Chapter 62: A Role Model for Women
Puzzlement appeared in Lu Chunniang's eyes. She wondered why a villager from a remote mountain village would ask about the concubines in the palace.
But she was grateful for the help from Su Zhizhi's family and tried her best to tell everything she could remember.
The oil lamp on the table suddenly burst into a flower.
It can be clearly heard in the quiet winter night.
Lu Chunniang told all the details she could remember.
Hao Ren, who had been silent with his head down, raised his head and gave Lu Chunniang a very light smile.
The smile was as light as mist that would dissipate with the wind, leaving a layer of dampness on people's hearts for no reason.
"Thank you, Madam Lu, for telling me. It's getting late, so Yingniang and I won't disturb you from resting."
"It's okay." Lu Chunniang saw Hao Ren and Wu Yingniang out.
The shadows of the plum blossom branches sway in the moonlight.
Hao Ren's clothes were slightly blown by the night wind. Wu Yingniang walked beside him, holding his hand.
The couple walked slowly side by side in the night.
The backs reveal a sense of desolation and mutual support.
People can be strong or fragile.
Only they themselves know how they supported each other through the countless moments of loss and confusion over the years.
Lu Chunniang, who was standing at the door watching the two of them, was about to close the door when she suddenly rubbed her eyes hard, suspecting that there was something wrong with her eyes.
She saw Hao Ren's back seemed to tremble, and then Wu Yingniang bent sideways and carried Hao Ren horizontally!
Then he carried it steadily all the way back to the house, kicked it and closed the door.
Lu Chunniang's eyes were as loud as copper bells.
Lu Chunniang: Yingniang is truly a role model for women of our generation!
The next morning.
Su Zhizhi and Xue Che solved a big problem and went to school in high spirits.
Grandma Qiu went to help out in the academy cafeteria.
Wu Yingniang and others went to the Black Mountain Restaurant.
There were only Abao and Lu Chunniang in the small courtyard of the house.
Lu Chunniang was not idle. She repaired all the clothes hanging in the yard.
The clothes she had repaired became much slimmer and more beautiful, and she even worked more efficiently after putting them on.
She finished sewing the tiger-skin skirt that Grandma Qiu had half-sewn, and added a soft lining.
Lu Chunniang was a little afraid of Abao at first, but later she found that Abao had no ill intentions and was even very humane and would help with things.
Before going to the Black Bandit Mountain, she used the extra cloth to make a pullover scarf for Abao.
The Hao Ren family was busy in Baiyun County, and it was Bai Xun who came to the county from Heifei Mountain to pick up Lu Chunniang and bring her back to the village.
"Mrs. Lu, my name is Bai Xun. Village Chief Hao asked me to pick you up and take you to the village." Bai Xun was driving a donkey cart.
Lu Chunniang carried a small bag and got on the donkey cart, saying thank you:
"Thank you, Brother Bai."
Bai Xun only had one arm, and when he met other women on the street, they either looked at him strangely or dared not look at him.
Bai Xun has become accustomed to this.
But Lu Chunniang not only kept stealing glances at his broken arm, she also wanted to look inside his sleeves.
Bai Xun simply rolled up his right sleeve and said, "Madam Lu, you can look at whatever you want. There's no need to be so sneaky."
Lu Chunniang saw that half of Bai Xun's arm was hidden in his right sleeve, and the part below the elbow was missing, as if it had been chopped off.
So to be precise, Bai Xun doesn't have just one arm, he has one and a half arms.
She hurriedly said apologetically, "Brother Bai, please don't misunderstand me. I was just thinking about how to save some fabric when making clothes for you."
Bai Xun:......
Lu Chunniang thought that after arriving in the village, she would first stay in a villager's home.
But Bai Xun took her to a separate small house and said, "This is Madam Lu's room. It has been cleaned."
Lu Chunniang was pleasantly surprised to find that the house was spotless and brightly lit.
Basic amenities such as beds, tables and chairs are all available.
"Brother Bai, where is the kitchen? Where can I cook and get water?"
Bai Xun pointed to the location of the village kitchen:
"There's someone in the village who's responsible for cooking. When it's time for dinner, you can just go get some. As for water, there's a reservoir to the east..."
"The rooms to the west are where we store food. Try to avoid the north. That's the hunting area, and there are traps..."
Lu Chunniang never thought that she could live in such a remote mountain village and have someone cook for her.
Although she was on the top of a mountain, she felt a sense of order as if she were back in the palace.
All tasks are classified and assigned to specific people, utilizing everyone's strengths and advantages to maximize efficiency.
But I also understood better why the village needed a separate person to make clothes.
What shocked Lu Chunniang the most was that Bai Xun took her to a warehouse full of cotton.
It's cotton!
She had seen some cotton in a small courtyard in the county town and thought it was accidentally obtained by Su Zhizhi's family.
Dayu cotton was scarce. Lu Chunniang had seen it in the palace and had made one or two clothes with it, which she liked very much.
She even read a textile book brought by foreign envoys in the Shanggong Bureau, which talked about a cotton spinning technology that had not yet been popularized in Dayu.
But there was little cotton available, as the palace mainly used silk, cotton, and satin, so she had little chance to practice.
Now there is an entire warehouse of cotton here.
"Can I use all of these?" Lu Chunniang grabbed the cotton, feeling unreal as if she was trapped in a soft cloud.
Bai Xun: "Anything is fine. The animal skins and coarse cloth are in the other room. As long as the clothes fit, you can make them into whatever shape you want."
Lu Chunniang threw herself into the cotton pile and woke up laughing in her dreams.
She can spin cotton, weave cotton cloth, and design her own favorite styles...she can do anything.
Don't worry that the noble man won't like it.
Good times will come after bad times.
She made a fortune——!
In the following days, Lu Chunniang immersed herself in the garment-making project.
At mealtime, she moved a stool and sat at the door of the kitchen, measuring everyone's size one by one and then carefully recording them one by one.
So the kitchen door became more and more lively.
After a busy day, the villagers lined up at the kitchen door, first punched the ink ball that Xiao Song brought, and then went to Lu Chunniang to measure the size.
Finally, we took a bowl full of food and ate together around the fire.
Wu Yingniang and Grandma Qiu were not around, so the kitchen in the mountains had a new cook. Although the food was not as tasty as before, the portions of vegetables and meat were still ample.
Eat it while it’s hot and your body will feel warm.
Smoke from the bonfires curled up from the mountains.
Houses were built one after another on the hilltop.
“We can have another good New Year this year.”
"Get ready to light the fireworks, Zhizhi will be going home for the holidays soon."
“…”
The stars in the winter night are bright and quiet.
Hanging above the mountains is the most tenacious and inextinguishable light in the world.
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