The next day, Huang Pingping brought over the fabric.
Huang Pingping had a round face like an apple, a typical southern girl, with a petite frame.
Seeing her, Gu Yijia was already thinking of what kind of clothes would suit her, what could bring out her strengths and avoid her weaknesses, and make her figure look even better.
“Jiajia, I also want a dress like the one Gu Mingyue wore. Can you make it?” Huang Pingping asked, her face full of hope. “A while ago, that dacron dress Gu Mingyue wore was really pretty. I heard her big aunt in the city bought it for her. Every time we see her wear it to work, we all feel really envious.”
Not only Huang Pingping was envious, many of the girls in the village were envious too.
Probably wanting to compete with Gu Yijia’s siblings, Yu Xiaolan had also put a lot of effort into raising her daughter. She even borrowed money to let Gu Mingyue go to high school.
After Gu Mingyue graduated from high school, with help from her big aunt in the city, she became a temporary worker at the county textile mill.
Although she was only a temporary worker, it was still something many people envied. That was a job in the county town, with wages and ration coupons, and it was respectable too, much better than doing farm work in the countryside.
After going to work in the city, Gu Mingyue’s clothes and appearance increasingly resembled those of a city person, and she even started wearing a watch.
However, for Gu Mingyue to be like this, it also depended on having a big aunt in the city.
Her big aunt had no daughter, only two sons, and she was very fond of Gu Mingyue. On top of that, both sons were factory workers, and her husband was a level-four fitter at the machinery factory, so life was much better than that of Yu Xiaolan’s younger sister.
Gu Yijia nodded. “Yes, I can make it! But some places need to be changed a bit, so it will suit your figure better and make you look cuter.”
Huang Pingping couldn’t help blushing when she heard that.
She was usually a carefree person, and also a capable girl. When a great beauty lifted that pretty face and said she was cute, no one could really handle it.
“Jiajia, what are you saying…”
“I’m telling the truth.” Gu Yijia picked up the fabric to look at it. “Sister Pingping really is cute-looking, and dresses look even better on you! Baohua, right?”
Baohua nodded and said loudly, “Yes, Aunt Pingping is the cutest.”
Huang Pingping was overjoyed. She pulled Baohua into her arms and rubbed her. This little mouth was so sweet.
After seeing Huang Pingping off, Gu Yijia carried the fabric into the room where the sewing machine was.
This room held some odds and ends and was used as a workroom. The original owner often made clothes here. The clothes for everyone in the family were all made by her own hands, and even the casual clothes for her older brother in the army were made by her.
While cutting the fabric, Gu Yijia thought about the several cloth coupons she had dug out yesterday. Summer had arrived, the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and she should make summer clothes for the family, and also make one for her older brother in the army.
At night, when Chen Aifang and her two children came back, Gu Yijia told them about it.
Baohua and Baoshan were not happy about getting new clothes first. Instead, they asked, “Auntie, will it be too tiring?” They were all worried that their little aunt would tire herself out making clothes.
Chen Aifang said, “You should rest well. The clothes aren’t urgent. We still have clothes to wear.”
If she were not worried that her younger sister-in-law would be bored staying at home all the time, she would even want to stop her from making clothes. She was afraid of tiring her out, and this was no joke.
Not to mention that her younger sister-in-law’s reaction to heatstroke this time had been too severe, which had frightened her. Her younger sister-in-law’s body still hadn’t recovered yet.
Gu Yijia smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m much better now. Making one piece of clothing is no problem. I can’t be idle every day either, or I’ll get bored enough to make myself sick.”
Seeing the three of them waver, she pressed on. “I know my own body. I’ll stop at the right time and won’t tire myself out.”
After much persuading, Chen Aifang finally said nothing more.
Gu Yijia then said, “Also, I want to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some fabric.”
Chen Aifang frowned first. “Wait until the weekend. I’ll go with you, and I can also send a letter to your brother.”
“Okay.” Gu Yijia knew she was worried and did not refuse.
Baohua hurriedly said, “Mom, I also want to write a letter to Dad. This time I’m not writing with Brother.”
Because she was young and didn’t know many characters, before she had always written letters together with her brother.
Baoshan looked at her and said with great superiority, “If you don’t write with me, can you write characters? You don’t even know that many.”
Baohua put her hands on her hips and said loudly, “Even if I don’t know characters, I can use pinyin instead. If pinyin doesn’t work, I can draw pictures.”
“Oh, so you can draw pictures too?” Chen Aifang said in surprise.
There were very few people in the countryside who could draw pictures, and even the teachers at school did not really teach drawing much, because there was no need.
Baohua said proudly, “Little Aunt taught me. The little animals and flowers and plants that Little Aunt draws are so pretty!”
Recently, her little aunt had been teaching her to draw. The little animals she drew were very pretty, and Baohua liked them a lot. She thought her little aunt was amazing, like she could do everything, did well in school, made clothes beautifully, and could draw too…
Gu Yijia, who was being watched by the three of them, was very calm.
She was drinking medicine to regulate her body, and said slowly, “Baohua is very smart. She draws quite well.”
