Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 127 Purchasing Fabric

Cheng Chunhua certainly wouldn't refuse: "Okay, I'll still be selling vegetables here tomorrow. Can I come pick you up before I go home after the lunch market ends so we can go together?"

Grandma nodded: "Then I'll trouble you. We'll prepare the cotton cloth and quilt cover for the bedding today and take them with us tomorrow."

Cheng Chunhua agreed, but Jing Yan grabbed her hand, wanting to pay for the cotton. Cheng Chunhua held her hand and said, "Sister, don't rush to pay for it. I'll take the cotton back first. After you've placed your order with Aunt Hehua tomorrow, you can calculate the cost based on the amount of cotton you need. It won't make a difference if you pay me one more day."

Having said that, they naturally followed Cheng Chunhua's wishes. After seeing her off, He Zhijun also took apart the meat grinder blades with great interest, cleaned them, and put them back together. Several people tried grinding meat by hand, and it was indeed very fast. The meat was minced enough after just one pass. This speed was truly surprising.

He Zhijun was honored to accept the job of mincing meat, while Sister Wang stayed home to take care of the children and make braised meat. Jingyan went to the supply and marketing cooperative with her grandmother. Her grandmother was responsible for choosing the colors and materials, while Jingyan was responsible for picking up the goods and paying the bill. The division of labor was reasonable.

Seeing that her grandmother was picking out fabric for quilts, Jingyan asked, "Grandma, aren't you going to buy some fabric for making clothes? We have enough cotton, so we can ask Aunt Hehua to make a few cotton-padded clothes for Uncle and the others."

Grandma shook her head and refused: "Your uncle has been away from home for too long. I don't even know if his figure has changed, let alone the size of the family. Let's forget about this. No matter how hard things are over there, he can't afford to support the family. As for bedding, I'm afraid they can't get such a large quantity over there. We can just make a few for them."

Seeing that her grandmother knew what she was doing, Jingyan didn't say anything more and focused on helping her grandmother with her research. It was still too far away, otherwise she could have taken her grandmother to visit her uncle. After all, he was a child raised by her grandmother, so how could she not miss him?

When the grandmother and grandson returned home, the minced meat had already been mixed and marinated with seasonings by Sister Wang. The sausage casings had also been almost finished by He Zhijun. All that was left was to stuff the sausages. The efficiency was top-notch.

Everyone in the family is already very familiar with making sausages, but in the past, making them by hand was always time-consuming and laborious. This time, Jingyan put a rolled-up kraft paper sleeve on the outlet of the meat grinder, making it wider and narrower.

Sister Wang held the thicker end down, while Jingyan slipped the casing over the narrower end and held it in place. He Zhijun then passed the seasoned minced meat through the meat grinder a second time, using the force of the grinder to directly fill the casing.

I must say, it's really good. It's just that He Zhijun needs to be careful about the speed at which he stuffs the meat. If he's too slow, there will be gaps in the casing due to the meat not being stuffed in properly. If he's too fast, Jing Yan won't have time to help him smooth it out. Fortunately, the two of them worked together for a while and got the hang of it.

After filling several sections of casing with the filling, everyone tied the sausages together with cotton thread and hung them on the clothesline in the yard. Once they were hung up, the row of sausages was quite impressive.

When neighbors who came to buy braised meat saw this, some actually bought two pieces to stir-fry with chili peppers. He Zhijun was also very happy to see how skillfully they collected money and weighed the meat: "You really are someone who can't sit still."

Jing Yan picked out a few sausages and handed them to He Zhijun: "The New Year is just a week away. Take these sausages and this bag of pastries to Yuan Xiaoling's house later. Aunt Yuan has helped us a lot. All the customers we have now were contacted with the help of Aunt Yuan. If it weren't for Aunt Yuan's help in promoting our business, it wouldn't be so successful."

He Zhijun took it and casually asked, "Given your personality, you wouldn't be stingy. Why didn't you give Aunt Yuan a tip for her hard work?"

"Not all relationships need to be maintained with money. Aunt Yuan was just being kind and genuinely felt sorry for us when we first arrived, which is why she helped us. Besides, do you think she's short of money?"

"If I just give them money directly, it might push the Yuan family away. It's better to treat them like relatives, sending them treats when we have something nice. The sentiment is more important than anything else." Jing Yan rolled her eyes at him and said.

