vncnus Chapter 61 Hanfu
Chapter 61 Hanfu
"Beautiful Liu, long time no see! How are things going with that stinky farmer?" Zheng Dongfang was a tall man with a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He was very masculine and greeted Liu Lili right away.
"I have to say, you're such a gossip. What about you? How's it going with your sweetheart? Are you married yet?" Liu Lili rolled her eyes at him and asked.
"Hey! Don't even mention it, we broke up last year... incompatible personalities..." Zheng Dongfang sat down opposite Liu Lili and picked up the cup of coffee that Zhang Yue had drunk from, ready to drink it.
"Hey, hey, that cup is mine. If you want to drink it, go get it yourself..." Zhang Yue quickly snatched it away and sat down next to Liu Lili.
"So stingy..." Zheng Dongfang glanced at Zhang Yue with disdain, snapped his fingers, and said, "Waiter, one coffee, the same as theirs."
"What are you doing now? Why are you wandering around the school gate? I remember when we graduated, you said you were going back to your hometown to help your dad..." Zhang Yue asked.
"Hey! Don't even mention it! My family owns a hotel, right? These days, some bastard somehow managed to produce a batch of high-quality vegetables and secretly supplied them to some well-known hotels. This has widened the gap between us and them, and our revenue has plummeted. We're almost starving now. The leading one of those well-known hotels is the Yingning Hotel. I rented a hotel across from the school and have been keeping an eye on things here, hoping to catch that bastard and beg him to sell us some of his high-quality vegetables too..." Zheng Dongfang gritted his teeth as he thought of the guy who was ripping off the high-quality vegetables, but he was also quite helpless.
The coffee arrived, and Zheng Dongfang picked it up, tilting his head back to gulp it down. The scalding coffee made his face and neck turn red. He handed the cup to the waiter who hadn't yet left, "Another cup..."
The waiter glanced at Zheng Dongfang as if he were a monster, then turned around to pour him another drink.
"Did the gun get burned raw?" Zhang Yue asked cautiously.
"Need I say more? Look at the way he got burned..." Liu Lili covered her mouth and laughed.
"No wonder that stinky farmer looks down on you! You're so unkind. Look at Zhang Yue, she even cares about us when we're suffering..." Zheng Dongfang said with a bitter face.
"You shouldn't even be talking to me..." Liu Lili rolled her eyes at Zheng Dongfang, took a sip of her coffee with relish, smacked her lips, and said, "It's so warm and smooth, so fragrant and rich, it's absolutely delicious..."
"I've discovered you're really wicked. That stinky farmer is really self-aware. If he gets along with you, he'll be completely under your thumb... Hahahaha..." Zheng Dongfang said, laughing heartily.
"You despicable bastard..." Liu Lili laughed as well.
"Zheng Dongfang, do you know about Yang Ming's wedding?" Zhang Yue asked.
"Of course I know, what's our relationship? We're best buddies, they even sent the invitation to our house..." At this moment, the waiter brought over another cup of coffee. Zheng Dongfang took it, gently blew on it to cool it down, and took a sip.
"Do you know what Yang Ming's girlfriend looks like?" Zhang Yue asked curiously.
"Hmm..." Zheng Dongfang had never seen Wei Qingqing before. But when a bunch of young people get together, they're bound to talk nonsense, right? "Looks? She's alright, definitely not as pretty as Liu Lili..." Liu Lili had just given a knowing smile when Zheng Dongfang continued, "But she's definitely gentler than Liu Lili... Think about it, a guy with that kind of farmer's personality, if he married a strong woman, would he be able to live a good life? He may be a bit simple-minded, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a temper. Deep down, he's actually quite manly."
To be honest, rural men are indeed more manly than urban men. Why? In the city, women can do the same jobs as men, sometimes even better, and earn decent wages. Their greater contribution to the family gives them confidence, and even if divorced, they can support themselves. Men can't control them. But in the countryside? Men are the main labor force, doing most of the farm work. Their contribution to the family is also the greatest. Therefore, rural men are often the undisputed bosses at home. It's said that if someone has bronchitis, taking their wife to the countryside for a few months will almost certainly cure 80% of them.
"So that's how it is... It seems Lily is really in danger..." Zhang Yue began to frown.
