Chapter 110: The Sisters Back Home
Da Hei and Lin Sanniang arrived one right after the other.
Upon arriving, Da Hei wolfed down his food with thunderous speed, then headed straight to the fields to work the moment he finished.
Lin Sanniang, on the other hand, arrived carrying a large bundle. She pulled Jian Xingxia into the small lounge and set the parcel down on the table.
Her eyes were shining as she unwrapped the cloth covering, presenting the pillowcases nested inside.
“Miss, take a look. Can these be used?”
Jian Xingxia took them to inspect. Each and every pillowcase was hand-stitched with incredibly dense, tight needlework. Turning one inside out, she could see that they had been reinforced back and forth with three layers of stitching.
Lin Sanniang said, “I told them that these were items required by the young mistress of the manor, so they all exerted every ounce of their focus to ensure the craftsmanship was meticulous.”
Not only were the stitches excellent, but even the embroidery was beautiful.
Back then, Jian Xingxia had simply used charcoal sticks from the stove to sketch a few basic patterns onto the fabric for Lin Sanniang to take back. She hadn’t expected Lin Sanniang’s friends to meticulously refine and adjust them, embroidering them onto the pillowcases stitch by stitch.
“They’re brilliantly made! It must have taken a great deal of effort, right?”
Jian Xingxia felt a wave of guilt. Even she herself rarely touched a needle and thread; all the clothes she wore were bought ready-made, pieced together effortlessly by a machine whirring away.
Originally, she had intended to follow Lin Sanniang’s suggestion, offering a chance for her other friends to earn some money through their own labor.
But now, holding these throw pillowcases that didn’t have a single loose thread and featured reinforced corners, Jian Xingxia felt a bit bad.
How much time must this have taken!
Yet Lin Sanniang spoke with a bright smile, “It didn’t take much time at all. I told them to deliver the goods within five days, and they all brought them to me on the evening of the fourth day.”
On the day Lin Sanniang had distributed the work, it went without saying that Eldest Aunt Lin and Hehua had poured out endless gratitude.
Under the current circumstances, there weren’t many jobs available for women to earn money. This work wasn’t difficult and paid well, making it a rare and precious opportunity.
After Lin Sanniang brought the materials home, Taoya and Xingya also refused to go to sleep, insisting on lighting a lamp to work on the pillowcases.
It was only when Lin Sanniang intervened, saying, “Working under a lamp easily ruins your eyes and wastes oil. If you truly wish to help, wake up early tomorrow. The moment the sun rises, I will teach you.”
Over the past period, Lin Sanniang had brought back quite a bit of fabric, and the two sisters used the scraps to practice whenever they had free time.
Stitching and ripping apart crooked lines repeatedly, they had managed to make a set of clothes for themselves and sew a few small pouches.
Hearing that Lin Sanniang was willing to let them work, the two sisters finally went to bed happily.
Brother Shu, sucking on his finger, crept over to Lin Sanniang’s side. “Mother, I want to make pillowcases too…”
His older sisters spent all day doing needlework together now, no longer including him in their games. Young as Brother Shu was, he had already begun to feel a twinge of loneliness. He wanted to join his sisters in their sewing.
Lin Sanniang laughed. “Alright, our Brother Shu shall learn as well.”
Starting from the next day, Lin Sanniang led all three children to do needlework together.
However, the coarse cloth for this project was precious, and Lin Sanniang didn’t dare let the children ruin it, so she had them practice on the materials she had brought back previously.
“If you do a good job, I will take it to let the young mistress see. If she can use it, your mother will ask her for some meat next time to cook a feast for you!”
Throughout her previous trips back and forth, Lin Sanniang had constantly worried about how her family would survive, so she had prioritized things like grain and fabric—items that could be stored for emergencies.
At most, following Jian Xingxia’s suggestion, she would bring back a few eggs to give the children a taste of something rich.
But proper meat was something she had never brought back.
Now, seeing that their days were getting better and better, and that she had even become a manager with no worries about food or clothing, Lin Sanniang wanted her children to have a taste of meat.
The three children were overjoyed. Looking at the fabric in their hands, it was as if they were staring at a succulent piece of fat meat, their mouths watering in anticipation.
It was the same for Hehua, Yuxiang, and Eldest Aunt Lin. Not daring to stay up late to work, they woke up at the crack of dawn to begin sewing.
Escort Guard Mu, worried about Eldest Aunt Lin’s health, urged her not to exert herself so heavily, only to be snapped back at by his wife.
“It’s not as if you don’t know; ever since my hand was injured, no one has hired me for casual labor anymore. Everything inside and outside this house has relied entirely on you alone…”
As Eldest Aunt Lin spoke, her eyes grew red. “But your line of work is no easy task either. You were injured so severely last time. It was fortunate that the escort agency was reasonably decent and gave us some golden sore ointment; otherwise, how would our family have survived!”
Escort Guard Mu muttered shiftingly, not daring to speak.
Over this past period, with Lin Sanniang delivering rice, and Eldest Aunt Lin and Lin Sanniang partnering up to make clothes—selling a few pieces and earning some money—he had felt much more relaxed. He no longer had to take risks by traveling long distances that kept him away for two or three months at a time.
He could stick to short-distance escort jobs nearby, returning within two or three days.
It was much easier, safer, and allowed him to stay close to his family.
