Seeing Su Xiaona end up on the losing side made Su Qiao feel a bit more at ease.
She was just about to say a few more words when Xiao Qifeng pressed lightly on the back of her hand.
Su Qiao glanced at him and closed her mouth.
Xiao Qifeng looked at Su Xiaona, his tone calm yet cold. “The matter of my engagement with Su Qiao is between the two of us. There’s no need for anyone else to interfere, and even less reason to explain anything to anyone. I took back the betrothal money because it was never money your family should have accepted in the first place.
As for your concern, I’ll thank you on Su Qiao’s behalf, but it won’t be needed anymore. If you have that much time and energy, use it on your own family. Su Qiao and Su Wei have people who care about them.”
After speaking, he gestured to Su Qiao to get on the bike.
Then he pushed hard on the pedals, and the bicycle shot forward at speed, nearly making Su Xiaona, who was standing nearby, stumble in fright.
After they had ridden for quite a while, Su Qiao looked back and could still see Su Xiaona standing where she was, staring in their direction, seemingly lost in thought.
Although they were delayed a bit on the road, it was still daylight when they reached Xiaojin Village.
Since Xiao Shu was still at the Su household, this time Xiao Qifeng didn’t stop early, but rode all the way to the front gate of the Su home.
Looking at the tall, densely packed fence surrounding her house, Su Qiao felt a surge of joy in her heart.
Even her gaze toward Xiao Qifeng seemed to light up. “Brother Xiao, thank you so much! You’ve really helped me out a lot.”
Xiao Qifeng fell silent for a moment, then looked at her. “Other than saying thank you, do you not know how to say anything else?”
Su Qiao thought for a moment. “Then… gratitude?”
That single word instantly darkened Xiao Qifeng’s face.
“No, no, I’m kidding,” she quickly added.
Seeing the speechless look on his face, Su Qiao couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
She waved both hands frantically, laughing as she said, “Don’t be mad, don’t be mad—I was just joking.”
It took her a while to rein in her laughter. She looked at the man standing there with a stiff expression and asked, “Brother Xiao, when are you heading back to the army?”
When she brought this up, the faint smile in Xiao Qifeng’s eyes dimmed a little.
“In three days. The tickets are already bought.”
“Then come by my place again before you leave. I’ll prepare something for you.”
Hearing that, Xiao Qifeng frowned in disapproval. “Don’t waste money.”
“I won’t. I’m just making a bit of food. You’ve helped our family so much—I have to show some appreciation. Besides, I’m decent at cooking. Take it with you as snacks, just to improve your meals once in a while,” Su Qiao explained.
Xiao Qifeng had never been in the habit of eating snacks, but seeing the warm, earnest look in the girl’s eyes, he didn’t refuse again.
He followed her, pushing the bicycle, into the courtyard.
Xiao Shu was completely carried away with play.
In all his years, he had never had so many people playing with him at once.
Not only that, Su Peng even took out the wooden toys their father had made earlier for him and his older siblings— toy guns, a wooden rocking horse, and little carts…
They fascinated Xiao Shu so much that even the wind-up frog his uncle had bought him from the city no longer seemed appealing.
Even though he had already played the whole day, when Xiao Qifeng told him it was time to leave, the little boy stubbornly dug in, clinging tightly to the bed leg in the Su brothers’ room and refusing to let go.
If it weren’t for the overwhelming authority of his own uncle, he probably would have burst into loud wailing on the spot.
Everyone coaxed him for a long time before they finally managed to bundle the sniffling little boy onto the bike and see the uncle and nephew off. By then, it was completely dark.
Su Qiao collapsed onto the bed in exhaustion, not even wanting to move a finger.
“Don’t call me for dinner, let me lie down for a bit,” she shouted toward the outside.
But clearly, no one outside heard her at all.
No sooner had she finished speaking than she heard Su Wei calling out.
“Sis, sis, what’s in all these big and small bundles you brought back?”
He carried the items down from the bike into the house, holding up one of the packages and shouting toward Su Qiao, who was lying on the bed.
Su Qiao sat up at once.
She had almost forgotten!
“Gather all that cloth together and don’t mess it up for me. There are fish under the straw in the basket, you know how to clean fish, right? Get them cleaned up. I’ll get up later and cook them.”
After saying that, Su Qiao let out a groan and lay back down on the bed.
She really didn’t want to move at all. But with the weather this hot, the fish had been sitting covered in the basket for several hours, if she didn’t cook them, they would definitely start to stink.
Fortunately, her younger siblings were dependable.
Not only did her eldest younger brother run off without hesitation to clean the fish, the younger one also considerately pulled their little sister aside when she toddled over asking for kisses, leaving their older sister some peace to rest.
