Chapter 48

Xia Qingning walked to Mai Miao’s door with the clothes. She didn’t go in, but called Mai Miao out.

At this time, everyone had basically finished work and gone home to prepare dinner. A group of aunties and young wives were washing vegetables by the tap in the yard.

Mai Miao quickly came out of the house and came to the yard. Seeing Xia Qingning, the smile on her face couldn’t be stopped:

“Qingning, why are you only coming now? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

At this time, Wu’s aunt came out of the house, ready to change the coal briquettes for the stove. When she looked up, she noticed Mai Miao. She didn’t recognize her at first and asked with a puzzled look:

“When did Mai’s family have relatives coming over? Where are you from, girl?”

Mai Miao looked left and right, realizing that Wu’s aunt was talking about her. She immediately burst out laughing:

“Wu Auntie, take a closer look at who I am.”

Wu’s aunt took a closer look, finally realizing, and exclaimed in surprise:

“My goodness, Mai Miao! It’s Mai Miao! Why don’t you look like yourself?”

Her shout attracted everyone around, and when they saw it was Mai Miao, they all gathered around, chattering:

“Mai Miao, how did you become so beautiful?”

“Where did you buy this dress? It’s so beautiful!”

“And your face, who did it? Your eyes are bigger, your face is smaller, it’s really beautiful!”

Surrounded in the middle, Mai Miao said proudly:

“Qingning helped me with this.”

“Lu’s second wife, when did you learn how to do makeup? And you do it so well.” People around asked Xia Qingning with some confusion.

“Qingning not only does makeup well, but she’s also very skilled. The dress I’m wearing was made by her with those scraps she bought yesterday.” Mai Miao quickly praised.

She was now Xia Qingning’s little fan girl, looking at Xia Qingning with admiration in her eyes.

Hearing that the dress was made from scraps, everyone was stunned, and they said with some disbelief:

“How is that possible? Mai Miao, are you joking with us?”

“Who’s joking? Look, the fabric of the dress is all pieced together.” Mai Miao said as she showed it to everyone.

“It’s really made from scraps.” People next to her couldn’t help but praise after seeing it:

“Lu’s second wife, you’re really amazing.”

Mai Miao really liked this dress, she took Xia Qingning’s hand and said:

“Qingning, can you sell me this dress?” Then she thought about it and said: “How about twenty yuan?”

Although the dress was made from scraps, He Shanshan’s red dress cost twenty yuan, and hers was so much prettier than hers, she felt like she was taking advantage of Xia Qingning for twenty yuan.

“But I don’t have that much money now. Can I save up and pay you back slowly?” Mai Miao said a little embarrassed.

Xia Qingning saw her cautious look and thought it was really cute. She waved her hand and said:

“No need for money, it’s a gift for you.”

Xia Qingning had made the dress according to Mai Miao’s size, and she had planned to give it to her.

“Really!” Mai Miao couldn’t believe her ears. Such a beautiful dress, given to her for free. She was happy but felt a little guilty and said:

“But you don’t have any clothes either. You worked so hard to make one, and you gave it to me.”

“I still have a lot of fabric. I can make four or five more without any problem.” Xia Qingning said with a smile.

Hearing this, and remembering what He Shanshan said yesterday, a large pile of scraps only cost three yuan, three yuan could make five or six dresses like this. A young wife next to her immediately became envious and said:

“Lu’s second wife, I’m going to buy some scraps at the store too. Can you make me one too?”

Hearing her say this, the other sisters-in-law couldn’t hold back and said one after another:

“Make me one too.”

“And me, and me.”

“I want to make one too.”

Seeing that everyone wanted Xia Qingning to make clothes for them, Mai Miao immediately felt sorry for her and helped her refuse:

“How can that be? If everyone makes one, that will tire Qingning to death!”

Hearing the commotion in the yard, He Shanshan, who was sitting at home, curiously poked her head out. She saw everyone gathered around a woman in a blue and white dress, talking about something. Unable to contain her curiosity, she walked over to see what was happening.

