Time flies, and before they knew it, it was the day Yuan Doudou finished her postpartum confinement. Early in the morning, An Rong got up and boiled water with the mixed tree branches she had prepared beforehand, intending to give Yuan Doudou a comfortable hot bath. Even Huang Rong, who always loved to sleep in, got up early to help wash the wooden tub for the bath, while Lu Xi ladled out the water from the pot and poured it into the tub one trip after another.
There was a special bathroom in the backyard. An Rong was worried that she would be cold, so he put two charcoal stoves in advance. The small room was warm and cozy by the fire. When Yuan Doudou finished packing and went in, the room was filled with heat and she couldn't see anything.
"It's so hot!" Yuan Doudou couldn't stand it; she was already sweating profusely before she even started washing.
"Sister Dou Dou, it's better to be a little warmer. This is your first bath after your postpartum period, so you mustn't catch a cold." She was young but experienced a lot. On her journey to find her relatives, she had met many people, including a woman who was frail and sickly. She recalled that she used to be very healthy, but when she took a bath, even if the room was cold and the water was lukewarm, she would shiver all over afterward. A few years later, whenever it was cloudy or rainy, her bones felt like they were being gnawed by ants, and the cold was so intense that she could only stay in bed.
Well, Yuan Doudou could only shut up and accept it silently; a little bit of warmth was better than a little bit of coldness.
While taking a bath, Huang Rong stayed with her, partly to help Dou Dou wipe her back, and partly to keep an eye on her to prevent any accidents. This was a task assigned to her by Brother An Rong.
Lu Xi didn't leave either, staying at the door to keep watch, so that he could take care of things as soon as possible if needed inside.
After taking off her clothes, Yuan Doudou stepped onto a wooden stool and entered the wooden tub.
"Slow down, be careful of slipping." Huang Rong supported her arm, becoming extremely vigilant.
Yuan Doudou couldn't help but laugh: "Rongrong, I'm not pregnant anymore, I'm not that delicate."
After unloading the cargo, Yuan Doudou felt incredibly relieved and could walk as briskly as before.
Huang Rong said seriously, "Brother Anrong said that even after you finish your postpartum period, your body will still be weak, unlike ours. You have to be extra careful in everything you do."
Although Yuan Doudou disagreed, An Rong had said that it was always better to be careful.
She didn't feel physically weak, except that she was easily sleepy. She ate and slept all day with Tangtang, and her energy was indeed not as good as before.
No wonder people say that having a child ages you by ten years; she feels like she's already thirty.
Huang Rong stood behind her, helping her wet her hair. She grabbed a handful of tea tree powder, dissolved it in water, stirred it to create foam, and then tilted Dou Dou's head back to soak her hair in it.
Yuan Doudou's hair is of very good quality, perhaps because she takes good care of it. Her hair is shiny and smooth when wet, and it feels smooth to the touch. After a month of confinement, her hair has grown a bit longer, about the length of her two arms.
She really wanted to cut her hair, but unfortunately, cutting hair was not fashionable in ancient times. People said that hair is a sign of one's parents, and cutting one's hair was a great act of filial impiety.
But her parents are nowhere to be found, so cutting a few strands of hair shouldn't be a big deal.
"Rongrong, go get me a pair of scissors." She started cutting right away.
"Sister Dou Dou, what do you need scissors for?" Huang Rong was startled, almost thinking she was about to do something stupid.
Yuan Doudou pretended to be mysterious, "You'll know when you get it."
Huang Rong had no choice but to listen to her. Standing inside the door, she called out to Lu Xi outside, "Lu Xi, go to the kitchen and get a pair of scissors."
Although Lu Xi didn't know what she was going to do, she obediently went to get it.
Yuan Doudou took the scissors from Huang Rong, grabbed the hair with her left hand, and squeezed the scissors with her right hand. With a snip, a large section of hair was left in her hand.
Huang Rong turned pale instantly. She was stunned and forgot to stop it. By the time she realized what was happening, her hair had already been cut off.
"DouDou, are you alright?" She almost blurted out, "Are you crazy? Why did you cut your hair?"
Yuan Doudou smiled brightly: "Don't tell anyone, no one will know."
Getting a haircut is nothing to be proud of, so it's best not to make a big deal out of it.
Huang Rong naturally wouldn't tell anyone, but she still couldn't accept it. Hair is very important; apart from nuns and monks, no one would touch their own hair.
"Actually, people take these things too seriously, to the point that they restrict people's thinking. Hair is given to you by your parents, and so are your nails, but can you let your nails grow indefinitely without cutting them?"
Huang Rong was completely confused when she suddenly realized that Dou Dou Jie was different from them all.
"Actually, I sometimes feel that having too long hair is inconvenient," Huang Rong said.
The thought of washing my hair is a hassle. It requires a lot of water, wastes a lot of tea tree residue, takes forever to wash, and is often not clean enough. Even when it is finally clean, it takes a long time to dry. Having wet hair on my body makes me feel damp inside.
That's why they rarely wash their hair, which results in an unpleasant smell.
Wealthy families would buy some good osmanthus oil, dip it in a comb, and use it to mask the odor in their hair.
But ordinary families couldn't afford it. At most, they would pick a few wildflowers, crush them into juice, and use it to comb their hair. The taste was quite different.
After taking a hot shower, Yuan Doudou felt relieved. Her hair was still wet, so she had to stay in the room and wrap her hair in a thick cloth to try to absorb the water.
"Let me help you." An Rong gently placed the sleeping Tangtang on the bed and turned to Yuan Doudou.
An Rong took a new cloth, wrapped it around her hair from behind, and squeezed it hard, immediately squeezing out the water from her hair.
"You're really strong." In this era before hair dryers, the key to drying hair quickly is good water absorption.
She thought of the coral fleece hat she used to wear, and wished she had one like that. But there was definitely no coral fleece now. She thought of cashmere, which was very absorbent, but cashmere was also rare and several times more expensive than in her time.
The high cost is due to transportation costs, since sheep are only found in Xinjiang.
"If only we had a cashmere towel." They usually use linen cloth, similar to a rag, and the concept of a towel is completely foreign to them.
An Rong didn't understand, "Towel?"
"Well, it's cloth knitted from wool." She could only make things up.
I don't know how to describe it to him, what kind of towel it is, and how she knows about towels.
"I was just imagining things; I know such a thing doesn't exist." He didn't even know what yarn was.
"It will be available." It's just a different material to weave it. It's not available now, but it will be available in the future.
During the war, he heard a fellow soldier from the north say that his hometown was a vast grassland where many cattle and sheep were raised. The wool could be sheared into yarn, and the yarn could be woven into clothes.
I suppose this is the yarn that DouDou was talking about.
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