Jiang Yue is now a big celebrity in the village and the most popular person in the old house.
Sure enough, neither Da Shi nor Xiao Shi got to drink brown sugar water when they got home, but their aunt got to drink it easily.
"Third brother's wife, you come here, but why are you bringing meat again?"
Old Mrs. Zhou smiled broadly, her genuine smile visibly evident.
"Mother, I have a favor to ask of you. Besides, this meat was a gift from your grandsons, so I'm just using it to give back to you."
Jiang Yue put down the meat and briefly explained her purpose to her mother-in-law...
"What are you asking for? It's just making clothes. Leave it to your eldest and second sisters-in-law."
Old Zhou slapped his thigh and took on the job.
She knew that the third son's wife wouldn't mistreat the eldest son's family or the second son's family; good things shouldn't go to outsiders, so she agreed.
"I'll trouble you, my eldest and second sisters-in-law, to make these clothes for our family. We'll use these two types of fabric, one for the lining and the other for the outer garment..."
Jiang Yue smiled at her two sisters-in-law, gave them a brief explanation, and then asked them how their practice with the scraps of cloth they had brought home last time was going.
"I'll go back inside and get it for you. Third sister-in-law, please give your sister-in-law a look."
The eldest Zhou lady was poised and graceful; she turned and went back into the house to get it.
Little Zhou hesitated for a moment, then quickly said:
"Third sister-in-law, I tried changing the color scheme to make the dolls, and they look a little strange. Please don't laugh at me."
"Second sister-in-law, my skills are far inferior to yours. Do you think the dolls I brought are decent?"
Jiang Yue, speaking from the underworld, implied that even though her needlework skills were atrocious, she had already shown them off. "Second sister-in-law, your skills are better than mine, so what are you afraid of?"
Little Zhou looked grateful, nodded to her mother-in-law, and went back into the house to get the cloth doll she had made.
Old Zhou didn't interrupt her daughters-in-law's conversation. She greeted her third son's wife and went to the kitchen to get busy.
A moment later—
"Third sister-in-law, look at this! I sewed it in my spare time in the house. And you know what? It's quite something!"
The Zhou family took out twenty-eight small cloth dolls, all shaped like dogs, with fine stitching and lifelike appearance.
Jiang Yue looked at it, then quickly went to wash her hands. After washing her hands, she came back and touched this and that, unable to put them down.
I must say, the dolls my sister-in-law makes are so lifelike, it's like she was born to do this!
"Third sister-in-law, look at the rag doll I made."
Little Zhou also brought out a bamboo basket filled with things she had made: small sachets, plush dogs, and cats—about thirty in total.
Although the composition is slightly inferior to that of my sister-in-law, it is still incredibly lifelike!
Jiang Yue was absolutely amazed when she saw the dolls her second sister-in-law had made!
After looking through about seven or eight kinds of animals commonly found in the countryside, he finally gave a thumbs up and said:
"Second sister-in-law, you're amazing! You can come up with so many kinds of things, that's incredible!"
"real?"
Xiao Zhou was initially hesitant to look at her third sister-in-law's expression. When she was taught how to make a small dog doll, she ended up making all sorts of different designs. She was worried that she might disappoint her third sister-in-law.
To my utter surprise, my third sister-in-law is now praising her happily!
"Of course it's true. My sister-in-law is very good at needlework, and she makes lifelike dolls."
My second sister-in-law is quick to apply what she's learned to other situations; she makes a variety of dolls with bold and vibrant color schemes.
I've found another sack of scraps of fabric. You and your sister-in-law will have to work hard and make them into dolls before the end of the month, whenever you have some free time.
Jiang Yue nodded, praised her two sisters-in-law, and then counted the number of dolls. There were a total of sixty-three, and she estimated that about thirty could be made from a bag of scraps of cloth.
If we can produce about thirty more from this batch of scraps, we'll have at least ninety plush toys by the end of the month, enough to sell in town.
