As Ji Yang sat down, she couldn’t help thinking, Is this really a newlywed’s speech? It sounds more like a report on ideological work delivered to the leaders!
And another thing…
They wouldn’t ask her to say a few words too, would they? If they did, she certainly wouldn’t know how to come up with something like that.
Just as she thought of this, someone said, “The bride should say a few words, too!”
Ji Yang stood up. She racked her brain for the right words, recalling everything she had learned about modern Chinese history in the 1970s back when she was in school. She also thought about the slogans commonly chanted during this era.
Then, imitating Jiang Ye’s passionate tone from earlier, she declared enthusiastically,
“Hello, everyone! Dear friends and relatives!”
“Today, Jiang Ye and I are happily married! We are responding to the call of the times to ‘grasp revolution and promote production’ by building a happy family!”
“From now on, we are determined to fear no sacrifice, overcome every difficulty, and strive for victory in our work. We will strive to be model workers and contribute our share to the nation’s construction!”
“We will keep pace with the times and strive for the new socialist China!”
“Thank you, everyone!”
Applause broke out.
However, after sitting down, Ji Yang felt a little embarrassed. She smiled shyly and awkwardly urged everyone to eat and drink their fill, repeatedly telling them to enjoy the food and drinks.
Then she wiped the nonexistent sweat from her forehead.
After the meal, everyone began to leave. Even Jiang’s mother said she had only taken half a day off and needed to return to work that afternoon.
As she left, she didn’t forget to shout a slogan:
“Rise early and return late without fearing exhaustion! Women’s work must never fall behind!”
That left Jiang Ye to take Ji Yang home on his bicycle.
“Go ahead and unpack the things you brought,” he told her.
After spending several days in that cramped, suffocating little room at the Ji family’s house, Ji Yang found Jiang Ye’s independent living quarters surprisingly spacious. It was at least twelve or thirteen square meters.
The room had a bare tungsten light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The walls were painted white on top and green on the bottom, with a washable finish. Gray-green bricks covered the floor.
The furniture consisted of a newly made large bed, a wardrobe, and a dressing table.
Ji Yang had seen this style of dressing table in her previous life while browsing the internet and looking at pictures of vintage furniture. It had an oval mirror embedded in the upper section, three small drawers arranged in a row beneath it, and two pairs of cabinet doors on either side of the lower section. It was a classic design.
“I bought the dressing table later. I thought you might find it useful,” Jiang Ye explained when he noticed her curiosity.
“My mother has been looking forward to me getting married for a long time. She had the bed and wardrobe prepared ages ago. The room was also repainted at the beginning of this spring.”
“Wasn’t the dressing table expensive? Didn’t you say your family was still in debt?” Ji Yang asked.
“Come on, I only said that because you insisted I give you two yuan as a bride price! I was just making things up. My family doesn’t owe any money. My three older sisters knew I was getting married, so they had already been saving ration coupons for me. Don’t worry. Our family can afford a dressing table.”
As he spoke, Jiang Ye remembered how his eldest sister had treated Ji Yang. Worried that Ji Yang might be upset by her attitude, he explained a little more.
“When I was a kid, our parents were at work all day, so my three older sisters practically raised me. My eldest sister, especially, took care of me the most.”
“I don’t know how she developed such old-fashioned ideas. She always likes to lecture people.”
“And some of the things she says are pretty hard to accept.”
“But she doesn’t mean any harm.”
“If she says something you don’t like, just pretend you didn’t hear it. Don’t get upset over it, okay?”
Ji Yang nodded. “All right. I’ll try my best not to argue with her.”
Although they hadn’t met many times, they had already begun to get a feel for each other’s personalities.
Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow and stood by the doorway. After a long moment, he finally said, “It’s fine. If you really can’t hold back, then go ahead and argue with her. Just make sure neither of you takes it to heart.”
Afterward, he could try to smooth things over between them. He ought to be able to resolve the situation… right?
Ji Yang smiled. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
She took out all the clothes she had brought with her. Some were too short, while others were so worn out that they were practically falling apart.
