Chapter 31

Ruan Xi looked at Ruan Yuejin while she said this, so everyone else also looked at Ruan Yuejin. Under the scrutiny of everyone’s gaze, his face turned red, then blue, then purple, and then black. Since he had been learning the craft for a long time, he never thought he was bad at it because no one was around to compare himself to.

The old tailor usually didn’t care much about anything, teaching him all the skills once and then letting him go. Moreover, the old tailor’s teaching had no method; he taught whatever came to mind, just like when teaching Ruan Xi.

Ruan Yuejin always thought he was learning well – Until today.

He looked at Ruan Xi, watching her easily pedal the sewing machine to make clothes, seeing that there wasn’t even a single frayed thread on the clothes, and all the stitches were perfectly aligned with the fabric edges, neat and flawless.

He stood still, not even using his mouth.

The onlookers felt embarrassed for him, thinking that if it were them, they would find a mouse hole to crawl into, even if there wasn’t one, they would hammer a crack to hide in and never come out again.

His mother, Sun Xiaohui, who worked in the production team, had been bragging for half a year about how great he was. She always boasted about how well he could pedal the sewing machine and took the opportunity to belittle Ruan Xi, saying she only knew how to flatter. Now, the bragging was too much, and it exploded.

And it exploded in front of everyone, under their expectations.

Moreover, Ruan Xi, whom he always looked down upon, slapped his face with her nearly perfect craftsmanship.

Isn’t that embarrassing?!

Someone nearby couldn’t help but clear their throat in embarrassment.

Ruan Xi saw Ruan Yuejin standing there without speaking, his fingers clutching the fabric tighter and tighter, turning white at the knuckles. So she put the finished coat on the sewing machine and got up to get the needle and thread kit. She sat down with the needle and thread kit, selected a suitable needle, threaded it, and then picked up the finished coat to start sewing the buttonholes. After finishing the buttonholes, she still had to sew on the buttons.

While skillfully and gracefully doing these tasks, she said, “Let me teach you something for free today. Being a tailor isn’t just about using the machine; handwork is equally important and sometimes even more difficult. You need to learn how to finish the thread ends neatly, make beautiful buttonholes, sew on buttons properly, and handle certain fabrics to make them look crisp.”

Ruan Yuejin still didn’t speak, only watching her sew the buttonholes.

Her handwork was very fast as if she didn’t need to think or measure. The needle in her hand seemed to have a mind of its own, naturally falling into the most precise positions. The rapid movement of the needle and thread was almost dizzying to watch.

After finishing the first buttonhole and tidying up the thread ends, Ruan Xi looked up at Ruan Yuejin again.

Smiling, she asked him, “Have you learned it?”

Ruan Yuejin clenched the fabric tightly and gritted his teeth—this was too humiliating!

He threw the fabric onto the old tailor’s workbench, turned around with a dark face, and pushed through the crowd to leave the main room.

Sun Xiaohui, coming to her senses, blushed and chased after him, “Yuejin, where are you going?”

Ruan Yuejin shouted back, “Don’t bother me!”

Everyone in the room turned to look outside, and someone cleared their throat again.

At this moment, Liu Xinghua, who had been watching the commotion, said to the three elderly ladies beside her, “What did I say before? It would be fine if he had any real skills or prospects, but he’s just a blowhard who doesn’t know his limits. Now look at this mess; the whole village will laugh at him for a year.”

The old tailor sat at the workbench, leisurely smoking his pipe as if these matters had nothing to do with him.

Ruan Xi didn’t continue sewing the buttonholes. Looking at Liu Xinghua, who had finished speaking, she said, “Grandma, you’re next.”

Initially, it was agreed that they would first make clothes for Sun Xiaohui’s family today, but now that Ruan Yuejin and Sun Xiaohui had left, they couldn’t waste time. They still had to go to other families later, so they decided to make clothes for their own family first.

After finishing all the clothes for one family, they would sew the buttonholes and buttons together.

However, Liu Xinghua didn’t come over. She pulled Ruan Cuizhi and said, “Cuizhi, let’s do yours first.”

So, Ruan Xi first helped Ruan Cuizhi measure her size and then made her clothes.

The atmosphere in the room relaxed. Someone started talking to Ruan Xi, “Xiao Xi, you really are a hidden talent. You’ve learned your craft so well without making a fuss. You’ve made your grandmother proud.”

Ruan Xi smiled and said, “My master taught me well.”