"Pfft..." Zheng Dongfang had just taken a small sip of coffee when he heard Zhang Yue's words, and immediately spat it out. His eyes widened as he stared at Liu Lili, "You haven't given up yet, have you? Are you planning to stage a 'Tiger King' to steal the bride on that stinky farmer's wedding day?"
"Don't listen to her nonsense, Zhang Yue, if you keep talking nonsense I'll break off all ties with you..." Liu Lili glared at Zhang Yue, annoyed. The way you're talking makes it sound like I'm chasing after Yang Ming and he doesn't like me. But thinking about it, Yang Ming is indeed a good person.
Zhang Yue stuck out her tongue and buried her head in her coffee.
The chicks that had been catching insects in the grass were gradually making their way to their nests. The ducks and geese, which had been nowhere to be seen all day, also waddled back to the yard in neat rows and settled down in a corner. The increasingly mysterious black cat, Miaomiao, slowly strolled around the yard, occasionally ruffling its fur. In the west wing, several pairs of cat eyes gleamed in the darkness; these were Mimi and her kittens.
The puppies huddled together in twos and threes, some crawling into the woodpile, others stretching their legs under the trees, scattered inside and outside the yard. Only Big Black, with his four brothers and sisters, wandered around the yard like sentinels patrolling their territory.
In the late afternoon, Aunt Dabao, the wife of village secretary Zheng Dabao, took away a small yellow dog. Before leaving, she asked about the job openings, implying that they were still hiring. Her son, a junior high school graduate, was as dull as his father and usually helped his parents with their few acres of land. Now he was getting on in years but still hadn't found a wife, which worried the couple. If they could earn a salary, it would sound good in the surrounding villages, and it would make finding a wife much easier.
After dinner, Yang Ming took a walk around the greenhouse. He was quite satisfied with the six people he had recruited that afternoon. The greenhouse was well-preserved and warm, which showed that the six people were really good at farming. Although they had never worked in a greenhouse before, they learned quickly and understood everything. Even the young girl Liu Nannan could do it with ease.
The chirping of insects, though somewhat weak, echoed in the bleakness of autumn. The night dew grew heavy, and a cool, dry breeze blew by, the mountain wind chilling one to the bone.
Yang Ming, Xiao Bao'er, and Liu Nannan were watching TV in the east room, while Wei Qingqing went to Liu's house and chatted with her.
"Sister Liu, what exactly happened? Can you tell us? Why did Grandma Bao'er try to take Bao'er away?" Wei Qingqing asked, sitting on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) in Sister Liu's house.
"It's nothing. Didn't Bao'er become your godparent? Bao'er's grandma thought I wanted to entrust Bao'er to you and then leave on my own. Although Bao'er is a girl, she is the only descendant of the Zheng family, so naturally we can't let her take a different surname. No matter how I explained it to them, they wouldn't believe me. You said they wanted to take my daughter away, wouldn't that be killing me? I got angry with them right then and there." Aunt Liu said while leisurely sewing shoe soles.
Liu Sao's words were indeed very credible, but Wei Qingqing always felt that something was wrong. She thought about it carefully, but couldn't figure it out.
"Are you and Yang Ming getting married on October 1st?" Aunt Liu looked up and scratched her scalp with a needle.
"Yes..." Wei Qingqing nodded.
"I'll give you a gift too..." Aunt Liu said, putting down the shoe sole in her hand, getting off the kang (a heated brick bed), taking out a soft measuring tape, pulling Wei Qingqing up, and starting to measure her body.
"What are you doing?" Wei Qingqing was stunned by her and raised her arm to cooperate.
"I'll make you a Hanfu..." Aunt Liu said while carefully measuring Wei Qingqing's body size.
"Hanfu?" Wei Qingqing was somewhat surprised.
"Yes, it's traditional Han Chinese clothing, the kind with wide robes and sleeves..." Aunt Liu quickly finished measuring, then took out a pencil and wrote down the data in a small notebook. "My maternal grandmother's family has been tailors in the village for generations. My mother also knew this skill, and she passed it on to me when I grew up."