Even three-year-old Xiao Lan, seeing how utterly exhausted her sister was, knew to behave herself. She obediently covered her mouth and tiptoed out with her second brother, careful not to disturb her sister’s rest.
Although her siblings were so considerate, Su Qiao had things on her mind, how could she really fall asleep?
She lay on the bed for only half an hour before gritting her teeth and getting up. By then, Su Wei had already killed and cleaned the fish.
Su Qiao cut the fish into small pieces and set them aside. Then she set up the pot, poured in salt and Sichuan peppercorns, and slowly stir-fried them over low heat until the salt turned slightly yellow, after which she took it out.
Once the salt had cooled, she sprinkled it over the drained fish pieces, mixed everything well, and set it aside to marinate.
While she was doing all this, the three siblings stood to one side watching closely. Even the youngest, Su Lan, watched with great seriousness, as if she could actually understand what was going on.
Su Qiao didn’t shoo them away for being in the way. Instead, as she worked, she carefully explained each step to them.
She also answered their questions as patiently as she could.
When they learned that she was making fermented-rice fish, even though none of the three children had ever heard of the dish before, they all showed tremendous interest.
After hearing that the fish would be taken out early the next morning to dry in the sun, the three little ones patted their chests and solemnly promised that they would watch over the fish carefully, making sure it dried well and that no one stole it.
Dinner had already been prepared in advance by Su Wei.
There was cornmeal porridge, shredded pickled radish made by Xiao Qifeng’s mother, and white-flour steamed buns.
Su Qiao couldn’t stand it and added a mixed cucumber dish.
With such simple fare, the four siblings still ate with great enjoyment.
While they were eating, the three kids all rushed to report to their sister what had happened that day, as if she had been gone for a long time.
Su Wei said that Uncle and the others had all come back, leaving only Wang Lanxiang in the hospital.
Su Peng said that Brother Xiao and Big Brother had been amazing today, not only fixing the fence, but also repairing all the doors and windows at home.
As for Su Lan, she clung to her sister and repeatedly told her how well-behaved she had been today: not only keeping Xiao Shu company, but even giving him her toys to play with…
Su Qiao listened quietly, occasionally praising her younger siblings.
The early summer night was filled with a gentle breeze. In the main room, there was only a single dim kerosene lamp.
Yet in such a simple setting, with her siblings by her side, Su Qiao felt a sense of happiness she had never known before.
After the meal, Su Qiao led her siblings in moving the table and chairs out of the main room, then went back to the bedroom and brought out a straw mat, spreading it on the floor.
Then she poured the fabric scraps onto the mat.
At the sight of the scraps, the children were overjoyed. Xiao Lan, in particular, thought it was some kind of new toy and simply pounced onto the pile of cloth, rolling around in it.
Su Qiao grabbed her sister and pulled her up.
She stuffed a piece of candy into her mouth, then pointed to the side and told her to sit there and not move around.
Su Lan obediently agreed.
But her eyes never blinked as she stared at the colorful printed fabrics, her little expression clearly showing she was ready to jump back in at any moment.
Su Qiao didn’t have time to say more to her. She called her two younger brothers over and had them sit beside her.
“Like this, like this, sort them by material, color, and pattern. Put each kind into its own pile. Got it?” Su Qiao said, demonstrating as she spoke.
Both boys nodded.
In fact, fabrics in this era only came in a few colors, and the materials were basically limited to cotton and synthetic fibers; anything like corduroy already counted as a rarity.
So sorting them wasn’t difficult.
“Sis, what are you planning to do with all this cloth?” Su Peng asked curiously as he sorted according to her instructions.
“Mend your clothes,” Su Qiao replied without lifting her head.
“Mend our clothes?!” Su Wei and Su Peng exclaimed in unison, their eyes filled with astonishment.
How many clothes did they even have, did it really take this much fabric just to mend them?!
Su Qiao didn’t explain. She had the two of them continue sorting while she went back into the room and took out the little jacket Su Lan had been wearing on the day she was abducted.
That jacket had originally been Su Qiao’s. Later, when their aunt was still around, she had taken it and altered it smaller for Su Lan.
The garment had originally been blue, but after so many years of wear and washing, the color had faded, leaving it looking dull and grayish.
What’s more, when Su Lan had been thrown into the stone pit by the kidnapper that day, the jacket had been torn. The tear was right at the hem, a slit more than an inch long.
The damage was on the very front of the garment. If it were patched in the usual way, it would be extremely noticeable, but if it wasn’t patched, Su Lan’s little belly would be visible when she wore it.
Su Qiao took out the bamboo winnowing basket her mother used often when she was still alive, then retrieved needle and thread and a pair of scissors from it.