Baohua lifted her face proudly, her nostrils almost pointing at the sky. Baoshan reached out as if to poke her nostrils, frightening the little girl so much that she hurriedly covered her nose, then waved her fists and angrily chased after her brother to hit him.
For a moment, the whole room was filled with cheerful laughter.
In the blink of an eye, it was the weekend. Early in the morning, Chen Aifang got up to make breakfast.
Breakfast was sweet potato porridge, with half white porridge and half sweet potato, plus a small plate of pickled cucumbers in sauce, sour and crispy, very suitable with porridge.
The weather was truly hot, and a bowl of porridge in the morning was the most suitable thing.
There was also a bowl of steamed egg in front of Gu Yijia. She ate half of it and gave the remaining half to Baoshan and Baohua.
The siblings both refused, but after she stared at them with a smile for quite a while, they silently lowered their heads and split it between them.
No one knew why, but recently Little Aunt seemed to be much more lively, and she had also become harder to deal with. Sometimes if they did not go along with what she wanted, she would quietly stare at them until they did things her way.
Of course, the siblings were actually happy in their hearts too.
Little Aunt was more lively and more spirited, which meant her body should be getting better, right?
Chen Aifang saw it all and said nothing.
Although she tried to favor her younger sister-in-law as much as possible when it came to food, her younger sister-in-law really was someone lovable. She never ate by herself, and because her appetite was small, she would always split half of it with the two children.
After breakfast, she had the two children stay well at home, promising to buy them fruit candies, and Chen Aifang took her younger sister-in-law out.
She pedaled the bicycle, carrying Gu Yijia to the county town.
By the time they reached the county town, the sun was already hanging high in the sky, blazing hot.
Chen Aifang planted her long leg on the ground and stopped the bicycle, turning to look at her younger sister-in-law sitting behind her. “Jiajia, how are you? Anything uncomfortable?”
This was the sentence Chen Aifang asked most often.
Gu Yijia didn’t find it annoying at all. She lifted her face and smiled at her. “Sister-in-law, I’m fine.”
Chen Aifang noticed that recently her younger sister-in-law smiled even more. Her smile was no longer the pale, weak, powerless one from before. It looked as if she had gained a bit more vitality, probably because her spirits had been better these two days, her body didn’t feel uncomfortable, and her mood had improved too.
Gu Yijia was wearing a handwoven straw hat with a very wide brim that could shade the sun. It was decorated with flowers made from scraps of cloth, gathered together and simply trimmed a bit. Not only did it not look tacky, it was instead very graceful and neat.
The flowers were made by Gu Yijia herself. She had forcibly turned an ordinary straw hat commonly seen in the countryside into a premium style from Taobao. Those who didn’t know would think this was the fashion in the city.
Along the way, many female comrades kept staring at Gu Yijia’s hat.
The two of them first went to the post office to send a letter to Gu Mingcheng.
Although they had to make a phone call once a week, they could not talk for too long, and they also did not want to waste too much money, so there was not much they could say. Writing letters was very necessary, because all the things they wanted to say could be written in the letter.
Every month, they would mail one letter to the army.
After mailing the letter, the two of them went to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Before they even reached it, they could see the long line from afar, and even though Gu Yijia had been mentally prepared, she was still stunned.
The supply and marketing cooperative in this era really was just like how it was described in writing.
Chen Aifang looked at the sun in the sky and said to her younger sister-in-law, “You go wait over there in the shade. I’ll line up.”
She felt a little regretful. She should not have brought her younger sister-in-law out in this kind of weather. What if she got heatstroke again?
But she also couldn’t keep her younger sister-in-law locked up at home all the time. Coming out for a walk from time to time was good for both body and mind. That was what the doctor said.
Gu Yijia knew her own body and did not want to trouble her sister-in-law. She obediently nodded. “Okay. I’ll come over again when it’s your turn.”
Chen Aifang handed her the water bottle and told her to drink more water, then went over to line up.
Gu Yijia came to the shade of the trees. There were also a few old ladies here taking shelter from the blazing sun. They were chatting and laughing. When they noticed someone coming over, they turned to look, and immediately froze.
“Oh my, this little girl is really good-looking. Is she from the city?”
One of the old ladies exclaimed. She had a loud voice and didn’t control her volume, and Gu Yijia heard it too.
She turned around, politely nodded at the old ladies, and smiled with her teeth showing. Her smile was obedient and cute.
People in this era were very simple and honest. When the old ladies saw that she was good-looking and didn’t put on airs, they gradually loosened up, and when they spoke, they unknowingly included her as well.
If Chen Aifang were here, she would be very surprised to find that although their ages were different, and Gu Yijia did not even talk much, the few old ladies nevertheless pulled her into the conversation very enthusiastically, with no sense of distance at all.
Gu Yijia had been a child very favored by elders since she was young. Grandpas and old ladies all liked her, and even though she had changed bodies, that trait had not changed either.
They were talking when a suddenly delighted voice rang out.
“Comrade Gu?”
Gu Yijia turned her head and saw Jiang Jinwang in a white shirt. The smile on her face faded.
The old ladies looked over curiously, sizing up Jiang Jinwang suspiciously, and asked, “Jiajia, do you know this male comrade?”
Gu Yijia shook her head. “I don’t know him.”
Jiang Jinwang: ?????