There is a small river at the east end of the village, and there are always many women washing clothes by the river.
Shen Xiu held the wooden basin and slowly walked to the river when she happened to hear Mrs. Zou talking to some women.
The sound of the river flowing did not cover up Zou's loud voice, "I have never seen such a partial mother-in-law. Even if she favors the second child, now she also favors his wife. I am really miserable. I don't know this.
When does the day end?"
"Since your mother-in-law is so partial, let's forget about dividing the family."
"Yes, your brother-in-law is already married, so it's time for the family to be divided."
Mrs. Zou originally complained a few words, but when she heard the word separation, her eyes suddenly lit up. Yes, why didn't she think of separation?
"Sister-in-law, what are you talking about?" Shen Xiu came over with a wooden basin, her voice was not loud, but it shocked Zou.
Zou's mind was filled with thoughts of family separation. When she heard Shen Xiu's voice, her expression changed, "You, why are you here?"
Shen Xiu smiled softly and said, "I came to the river to wash clothes. I didn't expect that I heard you talking about the separation of the family as soon as I arrived."
The gentler her voice sounded, the more it sounded in Zou's ears. She said with a flustered face: "Who said the family was separated? I didn't say it, so don't talk nonsense."
Zou wanted to separate the family, but she also knew that her parents-in-law would not agree. So this matter could only be done secretly. Now that Shen Xiu broke it out, she was naturally panicked, for fear that the other party would tell her parents-in-law.
Shen Xiu just smiled at her, showing an expression that I didn't believe, and then went to the other end of the river again.
Compared with the women on Zou's side who have been married for several years, the other side of the river is mostly populated by older girls and younger wives.
As soon as Shen Xiu came over, she attracted the attention of many people. These people were attracted to her firstly because Shen Xiu rarely came to the river to wash clothes, and secondly because of the embroidered dress she was wearing.
Trini, the girl from the Li Chang family, noticed Shen Xiu's embroidered clothes at first sight. She came directly with her wooden basin and asked, "Where did you get these clothes?"
Shen Xiuhan smiled and said: "I embroidered it myself, it looks good!"
"Did you embroider it yourself?" Trini asked in surprise: "You can also embroider clothes?"
Others heard their conversation and gathered around. Wei Yan's new daughter-in-law was lazy and greedy, so she came over to do laundry for the first time today. I didn't expect that she could also embroider.
"I don't think she embroidered it. She probably asked someone to embroider it." The speaker was Chunhua who lived next door to the Wei family.
Chunhua is two or three years older than Shen Xiu. She has admired Wei Yan, who has a talent for reading, since she was a child. Unfortunately, when Wei Yan was seriously ill, her family did not agree with her marriage. Now that Wei Yan has recovered, Chunhua regrets it so much.
Naturally, Shen Xiu was also displeased.
Chunhua's reputation was much better than Shen Xiu's, so after she said this, several older girls looked at Shen Xiu with a little suspicion.
Shen Xiuze met everyone's attention openly and explained seriously: "This wishful pattern was indeed embroidered by me, which means that everything goes well and everything goes as you wish. This pattern may seem complicated to you, but in fact it only uses Qi stitch and
It’s not difficult to do two kinds of acupuncture with a single set of needles.”
These few words she said were simple, but in other people's ears it was different.
Embroidery may not be a rare skill in the city, but in a rural place like Weijia Village, it is a great thing to know how to do it.
No one could understand what "Qi Zhen" and "Single set of needles" were. They only knew that Shen Xiu's ability to speak these two embroidery terms meant that she was not lying.
She does know how to embroider, and her skills are not bad.
It was Trini who was the first to speak again: "I knew it was you who embroidered it. When others say that, it's just jealousy." After saying that, she glanced sideways at Chunhua.
Chunhua didn't say anything. She dared to offend Shen Xiu, but she didn't dare to offend Cui Ni. Cui Ni was the girl from the Li Chang's family, and she was also promised to the son of Li Yamen in the county. The people in the countryside were afraid of the government, and Chun Hua was even more afraid of the Li Zhang.
Trini's future in-laws.
Chunhua stopped talking, and the others would not get into trouble with Shen Xiu for no reason. Instead, they pulled Shen Xiu around and asked questions. Shen Xiu repeated her original excuse of learning embroidery from the widow.
Trini heard that Shen Xiu could not only embroider this wishful pattern, but also embroider better flowers on clothes. She couldn't help but be tempted, so she took her to a secluded place.
"Do you really know how to embroider clothes?" Trini asked seriously.
Shen Xiu guessed that she wanted to ask him to help with embroidery, and this was the purpose of her coming to the river.
"I don't have many tools at hand, so I can only embroider some simple flowers, such as orchids, lilacs, and plum blossoms." Shen Xiu also answered seriously.
Trini said: "Let me tell you the truth, my family has arranged a marriage for me, and the dowry is almost ready, but a few clothes have not yet been prepared."
In fact, Trini didn't want her husband's family to look down on her, so she had to make two embroidered clothes according to the latest styles in the county. But then she would have to hire an embroiderer. I heard that a more skilled embroiderer could embroider one piece of clothes.
