“By the way, Old Song, didn’t you go buy a bicycle today? How come you didn’t manage to get one?” Mother Song suddenly remembered this matter.
“I did buy it. Who said I didn’t? I just felt it wasn’t very suitable for our daughter, so I sent it over to Old Wen’s place and asked his son to help modify it.” Father Song responded guiltily. It was just that the bicycle seat was a bit too high.
“Dad, who is Old Wen?” Yan Jin’er asked curiously.
“He’s a friend your dad met through work. He’s the Factory Director over at the Machinery Factory next to ours. His son also works at the Machinery Factory and is quite familiar with bicycles.” Father Song explained. He had worked with Old Wen Wen Hongshen before, and felt that the man had a good temperament. After a few interactions, they had become people he could talk to comfortably.
Yan Jin’er obediently nodded and did not ask further.
After that, she mostly listened to Father Song and Mother Song chatting casually, occasionally joining in with a few sentences. When they asked about her work situation, she simply said, “Not busy. My colleagues are easy to get along with, and the work is quite relaxed,” which eased Father Song and Mother Song’s worries.
Before going to sleep, Yan Jin’er specifically asked Mother Song for the remaining yarn at home and knitting needles carved from bamboo. She planned to bring them to the office the next day to learn knitting from Chen Xiaohong and the others and pass the time.
The next day’s work process was similar to the first day. Before eight in the morning, she arrived at the office and completed attendance check-in, then organized some documents.
At noon, she still went to eat lunch with Cheng Yu and Zhao Jing. That day they had lamb noodles, and Yan Jin’er expressed great satisfaction.
In the afternoon, it became Yan Jin’er’s big knitting moment. Coincidentally, Cheng Yu also brought yarn and knitting needles, but she already knew how to knit and was very fast at it. The only beginner was Yan Jin’er.
After watching Chen Xiaohong and Cheng Yu demonstrate, Yan Jin’er decided to follow Cheng Yu first, since Chen Xiaohong was already halfway through her knitting.
Listening to Cheng Yu slow down her movements while explaining, Yan Jin’er felt that knitting sweaters should not be difficult.
Recalling Cheng Yu’s motions, Yan Jin’er slowly looped the yarn. As she looped, for some reason the yarn got tangled around her fingers, and the part she knitted looked like ragged clothing full of holes.
Yan Jin’er refused to accept this. She took a deep breath, unraveled it, and started over.
This time, Yan Jin’er became much more serious. She very slowly looped the yarn stitch by stitch again. After a while, she looked at it and was completely stunned. This time there were no big holes—but it had turned into a net instead, the kind that would fall apart with one pull.
“Pa, pa.” Two sounds rang out as Yan Jin’er couldn’t help but smack her own hands, sighing.
Hearing the sound, the surrounding coworkers all looked up in confusion. They glanced at the section of knitting in Yan Jin’er’s hands, paused for a moment, then very tacitly turned away at the same time, holding back laughter.
“Don’t hold it in. If you want to laugh, just laugh.” Yan Jin’er said aggrievedly, puffing up with frustration.
“Hahahahahaha.” All the coworkers burst out laughing.
“We’re not laughing at you. Everyone is like this when they first start. You’ll get better after practicing.” Cheng Yu and the others quickly comforted her.
“So you were all like this when you first started too?” Yan Jin’er immediately brightened up.
“Mm… probably.” Cheng Yu and the others replied uncertainly, because when they first learned, they had become skilled quite quickly and could even knit new patterns. They were likely the type with more talent.
“Maybe… you shouldn’t knit sweaters anymore. How about something simpler like scarves, or doing something else instead?” After teaching her hand-in-hand for a while, Cheng Yu and the others tried to comfort her. Internally, they thought they had never taught someone this difficult before.
“Sigh.” Yan Jin’er handed out the candy she brought to Sister Wang and the others, then put one in her own mouth and chewed crisply.
After eating candy, she indeed felt a bit happier. It seemed she really did not have the talent for knitting sweaters, so she would not force herself.
But since she had already brought the yarn, and last night she had confidently told Mother Song that she would knit sweaters for them, she thought knitting scarves should be much easier anyway—so she would knit scarves instead.
Yan Jin’er comforted herself, then happily continued eating candy and started her grand scarf-knitting project.