Xia Tian tidied up her things and went to the kitchen to boil water for dumplings.
Shen Nian washed his hands and sat in the courtyard, pouring himself a cup of water, which he sipped slowly.
Once the dumplings were cooked, she brought them out and placed them on the table in the courtyard. Xia Tian then went to prepare a dipping sauce.
Today, she didn’t stir-fry any dishes; instead, she served shredded bamboo shoots as a side dish to go with the meal.
“How is it? Is it delicious?” Xia Tian asked, her eyes smiling and her face full of anticipation as she looked at Shen Nian.
Shen Nian nodded. “Delicious!”
“Ah, Brother Shen, you’ve finally stopped replying with just a single ‘mm’!” Xia Tian teased with a laugh.
Shen Nian fell silent.
“Hehe, just kidding, Brother Shen,” Xia Tian quickly added, worried that Shen Nian might feel embarrassed.
Shen Nian picked up a pickled cabbage dumpling and placed it in Xia Tian’s bowl. “This one is delicious.”
Surprised by Shen Nian’s sudden gesture, Xia Tian was momentarily stunned before a smile quickly spread across her face. She picked up the dumpling from her bowl and stuffed it into her mouth. “Delicious!”
Brother Shen is becoming more and more considerate.
After the meal, Xia Tian poured the scraps of fabric she had brought back onto a bamboo sieve and picked out the larger pieces.
These could be used in the future to sew pouches, patch clothes, or make shoe uppers. The smaller pieces could be directly glued onto thousand-layer soles, ensuring nothing went to waste.
In modern times, many elderly people particularly liked wearing cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles, saying they were comfortable and didn’t cause smelly feet.
In her previous life, when she was young, her mother used to make such thousand-layer sole cloth shoes for them to wear.
After sorting the fabric scraps and packing them separately, Xia Tian took out the fabric she had bought today. She set aside the two red pieces first—they were intended as gifts for her new sister-in-law and her sister, Xia Yue.
After Xia Yang got married, Xia Yue would likely be married off soon as well, so it was best to prepare in advance.
The dark blue coarse cloth was meant to make an outer garment for Shen Nian.
However, Xia Tian didn’t know how to make clothes herself, and the original owner of this body didn’t either.
In farming households, clothes were often mended and patched for years on end. New clothes were a rarity, typically passed down from older siblings to younger ones.
The few sets of clothes the original owner had were all hand-me-downs from Xia Yue, and not a single piece was without patches.
Since arriving here, Xia Tian hadn’t had the chance to complain.
She only had one tael of silver left, which she planned to keep as startup capital. Spending Shen Nian’s money didn’t feel justified, so she could only wait until she earned her own money to make new clothes.
Speaking of earning money, Xia Tian felt that after Xia Yang’s wedding, she needed to start planning as soon as possible. Otherwise, when would she ever achieve the freedom to eat and dress as she pleased?
Xia Tian found an old shirt of Shen Nian’s, took the fabric, and went to ask Sister-in-law Yao for help with cutting it.
“Sister-in-law Yao, are you home?” Xia Tian called out loudly from outside Sister-in-law Yao’s door.
Sister-in-law Yao’s husband, Liu Da Shan, was chopping firewood in the courtyard. Hearing the voice at the door, he turned and saw that it was the wife of the young man from the Shen family next door. He called out toward the house, “Mei Mei, the Xia Family girl is here to see you.”
Sister-in-law Yao’s given name was Yao Mei.
“Ah, coming!” Sister-in-law Yao replied from inside the house.
Liu Da Shan smiled and greeted Xia Tian. “Xia Family girl, come on in. Your sister-in-law is inside!”
“Brother Liu, chopping firewood?” Xia Tian looked around. “Where’s Auntie Liu?”
“She probably went to chat with others under the big willow tree,” Sister-in-law Yao said as she lifted the door curtain and stepped out, waving to Xia Tian. “Xia Tian, come in quickly. I was just feeling bored all by myself.”
“Sister-in-law, I’ve come to ask for your help,” Xia Tian said as she reached the doorway. “Am I disturbing you?”
“Come in, come in! I was just sitting around with nothing to do, sewing shoe soles!” Sister-in-law Yao grabbed Xia Tian’s hand and pulled her into the house.
Xia Tian brought out the fabric. "Sister-in-law, could you help me cut out the clothes? I don't know how."
