Chapter 21 — When Things Go Abnormally, There Must Be a Demon

Wen Nian finished tidying up the room.

She locked the bedroom door.

Turned on the fan, then pulled her phone out of the space.

Although she had brought the phone along, no matter what she did, it wouldn’t turn on.

When she had first transmigrated here, she didn’t know why but had fallen into the river.

She suspected the phone had gotten water damaged too.

Every now and then, she took it out to let the fan blow on it.

When the sun was out, she also dried it in the sunlight.

It had been more than two months now.

Still, the phone wouldn’t power on.

In this era, there was nowhere to get it repaired.

She didn’t dare take it out either.

After blowing on the phone, Wen Nian soaked Lin Siyun’s military jacket in soapy water.

She took out the clothes that needed alterations and a piece of light blue fabric, and packed them all into a bag.

Then she wrapped some freshly made garlic peas into small packets with greaseproof paper.

She headed to the tailor shop.

This shop was run by the family members of the military district.

The tailor was an elderly lady whose husband had sacrificed his life for the country years ago.

Later, their son also died during disaster relief and rescue work.

The old lady lived with her daughter-in-law and several grandchildren.

Without a man in the family, there was no income.

They did receive a decent amount of compensation money, but that was paid for by her husband’s and son’s lives.

It had to be saved for the most critical times.

Though they had some savings, they couldn’t just sit back and spend it all.

The daughter-in-law’s meager income wasn’t enough to support the whole family.

So the lady partitioned a small space on the first floor to take in clothes alteration jobs to help with household expenses.

The military families in the compound sympathized with them and usually supported her business.

But there was only so much help they could provide.

Everyone had lived through hard times.

Most knew some sewing and mending skills, so ordinary repairs didn’t usually come to her.

Only when new clothes were needed did the little shop get busy.

Wen Nian was delighted when she discovered this hidden gem of a shop.

She was a master at cooking, but absolutely hopeless at making clothes.

She didn’t even know how to do basic mending.

She had a whole cabinet full of clothes in her space.

But unfortunately, most of them weren’t suitable to take out now.

The styles from this era were too old-fashioned.

Luckily, the old tailor’s sewing skills were excellent.

As long as Wen Nian showed her or gave a design sketch,

the tailor could make it exactly as requested, and with a particularly good attitude.

Her craftsmanship was exquisite, and the fit was just right, almost like custom-made clothing.

The labor cost was only one or two yuan, so cheap that Wen Nian felt a bit guilty.

That’s why every time she came here to have clothes made, Wen Nian would bring some little snacks for the grandchildren.

When Wen Nian walked in, several kids swarmed around her.

“Big sister Nian Nian, what snacks did you bring today? It smells so good!”

Wen Nian smiled and took out the snacks from her pocket, waving them in front of the kids.

“Guess what?”

A ten or eleven-year-old girl came over grinning.

“Big sister Nian Nian, you’ve spent money on us again. Just come to visit, no need to bring anything next time.”

“No problem. They’re just little snacks, nothing much. I made extra today, wanted the little ones to try some.”

Wen Nian put the clothes and fabric on the workbench.

“These three dresses need the waist taken in a bit, and the hems altered. Use this fabric to make two dresses and two shirts.”

The young girl’s eyes lit up, happily taking the clothes and fabric.

The old lady glanced up at Wen Nian, gave her a kind nod, and continued operating the sewing machine.

Wen Nian was a big client here, coming every now and then for repairs or new clothes.

She was generous with her spending and never picky.

She knew the tailor was deliberately taking care of her business, always doing her best to make the clothes perfect.

Since her family’s misfortune, Wen Nian had deeply experienced the coldness of human nature and the fickleness of the world.

Girls like Wen Nian—beautiful and kind-hearted—were truly rare.

So every time those military families who loved gossip and watching drama came asking about her, she would conceal a bit.

After leaving the tailor shop, the military clothes in the basin had finished soaking.

Entering early autumn, the number of clothes needing washing had increased.

Most of them were Lin Siyun’s outerwear, who still kept the habit of changing and washing daily.

Lu’s father’s clothes weren’t her responsibility; Lin Siyun didn’t trust anyone else and always washed them herself.

As for Lu Hanzheng, he always washed his own clothes.

Since none of Lin Siyun’s clothes could be machine washed, they had to be soaked each time, which made hand washing easier.

After hanging the clothes out to dry, Wen Nian prepared the nutrient solution.

While watering the small vegetable garden outside with the spray bottle, she ran into Aunt Guiying, who had just returned from buying vegetables.

“Wen Nian, someone’s looking for you at the door.”

“Okay, who is it?”

“It’s a young girl, a bit unfamiliar, haven’t seen her before.”

Aunt Guiying carried a heavy basket of vegetables, smiling as she replied.

“Thanks, Auntie, I’ll go now.”

Having come to the city, Wen Nian only knew a handful of girls.

Besides He Xiuli—who was the female lead—there was Wen Xue.

She walked to the main gate, and sure enough, it was her.

Wen Xue wore a bright pink shalwar suit, her hair not braided into two thick plaits.

Instead, she tied two low ponytails, wearing a pair of black leather shoes.

Wen Nian clicked her tongue in her heart.

That outfit was as rustic as it could get.

Especially that pink shalwar—it was a very tricky color to pull off.

If not worn well, it looked very countryside and tacky.

Wen Xue’s smile was as bright as a flower, and she was chatting warmly with the guard at the gate.

When she saw Wen Nian, she was stunned for a long moment, her eyes full of disbelief.

She looked Wen Nian up and down carefully several times.

Wen Nian wore a white shirt paired with a light blue shalwar and a pair of white sneakers.

Though the fabric was ordinary, the style was very modern, with the waistline cinched perfectly.

It made her slender waist look delicate, and her legs long, thin, and straight.

Her black hair wasn’t braided into the stiff twin plaits typical of women here, but loosely braided into a big five-strand braid hanging to one side.

It was neither messy nor rigid, appearing gentle and complementing her small, delicate face.

And her skin—fair and glowing—was especially eye-catching.

Wen Xue stared at her for a long while, then stammered,

“Y-you’re Wen Nian?”

Her surprised expression was as if she had never seen her before.

Wen Nian inwardly doubted—could it be that Wen Xue also had memory loss?

She replied coldly and indifferently,

“Do you need something from me?”

She wasn’t a side character; she had no feelings toward Wen Xue.

Besides, they had already quarreled on her first day in this era.

Wen Xue quickly reined in her shocked expression and, unusually, stepped forward warmly to hook her arm.

“If there’s nothing, can’t I just come to find you? We’re sisters, after all.”

Caught off guard by the sudden embrace, Wen Nian got goosebumps all over.

She thought, what on earth was Wen Xue on?

Wen Xue had always looked at her with disgust and disdain before; how did her attitude suddenly change?

“It’s nothing much. You haven’t come home in a long time. Mom misses you and asked me to call you back for dinner. She even specially made braised pork, waiting just for you to come eat it.”

Hearing that, Wen Nian was even more shocked.

How could she trust it?

Did Chen Qiuwie really miss her?

Or was she just trying to pawn her off to the Zheng family?

“Come on, come on, Mom’s waiting at home for you to eat.”

Wen Nian didn’t resist and was half-pushed, half-led away by Wen Xue.

She wanted to see what the other was really up to.