Only then did Xiaoyue raise her head to look at Li Qianqian. She was stunned at first glance, her eyes scanning Li Qianqian up and down several times. Li Qianqian was still wearing only a single layer of clothing, and her top was already faded from washing. A corner of her inner garment was showing, which Xiaoyue recognized as the kind of clothing Li Qianqian would wear to a market in the summer.
The sleeves of her clothes were worn and patched up many times, but they were still too short, revealing a section of her arms red from the cold. Her hands, even in Xiaoyue's warm room, were still red with faint cuts and bleeding. She wore a patched ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and her ankles were exposed.
Underneath the ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) were only a single pair of thermal underwear, the length of which didn't even reach her feet. The embroidered shoes she wore were also single-layered shoes, and she wasn't wearing socks. Xiaoyue sighed deeply; she never expected Li Qianqian's life to be like this.
Seeing that Xiaoyue was paying attention to her, Li Qianqian kicked away the small stool and knelt down in front of Xiaoyue. She put her hands on Xiaoyue's arms, and tears streamed down her face again. Her face was cracked from the winter wind. As the tears flowed over the cracked skin, Xiaoyue thought, "It must hurt a lot."
But Li Qianqian couldn't care less about anything else. She grabbed Xiaoyue's arm tightly and kept saying, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!..."
Then, raising her tearful eyes, she looked at Xiaoyue and said, "My brother is a complete scoundrel. Everyone in the surrounding villages knows him. He's a rogue and unreasonable. If there's anything human about my brother, it's that he's been especially good to me, his sister. If it weren't for his protection all these years, I might have died long ago."
Xiaoyue looked at the crying Li Qianqian, stood up from the stool, helped Li Qianqian up with both hands, dusted off the dust on Li Qianqian's legs, sighed and said, "Forget it, it wasn't you who dragged me to your house, nor was it you who handed me over to Fatty Ren. Your brother's mistakes are not for you to bear."
After speaking, Xiaoyue led Li Qianqian to the east room. The kang (heated brick bed) in the east room was still warm. Because she needed to dry Liang Qi's clothes, Xiaoyue added extra firewood. She then arranged for Li Qianqian to sit on the kang table and poured her a cup of hot water.
Once inside the warm room, Li Qianqian's face turned even redder.
Xiaoyue touched Li Qianqian's clothes; they were still so thin. She really didn't know how she got through the winter.
They took off Li Qianqian's shoes and made her sit on the kang (heated brick bed) to warm up.
Xiaoyue also climbed onto the kang and sat down next to Li Qianqian. Li Qianqian turned her head to look at Xiaoyue, "My father has incurred gambling debts again. He brought people back, and he gambled away all our winter food. My brother wouldn't give those people any food, and they beat him up and injured his leg."
After those people left, my brother and dad started arguing, and that's how I found out about you. You were the only one in the village who was good to me, and I can't bear to lose you as a friend. So today I've come to apologize and say goodbye.
My brother said he'd take me to my maternal uncle's house so I wouldn't have to live with my dad anymore.
"Can your brother still walk?" Xiaoyue asked Li Qianqian.
“My brother said it’s nothing, he’ll be fine after one night of rest.”
Xiaoyue wanted to give Li Qianqian a heads-up, so she said calmly, "Your father's relationship with you is unbreakable. If you live well, or if your father arranges a marriage for you, you won't be able to win any lawsuits against him."
After Xiaoyue finished speaking, she looked at Li Qianqian's terrified eyes and said seriously, "Unless your father is dead or crippled, he can't hurt you and your brother anymore."
Li Qianqian hid her face behind her bent legs. Xiaoyue patted Li Qianqian and jumped off the kang, saying, "I still have some cloth and cotton in my west room. Let's make some clothes."
He pushed open the door to the east room, went into the west room, found the faded blue cloth on the kang (a heated brick bed), took out the remaining half of it, and also took out the unused cotton.
Li Qianqian also moved to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), moved the kang table aside, took the cloth and cotton from Xiaoyue's hands, and placed them on the kang, her eyes filled with doubt.
Xiaoyue asked with a smile, "Do you know how to sew? You're warm enough now. Take off your single layer of clothing, cut it according to the pattern, stuff it with cotton, and make a set of clothes and a jacket and skirt."
Li Qianqian stood there for a while before she recovered. She shook her head frantically and handed the things back to Xiaoyue, saying she didn't want them no matter what.
Seeing Li Qianqian like this, Xiaoyue pretended to be fierce and said, "Even if you borrowed it, I'll make you pay me back when you have the money."
Li Qianqian rubbed her face awkwardly and muttered, "I haven't paid back the money I paid for my brother's medical treatment last time."
Xiaoyue thought for a moment, then thoughtfully comforted Li Qianqian: "How about you work for me next spring to offset my wages? I also want to raise a batch of chickens, ducks, and goslings, and I'm planning to plant two acres of potatoes."
There's still land clearing to be done, and there's always work to be done. If you're not afraid of getting tired, you can do it for me. Meals and lodging are provided, and I can't even finalize the wages yet.
Upon hearing Xiaoyue's words, Li Qianqian exclaimed excitedly, her voice filled with anticipation and joy, "Really? Is it true?"
"It's true."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Li Qianqian jumped to the ground and said while putting on her shoes, "I need to tell my brother that we're not going to my uncle's house. Even if we go, we might not be able to find him."
After saying that, she pushed open the door and ran out without Xiaoyue giving it a second thought.
They went straight to the west room and took out the jacket that Lu Xiaomei had stored. There were patterns inside, according to shoe sizes. They just didn't know what size Li Qianqian's shoes were, so they would have to wait for Li Qianqian to come back and measure her shoe size.
Xiaoyue went to the west room again and started weaving. Not long after, Li Qianqian brought Li Lei over. Xiaoyue looked at Li Lei standing behind Li Qianqian; his clothes were wrinkled and his hair was tied up in a messy knot.
Xiaoyue didn't seem like much. When she met Li Lei's gaze, there was a chilling coldness that could make anyone's heart sink. Her brows furrowed, and Li Qianqian pushed Li Lei in front of Xiaoyue. Li Lei's cold tone seemed to be mixed with ice: "You said you'd give my sister some work to do?"
Xiaoyue nodded.
"I'll do the heavy work."
Xiaoyue nodded again.
At this moment, Li Lei turned around and said to Li Qianqian, "Go get me some hot water, I'm really thirsty."
Li Qianqian looked at Xiaoyue, and Xiaoyue nodded again.
It wasn't until Li Qianqian pushed open the door and walked out of the west room that Li Lei closed the door and whispered to Xiaoyue, "Is what you said, 'Unless your father dies or becomes disabled, he can't hurt you and your brother anymore,' right?"
Xiaoyue looked at Li Lei's chiseled face and smiled, neither admitting nor denying it.
Li Lei looked at Xiaoyue for a while, then bowed and left.
Xiaoyue stopped weaving, stood up, leaned against the window to look at Li Lei's thin figure in the winter, and sighed.
Xiaoyue came out of the west room and greeted Li Qianqian as they returned to the east room. She told Li Qianqian to take off her shoes, measured them, and cut the soles a little larger. Then she started to attach strips of cloth to the edges. Li Qianqian looked at the unfolded cloth.
Hesitantly, she said, "Just provide food and drink for me and my brother. I don't need wages. Could you make a winter coat for my brother?"
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