He Zhijun nodded innocently, greeted his grandmother, and then went out. Jing Yan only then noticed that He Chaoli wasn't home. "Grandma, have you seen Xiaoli?"

Grandma looked around but couldn't find him, and she started to panic: "Yes, where did he go?"

An'an sat on a small stool, petting the cat. Hearing her mother looking for her, she said, "When you were making sausages, Brother Xiaoli ran out. He must have gone to play with Brother Huzi and the others."

Jingyan patted his little head and praised, "An'an is so good. He's so thoughtful at such a young age. He'll definitely be a very considerate child when he grows up." After saying this, she hurriedly went out to look for him.

Sister Wang was a little confused: "Jingyan doesn't seem very happy. Doesn't Xiaoli go out to play every day? Why is Jingyan in such a hurry today?"

Grandma also shook her head, "I don't know."

After Jingyan went out, she looked around but couldn't find the child. She ran into a neighbor, and they greeted each other. The neighbor lady asked with a smile, "Girl, where are you going?"

Jing Yan smiled and said, "Auntie, I'm looking for my nephew. I haven't seen him since he ran out to play, so I came out to look for him."

"Then go check on Tiger's family over there. A few days ago, Tiger's aunt who got married came back with her child, including a little girl. She's so cute and adorable. Those little rascals must have gone to see their little sister." The old lady said to her with a smile. In these days, gossipy old ladies are the best intelligence network. Almost no one can keep anything from them.

Jingyan was naturally grateful and thanked him repeatedly before heading to Hu Zi's house. As soon as she arrived at the gate, she saw seven or eight little boys fawning over a well-dressed girl. Yes, they were fawning over her. Some were giving her candy, others peanuts and melon seeds. They were stuffing the little girl with snacks that they themselves wouldn't normally eat.

The little girl stood to one side, picking and choosing the candies with wrappers still attached. She looked at the little boys' dirty hands with disdain and shook her head, refusing the rest: "I don't want the rest. Your hands are so dirty. You can't eat things that have been touched by dirty hands, or your tummy will hurt."

The usually boisterous boys suddenly became reserved and started clamoring to wash their hands. Tiger's mom quickly fetched water for them to wash their hands. It was rare for these mischievous monkeys to be so clean, so she had to keep an eye on them. She was quite busy with all that.

Jing Yan leaned against the door frame with a smile, looking at the group of children in the yard. She was somewhat glad that they hadn't gone into her yard, otherwise the noise would have been too disturbing.

He Chaoli is a clean person. Unless he is digging in the sand or climbing trees, he is always clean. Well, compared to the other children, he is clean. He was squatting outside the group of children, playing with glass marbles with Hu Zi.

Tiger asked him, "They all like to surround my cousin, why don't you go join them?"

He Chaoli replied calmly and gently, "I don't like her, why would I go?"

Tiger pouted, "My cousin is so pretty! None of the girls around here are as pretty as her."

He Chaoli didn't even look up: "Whether she's pretty or not has nothing to do with me. She's not my sister. If my aunt gives birth to a sister for me, that would be the prettiest sister. I'll take her out to play and protect her as she grows up."

"How do you know your aunt's daughter will be pretty?" Tiger really didn't understand this logic.

“Because my aunt is beautiful and my uncle is handsome, their daughter must be beautiful too.” He Chaoli’s words are still logical.

Jing Yan was so engrossed in eavesdropping that she didn't even notice He Zhijun walking up to her until he whispered in her ear, "Jing Yan, what are you looking at? You seem so happy."

Jing Yan turned her head sharply and saw it was him, then relaxed: "Your nephew isn't swayed by beauty. He even told Hu Zi that our future daughter will definitely be the most beautiful. He's quite the smooth talker."

Seeing that she was really into eavesdropping, He Zhijun didn't interrupt her. Instead, he joined her in eavesdropping.

"Grandma said that my uncle was attracted to my aunt because she was pretty. I guess my aunt was attracted to my uncle because he is not ugly either. Good-looking people are easily coveted. I will keep an eye on my sister myself in the future."

While Ho Chiu-lai was still chatting with Tiger about how he would pamper his younger sister in the future, the little girl walked up to Ho Chiu-lai, squatted down, and asked, "What's your name? Why don't you come and be my friend?"

He Chaoli looked up at her and said, "My name is He Chaoli. I have Tiger with me, so I don't need to be friends with you."

