Mrs. Li laughed and said: "I think third sister-in-law doesn't know the blessings of having such a capable daughter as Qibao, but she is still picking faults, if she really dislikes Qibao, why don't you just let me be Qibao's mother, I'd still like to do that!" Mrs. Zhang also chimed in.
Mrs. Wang next to her, smiled and interrupted: "Okay, don't talk about Qibao anymore. Hurry up and make all the cushions, pillows and other things Qibao said and try the effect." After that, she picked up the fabric and started cutting.
They cut the fabric into square pieces of the same size, cut all the required quantities, and then spliced and sewed the two pieces of fabric together. Xu Hua'er also helped. Seeing how quickly she threaded the needle and thread, the stitches were not only straight but also the same size. Qibao couldn't help but sigh, children in ancient times were really amazing. She can do such a small needlework so well, and it is no worse than Wang and others. She is the only exception. The family is reluctant to let her do this for fear of being pricked by needles.
Qibao praised: "Sister Hua'er, you are so young, but you are so good at needlework. It's really amazing."
Xu Hua'er was embarrassed by Qibao's praise and said: "My mother taught me this. When I first learned it, I pricked my fingers several times!"
Mrs. Wang laughed: "Hua'er's needlework is good, does Qibao want to learn it too? Yes, it's time for you to learn some things that a daughter should know, otherwise when you grow up and get married later, you won't even know how to make clothes, wouldn't that be a joke?"
When Qibao heard this, she waved her hand and said: " Grangma, I'm not going to learn sewing, I can't sit still, besides Qibao doesn't want to get married when she grows up, I want to stay by your side all the time."
Mrs. Zhang laughed and said: "What kind of girl grows up and doesn't get married, so she won't be an old girl? Even if Qibao won't be able to do needlework in the future, but Qibao will be able to read and cook, right? If anyone's family dislikes Qibao, it means that they don't care about Qibao, and we won't be looking for that kind of family." Lin smiled and shook her head, her family really favors Qibao more than herself as her own mother, so she didn't say anything.
After a while, all the cloth covers were finished, and the mother-in-law and daughters-in-law filled it with cotton until each pillow was bulging before sealing the last hole.
Qibao said: "Okay, grandma, let's take these to the couch and try them out to see if they fit." Mrs. Wang nodded, and she and a few others put the prepared cushions and pillows on the imperial couch to try. The size is just right for several people to sit on, and it feels very soft, especially when you put the pillow behind you and lean on it, it is comfortable and warm.
Mrs. Zhang said: "It's really good. It feels like you don't want to get up when you lean on it. It's softer than the bed we sleep on."
Mrs. Lin said: "I was afraid that I would waste these good things, but I didn't expect that they would be really good to use."
Qibao puffed up her little mouth and said "Mother you didn't believe me just now, you should believe me now, mother doesn't talk about me like that next time!" Everyone laughed at her words.
When they returned to the old house, they saw Elder Xu come back with his two sons to weed, put the tools in the corner of the yard wall, the Elder sat down in the hall and drank some water and said: "The second and third, you will send some vegetables to the village headman and your uncle Dafu's house, these two days the family is busy with insufficient oxcarts. We borrowed oxcarts from their house, so it is appropriate to send some things over to express our gratitude." The brothers packed two portions of vegetables and went out without saying anything.
After the Xu family had dinner at noon, Qibao taught the family how to read and write. Now everyone in the Xu family knows a lot of characters, and they can also write them. It's just that the writing is not very beautiful, but it is already very good. An hour passed quickly, and a few uninvited guests did come to the house.
A carriage slowly came to the door of Xu's house, driven by two muscular men wearing black clothes. One of the men opened the carriage curtain and saw two people coming out. One was shopkeeper Tong from Zuixianlou. There was also a young man who appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old, wearing a crescent white robe made of brocade. His hair was tied up with a white jade hairpin, and a round white jade-carved Pisces jade pendant hung around his waist, making him look like a rich man.
The young man got off the carriage, raised his brows, glanced at shopkeeper Tong next to him and asked: "Is this the house you're talking about? It looks like an ordinary farmer's house."
Shopkeeper Tong bowed respectfully and said: "Master, you not notice it. Look at the newly built house next to it. It was built by this family, and this family is not simple."
The young man said: "Are you talking about that little girl? That's right. If you don't have any outstanding qualities, you won't be accepted as a disciple by an expert." After speaking, he looked at the newly built house of the Xu family and continued: "Although this house is a bit small compared to the capital, but it does look elegant. I guess it can't be built without a few hundred taels."
Shopkeeper Tong said: "I don't know much about this either. I thought there was a cooperative relationship with our restaurant after all, so I didn't investigate it carefully."
The young man said: "Well, go knock on the door!"
Shopkeeper Tong got the order and immediately knocked on the door of the Xu family's old house. Not long after, the door opened. The person who opened the door was Mrs. Zhang. As soon as she opened the door, she saw it was shopkeeper Tong. She immediately smiled and said: "It's shopkeeper Tong, hurry up. Please come inside." Mrs. Zhang invited the people to the main hall.
When Elder Xu saw that it was Shopkeeper Tong, he immediately got up to welcome him and said: "So it's Shopkeeper Tong, why don't you notify us in advance, so that we can also prepare for the reception." At this time, the other Xu family learned that it was Shopkeeper Tong who came, immediately came to the hall and Shopkeeper Tong to meet the salute, Mrs. Zhang then got up to make tea for the guests.
Elder Xu asked: "Why is Shopkeeper Tong free to come to my Xu family today, is there something going on?"
Shopkeeper Tong replied: "Senior, I came over after the noon meal time as well, and there is indeed something that I came over for today." Then he introduced the young man beside him and said: "This is the young proprietor behind our Zuixianoul, he came here today because of the vegetables your family grows."
The Xu family noticed this richly dressed young man as soon as Shopkeeper Tong came in. It's just that Shopkeeper Tong didn't introduce him, and he couldn't ask questions. Now when he heard Shopkeeper Tong said that he was the boss behind Zuixianoul, they all looked surprised and stood up to salute.
The young man gave him a hand and said: "Senior don't be polite, my surname is Su, my name is Chenyu, you guys just call me Mr. Su, today I came here because I want to take a look at your family's vegetables, I wonder if it's convenient to take me to the vegetable field to have a look?"
Elder Xu said: "It's convenient. I'll ask my eldest son to take Mr. Su over to have a look."
Uncle Xu Dabo immediately stepped forward and said: "Master Su, please come with me. Our vegetable patch is behind the house." After that, he walked in front and led the way.
Everyone came to the vegetable plot in the backyard. The vegetable plot was not very big, but it was full of various vegetables that were growing very well. Shopkeeper Tong had always seen the vegetables sent by the Xu family. He had never seen these vegetables growing in the ground. Now that he saw it, he took a closer look at it.
Su Chenyu knelt down directly to the ground and watched the growth of various vegetables. Each seedling had no less than five fruits, some were mature, and some were still small green fruits.