Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 113 Colorful clothes for fun

Master Zhao took a tape measure and stepped forward to measure Grandma's clothes. He took the measurements and made notes as he went. After a short while, he finished measuring, estimated the size of the fabric needed, and then said with a smile: "A velvet cheongsam is 300 yuan, a silk one is 200 yuan, and a woolen coat is 260 yuan. Would you like to pay a 30% deposit or the full amount?"

The old lady laughed and said, "I always pay in full. Whoever has time can just come and pick it up on their way, so it won't be a hassle later." After saying that, she opened her handbag to take out money, but Jingyan quickly stopped her, "Grandma, I'll pay for your clothes. It's 1,260 in total, right?" she asked.

Master Zhao nodded with a smile. Jing Yan took out a wad of ten-yuan notes from her handbag and was counting them when He Jiaoxu pressed the money down in her hand: "I'll buy the clothes this time. If you want to be filial, just give me the money for the wool coat. You two should just live your own lives well."

Just as Jingyan was about to speak, her grandmother smiled and chimed in, "It's only right and proper for a son to buy his mother a few clothes. Anyway, he can afford it. You can just pay 260."

Seeing He Jiaoxu's insistence, Jing Yan could only nod awkwardly, "Alright, then I'll pay for the wool coat."

He Jiaoxu smiled and withdrew his hand, looking at Cui Hongru: "Wife, have you made your choice? I'll settle the bill together."

Jingyan counted out the money and handed it to Master Zhao. Master Zhao smiled and wrote out a receipt, saying, "I've listed the details of each piece of clothing on a list, so you can pick them all up in one trip."

Grandma then interjected, "I'll get a separate order for my clothes. I'm not in a rush to make mine. Make theirs first and pick them up before the New Year. We'll take them to Yangzhou then. I'll stay here and pick them up after the New Year. It's the same thing."

Master Zhao smiled and nodded: "Okay, I'll remember that."

Master Zhao came over to his son and said, "Go and greet those two. I'll discuss with Miss He what patterns to embroider on the chest and cuffs of the velvet cheongsam."

After Master Zhao left, Jingyan was surprised: "You still need to embroider?"

Master Zhao explained with a smile: "The velvet fabric has no patterns, so it looks a bit plain when worn alone. If it were someone else, I wouldn't bother with it unless they had special requests. But Miss He is a long-time customer of mine, and I know she's very particular. So, embroidery is a must. Of course, I won't choose one with too large an embroidery area; just a few embellishments will do."

After saying that, she took out a picture album and handed it to Grandma He. Grandma He took it, flipped through it and looked at it: "It's still these same patterns. It hasn't been updated in so many years?"

Master Zhao smiled wryly: "You know how strict the regulations have been these past few years. Just keeping these tools for making a living is already my limit. How can I have the energy to update the designs? Aren't you making things difficult for me?"

Jingyan accompanied her grandmother for a while, unsure of which to choose. Her grandmother pointed to a wisteria flower pattern and said, "Let's embroider this one."

Master Zhao glanced at it and nodded: "Okay, I'll write it down for you."

The pattern was ordered here, and Cui Hongru and Zhou Jie also chose their fabrics. Each of them got two outfits. Cui Hongru's was a cotton cheongsam, while Zhou Jie chose a silk one. There was no way around it; Cui Hongru's job was different, and she couldn't dress too extravagantly while working in the hospital. On the other hand, Zhou Jie didn't have as many restrictions at home.

Today, He Jiaoxu came to be the driver and pay the bill. He accompanied her patiently the whole time, without interfering with any color or style. Such manners are far better than those of men who later claim to be gentlemen but then interfere with their wives' shopping.

He Jiaoxu also advised Jingyan to buy herself some clothes, such as a coat, but Jingyan refused. Jingyan really didn't want to buy anything. Now that her figure is out of shape, even the best clothes won't suit her. She'd rather wait until later and make something that suits her best. Anyway, she doesn't lack clothes now.

After buying everything, everyone got into the car and left with smiles on their faces. Grandma, being old, was indeed not energetic enough, and she fell asleep leaning against the car on the way back.

When they got home, He Jiaoxu carried his grandmother back to the house, carefully placed her on the kang (a heated brick bed), and covered her with a quilt. His appearance truly reflected the saying: "You raised me when I was young, and I will protect you when you are old."

He Zhijun stood beside Jing Yan, looking at her leaning against the door watching her father and grandmother with some confusion: "Jing Yan, what are you looking at?"