The little girl must have been pampered growing up, as she has a somewhat domineering personality: "I'm so pretty, you should like me a lot, so why are you ignoring me?"

He Chaoli retorted: "If we're talking about beauty, I'm prettier than you. If you want to see, I can look in the mirror and see myself. At the very least, my aunt is prettier than you. After seeing my aunt so many times, I don't think anyone else is pretty anymore."

Jing Yan was shocked by his words and looked at He Zhijun with a look of horror: "Am I really that devastatingly good-looking? Even a child who is only a few years old thinks I am the most beautiful person in the world?"

He Zhijun touched his nose: "You are good-looking, but not so good-looking that no one can compare to you. The main thing is that you give people a very comfortable feeling, especially since you love to smile. Your smile makes people feel better. That's probably why Xiao Li thinks you are the most beautiful."

Jing Yan nodded in agreement: "I knew it. It's not like I don't look in the mirror. I'm not ugly, but I'm not stunning either. I thought Xiao Li had some kind of cognitive impairment."

However, Jingyan was too complacent. As soon as the little girl heard He Chaoli say she wasn't pretty, she started crying, startling everyone present. The first to react was Hu Zi, his cousin, who quickly ran over to comfort her.

He Chaoli glanced at the girl, pursed his lips, and said, "Crybaby." He then turned and walked towards the door. After taking only a few steps, he saw Jing Yan and He Zhijun by the door. He immediately smiled and called out in a clear voice, "Auntie, are you here to take me home? Uncle, what are you doing here too?"

He Zhijun pressed his head down impatiently: "Why can't I be here? Can't I come out with your aunt?"

Jingyan slapped his hand away. "Yes, Auntie's here to take you home. Let's go." She then took He Chaoli's little hand and turned to leave. The little girl, hearing He Chaoli call her "Auntie," stood up and looked over. She then ran over, tilted her head back, and spoke in a soft, sweet voice:

"Auntie, am I not pretty enough? My classmates all say I'm pretty and they all love to play with me. Why is it that he thinks I'm not good-looking and doesn't want to play with me?"

Jing Yan thought for a moment, then let go of He Chaoli's hand, squatted down, looked up slightly at the girl in front of her, and said gently, "Being pretty isn't a girl's asset, much less a means to make friends."

Girls often face a tougher life than boys. To have many friends and be the center of attention, you need to be more outstanding than others. Only outstanding people can attract friends of the same caliber. Beauty alone won't earn you respect; it will only attract curiosity.

It's actually too early to tell you this now, but I want you to remember it: read more books, for a person's inner beauty shines through, and that's what makes a girl truly beautiful. Got it?

The little girl seemed a bit confused, but her adorable appearance melted Jingyan's heart. She couldn't resist reaching out and pinching her cheek: "You are very pretty and cute, but even the prettiest child won't be liked if they are domineering. If we want others to like us, we have to give them respect. No one will always cater to you, understand?"

The little girl asked in a soft voice, "Auntie, do you think I have an unpleasant personality and don't like me?"

Jingyan laughed at her words: "Of course I won't dislike you. Everyone has their own personality. As long as you stay true to yourself, are kind and honest, you'll have friends who like you by your side."

Don't try to please everyone. Whether that idea is right or wrong is another matter, but wanting so much will make you more tired than others. Life is hard enough; why torture yourself like that? Isn't living a simple life better?

The little girl probably didn't understand, but her mother came over when she heard her child crying. That's what Jingyan said. She stepped forward somewhat embarrassed, took the little girl's hand, and said to Jingyan, "Thank you."

Jingyan stood up, smiled at her, and said, "I have a suggestion. Children are still young, and their sense of right and wrong is very weak. If parents always talk about how pretty and beautiful they are, the children will focus on those things because of their parents' preferences."

This can easily lead to distorted thinking, and I don't think this kind of thinking is very good for girls. Of course, I'm just expressing my opinion, not trying to interfere in your education. Sorry.

The little girl's mother quickly shook her head: "No, no, I'm very grateful that you're willing to teach my child. Although she's still young and may not understand much, this has reminded me that I used to think that little girls should be dressed up nicely to attract attention, without paying attention to the impact on the child. I will pay attention in the future."

Jingyan exchanged a few polite words with them before bidding them farewell. Holding He Chaoli's hand, she walked home. The setting sun cast long shadows of the three of them on the ground, creating a warm and loving scene.