"That's simple. Do you have the measurements?" Sister-in-law Yao picked up the fabric.
"No, but I brought one of my husband's old clothes. Could you use it as a reference?" Xia Tian handed Shen Nian's old garment to Sister-in-law Yao.
"Let me see. It should be fine." Sister-in-law Yao took the old clothes, measured it roughly with her fingers, and got an idea.
Then, she spread the fabric on the table, marked the cutting lines and positions with a ruler and chalk, and swiftly cut it out with a few snips of the scissors.
"Sister-in-law, you're amazing! You finished cutting so quickly!" Xia Tian praised sincerely.
"Of course, my needlework is top-notch," Sister-in-law Yao said proudly, lifting her chin. "If there's anything you don't know, just come to me."
"Thank you, sister-in-law. Could you tell me how to sew? I've never sewn clothes before." Xia Tian didn't stand on ceremony.
Sister-in-law Yao carefully explained how to cut clothes, take measurements, and sew. Xia Tian listened attentively, nodding repeatedly.
Not wanting Sister-in-law Yao's help to go unrewarded, Xia Tian asked, "Sister-in-law, I brought back a big bag of fabric scraps from the cloth shop today. There's too much for me to use. Why don't you come with me to pick some? They're great for patching shoe soles."
Sister-in-law Yao, being straightforward, replied, "Alright, no need to pick now. It's getting late today. If you're free tomorrow, let's go to your place and start pasting layers of cloth together!"
"Great, it's settled then."
When Xia Tian returned home, she took out the cut fabric to start sewing but realized she had forgotten to buy needles and thread.
Since she couldn't sew, she decided to tidy up the vegetable garden instead.
The bamboo she had chopped yesterday was still untouched. Xia Tian took out an axe, cut the bamboo into sections about one and a half meters long, split each in half, and carried them to the backyard to build a fence.
Shen Nian had been resting in his room after the meal. Hearing noises in the yard, he pushed open the window and saw Xia Tian carrying a bundle of bamboo strips to the backyard.
Xia Tian was using a hoe to dig a trench around the vegetable garden. Spotting Shen Nian, she smiled and greeted him, "Brother Shen, did I disturb you just now?"
"Not at all! What are you doing?" Shen Nian was puzzled, seeing her dig a trench around the vegetable patch.
"This?" Xia Tian pointed at the trench. "I'm going to bury the bamboo strips to build a fence around the garden and keep the chickens from ruining the vegetables."
Once the trench was dug, Shen Nian helped hold the bamboo strips in place while Xia Tian filled in the soil. Soon, the fence was complete.
As it was getting late, Xia Tian picked a handful of bok choy from the garden and returned to the front yard to prepare dinner.
The next day, the weather was overcast. Sister-in-law Yao came over in the morning, and she and Xia Tian spent their time pasting layers of cloth on the kang inside the house.
Chatting as they worked, they didn't feel tired and managed to make twelve layers of pasted cloth by midday.
Xia Tian insisted Sister-in-law Yao take six of them.
Once dried, they could be used for making shoe soles.
In the afternoon, rain began to fall, making outdoor work impossible. Xia Tian took the opportunity to learn characters from Shen Nian.
Shen Nian had finished teaching all the characters in one book and asked Xia Tian to read it from the beginning aloud.
Xia Tian picked up the book and read it fluently from start to finish. Shen Nian listened, nodding inwardly, impressed by her remarkable memory.
If she had been born a man and given proper training, she would surely have achieved great things!
Xia Tian had no idea how highly Shen Nian regarded her.
Soon it was the eighteenth day of April. Xia Tian got up early, had breakfast, then prepared lunch for Shen Nian.
She was returning to her maiden home today and definitely wouldn’t make it back by noon.
Thinking of her younger siblings’ gaunt figures, she took out a few more potatoes and fried some potato pancakes.
She left a few for Shen Nian, keeping them warm in the pot, and wrapped up the rest to place in the small back basket along with the items prepared for the market day.
She filled Shen Nian’s teapot with water, adding a few drops of Spiritual Spring Water, and reminded him to remember to drink.
Once everything was properly arranged, she shouldered the small back basket and headed to Xia Family Village.
Before she even reached the Xia Family’s doorstep, she heard someone’s shrill, sarcastic voice drifting from ahead.