Chapter 57: Altering Clothes
The eleventh day since returning to the old house.
Jian Xingxia still woke up early, but instead of hiring a temporary worker right away, she and Liang Chengcheng went out together to plant the rest of the seeds.
By now, they had planted nearly a mu of vegetables. In another two or three months, this single plot would yield more than enough food to feed ten Jian Xingxias.
Jian Xingxia was delighted. By then, the estate should have upgraded, allowing her to hire two temporary workers a day. Plus, with the occasional high-score bonus, she might even have three or four people showing up at once. With this abundance of vegetables, she wouldn’t have to worry about failing to keep the temporary workers fed.
Life in the mountains was highly entertaining, and Liang Chengcheng spent her time snapping photos everywhere, completely forgetting about the outside world.
At ten in the morning, Jian Xingxia coaxed Liang Chengcheng toward the creek. “Go put a watermelon in the creek water to chill first. We’ll head over there to play again this afternoon.”
The temperature in the shaded areas of the creek was low, acting like a natural refrigerator, making it perfect for chilling fruit and drinks.
Liang Chengcheng happily cradled a watermelon, took half a basket of various wild fruits and chestnuts, grabbed a few bottles of soda, and headed off to the creek with Dahua. There was no helping it; Liang Chengcheng had packed plenty of snacks in her luggage—bread, biscuits, dried meat—and she was more than willing to break off pieces to feed Dahua.
Once the girl and the animal had left, Jian Xingxia posted the recruitment notice.
[Recruitment Requirement: One temporary worker. Job Description: Cooking. Shift Duration: 2 hours.]
Jian Xingxia was a bit uncertain herself, not knowing if the person who arrived would still be Lin Sanniang. From what she had seen so far, the system prioritized matching familiar faces, but who could say for sure? If another unfamiliar temporary worker arrived, Jian Xingxia would just have to intercept them outside the wild grass patch and send them up the mountain.
With a heart full of anxiety, Jian Xingxia carried a bag of clothes and walked through the wild grass outside the backyard, pulling weeds while waiting for the temporary worker to report in.
“Proprietress, Miss!”
Thank heavens. It was Lin Sanniang!
But catching sight of Lin Sanniang’s attire, Jian Xingxia was caught completely off guard. “Sanniang, what’s with your clothes?”
Lin Sanniang’s outfit today surprisingly didn’t look like that of an ancient person. The original topknots on the crown and sides of her head had been let down; her gathered hair was tied behind the nape of her neck, braided, and then pinned into a neat bun.
Meanwhile, the wide-sleeved, cross-collared robe Lin Sanniang used to wear had been replaced by a mandarin-collared, narrow-sleeved blouse with frog buttons, paired with a skirt that reached down to her calves. At first glance, it didn’t look like the historical garments of the Daliang Dynasty at all, but rather like a piece of modern, Chinese-style shirt and midi skirt. It even carried a slight Republican era flair.
The only distinction was that Lin Sanniang was still wearing a pair of trousers beneath the skirt.
Sensing Jian Xingxia’s scanning gaze, Lin Sanniang felt a bit anxious. But knowing that Jian Xingxia preferred straightforward honesty, she explained candidly, “Miss, I noticed that the style of your clothes is vastly different from mine and Taoya’s. Since we come to work at the estate, we ought to follow the customs of the estate.”
Lin Sanniang looked a bit embarrassed. “I observed that the sleeves of your shirts and the legs of your trousers are much narrower. It felt a bit unfamiliar at first, but after looking at it for a while, I found it quite beautiful and very convenient for chores. I don’t have to constantly hold up my sleeves or tuck in my skirt and trouser legs… so I took the liberty of making an outfit like this.”
“If it is improper, I brought my previous clothes with me. I can change out of it right now.”
Lin Sanniang clutched the edge of her blouse, terrified that Jian Xingxia might be displeased.
But how could Jian Xingxia possibly be displeased? She was absolutely thrilled. She had been too embarrassed to say that she had specially picked out a set of her own clothes—a long-sleeved shirt as an outer garment, a short-sleeved shirt as an inner layer, a long skirt as an outer layer, and a pair of pajama pants as undershirts… all selected according to Lin Sanniang and Taoya’s dressing habits.
