Chapter 31 Taking the Children to the Street
Chen Ping'an looked helpless. He had gotten off the boat with Chen Wenjun before. When they walked on the street, everyone scolded him, saying that he was a little cripple. Some people even made faces at him and looked down on him. Gradually, he stopped getting off the boat.
Chen Wenjun felt bad seeing his son like this, but he encouraged him: "Ping An, listen to your aunt and go out with your aunt. Don't be afraid, you are already grown up."
Chen Ping'an was still uneasy.
But Chen Wenjun had made up his mind. He deliberately ignored the tears in his son's eyes and continued to work.
That night, Chen Pingan fell asleep in uneasiness and even cried in his dream in the middle of the night.
Lin Qin had to coax him a bit before he calmed down.
The next day, Lin Qin took out the rope from home and tied it around her waist. The other two ends were tied to Liu Yaya and Chen Pingan respectively, so there would be no worry of them getting separated.
Chen Pingan seldom walked on the boat and mostly crawled. When he got on the ground, he felt uncomfortable after just a few steps.
Whenever he takes a step, his body shakes up and down, and it is obvious that he is not a normal child.
He kept his head down the whole time, not daring to approach passers-by.
Lin Qin held his hand tightly and encouraged him, "Ping An, hold your head high and look over there, don't be afraid, with your aunt here, no one dares to bully you!"
Chen Ping'an was encouraged and prepared himself mentally. He slowly raised his head, but when he saw someone looking at him, he quickly lowered his head again.
Lin Qin didn't force him and just pulled him all the way to Friendship Square.
I haven't been here for a month and Friendship Plaza is still not very popular, but a few new stores have opened, including a barber shop.
The three of them were all dressed in ordinary clothes, but Lin Qin held her head high and walked in with the child, asking, "Madam, how much does it cost to shave this child's head?"
"Six cents for the kid!"
The barber shop's business was pretty good. There was a middle-aged woman waiting in line in front. When they saw Lin Qin and the other two, their eyes finally fell on Chen Pingan.
Lin Qin pretended not to see it, and naturally took Chen Pingan in and sat them down, holding one in each hand.
Aunties of this generation don't have a sense of boundaries. They immediately asked Lin Qin and Chen Ping'an about their situations in a familiar manner, "Is this child disabled?"
Chen Ping'an shrank back and buried his head even lower.
Lin Qin glared at the other person angrily, "What are you saying? It's so harsh! What does my child have to do with you?"
"Hey! You get angry when I tell you the truth! You are disabled and I don't even have the right to say it?" The auntie got excited.
Lin Qin laughed angrily, "My child ate your food and drank your water? What does it have to do with your family? Is it your turn to say what he is like? His mouth stinks, is it because he didn't brush his teeth before going out?"
Everyone else in the store secretly gave Lin Qin a thumbs up. You know what, it was quite impressive that he could curse without using a single dirty word!
The old lady's face turned blue and red after being scolded by Lin Qin. She was so aggrieved that she was about to cry, and immediately went to the boss's wife to seek justice.
The boss lady believed that less trouble is better and did not agree with the aunt at all.
The aunt was isolated and helpless, and even complained to the boss's wife. She didn't even cut her hair and left angrily.
Lin Qin felt relieved now. She patted Chen Ping'an's head and taught him earnestly, "See? If there are any low-class, foul-mouthed people saying that, just curse them back. It doesn't matter if we have to fight, as long as you don't get bullied. Do you understand?"
The proprietress looked at Lin Qin in surprise through the mirror and couldn't help but say, "Sister, you are really amazing! But you are right about one thing. We can't let others bully us. Child, you have to listen to your mother."
Chen Pingan pursed his lips, nodded excitedly, and said nothing.
The proprietress smiled, "Okay! Switch to the next one!"
Lin Qin immediately led Chen Pingan over and looked at the child's hairstyle in the mirror. She was dissatisfied with it no matter how she looked at it. "Boss lady, why don't you just shave his head into a buzz cut? The shorter the better, so that it won't be too stuffy in the hot weather."
"Okay! I'll listen to you!" The proprietress moved quickly.
Chen Pingan was a little nervous as it was his first time to be formally groomed.
It took a while to get used to it.
The proprietress looked at the child's hairstyle in the mirror and said with a smile, "Just sit still and be nice. If you get a good hairstyle, you'll be a handsome boy."
Lin Qin liked to hear this.
Glancing at Liu Yaya who was standing beside her, she asked casually, "Yaya, how about cutting your hair too? It's hot in the summer, so we cut it short, and it will grow longer in the winter, okay? Mommy will cut it with you, too."
The two of them had a hard time surviving in the Liu family before. It was unrealistic for them to take a bath every day. Liu Yaya was dirty every day and had lice on her head.
If you cut your hair short you won't get lice.
Liu Yaya didn’t have much thought about beauty, she just knew that short hair wouldn’t be hot in the summer, so she agreed immediately.
When the proprietress saw that what was originally a business for one person had suddenly become a business for three, she instantly broke into laughter.
It would have cost more than two yuan for three people to get a haircut, but Lin Qin and Liu Yaya had long hair, so the boss took some money and deducted most of the cost. In total, the three people only spent one yuan and thirty yuan for the haircut.
Lin Qin felt that the money was well spent. At least the three of them looked more energetic.
After leaving the barber shop, Lin Qin took the children for a walk around Friendship Square and found that there was a cloth shop in the back that specialized in making clothes for people.
Her eyes immediately lit up and she quickly pulled the child into the store.
The boss was a woman in her thirties, wearing glasses and sewing clothes. When she saw Lin Qin and the other two, she immediately put down her work and came over to greet them, "Who wants to make clothes?"
Lin Qin pushed the two children out without saying a word and said, "Let them do it!"
The boss immediately took a ruler to measure the two children's sizes and asked, "Can you take a look at the pattern? Dacron is comfortable to wear in the summer, but it's more expensive."
"How much?"
The boss did the math and said, "For children, a shirt is about fifteen dollars, plus pants, it's about thirty-three dollars a set."
"What about the cotton?"
"Cotton cloth is cheap! One meter is 1.3 yuan. A set of short-sleeved shirts and shorts for a child is only a little over 3 yuan, including labor."
Lin Qin thought about it carefully, squatted down and discussed with the two children, "Which one do you want to choose?"
The patterns of the Dacron in the store are indeed beautiful, while the cotton fabrics are either a single color or striped or plaid, which are not as good as Dacron, but considering the comfort level, she still prefers cotton fabrics, which are more cost-effective.
But when she took her child out to make clothes for the first time, she still asked for the child's opinion.
Chen Pingan said without hesitation: "I want the cotton one, the blue one."
Lin Qin and the boss looked in the direction Chen Ping'an's hand was pointing, and the boss immediately took down the roll of cloth.
Liu Yaya chose cotton cloth with yellow edges.
Lin Qin secretly breathed a sigh of relief, patted the two children's heads, and said lovingly: "Since we use cotton cloth, we can make an extra set. You can choose a color. How about plaid and stripes? And the red peony one."
Liu Yaya nodded, then took Lin Qin's hand and said seriously: "Mom, and you, uncle said that mom also wants to make new clothes."
Chen Pingan also echoed.
Lin Qin hesitated for a while and then agreed.
I also chose a striped cotton cloth and a plaid cotton cloth to make tops for myself, and a black cotton cloth to make two pairs of cropped trousers for summer. The three of us spent another twenty-four dollars on making clothes.
Fortunately, it’s summer now, so I can just wear slippers and don’t have to spend money on cloth shoes, otherwise I’d have to spend another ten dollars.
(End of this chapter)
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