Chapter 3: The Excellent Younger Sister-in-Law (3)

Xu Dacao was pulled by Xu Yin to sit on a chair. She then handed a transparent glass paper-wrapped orange-flavored soft candy to her nephew, about ten pieces, arranged to look like an orange.

Xiaodouding's eyes lit up.

"Eat it!" Xu Yin said with a smile.

He looked at his mother, then at Xu Yin, and timidly extended his little hand to take one.

He didn't dare to take more, afraid that his aunt would pinch him.

Seeing this, Xu Yin stuffed the whole bag of orange-flavored candy into his pocket.

His small pocket immediately bulged out.

Xiaodouding looked down a few times and then grinned.

"Yinyin, how do you want to mend these pants?"

Xu Dacao picked up the pants and examined them.

The rest of the pants were still quite new, but there was a small tear at the hem, which could be sewn up with a matching thread.

There was also a noticeable wear mark on the buttocks, probably due to the rough benches at school.

"Should I sew it directly or patch it?"

Xu Yin didn't want either option.

She asked her sister-in-law to cut an inch off the hem, which would neatly remove the tear.

Then, she would hem the pants, making them into the popular narrow-legged style of the future.

She also drew two denim patches.

"Cut the matching fabric and stick it on the pants, and it can serve as extra pockets."

"Hmm, that's a good idea. An extra layer can serve as a pocket and is also more durable."

Xu Dacao's sewing skills were excellent, and she quickly made the patches.

She sewed them onto the pants, cleaned up the thread ends, and said in surprise:

"After this mending, it looks like a new pair."

And it was very fashionable.

"Right?" Xu Yin was quite satisfied herself.

She had always loved drawing, from children's art, Chinese painting, sketching, to quick sketches, all the way from kindergarten to junior high school.

In the second year of junior high, her family moved into a three-bedroom apartment, and she designed the interior.

Her teachers and classmates all said she had a talent for design.

With this talent and her hard work, she won many awards.

She originally wanted to apply to the Central Academy of Fine Arts for the college entrance exam, but her parents and teachers thought her grades were too good for an art school.

They said she could aim for key universities, and with good performance, even Tsinghua or Peking University was possible.

But she was particularly passionate about design.

Her parents couldn't persuade her, so they compromised—she majored in industrial design at Tsinghua University for her undergraduate degree and then pursued a master's degree in fashion and clothing design at Donghua University.

Although she hadn't graduated when she was transported back in time, she had a good grasp of theoretical knowledge and often bought fabric to practice in her free time.

With her previous lives, where she was the daughter of a tailor in the Republic of China and a young daughter in an ancient farming household, sewing and mending were no problem for her.

It wasn't just a matter of hemming or sewing two patches; she could even make a new pair of pants on the spot.

But the original body didn't know how to do it.

Not to mention sewing, even threading a needle would probably make her bleed.

So she had to trouble her sister-in-law.

She also wanted to give her sister-in-law some new ideas:

"Right now, bell-bottoms are popular in the city, and the girls at our school love them, but I don't think they look good. I prefer this style..."

Xu Yin said as she quickly drew a sketch:

"Sister-in-law, I have some labor cloth left over from last year's coat. Could you make me a pair of pants like this?"

"Sure!"

Xu Dacao agreed without hesitation.

After all, in this family, the younger sister-in-law's matters were the top priority.

Besides, making a pair of pants was much easier than chopping wood.

Xu Yin indeed had the intention of reducing her sister-in-law's heavy workload.

She remembered that her sister-in-law had a premature birth at the end of the year, and died from excessive bleeding while giving birth to her nephew.

Calculating the time, she might already be pregnant.

Even if she wasn't, her pale and thin appearance was not good for pregnancy or childbirth.

But Xu's mother couldn't stand to see her daughter-in-law idle.

Seeing that the wood wasn't finished chopping and she was hiding in the room, she became furious and scolded in the yard:

"Oh, who else has the good fortune of my Xu family, to be able to hide in the room and slack off before noon..."

Xu Yin quickly coaxed her into the hall: "Mom, Sister-in-law is helping me!"

"It's just mending pants, right? Not done yet? I think she's just being lazy." Xu's mother said angrily.

"The mending is done. I asked her to make me a new pair of pants. Mom, you don't know, this style is very popular in the city now. Buying ready-made ones is too expensive, and finding a tailor is difficult. I checked before coming home, and the old tailor's orders are booked until the end of the year. I don't trust the apprentices' skills, and I've saved up the fabric. If it's ruined, what will I do? Sister-in-law's sewing is good, and it will save us some money. The leftover scraps can be used to make a pair of shoes..."

Xu's mother's expression improved, but she was still not in a good mood:

"When can't you make pants and shoes? Chop the wood first. I think she's just using this as an excuse to be lazy!"

"Oh, Mom, the chopped wood will last for two months. Let's leave the rest for later. After she finishes the pants, we can talk about it. For now, don't let Sister-in-law do heavy work. Look at her rough hands; I'm worried my good fabric will be damaged before it's even made into pants. I want to show off in front of my classmates! The ones they buy aren't as nice as the ones I make for free."

Xu's mother, hearing this, pointed at her forehead:

"You, always thinking about looking good! But my good daughter, you are beautiful and have the right to look good! Alright, let the eldest daughter-in-law rest for a few days. We'll chop the wood after the pants are done."

"Right, and don't let her go to the village to carry manure."

Since the land was distributed to households, each family only needed to take care of their own fields and mountain plots.

The Xu family, with fewer people, naturally had less land.

After the busy farming season, they didn't need to work in the fields all day.

But the elderly who lost their husbands and sons during the war suffered, especially with heavy tasks like carrying manure.

So the village officials announced that whoever helped the elderly carry manure would get extra fish at the end of the year when the pond was drained.

Xu's mother, without hesitation, signed her daughter-in-law up.

After all, it wasn't her who would be tired, and at the end of the year, they could earn some fresh fish for the family, why not?

"This isn't heavy work. It only happens every few days. Can't she do it?" Xu's mother said dismissively.

"Oh, the smell is too bad."

Xu Yin pinched her nose, pretending to be disgusted.

"I've wanted to say this for a long time. Every time I come back, the yard smells terrible. My new pants are still in her room; I don't want them to smell before I even wear them."

Xu's mother, hearing this, found it reasonable but still felt a bit regretful:

"Alright, she doesn't have to do it this time. We'll just have less fish and shrimp at the end of the year. I don't know if we'll get a whole fathead carp stewed with tofu, which you like so much."

"..."

No matter what, with Xu Yin's coaxing, Xu's mother finally agreed not to assign heavy work to Xu Dacao for the time being.

Besides daily household chores, other tasks would wait until the pants were done.

(End of Chapter)