"So, just accept it without worry."
Xiao Jing knew that Fang Qiao said that to avoid putting psychological pressure on her.
But that's not how it works.
She's not a professional tailor; you can't calculate it like that.
Cheng Baidong noticed Xiaojing's dilemma and said, "Your sister-in-law is right. Over the years, it costs more than just the price of a sewing machine to have clothes made by a tailor. Don't refuse anymore. After you buy them, we can go upstairs and browse around."
Having said that, she should stop there; any further arguing would only make things more distant.
Her brother and sister-in-law treat her well; she can't be ungrateful.
Xiao Jing made up her mind that she would repay them double... no, a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times in the future.
The Jeep's trunk had limited capacity; if you put a bicycle in it, you can't put a sewing machine in it. When Cheng Baidong asked, he learned that the department store also offered home delivery, but he would have to wait a day or two to finish delivering the goods in front of him before they could deliver to him, and he would also have to pay an extra dollar for labor.
It was only right to pay extra for home delivery, so Cheng Baidong paid the delivery fee without hesitation and filled in his home address on the order form.
After buying the sewing machine, the next step is to buy fabric.
In summer, I change my clothes frequently, and the few pieces I wear regularly have turned a bit white after being washed so many times.
Fang Qiao also bought a large basin, about a meter wide, from the general merchandise section on the second floor, intending to take it home as a bathtub for her two children.
When it gets hot, I fill a basin with about half a basin of water at noon and leave it in the sun all day. The water stays warm until evening, which is just the right temperature for bathing, saving me the trouble of boiling water. This saves me a lot of firewood over the summer.
Finally, I bought some food, household items, and a large watermelon before leaving the department store with my bags.
After shopping, it was only a little past ten o'clock. The summer sun was scorching the earth, and there wasn't a breath of cool air.
The group had only been out of the department store for a short while when they were already sweating profusely. An'an's little face was also flushed from the sun, and she leaned listlessly on Cheng Baidong's shoulder.
Fang Qiao originally wanted to stroll around the streets, but the heat made it impossible for her to continue, so she simply got in the car and headed home.
As the car started moving, a cool breeze blew into the cabin through the open windows, and everyone finally felt a bit cooler.
It's already this hot at the beginning of summer; the rest of the summer is going to be even harder.
Back home, Fang Qiao led the two children inside to cool off, and asked Cheng Baidong to soak the watermelon in cool water for a while so that it would be more refreshing and delicious when they cut it open to eat later.
An'an hadn't eaten anything all morning and was groaning from hunger, so Fang Qiao quickly poured water for her daughter to wash away her drowsiness.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Tian Tian was also staring longingly at the jar containing the dung bead, so I took an extra bowl and made her a small half-bowl of dung bead.
After preparing the rice cereal, Fang Qiao handed Tian Tian the bowl and let her eat by herself. Then she put An An in the high chair and fed her with a metal spoon.
Halfway through feeding the rice cereal, Chen Guizhi arrived at the door.
She was completely at ease. When she saw the brand-new bicycle parked in the yard, she reached out and touched it with some surprise: "Oh, you bought a bicycle? It looks really nice."
After looking at it over, she put the bicycle back where it was, got up and went inside, pulled up a small stool and sat down next to Fang Qiao, asking her, "How much is it?"
Fang Qiao smiled and replied, "One hundred and twenty."
"One hundred and twenty, that's not expensive. The bicycle my family bought a couple of years ago cost a full one hundred and fifty."
"Your bicycle is tall and big, while mine is a women's bicycle, small and lightweight, which is why it's a little cheaper than yours."
"I was so focused on looking at your bicycle that I almost forgot about the important matter." Chen Guizhi slapped her forehead and said, "Someone called you today, but you weren't home. The operator asked me to tell you that the call was from your older brother on your mother's side. He said there was something urgent at home and asked you to go back to your parents' house this afternoon if you had time. You don't need to call back."
Fang Qiao nodded and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law, I understand."
Her expression was indifferent; she had no intention of going back at all.
If it were truly a very important matter, it would have been explained clearly over the phone, not vaguely like this.
In her past life, she never saw her family care about her this much when she was in the countryside, so it probably doesn't matter to her family whether she goes back or not.
Besides, Cheng Baidong has already returned the factory's jeep, so it's not suitable for use in the afternoon. If he wants to go out, he'll have to take the bus.
In this sweltering heat, and with her pregnant belly, going back would require her to change buses three times, taking over an hour just to get there. She simply doesn't want to suffer like that.
In the afternoon, Fang Qiao didn't go out, pretending she didn't know about the phone call.
Anyway, since they live far away, even if she doesn't go on time, her family can't possibly travel all that way to call her.
Even if she comes, she can make excuses by saying she wasn't home that morning and didn't know her parents had called.
Fang Qiao had planned everything perfectly, but unexpectedly, Fang Lu came running over on his own just as it was getting dark.
Fang Qiao picked him up at the entrance of the family compound. On the way home, Fang Lu looked around curiously: "Second sister, brother-in-law's workplace is really strict. I thought Mom was just making things up."
Fang Qiao didn't answer, but asked him instead, "It's almost dark, why did you suddenly come here at this time?"
"Of course I came here to escape the chaos." Fang Lu grinned, showing Fang Qiao the red marks on his arm. "Second sister, you didn't go home today, so you don't know how chaotic it was. My arm was swollen from being hit by Mom with a rolling pin. It hurt so much."
"What happened?"
"Sigh, it's all because of my boyfriend." Fang Lu sighed, "I went to talk about marriage today, but the conversation fell apart, and the marriage is off."
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