Smoking his pipe, the old tailor said, “Hmph, no need to flatter me. It’s because you’re smart.”

When the old tailor praised someone as smart, it was definitely true. After all, he rarely praised anyone. He was known for being harsh and scolding people. If he said it, there was no doubt about it.

Someone asked, “When will you finish your apprenticeship and return to the village to open a shop?”

Ruan Xi still smiled and said, “My Master hasn’t taught me how to draw patterns and make templates yet. For now, I can only do these mindless tasks.” Similar to the sewing workers in the garment factory, anyone could do it with some learning.

Hearing this, the person widened their eyes, “Oh my, you call this mindless work? If you asked me to use my brain, I wouldn’t be able to learn this. I’m even afraid of the sewing machine needle pricking my hand.”

This concern was not unfounded, as some people indeed had their fingers pricked by the machine needle.

Someone else, reacting quickly, interjected, “So you’ve already learned these things, but you haven’t learned how to draw patterns and make templates yet. That’s why Old Song asks you to draw every day, to practice the basics for learning to draw patterns?”

Ruan Xi nodded, “That’s right.”

The person continued, “Xiao Xi, you’re so smart, you must learn quickly. Once you learn well, come back and open a shop.”

Ruan Xi smiled and said, “I don’t have that plan for now. I’ll continue working with my Master.”

The old tailor, smoking his pipe nearby, had a satisfied smile in the swirling smoke.

This apprentice was worth taking in!

He was fortunate to have her!

Sun Xiaohui chased after Ruan Yuejin and finally caught up with him near a haystack.

Ruan Yuejin was sitting alone on the haystack, unable to hold back his tears, occasionally wiping them away with the back of his hand.

Sun Xiaohui, panting from exhaustion, looked at him and said, “Why are you crying? I haven’t even cried yet. Do you know I’ve been praising you on the production team for half a year? I’m waiting for you to make me proud today, but you made me lose face completely!”

Ruan Yuejin, still crying, started glaring at Sun Xiaohui, his eyes red.

Sun Xiaohui continued, “What have you learned in the past six months? If you didn’t learn well, just say you didn’t learn well. Why did you come back and deceive me? Now look, people don’t know how to laugh at us!”

Ruan Yuejin, with red eyes, continued to glare at her, “What do you know? I’ve already learned very well.”

Sun Xiaohui retorted, “You call this learning well? Then what do you call Xiao Xi’s skills?”

Ruan Yuejin was at a loss for words, grabbed a piece of straw, threw it aside, and stormed off the haystack.

Sun Xiaohui followed him, “Where are you going? Are you not going to finish the clothes?”

Ruan Yuejin turned back and shouted at her, “Finish what?!”

He had always thought he had learned well, while Ruan Xi knew nothing and spent every day flattering the old tailor. This confidence had always supported him. Now, this confidence had completely collapsed, and so many people had ridiculed him. His self-esteem was severely hurt, and he still needed to finish the clothes?

He had no face left. After losing so much face, he still wanted to go back and finish?

Sun Xiaohui shouted after him, “I invested so much in you to let you learn the craft. You haven’t earned a penny, and now you want to quit? Go back and at least earn some money for me!”

Ruan Yuejin shouted back, “I’m not going! If you want to go, you go!”

He wasn’t going to learn this craft anymore!

He didn’t want to see that mean old bachelor again!

Nor did he want to see his cousin, who always smiled while scraping his face with a knife!

Sun Xiaohui: “Then give me back the half basket of eggs!”

Ruan Yuejin: “I’ll give them to you tomorrow!”

Sun Xiaohui: “…”

Since today was the day to make clothes for Ruan Xi’s family, the old tailor had lunch at Ruan Xi’s house. Liu Xinghua and Ruan Cuizhi cut half a pound of pork and stir-fried a large plate of twice-cooked pork.

Hearing that Ruan Xi had made a splash today, Ruan Changsheng slapped his thigh and said, “Oh, if I had known, I wouldn’t have gone out this morning. Xiao Xi, you said you wanted to show me your skills, but I missed the best part.”

Ruan Xi looked at him and said, “Just don’t leave this afternoon; I still need to make clothes for you and Grandpa.”

That made sense, so Ruan Changsheng agreed, “Alright, I won’t go out this afternoon.”

Meanwhile, in the main house of the Ruan family.

Ruan Changgui had heard about the morning’s events from others. During the meal, he stared at Ruan Yuejin with a dark look, his face completely black. He asked sternly, “What have you been doing for the past six months?”