"When you get married, you'll need a wedding dress, also called a ceremonial robe. It's quite complicated to wear, but it's also the most beautiful." As she spoke, Aunt Liu opened the wardrobe in the room and took out several bolts of silk fabric, some black, some red, some yellow, and some white. "These silk fabrics were part of my dowry when I got married. They were all hand-woven by home-raised silkworms on a loom."
"This feels so good...it must be worth a lot of money, right?" Wei Qingqing touched the silk fabric, feeling its smoothness and comfort, and it even shimmered with a soft luster under the light.
"What's it worth? We're just mountain folk, do you think we'd wear silk clothes to work in the fields? It's been sitting at home for over ten years." Aunt Liu swept everything off the kang (heated brick bed) to the side, laid out a clean, thin wooden board, laid the silk cloth flat on the board, measured it left and right with a soft ruler, and then drew a mark on it with talcum powder.
"Oh dear! We haven't measured Yang Ming yet! Come on, let's go to your house and measure Yang Ming's dimensions." Liu Sao pretended to be surprised, put down the slate, took the measuring tape, and pulled Wei Qingqing out the door to the neighboring courtyard to measure Yang Ming's dimensions.
Aunt Liu measured Yang Ming from head to toe, not even missing his feet. The imperial robes consisted of many parts, including not only clothes, but also a crown and shoes.
"Bao'er, you'll be going to school tomorrow, so don't stay up too late. Nan Nan will supervise you..." Aunt Liu said, then took the measurements and turned back to her yard.
Wei Qingqing didn't follow them, but instead sat down next to Yang Ming.
"What's going on?" Yang Ming leaned close to Wei Qingqing's ear and asked in a low voice.
So Wei Qingqing whispered and repeated what Aunt Liu had said to her verbatim, even mimicking her tone perfectly, "...What do you think is going on? I feel like something's not right, but I can't quite put my finger on it..."
"They're just giving you the runaround. Why would Grandma Bao'er care about Bao'er so much? Why didn't she do it earlier? And judging from the tone of Aunt Liu's voice, it sounds like she's talking about someone else. It's obviously a lie. She only said she was making clothes for us because she was afraid you would keep asking...." Yang Ming indirectly confirmed that Aunt Liu was lying.
"Then what should we do? Should we ask more questions?" Wei Qingqing said.
"Let's not ask anymore. If they don't want to tell us, it means that Aunt Liu can handle it herself and doesn't need our help. Besides, it's a family matter, and family scandals shouldn't be aired in public. We're outsiders, and they won't tell us even if we ask..." Yang Ming said.
"Okay..." Wei Qingqing nodded, sat up straight, and leaned against him to watch TV together.
"However, it's quite an unexpected discovery that Aunt Liu knows how to make Hanfu. What do you think, should we partner with Aunt Liu to open a clothing company? She can make the clothes, and we can grow mulberry trees and raise silkworms to specialize in silk fabrics and provide the raw materials. Many modern people admire Hanfu, so if we sell it, it's sure to be a huge hit, and maybe even form a brand," Yang Ming said. Since the couple wasn't whispering anymore, raising their voices didn't seem so bad.
"That's an idea, but we need to see what Liu Sao can make..." Wei Qingqing nodded.
"Brother Yang, Sister Qingqing, are you talking about my aunt making clothes?" Liu Nannan suddenly turned her head.
Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing both looked at Liu Nannan. Wei Qingqing nodded and said, "Yes, what's wrong?"
"My aunt is the most skillful with her hands. Her needlework is unparalleled in our Liu Family Village. But now that ready-made clothes are quite cheap, my aunt doesn't do it often anymore," Liu Nannan said.
"Like an old woman selling melons, praising her own wares..." Yang Ming couldn't resist teasing the little girl when he saw her eyes light up.
"No, that's not true. When I was little, my aunt made all my New Year's clothes for me. When I wore them to school, all my classmates envied me..." Liu Nannan's face turned red as she said defiantly.
"Alright, alright, let's see how it goes. If it works really well, then we'll cooperate..." Yang Ming said.
"How do we cooperate?" Liu Nannan's big eyes darted around.
"We provide high-quality silk, which is then made into silk fabric, so your aunt can process it into Hanfu..." Yang Ming said.
"How will the profits be divided?" Little Liu Nannan is now obsessed with money.
"You get six, I get four, I'm giving you a discount..." Yang Ming said.
