CHAPTER 100: CHAPTER 99: WHY DON’T THEY PINCH THE MEN?

Sun-shi gave Yu Changhe some silver to go out and buy a cotton coat for Zhao Erya.

Although Zhao Erya was wiping here and there with a cloth, she was always listening to what the Yu family was talking about.

Knowing that Yu Changhe was going to buy her a coat, she paused in her dusting, and tears unconsciously flowed down her cheeks.

How many years had it been since she wore new clothes? She couldn’t even remember.

They had always been clothes her mother wore, then altered for her elder sister.

Her elder sister wore them, then they’d add some patches for her to wear.

She originally thought that staying with the Yu family as a servant, life would certainly be worse than before.

She even imagined days where she would only drink coarse rice soup, while having endless chores to do.

She hadn’t expected that the Yu family treated her better than her own parents did.

Zhao Erya wiped her tears away, with a firm resolve in her heart to treat Yu Changhe and Sun-shi as her own parents from now on.

"Erya, stop wiping."

Yu Xiaolian waved and called Zhao Erya into the west room.

When Zhao Erya entered the west room, she saw a large pile of strange things on the kang bed that she had never seen before.

Yu Xiaolian took a white empty porcelain jar from the shelf, along with a large bottle of shampoo, unscrewed the pump, and demonstrated to Zhao Erya how to use it.

"Just press like this, and after it’s filled, use this little spoon to level it off, then put on the lid, apply this glue stick on the label paper, stick it on like this, and that’s it."

"It should be like this, with the lotus pattern on top."

Zhao Erya was initially at a loss, then became more and more proficient as she worked.

Out of curiosity, she asked Yu Xiaolian why she didn’t see these things in the morning in the west room.

Yu Xiaolian gave Zhao Erya a meaningful look, "If you want to stay in my house, there are two rules: talk less, do more."

"I understand."

Zhao Erya resolved to firmly suppress her curiosity.

If she got kicked out of the Yu family for being too talkative, she’d regret it too late.

A large bottle of 750 ml shampoo was divided by them into three jars.

Zhao Erya was in charge of pressing and filling, while Yu Xiaolian was responsible for labeling and recording the number of bottles dispensed.

After they finished with the shampoo, they started on conditioner.

One had to say, Zhao Erya was much more efficient at work than Yu Xiaolian.

She picked it up quickly and was an extremely satisfying helper for Yu Xiaolian.

Yu Changhe bought two cotton outfits for Zhao Erya, although they were made of coarse fabric, the cotton was thick and would be good for winter.

He also bought a thick quilt for Zhao Erya, which they put on the kang bed in the west room.

Yu Xiaolian asked Zhao Erya to stop her work and try on the new clothes.

Zhao Erya, who had never worn ready-to-wear from a shop, touched the clean soft cotton clothes, feeling as if she was dreaming.

Under the urging of Sun-shi and Yu Xiaolian, Zhao Erya changed into the new cotton clothes and trousers.

"These clothes fit well, but the trousers are a bit long." Sun-shi squatted to measure Zhao Erya’s trouser cuffs, "Take them off, I’ll alter them for you."

"Aunt, it would be a pity to cut these new trousers, I can roll them up and wear them."

As Zhao Erya spoke, she bent down to roll up the trousers.

Sun-shi wanted to say more, but Zhao Erya hurried back to work, afraid Sun-shi would cut a piece off her new trousers.

Yu Xiaolian pulled Yu Changhe into the backyard to talk about letting Zhao Erya stay in the storeroom, asking whether they could build a small kang bed there.

Originally, she thought Yu Changhe would agree unconditionally, but he said that since it was already cold, it wasn’t suitable to build a kang, and insisted on Zhao Erya sharing a room with Yu Xiaolian.

Yu Xiaolian had no choice, her single dormitory was thus turned into a double room.

Throughout most of the day, Yu Xiaolian and Zhao Erya managed to finish the daily chemical products.

In the afternoon, Zhao Erya volunteered to cook, and they wanted to try Zhao Erya’s cooking skills, so they agreed.

In the kitchen, Zhao Erya looked through several grain sacks back and forth.

"What are you looking for? If you can’t find it, just ask me."

Zhao Erya, looking a bit awkward, shyly said, "I see the bags have either white rice or yellow rice, where’s the brown rice?"

"There’s no brown rice, we don’t eat it." Yu Xiaolian, having finally gotten rid of the coarse grains that hurt the throat, didn’t want to eat it again.

"Huh?" Zhao Erya had an expression of surprise, asking in disbelief, "So from now on, we eat fine grain every meal?"

Yu Xiaolian nodded, "Yes."

Zhao Erya was secretly amazed, eating white rice and flour every meal, even the Village Chief Ma Dashan’s household in River Bend wouldn’t dare to do so, right?

Recalling Yu Xiaolian’s advice to talk less and do more, Zhao Erya didn’t dare ask further, scooped two bowls of rice, and started washing the rice.

Yu Xiaolian originally thought that the locally grown Zhao Erya would know more than her and have better cooking skills.

But the food Zhao Erya brought out greatly disappointed her.

The supposed porridge wasn’t porridge, and the so-called dry rice was sticky.

The dish was a potato soup without even a speck of oil.

With so many ingredients in the kitchen, she still managed to make it like this?

She had some expectations for Zhao Erya, but even her skills were better than this!

It was well done, just don’t do it again next time!

Yu Xiaolian finished a few bites reluctantly and put down her bowl and chopsticks. On the other hand, Zhao Erya ate heartily, as if she had cooked something delicious.

After lunch, Sun-shi told Yu Xiaolian to change clothes, preparing to visit the Gao family later.

The days were short now, so by three in the afternoon, Sun-shi urged Yu Xiaolian to get ready to go.

As soon as they stepped out, they ran into Su Jingchen dressed in white, with a clear and stern face.

Only after asking did they find out that the groom, Gao Fusheng, was Su Jingchen’s fellow classmate from the academy.

Before they could enter the courtyard, from the alley came the joyful sound of a suona.

The wedding procession stopped at the Gao family’s door, with Gao Fusheng wearing a large red flower on his chest, looking radiant with happiness.

Under the guidance of the ceremonial woman, Gao Fusheng kicked the sedan door a few times, then lifted the curtain, reaching out to help the bride, who was covered with a red veil, step out.

"Quick, go pinch the bride!"

Someone shouted from the crowd, and a swarm of children rushed to the bride and started pinching her.

Yu Xiaolian was stunned, with wide-open eyes, originally thinking the bride would get angry, but she didn’t.

So, pinching the bride is a custom?

Yu Xiaolian couldn’t help but mutter, "How vulgar!"

"It’s a symbol of good luck, the more she’s pinched, the more blessings she receives. Even if it hurts, the bride can’t get angry." Su Jingchen explained.

Yu Xiaolian rolled her eyes, "Oh, come on, this is just the in-law’s way of showing dominance over the bride. For good luck, why not pinch you men?"

Yu Xiaolian saw a few people pinching hard, causing the bride to flinch, and felt injustice for the bride. So when Su Jingchen explained, she couldn’t control herself and vented her anger at him.

Su Jingchen, "..."

I have nothing to say.

Next, when the bride walked over the brazier, someone threw peppers into the burning brazier, making the bride choke and cough continuously.

Even standing far away, Yu Xiaolian was choked by the spicy smoke, making her cover her nose and mouth with a handkerchief.

My goodness, what kind of ridiculous custom is this, in her opinion, these so-called customs are just meant to torment the bride.