“Ah, then you really came to the right person. Not to brag, but in this village, when it comes to shoemaking, I’d say I’m second to none,” the older lady said.
“Are you making shoes for the kids or for yourself? If it’s for the kids, I happen to have a few ready-made pairs at home. They were meant for my little grandsons, but if you need them urgently, you can take them first.”
The old lady ignored the fact that the twins’ shoes were completely worn out and spoke warmly.
“They’re for the two of them. And yes, it is urgent—their shoes are very worn, as you’ve seen. But since those were meant for your grandsons, we don’t want to snatch them away,” Lin Zhi replied.
She was perfectly fine with the twins’ shoes being in tatters. It was already bad enough; she didn’t mind anyone thinking she was an incompetent mother.
Lin Zhi spoke frankly, without embarrassment. The old lady, though puzzled that Lin Zhi clearly had money but hadn’t made the kids new shoes sooner, didn’t feel it was her place to comment.
“No problem, their shoes aren’t that urgent. Let the boys wear them first,” the old lady said. These pairs had been secretly made for her family, so she felt safe letting them go. If her family had known, there would have been chaos.
“The sizes might be a bit big, but kids’ shoes are usually made a little large, so loose is fine.” She went inside and brought out four or five pairs of shoes.
She had many children, and now they each had several kids of their own. Just among her grandchildren around four or five years old, she had four or five. That’s why she had made so many shoes at once.
Though the grandchildren were similar in age, the twins were smaller, so the shoes were a bit too big for them.
Lin Zhi only took the two smaller pairs and asked the old lady to make two more.
“Old lady, I don’t have much money, so I was thinking of trading some fabric for the shoes. Can these fabrics cover four pairs?”
The old lady took the basket, flipped through the old clothes, and smiled even more warmly.
Her craftsmanship was excellent—no fabric would go to waste. With these clothes, she could make at least eight or nine pairs of shoes.
Some of the clothes were still good—she could cut two pieces for repairs and still wear them. Making shoes would just take time, which she had plenty of now that she didn’t have to farm. It was all profit for her.
“Yes, yes, that works,” the old lady said. The more she looked at the clothes, the more she liked them. “Honestly, you could make six or seven pairs of shoes with these fabrics. You really want to trade them with me?”
Lin Zhi nodded. “I can’t make shoes, so trading with you for finished shoes is worth giving a labor fee. Consider the extra fabric your fee.”
She knew the old lady was modest, but Lin Zhi didn’t mind. She had only planned to trade for four pairs; the rest was just a bonus.
“Also, I brought two eggs. Can I trade these for a basket of vegetables? We’ve nearly finished the last batch,” Lin Zhi added.
“Ah, no need for eggs—just pick a basket and take it. No need to trade,” the old lady said. After getting the fabrics, she felt awkward asking for the eggs.
Lin Zhi preferred straightforward trades. She didn’t like taking advantage of others and then owing them later, so she insisted. Since the old lady wouldn’t take the eggs, Lin Zhi didn’t want the vegetables either.
The old lady had no choice but to accept the eggs. Lin Zhi picked a basket of vegetables and agreed to come back in three days to collect the shoes. She and the twins headed back.
The round trip took an hour and a half. By the halfway point, the twins were panting, exhausted, but they didn’t let Lin Zhi stop.
If she hadn’t intervened, they might have collapsed from fatigue. Last time, they had sneaked little breaks, but this time they insisted on pushing through.
Sitting under a big tree by the road, Lin Zhi pulled a cucumber from the basket and broke it in half, giving each twin a piece. They rested against the tree and leisurely watched the empty road.
The twins were still wearing their old, broken shoes. They didn’t want to wear the new shoes yet—they wanted to wash their feet first.
The road was rough; wearing old shoes must have been uncomfortable. Lin Zhi told them twice, but they ignored her, so she gave up.
After finishing the cucumber, a gentle breeze blew away the heat from the walk. Lin Zhi yawned and felt like taking a nap right there.
Not even noon yet, and she already wanted a nap—she was definitely settling into village life.
After resting for about half an hour, the twins got up first. They wanted to hurry home to wash their feet and wear the new shoes.
Lin Zhi was still lazy, reluctant to move. It took the twins a while to get her up.
Taking a small stick from the roadside, she swung it as they walked back to the family yard, cutting down weeds along the way.
Lunch was again lean meat porridge. The three of them sat at the kitchen door, eating quickly, when suddenly a savory meat aroma wafted from the left.
The smell came from the neighbor’s house. Lin Zhi sniffed several times and realized that it was coming from the heroine’s home.
No wonder she was the heroine—she could eat meat every meal and had excellent cooking skills.
Looking at herself, she had ingredients but her cooking was poor. If she hadn’t used enough oil, even the stir-fried vegetables wouldn’t have been edible.
“Xiao Ze, Xiao Run, can you tell what kind of meat our neighbors are cooking?” she asked.
Xiao Heze sniffed hard, swallowed his last mouthful of lean meat porridge, and nodded vigorously. “Braised pork!”
Lin Zhi: …Wow, they really can tell. Sharp noses.
She, a nine-to-five office worker in her previous life, would never have known this if she hadn’t helped her parents pick vegetables as a child.
She could smell the meat but not identify the exact dish.
She took a heavy bite of porridge and made a firm decision: “Next month, we’re having braised pork too.”
Even if her skills weren’t great, using enough seasoning would make it tasty.
“Braised pork tastes best with pork belly. We went too late—the belly is sold out,” Xiao Heze said, finishing his last bite and dousing her plan with cold water.
Lin Zhi thought he was right; the original owner rarely got pork belly either.
Holding her bowl, she looked at the twins and said, “Lean meat should taste fine too, right?”
Perfect—she didn’t eat fatty meat.
Xiao Heze nodded. “Sure, it’ll be tasty.”
Even without fat, it was still meat. He would be happy to have it; he wasn’t picky.
Lin Zhi decided: “Next month, we’ll cook braised lean meat.”
This month wasn’t possible. She barely had enough lean meat to add to porridge each day, let alone for a braised dish.
If only her general store could replicate outside goods—then life wouldn’t be so tight.