Chapter 111 - 26 **_2
After he prepared the cold dishes, cured what needed curing, and added the necessary ingredients, Shen Chi boiled the pork knuckle while Lin Xiaoguai, with the help of Yu Xiaomiao, moved the dining table into the guest room and together they set up two round tables.
By now, the preparations were almost complete, and Yu Xiaomiao bade farewell with the freshly awakened Yaya. No matter how much Lin Xiaoguai tried to retain her, Yu Xiaomiao wasn’t willing to stay, afraid that she might be called down for dinner again, which would be quite improper.
Seeing it was still early and Little Niangao was still napping, Lin Xiaoguai watched the stove fire while beginning to stitch shoe soles.
Although she and Shen Chi wore shoes she had made herself, the soles they used were purchased from the exchange store and were of good quality and diverse styles. However, the thousand-layer soles were being stitched for Uncle, Second Aunt, and Xiao Ping.
These elders had calluses from the hard labor they did when they were younger, so regular soles felt uncomfortable to them; they needed the specially made uneven thousand-layer soles to feel comfortable.
But both Uncle’s and Second Aunt’s ages prevented them from making thousand-layer soles, and as for the younger generation, Sister Hanfang was not good with needlework and had to hire a tailor for her shoes, while Sister Xiao Hua from Xiao Ping’s household, Sister Li Qin from Xiao’an’s household, and Sister Juanjuan from Xiao Le’s household could do needlework and even make thousand-layer soles but couldn’t make this special kind.
At home, Lin Xiaoguai had made several pairs of cloth shoes for them when she had spare time. Having almost finished making clothes for the entire family, she saw the weather getting colder and planned to make two pairs of cotton shoes to send back home.
By the time Shen Chi returned, Lin Xiaoguai had finished one pair of soles and was cutting the upper part of the cotton shoes.
"Back already?" Lin Xiaoguai quickly put her things down and asked, looking behind him, "How come you’re alone?"
After changing his shoes, Shen Chi said, "They’ll be here in a bit; I came back early to see if you needed help with anything."