Chapter 3 The best sister-in-law in the 1980s (3)

Sister-in-law Xu was pulled to a chair by Xu Yin and sat down. Then she handed her nephew a piece of orange-leaf gummy candy wrapped in transparent cellophane. There were about a dozen of them, surrounding them like an orange.

Xiao Douding’s eyes flickered.

 “Eat!” Xu Yin said with a smile.

 He looked at his mother, then at Xu Yin, and timidly stretched out his little paw to take one.

 Don't dare to take too much for fear of pinching him.

When Xu Yin saw this, she stuffed the whole orange candy into his pocket.

 The small pocket suddenly bulged out into a big bag.

Little Douding glanced down for a few times and grinned.

“Yin Yin, how do you want to mend your pants?”

 Sister-in-law Xu picked up the pants and looked at them.

Others are quite new, except that there is a small tear in the trouser leg. This can be sewn with thread of the same color.

 There is an obvious wear and tear on the buttocks, probably caused by the rough benches in school.

 “Sew or patch?”

 Xu Yin didn’t want to choose either.

I asked my sister-in-law to cut off an inch of the trousers, so that the rip would be cut off.

 The trousers were then collected and became the popular small trousers in later generations.

 Then I drew two jeans patches.

“Cut the fabric of the same color and stick it on your pants to create two extra pockets.”

“Hey, this is good. It has an extra layer. It can be used as a pocket and is also resistant to wear and tear.”

 Sister-in-law Xu is very good at sewing, and she put the patch on in just a few clicks.

He quickly sewed it onto the trousers. After sewing, he shook off the threads and said in surprise:

 “With this patch, it will be as good as new.”

 And so fashionable.

 “Really?” Xu Yin herself was quite satisfied.

 She has been fond of painting since she was a child, including children's paintings, Chinese paintings, sketches, and sketches...from kindergarten to graduation from junior high school.

 When I was in the second grade of junior high school, my family moved to a three-bedroom apartment, and she designed the decoration of the home.

 Teachers and classmates all said that she has a talent for design.

 With this talent and her hard work, she won many awards.

 

It is obvious that key famous schools can make a splash, and if they perform well, it is not impossible to Qingbei.

 But she was particularly passionate about design at that time.

 Her parents couldn't resist her, so they had to make a compromise—she studied industrial design at the Academy of Fine Arts of Tsinghua University as an undergraduate.

 She took the master's degree in clothing and fashion design from Donghua University.

Although I have been wearing it before graduation, I have a good grasp of theoretical knowledge. In my spare time, I often buy some fabrics I like and practice.

　　In addition to the previous two lives, she was the daughter of a tailor in the Republic of China and the youngest daughter of a farmer in ancient times, so sewing and mending was not a problem.

 It is not difficult to make a new pair of trousers on the spot, let alone just cut an edge and sew two patches.

  But the key is that the original body doesn’t know how to do it.

Let alone sewing it up, asking her to put a needle through it would probably make a bleeding hole in her finger.

 So I can only trouble my sister-in-law.

By the way, I will open up some new ideas for my sister-in-law: "Bell-bottom pants are popular in the city now, and the girls in our school like them, but I don't think they look good. I still like this..."

Xu Yin drew a sketch while talking:

“Sister-in-law, I still have a piece of labor cloth left over from making a coat last year. You can make me a pair of pants like this.”

"become!"

 Sister-in-law Xu agreed without saying a word.

Anyway, in this family, the sister-in-law’s affairs are the top priority.

 What’s more, just making a pair of trousers is much easier than collecting and chopping firewood.

 Xu Yin did have the intention of letting her do less heavy work.

She remembered that her sister-in-law gave birth to her nephew prematurely at the end of that year and died of hemorrhage at the same time.

Calculating the time, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be pregnant by now.

Even if you are not pregnant, being so skinny and sallow is not conducive to raising a fetus and giving birth to a baby.

 But Xu’s mother couldn’t see her daughter-in-law having leisure time.

Seeing that the firewood had not been chopped, he hid in the room and didn't know what he was doing. He became so angry that he put his hands on his hips and cursed in the yard:

“Oh, let’s see whose daughter-in-law is as lucky as my Xu family. She can hide in her room and be lazy before noon...”

Xu Yin quickly coaxed the person into the main room: "Mom, my sister-in-law is helping me with something!"

"Why don't you just mend your pants? Haven't you finished yet? I think she is just trying to avoid it." Mother Xu said angrily.

"It's done, why don't I ask her to make me a new pair of trousers. Mom, you don't know, the pants I drew are popular in the city now, but it's too expensive to buy ready-made ones. Find a tailor shop to make them, I'll go home I asked before, the orders in the hands of the old tailor will not be queued until the end of the year at the earliest, and I am not sure about the craftsmanship of the apprentices. What if the fabrics I finally saved are ruined? It just so happens that my sister-in-law is good at needlework and can save some money. For a small amount of wages, a pair of shoes can be made from rags..."

Hearing this, Xu’s mother looked much better, but she was still unhappy:

“When can’t we make pants and shoes? Let’s chop the firewood first. I think she is just taking advantage of this opportunity to be lazy!”

"Oh Mom, the chopped firewood can be used for two months. Let's put the rest aside until we finish making the pants. Don't let my sister-in-law do heavy work for the time being. Look at her rough hands. I'm worried about my... It’s a good material, but it’s already scratched before it’s made into pants. I want to wear it to show off in front of my classmates! The ones they bought with money are not as good-looking as the ones I made without spending money.”

Hearing what she said, Xu’s mother tapped her forehead with her index finger:

“You know how ugly you are! But my good girl is beautiful and has the talent to be ugly! That’s all right, let me relax for two days, and wait until the pants are finished before chopping the firewood.”

“Hmm, don’t let her go to pick up the dung in the village.”

 Ever since farmland was assigned to each household, each family only had to work on their own fields and mountains.

Since the Xu family has a small population, the land allocated to them is naturally not as large as other families.

 After the busy farming season, there is no need for the whole family to go to the fields to serve all day long.

 But those elderly people from five-guarantee households who lost their husbands and sons during the war years are suffering, especially the heavy work of picking up dung. How can they do it?

So the brigade cadres announced that whoever helped the five-guarantee household to pick up manure and release water from the pond to catch fish at the end of the year would be given a few more kilograms.

As soon as Xu’s mother heard this, she signed up her daughter-in-law without saying a word.

 She is not the one who is tired anyway. She can still earn some fresh food for her family at the end of the year, so why not do it.

"This is not a heavy job. It only comes once every three to five days, so why can't I do it?" Xu's mother said disapprovingly.

 “Oh, that smells so bad.”

Xu Yin pinched her nose and pretended to be disgusted.

"I've wanted to say it for a long time. Every time I come back, the yard smells like that. My new pants are still in her room. Don't let them stink before I wear them."

Xu’s mother heard that it made sense, but she still felt a little regretful:

“If you don’t want to choose, don’t choose. It will be easier for her this time. I just need to lose a few kilograms of fish and shrimps during the New Year. I wonder if you can still get a whole piece of your favorite fat-headed fish stewed with tofu.”

　　　…”

In any case, with Xu Yin's coaxing tactics, Xu's mother finally agreed not to assign heavy work to Sister-in-law Xu during this period.

 In addition to daily housework, other tasks should wait until the pants are finished.

 (End of this chapter)