Chen Xuan was thinking about making cotton clothes for Wei Nian, so she didn't delay and told Mrs. Wei about it the next day when she had time.
Wei Jin paused her sewing and said, "Anian has not worn cotton clothes in the winter for the past few years because he thinks they are too bulky."
However, Chen Xuan had her own opinion, "When you go out for social events, you wear decent clothes for the outside. But in this cold winter, why don't you wear warm clothes at home?" Come to think of it, when Chen Xuan got married last year, it was already the beginning of the New Year. At that time, her relationship with Wei Nian was rather stiff. In addition, Chen Xuan couldn't distinguish between her two lives, so she didn't pay attention to whether Wei Nian wore cotton clothes or not.
This time, Old Lady Wei agreed with Chen Xuan's words and nodded, "That's right. In the middle of winter, no matter what kind of woolen coat you have, it's nowhere near as warm as our cotton-padded clothes. I have some good silk cotton and good satin. I'll make two sets for Ah Nian."
Seeing Old Lady Wei unpacking the box and taking out the fabric, Chen Xuan told Old Lady Wei about her plan, "I'll use silk cotton for the inner cotton coat and make two sets so that I can have one as a replacement. As for the outer cotton robe, I thought that Brother An Nian might not wear it much, so I'll make one. Old Lady, what do you think?"
Old Madam Wei took out the material and a ruler, and measured two pieces of material with the ruler. She used scissors to cut a small slit along the edge of the material, and pulled with both hands, pulling out two pieces of material with a "swish" sound, and handed them to Chen Xuan, "Make two cotton robes too, you can wear them everywhere. It's getting cold now, one thinner and one thicker."
Chen Xuan folded the material and said, "When it gets cold, I have a woolen sweater, but I don't think I'll want to wear a thick one. Otherwise, make two thick ones."
Old Mrs. Wei also agreed, locked the remaining fabric back into the box, and came back to sit cross-legged on the kang. Talking about the popular wool sweaters, Old Mrs. Wei said, "Those things are expensive, and not necessarily as warm as our cotton-padded clothes. They are just for vanity."
Wei Yin said, "A woolen sweater is not as bulky as a cotton coat, and it looks really good when paired with a suit coat. Mom, I want to buy some wool and knit a scarf for you."
Old Mrs. Wei stopped criticizing the wool sweater and said to her little girl, "Wait until your second brother comes back and ask him where to buy one. What about the scarf? Can you knit it?"
"I don't know how to do this, but it's not difficult." Wei Yin helped Chen Xuan fold up the material cut by the old lady, and said to Mrs. Wei, "I'll go to the woolen yarn shop first to see the quality of the woolen yarn. Since they sell this, don't they know how to weave? Even if one shop doesn't know, the next shop must know something. If there is someone selling yarn, there must be someone who can weave. Ask around and take a look. You can learn it after a while."
Seeing that her daughter had an idea, Mrs. Wei readily agreed. Chen Xuan couldn't help thinking that Wei Yin was really smart. She couldn't think of this idea. Wei Jin also said, "Go, find out more, buy more yarn, and knit two for your nephew."
Wei Yin said, "Then Big Sister has to pay for the lead and the wages."
Wei Jin laughed, "You are such a money-grubber. You knit a scarf for your nephew and you still want money."
Wei Yin was just joking, "I can't earn money knitting for my nephew, so don't ask me to knit for you, sister. If you want me to knit for you, you have to pay me."
Everyone joked about it and talked about what was popular in the city now.
When Wei Nian returned home that day, Wei Yin told him that he wanted to buy some wool. Wei Nian agreed immediately, "What color do you want? How much do you want? I'll ask the clerk to buy it tomorrow."
"It's hard to tell what color to buy now. I have to go and see it myself and ask the store owner how to knit it." Wei Yin poured a glass of water for Wei Nian and handed it to him, saying, "Brother, you don't have to buy it tomorrow. When you are free, just take me to the wool shop."
Wei Nian thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's do it the day after tomorrow. I'll be free the day after tomorrow."
Wei Yin happily agreed and said, "I'll buy some more wool and knit a wool scarf for you, second brother."
Wei Nian was happy and didn't bother to be polite with his sister. "Weave it in the same color as my woolen coat."
"Know."
Wei Nian thought that Chen Xuan should also go out more often, and since his sister-in-law Li was also there, he said, "Sister-in-law, A Xuan, you two should go too. Woolen sweaters are popular in the city now, and modern people don't wear cotton clothes anymore. You can go and have a look, just pick out the yarn you like, and I'll pay for it later."
Old Mrs. Wei was not happy at first, and she even stopped filling cigarettes for Old Master Wei, "That won't do. If they all leave, who will cook for us?"