As she got closer and closer, until she could see the woman in the blue and white dress clearly, she was stunned.

Was this still the ugly girl with a round face and a big forehead? She was like a completely different person.

Not only was she prettier, but she also had beautiful makeup, and the dress she was wearing was even more beautiful!

He Shanshan suddenly realized something. She was afraid that Mai Miao would use the things she said yesterday to retort her, so she immediately wanted to slip away.

But Mai Miao had already seen her. Seeing her turn to leave, she quickly grabbed her:

“He Shanshan, don’t leave! Didn’t you say that you would definitely let me see the dress after Qingning made it?” Then she lifted the hem of her skirt, turning her body left and right, showing off the dress she was wearing:

“Look, this one I’m wearing, it’s made by Qingning using the scraps you called ‘rags’. How about it? It’s no worse than your dress, right?”

She hadn’t forgotten how He Shanshan had mocked Xia Qingning’s fabric in front of everyone yesterday. Now she wanted to let her see how beautiful the dress made from those ‘rags’ she called them was.

Looking at the two standing together, everyone couldn’t help but say:

“It’s true, if you look at it this way, Mai Miao’s dress is indeed prettier than Shanshan’s.”

He Shanshan, who was already unhappy in her heart, was immediately angry after hearing this. Her dress cost twenty yuan, even if Mai Miao’s dress was prettier, it was still made from scraps. Why compare it to hers? She immediately shouted at the crowd:

“What do you know? How can her rags compare to mine? Mine is real Dacun.”

The young ladies and wives who were shouted at didn’t tolerate her. They immediately said:

“What about Dacun? It’s really not as beautiful as hers.”

“Didn’t she say yesterday that Mai Miao is ugly? Now that she’s dressed up, isn’t she prettier than her?”

“That’s right, she also said that Qingning would make people look like toads. I think her makeup looks more like a toad.”

Hahaha…

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

He Shanshan’s face turned red and white. She had never been ridiculed like this in her life. She was both angry and annoyed. Suddenly, she looked at Xia Qingning. It was all because of her. If she hadn’t made Mai Miao look like this, everyone wouldn’t have laughed at her.

She suddenly rushed to Xia Qingning in a fit of anger and shouted:

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you? You dressed her up like this just to make me look bad!”

“Now you know how it feels to look bad?” Xia Qingning didn’t back down, she looked at her with cold eyes and asked:

“Yesterday, you said she was ugly, you were so proud when you insulted her, weren’t you?”

“You!” He Shanshan was choked by Xia Qingning’s words. She glared at her, then suddenly sneered:

“She’s ugly anyway.” Then she curled a smug smile on her lips:

“If you have the guts, have her wash her face and come compare with me.”

“Why can you do makeup, but others can’t?” Xia Qingning raised her eyebrows, then said in a way that would kill her:

“She’s whiter than you after she washes her face.”

“You!” He Shanshan was choked again. She hadn’t thought of a retort when she heard Mai Miao retort:

“You, you! You dare to say I’m ugly, take a look at yourself, you’ve turned into a monster.”

“Who’s a monster! You tell me clearly!” He Shanshan asked angrily.

At this time, Yao Hongmei, Lu Lidong’s wife, who was carrying her child, saw her younger sister-in-law He Shanshan arguing with people. She quickly went forward to try to persuade her.

But as soon as she walked over, her daughter suddenly cried out “Wah!”

The child’s cry was so penetrating that everyone looked over. The little girl was scared and burrowed into Yao Hongmei’s arms.

“What’s wrong, Yingying?” Yao Hongmei asked with concern, puzzled.

“Mommy…Yingying scared…Woo…monster eat people.” The little girl cried, her eyes looking at the crowd.

Everyone followed the little girl’s gaze, their eyes fixed on He Shanshan’s face, and they immediately understood who the little girl was talking about.

Hahaha…

A huge burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

A young wife reached out and touched the little girl’s head, smiling and saying:

“Yingying, don’t be afraid, your aunt won’t eat you.”