After another busy day, Qin Xiangyang came to pick up Qin Xiangnuan. Aunt Hua gave them some of the unsold pastries and vegetables to take with them, and Qin Xiangnuan didn’t refuse. Once they got home and heated them up, there would be no need to cook dinner that evening.
Having arrived home and finished her meal, Qin Xiangnuan didn’t have much else to do, so she promptly entered her system to practice. As always, she continued her training in writing big characters, tracing over red characters, and embroidery. By now, her embroidery skills were quite remarkable; she was capable of creating finished products, thanks in large part to the extensive time spent practicing writing big characters, which had calmed her temperament and helped her to sit still more easily.
She was currently making a pair of cotton shoes, but these were not like ordinary cotton shoes. The fabric was leftover from the cotton clothes Granny Lu made during New Year, the silk thread was purchased from within the system, and the cotton padding and the layers of the sole were ready-made. During her spare time, she had already prepared many of these layered soles. When needed, she would just cut out the right size, and although it wasted some, it made things more convenient and the produced soles simpler and more adhesive.
She spent the entire evening making a pair of cotton shoes, with the toe of the shoe shaped like a rabbit’s head, resembling the long-eared rabbits that many people would raise in the future. The rabbit’s ears drooped down, and she could imagine how, when children wore them, the long ears would sway with each step.
The rabbit’s eyes were embroidered by hand, stitch by stitch, taking quite a long time to complete. The embroidered eyes were lifelike, as if they were real. In truth, she was still only partially knowledgeable about her current level of embroidery skill, yet she knew that if she were to show her work, it would absolutely be considered top-notch. For instance, many traditional artisans who are still practicing today could easily explain where she learned her skills from. But in later generations, in the era she died in, many of those traditions would be gone, and her embroidery would become a rare art.
Of course, discussing this now was somewhat premature, but indeed, this was the case.
When she stepped out of the system, the lamp outside was still lit. Granny Lu was probably still sewing clothes for her and her brother. Worried that Granny might get bored staying at home alone, Qin Xiangnuan bought lots of fabric to keep Granny busy. As long as she was busy, she wouldn’t have idle thoughts, and her mood would be much better.
Life was truly good. Not to mention other things, at the very least, she had an elder brother and a grandmother. When she went home, there was a warm meal waiting for her; when she was sick, someone took care of her; when bullied, she didn’t have to stand up for herself alone - at the very least, she had someone to rely on.
She quietly opened the door and tiptoed inside. Indeed, Granny Lu was still there, sewing clothes under a small lamp. Occasionally, she’d stand up to check whether Qin Xiangyang had kicked off his blankets, mumbling to herself as she did so.
"This child, how can he still kick off his blankets at his age? Nuannuan is nearly five years younger than you and look how well-behaved she is, she never needs anyone to look after her..." But even as she spoke, her hands didn’t stop moving, she made sure Qin Xiangyang’s blankets were properly tucked in before returning to her seat to continue sewing.
Qin Xiangnuan gently closed the door; she was feeling sleepy. She had been in the system for nearly ten or so hours, and she needed to sleep or else she wouldn’t be able to keep her eyes open.
The next day, she and Aunt Hua set up their stall early. Qin Xiangnuan thought that in a few days, Aunt Hua would probably be able to manage on her own, and then she could retire triumphantly to focus on being a student in peace.