Traveling through time as a peasant girl to turn things around

After Li Ru finished eating, she picked up her daughter. Mother and daughter read their faces. The daughter grinned at her mother. Li Ru said, "Baby, you are the best gift God has given me. Grow up happily and joyfully." Looking at the child wrapped in rags, Li Ru felt sad. She laid her child on the bed and tucked her in. She got up, put on her shoes, and rummaged through the closet. She found a small cloth bag containing a little over a tael of silver. She put the bag under her pillow and closed the box. This was her dowry. A box held just this little silver, two sets of clothes, and a few other things. This was all her family had given her, but it was the best her mother could offer. This box was the envy of many. It was made for her by her brother, a carpenter named Li Dongzi, and they were the only ones her mother had. Their father was Li Guang, and their mother was Ma Xiaohong. Their father was an honest farmer. Their family was well off. But to our little baby Guoguo, her mother's dowry seemed pathetic. Think about what to give to mother as a meeting gift. There is cotton cloth under the bed in the east room of her house. The white one can be used as a quilt lining, and the flowery one can be used as a quilt cover. It was cold today, and the quilt that mother covered herself with had no cotton. So she covered her with it all night. Little Milk Bag looked around the house and saw that there was no place to put it. She remembered that there was a large piece of plastic sheet in the west room. She stretched out her little hand and swung it. The plastic sheet appeared in the room. Li Ru saw that this time she was not as frightened as last time, but her heart was beating like a drum. She walked to the door, whispered to her mother, and waved to her mother. Grandma Li put down the millet, patted the dust, looked at her two grandsons playing, and said, Huanhuan, Hengheng, play, grandma is going to Fourth Aunt's room and will be back soon. Huanhuan agreed and played with his brother again.

Old lady Li went to the fourth child's room. As soon as she opened the door, she went in and closed it tightly. The old lady stepped forward, squatted down, and touched it. It was thin. She didn't know what it was. She and Li Ru took it apart layer by layer. The room could not be opened. Little Guoguo, "Ahhh," waved her little hands, calling for her mother and grandma to come over. Li Ru understood what her daughter meant and pulled Old lady Li to the bed. The little girl waved her hand, brushed, and pulled. There were many pieces of white flowered cloth, which were two meters high. Old lady Li and Li Ru were dumbfounded. They stepped forward and touched again and again. They had never seen these cloths before. The little girl swiped out two quilts. They felt soft to the touch. There were two pieces of artificial cotton with small floral patterns in light colors. The little girl swished again and threw out a big bag of cotton. These things were not available in this dynasty. Old lady Li silently found a torn sheet and put these things in a corner of the room to cover them together. Old lady Li was worrying about what to do this winter, but this time she was happy and grinned silently. Old Mrs. Li returned to the bedside, sat down, and looked at her granddaughter, who was already asleep. Li Ru said, "Mom, I felt two rolls of soft, light-colored, floral fabric inside. I wanted to make a small cotton-padded jacket for the child, as it gets cold mornings and nights."

Old Lady Li had already prepared, ready to make thick clothes for the children. She planned to have the second son's wife go to the county to buy some tomorrow. She went to her room, fetched scissors, and found a needle and thread. She didn't have any suitable thread for the children, so she only had white. She took them up to the fourth son's room. Old Lady Li and Li Ru discussed whether white thread would work. Li Ru replied, "Yes, but with smaller stitches." Old Lady Li and Li Ru found the fabric for the cotton-padded jacket, peeled off a layer of snow-white cotton, and covered it with rags. Old Lady Li glanced at the two quilts and said, "You and the children will use them tonight. You use one, and Huanhuan and Hengheng will use the other. They're small, so give them the other first." Li Ru agreed. Old Lady Li rolled the quilt up, then took her granddaughter's large diaper, wrapped it in a clean cloth, and took it back to her room. She placed it with the other quilt and covered it with a piece of old, washed-out cloth. Once everything was neatly arranged, Old Lady Li left, closing the door behind her.

Seeing her grandson still playing, Old Lady Li went back to the fourth room and, together with Li Ru, began sewing a cotton-padded jacket for her granddaughter. It would have a quilted jacket with a trouser leg and an extra piece of cloth on the chest to protect her from the cold. Old Lady Li knew how to cut, and quickly finished both the top and the bottom. She said, "Let's use the same cloth for the inside and the outside." She quickly finished sewing and put the cloth away. Li Ru knew how to make it, so she covered it with cotton, making a thin jacket first. While she was doing it, Old Lady Li went to cook. Li Ru said, "Mom, I'm not hungry. I'll have dinner with everyone." Old Lady Li smiled, happy that she was busy making cotton-padded jackets for her child. She said, "Okay." Old Lady Li brought her daughter-in-law a bowl of hot water.

Old Lady Li poured another large bowl of water and brought it to the east courtyard. "Huanhuan, Hengheng, come and have some water." Huanhuan drank half a bowl, and Hengheng drank half. Old Lady Li asked her grandsons if they were hungry. Both children said they weren't, so she stopped cooking and paused to cook. They would have dinner with their parents that evening. Old Lady Li began cutting ears of corn again. The housework had piled up. Old Lady Li thought she would cut more in the evening. Things were moving forward, but there was still much to do. Seeing the sun set, she got up and bundled the corn stalks. She carried them to the east wall and arranged them neatly. It took more than half an hour until she had finished carrying all the stalks. The two grandsons followed Old Lady Li back to the kitchen. They put the large pot on the stove, scooped more than half a bowl of rice into it, and added more firewood. Old Lady Li took her grandsons to pick vegetables again, Hengheng in one hand and the basket in the other. Hengheng held Huanhuan. They left, and Old Lady Li closed the door behind them. She went to the field, picked two large cabbages and a radish, and returned home.

The eldest and second sons also came back with their grain, and the fourth son followed behind them. As soon as they entered the house, the fourth son shouted, "Mom, the fields are harvested, I will pick up another pair of baskets!"

Taking advantage of the moonlight, everyone worked without stopping for a moment until the entire field was harvested, and then everyone went home happily.