Shen Ruo recalled that the original body’s family didn’t have paper, brushes, or ink, but he noticed that the floor of this room was packed with yellow clay, perfect for drawing on.
“You’ve barely held an embroidery needle, and yet you can draw patterns too?” Li Shantao teased with a smile, her face full of disbelief but still doting on the child. “When you were little, you always liked to take the firewood stick and draw on other people’s doors. You were so mischievous—I don’t even know how many copper coins I had to pay because of you.”
Shen Ruo’s mind went blank. The original Shen Ruo really had been a mischievous child, not the obedient type. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have caused all those fights with the female lead over the male lead.
Clearing his throat lightly, Shen Ruo said, “Mother, I already have a rough design in my head. You should go now.” He mercilessly cut off Li Shantao’s memories. At this point, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed on behalf of the original body.
Recalling how the original had dressed up all coquettishly, swaying his hips and batting his eyes at the male lead in the original story, Shen Ruo wished he could dig out the part of his brain that received those memories!
This was insane!
Shen Ruo gave a helpless bitter smile. He wasn’t surprised that the male lead avoided the original so fiercely. Even he, seeing someone like that, wouldn’t be attracted. After all, men tend to like what they can’t have; someone like the original, blindly throwing himself at a man without regard for his own status, would usually end up as cannon fodder.
Li Shantao turned to go fetch a thin wooden stick. Shen Ruo stopped dwelling on memories and began thinking about what people of this era liked.
Ancient people favored items with auspicious meanings, though young and old often had different tastes.
When Li Shantao returned, she was accompanied by a small child, probably five or six years old. His face and hands were pitch-black, as if he had just come out of a coal mine.
“Uncle! I came to see your baby!” The boy ran straight to the bed and reached out toward the swaddled infant.
Li Shantao immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him back, frowning. “[1]Ergou (二狗) literally means “Second Dog.” jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1745367_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1745367_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Ergou! Look at how dirty you are. You can’t touch the baby, or he’ll get sick! Go wash your face and hands before you come back in.”
“No! I want to see my little brother!” Ergou squatted by the bed. He didn’t reach out, just stared straight at the little one.
Ergou grinned: “The baby is so cute! He really looks like Uncle!”
Shen Ruo: “…”
How could this little red-faced, eyes-closed baby be considered cute? And where was the resemblance to him?
“Then just look at your little brother from here. Don’t touch him,” Li Shantao said, both helpless and indulgent.
As the saying goes, [2]the youngest son or the eldest grandson is the apple of the grandparents’ eyes, means that in traditional families, especially in rural or old-fashioned contexts, the youngest son or the eldest … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1745367_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1745367_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });the youngest son or the eldest grandson is the apple of the grandparents’ eyes. Ergou was the first child of Shen Ruo’s elder brother.
“I know!” Ergou replied in a clear, bright voice.
“Ruo’er, I didn’t know how thin you wanted the sticks, so I made a few extra. Take a look,” Li Shantao said, handing over sticks of varying lengths.
Shen Ruo picked a long one, lying on his side on the bed and started drawing on the ground.
The clay floor limited his technique, but as the patterns began to take shape, both Li Shantao and Ergou gasped in surprise.
In this era, beautifully intricate embroidery could only be found in wealthy households, but everyone shared the same appreciation for aesthetics.
Who didn’t like elegant and delicate patterns?
Many villagers could sew and mend, and handkerchiefs were usually made at home with simple designs. Even if they were sold at the market, they wouldn’t attract the interest of rich young ladies, let alone make any money.
But Li Shantao and her sister-in-law’s craftsmanship was exceptionally delicate, which sparked an idea in Shen Ruo’s mind.
“What is Uncle doing?” Ergou was drawn over by Shen Ruo’s movements, squatting by the bed to watch.
“Ruo’er is drawing patterns,” Li Shantao said. She didn’t have high hopes for making money from embroidered handkerchiefs, every household made them, and even if someone stitched them beautifully, few would buy them. “I’m going to wash clothes by the creek. Ergou, you take care of the baby, don’t let your uncle get tired.”
“Mm-hmm.” Ergou’s eyes followed the movements of the thin stick, head still lowered as he replied.
Shen Ruo first drew a koi fish, similar to a cartoon-style illustration from The Little Carp Adventure, but he adapted it to match the aesthetic of the ancients, giving it a livelier expression. He even sketched a few bubbles near the fish’s lips.
Then, after thinking for a moment, a chubby, adorable cat appeared on the clay floor. Its outstretched paw clearly showed the pads.
Shen Ruo had an idea: the paw pads could be made into appliqué embroidery. By stuffing the fabric with cotton, the raised cat paw could be touched and squeezed, making it highly interactive.
“Uncle is amazing!” Ergou’s eyes sparkled with admiration as he looked at Shen Ruo.
Shen Ruo felt pleased. He blinked and drew a simple cartoon-style dog on the clay right by Ergou’s feet.
The little dog was sitting with its head tilted, holding a meat bone in its mouth, tail wagging.
