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Chen Feng kissed Dabao twice, praising, “Wow, Dabao was already handsome, and now, in these new clothes, it’s hard to recognize you. You look like a little handsome man who walked out of a painting. Oh my, when you grow up, I wonder how many girls will like you.”
Dabao’s happy face turned red, and he said in a roundabout way, “Mom, when you praise your son like this, it makes him so embarrassed.”
Chen Feng smiled and said, “If I praise you like this every day, you won’t feel embarrassed anymore.” She then tied his hair up for him.
Dabao quickly got off the heated brick bed to put on his grass shoes and ran to the outer room. Just as Wang and Lu were getting up, they saw Dabao in his new clothes and didn’t hesitate to praise him, which made Dabao ecstatic.
He really wanted to show off outside, especially to his good playmates, Shitou and Sixizi. However, seeing the gloomy, muddy weather outside, he restrained himself and had to content himself with playing inside. Because the crotch of his pants was too low, he had to keep pulling them up.
He muttered, “Sigh, it’s raining, and I can’t go out for a walk.”
This amused the others.
Today was the first time Chen Feng cooked without letting her mother assist her. She also chopped the pickled vegetables, but she was slow and cautious, only able to slice them, not shred. After washing the pickled vegetables, she mixed in some crushed rock sugar and minced garlic. Unfortunately, there was no chili oil or sesame oil, otherwise it would have been even more fragrant.
Unlike Mrs Wang, who usually made a plain boiled egg for Chen Ming in the morning, she steamed an egg custard, adding a bit of lard and chopped green onion, creating a delicious aroma.
When the food was served, the brown rice porridge was thicker than usual. Except for Mrs. Wang, who felt a bit distressed about the additional ingredients, everyone else was delighted.
Chen Lu took a bite of pickled vegetables and said, “Sis, the pickled vegetables you made are really delicious, not too salty, and very fragrant.”
Dabao was so excited, it was as if he had made the pickled vegetables himself. Listening to his little uncle’s praise, he couldn’t help but smile. While eating the pickled vegetables, he kept nodding and said, “Yes, yes, my mom is really clever, unexpectedly so. Grandpa, try it, Grandma, try it,” and he even helped Chen Ming and Mrs Wang to some pickled vegetables.
Chen Ming also used a small spoon to serve each of them a spoonful of the steamed egg custard, saying, “Try it, A’Feng is skillful, the steamed egg custard is even more delicious.”
Mrs Wang was also very pleased and pretended to be annoyed, saying, “I also know that it’s delicious, but this is the situation at home.”
Chen Feng, clinging to her mother’s sleeve, coquettishly said, “Mom, my illness is better, and our family’s life will get better and better. In the future, I will earn a lot of money and make even more delicious food.”
In reality, Mrs Wang was only four years older than Chen Feng because she is 32 years old when she died in her previous life, but in this life, Chen Feng truly regarded her as her own mother.
Dabao, seeing his mother sweetly coaxing his grandmother, felt extremely pleased and proudly urged, “Grandma, don’t be angry. Look at how my mother is so lovable.”
Dabao’s words not only amused Chen Ming and Lu, but even made Mrs Wang laugh and pat his head, saying, “The most lovable person is you.”
The family, thinking about the various needlework baskets and sewing kits they made, had many expectations for the future, hoping for June 19 to arrive quickly. Especially Lu, who dreamed of getting his leg treated, so that he could work more in the future and protect his family.
After the meal, the rain not only continued but grew heavier.
Today, it was impossible to go to the county to buy medicine, yet Mrs Wang braved the rain to go out. She intended to buy some meat for Chen Ming from Guqiao Village to nourish him as he had been working particularly hard recently and needed to eat well.
Chen Feng diligently chopped chicken feed and then went to the backyard to feed the chickens with a straw raincoat. Chen Ming continued to weave baskets in the kitchen, wearing a padded jacket and a hat due to the cold and windy weather.
Chen Lu and Dabao were studying in the east room. Since Chen Feng’s health improved, she had taken over many tasks. She stipulated that the two boys had to study for an hour every morning and half an hour in the evening.
After feeding the chickens, Chen Feng returned to the east room. Inside, there were over twenty finished sewing baskets. Mrs Wang would always move them to the east room to avoid them being seen by occasional visitors.
The sewing baskets came in round and square shapes, in various sizes, mostly woven with bulrush, and a few with thin willow twigs. Each had the interior and edges lined and stitched with fine fabric. The interiors were sporadically embroidered with small flowers, while the edges had slightly larger flowers made with braided cords.
After inspecting the sewing baskets, she took out two needlework bags from the cupboard and couldn’t help but smile.
One rectangular needlework bag had three delicate lotus flowers and several lotus leaves stitched on one side. The half-moon shaped needlework bag had a cartoon dog’s head made of brocade, with two round black eyes, a black nose, a smiling mouth, and a cute red tongue sticking out.
On the other side of both needlework bags were several chrysanthemum-shaped fastening buttons made of cloud brocade. These fastening buttons were exquisitely crafted and were the finishing touch for the needlework bags. Moreover, such fastening buttons were not found in this era.
It was when Mrs Wang was making these fastening buttons that Chen Feng learned that fastening buttons during this era were relatively simple, mainly consisting of straight buttons made of fabric strips or knots made with fabric.
In the history of her previous life, the development of fastening buttons flourished during the Qing Dynasty. They progressed from simple straight buttons to large floral buttons imitating animals and plants, and buttons shaped like auspicious characters, becoming increasingly exquisite and complex. The fastening buttons of later times were not just simple buttons, but intricate decorations. Especially during the Republic of China, the fastening buttons on cheongsams were exceptionally beautiful and varied.
During her university days in her previous life, due to her fondness for fastening buttons, she even wrote a paper specifically on fastening buttons. She had researched a lot of material and seen many images. However, she had never made them because crafting exquisite fastening buttons was extremely difficult, requiring not only skill but also considerable effort, more so than making a set of clothes.
Although Chen Feng couldn’t make fastening buttons, she had seen and understood them. With Mrs Wang, a skilled embroiderer in the house, she had a new idea—not only to make distinctive needlework bags but also to start the reform of fastening buttons from her own home in the Dachun Dynasty.
Mrs Wang, being an experienced embroiderer, not only quickly grasped the essence of needlework bags and fastening buttons but also applied the aesthetic characteristics of this era. The items she made were exquisitely crafted, well-colored, and even more beautiful than what Chen Feng had designed. Chen Feng was very self-aware, even though she had recovered physically, the things she made couldn’t compare to what Mrs Wang made, not even one-tenth as good.
The fabric used for the needlework bags was made of brocade. When the first delicate needlework bag was born, it shone in everyone’s eyes.
However, making these needlework bags took too much time. After more than two months, only six had been made. With just over half a month until June 19, at most two more could be made.
Chen Feng had already thought about it—the sewing baskets were more common and wouldn’t fetch a high price, but these needlework bags had to be sold for a high price. They weren’t just indispensable for women, they were luxurious and exquisite items, and they represented the great reform of fastening buttons.
This time, she had only made chrysanthemum fastening buttons, but in the future, she could make other fastening buttons to earn more.