Chapter 33
33.
As the weather got colder, Guan Yue took out her cotton-padded coat from home.
She must be in the south. Cheng Lingjun said it doesn't snow there, but it's still quite cold.
Guan Yue felt great because she lived in the south before she transmigrated. She was very afraid of the cold and would rarely leave her home in winter unless necessary, probably because of her poor health. In this world, she was much healthier. She did farm work every day and went to bed early and got up early. While the villagers were already wearing thick clothes, she was still wearing thin clothes, only needing to cover herself with an extra layer at night.
Fortunately, her feet were warm. Guan Yue guessed that this was because the world she lived in was a matriarchal society, and her physique was the same as that of men in her previous life. She had heard that men's feet were warm at night, and she was extremely envious when she heard that before.
The men in that world must have cold feet.
Guan Yue wondered if Cheng Lingjun would agree.
Although she had plenty of warm clothes in her house, all the ones she found were old and worn out. Guan Yue simply took apart the most worn-out clothes that she couldn't wear anymore and used them to build a coop for the chickens and rabbits in the yard, filling it with some rice straw.
They don't plant vegetables in the fields much anymore, leaving one plot empty. They still plant some vegetables in the other plot, covering them with rice straw to prevent them from freezing. Fortunately, it doesn't snow, so at most there's some frost. Guan Yue planted some cold-resistant vegetables, such as radishes and garlic. Guan Yue plans to plant rice in the other plot when the weather gets warmer, so they'll have an endless supply of rice.
Guan Yue's clothes were so shabby that Cheng Lingjun couldn't help but offer to mend them after seeing them several times.
"How could I possibly accept that?" Guan Yue used to care a little about her appearance, since she had to go out to work. But after transmigrating, due to limited conditions, she couldn't even guarantee what she had to eat, let alone what she had to wear or where she lived. As long as she didn't reveal anything, that was fine.
Cheng Lingjun said, "It's okay. If you mind, you can pay me some money. I won't work for free."
Guan Yue thought it made sense. She had planted a lot of vegetables recently, and she couldn't give them all away. She asked Cheng Lingjun to give them to Qu Niang and his wife when he went to Guping Town, so that they could sell them at the entrance of their shop. If they couldn't sell them all, she could give them to them to eat. This way, she could earn some money bit by bit. Combined with the money she made from selling sweet potatoes last time, she had actually saved up some money.
She rarely went out of the village, at most asking Cheng Lingjun to buy some pork. That was all she liked to eat. Guan Yue had never left Dahuai Village. Every day she would get up and spend her time tending to her vegetable garden and chickens. Although she was somewhat curious about the outside world, she didn't yearn for it. She wasn't a real ancient person. She might be interested in the imperial palace, but if it was just a bustling town, she would consider it when she had time.
Guan Yue doesn't actually like to travel around, otherwise she wouldn't have been alone all this time. She prefers to focus on her own little corner of the world. When she has more time in the future, she wants to plant flowers and brew tea in and around her house and live a comfortable life.
She didn't think her clothes were that worn out; she'd put her worst ones in the chicken coop, so what she was wearing now... wasn't too bad.
Having spent so much time in the village, Guan Yue's already low aesthetic standards had been further influenced by those around her. Cheng Lingjun, however, seemed to care quite a bit about this aspect. Frowning as she looked at Guan Yue's outfit, she felt that she should at least pay a little more attention to it.
After hearing Cheng Lingjun's words, Guan Yue went back into the house, took out her money pouch, and asked, "How much do you want?"
Cheng Lingjun was somewhat surprised by her serious expression. He had only been joking, so why was this woman offering him money so readily? "I was just saying it casually, don't take it seriously. It's not a big deal, I'll just help you replenish your energy."
Guan Yue said, "That won't do. Your embroidery is all done stitch by stitch, and you can sell it for money. You sewed this dress for me, so isn't it also the result of your labor?"
Cheng Lingjun couldn't understand what she was talking about regarding her work, but he could tell that she was serious. He never thought that his skills were anything special. At home, he was just helping to supplement the family income. The Li family didn't need him to do these things, so it didn't matter whether he did them or not. But Guan Yue felt that he was doing something quite important.
Guan Yue didn't know what Cheng Lingjun was thinking. She just felt that anything related to money needed to be taken seriously. Cheng Lingjun's embroidery could earn her money, and since she had no relation to her, she needed to pay her for the mending. She couldn't just take advantage of her.
Cheng Lingjun refused, "But you've helped me a lot, and even brought me a lot of vegetables. Do you expect me to give you money too?"
Guan Yue raised her eyebrows and said, "That's different. My vegetables are all worthless."
Cheng Lingjun said leisurely, "Then my skills aren't worth much money."
Guan Yue looked at him, and he looked at Guan Yue. In the end, Guan Yue gave in and said weakly, "But, but we're not related, sewing clothes and stuff like that is a bit too..."
Even in modern times, Guan Yue would never let anyone touch her clothes or similar items. They're not like pens and paper, where the feeling of touching them is too intimate. If they were torn, she could take them off and have a tailor mend them, but that would be a matter of price, and the meaning would be different.
Cheng Lingjun was stunned for a moment, and her ears turned slightly red.
