The other two aunts had married into the village next door years ago and rarely returned; at least, in all the time Lin He had been there, aside from seeing the Third Mother and her two children, she hadn't met any other relatives.

On Lin He's mother's side, there were two sons. The elder, who was the man before them—the Eldest Maternal Uncle—was named Huang Dashan. He had been married for many years, and his eldest son was already twelve. The Eldest Maternal Aunt was also a virtuous and filial wife. There was also a younger maternal uncle, who was only eight. Their family life was quite harmonious. Since they didn't have too many children, by the standards of ordinary farming households, their days were considered quite good. The Huang family only had one daughter, Huang Shi. As winter was fast approaching, Lin He's maternal grandmother was sending things over via her eldest son for her daughter's family.

Knowing that her daughter's family had many mouths to feed and little labor, and with winter closing in, life was surely difficult. She packed some things to send over. When Huang Shi saw her elder brother arrive, she was overjoyed. She took the bundles from his shoulder and set them in the courtyard, asking Lin He to fetch a cup of water for her eldest uncle to drink.

She said, "Elder Brother, why bring so much stuff again? You must be tired from the journey."

The Eldest Uncle smiled and replied, "What tiredness? It's not far."

Lin He came out from the house with a cup of water and handed it to her uncle, calling out sweetly, "Eldest Uncle, have some water."

The Eldest Uncle patted Lin He's head and said, "Good girl." Da Bao and San Ya clustered around their uncle, clearly very fond of him.

Huang Shi also smiled and inquired about the situation at her parents' home, "Are Mom and Dad in good health? How was the harvest this year? Have my nephews and nieces grown taller? Is my little brother behaving?"

The Eldest Uncle answered each question one by one. After sitting for a while, he mentioned he had to leave. Huang Shi urged him to stay for lunch, but the Eldest Uncle declined, saying he was in a hurry to get home because he had things to attend to.

Huang Shi took out the contents of the basket: about five jin of cured meat, ten jin of fine flour, two bolts of cloth, and several dozen jin of cornmeal and coarse dark flour. Before leaving, he pulled out two hundred large cash coins from his inner pocket and handed them to Huang Shi. Huang Shi initially refused, but after Huang Dashan said something, her expression darkened, and she finally accepted them.

Huang Dashan stayed a little longer before picking up the empty basket and heading back. Only when Huang Shi watched her elder brother's receding back did she turn around. Looking at the large pile of food and necessities in the courtyard, her heart was filled with a profound sense of guilt. For all these years since her marriage, she had relied on her parents' home for support just to get through the winter. Although her parents' household was managing, it wasn't a sustainable solution for a married daughter to constantly rely on her natal family. When would this life ever end?

At night, Lin He and Huang Shi did embroidery under the oil lamp. People here did not eat supper; Lin He was extremely unaccustomed to this during her first few days. Every night when it was time to sleep, her stomach ached with hunger, but their regular daily meals were barely enough, let alone a supper. However, after a while, she grew used to eating only two meals a day and sleeping early.

Huang Shi said to Lin He, "Er Ya, tomorrow is the market day. Take San Ya and the Third Mother to the market to sell these embroideries. Then buy three jin of the lowest grade of cotton batting. Eldest Uncle brought two bolts of cloth today; we can make a lighter winter coat for each of you. It looks like winter is coming early this year, and it will be colder than usual; we can’t let you children freeze." Lin He acknowledged her.

The next morning, after eating breakfast, Lin He called San Ya and went to the Third Mother's house, planning to go to the market together. Just as they were about to leave, that boy Xiao Bao insisted on going too.

Lin He was ready to take him, but Huang Shi disagreed, saying the market would be crowded, and Xiao Bao tended to wander off, making him hard to watch. Lin He coaxed her for a long time, promising to ask the two children from Third Aunt's house to come over and play with him, and also promising Xiao Bao the 'meaty things' she had made for him last time—which was Lin He's cooking of pig offal—before she was allowed to leave.

When Lin He and San Ya arrived at the door of the Third Mother's house, Lin He called out, "Third Mother!" Lin He's Third Mother, Zhou Shi, came out. Zhou Shi was quite petite, wearing a coarse purple cloth jacket and coarse blue trousers. Though quite worn, they were washed very clean. Xiao Shan and Xiao Yun were also clean, showing that Zhou Shi was a capable homemaker. It was a pity that in this era, no matter how capable a woman was, life was extremely hard if she was without a husband.

