The Zhou family had a main house with two and a half rooms, a west wing with three small rooms, and an east wing with three small rooms.
Zhou Quan and Li Mai lived in the east room of the main house, which was smaller, while the elderly couple, along with Zhou Tao and Zhu Zhu, lived in the west room of the main house, which was a large room and a half.
The three rooms on the east side are lower in height. One is a side room connected to the main house, where some important family items are stored. Another is a storage room, and the third is the kitchen.
The three rooms on the west side are also shorter; one is a grain shed, one is a firewood shed, and one is also a storage room.
When Zhao was planning to find a wife for Zhou Quan, she tidied up the storage room on the west side and had Zhou Lin and Zhou Lei, who used to live with Zhou Quan, move in there.
At this moment, Zhou Lin and Zhou Lei were also inside the main room.
The two brothers sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), staring at each other. Their parents and sister were all busy, while the two of them were the only ones with nothing to do.
"Mom, should I go over and check on him? My sister-in-law definitely won't be able to help my brother take a bath. Don't let his thin appearance fool you, he's quite heavy. She definitely won't be able to carry him." Zhou Lin was still worried about her brother.
Every night, he had to put his older brother to bed before he could sleep peacefully. But today, he only filled the bathwater with water and didn't carry his older brother into the tub. He had been imagining dozens of scenes of his older brother falling to the ground or into the tub.
Zhao waved her hand dismissively, continuing to work briskly with her head down. "Don't worry, your older brother and sister-in-law are smart people; they know how to bathe. Are you going to help them with everything behind closed doors from now on?"
Zhou Lin blushed at his mother's words. He had misunderstood and stammered before finally saying, "Mom, what are you saying? You're really disrespectful to your elders. Never mind, I'll go back to sleep. Tomorrow, Master is taking us to Lijia Village to work."
After saying that, Zhou Lin stamped his foot and pulled Zhou Lei and his brother back to sleep.
He was going through puberty and was embarrassed by his mother's words.
Actually, he hadn't thought much about it, but his mother's comment about keeping things closed made him think a little more.
Zhao glanced at the two brothers who had gone out with a strange look, then turned back to her husband and complained, "That brat, he's learned so many skills, and his temper has gotten bigger too."
Old Zhou grunted in response to his wife and continued helping her twist hemp rope.
Zhao also planned to make a new pair of shoes for her daughter-in-law, so she asked Old Man Zhou to help her twist hemp rope. She would start sewing the soles and making the shoes tomorrow.
Originally, Zhao planned to make Li Mai a peach-pink dress using Zhou Tao's fabric, thinking that a new bride should dress in a festive way so that her in-laws would be happy to see her.
Who knew that she would find out about the Li family's misfortune after hearing Zhou Quan's words that night? Now that the all-pink dress was definitely out of the question, she simply took out a piece of blue floral cotton fabric that she had kept at the bottom of her trunk and cut it together with the peach-pink cotton fabric that Zhou Tao had brought to make a matching dress for Li Mai. This way, she could also make a new dress for Zhou Tao to match.
The leftover fabric scraps from the two dresses can be used to piece together a color-blocked dress for Zhuzhu.
After dinner, Zhao cut the fabric and the two of them worked together to make a new dress for Li Mai!
Since we didn't have any white cloth at home, I made her a dress to wear on the outside first. As for the underwear, I'll have to go to town to buy more white cloth and make it myself.
However, the family doesn't have much money left now, and they have to wait until the autumn harvest to buy more cloth.
Zhao sighed inwardly. Life was a bit tight these days, but she was also very happy that her eldest son finally had a wife.
From now on, it's time to help the second son find a suitable wife!
However, she wasn't worried about her second son. He was skilled and able-bodied. He went out to work for people in other villages, and some people even asked him if his master, Zhou Lin, had been engaged, as they wanted to marry him.
"Mother, should the belt on my sister-in-law's skirt be wider or narrower?" Zhou Tao asked.
“A wider one would be better. Your sister-in-law’s name is Li Mai, right? You can use a pink one for the belt and embroider a few ears of wheat with blue silk thread on it,” Zhao said after thinking for a moment.
Zhou Tao thought for a moment, then said awkwardly, "Mother, I don't know how to embroider wheat ears."
“Come here, you sew the sleeves, and I'll embroider the belt. Learn something this time.” Zhao gave her daughter a disdainful look. “You’re fourteen already, it’s time to get engaged. How can you manage without any skills?”
Feeling rejected, Zhou Tao didn't dare to argue back. She quickly switched places with her mother and started sewing the sleeves. The main task was to close the large seams and sew the cuffs, which she knew how to do.
"Grandma, Auntie, what can Zhuzhu do?" Zhuzhu wanted to help, but she was already a little sleepy. Although her head was nodding, she still wanted to do something for her mother's new clothes.
“Zhuzhu doesn’t know how to sew, so tomorrow morning Zhuzhu will take the clothes to your mother on behalf of Grandma and your aunt, okay?” Zhao thought for a moment and felt that this would also allow Zhuzhu and Li Mai to get closer.
"Okay!" Zhuzhu nodded.
"Well, Zhuzhu, go to sleep first. Grandma and Auntie will make clothes for Mother." Zhao Shi pulled out the mattress and laid Zhuzhu out to sleep.
Zhuzhu obediently untied her clothes, took them off, and lay down to sleep.
Starting today, she has a mother. Zhuzhu fell asleep with a sweet smile on her face.
...
When Li Mai opened her eyes, she was momentarily dazed. Only when she felt the brightness in the room did she slowly turn her head to look at the window.
Oh, I've time-traveled and become Li Mai in ancient times; I got married yesterday to a man named Zhou Quan who is partially paralyzed.
Her gaze fell, and she saw Zhou Quan, who was already dressed and sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) against the wall, looking at her.
"You're awake!" Zhou Quan met her gaze and spoke first.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