Guan Yue observed his expression, coughed twice, and said, "Actually, it's not that bad, it's still wearable. You can teach me how to sew it."
“You, you’re a woman sewing…” Cheng Lingjun was slightly surprised.
Guan Yue nodded. Actually, she had never done needlework before. In modern times, her clothes weren't that worn out. At most, the thread would be torn or there would be a small tear. If the clothes were worthless, she would just use them as rags. She didn't know how to sew at all. But it was different here. Guan Yue cherished what she had.
Guan Yue wasn't a woman from a truly matriarchal world anyway, so there was nothing shameful about doing needlework. Cheng Lingjun certainly wouldn't laugh at her, so she didn't care about it.
Cheng Lingjun hesitated for a moment, but still said firmly, "Give me the clothes, I'll sew them. It won't take much effort. As long as you don't tell and I don't tell, no one will know about this."
Cheng Lingjun stretched out his hand, his expression so forceful that it didn't seem like he was asking Guan Yue for clothes to mend, but rather that Guan Yue owed him money and he was there to collect it.
Guan Yue was too embarrassed to take out her worst clothes, so she took out two that weren't so bad. But after Cheng Lingjun took them, she still held out her hand and asked her to take out all the clothes she had worn a few days ago that were too awful to look at.
Tonics? That would be so embarrassing for her!
Guan Yue refused to give it, saying that if she really wanted it, she should give Cheng Lingjun money. After a while, they each took a step back, and Guan Yue agreed to let him see all the clothes. Cheng Lingjun also agreed to accept a portion of the money as payment.
When Guan Yue handed him the clothes, she kept saying that they didn't fit and that it was unnecessary.
Cheng Lingjun snatched it away and stormed out the door.
Guan Yue was still in a daze. The money hadn't been paid yet, or was it supposed to be paid later after the payment was made first?
Cheng Lingjun carried a pile of women's clothes home. After entering the house, he was almost scared to death by his own audacious act. He put the clothes on the table and then realized that his palms and soles were numb and his face was burning red.
He rubbed his hands together and paced back and forth in the room, constantly wondering how he could be so bold. Guan Yue wasn't his parents, sister, or any elder or child; she was his peer, and a woman at that!
Logically, he shouldn't have taken on this task. Guan Yue herself didn't seem to care about such things. He offered to mend her clothes, but wouldn't that be seen as presumptuous? He didn't know if he could return them to her in time.
Cheng Lingjun rushed home because he couldn't stand being there any longer. He tried hard to suppress his ever-increasing sense of shame so that he could stand firm. Only after Guan Yue gave him all the clothes that needed mending did he hurry away.
It would be strange to return something you've already taken.
Cheng Lingjun patted her face, feeling the heat on her face dissipate a bit, before sitting down and pouring herself a glass of cold water to calm her nerves.
He didn't think too much when he asked Guan Yue for clothes; he just couldn't stand it. It was already past the beginning of winter, and she was still wearing ripped clothes. Wasn't she afraid of the cold?
And her shoes were so thin they looked like paper. Luckily she was wearing tabi socks, otherwise she would have gotten frostbite.
Cheng Lingjun grumbled to herself at home, but Guan Yue felt greatly wronged. Although her clothes had holes, it was because the quality of the clothes was poor to begin with. She also did physical labor, so it was normal for them to be torn and tattered. Besides, in winter, she could wear several layers, so the holes wouldn't be noticeable. For example, if the left side of her clothes was torn, she would wear a second piece of clothing with a tear on the right side to cover it up, and then wear another piece of clothing with a hole on the top. Layering clothes was both fashionable and beautiful.
It will not affect the appearance of the village at all.
The clothes she wears out are already the best clothes in her house.
Cheng Lingjun didn't think it was any better. His clothes had to be mended immediately if they were torn, and Xiao Guang would come to him immediately if he got dirty, otherwise he would refuse to go out.
It was only after Guan Yue's reminder that he realized he was being too inconsiderate with her. How could he possibly control what other people wore? He hadn't been concerned about what others wore, but he couldn't help but meddle whenever he saw Guan Yue. However, looking at the clothes he had "snatched" back, Cheng Lingjun thought, "Oh well, I've already got them back, so I'll just mend them for her. Otherwise, she won't have a good winter."
Cheng Lingjun didn't consider his craftsmanship to be very good, but he felt he could manage to mend clothes, so he finished mending them in just a few days and handed them to Guan Yue.
Guan Yue looked happily at her clothes, which had been torn and ripped, and now they were all mended neatly with clean edges. Even though they were old clothes, they looked a little new.
"But why do I feel like a few items are missing?" Guan Yue muttered to herself.
Cheng Lingjun glanced at them and said, "Those patches of yours are just like that. They were so torn that I simply cut them off to make patches for other clothes."
"Oh, so that's how it is," Guan Yue said, not daring to object. "Then, you've really gone to a lot of trouble."
It wasn't actually that bad... her few clothes, sob sob...
Cheng Lingjun smiled: "It's not hard work, after all, there's extra pay for the hard work."
Yes, he does need money. He's just a sewer, so there's nothing wrong with him mending clothes for Guan Yue.
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