The fabric had been chosen by Liu Chuntao, but Gu Qingqing had selected the thread herself.
The moment she saw the colors of the three bolts of fabric, she already had a rough design for the clothes in mind.
After all, in the era she had come from, dark, understated styles had been very popular.
There was no paper or ink at home, so she picked up a twig and began sketching the designs in the dirt of the courtyard. As she drew, she explained the details of the cuts, embroidery, and patterns to Madam Liu.
Madam Liu nodded repeatedly. By the time Gu Qingqing finished explaining, she already had a clear picture of the first outfit in her mind.
“It certainly looks good, but it doesn’t look much like the clothes people normally wear.”
Gu Qingqing blinked.
“Then how are we supposed to amaze the entire county?”
Madam Liu thought about it and realized her daughter had a point. She stopped worrying about it, went back inside for the scissors and fabric, and immediately began cutting.
“How big should I make this one?”
Gu Qingqing glanced at the several men wandering around the courtyard.
“Make this one according to Big Brother’s size. The next one can be Little Brother’s.”
“All right.”
When it came to measuring her sons, Madam Liu knew their sizes like the back of her hand. She picked up the scissors and started cutting without hesitation.
Gu Changxing watched with envy. After hesitating for a moment, he asked weakly,
“How about… how about my size?”
“What would be the point of making one for you? You’ll only have to take it off and give it to Uncle Changsheng later.”
Xia’an’s cool remark instantly extinguished the spark of hope in Gu Changxing’s eyes.
He lowered his head dejectedly.
That year, Madam Liu had taught several women from the village how to embroider and make clothes. In return, they had given her scraps of fabric and pieces of cloth for making shoe soles. She had gathered everything together and somehow managed to make him a pair of new shoes.
They were the first new shoes he had ever owned.
He had been so excited that he proudly put them on and went to show his mother.
But his mother had told him that he didn’t deserve them and ordered him to take them off for his younger brother, Changsheng.
He had thought about it afterward.
He spent his days working in the fields, so the shoes would inevitably become filthy. It really would have been a waste of Madam Liu’s fine handiwork.
His younger brother was different.
He studied in the county, kept himself clean, and always looked respectable. The shoes would certainly look better on him.
Later, it happened several more times.
Whenever Madam Liu made something for him, his mother would find some excuse to take it away and give it to his younger brother.
Eventually, Madam Liu stopped making things for him altogether and only made clothes for the children.
Even then, his mother would still find one excuse after another to take those things away. Some went to Changsheng or Jinbao. Others simply disappeared, and he never saw them again.
Gu Qingqing had no time to concern herself with her father’s disappointment.
She took her younger siblings outside to prepare dinner and organize the odds and ends they had bought that day.
Some things were impossible to understand until you had something to compare them with.
They combined lunch and dinner into one meal. By the time they finished eating, dusk had begun to settle over the village.
Madam Liu had Gu Changxing and Ping’an carry the table into the courtyard so she could continue working on the clothes while there was still enough light.
Gu Qingqing tried to stop her.
It didn’t work, so she gave up.
She propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, watching Xia’an squat on the ground as he taught Chunqi and Ping’an how to read.
In fact, whenever Madam Liu had free time, she taught the children too.
But Xia’an was simply better at learning than everyone else.
Some people were born to study.
Gu Qingqing made up her mind.
When they went to the county to deliver the clothes, she would send Xia’an to school as well. She couldn’t let the family’s little scholar miss his chance.
Beside the thatched house, Gu Changxing was stacking firewood. Every now and then, he glanced at his wife and children.
For the first time in his life, he felt completely at ease.
Back at the old Gu household, his mother had ordered him around from dawn until dusk, keeping him running like a spinning top. There was no way to say he wasn’t exhausted.
But could they really keep living like this?
Perhaps he should go to the docks tomorrow and find work carrying heavy sacks.
A little extra income would make things easier for Madam Liu too.
He would endure as long as he could.
As long as the children were happy, that was enough.
After the hour of the Dog had passed, darkness completely covered the village.
Gu Qingqing forcibly took the sewing things away from Madam Liu and drove the entire family to bed.
There was no other choice.
She had been waking up far too early, and this malnourished body of hers was terribly weak.
But they had barely fallen asleep when the noise outside woke them.
“Fire! There’s a fire!”
The urgent cries rang especially loudly through the night, carried along by the wind together with the unmistakable smell of smoke and burning wood.
The fire was too far away for them to tell which house was burning. All they could see was the glow lighting up the night sky.
