Chapter 129 - 123 Gift
Sisi’s skilled actions pleased Zhu Aiqing greatly, and she quietly said to Tian Manjin, "Ah Nan really has a talent for sewing clothes, look how proficiently she operates the sewing machine!"
"Ah Nan is so clever, she learns anything well. Even the dishes she cooks are better than yours."
Tian Manjin did not even lift his head, focusing intently on the book in his hands—a book on agriculture that Sisi asked He Xuewen to obtain for him. She felt that Tian Manjin should not waste his potential, even if living in the countryside, he should still learn more. In the past life, many people succeeded in agriculture, and she believed her father, Tian Manjin, could follow this path and become a prominent agriculturalist, no worse than others.
Zhu Aiqing felt a bitter frustration; she considered herself smart and capable, excellent in all tasks except cooking. She could never seem to make tasty dishes, indeed not as good as Ah Nan’s, so hearing her husband say it outright made her teeth itch with frustration, and she punched Tian Manjin several times.
Tian Manjin didn’t feel a thing, just chuckled and continued reading. He was captivated by the book, surprised that there was such depth in the topic. It introduced entirely new concepts to him such as greenhouse farming, grafting, etc., giving him both a fresh perspective and showing him a new path forward.
Sisi worked swiftly and soon finished sewing a shirt, even reinforcing and double-layering the collar to make it sturdier, and affixed white plastic buttons that He Xuewen had bought from the town, securing the buttonholes.
Having completed the task, Sisi rubbed her sore eyes and hands, stretched lazily—though tired, she felt a sense of accomplishment. She shook out the shirt; it looked pretty good. Pleased with herself, she called out to Tian Manjin:
"Daddy, come and try on the shirt, see if it fits!"