“I’m thinking I need to lose weight too, otherwise I’m too heavy. If I faint or get sick one day, you won’t be able to carry me, which will be a huge hassle. If Grandma is thin, Dad can carry her so easily.” Jingyan answered seriously, but He Zhijun thought her thought process was peculiar.

"You're not fat. You're already tall. Even if you were skin and bones, you probably wouldn't weigh as much as Grandma. Being too thin isn't good for your health. Health is the most important thing. Besides, are you underestimating your husband? You only weigh about 140 or 150 pounds. It's easy for him to carry you. Want to try?"

He Zhijun was about to hug her when Jing Yan was startled and quickly raised her hand to stop him: "No, no, Mom and Dad are here. Even if you're shameless, I'd still feel embarrassed. Don't let them laugh at us."

He Zhijun reluctantly withdrew his hand, feeling rather regretful. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Then when Mom and Dad go back, I'll secretly hug you tonight and let you feel the strength of my arms." Jing Yan slapped him away and turned to find Sister Wang to help prepare dinner.

However, Sister Wang didn't need her, so she was sent away from the kitchen. Jingyan was bored and held her son, but little did she know that the child was adored by Cui Hongru. After looking around, she could only find a cat to hold in her arms and stroke it idly.

Little Pear Blossom, who had been sleeping soundly in the corner, looked completely bewildered. She wondered whether to continue sleeping there or try to escape. Unfortunately, sleeping was out of the question. If she was petted like that any longer, she might even go bald, let alone sleep peacefully. As for escaping, well, with such a strong restraining force, how could such a small cat like her break free?

Just as it was feeling helpless about its cat life, He Zhijun sat down next to Jingyan and asked, "Are our two cats male or female? Will they have kittens after a year?"

Is it male or female? Jingyan hadn't really thought about it, but the mention of it immediately piqued her interest. The couple sat on the sofa and turned the poor little pear blossom over and over, trying to determine its sex. The little pear blossom, which had been meowing softly, was now screaming in agony.

After searching for a while, the two still couldn't figure out its gender. Jingyan released the cat with a look of disgust: "Oh dear, this sound is really awful. Aren't cats supposed to meow? This one sounds like a broken gong."

Cui Hongru and Zhou Jie laughed heartily at the two lively characters opposite them: "You two just don't get to see each other often, otherwise your house would definitely be lively. Zhijun seems mature and steady most of the time, but we can still see the mischievous and naughty side of him from when he was a child. Jingyan, you weren't quiet when you were a child either, were you?" Cui Hongru suddenly became interested in Jingyan's childhood.

Since her mother-in-law wanted to know, Jingyan could only entertain her by saying, "When I was little, I was the naughtiest kid in the family. When I was eight, I was the king of the village kids. I could climb trees to steal bird nests and go into the water to catch fish. I could do everything that boys could do. Back then, my third sister disliked me the most."

I've met my third sister, Zhijun. She speaks in a high-pitched, affected way and loves to dress up. Back then, my family would make a new set of clothes for each girl every year. My own clothes would look worn out in just a few days, but my third sister would put her new clothes away to wear during festivals or when visiting relatives.

That year, I saw her hide her new clothes in the closet. While she was out, I found them, put them on, and went tree climbing with my friends. When she came back from work, she saw from afar that I was wearing her clothes, which I had torn in several places.

She was so angry that she chased me all over the village with a stick of firewood. Unfortunately, she couldn't catch me and cried. She complained to my mother, who scolded me, made a new set of clothes for my third sister, and punished me by not buying me new clothes for three years in a row.

Later, my third sister hid all her new clothes very well; no one could find them unless she asked herself. But even if she hadn't hidden them, I wouldn't have dared to touch them. Three years! All my sisters had new clothes, but I didn't. I was so pitiful.

In the third year, my older brother took pity on me and asked if I knew I was wrong. I admitted my mistake, and my brother bought me new clothes, and that was the end of it.

Cui Hongru laughed along, "You were even more resilient than Zhijun when you were little. But why did your family only make clothes for girls? What about the boys?"

"My mom said that girls are happiest when they're at home being gentle and refined, so they should be treated better. Boys are raised rougher and more carefree. I remember when my eldest brother had no clothes to wear, he wore my dad's hand-me-downs, and the other brothers did the same."