Gu Changxing grabbed a bucket and ran toward the village.
“Lock the doors and windows! I’m going to help!”
Gu Qingqing had a vague suspicion about where the fire was.
She didn’t say anything.
Instead, she turned to Madam Liu and the others.
“Don’t worry. I’ll go with Father and take a look.”
Madam Liu wanted to follow, but with the three children gathered around her, she could only stay behind.
After making her way deeper into the village, Gu Qingqing’s suspicion was confirmed.
The house on fire was none other than the old Gu family home.
“Father! Mother!”
Gu Changxing let out a howl and quickened his pace.
Gu Qingqing hadn’t expected him to shout like that and was startled.
She couldn’t help laughing despite herself.
The fire had started in the room where Old Master Gu and Old Madam Gu lived.
By the time they arrived, the flames were already completely beyond human control. The rafters of all three adjoining main rooms had caught fire.
The villagers who had rushed over could only stand around the perimeter, carrying buckets and wooden basins of water to keep the flames from spreading to the surrounding houses.
Old Master Gu and Old Madam Gu might have been old, but their legs still worked well. They had managed to escape on their own.
Now they sat on the ground, loudly cursing everything and everyone within earshot.
“Father! Mother! As long as you’re both safe…”
Gu Changxing rushed over, but before he could finish speaking, Old Madam Gu slapped him hard across the face.
“You heartless wretch! How dare you only show up now? Hurry! Hurry and get the money pouch out of my room! My silver! My silver!”
Gu Changxing was so accustomed to obeying his mother’s orders that his body reacted before his mind could catch up.
He turned and was about to rush into the burning house.
Gu Qingqing hurriedly grabbed him and pulled him back several steps.
“Father, do you want to die? Mother and the others are still waiting for us at home!”
Gu Changxing finally came to his senses.
Looking at the towering flames, he was suddenly filled with fear.
“Mother, the fire is too big! Your son will be burned alive!”
“Then let yourself burn! Even if you die, you can’t replace that one hundred taels!”
The words burst from Old Madam Gu’s mouth without a second thought.
Everyone around them froze.
Some were shocked by the sheer cruelty of her words.
But even more people were stunned by something else.
One hundred taels?
Since when did the Gu family have that much money?
Gu Changfu’s face darkened as he shouted,
“How can you be so heartless? Even a tiger won’t eat its own cub! Changxing is your own son! Besides, even if this house burns to ashes, the silver itself won’t burn!”
There were too many people standing around now.
Once everyone knew there was one hundred taels hidden inside the house, there was no telling whether that money would still be there after all these people came and went.
Old Madam Gu suddenly realized the danger.
Then she remembered the seventy-tael banknote.
Her heart ached so badly that she nearly screamed.
“Not silver! Banknotes! Banknotes! One hundred taels worth of banknotes!”
Her sinister gaze swept across the crowd before landing on Gu Qingqing, who was standing behind Gu Changxing.
“You wretched little demon! You ruin everything! This is all your fault! I’ll kill you!”
She scrambled to her feet.
Her cloudy, slanted eyes suddenly burned with murderous hatred as she charged straight toward Gu Qingqing.
“Watch out!”
The villagers were startled and instinctively stepped aside.
Gu Changxing stood there in a daze, still trapped in the shock of hearing his own mother say that she would rather see him burned alive.
Gu Qingqing gently pushed him aside.
Then she simply stood there, calmly waiting for the old woman’s rage to reach her.
The night sky was pitch-black.
Behind her, the flames roared into the darkness, casting a fiery glow around her silhouette.
A smile slowly spread across her lips.
It was quiet and gentle.
Old Madam Gu suddenly froze.
She stopped only two steps away from Gu Qingqing.
The girl before her was thin and frail, barely looking capable of hurting anyone.
Yet Old Madam Gu suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold.
It was as though the person standing before her was no longer the hated girl she had always regarded as nothing but a burden.
Instead, she looked like a vengeful demon walking out of the fires of hell, with a deadly blade hidden behind that serene smile.
Afraid?
Good.
That was exactly the reaction Gu Qingqing wanted.
Satisfied, she curled the corners of her lips upward and spoke with apparent concern.
“Grandmother, seeing that you and Grandfather are both safe has put our minds at ease. But how did the house catch fire all of a sudden? Your room is the farthest one from the kitchen, isn’t it? You and Grandfather are always so frugal that you won’t even use lamps or candles in the house. So where exactly did the fire come from?”