When Ranran returned, she was stunned. There were all sorts of cloths in the yard, washed and hanging on bamboo poles. They added a beautiful touch to the dilapidated little courtyard.
Upon hearing her son's voice, Qiu Yu quickly came out to greet him, "Dinner's ready."
Ranran put the rabbit cage in the corner, ran to Qiuyu's side, buried her face in his arms, and asked in a childish voice, "Daddy, what are all these?"
Qiu Yu said, "It's the cloth our family is going to sell at the market."
"Oh." He Ran looked at the beautiful fabric fluttering in the wind, somewhat pleased, and followed Qiu Yu to the dining table.
Qiu Yu felt sorry for her son who couldn't eat coarse grains, so she mixed some white flour into the steamed buns and stir-fried some cabbage slices.
The family was quite hungry after a long day. Everyone ate a lot. Qiuyu steamed a large pot, thinking she'd bring some for tomorrow morning, and surprisingly, not a single one was left. The father and son especially loved steamed buns mixed with refined grains.
That night, Qiu Yu held He Ran in her arms and put him to sleep in the crib, coaxing the child to sleep, and said that she would bring him good things when she returned from the market.
Xiao Heran is also very well-behaved.
He Zifeng was alone on the large bed, feeling a void in his arms as if someone was missing. His son, exhausted from running around all day, had fallen asleep immediately. He Zifeng pouted, feeling a bit resentful; Qiu Yu had clearly decided not to come back and sleep with him. This man, usually falling asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, tossed and turned, unable to sleep tonight. He didn't know how much time had passed before he finally felt a little sleepy, and then he felt a soft, warm person approach him. Even though He Zifeng was too sleepy to keep his eyes open, he still remembered to pull this person into his arms.
He Zifeng was a diligent man. He woke up before dawn and found Qiu Yu in his arms. He was overjoyed. It turned out that the vague feeling he had yesterday was not a dream. His wife was indeed the best to him.
He Zifeng got dressed in the morning, grabbed a basket and an axe, and went up the mountain to chop firewood. The family didn't have enough firewood, so he wanted to bring back more to save Qiuyu trouble when cooking.
By the time He Zifeng returned with a full basket of chopped meat, it was already broad daylight.
As soon as He Zifeng returned home, the house was filled with a delicious aroma.
The fabrics that had been drying overnight were long gone, and he had already taken them all in. He then took out the remaining fabrics that hadn't been sorted and began to pick them out separately, separating those that needed washing.
He Zifeng had just returned and piled the firewood on the woodpile. After washing his hands, he went inside and saw his son Ranran fast asleep. Ranran's little face was all rosy from sleeping. He Zifeng wanted to kiss his son, but he was afraid that his newly grown stubble would scratch his son's delicate face. He couldn't get enough of looking at him; he loved him so much.
He Zifeng didn't want to disturb his son's sweet dreams, so he came out and said to Qiu Yu, "I'm craving your braised pork trotters with soybeans." This was Qiu Yu's specialty dish. Before she got married, she had sent it to He Zifeng once, and He Zifeng liked it the first time he tried it.
Pig trotters are scraps. Raw pig trotters are cheap, but they use a lot of firewood to cook, and if not cooked properly, they can be fishy. I don't know how Qiuyu makes them so tender and sweet. The gelatinous texture of the pig skin sticks to your mouth after one bite. It's so satisfying to eat them once.
Qiu Yu said, "Okay, buy some when you go to the market, and also buy some spices."
He Zifeng's eyes lit up when he heard that his wife was going to cook him something delicious; he was willing to do anything as long as it was made for him.
Qiu Yu then helped him sort the items; both of them were diligent and quickly finished. His house was in a remote area, and apart from the initial commotion with the He family where people would come to watch, no one came anymore.
This actually suited He Zifeng's wishes, since the fabric was obtained with Gouzi's father's help. He was afraid that if others found out, it would cause trouble for Gouzi's father.
The collected fabrics were mainly cotton and linen, with some fine silk mixed in. There were over a hundred different patterns, mostly scraps of fabric about a foot long.
After sorting them out, the small pieces of cloth were put together. Each stack was different. The thought and effort put into it was truly remarkable.
Afterwards, He Zifeng folded the cloth into small, rectangular pieces of cloth of the same size and tied six together. He then bound them with hemp rope. To prevent the rope from leaving marks, Qiu Yu placed a piece of oiled paper in the middle. Although it was just a small piece, it looked quite pleasing to the eye when paired with the hemp rope and the cloth of the same color.
These are all ways to handle small pieces of cloth. Half a bolt of cloth can be very useful; fold it into shape and store it neatly. With Qiuyu around, tidying up is indeed very fast—wash it, cut it as needed. The fabric is bundled together by size and stacked very neatly.
Some of the fabric was irregularly shaped; they cut it into squares or rectangles. But there were still scraps left, piled up like a small mountain. They weren't very useful, but throwing them away seemed a waste. There were at least twenty or thirty pounds of scraps. Twenty or thirty pounds would have cost sixty coins.