As we all know, the value of clothing lies in the brand and craftsmanship. A garment that costs thousands of yuan may only have two hundred yuan worth of fabric at most, and the remaining value comes from the brand and craftsmanship. Yang Ming's profit-sharing method is not actually a loss. On the contrary, once Hanfu becomes popular in China, he, as a material supplier, will be able to take 40% of the profits, which is a huge bargain for him.
"You said it yourself, right? I'm going to tell my aunt." Liu Nannan immediately jumped down and ran off to Aunt Liu's yard in a flurry of activity.
Before long, the mother and daughter arrived. Aunt Liu immediately asked, "Yang Mingqing, are you really planning to start a clothing company with me?"
Aunt Liu's eyes lit up. She was a traditional woman, extremely skilled in needlework. In the old society, a woman who wasn't good at needlework simply couldn't get married. Aunt Liu was not only skilled in needlework, but also loved it; it was her usual pastime. However, since Bao'er's father passed away two years ago, the burden of the family had fallen on her shoulders, and she had to put down her needlework. If her skills could generate value and support herself and her daughter, she wouldn't want to farm. Farming was mainly a man's job. Didn't the Huangmei Opera sing, "You plow the fields, I weave cloth; you fetch water, I irrigate the garden..."? Men were the main labor force in the fields, at most planting some fruit trees. This wasn't like crops, where one crop could yield harvests for several years.
"Hmm!" Yang Ming looked at the somewhat fanatical Aunt Liu and felt a chill run down his spine. He felt as if her gaze could burn him to a crisp, so he could only nod.
"We feel that there are relatively few people wearing Hanfu in China now, so we had an idea to make Hanfu..." Wei Qingqing also felt that Aunt Liu's gaze was somewhat aggressive. Under such a gaze, she felt as if she was not wearing clothes, and her body unconsciously moved closer to Yang Ming.
"I can make Hanfu, and I can also make cheongsams..." said Aunt Liu.
"Let's forget about cheongsams. There are plenty of cheongsams on the market now. We want to establish a brand that only makes Hanfu," Yang Ming said.
"That works... You wait here, I'll go make you some clothes. Once they're done, you can see how they look. If they're good, we can work together; if not, then we'll call it quits..." Aunt Liu's eyes lit up.
"No problem..." Yang Ming nodded.
"It's so noisy, I can't even hear the TV..." Xiao Bao'er pouted and complained, but the little guy was sensible and knew to wait until the adults finished talking about their business before complaining.
"Watching for a while is enough. Watching every day will interfere with your studies..." Aunt Liu glared at her daughter, then turned and went back to her own yard. Making Hanfu is no easy task. Cutting, embroidery, and so on take a lot of effort. Even with her quick hands and feet, it would take her at least a week to make two sets of Hanfu.
"I'm going to help my aunt..." Liu Nannan ran off happily.
Only three people remained in the room: Yang Ming and his wife, and their goddaughter, Xiao Bao'er. Xiao Bao'er was completely engrossed in the TV program, while Yang Ming and his wife just stared at each other blankly.
"We still need to raise silkworms, right..." Wei Qingqing whispered.
"Of course." Yang Ming nodded.
"You raise them... I get goosebumps when I see those little bugs..." Wei Qingqing said, rubbing her arms.
"There are very few people raising silkworms now. It's a problem where we'll get silkworms. In our city, there are textile factories, but no silkworm farms..." Yang Ming said.
"Godfather, I know where to find silkworms. My grandma's house has them. If you two stop talking and let me watch TV, I'll go to grandma's house tomorrow to get them for you. Otherwise, hmph..." Little Bao suddenly interjected, looking very smug.
"Fine, you dare threaten me? I'll transform into the Big Bad Wolf and eat you up, you big fat sheep..." Yang Ming pretended to be the Big Bad Wolf and pounced on Xiao Bao'er, tickling the little guy's armpits.
"Giggle giggle..." Little Bao giggled and rolled around on the kang, trying to dodge Yang Ming's hand.
"We are Pleasant Goat, and we will fight Big Bad Wolf to the end..." Wei Qingqing immediately stood on the same side as Xiao Bao'er.
"Hey, Ms. Red Wolf, you're cross-dressing..."
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