Chapter 55

Chen Qiang had been invited to bring his family over for dinner in the evening, but instead, the three of them showed up in the afternoon. Lin Daniu, looking helpless, explained on Chen Qiang’s behalf: “He’s been craving your cooking. He started talking about it yesterday. If I hadn’t stopped him, he would have come over last night and camped outside your house.”

Being exposed in front of Shen Yiyi, Chen Qiang felt quite embarrassed. “Nonsense! You’re exaggerating.”

Lin Daniu ignored him and instead whispered to Shen Yiyi: “You shouldn’t have invited him to eat. Back then, he even told me that you weren’t as good as I imagined and warned me to be careful around you.”

“Lin Daniu!”  

Hiss! Was that something she should be saying out loud?  

Who was really her husband here—him or Shen Yiyi?  

Feeling like his secrets were about to be completely exposed, Chen Qiang hurriedly tried to stop Lin Daniu.  

“I’m not as good as you imagined?” Shen Yiyi had already heard everything. She looked at Chen Qiang with a half-smile.  

On the side, Li Chen, who was setting up firewood, also cast over a dangerous glance.  

This husband and wife duo looked eerily similar when they had that chilling expression!  

Chen Qiang shuddered.  

Over the past few days, their families had been gathering firewood in the mountains together. He had seen with his own eyes how Shen Yiyi treated his Brother Chen and Three Baos, and he was gradually starting to believe that she truly intended to live a good life with his Brother Chen.  

Afraid that the dinner he had been looking forward to might slip away, he quickly raised a hand and pretended to slap his own mouth. “Sister-in-law, I was wrong! You are beautiful, kind, gentle, generous, virtuous, and graceful. You are unbelievably good! I was foul-mouthed, blind, and utterly in the wrong! I deserve a thousand deaths! I’ll slap myself—can you forgive me?”  

He rattled off his words without even pausing for breath!  

Shen Yiyi couldn’t help but laugh. She had never actually taken Chen Qiang’s words to heart. After all, even Li Chen hadn’t trusted her at first—let alone Chen Qiang.

But Shen Yiyi saw no need to explain anything to Chen Qiang. She wasn’t the one spending her life with him. As long as he had no ill intentions, everything else could be left to time.  

“No, you can’t!” Shen Yiyi said directly.  

Chen Qiang’s face instantly fell. Was his much-anticipated dinner really slipping away just like that?  

Shen Yiyi pointed at the cages in the corner where chickens and rabbits were kept and ordered unceremoniously: “To make up for your mistake, go kill a chicken for me!”  

Chen Qiang’s eyes lit up. He hurriedly ran over to grab a chicken, flattering her as he went: “Alright, alright, I’ll handle it! Sister-in-law, you just go inside and sit down. Leave all the work to me—just as long as you’re the one cooking later!”  

Lin Daniu could hardly bear to look at her husband acting so greedy. She held up a package in her hands and gestured to Shen Yiyi. “Ignore him. I’ve finished making the cotton-padded clothes for you. Let’s go inside and take a look.”  

Hearing that, Shen Yiyi’s eyes brightened. “Great!”  

The two women linked arms and headed inside.  

Watching them leave, Chen Qiang couldn’t help but grumble to his brother: “Brother Chen, normally Lin Daniu wouldn’t dare talk to me like that. But the moment she’s in front of your wife, she changes completely! Does your wife have some kind of magic or what?”  

Li Chen didn’t care about how Chen Qiang’s wife behaved—he only cared about his own wife. Picking up a piece of firewood, he threw it at Chen Qiang. “So you think you can badmouth my wife behind her back?”  

“Cluck, cluck, cluck!” The chicken squawked in fright.  

Chen Qiang looked at the log on the ground with lingering fear. That was close—luckily, he dodged in time.  

But when he met his brother’s dangerous gaze again, he immediately chickened out and bolted for the kitchen. “Brother, I’ll go boil water and get the chicken and rabbit ready!”  

While the two men busied themselves outside, the two women weren’t idle inside either.  