Qiu Yu said, "How about we sew it into a sandbag?" Fill it with sand, and it won't hurt when it hits you. Don't underestimate its size; one of these little gadgets is enough to keep those kids entertained all day.
He Zifeng said, "That works too."
Qiu Yu took a soil basket, filled it up, and went inside to find some of the skillful women in the village. It was the off-season for farming, and there wasn't much else to do, so she just chatted with her sisters. When they saw Qiu Yu arrive, they said, "Why are you here? I hope the He family hasn't caused any trouble lately."
Qiu Yu said, "No, I'd like to ask you ladies to teach me how to sew sandbags today." Qiu Yu is skilled at everything, both inside and outside the house. She used to live with her father, an old hunter, but she couldn't sew or mend anything, not even the simplest things.
Several of the women were delighted to see so many scraps of cloth: "Where did you get all this?"
Qiu Yu said, "I bought it with money, and I want to do some small business." Anyway, he has the fabric, and the sand is free, so he can make a pure profit by selling it.
Several of the women said, "I'll do it for you, you just need to give me the needle."
These women were all skilled seamstresses. The group then went to Sister Xu's house. Her house was large, and since no men were home, it was convenient for the women to chat and laugh. They then took out some scraps of fabric; there were many palm-sized pieces, and some smaller ones—strips about two fingers wide. The fabric was irregularly shaped and varied, but there were quite a few palm-sized pieces. It would be a waste to use them for sewing beanbags; although they were scraps, in the eyes of these women, every piece was a treasure.
"You only make sandbags? What else can you make?"
Upon hearing this, Qiu Yu quickly replied, "Anything is fine. After I sell it, I'll use the money to buy wine for my sisters-in-law."
These women are considered well-off in the village. She laughed, "No need, sewing is child's play for us." Everyone here is better off than Qiu Yu's family; how could they let him spend money?
The He family gave a total of ten taels of silver to buy the land, and the young couple probably didn't have much left.
Sister-in-law Yanzi said, "My daughter is home too. She can sew even simple things. Let her do it!"
"Yes, yes, and my daughter too. She's been so bored staying at home all day. It's good to let her out for some fresh air."
"In the past, we didn't have so many scraps of cloth to sew together, and so many small floral fabrics."
"I'm so old, why would I play house with you guys! Hahaha."
"This piece of cloth is good."
"Your cloth is not as good as mine."
"Hey, go and call Xiao Guiying over."
"Call Cheng Ya over too."
The women first called their daughters, then their close friends, and soon more than ten people arrived. Seeing so many pretty scraps of fabric to sew things for them, they all became interested.
"Shall we have a competition?"
"Oh, I don't even care to talk about your skills, why do you have to compare them with others?"
"What's wrong?"
"Hey Qiuyu, do you have any scraps of cloth left? Not enough for everyone to share?"
Qiu Yu said, "Yes." Then she went back to get it.
He carried basket after basket, four or five times, bringing all the scraps of cloth from home!
These women were thrilled with it, each choosing their favorite fabric to make things.
Qiu Yu was afraid of tiring them out, so she made them drink water with brown sugar that she herself was reluctant to drink.
Upon hearing this, He Zifeng went to the mountains and picked a large basket of wild vegetables and fruits, placing one portion of fruit and one portion of vegetables on a large banana leaf. He asked Qiuyu to deliver them to them, so that they wouldn't have worked for nothing.
In the village, everyone helps each other out. Sewing small things is like playing a game, and the group chats and laughs happily. Who would have thought that He Zifeng and his wife would be so polite? Everyone then put their hands on the work more carefully.
Many hands make light work. Before nightfall, everyone had finished processing the mountain of fabric scraps, with almost no fabric wasted.
After a day of playing, they took some wild vegetables and fruits home before leaving. The women there weren't enough, saying, "Qiuyu, is there any more for tomorrow? You two don't need to be so polite. We're happy to sew!"
Qiu Yu said, "No, thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law."
The women said, "If you need anything next time, just say so. We're all from the same village. Don't be so polite."
Afterwards, Qiuyu left with the finished product, having used Xu's needlework today. Qiuyu also secretly gave Xu's wife five coins.
Sister-in-law Xu said no, but seeing that Qiu Yu really wanted to give it to her, she reluctantly accepted it, but praised her highly, saying that this person was meticulous and capable, and that it was a great loss for the He family to have driven away two hardworking people.
He didn't even have time to talk; he had to go back and cook dinner.
When Qiu Yu returned home, He Zifeng was astonished. Those scraps of cloth, left unused, had been transformed by her sisters-in-law. They sewed ten children's patchwork quilt covers, over a hundred small square beanbags, and even flower basket-shaped beanbags from the scraps. They also sewed two hundred pairs of shoe uppers—they could be used directly from shoe soles! They even made seventy or eighty small flowers to wear on red ribbons, and over two hundred small ingot-shaped money pouches…
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