Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty-Chapter 24 - 23 New Clothes

Chapter 24: Chapter 23 New Clothes

Chapter 24 -23 New Clothes

Mrs. Chen was shrewd, and she realized that even if her eldest son did not demand payment, Mrs. Hu would still find a way to covertly take it. If that were the case, her second son would not be saving any money, her eldest son would think he was helping his brother, but actually Mrs. Hu would be the one benefiting. She said, “I agree with Second son, even brothers should settle accounts clearly. It is good to help, but the required workers’ wages should still be paid.”

Chen Ming added, “We still have four strings of cash left from selling the land, which should be enough to repair the house. If big brother keeps helping us for free, the younger brother would feel embarrassed asking for help in the future.”

Hearing this, Chen Ye kept silent and brought up the topic of when to start constructing the house. Given the current busy farming season, they needed to plant the corn and sweet potatoes first. With the amount of farmland owned by the eldest brother and the second brother combined, they would only be able to build a new house by the end of May. Considering his home needs to focus on sewing baskets and sewing bags, Chen Ming decided to start the house construction by the end of June. After the house was built, they would have to repair their old straw-roofed house.

Before leaving, Chen Ming gave Chen Ye a piece of blue coarse cloth to make clothes.

Chen Ye, red-faced in agitation, said loudly, “Don’t you think I know the life your family is living? Even though Afu’s illness has improved, you still need to save money to treat Alu’s leg. Why waste money? We’re faring much better, we don’t need a few yards of cloth. Keep it to make new clothes for Alu, his clothes are practically tied on him by now.”

With that said, he helped Mrs. Chen outside, with Chen Afu and Dahu following; Chen Ming saw them off.

Mrs. Hu remained unmoved, she still wanted to get her hands on those few yards of cloth. Even if she didn’t dare to bring it home, she planned to sneak it back to her maternal home and give it to her brothers or nephews as clothing.

Chen Alu, although young, was sly. Seeing Mrs. Hu lagging behind, he knew exactly what she was thinking. When Mrs. Hu reached out to grab the cloth on the bed, he beat her to it, handed it over to Mrs. Wang and said, “Mom, Big Uncle said you are to make me some new clothes, so you can’t just give it away. If there’s extra cloth left, make something for Dabao as well.”

Mrs. Hu was so angry, she swore, “Beggars can’t be choosers, it’s shameless to take back a gift you’ve given.” With Chen Ye and Mrs. Chen absent, she made no secret of her greed and harshness.

Chen Afu replied with a smile, “It’s not that we took it back, it’s Big Uncle showing his concern for our poor family, he asked for it to be made into clothes for my brother.”

Mrs. Hu swore again, “What an idiot, you dare to talk back to your elders.”

Mrs. Wang wasn’t stupid, she knew Mrs. Hu didn’t dare to bring the cloth home and must be planning to sneak it back to her maternal home. It was okay if it was given to Chen Ye’s Mrs. Wang because after all, Chen Ye had helped her family a lot. But if Mrs. Hu slyly brought it home, that was unacceptable. So upon hearing her insult Afu, Mrs. Wang grew even more displeased.

She put the cloth into the cabinet and, turning to a red-faced Mrs. Hu, said, “Daya missed her meal because she’s not at home. I saved her a bowl of cucumber stir-fry with thinly sliced pork. Sister-in-law, please bring it to her.” Mrs. Wang had actually saved this dish for Chen Ming to eat the following day.

Even a mosquito is meat. Despite her anger, Mrs. Hu puffed up and followed Mrs. Wang to the kitchen to take the dish away.

Chen Afu was somewhat speechless. Mrs. Wang was too soft-hearted. People like Mrs. Hu were like insatiable hungry wolves. Even if they covertly asked for things and showed no gratitude, they often still did not dare to let Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye know about it.

After Mrs. Hu left, Chen Alu said to Mrs. Wang, “Mom, that bowl of meat and vegetable was meant for dad to eat tomorrow. Why did you give it to Big Aunt? If it really goes into Daya’s mouth, it’s acceptable, but if it ends up in Hu Laowu’s mouth, that would be such a waste.”

