Chapter 28: Moving Back to the Dilapidated Shack

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Moving Back to the Dilapidated Shack

Fluffing a single quilt’s worth of cotton batting, from start to finish, took about a day. Luckily, Master Liu had brought his eldest son as an assistant, so after two or three busy days, the work was nearly complete.

Next was the project of refurbishing Widow Xie’s old quilts. This involved taking them apart, removing the mesh netting that held the cotton in place, and then re-fluffing the batting—which had become hard and compacted over time—until it was soft and loose once more.

Ji Huan had intended to give half of her cotton to Widow Xie so their family could make a few new quilts as well, but Widow Xie flatly refused. She insisted that her old quilts weren’t worn out and that re-fluffing them would make them good as new. The argument eventually devolved into another lecture about how Ji Huan didn’t know how to manage a household properly.

Ji Huan quickly changed the subject and asked Master Liu about it, and his answer confirmed what Widow Xie had said.

In the countryside, as soon as autumn began, families would start taking apart their old quilts to have the batting re-fluffed into soft, warm quilts in preparation for the harsh winter. This accounted for more than half of Master Liu’s business. Very few people, in contrast, had new quilts made, given the high price of cotton.

All in all, Ji Huan had enough batting fluffed for six quilts: two ten-jin winter quilts, two six-jin quilts for spring and autumn, and two four-jin quilts to be used as mattress pads.

Widow Xie said that since Ji Huan’s shack didn’t have a kang bed, she should make the winter quilts twelve jin thick instead. Ji Huan absolutely refused. ’It’s already hard to turn over under a ten-jin quilt,’ she thought. ’A twelve-jin one might just crush me to death!’

Depending on the weight, the processing fee for each quilt ranged from thirty to one hundred cents. The total for her six quilts came to about 370 cents. Refurbishing Widow Xie’s old quilts was cheaper, and in the end, the combined payment to Master Liu was nearly five maces of silver.

Ji Huan had secretly arranged to pay for everything with Master Liu before the work even began, so there was nothing Widow Xie could do.

With the batting fluffed, the next step was to make the quilts.

Widow Xie called over the new daughter-in-law from her neighbor Uncle Fu’s house to help. She also insisted Ji Huan watch and learn, saying that she’d need to know how to sew and mend once she had a family of her own. This terrified Ji Huan so much that she didn’t even dare enter the main hall. Using the excuse of trying on new clothes, she grabbed Hu Ximei and fled to the east room.

Widow Xie was a deft and speedy seamstress. During the few days it took to fluff the cotton, she had already made two jacket-and-skirt sets for Ji Huan, planning to make the padded winter clothes later since they weren’t as urgent. At Ji Huan’s urging, she also made a set of clothes for each of Hu Ximei, Xiao’an, and Hua.

In the east room, Old Mother Xie was still asleep. Ji Huan quietly changed into her new clothes.

The clothing of the Great Zhou dynasty resembled that of the Ming dynasty. The aoqun, for example, was a typical set consisting of a top and a separate skirt. The tops had features like closed, bordered cuffs, and came in styles such as pipa sleeves or narrow sleeves. The collars were often fitted with a protective neckband. The skirts were usually pleated, such as the mamian-style skirt or a more common pleated skirt.

The set Widow Xie had made for her was a narrow-sleeved jacket in bamboo green with a crossed collar, paired with a wrap-around pleated skirt in smoky gray. The other set was of a similar style.

The lining was made of fine cotton, but the outer fabric was coarser and the dye wasn’t perfectly even. Still, for an ordinary farming family, these were considered very respectable clothes.

Widow Xie had offered to add some embroidery, but Ji Huan declined. Instead, she asked her to use the remaining fine cotton to make two sets of undergarments to be worn beneath her outer clothes.

There was no full-length mirror, so she couldn’t see the full effect, but the clothes fit her perfectly. While Widow Xie might not have been skilled at embroidery, she was certainly an expert at making clothes and shoes.

Hu Ximei had already changed into her new outfit. Since she wasn’t yet old enough to wear skirts, hers was a set of a top and trousers.

She was busy twirling around, admiring herself, when she turned and saw Ji Huan. She froze, stunned.

"Wan... you look so beautiful in these clothes..."

’Mom said the colors Wan chose were too plain, that a young woman should wear something brighter. But Hu Ximei disagreed. Wan was already beautiful; she didn’t need flashy decorations. These colors were perfect. They made her look so... so... classy.’

Hu Ximei had never learned to read, so "beautiful" was the only word she could think of. In fact, she had only learned the word "classy" from Wan.