Wei Jin helped to fill the tobacco bowl for Old Master Wei, picked up the matches on the small kang table, and lit the cigarette for the old master with a crackling sound. At the same time, he advised the old lady, "Mom, this meal doesn't matter. Didn't you say that the next day's play will be Xun Huisheng's "Fishing and Killing the Family"? You have to take Yunjieer to the theater to eat. I'm fine, I'll go with them. We are sisters, and we have never been out of the house together."
Old Mrs. Wei grumbled, "We are fine, what do the guys in the shop eat?"
Wei Nian said, "It's just a meal, just order a few dishes from outside."
Old Master Wei took two puffs of his pipe and said, "If the children want to go, then go ahead."
Old Mrs. Wei said, "Okay, go ahead. It's a rare opportunity to have a sucker pay the bill." She felt that her younger son didn't know how to live, so she thought of calling Chen Xuan to give her some advice and asked Chen Xuan to persuade her younger son when she was free, telling him to be frugal with the money he had, as it would last a long time.
Old Madam Wei whispered to Chen Xuan about their life in private. If Chen Xuan and Wei Nian were really a couple, she would probably be very serious about it, but she and Wei Nian were just a fake couple. Chen Xuan just listened to what Old Madam Wei said, and then relayed it to Wei Nian.
Wei Nian bit a freshly baked sweet potato and smiled, "Mom is like this. It's not a rare time for her to go out. Besides, Ah Yin wants to buy some scarves and gloves to knit, and it's not easy for you and the eldest sister-in-law to stand by and watch. I think you women just like to do needlework. There are these children and nephews at home. The eldest sister is just taking advantage of others without suffering any loss. If Ah Yin knits a scarf for me, she will definitely ask Ah Yin to knit it for her. And there are the elders and children. Who doesn't have it? Just go and buy some wool and learn a craft. You don't have to buy it outside. Mom is a thrifty person. She only knows how to make big cotton clothes when it's cold. They are three times fatter when they are worn. It's not popular to wear cotton robes now. But when it comes to buying wool sweaters, she is reluctant to spend money. It's the same to knit it yourself, which is more economical."
Chen Xuan thought to herself, she was planning to make two sets of thick cotton clothes for Wei Nian, should she do it or not
Chen Xuan was just hesitating when Wei Nian said to her with a mischievous look on his face, "Did you see how big sister acted today? When she heard that I would pay for the wool, her eyes lit up and she even helped persuade mom. Just wait and see. Tomorrow, big sister will have to buy half a cart of wool."
Chen Xuan couldn't help but smile when she thought of her elder sister-in-law, and said, "My elder sister-in-law still has six or seven sets of cotton-padded clothes and shoes to make, and now she has to knit wool, so she won't be idle this winter."
"It turns out she can't sit still." Wei Nian thought of his elder sister's temper and shook his head.
"I think Afeng and Ayu are not young anymore, it's time for them to go to school. I heard that my eldest sister-in-law's in-laws are also very rich, why don't they send their children to school?" Chen Xuan believes that studying is a very good thing. Even in the Wei family, although girls don't study, boys all study when they are young. For example, Wei Shi's two sons, Wei Jie and Wei Ming, both studied in church primary schools, which cost a lot of money. But even such a meticulous old lady like Wei was willing to spend money for her grandson's education.
"Who knows what the Zhao family is thinking? Anyway, even if you want to do business, you have to know a few words."
Seeing that Wei Nian had finished eating the roasted sweet potatoes, Chen Xuan poured him another cup of warm water and stopped talking about Wei Jin. She asked Wei Nian, "Do you want to wear a wool sweater? If you want, I will pick out more wool tomorrow and learn to knit from Ah Yin."
Wei Nian said, "No, I have bought some wool sweaters, which are enough for me. The fashion of these clothes changes every year, so there is no need to make a big one. If you have the wool you like, just buy some yourself."
Chen Xuan agreed and thought for a while, "Then I'll knit one and wear it when I go out. I don't need to wear that at home. I can just wear cotton-padded clothes at home. The cotton at home this year is all new cotton and newly-spun. It's very warm." She tried her best to sell cotton-padded clothes to Wei Nian.
"I'm not going to say anything. That cotton-padded jacket makes you look fat and bloated. It doesn't look good at all." Wei Nian said to Chen Xuan, "You are a foreign language student now, why don't you look Western at all? Don't wear those fat and silly clothes all day long. It doesn't look good."
"How can it not look good? I learned a new style from sister Yin this year, and it looks really good." Although Chen Xuan has not seen much of the world, she is not someone who does not have her own aesthetics and opinions. Chen Xuan said, "It's okay to wear a woolen sweater now, but when the twelfth lunar month comes, how can you survive the winter with just such a thin woolen sweater?"
"Why not? I wore a woolen sweater during the winter last year."
Chen Xuan glanced at Wei Nian and thought that it would be a waste to make two cotton coats for him since he was so stubborn, so she decided to just make one coat for Wei Nian.
The author has something to say: ps: First update, good afternoon everyone, the second update will be in the evening~~~~~~~~