Ruan Yuejin lowered his head and ate. After a long pause, he said, “I’ve been learning well.”

After a moment, he added, “But I won’t learn anymore.”

Ruan Changgui: “…” He was so angry that he raised his chopsticks to hit Ruan Yuejin, but Sun Xiaohui interrupted and stopped him.

Then Sun Xiaohui said something that made Ruan Changgui even angrier, “Um… we need to borrow some money.”

Ruan Changgui was initially confused and asked, “It’s almost New Year, I’ve only heard of repaying debts before the New Year, as debts shouldn’t be carried into the new year. Why do we need to borrow money now? What suddenly requires borrowing money?”

Sun Xiaohui replied, “The money for making clothes isn’t enough.”

She only had a few cents left in her hand. Making clothes for his family of four would take a day, and a day’s wage was two yuan.

Ruan Changgui looked at Sun Xiaohui and said, “Didn’t we just settle the work points, and we also sold quite a bit of pork?”

Sun Xiaohui lowered her head and ate, whispering, “Didn’t we just go to the commune to buy New Year’s goods a few days ago? We bought cloth and food. The cloth was expensive, and we bought a lot of food, plus couplets and firecrackers. It all got spent, and there were only a few cents left.”

Ruan Changgui’s eyes widened, and he slammed his chopsticks down. “You know making clothes costs money. Why didn’t you save some?”

Sun Xiaohui was startled by his outburst and continued to whisper, “Wasn’t I counting on Yuejin to earn the money…”

Who would have thought that Ruan Yuejin’s skills were so poor, and now he was making a fuss about quitting?

After hearing this, Ruan Changgui was so angry he couldn’t speak. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, like a hammer blow, and hurriedly raised his hand to clutch his chest—

Oh heavens…

Oh dear heavens…

Is there a shortage of people in heaven…

If there is, just take him…

After getting the hang of making clothes, the speed increased, and in the afternoon, Ruan Xi finished the clothes for Liu Xinghua, Ruan Zhigao, and Ruan Changsheng. Everything was done meticulously, only the buttonholes were not sewn, and the buttons were not attached.

Ruan Xi sat sewing the buttonholes, and Ruan Cuizhi was very interested. Everyone else had left, but she watched by Ruan Xi’s side.

Ruan Xi knew Ruan Cuizhi was always good at needlework, especially when mending clothes. Her stitches were neat and beautiful. So she looked at Ruan Cuizhi and said, “Aunt, why don’t you help me sew the buttonholes?”

Ruan Cuizhi was eager to try, “Can I? I’m afraid I’ll mess it up.”

Ruan Xi said, “It’s our own clothes. If it’s not done well, we can just take it apart and redo it; no one will say anything. You should be able to do this, right? Let’s do it together.”

Ruan Cuizhi, eager to try, said, “Shall I give it a try?”

Saying this, she took her own clothes, “I’ll try with mine.”

Ruan Xi handed her the needle and thread, and while doing her own work, she taught Ruan Cuizhi how to handle some details. Actually, she could do most of it, but because she hadn’t learned professionally, some small details were not handled well. But as soon as Ruan Xi explained, she immediately understood how to do it.

So the two of them sat together sewing buttonholes, chatting casually.

Ruan Xi, handling the needle and thread, whispered to Ruan Cuizhi, “Once Master teaches me how to draw patterns and make templates, I’ll learn everything I need to know, and then I’ll tell him to take you to learn the machine. No need to trouble him anymore, I’ll teach you.”

Ruan Cuizhi nodded and whispered, “Okay.”

Before, she hadn’t really thought about it, as tailoring seemed far from her. She hadn’t even touched a sewing machine. But today, seeing Ruan Xi making clothes with the machine, a passionate flame ignited in her heart. As long as Ruan Xi was willing to teach her, she felt she could definitely learn well.

Ruan Xi smiled and continued to whisper to Ruan Cuizhi, “Aunt, just think, being a tailor, there aren’t many people making clothes usually, but whenever someone gets married, they need clothes, and it’s easy to earn a few yuan. You can also go to the production team to earn work points when not busy. During New Year’s, the busiest time, all the villages on the mountain need to be visited, and a lot of money can be earned. And no matter where you go, you have meals provided, and when you leave, the village gives you good food to take with you. Who wouldn’t envy that?”

Ruan Cuizhi listened and smiled, her eyes shining, “It really is enviable.”