’I know the features on this body are good,’ Ji Huan thought, ’but I haven’t nursed it back to health yet. I’m so thin and sallow right now, how good can I possibly look?’

So she decided to tease her. "So, which is it? Are the clothes beautiful, or is the person wearing them beautiful?"

Hu Ximei was stumped. "...Um... uh... B-Both... both are beautiful..."

Ji Huan flicked her on the forehead and said with a smile, "You’re very pretty, too."

"Really?" Hu Ximei’s face lit up with anticipation. At ten years old, she was just beginning to be aware of such things as beauty.

When Ji Huan gave her an affirmative nod, Hu Ximei cheered and dashed into the main hall. She chattered excitedly to Widow Xie for a moment, then ran out into the courtyard to show off her new clothes.

Hu Dacheng hadn’t gotten his new clothes yet, so he just kept calling her ugly out of jealousy.

Hu Ximei stuck her tongue out at him. "It doesn’t matter what you say! Wan said I’m pretty!"

The two of them started another boisterous game of chase in the courtyard.

Sister-in-law Fu was invited to stay for lunch, which was, of course, cooked by Ji Huan herself.

She made sweet potato congee and steamed mixed-grain buns.

She stir-fried a dish of pork cracklings with thick slices of winter melon. Then, she chopped up some chili peppers and garlic sprouts, added the small piece of pork belly leftover from the last few days, and made a small dish of twice-cooked pork.

The Hu family, already accustomed to Ji Huan’s cooking, just ate with their heads down and didn’t say a word. Sister-in-law Fu, on the other hand, praised her with every bite, remarking that with such culinary skills, Ji Huan had nothing to fear even if she couldn’t sew.

After lunch, they worked until evening, by which time all six of Ji Huan’s quilts had been fitted with covers.

The coarse cloth covers were a dark, date-red color, and the inner linings were sewn from fine cotton. Paired with the freshly fluffed batting, they looked so warm that one couldn’t help but want to jump on them and roll around.

The two of them kept busy until it was time to light the oil lamps, by which point they had also finished Widow Xie’s quilts.

After dinner, once Sister-in-law Fu had been seen off, Ji Huan announced her intention to move back to her dilapidated shack.

She had already discussed moving back to the shack with Widow Xie.

Widow Xie had agreed for two reasons. First, the house was genuinely too crowded. Second, Old Mother Xie was incontinent and often had accidents on the kang bed. Despite frequent cleaning, a strange odor always lingered in the room, and it didn’t feel right to make Ji Huan stay any longer.

Hu Liang and Hu Dacheng brought out a pushcart and loaded it with the quilts and the other things she had purchased earlier.

Ji Huan insisted on leaving half of everything—the rice, flour, oil, and salt—behind, as she had bought double portions to begin with.

She only took one jar of the rendered lard. She also left the remaining cotton and fabric, explaining that after new clothes were made for Hu Liang and Hu Dacheng, she would still need her own padded winter clothes made.

’How could I not understand?’ Widow Xie thought. ’Making her padded clothes wouldn’t use up all of this. Ji Huan has realized that I was deliberately holding off on making clothes for Hu Liang and Hu Dacheng, and now she’s forcing my hand.’

’This girl seems so gentle and agreeable, but she’s incredibly stubborn. On matters she doesn’t care about, you can say or do anything you like. But once she’s made a decision, things have to go her way.’

Unable to argue with her, Widow Xie had no choice but to accept the goods. She then turned and instructed Hu Liang and the others that they must always remember Ji Huan’s kindness. "Ji Huan has no parents or brothers, and no man in her family to protect her," she said. "If anyone tries to bully her, you must stand up for her."

Hu Liang and the boys nodded vigorously.

Widow Xie told Hu Liang and Hu Dacheng to use the cover of darkness to deliver the items to the shack, lest any villagers see. Otherwise, if a single young woman like Ji Huan suddenly acquired so many new things, there was no telling what lies the village gossips would spread. Worse, she feared someone might get jealous and cause trouble.

Ji Huan stayed to chat for a little while longer before heading back with an oil lamp.

The dilapidated shack was at the northeast corner of the village, while Widow Xie’s house was at the eastern end. Both were located on the outskirts, in a sparsely populated and rather remote area.

As she passed an even more dilapidated mud-brick house, she suddenly heard a strange sound.

Ji Huan didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just a cricket or some other autumn insect.

She took a few more steps, then suddenly stopped.

’Wait! Why did that sound... like a child?’