She had originally been fretting over how to convince Lin Sanniang to change into modern clothes, never expecting that Lin Sanniang would actually sew such an outfit herself.
Although it still carried an “ancient” feel, it leaned close enough to the modern “New Chinese Style” that no one would find it suspicious. Jian Xingxia gave profound thanks for modern fashion freedom. As long as you liked it, going to class or work in a traditional Hanfu was completely fine!
Jian Xingxia let out a massive sigh of relief and hurriedly pulled Lin Sanniang under the shade of a tree to chat.
“The clothes are great, it looks beautiful on you.” Jian Xingxia smiled. “I was just thinking to myself how fortunate it is that you were the one who came.”
Hearing these words, Lin Sanniang’s ears flushed red with bashfulness. The young mistress was truly far too kind; she gave her such light work, never struck or scolded her, allowed her to sit at the same table to eat, piled food onto her plate, and even gave her a massive heap of supplies to carry home when she left. For such a wonderful employer to say “how fortunate it is that you were the one who came” after not seeing her for over a dozen days filled her heart with warmth.
With a reddened face, Lin Sanniang said, “Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts, Miss. The children and I have frequently thought of you over these past days as well.”
“These past days?” Jian Xingxia had only gone two days without seeing Lin Sanniang. She probed further, “How many days have passed since you went back?”
Not sensing anything unusual, Lin Sanniang replied, “In reply to Miss, it has already been over ten days.”
Jian Xingxia understood completely. It seemed that what Dahei said was true; as long as they weren’t hired on consecutive days, the temporary workers lived on their own timelines, which didn’t synchronize with modern time.
That day, Lin Sanniang had cradled her bulging “wages” along with a long-lost feeling of fullness as she slipped into the cave tunnel and left the mountain villa.
Once inside the cave, she put her “wages” to clever use. Taking the entire eight catties of fabric scraps, she tied the corners together to fashion large pieces of cloth, then wrapped a few around herself as belts and bindings, essentially adding several layers of “clothes” to her body.
It looked a bit odd, to be sure. But didn’t the beggars on the streets dress exactly like that? As long as it could drape over the body, nobody cared what it was; they just wrapped themselves right up.
Lin Sanniang was already scrawny to begin with, so wrapping herself up this way truly made her look like a destitute beggar. She then casually grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and smeared it over her face, leaving her entire person covered in grey dust.
In the past, a female beggar would be somewhat eye-catching and could easily be abducted by malicious people. But ever since the famine years began, who on the streets didn’t look completely dried up and gaunt? Her appearance wasn’t considered out of the ordinary at all.
Hidden inside the layers of scraps were the rice, flour, and coarse salt. There was also a tiny bit of cooking oil, poured into a long, narrow bamboo tube and plugged tightly with a cork; she held it in her hand to use as a walking stick or a dog-repelling club, and no one spared it a second glance.
Lin Sanniang had cautiously emerged from the mountains in this manner, returned to the city, and slipped quietly back into her home.
The children had been waiting expectantly, peering through the crack in the door, but for a moment, they failed to recognize her. Suddenly seeing a beggar bundled in ragged cloth knocking on the door, Brother Shu was so terrified he was on the verge of tears.
It was Xing who had sharp eyes. “It’s Mother! I helped Mother make this bamboo stick myself.”
Only then did Brother Shu turn around, looking cautiously at the beggar at the door. It really was his mother! Brother Shu and Xing’s eyes lit up—their mother had grown “fat”!
Of course, it was impossible for their mother to grow fat after being out for just a single morning; it was because she had brought back so many goods! The two of them hurriedly opened the gate. Taoya was currently in the kitchen making wild vegetable dumplings, and hearing the commotion, she stepped out, only to be startled by Lin Sanniang’s appearance as well.
Only after Xing had locked the gate tight did Lin Sanniang dismantle the layers of ragged cloth from her body one by one.
“My goodness! So much cloth!”