“Ah! Doggie!” Ergou jumped up excitedly, running in circles around the dog Shen Ruo had drawn.
Li Shantao, carrying a basin of clothes, hadn’t yet left the room when she heard Ergou shouting. Frowning, she pushed the door open and saw the three drawings on the ground, instantly feeling a bit excited.
“This koi looks chubby, but it’s really pretty. And this raccoon is nice too. And this…” Li Shantao walked over to the little dog and immediately understood why Ergou was so excited.
“Oh, isn’t this our Ergou?” Li Shantao teased on purpose.
“That’s a bit strange,” his sister-in-law said, repeating it a few times before deciding it actually sounded quite smooth.
“Look at our [3]Little Wonton, “Xiao” (小) means “little” or “young” jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1745367_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1745367_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Xiao Yuntun, sleeping so soundly.” Li Shantao quickly adapted, smiling with squinted eyes.
She was still carrying a basket filled with miscellaneous fabric and sewing supplies.
Ergou was still squatting nearby watching the little dog. Seeing his mother and grandmother bringing the sewing basket, he immediately asked, “Mother, can you make one for me?”
“All right, first go wash yourself,” Sister-in-law Liu Shan said, using a piece of coarse cloth to block the side of the bed as a makeshift screen. “Ruo’er, you just gave birth, don’t tire yourself. We’ll move carefully, take a nap with Yuntun while we work.”
“All right.” Shen Ruo was indeed tired. There were many things he wanted to do, but having just given birth, he couldn’t do anything for now.
Listening to Li Shantao and Liu Shan lowering their voices deliberately and moving almost silently, Shen Ruo felt comforted. In his previous life, he had no parents, and his grandmother had passed away when he was fourteen, so he rarely felt family care.
Now that fate had given him a family, he would cherish it and work hard to ensure everyone lived well.
Shen Ruo slowly fell asleep. When he woke, he saw Liu Shan holding Yuntun, feeding him rice soup.
“Ruo’er, you’re awake! Look at the patterns Mother and I embroidered,” Liu Shan said. After feeding the rice soup, she placed Yuntun back by Shen Ruo and handed him two pieces of scrap fabric from the sewing basket to practice on.
“There’s another one with a little dog on it, but Ergou took it. He treasures it and won’t let anyone else have it,” Liu Shan said, her eyes filled with maternal affection as she spoke of her child.
Shen Ruo thought of Ergou’s earlier excitement and couldn’t help but smile. “Sister-in-law, you’ve taught Ergou very well.”
Having grown up in the countryside, Shen Ruo knew little boys could be very mischievous, but Ergou, though lively, was obedient.
Mothers always liked to hear others praise their children, and Shen Ruo even flattered her a little; Liu Shan looked pleased.
Shen Ruo looked at the embroidery on the two pieces of scrap fabric. They used the most ordinary dyed cotton thread, but their stitching was delicate and precise, and the patterns were so well-executed that they didn’t look cheap at all.
Even the raised cat paw pads had been reproduced.
“I don’t know how your brain comes up with these things, but I like it too,” Liu Shan said. She had never imagined it could be done this way. Compared to ordinary handkerchiefs, this one was both beautiful and playful, she couldn’t help but feel proud and wanted to show it off to the villagers.
She and Li Shantao had both thought it wouldn’t sell well, but seeing the finished product, Liu Shan nodded in approval. “I’ve never seen such a novel handkerchief before. These patterns are really pretty.”
Shen Ruo smiled: “It’s because Mother and Sister-in-law are skilled at embroidery.”
“Don’t tease me. The main thing is the pattern itself is beautiful,” Liu Shan said, though she couldn’t hide her pride. “Ruo’er, whenever you have ideas, just draw them. As long as the embroidery pattern isn’t too complicated, I can stitch it.”
“All right,” Shen Ruo said, pointing to the tail of the koi. “Sister-in-law, can you embroider the tail with a gradient?”
The embroidery already looked good, but Shen Ruo thought that shading the koi’s tail from red to orange and finishing with yellow would make it even more beautiful.
“Yes, I’ll stitch a small one for you to see,” Liu Shan said.
She got to work immediately. Skilled and quick, she didn’t even need to look at the template on the ground, she already had the pattern memorized and stitched the koi flawlessly.
“These colors together really look nice,” Liu Shan said, her eyes lighting up. The embroidery now seemed lifelike and vivid. If they took such exquisite handkerchiefs to town to sell, they’d be completely unique. The daughters of wealthy families might even fight over them! Liu Shan’s confidence soared.
“I still have some leftover cotton from cutting clothes. We can use it to make more handkerchiefs,” she said, heading to get the fabric.
“Sister-in-law, besides handkerchiefs, we can make some other small items too. Even the tiny scraps can be used,” Shen Ruo said, giving her a few suggestions.
Large scraps could be cut into uniform squares to make patchwork quilts. Medium-sized pieces could be turned into pouches or headbands, embroidered with patterns. Very small scraps could be sewn together and filled with sand to make beanbags. In short, not a single piece of fabric would go to waste.
Liu Shan nodded, smiling. She couldn’t wait to get started!
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