who bowed his head to admit his mistake, sighed, and touched his head: "Don't spend money recklessly in the future, understand."
After that, she took out a dollar from the pile of change and said, "Big sister doesn't need so much, you can use it to buy some snacks with Xiangxue."
Jiang Yilu took the money. Now he understood that maybe his elder sister would be happier if he accepted this dollar.
When leaving the study, Jiang Yiliu turned around and said to Jiang Dani solemnly: "I think elder sister's embroidery is very good. In my heart, it is better than that of Grandma Bai."
After saying that, he went out with a red face.
Jiang Dani sat on the bed, listening to her brother's words, with the corners of her mouth turned up, smiling very happily.
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