The men in the family never lacked food or clothing, but the women in the family were pitiable, always hungry and poorly clothed. They even had two intimidating daughters-in-law, and when Mr. Lu passed away, neither brother wanted to care for their mother, leaving Granny Lu to survive on begging.
Aunt Hua’s clothes were so new and warm that she really didn’t want to wear them -- what if they got dirty or worn out?
Granny Lu gently brushed Qin Xiangnuan’s hair, incessantly remarking, "Nuannuan, your hair is black and soft, just like your mother’s. When she was a child, Granny was the one who brushed her hair. Though we were poor then, your mother loved to look beautiful, and she always kept her hair tidy."
Qin Xiangnuan had never met her mother in either of her lifetimes, so she had no idea what her mother looked like. Aunt Hua had said her mother was very pretty, one of the best-looking in the village, and even more beautiful than Hu Li. Granny said she resembled her mother, but Qin Xiangnuan knew how she looked in her past life; she felt instinctively that her mother could not have been like her then, because she was quite ugly. Her mother must have been gentle, delicate, and indeed beautiful.
After her hair was done, Qin Xiangnuan shook her head, flipping her two small braids, feeling quite cute intuitively.
As she touched the high ponytails on her head, Qin Xiangmei had also gone to school, still looking like her old self, very similar to Hu Li, fair and delicate, and most importantly, very smart and sweet-tongued. In school, both then and now, teachers adored her because Hu Li bitterly ensured her daughter always had pretty clothes. In this life, Qin Xiangnuan sensed that Qin Xiangmei was truly excellent, still a rural child with a somewhat dark and frostbitten face, unlike her city-kid appearance in her previous life, which had an air of sophistication.
Hence, Qin Xiangnuan was sure that since Qin Xiangmei hadn’t stolen her chances as in their previous life, she wouldn’t encounter new opportunities to revert to her former glory as the rich and beautiful girl.
Yes, Qin Xiangmei was cute now, but she still had a long way to go before she could be considered truly beautiful.
Having lived through a rapidly evolving era and seen various celebrities and internet sensations, Qin Xiangnuan knew that compared to them, or even to ordinary city kids, Qin Xiangmei simply couldn’t match up. She truly wondered if the grown-up Qin Xiangmei would still be her former self, a golden phoenix that soared out of the remote valley.
"What is Granny doing?" Qin Xiangnuan moved a small stool and sat down in front of Granny Lu.
Granny Lu stroked Qin Xiangnuan’s soft hair, the outside light piercing through the dilapidated window and casting shadows of their years, yet there was a simplicity of another time.
"I am making some shoes for Yangyang and you, all from the clothes you two have outgrown."
Qin Xiangnuan leaned her little head in and carefully watched Granny Lu sew the soles with her coarse needle. These were the multilayered soles most commonly worn by villagers, comfortable and not smelly. Previously, Qin Xiangnuan had worn such shoes, but only leftovers from others, dirty and worn ones. Yet even now, she remembered the comfort of those multilayered shoes, the most comfortable shoes she had ever worn in her life, though they had long since been replaced by various types of leather—pigskin, cowhide, sheepskin, snakeskin, and even crocodile skin in the end.