The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 169 Tailoring

In the afternoon, when Chen Cui was watching Ding sewing clothes, she couldn't help but sigh about the prices. Because Xu Dagui often traveled, Ding knew this very well and expressed her sympathy.

"It's because we met a good person like you, Madam, who gave us a stable life. Now we don't have to worry about food and clothing. People from small families outside have already started to tighten their belts."

Ding sighed as she measured Chen Cui's size.

Among the fabrics that Chen Cui bought, there were also some for Xu Dagui's family and the Mai mother and daughter. Although they were just ordinary cotton fabrics, they could still be made into new clothes.

Chen Cui's family uses Songjiang Sansuo cloth produced in the south of the Yangtze River. Although it is also made of cotton, it is smooth, fine, soft and smooth. After it is made into clothes, it is much more comfortable to wear than ordinary cotton cloth.

Of course, its price is not cheap either, nearly twice as much as ordinary cotton cloth, and almost the same as the price of some coarse silk.

Although Chen Cui advocates frugality and does not want to raise her children to have extravagant personalities, she also does not want to put herself in a difficult position.

The food is a combination of meat and vegetables, with a balanced nutrition. Although the utensils used are inconspicuous, they are all products of high quality.

For example, the tableware and tea sets used in her home, although they were white porcelain without patterns, were high-quality goods shipped from Fujian. The porcelain body was dense, delicate and white. A set cost ten taels of silver, which was much more expensive than those ordinary tablewares with various patterns painted on them.

For such an expensive item, Chen Cui would buy two sets, one for daily use and one as a spare, in case one was broken so she could replace it.

No one in the family knew the price and just treated them as ordinary things. Only Xu Dagui, who traveled a lot and was knowledgeable, guessed that these tools were probably not cheap, so he privately told his wife to be careful when doing the work and not to break anything.

Ding's tailoring skills are very good, at least enough to make casual clothes for their family. She works quickly and with fine stitches. With her around, Chen Cui saves a lot of work.

The clothes she needed to wear for formal occasions were all made in tailor shops, and they were made of materials such as silk or satin.

But she rarely wears that kind of clothes, so she can just make a few sets and hang them in the closet as backup. As long as they are well preserved, they will look like new after a few years without having to make them every season.

As soon as the children came home from school, they were called to the main room and Chen Cui came to measure their sizes.

The three brothers all grew taller, but their growth was most obvious with each passing year.

Moreover, the girl has started to change her teeth and has lost a front tooth. She is afraid that the gap tooth will show when she opens her mouth, so she has spoken less frequently recently and dares not smile with her mouth wide open like she used to.

Even though Chen Cui repeatedly told her that everyone in the family had experienced the process of changing teeth and had had leaky front teeth, Sui Sui, who already knew that she loved beauty, still didn't dare to open her mouth easily and always subconsciously pursed her lips.

Chen Cui had no choice but to remind others, especially her three brothers, not to look at her sister's mouth or talk about her teeth. Just pretend that she had never lost her teeth. Since no one cared, she herself would not care so much.

This method seems to be somewhat useful. At least Sui Sui doesn't seem to care so much about it now. He talks more and discusses with Chen Cui enthusiastically about making a new style of clothes.

"Then you have to tell Aunt Ding. I can't make it. Are you sure you will wear it out after you make it? Don't be afraid to wear it when the time comes!"

Chen Cui smiled.

Suisui was talking about the clothes she saw in a book from Mr. Zou. She thought they looked good and wanted to make something similar for herself.

Seeing that Chen Cui agreed, Mrs. Ding said, "Miss, can you bring the book back so that I can take a look at it? I can make it almost as good as it looks."

Sui Sui responded cheerfully, "Then I will tell the teacher during class the day after tomorrow to bring the book back for a day."

The three Changping brothers had no opinions on the styles or even colors of clothes. They basically wore whatever was made, which was very worry-free.

Of course, the fabrics commonly used by men are limited to a few colors and styles, so there is nothing to pick and choose.

Changping even thought that he had enough clothes and didn't need to make any more: "Mom, the clothes I made last fall are still wearable. There's no need to make new ones, right?"

"You have all grown taller, so those clothes should be a little short. Besides, even if you haven't grown taller, you have washed your clothes frequently. The material has been washed so many times and exposed to the sun, so it must be worn out and no longer shiny. You should make new ones."

The family is well-off now, and the three sons are either in the provincial school or in the academy. They are all scholars with official titles, so they cannot dress too shabbily, lest they be looked down upon when interacting with their classmates and thus lose face.

Although they have good grades and are smart in studying, they are bound to encounter people who judge people by their appearance.

Some people are accustomed to respecting the clothes before respecting the people. Given their current family situation, there is no need to let their children pretend to be poor and suffer unfair treatment.

Therefore, since she came to the provincial capital, she has used Songjiang cloth to make clothes for her children. This is neither conspicuous nor low-key, showing the family's strength.

Those who are knowledgeable will naturally know the price of this cloth. If someone doesn’t know it and thinks it is just ordinary cotton cloth, there is no need to tell them.

As the temperature rises, we have officially entered spring. Finally, there were two light rains, which brought a hint of moisture to the land that had been dry for a long time, causing the grass and trees to sprout, and all we could see was a new green.

The kitchen of Chen Cui's house is in the east wing. There is a well next to it, which is quite deep. Even if it doesn't rain for a long time, the water level doesn't drop much. Therefore, the flowers and trees planted in the yard are watered more frequently and sprout earlier.

Although she can no longer grow vegetables, Chen Cui doesn't find her life boring.

In the past, I had nothing to do after I became financially free and had no worries, so I could only find things to do to pass the time.

But now she has four children, all of whom are not yet adults, and she needs to worry about them all. She also has a business to look after. There is always something to do every day, and any of them is more important than growing vegetables.

Occasionally when she has free time, she just waters the flowers and trees in the yard. If she wants to see other plants, there are plenty of crops and vegetables on the farm, and if she wants to work, she will never be able to finish the work every day.

After all, she was a little old lady of the new era in her previous life. She believed that she could keep up with the times and would not endure hardships without any effort.

Even though she came to this ancient time, she still adhered to the rules of that time and followed the etiquette of this world. She would not do anything too out of the ordinary to arouse suspicion from others.

When she had no money, she could do everything from chopping trees, planting crops, and burning charcoal. Now that she has money, there is no need for her to work so hard.

The servants bought what they needed, first the Mai mother and daughter, and then Xu Dagui's family of four. Now all the housework could be handed over to others. She was completely freed from housework, and the freed-up time could be used to do more important things.