The wages were enough to cost two taels of silver. The family felt it was a bit wasteful. It was just clothes, so why bother to embroider them?
Today, Trini and her mother had another quarrel about clothes, so she got angry and went to the river to wash clothes alone. She was supposed to relax, but unexpectedly she met Shen Xiu.
"I think the style of your clothes is good, and the embroidery patterns are good. They are no worse than the new clothes in the county. I just don't know if you are willing to help me make some clothes. Don't worry, I will definitely pay you for the work." Trini.
After saying that, he waited for Shen Xiu's reply.
Shen Xiu pretended to be hesitant and said: "Actually, I also want to help, but I also have to help with the cooking, so I probably don't have that much time. And I don't have bright embroidery thread on hand, so I'm afraid that the embroidered patterns won't look too good."
People generally don't cherish things that are too easy to obtain.
Shen Xiu has dealt with customers so many times, so she naturally knows not to be too happy at this time, otherwise her embroidery skills will not be sold at a good price.
It's just that Trini was not her original customers. She didn't understand the meaning of her words, but instead seriously helped her think of a solution.
"It's not difficult to get bright embroidery threads." Trini quickly thought of a solution. "My mother can make dyes, so we can dye the threads ourselves. But we have run out of dyes at home, so we have to go to the mountains to pick fresh ones.
Bluegrass and comfrey.”
Shen Xiu was awakened by this sentence. She had forgotten that this was an era of self-sufficient agriculture. Not only were the clothes worn by people in the countryside knitted by themselves, but even the cloth was dyed by themselves. She could definitely learn from the people here.
Make dyes so you can get the embroidery thread you want.
"Then let's go up the mountain tomorrow!" After Shen Xiu said it, she realized that her tone was too excited, so she added another sentence, "I haven't gone to the mountains since I got married."
Trini also felt that this matter should be done sooner rather than later, "Then let's go tomorrow. I'll wait for you by the river at dawn."
With her first business deal and new ideas, Shen Xiu was in a good mood. She hurriedly washed her clothes by the river and returned home.
It was already high in the sky, and Wei Fu and Wei Ping, two people who had been working in the fields, had been back from the fields for a while.
Before Shen Xiu came back, Yang thought that the other party was lazy again. Until Shen Xiu came back, the first thing he did was go to the kitchen to cook, and Yang didn't say anything else.
It's mid-April now, the leanest days. Besides, my family owes so much debt, so lunch is as simple as breakfast.
It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice. Shen Xiukong had good cooking skills, but he didn't have a chance to show off. He only cooked a pot of multi-grain porridge and cut a plate of pickles.
The adults all knew about the situation at home, and no one said anything. Only Shuanzi took a mouthful of porridge and curled his lips and said, "Mom, I want to eat meat."
Zou didn't even think about it before she slapped him on the butt. "What kind of meat can you eat? It's good if you have porridge to drink."
Shuan Zi burst into tears.
Yang said displeasedly: "Why are you beating your child? What does a two-year-old child know?"
Ms. Zou didn't dare to talk back to her mother-in-law, so she had no choice but to coax her son, but she couldn't do it well.
Just when Ms. Zou looked anxious, Shen Xiu spoke, "Mom, I think Shuanzi is really hungry for meat."
Yang said angrily: "How can I have spare money at home to buy meat?"
Shen Xiudao: "Mom, that's not what I meant. I know that my family doesn't have enough money to buy meat, but when I was at my parents' house, my eldest brother once picked mushrooms from the mountains. The taste of the mushrooms is no worse than meat."
Yang frowned and said, "Some poisonous mushrooms can kill people if eaten."
Shen Xiudao: "I know. My elder brother told me and taught me which mushrooms are not poisonous. I want to go to the mountains tomorrow. If I encounter mushrooms that are not poisonous, I will pick some and give them to everyone.
If you're lucky, you might even catch a pheasant during the tooth-beating festival."
She knew that if she told Yang directly to go to the mountains to collect blue grass, Yang would probably not agree to her spending a day in the mountains to collect blue grass for dyeing.
It happened that Shuanzi wanted to eat meat, so he took this opportunity to pick the bluegrass and comfrey when he was picking mushrooms.
Sure enough, when he mentioned pheasant, Shuanzi's mouth watered, "Chicken, I want to eat chicken."
After all, Mrs. Yang felt sorry for her grandson, so she thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then you go and come back early."
Zou didn't have much idea at first, but when she heard Shen Xiu talking about pheasants, she couldn't help but feel a little moved. After Yang agreed, she said, "Brother and sister, I'll go with you. There will be multiple people and helpers."
Shen Xiucai didn't want to go with her, so he took her there to collect bluegrass and comfrey. She simply refused and said, "I can go alone."
Zou wanted to say something more, but Shen Xiu suddenly smiled meaningfully: "Sister-in-law, I heard you when I was by the river today..."
Mrs. Zou was afraid that she would say the word "separate the family", so she hurriedly said: "Since my younger siblings are willing to go alone, then I, the elder sister-in-law, will not get involved."
Shen Xiu didn't say anything anymore, but looked at Mr. Zou and smiled slightly. With this excuse, she saw how Mr. Zou would make things difficult for her in the future.