Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 372: You’d Better Leave

"Okay."

Yi Chichi nodded and asked Qin Jiu if he wanted to join, but when he said no because he wanted to keep Big Orange company, she carried the rabbit to Grandfather and their residence on her own.

The sun was decent today, not too hot when it shone directly on people, and the old folks had been busy with the big team for a while, working on the harvest, equally exhausted.

But they couldn’t stay idle.

When Yi Chichi arrived, Old Mrs. Song was mending clothes while the old men were weeding the vegetable garden.

In spring, the team allowed the old men to have a vegetable garden, and Uncle Ye, as the main labor force, diligently prepared the land.

Perhaps it was his military experience, as the garden he laid out looked like a chessboard, with the land divided into several small plots, each neatly organized.

The radishes, cabbages, and other vegetables planted were also very neatly arranged, very friendly for those with OCD.

Every time Yi Chichi saw it, she felt comfortable, and this time was no exception.

After calling out once, she squatted by the vegetable garden, familiarly picked a tomato, washed it clean, and started eating it happily.

Grandpa Song turned his head and glanced at the rabbit she brought, "Skinning again?"

"Yes, indeed."

She nodded, "Grandpa, you guys see who can skin it; we’ll cook it for dinner tonight."

"Xiao Ye, you go."

In unison, all eyes fell on the relatively young and strong Ye Yuntang.

He made a sound of acknowledgment, put down the hoe, walked over, picked up the rabbit, glanced at it, and commented, "The fur’s color isn’t that good."

Yi Chichi didn’t mind, "As long as it’s warm, that’s enough."

As for whether the fur’s color was mixed or not, it wasn’t in her consideration.

At home, they had accumulated nearly twenty rabbit skins, not enough to make clothes, but enough for knee pads and gloves for the old folks to share.

"Are you waiting here, or...?"

"I’ll wait."

She thought she might learn a thing or two in the meantime.

But the harsh reality told her that skinning a rabbit was a technical skill, and also required courage. The look of the rabbit meat exposed when peeling off the skin made her somewhat uneasy.

But rabbit meat was delicious, which was why her facial expression was a bit twisted.

Ye Yuntang’s mouth twitched slightly, "What are you thinking?"

Her expression of one-third disdain, one-third pity, and four-tenths craving made his scalp a little numb.

"It feels a bit cruel to skin a rabbit."

Ye Yuntang opened his mouth, ready to retort, when Yi Chichi added, "We must cook it well; otherwise, it’s not worth it for the rabbit to take a trip to the human world."

"...Girl, you should just leave."

Better not squatting here any longer, it’s affecting his work and mood.

"Okay."

Yi Chichi turned and left; she couldn’t do the skinning work. She better help them with weeding.

But she was rejected.

The reason was that her hands for embroidery shouldn’t do rough work.

Moreover, the garden wasn’t large, and they were almost done weeding, so they didn’t really need her help.

Helplessly, Yi Chichi had no choice but to help Old Mrs. Song with the sewing work.

This time she wasn’t rejected. In Old Mrs. Song’s words, this was a perfect match with her specialty.

Thus, the professionally-matched Yi Chichi swiftly sewed up a few remaining garments.

The stitches were neat, and the patches were sewn tidily.

Old Mrs. Song watched and sighed repeatedly, "You young folks really have good eyesight."

"I use my eyes a lot and pay attention to protection and exercise."

Since embroiderers use their eyes extensively, without proper care and exercise, it’s easy to damage them.

It’s a habit developed from childhood, so no matter where she is, even if she doesn’t need to sit at the embroidery rack one day, she makes a conscious effort to exercise.

Her eyesight has always been good.

Cutting the thread with scissors, she asked, "Are there any more? If there are, bring them out and I’ll patch them up together."

"Yes."

Old Mrs. Song got up, "There are two cotton-padded jackets where I added some cotton, but didn’t do it well, you help me sort it out."

"Okay."

Soon, Old Mrs. Song came out with two gray patched cotton jackets.

Yi Chichi took them, unfolded and glanced at them, they belonged to Uncle Ye and Mr. Song.

Squeezing them a bit, the thickness was okay.

They weren’t suitable for the bitter cold of winter, but these were meant to be worn when temperatures dipped; during the coldest times, there were larger padded jackets.

Thus, Yi Chichi didn’t say anything about them being a bit thin or suggest adding more cotton. Instead, after a thorough check, she found where the cotton needed to be added, flattened it out, and sewed it back up.

To ensure the cotton wouldn’t shift, she used backstitching, making the stitches dense, firm, and flat. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

After sewing, Old Mrs. Song took a look and praised, "These stitches are well done."

Yi Chichi just laughed, "You already said it was my specialty area; if I didn’t do it well, it would be embarrassing for me."

That’s right, one shouldn’t compare their weaknesses with the professional expertise of others, otherwise, one might get embarrassed.

However, after glancing at her own sewing work, she couldn’t help but remark, "Compared to what you sew, I can’t bear to look at mine."

Before Yi Chichi could respond, Mr. Song started to comfort his wife.

"Nonsense, your sewing is great too; I think yours is better than Chichi’s."

This was a typical example of speaking with blind devotion. But what could one do? After living together in harmony for decades, sharing joys and sorrows, naturally in Mr. Song’s heart, his wife’s skills are the best.

So Yi Chichi, smiling, chimed in, "Grandpa Song is right; you sew better than I do."

Old Mrs. Song laughed heartily, "You two just know how to flatter me."

Ye Yuntang, who had come over with the skinned rabbit, laughed, "You should cherish being flattered; Chichi doesn’t flatter us."

"Big men don’t need flattering."

Yi Chichi said calmly and naturally, "Uncle, could you help chop the rabbit."

"Sure."

So Ye Yuntang went off to chop the rabbit.

When he came back after chopping, Yi Chichi had finished sewing the other cotton jacket as well.

Seeing this, Ye Yuntang handed over the rabbit meat, "The rabbit skin won’t be ready for a while; come back to get it later."

"Okay."

Having anticipated this, Yi Chichi wasn’t planning to take the rabbit skin back. Holding the rabbit meat, she said, "You all keep busy; I’ll come back this evening."

As for why she would come back, everyone knew it in their hearts.

However, Yi Chichi broke her promise.

Because Yu Ritang and Chi Jiaojiao came, and the work of delivering rabbit meat and chicken soup could only be entrusted to Qin Jiu.

Meanwhile, Yi Chichi enthusiastically invited the two to join for a meal.

"We already ate before coming."

Yu Ritang quickly declined, realizing belatedly that they might have come at the wrong time, she suggested apologetically, "How about we come later or tomorrow?"

"No need, eating later is the same for me."

Yi Chichi put down her chopsticks, greeted Wen’s mother, and then led them to her room.

Without the elders around, Chi Jiaojiao’s sense of constraint vanished instantly; she was all excited, "Quick, let me see how my clothes look."

Yi Chichi opened the wardrobe and took out the clothes hanging on a hanger, but before she could speak, Yu Ritang curiously asked, "Did you buy an electric iron?"

"No, I didn’t."

In this era, electric irons existed but were rare; Yi Chichi had only seen them in Yangcheng, never in Baoshan Commune or the county.

When she returned from Yangcheng, she initially intended to buy one, but it was too heavy, and shipping it wasn’t cost-effective, so she chose to give up.

Instead, she used an old iron, shaped like a pot, which was quite effective.