Chapter 300 Preparation
Shen Yixiang was serious. Chen Guizhi’s great-uncle had once been a renowned local tailor, and Chen’s mother had eagerly hoped her children would learn the craft from their great-uncle. She encouraged them to often visit and observe him making clothes, and then secretly learn from him because by that time the great-uncle had made it clear that only his son could be his successor. Even a daughter was not allowed, let alone nieces and nephews.
The great-uncle did teach them some of the basics, however, in later special times when there was no use for his tailoring skills, he would work in the fields along with everyone else, returning to the countryside. Gradually, he stopped hiding his skills and would occasionally give them tips, especially to the girls, as they would depend on sewing for their families after getting married since clothes made at home were much cheaper than ready-made garments bought from stores. Thus, nobody was inclined to buy clothes from outside. Some families that couldn’t sew would buy fabric and go to the tailoring collectives in town and have the masters there make clothes for them, which also saved quite a bit of money.
Getting back to the point, Chen Guizhi was actually quite talented. Over the years, she had made all her family’s clothes stitch by stitch. Before the family split up, she was the one who made clothes for the entire household. Having made clothes for so many years, she was filled with experience.
Yang Peimin also recognized Chen Guizhi’s tailoring skills.
Shen Yixiang looked at her and said, "I regret not learning to make clothes properly from my mother when I was young. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have to relearn it all now." This thought came to her after seeing Sister Liu. She planned to pick up the craft of sewing clothes again. It wasn’t that she truly couldn’t do it; she had simply learned and then refused to do it again because she had thought she would never become a tailor.
Yang Peimin didn’t intend to interfere with her decision. If Shen needed help, he would try his best to assist her this time.
After greeting Sister Liu, Shen Yixiang would find time to visit whenever she was free.
Yang Peimin, on the other hand, didn’t bother with her. Although confined to bed and unable to move around, she managed to write down her daily plans and followed them as noted.
Because she had a lot of homework to do, had to deal with clothing matters, and prepare to return to the countryside for the New Year, she felt very occupied and fulfilled, despite having been confined to bed for nearly a month.
Now her abdomen had finally stopped hurting, and she could get out of bed and move around. Then, she felt like she had regained the use of her legs, and the sensation of walking again was truly wonderful.