"Okay, we'll listen to you."
Da Zhou nodded. She wasn't stupid; she could roughly guess that her third sister-in-law was teaching her and her second sister-in-law how to make cloth dolls to show them a way to make money.
Therefore, whenever she had no work, she would make cloth dolls with her second younger brother and sister-in-law.
However, she was a bit slow-witted and not as quick-thinking as her second sister-in-law, so she didn't dare to embroider other styles, and she wasn't very good at color matching either...
Xiao Zhou nodded in agreement. She and her sister-in-law were of one mind and listened to their third sister-in-law's words!
“Sister-in-law, you two boldly embroidered these three batches of scraps of cloth without spending any money. You can practice your skills and make a business with no capital. We will be bold and careful and we will definitely be able to make beautiful cloth dolls.”
Jiang Yue encouraged her two sisters-in-law, saying it was too early to say whether the puppets would be well-received.
The reason I taught this skill to my two sisters-in-law was for long-term consideration.
They can't just let the three wives take off without including the first and second wives, can they?
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime!
"Lang Li Ge Lang~"
Old Master Wu hummed a little tune as he slowly made his way home from the fields.
The wheat in the fields has recently ripened, and he plans to start harvesting it with his sons tomorrow.
Not only was the harvest good, but just spending a morning in the fields, surrounded by a bunch of old men and men asking him for advice on growing medicinal herbs, he was showered with compliments and sweet talk—it felt wonderful!
"Father, you're back. Please sit down. I have something I'd like to discuss with you."
Jiang Yue got up and saw that her father-in-law's skin was tanned dark. She thought to herself, "My father-in-law is so hardworking to still do farm work at his age!"
"My third brother's wife is here. I also have something I want to discuss with you. Perfect timing."
Old Master Wu put down his hoe, responded, and hung his straw hat on a rusty hook on the wall. Then, he moved slightly away from his daughters-in-law and said:
"I'm covered in sweat, so please stay away from me."
"Dad, let me fetch you a basin of cool water to wash your face."
"Dad, please sit down. I'll tidy up the table so you can talk to your third sister-in-law about your business."
Both the eldest and youngest Zhou women were quick-witted; one went to the well to fetch water, while the other nimbly put away the dolls.
Jiang Yue casually handed the brown sugar water her mother-in-law had prepared to her father-in-law, saying:
"Dad, you've worked hard. Have some water to soothe your throat."
"Why."
Grandpa Wu didn't look at it too closely, took the bowl and started gulping it down.
Sweet?
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be brown sugar water.
After a moment's thought, he realized that the old woman had specially brewed it for his third son's wife, and now it was in his stomach.
After Jiang Yue and her father-in-law were seated, she smiled and spoke:
“Father, I’ve returned the land I borrowed from the clan. I won’t be too busy anymore. I think the wheat will ripen, but we won’t have enough manpower at the old house.”
If it suddenly starts raining, that would be bad!
I was thinking of asking Qingshan and Qingsong to help out, what do you think?
"Business is important, making money is a big deal, and we can't be careless. Let them do their business properly."
Grandpa Wu subconsciously shook his head in refusal. In his mind, the eldest and second grandsons of the third branch of the Wu family were both quite successful.
But the third brother's family has a point; it's been so hot and humid these past few days, if it really rains...
If all else fails, let Da Shi and Xiao Shi go home and help out.
Jiang Yue noticed her father-in-law's hesitation and continued to persuade him:
“Dad, business is never-ending. Wheat is the family’s staple food. The more people there are, the more we can do.”
It's raining, which means a reduced wheat harvest!
The most urgent task is to harvest wheat and secure our food supply!
"Alright then, we'll be harvesting wheat at home tomorrow. If you can spare some people, come and help us out."
Old Master Wu relented, thinking it was better to believe it than not, and just in case, after lunch he went to the village chief's house...
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