Chapter 19

“Big sister…” she whispered, calling her sister softly, her heart steeled with the thought that if their family really did drive them away, and they couldn’t return to their own home, then she and her sister would depend on each other… Lin Qingping patted her younger sister’s hand, trying to comfort her.

Gu Youlian, now supported by her parents, was no longer afraid. She rushed in front of Lin Qingping, and Du Gen couldn’t stop her. 

“How much money do you have left? You… you need to give it all to me!” Gu Youlian said, reaching out to grab Lin Qingping and search her body. It was chaotic, and no one was willing to listen to what Lin Qingping was saying. 

It wasn’t until a small, thin figure squeezed forcefully between Lin Qingping and Gu Youlian that a clear, sharp child’s voice rang out: “Stop fighting! I have money!” 

“Stop it, stop it—” The child dragged out the words, his voice high-pitched and piercing. 

Finally, the commotion temporarily came to a halt.

“Zhiyuan, ah, adults’ matters are not for children to meddle in. Go to bed!” Liu Fen’s heart ached as if it were being twisted, and tears flowed endlessly. 

Zhiyuan didn’t leave. He stood by Lin Qingping, his eyes bright, and placed something tightly held in his hand on the pile of clothes. In a clear voice, he said: “Grandma, don’t scold… Aunt anymore, I have money. I’ll buy Aunt some clothes. Can you all stop fighting, please?”

He hesitated for a moment when addressing Lin Qingping but finally called her “Aunt.” 

On top of the pile of clothes was a stack of ten yuan bills. It wasn’t clear how much, but it was definitely over a hundred yuan. 

The child’s thinking was simple. Aunt wanted to buy clothes, so she should buy them. If the family didn’t have money, he did. He just wanted the adults to stop fighting.

When Liu Fen heard this, her eyes reddened even more as she wiped away her tears. “Silly child, how could we take your money? That’s what your father left for you. You should keep it yourself.”

If either Liu Fen or Gu Youlian had tried to take Zhiyuan’s money today, Lin Qingping would never have forgiven them, but they didn’t. Gu Youlian even grabbed the money and stuffed it into Zhiyuan’s arms.

Lin Qingping became even more certain of her judgment. Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law weren’t bad people, they just couldn’t accept her shocking behavior.

Yes, in this era, looking across the entire Gujia Village, or even the entire township and county, no woman would buy clothes like this. Their worldview only stretched as far as the county. 

“Father, mother, big sister, listen to me.” she said, sharing her thoughts seriously. “Trust me, just this once.” It was as if she had dropped a bomb on the Gu family. Everyone was stunned, their mouths agape.

Even Lin Qingping’s own sister was dumbfounded. Her sister’s idea was truly astonishing! Du Gen’s eyes gleamed with both excitement and emotion. He had guessed correctly!

But this younger sister-in-law was even better than he had imagined! He had only thought of reselling, but she actually wanted to alter the designs? 

Only Zhiyuan remained the calmest. He didn’t understand a thing, and because he didn’t, he was fearless. He nodded his head and said: “I’ll help Aunt sell them too.” This way, they could avoid the fighting, right?

Liu Fen and Gu Youlian felt utterly hopeless, so much so that they couldn’t even cry or curse. They were certain that this money would be wasted, who would be foolish enough to buy these clothes? 

Her Father-in-law, Gu Dafu took a deep drag from his dry tobacco pipe, his heart aching as if it were being cut. “Then… sell them.” he said, resigned. “What else can we do? We’ll try it as a last-ditch effort!” The whole family was now thinking the same thing.

Liu Fen was crying and sniffling: “Pingzi, don’t do such foolish things in the future, okay? If you have any ideas, you should discuss them with the family first!” She no longer mentioned the word “daughter-in-law.” because Lin Qingping wasn’t doing this for selfish enjoyment or extravagance; she just wanted to earn money.

Her intentions were good, but she was too young and had some fantastical ideas. Who doesn’t make mistakes when they’re young? As long as the heart is in the right place, she could change in the future. 

Once the Gu family made a decision, they acted quickly. After Liu Fen finished speaking, she crouched next to the pile of clothes, waiting for Lin Qingping to tell her how to alter them. Gu Youlian also crouched down, looking at her eagerly. 

Lin Qingping was both amused and exasperated. “Mother, big sister, let’s sleep for today, okay? We can start tomorrow.” But neither of them would hear of it. They insisted on starting right away because this was money—so much money! 

Lin Qingping couldn’t persuade them to leave, so she relented. “Alright, let’s start now, from the washing process.” 

Actually, the two pieces she had given to the department head were indeed dirty, but the ones she picked were relatively clean, at least not moldy. As soon as the first step, washing, was mentioned, even Father-in-law, who had been preparing to go to bed, changed his mind. He didn’t know how to sew, but washing? He could do that!

Seeing the whole family set aside their anger and despair and throw themselves into work with such enthusiasm, Lin Qingping felt a warmth in her heart. No matter what, the Gu family’s unity and determination were admirable. It was precisely such a family that could raise someone as excellent as Gu Juncheng…

After cleaning a hundred pieces of clothing, it was already the middle of the night. The whole family, exhausted, went to sleep. Big sister and her husband didn’t go home either and stayed at the maternal family’s house. 

Lin Qingping, however, couldn’t sleep. She sat up, sketching designs on paper, brainstorming ideas for transforming these clothes.

In her previous life, Lin Qingping had lived nearly seventy years, experiencing decades of fashion trends. She had seen it all.

When it came to the direction of the transformations, she didn’t dare to be too ahead of her time. It was the late 1970s, and the 1980s were just around the corner.

She aimed to align with the fashion trends between the 1980s and 1990s. After staying up another night, she had a rough idea of how to proceed.

Her Father-in-law and Mother-in-law woke up early and saw her still drawing and writing. Their hearts softened a little more. Father-in-law went to work in the fields early, and Mother-in-law even steamed an egg for her. Lin Qingping smiled faintly as she looked at the bowl of sweetened egg.

The next day, the official work of altering the clothes began. Lin Qingping showed everyone the designs she had drawn, then took out one piece to demonstrate how to dismantle, cut, and sew it back together.

The women of the Gu family, including the Second Sister Lin, were all skilled with needlework. Usually, they bought fabric and sewed their clothes by hand. After Lin Qingping cut a few pieces, she stood over them, guiding them step by step as they followed along. She soon felt that they were ready to proceed on their own.

The Gu family had a sewing machine, one that Lin Qingping had bought when she married. She had been too lazy to use it, but Mother-in-law had already become adept at operating it. So, Mother-in-law was assigned the task of operating the sewing machine.

Gu Youlian grew anxious, feeling that her mother was moving too slowly. She asked Du Gen to bring over the sewing machine from their home.

As a result, two sewing machines were running simultaneously in the house. As for Du Gen, not skilled in sewing, he unexpectedly went to the fields with Gu Dafu, since Liu Fen was spending all her time at the sewing machine, and the farm work was falling behind.

As a son-in-law, Du Gen stepped in to help with the fieldwork in place of his mother-in-law.

Even Zhiyuan wasn’t idle, assisting with various tasks. Lin Qingping looked at Zhiyuan’s small figure and came up with another idea…

The sound of the sewing machines in the Gu family often continued until dawn.

After several intense days of work, the one hundred pieces of clothing were successfully transformed.