Chapter 33: Complete Household Weaving Guide & Full Course Materials
Ning Xiyue followed Aunt Qiuju back to her home. Inside, Aunt Qiuju’s daughter-in-law, Xiuhua, was breastfeeding the baby — but her milk supply wasn’t enough. The baby hadn’t had its fill before the milk ran out and was now wailing loudly, unable to get any more milk. The louder the baby cried, the more anxious the adults became.
Xiuhua held the baby in her arms, tears streaming down her face as she blamed herself, “I’m so useless. I’ve eaten so many good things, yet I still don’t have enough milk to feed my child.”
Aunt Qiuju sighed heavily at the sight. “Xiuhua, I’ve cooked crucian carp soup in the pot. Drink it in a bit — if it helps produce even a little milk, that’s something. And if there’s still not enough, don’t worry. I’ll figure something out. I won’t let my precious grandson go hungry.”
“Mm, thank you, Mom.” Hearing her mother-in-law’s comforting words, Xiuhua finally calmed down a little and carefully soothed the crying baby.
Hearing her plump little grandson cry so hoarsely broke Aunt Qiuju’s heart. Then she turned to Ning Xiyue, her eyes full of hope. “Little Xiyue, come, let Auntie show you the household goods.”
“Okay.”
Standing aside, Ning Xiyue felt miserable listening to the baby’s cries. But that was just how things were in this era — every household was lacking something. Insufficient milk was common. When adults barely had enough to eat, how could they have enough nutrition to produce milk? Life was tough for everyone.
As she followed Aunt Qiuju outside, Ning Xiyue was already forming a plan.
They say adding flowers to a brocade isn’t worth much — but sending charcoal in the snow is invaluable.
Aunt Qiuju led Ning Xiyue to a special room in her house used for storing tools. It was filled with practical items. Ning Xiyue realized she could probably get all the daily household items she needed here without having to run around the team.
Ding! [Weaving Tool Room detected. This location is a Special Sign-in Spot. Host must pose for a photo-style ‘I was here’ stance to complete the sign-in. Would the host like to sign in?]
Huh? Even Aunt Qiuju’s tool room could be signed into?
This was a pleasant surprise for Ning Xiyue. Today’s goal, aside from acquiring supplies, was to scout out all the possible sign-in locations in the village. Once she had them all mapped out, she could easily sign in whenever she had free time.
This trip was turning out to be incredibly worthwhile — not only had she befriended one of the most influential people in the team, but now she had a sign-in opportunity too. She wondered what the reward would be. Would the system give her a whole room of woven goods? Ning Xiyue thought happily to herself.
Regardless of what she might receive, she still needed to trade for the items from Aunt Qiuju properly. Any household goods placed in the educated youth dormitory needed a legitimate explanation — in case anyone asked.
The only problem was… that sign-in pose. It was humiliating, especially with Aunt Qiuju standing right there.
But in order to obtain the special reward, Ning Xiyue had no choice but to strike the required pose.
She spread her arms — one high, one low — lifted one leg forward, and posed dramatically like “You jump, I jump.”
Aunt Qiuju looked at her with a puzzled expression. “Xiyue, what are you doing?”
Ning Xiyue’s toes curled in embarrassment as she hurried the system: “Hurry up and sign in!”
“Sign-in complete.”
Ning Xiyue immediately brought her arms down and scratched her head awkwardly, stepping forward as if nothing had happened.
“Auntie, I suddenly felt a little itchy on my head and arms — must’ve been a mosquito bite.”
Aunt Qiuju seemed convinced and nodded. “Mm, we have way more mosquitoes here in the countryside than in the city. You’ll get used to it.”
Whew… that was tough.
Ning Xiyue shouted internally: System, can we remove this ridiculous pose requirement?
Ding! [Pose requirement cannot be removed.]
Ding! [Host has received ‘Complete Household Weaving Guide – Full Book & Course Materials.’]
Alright then, with that kind of reward, she’d accept it.
She had actually received a complete course — how amazing! Ning Xiyue gave the system a mental thumbs-up.
Normally, people who wanted to learn this craft had to pay a lot of money to become apprentices — and even then, there was no guarantee they’d succeed.
But her system had skipped all those steps. Now she had the entire craft laid out before her — she could study it anytime she wanted.
Ning Xiyue was thrilled with this sign-in reward and planned to start learning as soon as she got back. This way, she could save money and even make small woven items to send home to please her family.
But first, she had to focus on trading for the household goods with Aunt Qiuju. Ning Xiyue pulled her thoughts back to the present.
“Little Xiyue, all the household items we’ve made are here. They’re all recently crafted — sturdy and durable. Take your time picking. Whatever you want, take it.”
Aunt Qiuju pointed generously at the various types of household goods in the room. Deep down, she hoped this little educated youth would take everything — after all, these items were made for trade.
“Auntie, then I won’t hold back.” Ning Xiyue smiled. Once Aunt Qiuju nodded, she began carefully choosing the tools she needed from the 20-square-meter room.
She picked a bamboo basket to store miscellaneous items, two winnowing trays — one for washing vegetables and one for draining rice — a gourd ladle for scooping water, a broom made from sorghum stalks, a reed dustpan, a basket woven from willow twigs, and various other woven household goods.
By the end, Ning Xiyue had taken one of everything — all of them practical, and they could also serve as physical references when she began learning weaving herself.
Pointing at the pile of items on the floor, Ning Xiyue said, “Auntie, I’ll take all of these. What kind of coupons or goods would you like in exchange?”
Seeing the pile of household goods, Aunt Qiuju was overjoyed — this little Ning sure was generous.
Before Aunt Qiuju could speak, Ning Xiyue added:
“Oh, right, Auntie — I also have about half a can of milk powder left, roughly three liang (about 150 grams). My mom bought it for me to recover from a head injury I had before, but I’ve brought what’s left with me. Since my head’s mostly healed now, if you need it, we can trade for it.”
“Really?” Aunt Qiuju’s eyes lit up. “Little Xiyue, then I won’t stand on ceremony. I’ll trade you for that half-can of milk powder. My daughter-in-law and little grandson thank you!”
Aunt Qiuju was already planning to help Ning Xiyue sort out the kitchen construction later — this milk powder was a huge favor.
“No need to thank me. We’re helping each other. I’m really satisfied with all these household goods from your home.” Ning Xiyue smiled warmly.
Of course, her intentions weren’t entirely selfless — she wanted to win Aunt Qiuju’s favor so that she would go all out to help her in the future. If there were ever good opportunities, she wanted Aunt Qiuju to think of her first.
“Oh, by the way, Auntie, I’d also like to trade for some vegetable seeds if you have extras. I want to grow some vegetables in the field behind the educated youth dorm for myself.”
There was a piece of wasteland behind the dorm where each educated youth could cultivate a small plot for vegetables — something Ning Xiyue had learned from Wu Guifang. Like Wu, she wanted to grow her own vegetables and maybe even try planting some in the patch of fertile soil inside her space.
Hearing that Ning Xiyue wanted vegetable seeds, Aunt Qiuju didn’t hesitate for a second. “I do — what kind do you want? We might not have much else, but we do have plenty of vegetable seeds.”
“Any seeds suitable for planting at this time of year will do — I’m not picky.”
After that, Ning Xiyue traded for a selection of vegetable seeds and even learned several of Aunt Qiuju’s secret tips for growing them.
That half-can of milk powder had been well worth it.