Although the Ji family had treated her reasonably well on the surface, she was still a girl in their eyes. They wouldn’t buy her new clothes even once every three to five years. Instead, old clothes were patched, mended, and pieced together. Given the circumstances of the times, this was perfectly normal.
“Do you have a sewing machine at home?”
After a brief pause, Ji Yang asked another question.
“Do you know how to use it?”
Could Jiang Ye use a sewing machine?
Of course he couldn’t!
He was a grown man. How would he know how to operate that thing?
However, a real man never admitted defeat. Jiang Ye raised his chin proudly and nodded.
“I know a tiny bit.”
“Then teach me. I want to alter all my clothes.”
She wanted to make small clothes bigger and turn the ones that were too small into something else.
Honestly, she was quite good at making the most of what she had.
“Sure.”
The sewing machine was kept in Jiang’s mother’s room. When it wasn’t being used, it served as a flat little table.
Jiang Ye walked over, lifted the cover, flipped the machine head up, secured it in place, and adjusted everything.
“Sit down. I’ll show you how to use it.”
Although he had never operated one himself, he had watched his mother use it countless times. Surely, he had more experience than Ji Yang!
Ji Yang sat in front of the sewing machine and followed Jiang Ye’s instructions.
Jiang Ye cleared his throat and slowly began explaining, imitating the way he had seen his mother operate it.
“Your foot… press the pedal underneath. Press gently. Don’t push too hard.”
He paused and pointed at the machine head.
“First, thread the machine properly, then align the needle with the edge of the fabric.”
He continued, “Keep the fabric steady with your hands and guide it along with the needle. Don’t pull it, and don’t hold it too stiffly.”
“Press the pedal, then stop. Take it one step at a time and let the machine do the work.”
Standing beside her, Jiang Ye kept his eyes on the sewing machine and spoke in such a steady, confident tone that he sounded like an expert.
“Practice slowly. You’ll get the hang of it after a few tries. It’s not difficult.”
Ji Yang nodded and tentatively pressed down on the pedal.
The sewing machine began to clatter.
Clack, clack, clack!
She felt relieved. It really didn’t seem that difficult.
When Jiang Ye saw that Ji Yang had more or less understood the basics, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief as well.
Straightening up, he said, “That’s pretty much it. Keep practicing and figuring things out on your own. I’ll go fill the water vat.”
“All right.”
Just as Jiang Ye was about to leave, he remembered something. He turned around and brought over his mother’s sewing basket, which contained a pair of scissors.
“You’ll need to cut the fabric, so here are some scissors.”
“Okay. Thank you, Brother Xiao Ye,” Ji Yang said sweetly.
Her sweet tone was almost too much for Brother Xiao Ye to handle. Feeling a little awkward, he turned his eyes away.
“Well, um… I’m going to fetch water.”
“Mhm. Go ahead.”
After Jiang Ye left, Ji Yang dug out her most worn-out piece of clothing, one that she could no longer wear, and decided to use it for practice.
Altering clothes required skill. It wasn’t something she could master simply by getting an idea into her head on a whim.
First, she carefully unpicked all the previously sewn seams and practiced guiding the fabric beneath the sewing machine’s needle.
After that, she took the garment apart again and wondered whether she could piece it together into a little dress for a young girl.
Life was difficult for every household at the moment. Jiang Ye had several little nieces, and they certainly wouldn’t turn their noses up at a handmade dress.
Ji Yang had some artistic ability. She particularly enjoyed drawing comics in her previous life, but even so, her hands remained remarkably steady as she used old-fashioned tailor’s chalk to sketch the pattern onto the fabric. With a light stroke, she drew straight, even lines that looked neat and precise.
She spent the entire afternoon working on it.
Finally, the little dress was finished.
It was a sleeveless, round-necked dress with a delicate row of gathers around the neckline. A ruffled strip of fabric had been added to the hem, and several small three-dimensional flowers were sewn onto the front and back of the bodice.
She had learned how to make silk flowers when she first entered the entertainment industry. She had once acted in a television drama in which her supporting character knew how to make artificial flowers from silk. To portray the role convincingly, Ji Yang had studied the craft alongside an instructor.
Looking at the result now, she had to admit that it turned out rather well.