Earlier, Shen Yiyi had given Lin Daniu eight meters of fabric and four catties of cotton, asking her to help make two pieces of clothing—one was a short cotton-padded jacket, and the other was a long coat, both intended for Li Chen.

However, Lin Daniu had made three pieces of clothing instead of just the two Shen Yiyi requested. In addition to the short cotton-padded jacket and the long coat, there was also a women’s piece—made from the leftover fabric.  

“I noticed you didn’t make anything for yourself, so since there was still plenty of fabric left, I made one for you. Try it on.” Lin Daniu said.  

Shen Yiyi was touched. When she had made clothes for Li Chen, she had wasted quite a bit of fabric. So, when she gave fabric to Lin Daniu, she deliberately included an extra meter or two, giving her some flexibility.  

She hadn’t expected Lin Daniu to use the leftovers to make something for her. Even if Lin Daniu had simply kept the extra fabric for herself, Shen Yiyi wouldn’t have minded.  

“Thank you.” Shen Yiyi said gratefully. She tried on the garment and was surprised. “I never told you my measurements—how did you get them so accurately?”  

It fit her perfectly, as if it had been tailored just for her.  

“When you’ve made enough clothes, you just learn to tell.” Lin Daniu replied with a smile.  

Shen Yiyi couldn’t help but give her a thumbs-up. “Impressive!”  

Feeling a little embarrassed by the praise, Lin Daniu humbly said: “It’s mostly because the designs you gave me were so good. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to make such nice-looking clothes.”  

“But this women’s piece wasn’t based on my drawings, was it? And it still looks great.” Shen Yiyi pointed out.  

When she had asked Lin Daniu to make the clothes, she had specially drawn two design sketches.  

The designs were a blend of current styles and some elements from future fashion trends.  

She had also considered that it wouldn’t be appropriate for the clothes to be too eye-catching in this era. So, she chose black and gray—colors that were popular at the time. When worn, they wouldn’t stand out too much, but a closer look would reveal the subtle elegance in the details.

However, Shen Yiyi wasn’t a professional designer, and her sketches were rather abstract. She had originally intended for Lin Daniu to see if she could make sense of them—if not, she could simply improvise. But to her surprise, Lin Daniu had actually managed to bring the designs to life, almost exactly as she had envisioned.  

Even the women’s cotton-padded jacket that Lin Daniu made for her was based on the two design sketches, with adjustments to better suit a female figure. She had taken the concepts and creatively adapted them.  

“Stop praising me already, I’m getting embarrassed.” Lin Daniu said, her face turning red.  

“I’m just telling the truth. What’s there to be embarrassed about?” Shen Yiyi teased. Over the past few days, their relationship had improved quite a bit.  

Although Lin Daniu was a bit timid and overly honest, she was a good and sincere person. Shen Yiyi genuinely enjoyed her company.  

As they joked around, an idea suddenly flashed through Shen Yiyi’s mind. She had a wealth of clothing designs in her head. If she combined them with Lin Daniu’s sewing skills, maybe they could work together to make money.  

Of course, the thought only lasted a moment.  

It was still 1973. The college entrance exam system wouldn’t be reinstated until 1977, and the relaxation of trade restrictions wouldn’t happen until 1978. It wasn’t until the 1980s that private businesses would start emerging. Right now, private trade was not allowed.  

In this environment, making big money by selling clothes was nearly impossible. As for small profits, she already had plenty of resources in her space that she could trade if needed—there was no need to go through all that trouble.  

Perhaps after the college entrance exams, if Lin Daniu was interested, it might be worth reconsidering.  

Killing the chicken and rabbit would take some time, and it was still early. Shen Yiyi told the two men what ingredients to prepare and left them to handle the rest.  

She then took a wool sweater and sat under the eaves to knit. Besides outerwear, she planned to make Li Chen’s undergarments and sweaters herself. After all, these were worn underneath—no one would see them even if they turned out ugly.  

Haha.  

Shen Yiyi laughed at her own thoughts.

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