CHAPTER 157: CHAPTER 155 INTENT

Mrs. Gao followed Old Mrs. Chen and Xie Liangchen into the room and placed the bundle she was holding onto the kang and opened it.

Old Mrs. Chen looked dazed; it was a set of Yangfei-colored dress and skirt.

The fabric wasn’t the usual coarse cloth, but a fine woven material. The dress and skirt had hand-embroidered patterns, with two colorful butterflies flying together in the middle.

Mrs. Gao said with a smile, "We all embroidered this together, but the fabric was given by Old Mrs. Song. We didn’t use particularly good material; those don’t last, but this one should do. Yangfei color looks vivid, and it’s lucky for the New Year."

As Mrs. Gao spoke, she picked up the Yangfei-colored dress and skirt. Underneath was a set of their usual coarse cloth dresses and skirts.

"This is what we prepared earlier," Mrs. Gao smiled with her lips pressed, "Miss Chen usually wears these; they’re just right for her, along with these two pairs of shoes... Our eldest sister-in-law works so hard every day, so from now on, we will make shoes for Liangchen and Zigeng."

Xie Liangchen looked at these clothes; the stitching was dense and the embroidery was very beautiful. She often went to the weaving room, yet she hadn’t noticed a thing. She had no idea how her aunt and the women of the village managed to secretly make them.

In recent days, Mrs. Gao secretly went several times to the clothes shop in Zhenzhou City, lamenting that their embroidery skills couldn’t compare to those of the embroideresses there. But fortunately, their Liangchen would never mind.

Xie Liangchen’s eyes were slightly red. The village’s situation was much better now, but even then, they could only provide new clothes for the elders, and even the children running outside were only barely able to be dressed neatly.

The dress and skirt Mrs. Gao wore had long faded from washing, and the sleeves had been patched several times. Yet instead of buying clothes for themselves, they quietly used silver coins to buy fabric, purchase embroidery threads, and secretly made her a new dress and skirt.

This was the heartfelt sentiment of the entire Chen Family Village towards her, and it was the best gift she received.

Mrs. Gao continued, "When our village gets better in the future, we’ll learn more embroidery patterns and make you even better clothes to wear."

This time it was Old Mrs. Chen who couldn’t help but turn away, saying, "Look at this, what are you doing? Got money with nowhere to spend it? One set would have been enough."

Saying this, Old Mrs. Chen was secretly pleased beyond words in her heart.

"Look at your eldest sister-in-law," Mrs. Gao pulled Old Mrs. Chen with a smile, "If you want to praise me, just do it, why hide? Are you going to shed tears in front of Liangchen?"

The tears of Old Mrs. Chen were instantly dispelled by a few words from Mrs. Gao; she pinched her waist and said, "I think you’re getting out of hand."

Mrs. Gao laughed and called out again, "Yu’yu, bring over the set of clothes for eldest sister-in-law as well."

Chen Yuyu responded and quickly went into the room, bringing out the neatly folded dress and skirt and handing them to Old Mrs. Chen.

Mrs. Gao said, "This set is simpler. If you don’t like it..."

Old Mrs. Chen nearly shed tears again, but Mrs. Gao’s words stopped her, and she deliberately glared, saying in an exasperated tone, "If I don’t like it, can you make me another one?"

Mrs. Gao laughed aloud, "I’m afraid there’s not enough time for that, but it’s not impossible. You can swap with Liangchen and wear hers."

Old Mrs. Chen picked up the unfinished shoe insoles from the basket to hit Mrs. Gao, who dodged while pleading, "Eldest sister-in-law, I beg you, daughter-in-law knows she’s wrong."

"Next time, next time I’ll make them better."

Xie Liangchen and Chen Yuyu watched and laughed.

Old Mrs. Chen was exhausted and out of breath but never managed to use the insoles in her hand.

After Mrs. Gao and Chen Yuyu left, Mrs. Zhao’s daughter-in-law brought over a satchel for Chen Zigeng and a pair of brand-new shoes.

Old Mrs. Chen looked at the stuff on the kang and couldn’t help but sigh, "How much silver coin must this have cost? Did they give us all they had?"

Xie Liangchen nodded, "It should be."

Old Mrs. Chen had the desire to give back, but unfortunately, her resources were limited.

Before long, Chen Yongsheng and Chen Yongyi arrived, bringing new clothes, shoes, socks, and silver coin for Mr. Dongli and Mr. Xu.

"This should come from the village," Chen Yongsheng said, "Mr. Xu has been helping our entire Chen Family Village. Mr. Dongli, even though he taught Zigeng, when Zigeng grows up, he’ll also represent our village. We’re counting on him."

Actually, Xie Liangchen and Old Mrs. Chen had already prepared New Year’s gifts for the two gentlemen, though not much. But the two gentlemen wouldn’t mind.

However, this extra gift represented the sentiments of others in the village.

Xie Liangchen accepted the items.

Chen Yongsheng didn’t seem in a hurry to leave. Seeing every household receive meat, the village with enough food to pass the New Year smoothly, he was filled with unspeakable joy.

Yes, joy.

The days had finally turned sweet, and looking back, he felt even more how difficult those times had been. Chen Yongsheng almost felt like he was getting old, constantly dwelling on the past hardships.

After a long while, Chen Yongsheng finally said, "This year is good; there’s nothing to fear now, and no one will bully us anymore."

He had a stomach full of things to say but suddenly choked up, fearing he might embarrass himself. So he reached out, stroked Chen Zigeng’s soft hair, and looked at Xie Liangchen, "Rest well these days; we’ll deal with other matters after the New Year, no rush."

Xie Liangchen nodded.

Then, Chen Lizheng turned and walked out of the room.

Xie Liangchen had just delivered the New Year’s gifts to the two gentlemen when Chen Yuyu came in, saying, "Grandpa Sun, Fan Lizheng from Beishan Village, and several others I don’t know very well have come to the village."

Xu Tingzhen put down the herbs he was holding and instructed Xie Liangchen, "Go quickly!"

Xie Liangchen glanced towards Mr. Dongli’s residence, where Mr. Dongli was trying on his new robe; she wondered if it fit well.

Xu Tingzhen saw Xie Liangchen’s concern, "The robe fits, I can tell at a glance. You don’t need to worry." The robe was of the right size, though somewhat loose, but what difference did it make if that old fellow was a bit fatter or thinner? Already so wrinkled, dressing up wouldn’t make him any more appealing.

Not long after Xie Liangchen left, Mr. Dongli walked out of the room, with Chen Zigeng beside him praising how the teacher looked spirited.

Mr. Dongli, however, sent his closed-door disciple away, "Go and help your sister."

Chen Zigeng felt that the teacher seemed a little different today. Normally, the teacher was pleased to have him around, but now it seemed like he didn’t want to see him even for a moment.

Chen Zigeng responded, but instead of seeking his sister after leaving the courtyard, he hid in a corner and saw the teacher lift his head to walk towards Mr. Xu’s courtyard.

The young Chen Zigeng’s eyes lit up, half-understanding. As the teacher’s closed-door disciple, did this mean he should also learn from the teacher?

...

Xie Liangchen had anticipated people would come by during the New Year, so she had prepared a room at the Familiar Medicine Institute.

People from all four villages surrounding the Chen Family Village came. Grandpa Sun was the oldest among them, and he spoke with a smile first, "Thanks to Liangchen, we were able to sell medicinal herbs and knitted goods together. Next year, Liangchen will help everyone plant medicinal herbs as well. We’ll all remember this kindness."