Mrs. Wang sighed, “Your Big Aunt is already unhappy that she didn’t get the cloth, if we don’t give her some advantages, I don’t know how long she will carry on grumbling in our home.”

Chen Ming came in, heard this and shook his head, sighing. His older brother was such a good person, why did he have to marry such a woman?

When Mrs. Hu first married into the Chens family, Chen Ming respected his elder sister-in-law very much, but Mrs. Hu didn’t like her half-brother at all. In front of Chen Ye and Mrs. Chen, she behaved acceptably. But when they weren’t around, she would curse Chen Ming with the most malicious language, nearly driving him to the point of death. Perhaps, her intention might have been to push him to death as quickly as possible.

When the family split up that year, Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye’s original intention was for Chen Ming to stay at home, so they could take care of him. But Chen Ming insisted on moving out, prompting Chen Ye to help him sell an acre of land. Both brothers also secretly chipped in one to two taels of silver to buy the small courtyard. Fortunately, Mrs. Wang entered their lives a few days later. Otherwise, Mrs. Chen would have immediately shifted to his house to take care of him further…

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After the household had left, Chen Afu stopped Mrs. Wang who wanted to go clean the kitchen. Mrs. Wang’s health was much better now, and she was able to tidy up slowly.

Seeing that her daughter was capable, a smile blossomed on Mrs. Wang’s face. She went into the room to make clothes for Chen Alu. Making a sleeveless tunic and long pants would be enough for Alu and Dabao’s family.

Both children were extremely happy. Alu couldn’t remember how long it had been since she had worn new clothes, and Dabao had never worn new clothes before. He had always worn his uncle’s hand-me-downs, so he was particularly excited, constantly asking when he could wear his new clothes.

Alu modestly deferred, “Mother, make Dabao’s first.”

Mrs. Wang nodded and smiled, “Alright. Grandma Wang will make sure Dabao wears new clothes tomorrow.”

After cleaning up the kitchen, Chen Afu watched Mrs. Wang cutting out the clothes. She found the ancient way of tailoring quite speechless, especially the pants, which were like two flour sacks sewn together at one end. Not only was it unattractive and uncomfortable to wear, but it also used up a lot of fabric. She considered trying to improve it once her own hands became more nimble. Of course, she couldn’t change the aesthetics of this era and make the pants tapered at the ankles, but at least the waists and crotches should be slightly better fitting.

The next day, dawn had long broken, and Chen Afu heard no movement outside the door. Mrs. Wang must have stayed up late working last night and hadn’t woken up yet.

She quietly got up to see a light drizzle outside the window. The little rain was very fine, misty, and soundless, washing the leaves and grass to a cleaner green.

Chen Afu dressed and saw a set of little blue clothes on the table. She went over, opened up the clothes, and found it was exactly the sleeveless tunic and a pair of pants made for Dabao.

Mrs. Wang had kept her promise, allowing Dabao to wear new clothes that day.

Chen Afu first placed the clothes next to Dabao, then went to the kitchen.

She brought a bundle of straw from under the eaves into the house, to prevent the firewood from getting wet in the rain, and always kept a stack of straw under the eaves. She silently started the fire, put the brown rice in the pot, and slowly boiled it.

Once the rice in the pot was well cooked, she turned the fire down, and then Chen Afu went back to the room to comb her hair. She made a bun on top of her head similar to the bun hairstyle in her previous life and secured it with a wooden hairpin. This hairstyle was the only one she knew how to do now.

“Dear mother,” Dabao rubbed his eyes and sat up. Seeing the new clothes, he instantly woke up entirely and yelled, “Wow, new clothes!”

“Shh, be quiet. Grandma Wang stayed up late making clothes last night and hasn’t woken up yet,” Chen Afu whispered.

Dabao nodded and hurriedly put on the clothes. After wearing them, he became somewhat at a loss, tugging on his clothes and twisting and turning as he looked at Chen Afu.

Chen Dabao’s tunic and pants are far too loose. The tunic reached his thighs, and the pants were so baggy he had to roll them up twice; the crotch almost sagged down to his knees. However, his clothes could still be worn for the next three years. Even though they were oversized, a boy in new clothes still looked charming, particularly with his shy yet excited expression. It was adorable.

…

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