Eldest Aunt Lin said, “Sanniang mentioned that this is what the young mistress needs, and the deadline is tight, so I naturally must finish it quickly for her.”
Lin Sanniang had spoken with absolute sincerity: “The young mistress has helped Sanniang and our family so much. Now that there is a rare opportunity to do some work for her, we must absolutely not spare any effort.”
Escort Guard Mu also felt this made perfect sense; he had merely been concerned because Eldest Aunt Lin had only recently recovered from her illness.
However, speaking of the master—
Escort Guard Mu asked Eldest Aunt Lin, “Do you truly believe the master Sanniang speaks of is a young mistress?”
Eldest Aunt Lin stopped her work, pondering for a moment before responding, “Previously, I thought that the master must have taken a liking to Sanniang and was using this as an excuse to support her. Otherwise, who could be so kind as to give away eight doses of medicine worth a tael of silver per mace?”
“And now?”
“Now, I believe Sanniang isn’t lying. Although I haven’t met the young mistress she speaks of, I can truly hear from Sanniang’s descriptions that this master is a meticulous, kind, and honorable person.”
Eldest Aunt Lin offered her own analysis: “Take Chief Li from your escort agency; he’s a good man too, but he’s a man after all—a bit rough around the edges. Sometimes when he helps us, it comes from a good place, but he misses the mark.”
For instance, when the household lacked grain, instead of sending rice or meat, he would send wine.
Or, knowing she had just given birth and her health was poor, he would loudly proclaim to everyone that she had contracted a women’s ailment and was in critical condition, which was why this escort assignment had to be given to Escort Guard Mu.
Escort Guard Mu instantly recalled the awkwardness and gratitude of that day.
Eldest Aunt Lin was stuck between tears and laughter. “So you see, Chief Li is a good person, but he’s transparently a man.”
“Then what about this master?” Escort Guard Mu asked.
“This master is clearly a meticulous soul. The things she has Sanniang bring back are either rice and flour, or needles, thread, and fabric. The rice and flour handle the immediate emergency, the needlework helps build up the household, and she even quietly provided coarse salt… every single aspect has been considered. She isn’t just looking to do a good deed for a fine reputation; she has genuinely thought things through for Sanniang’s sake.”
“Afraid that Sanniang would feel uncomfortable, she intentionally didn’t give ready-made clothes. She even cut such excellent fabric into pieces, calling them scraps,” Eldest Aunt Lin asked Escort Guard Mu, “Have you ever seen scraps this large?”
Escort Guard Mu shook his head. He truly hadn’t. A piece of cloth the size of a palm could be used to make a pouch, and anything larger could be turned into oversleeves. The fabrics Lin Sanniang brought back were naturally not scraps.
“Exactly. I’ve thought about it carefully; there is no man who could be this kind, meticulous, and thoughtful. This young mistress must truly be a pure-hearted lady.”
Reaching the end of her thoughts, Eldest Aunt Lin felt happy inside. “Furthermore, haven’t you noticed? Sanniang smiles more and more these days, and she speaks and acts with far greater poise and efficiency. She told me she became a small manager at the manor, which is why she could bring work out to share with us…”
Eldest Aunt Lin glanced at Escort Guard Mu. “You men; if you take a liking to a woman, you always want to bring her into your household and keep her by your side. Only a woman, valuing another woman, will genuinely want to give her a helping hand so she can live a better life and go further.”
Escort Guard Mu grew flustered and annoyed, “We are talking about Sanniang, why bring up men and women?”
Eldest Aunt Lin scoffed, “Hmph, is it not the truth?”
“However,” Eldest Aunt Lin was merely taking the opportunity to prod Escort Guard Mu so he wouldn’t complain about her and Sanniang’s work anymore, “distinguishing between men and women isn’t entirely accurate; it should be compared to a parent’s love for a child.”
“Just think about how you view Little Hou and the others. If you truly wish the best for them, would you want to gorge them with food and drink until they become useless gluttons, or would you hope they can study, learn to read, and become independent and strong in the future?”
“Naturally, I want them to be independent and strong,” Escort Guard Mu blurted out.
“Exactly,” Eldest Aunt Lin smiled. “The way Sanniang looks now must be the result of that young mistress’s careful nurturing and encouragement to improve. To view such grand benevolence through the lens of romantic interest is far too shallow.”
Thinking it over, Escort Guard Mu felt she was right.
Still, he wanted to argue a bit for his own sake: “But my wish for you to stay comfortably at home and suffer less is also out of goodwill. It isn’t because I’m afraid you’ll gain status and want to trap you in the house.”
“Yes, yes, yes, you mean well!” Eldest Aunt Lin rolled her eyes at him, then turned serious. “You don’t need to say that; Sanniang and I both know it. If you were the type who didn’t want the best for me, Sanniang wouldn’t have brought the medicine right in front of your face, let alone suggested that I partner up with her to make clothes.”
In a family, small frictions were inevitable, but their hearts were all pulling in the same direction.
Eldest Aunt Lin understood perfectly well. Never mind the current famine; even before it hit, very few ordinary citizens could afford medical treatment when they fell ill. Before Lin Sanniang brought the medicine, Escort Guard Mu had already hired a physician to examine her and had scraped together everything they owned to buy expensive medicine for her.
For a husband and wife to reach this level of devotion left her with no complaints.
Their days ahead would only get better. It was precisely because her heart felt lightened that she could bicker playfully with Escort Guard Mu.