Zhou Shi was holding a small basket and was telling Xiao Shan, "You stay home and play with your sister; don't wander off anywhere."

Lin He said to Zhou Shi, "Ask Xiao San to take Xiao Yun to my house to play with Xiao Bao. Mom is home too; she can watch them."

Zhou Shi's eldest son, Xiao Shan, was not yet five, and Xiao Yun had just turned two. Leaving them alone at home was indeed a bit worrying, so she agreed.

She told Xiao Shan, "Xiao Shan, you take your sister to Second Aunt's house to play. Mom will be back soon." Xiao Shan took his sister and walked past Lin He and San Ya, calling out, "Elder Sister."

Lin He responded, patted their heads, and said, "Your sister will bring back big steamed buns for you to eat!" Xiao Shan and Xiao Yun quickly agreed.

Zhou Shi said with a playful chiding smile, "Er Ya, don't spoil them too much."

Zhou Shi knew Lin He's family struggled and that they frequently needed assistance; she felt too embarrassed to ask Lin He to spend money. Lin He understood the Third Mother's hesitation. "Third Mother, let's go; if we don't leave soon, it will be dark."

Zhou Shi then realized the time was late and hurried Lin He and San Ya along.

By the time they reached the market, it was indeed late. Zhou Shi quickly took them to the shop to deliver the embroidery. Zhou Shi had ten pieces; she said she missed the last market day and was delivering them all at once. Zhou Shi's ten pieces earned her fifty large cash coins; her needlework was also quite good.

Lin He's family had a total of twenty-two embroidered items. Twelve were done by Huang Shi, at five wen each. Lin He had ten; one earned four wen, and the rest were three wen each, totaling ninety-one wen.

The embroidery shop owner praised Lin He, saying, "Young lady, your skills are getting better and better. If you can make every piece look like this next time, I'll pay you four wen each."

Lin He replied sweetly, "Yes, I promise to do even better next time."

The owner smiled. Lin He and Zhou Shi then collected some more embroidery work from the owner to take back and work on.

Just as they were about to leave the shop, they saw a shop assistant carrying out a large sack filled with what looked like scraps of cloth, very fragmented pieces.

The assistant was complaining, "The person who buys these cloth scraps hasn't come for days; this sack is full. Tomorrow we won't have room for it."

Lin He walked over to look at the scraps. An idea formed in her mind. She walked up to the owner and asked, "Boss, how much are these cloth scraps?"

The owner asked, "You want to buy them?"

Lin He nodded. The owner smiled and said, "Little girl, if you want them, I’ll sell them to you cheaply. Just give me five wen for this whole sack."

Lin He took out five wen and bought the scraps. She also arranged with the owner that next time, he should save some scraps for her, and she would come to collect them again.

Zhou Shi didn't know what Lin He planned to do with the scraps and didn't say much. Only after they walked out the shop door did she ask her about it.

Lin He explained, "It's getting cold, and Mom said I should buy three jin of cotton batting to make a few winter coats for us younger ones. But three jin of cotton won't be enough for four winter coats. I want to buy some scraps to twist together with the cotton batting, making a padded layer like a quilt, so we can make an extra padded coat and save some money."

She continued, "Last time I came to the market, I saw others doing something similar. I don't know if I can manage it, but if it doesn't work out, we can use these scraps as kindling; nothing will be wasted." Zhou Shi nodded.

Lin He left the sack of scraps aside, asking San Ya to watch it, then went with Zhou Shi to buy cotton batting. Cotton batting in this era was truly expensive. The best, top-grade cotton was eighty wen per jin; medium grade was fifty wen per jin; the lowest grade was twenty-five wen per jin—that was the blackish kind, which looked very unappealing, but it should still offer some warmth.

Lin He bought three jin of the lowest-grade cotton batting to take home. Seeing this, Zhou Shi also wanted to buy some cotton batting to make winter coats for her two children, but her purse was too light. With only the fifty wen she earned from selling her embroidery, buying cotton batting would leave no money for grain. After thinking about it, she gave up, deciding to alter their old clothes for them instead.

Lin He noticed Zhou Shi’s disappointed expression and understood her thoughts. "Third Mother, don't worry. When we get back, I'll try to make this padded coat. If it works, I'll ask Mom to make one for Xiao Shan and one for Xiao Yun too." Zhou Shi nodded joyfully.

For more novels, visit storyread.net.