From the piles of fabric her two brothers had sorted on the mat, she picked out two scraps no bigger than walnuts, one bright red, the other dark green.
With the scissors, Su Qiao trimmed the dark green piece into an oval shape following its natural outline, then cut the slightly smaller red piece into a triangle.
Seeing this, both brothers stopped what they were doing and stared at Su Qiao’s hands with curiosity.
Su Qiao ignored them.
She threaded the needle, picked up the trimmed dark green fabric, and stitched patterns onto it with light green thread.
Her stitching was very simple, nothing like the delicate complexity of embroidery, yet after just a few stitches, Su Peng was the first to cry out, “A watermelon! Sis is stitching a watermelon!”
At this point, Su Wei saw it too and broke into a delighted grin. “Sis, how did you come up with that? It actually looks really nice.”
Su Qiao roughly stitched a few securing stitches over the tear in her sister’s little jacket, then sewed the embroidered watermelon patch over the damaged spot.
Not only did it cover the tear, it also turned that area into the highlight of the entire garment.
Seeing that her sister was sewing a watermelon onto her clothes, Su Lan could no longer hold back and ran over.
Just as Su Qiao cut off the thread, the little girl began bouncing and cheering, “Mine! Sis made it for me, a big watermelon!”
As she spoke, she threw herself into Su Qiao’s arms.
Her eyes were sparkling, brimming with anticipation.
“Wait a moment,” Su Qiao said. “It’s not finished yet.”
Su Qiao smiled as she gently pinched her little sister’s soft cheek, then picked up the piece of red fabric.
She used black thread to stitch watermelon seeds onto it, and beneath that, she took a tiny leftover scrap of dark green fabric to make the rind.
The kids watched in amazement as their sister, working so casually, here a stitch, there a stitch, turned the scraps into a big red watermelon that looked just like the real thing. They were so stunned they couldn’t even speak.
Su Qiao sewed the red flesh of the watermelon next to the green rind patch, and instantly, the once-dull little jacket looked playful and lively.
The whole garment suddenly looked beautiful.
“Try it on,” Su Qiao said, snipping the last thread and shaking out the jacket before handing it to Su Lan.
Without waiting for Su Lan to move, the two brothers immediately stood up and helped her put it on.
From a distance, the full green watermelon with the bright red interior looked even more vivid and lifelike.
Su Wei and Su Peng kept exclaiming how beautiful it was, making Su Lan giggle happily at the edge of the mat and twirl around in excitement.
Su Qiao then mended her sister’s torn pants as well.
The tear was on the knee and a bit large, and after searching through the pile of fabrics, she couldn’t find a single suitable piece.
Thinking for a moment, she decided to combine several small scraps to create a sunflower.
The sunflower had five petals, each made from scraps of different colors and textures. But because the colors and fabrics were well-matched, no one could tell that it was a patchwork solution for lack of larger fabric, it looked like it had been designed that way on purpose.
It looked both beautiful and unique.
Unsurprisingly, the pants earned unanimous praise from the three kids.
In her previous life, Su Qiao had started her entrepreneurial journey by mending clothes and sewing pant hems. Even after joining a trading company and later opening her own garment factory, she never lost that foundational skill.
Not only had she retained it, but her broader experience and sharper eye now allowed her to make patches from scraps quickly and beautifully.
Seeing her little sister’s old clothes suddenly transformed, Su Peng’s eyes lit up with admiration.
Although he was always sensible and usually let Su Lan have his way, he was still only six years old.
His small hands kept touching the clothes, and though he said nothing, his longing was impossible to hide.
“Xiao Peng, go get the set of clothes you washed today,” Su Qiao instructed without even looking up at him.
Su Peng’s face lit up with obvious delight. He nodded in agreement and immediately ran back to his room.
In less than a minute, he came running out holding a set of gray long-sleeve shirt and pants.
This outfit was actually older than Su Lan’s. It had been altered from clothes that Su Chang had worn until they were worn through, and originally tailored for Su Wei, who passed it down to Su Peng after outgrowing it.
After so many years of wear, the color had dulled beyond recognition, and there were even a few stubborn stains that wouldn’t wash out.
From a distance it didn’t look too bad, but up close it seemed a bit shabby.
Su Qiao held the clothes in her hands, silently observing, yet couldn’t help brushing her hand gently over her little brother’s head, feeling a pang of affection.
In her previous life, Su Peng had been so self-conscious about his disfigurement that he wouldn’t even leave the house, yet every piece of clothing he wore had been carefully chosen by her, both stylish and comfortable.
Back then, Su Peng’s wardrobe was full of clothes, many still in their packaging. She and her brother were used to seeing it, and he rarely paid any attention to it.