Chapter 60: Little Swallow in Flowered Attire

Worried that Qiqi, Gray, and Zhui Feng might cause trouble for the satin and cotton, Chen Feng quickly carried them to the bedroom in the east and placed them in a box.

When the golden swallow was around, Zhui Feng used to sleep in the east room. Since it went to the space, Zhui Feng had also moved to the west room.

In the evening, Chen Feng made two bowls of noodles. Although they were plain, the seasonings were complete, and they tasted good, making Dabao lick his lips.

Just as they started eating, they heard a knock on the side door.

Chen Feng got up to open the door and found Chen Dahua. He said, “My mother wants to ask Dabao a few questions.”

That Hu woman, she really was a nuisance, coming all the way here.

Chen Feng didn’t want to let Dabao go, but she was afraid that if Dabao didn’t go, Mrs. Hu would come over, making it impossible for her to get anything done. She had to let Dabao go, giving him a signal. Dabao nodded, indicating that he knew what to say. He was reluctant to leave his bowl of noodles and took the bowl with him to the main house.

After finishing her meal and washing the dishes, she heard a knock on the door from Dabao.

Dabao came in, his eyes red and his small mouth tightly pursed. He put the empty bowl on the stove and then tightly hugged Chen Feng’s waist, pressing his small face against her stomach.

Chen Feng hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong, my son?”

Dabao whispered, “Grandma asked me about what happened at Tangyuan. I said that young Miss Chu found it boring at Tangyuan, so she asked me to accompany her. I didn’t dare say that she likes the birds, fearing that Grandma might have ill intentions towards Qiqi and the others. Grandma Hu asked me to take Dahua and the maidservant to Tangyuan tomorrow and said that they are smarter and more pleasing than me, and that they would surely gain the noblewoman’s favor. Grandpa said it wasn’t allowed, fearing that it might disturb the noblewoman and wouldn’t be good for Dahua and the maidservant. My great-grandmother and grandmother thought the same and said that it’s better to win the noblewoman’s favor, and if not done right, it could backfire. Grandma Hu said that my grandfather didn’t show gratitude, and didn’t acknowledge the kindness of my upbringing, and even feared that my grandfather’s descendants might prosper. It was only after Grandpa Ye scolded her a few times that she stopped causing a scene.” After speaking, he started crying.

That Hu woman was truly despicable.

Chen Feng lifted Dabao and kissed his little face, saying, “My son, don’t be sad. In your mother’s heart, you are her own son. Not only me, but even your grandfather, grandmother, and uncle think so too.”

Dabao asked with a sniffle, “Is it true?”

Chen Feng said, “Of course it’s true. Do you not see how good we are to you?” After a series of sweet words, she finally managed to make the little guy smile through his tears.

Chen Feng brought the kang table to the east room from the west room. She didn’t dare to do these things in the west room for fear that the little ones might cause a mess.

She drew various little swallows on the paper, while Dabao read beside her.

Dabao looked at his book, but was also captivated by the swallows his mother drew, exclaiming how beautiful and cute they were. He scratched his head and said, “Mom, although these birds aren’t exactly like swallows, you can tell at a glance that they are swallows. How is that?”

Chen Feng smiled and said, “As long as you capture the distinctive features of the little swallow, even if you exaggerate some details, it can still be recognized as a swallow. It’s not just with swallows, it’s the same with other things, the key is to capture the features…”

Chen Feng drew various forms of little swallows and chose a few. She decided to make a few swallow dolls that were exactly like the golden swallow, as well as some exaggerated ones.

The young girl was leaving soon, and she wouldn’t be able to make many in the next two or three days. The key was that these dolls had to be more exquisite this time, and sewing satin was more difficult than sewing fine cloth. After calculating the time, she realized that with Mrs. Wang’s help, she could finish a dozen or so. She planned to make one extra-large swallow measuring 60 centimeters long, six medium-sized swallows measuring 30 centimeters long, and ten normal-sized swallows.

She cut the fabric according to proportion and color coordination.

After some thought, she cut out an additional medium-sized swallow, which was to be a gift for the golden swallow.

The attire for these dolls wasn’t entirely authentic with blue wings and white bellies. Instead, most of the swallows were made to wear flowered attire, with yellow wings and red bellies, crimson wings and white bellies, and so on. Tomorrow, she would have Mrs. Wang embroider some flowers on the satin and add lace borders to the wings, making them more exquisite and upscale.

While making these items, she was sure that the satin wouldn’t be entirely used up, but she needed more cotton, so she decided to add some more from home.

Chen Feng fully utilized her imagination and intelligence, determined to make these swallow dolls excellently. This wouldn’t just help the little girl and bring her as much joy as possible, but it would also be a way to thank Abbess Liao Chen for her kindness, to prevent certain servants from having ill intentions towards Dabao and the golden swallow, and to show goodwill to the poor Chen Feng and Mrs. Wang. It would also help improve relations with Tangyuan, giving their family a stronger footing. According to Dabao, Steward Luo was very kind and took good care of him.

After making these dolls, there would be plenty of satin left. She also naively thought that she would make a set of splendid blue robes for Chen Ming, a blue autumn and winter outfit for A’Lu and Dabao, a moon-white summer outfit for school, a brown outfit for Mrs. Wang, a moon-white mid-layer outfit and pants for herself, and a red or crimson vest.

As for Grandma Chen , she would make her a set and give one piece of satin each to Chen Ye, Chen Dahua, and Chen Daya for them to make themselves. As for Mrs. Hu, she wouldn’t give her any.

She heard from Dabao that Steward Luo have a six-year-old granddaughter and a four-year-old grandson, so she decided to make two lovely dolls for these children as well.

It wasn’t just about using this fine satin for clothing and gifts, the main goal was to show others that their relationship with Tangyuan was not superficial. This way, Tangyuan’s Madam would have a different view of them, knowing that they were even willing to give such fine satin. It would also prevent anyone from daring to bully their family in the future.

The more she thought about it, the happier she became and couldn’t help but hum a familiar children’s song from her previous life: “Little swallow, in flowered attire, comes here every spring. I asked the swallow why it comes, and the swallow said, ‘The spring here is the most beautiful.'”

She repeated the first part of the song several times but didn’t sing the second part, as its content was too rebellious for this era.

After a while, she looked up and saw Chen Dabao gazing at her, his big eyes shining brightly.

Seeing that she had stopped singing, Dabao excitedly said, “Mom, the song you sang is so beautiful, even better than the singers on the stage.”

The mother of Gao Lizheng celebrated her 60th birthday last year and invited a theater troupe from the county town to perform. Chen Dabao had also gone to watch it.

Chen Feng smiled and said, “Dabao, that’s not an appropriate comparison. The people on the stage sing plays, while I sing songs. They aren’t comparable.”

Chen Dabao pursed his lips and said, “Anyway, my mother is talented, she sings songs so beautifully.” His expression was blissfully proud.