Chapter 22: New Clothes

“Are you not going to save a seat for the movie tonight?” Sister Yanhong raised the small stool in her hand.

“Isn’t it too late to go now? I heard there are no seats left,” Tang Wan said.

“The male educated youth went to save seats this morning, but they didn’t bring enough stools, so we borrowed a few more,” Sister Yanhong explained.

Probably because there was a movie tonight and no work to do, everyone seemed quite happy today.

“I already saved a seat earlier. I’ll put my things back at the youth point first. You guys go ahead.”

“All right, then we’ll go first.”

A few female educated youth cheerfully passed by Tang Wan, making her seem a little out of place.

At least, that’s how it looked to others.

What Tang Wan didn’t notice was that since she left Qin Zheng’s house, people on the street were watching her every move.

Especially some young men, who seemed to want to glue their eyes to Tang Wan.

Such a young and beautiful girl — before, they could only see girls like her when watching movies, but now Tang Wan appeared right in front of them in real life.

Moreover, since Tang Wan arrived at the Red Flag Brigade, because of the weather and her foot injury, she had worked no more than two days in total.

This made many people increasingly curious about her. Most only knew there was a very pretty educated youth assigned to the brigade, but had never seen her in person.

Today, since no one was working, more people were wandering around the village.

Even when Tang Wan entered the youth point, some were still lingering outside on the road.

Tang Wan paid no attention to those rowdy boys outside; her focus was all on Zhong Ling, whom she had just met.

Zhong Ling was wearing a goose-yellow blouse today, which made her look very delicate.

What really caught Tang Wan’s attention was Zhong Ling’s outfit, because Tang Wan hadn’t stayed at the youth point these past few days and didn’t know Zhong Ling’s situation.

But just from that one garment, Tang Wan knew Zhong Ling’s family was still in close contact with the boy’s parents. Such colored fabric was usually divided up by supply and marketing cooperative insiders even before it was displayed.

There was no way educated youth could buy it.

Truly the heroine.

Because of what Tang Wan said before, Zhong Ling couldn’t openly associate with those people anymore, so she resorted to private dealings and didn’t miss any opportunity.

This situation was exactly what Tang Wan expected; she wasn’t surprised, just as she had predicted.

Seeing Zhong Ling dressed so nicely was obviously meant to impress Zhao Dong.

Tonight would be a good show.

Tang Wan put her things away in her **, then bent down to check her trunk.

Last time she had been cautious and left two strands of hair in the lock latch.

This time when she checked, they were gone.

The locks on such trunks only served to keep them fixed; they could be opened easily.

Last time, Tang Wan put all her valuables into the spatial storage and deliberately left two strands of hair to see if she was overthinking it.

Obviously, the disappearance of the two strands proved she wasn’t paranoid.

Someone had indeed tampered with her trunk.

Tang Wan didn’t dare jump to conclusions yet, as she wasn’t even sure if the person who tampered with her trunk twice was the same.

Keeping this in mind, Tang Wan left the youth point.

In the afternoon, the people who would show the movie had already arrived.

Tang Wan saw them on the way back to Grandma Bai’s — a group of people gathered around the movie crew, escorting them to the brigade leader’s house.

Tang Wan told Grandma Bai about it, and Grandma Bai went inside to find several bags to pack the soybeans she had roasted in the morning.

“Each of you take a bag to snack on during the movie,” Grandma Bai divided them into four portions, including the ones for Tang Wan and Dongzi.

“Thank you, Grandma.” Tang Wan understood this was like eating popcorn—roasted soybeans were now the best snack they could offer.

Especially when Grandma Bai made them — the aroma of soybeans carried a light roasted scent mixed with a bit of salty pepper flavor. They crackled delightfully in the mouth, perfect for movie time.

Grandma Bai went inside to prepare lunch, and Tang Wan helped stoke the fire beside her.

Here, she hadn’t learned much else except how to tend the fire, and she was getting quite good at it.

Usually, when Qin Zheng wasn’t home, Tang Wan would stay by the stove with Grandma Bai during cooking, just like now.

When Qin Zheng returned riding his bike, this was the scene he saw through the kitchen window: Grandma Bai cooking while chatting with Tang Wan by the stove. Tang Wan listened intently, her eyes curved gently and full of warmth.

This scene imprinted deeply in Qin Zheng’s mind, making him eager to preserve this moment.

Qin Zheng had probably gone to town, as he brought back a lot of snacks.

And none were the kind sold by the supply cooperative—they looked handmade, like dragon beard candy, fresh flower cakes, and white rice cakes, all looking delicious.

“You went to town?” Grandma Bai was a bit surprised.

“Yeah, bought some things for you to eat while watching the movie tonight,” Qin Zheng glanced at Tang Wan.

He didn’t say that when he went to save seats earlier, he saw some people at the youth point bringing snacks bought in the city, and thought Tang Wan shouldn’t miss out since she couldn’t buy them herself.

“You’re clever this time,” Grandma Bai teased slyly, clearly seeing her grandson’s intention.

“…”

After they finished eating, Qin Zheng took Dongzi’s lunch and left, leaving Grandma Bai and Tang Wan at home.

“Come, look at the clothes I made for you,” Grandma Bai said excitedly after tidying up the kitchen.

Tang Wan knew Grandma Bai had a sewing machine in her room, and she also knew from a few days ago when Grandma Bai was cutting fabric, but she hadn’t expected the clothes to already be finished.

Grandma Bai brought out the garment.

It was a completely different style from the clothes Tang Wan usually wore.

Tang Wan mostly wore casual clothes—she hadn’t worn any of the more delicate, pretty ones because the village wasn’t very safe.

But the dress Grandma Bai made was a three-quarter sleeve dress with a perfectly cinched waist that fully showcased Tang Wan’s slender figure.

Of course, it also emphasized her ample chest.

“So pretty!” Grandma Bai’s eyes were full of experience. “Wear this to the movie tonight.”

Grandma Bai looked Tang Wan up and down.

This kind of dress was only seen in the city; Grandma Bai had seen someone wearing one when she last went to her daughter’s place.

Seeing it on Tang Wan now made people unable to look away — it was hard to tell whether to look at the girl or the dress.

Tang Wan thought it looked nice too. She had a few dresses in her trunk, but none were as beautiful as the one Grandma Bai made.

After all, Grandma Bai had made it exactly to her measurements, which was different from ready-made clothes.

For example, the chest, waist, and hips fit perfectly, highlighting graceful curves.

The movie would be shown at night, so it wouldn’t be inappropriate to wear it out.