The younger children wore the older children's clothes, and when they were torn, they were patched up. They were lucky if they had a new set of clothes every three to five years, but they didn't care about such things and didn't really think it was a problem. If it hadn't been brought up today, I wouldn't have thought about it at all." Jing Yan said, carefully recalling her memories of her home.

Zhou Jie said with a hint of envy, "Do you all have a good relationship with your siblings? Your mother treats them all equally, without favoring the younger ones or preferring boys over girls."

Jingyan looked at her sister-in-law and smiled, saying, "Even the best relationships between siblings will have their ups and downs. My mother does try her best to treat everyone equally, but if you really look at it, it's impossible to be completely fair."

Just like when my eldest brother first started working, he would secretly take the eggs or chicken he saved from his work meals and share them with my fourth sister and me. My other three sisters didn't get this treatment.

My third brother and I don't get along. He used to be alright, but after he got married, he listened to my sister-in-law in everything. At that time, he kept insisting on separating the family property because he wanted our house—Mom, the house where you used to stay with us.

He felt that since he was the only boy left in the family to stay with my mother, and my fourth sister and I were going to get married anyway, the house should go to him. But my mother wanted to leave the house to me, so there was a big argument with my third brother when the family property was divided. However, I have a pretty good relationship with my other siblings.

"You married Zhijun, so you no longer needed to live in that house. Did your third brother end up living there?" Zhou Jie asked curiously.

Jingyan pouted: "He's dreaming. They have a house to live in now. I gave the house to my fourth sister. That house is, after all, our ancestral home. All eight of us siblings grew up there. We can go back and look at it in the future, and have something to remember us by. My fourth sister's husband originally planned to open a separate plot of land and live separately with my fourth sister. Perfect, we can move in there and save the trouble of building another house."

Cui Hongru nodded repeatedly as she listened: "Your family is indeed harmonious. No wonder you have such a straightforward personality. It's all thanks to the good foundation your family laid for you. Brothers are kind and respectful, and there's very little sullenness. Here, although it's a big city, the living conditions are really not as good as in the countryside."

There are plenty of houses with six or seven people living in a 50 or 60 square meter apartment. With more people, there are bound to be more problems. It's always either sisters-in-law fighting or brothers-in-law getting into arguments. There's always some drama going on in the neighborhood. I don't know how others feel seeing this, but it makes me very uncomfortable.

Having seen so much of this, I moved out of the family as soon as my son got married. This way, there are fewer conflicts at home, everyone can focus on their own little family, and it's better for everyone.

Jing Yan smiled and said, "That's because their families are well-off. You know, if a family has six or seven or ten people living together, wouldn't they want to live separately? It's just that they don't have enough housing, they don't earn much, and they can't bear to spend the money on rent. The government's allocation of housing also depends on seniority, not to mention buying a house, which would cost even more. It's better to live a noisy life than to sleep on the streets, so they can only make do."

Everyone felt the same way. "Jingyan, do you think the government will build more houses in the future so that everyone can live more comfortably?" Yuan Xiaoling's voice came from the doorway, and the four people on the sofa turned around to look at the doorway of the main room.

He Jiaoxu was carrying a basket of coal, and He Zhicheng was carrying a fish. They walked in from the door with Yuan Xiaoling. Jing Yan was surprised: "Sister Yuan, what brings you here?"

Yuan Xiaoling put the bowl she was holding on the dining table, walked over and said with a smile, "My mom made a lot of glutinous rice balls at home, with black sesame and peanut filling. My mom asked me to bring some over to your house. I heard you talking about housing difficulties as soon as I got to the door, so I couldn't help but ask."

Jingyan shifted her weight over the sofa and patted the armrest: "Come on, sit here."

Yuan Xiaoling didn't mind the uncomfortable armrests on the sofa and sat down next to her. "Jingyan, you haven't said anything yet."

Jingyan nodded firmly: "As long as the government has the money, building houses is just a matter of time. Whether it's building houses, wearing nice clothes, or eating delicious food, it all requires money. So, the most important thing for us is to focus on making money."

"With money, we can achieve any kind of life we ​​want. So, you students should study hard, because a better future depends on you educated people," Jing Yan joked at the end.

Yuan Xiaoling paused for a moment, then looked up with a gleam in her eyes: "Jingyan, Qiangzi and the others have taken on some jobs during the holidays this year. People who have worked for them before have helped introduce them to other jobs. At that time, I felt that more and more people are willing to improve their living conditions. I think this might be a good opportunity."