Chapter 26: Sweaters

After Shulan got married, Shuxin returned to her job and settled in comfortably. The train station in Xinyang County had been operating for almost four months now, and over this period, the number of passengers coming and going had increased significantly, no longer the quiet place it used to be.

With more people taking the train, the workload for the staff also increased. However, Shuxin was not one to be easily fazed. During her time there, she had only encountered minor issues like ticket skips, which she handled effortlessly.

As October passed and winter approached, the weather turned cold.

Lemei, who was responsible for the same carriage as Shuxin, would often go to the休息室 (rest room) during breaks, bringing her ball of yarn to knit sweaters. During the train trips, Shuxin watched as that simple ball of yarn transformed into a sweater.

It was rather magical; Shuxin was academically gifted, with an excellent memory and good manual skills—but when it came to knitting, she floundered.

Seeing Lemei knitting, Shuxin thought she would give it a try and knit a sweater for her partner as a surprise. However, after half a day, she ended up with a tangled mess that even Lemei said was beyond saving.

Clearly, her brain understood how to do it, but her hands refused to cooperate.

Training in martial arts and hunting, where manual skills were needed, came easily to Shuxin; yet knitting was a challenge she found exceedingly difficult.

She decided not to persist in trying to untangle the yarn and planned to take it back home. She might not know how to knit, but she had family and a partner. Her mom and her partner could definitely manage it. For some reason, she felt her partner would pick it up quickly—perhaps because Luo Yue seemed even more eager to please than a diligent daughter-in-law.

Trying not to think too much, she went to buy yarn because she wanted a sweater from her partner. With excitement, she went to the Shanghai Department Store and bought a large quantity of yarn. She also mentioned it to Luo Yue.

Luo Yue didn’t find anything strange about it and confidently started working on it. You see, when he was living in the侯府 (noble residence), he had learned some needlework, and he was quite skilled. He often made clothes for his mother and relatives.

Listening to Shuxin’s explanation and demonstration, he got started on the right foot, and before long, he was making good progress. After two days, he even devised various styles.

Luo Yue didn’t find it troublesome at all. He was tired from working in the fields, and with no work to do in autumn and winter, he found it dull. Now that Shuxin had given him something to do, he was happy and couldn’t wait. He enjoyed knitting sweaters, envisioning his wife wearing the clothes he made while working outside and proudly telling others they were made by him. Just thinking about it made him feel wonderful! Ah, he couldn’t think about it too much; it was overwhelming!

After giving the yarn to Luo Yue, Shuxin went back to work, completely unaware that Luo Yue was wreaking havoc in the Liu Lindadui.

From that day on, Luo Yue appeared at various gatherings in the Liu Lindadui with his yarn.

He first showed up at the Liu family, gathering with Grandma Liu and others to share tips and teach them how to knit. He was only making sweaters for Shuxin and himself; he figured the Liu family could learn on their own.

“Grandma, come look! This is what Shuxin taught me about knitting. I’ll teach you too!”

Liu Mama was already immune to her son-in-law’s antics. Initially, she treated him like her brother-in-law. It was only after one time when Shuxin came back and mentioned she wanted to build a house next to the Liu family in the winter, and that she would marry that “little white face” Luo Yue next year, that Luo Yue started addressing her as “grandma.” She wanted to grab Luo Yue by the shoulders and yell at him, “You are my son-in-law! I’m marrying my daughter off, not taking a son-in-law! Why do you call her grandma instead of calling me mother or mother-in-law? Goodness, you really can’t make me feel worse than this!”

Grandma Liu didn’t refuse the offer; the yarn was in high demand. The captain’s daughter-in-law had tried to buy some but couldn’t find any in the county. Only Shuxin managed to get so much from Shanghai.

Excited, she learned alongside her beloved grandson-in-law, ignoring the side glances from the younger daughters-in-law. After all, she was a grandmother, not a mother-in-law, so she wasn’t too concerned with those thoughts.

When Shuxin’s mother finally noticed, seeing her sister-in-law and mother-in-law so engrossed in learning, she also stopped worrying about irrelevant matters and joined in.

The members of the Liu family had no opinions about Luo Yue knitting sweaters; after all, they had seen things far more outrageous than him knitting. This was nothing compared to other bizarre happenings.

Just because they weren’t surprised didn’t mean the other people in the Liu Lindadui weren’t astonished.

When Liu Mama led Luo Yue to visit family, everyone watched as Luo Yue skillfully knitted sweaters. They were eavesdropping on gossip, but when the conversation came to a halt, they eagerly urged the discussion to continue.

Even though they knew Luo Yue was Shuxin’s partner and that his behavior resembled that of women, they didn’t yet fully grasp the implications; he was just like one of them.

He was like them in being a woman, in enjoying gossip, in excelling at needlework, and in managing family affairs.

From that point on, the women of Liu Lindadui completely stopped viewing him as a man and instead regarded him as a little daughter-in-law of Shuxin’s family.

Once the initial shock wore off, they realized he was knitting with Liu Mama. Considering that the captain’s daughter-in-law hadn’t managed to obtain any yarn, seeing the two of them working away was unexpected. Clearly, there was quite a bit of yarn in their hands.

It was obvious that this yarn was brought back by Shuxin, as others in the area didn’t have access to it. They quickly surrounded Luo Yue, hoping to get some of his yarn.

“Little Luo, do you have any extra? Share some with us; I’ll pay you!”

“No money; I’ll trade for something instead. I’m keeping what I have to make clothes for Shuxin. You can ask Grandma. I’ve given her my yarn!”

Luo Yue cautiously replied, indicating that he wouldn’t take money, only trade for goods. Shuxin had told him that outside, things were getting tighter; he couldn’t let others hold anything against him. Also, having grown up in the noble residence, he possessed a certain political acumen.

“Little Luo, next time Shuxin comes back, ask her if she can bring back some yarn for us.”

“Yeah, Little Luo, get Shuxin to bring us some; don’t worry, we won’t ask for too much. This stuff is so expensive; we only need a little.”

Seeing that everyone was asking, Luo Yue didn’t refuse and said he would check with Shuxin, but there wouldn’t be much, and they could share it accordingly.

Everyone understood the limits and didn’t press the issue. Soon, the conversation shifted to other topics, like which mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had a poor relationship or which daughter-in-law had cheated, and there was no shortage of gossip.

When Shuxin returned home, she received a beautiful knitted sweater from her handy little husband. It was an orange-yellow cardigan with a wide collar accented with white lace.

“Wow, my Yue Yue, this craftsmanship looks even better than what’s sold in the store. I love it!”

“If Shuxin likes it, that’s enough. Try it on! I’m making a matching one in green with a similar pattern. When we wear them together, everyone will know we’re a pair.”

Luo Yue helped Shuxin get dressed, and he put on his own sweater as well, planning to have her take him around the village so the villagers could see how capable and skilled he was, and to solidify his standing.

“Do we really need to show others? Everyone in the village already knows you’re my partner.”

Though she said this, she followed his lead and went outside, indulging his little whims. Her partner was wonderfully odd and incredibly cute.