Chapter 859 - This Is a Good Lady
As such, as long as that Qiao Nan continued to carry that happy smile on her tender face when she looked at them, the old generals felt much more at ease. It was as if they had taken strong alcohol. Their whole body became more relaxed.
“Old Zhai, you’re so blessed. This little child is so brave. At the sight of us, she is still able to walk and smile.” Some of Old Master Zhai’s former comrades patted his shoulders with envy. In fact, they had been worried that the atmosphere would not be good if they were to attend the event.
That grandson of Old Zhai was not young anymore. However, the lady that he was engaged with was so young. She had just reached adulthood. There were still a few years to go before their marriage.
The old generals had been veteran revolutionaries all their life. They loved their soldier attire the most.
For grand events that they valued, they would attend them in their soldier attire. When they were in their soldier attire, they were giving their utmost importance and respect.
These old generals already looked scary when they were in casual clothing. When they were in their army attire, they looked even more frightening. It was as if they were attending some major national events.
Not everyone could handle such utmost respect from the old generals.
The awesome thing was that Qiao Nan was able to do it.
During this period, there was already a rising overseas influence in China. Many people would wear a white bridal gown during their engagement or wedding. However, the old generals preferred traditional Chinese stuff.
Today, Qiao Nan was wearing a bright fiery red cheongsam that had been modified.
The fabric of a cheongsam was usually quite thick. The weather was hot and there was no air-conditioner. Qiao Nan could not take the heat.
As such, Qiao Nan brought into play her talent. She chose her own fabric and tailor-made a modified wedding cheongsam for herself.
She could not possibly just utilize the sewing machine gifted by Shi Qing once and let it retire thereafter. That would be too wasteful.
Of course, Shi Qing was also a ‘vicious’ woman. Initially, she was not very interested in the so-called modified cheongsam. However, when she saw that the one that Qiao Nan made for herself looked good, she pestered Qiao Nan to make one for her.
On this joyous occasion today, Shi Qing was openly flaunting the modified cheongsam that Qiao Nan made for her continuously before the eyes of Zhai Hua. She was enjoying herself and immersed in that envious look of Zhai Hua. She then received praise from the countless uncles that she knew or were familiar with. “Isn’t that so? The things from China are so good. The clothes are pretty too. Why are people learning those things from foreigners? What bridal gown? They look so white. It is as if someone from the family had ‘left’. This one is pretty. It’s pretty!”
It could be said that the modified cheongsams on Qiao Nan and Shi Qing received countless good reviews from the group of old generals. They were full of praises for them.
“Don’t say that. She is still young and doesn’t have enough training. She also has very little experience.” Old Master Zhai, who was also looking very proud, simply grinned like a flower. “I heard that my granddaughter-in-law made the dress that she is wearing now herself. Her skills are So-so. It is still passable.”
“Oh, she also knows how to tailor-made clothes. What a good lady.”
The old generals gave sincere praise.
Different from the current youngsters, the old generals did not subject to the habit of buying their daily food and household necessities. They believed in homemade and homegrown stuff.
Until today, the old generals seldom wore leather shoes. They wore cloth shoes most of the time. Moreover, they wore the kind of cloth shoes that had to be sewn using pieces of fabric. They felt more comfortable wearing them on their feet.
As for those so-called exercising shoes that were manufactured by the foreigners, the old generals would not wear them again after trying them out once. They would feel uncomfortable all over just wearing them. This was despite the good quality of the shoes bought for them by their filial children.
The things in their own country were so good. Why did they have to wear those from the foreigners’ countries?
Due to this, they took a liking to young ladies such as Qiao Nan with such skills and who knew how to DIY.
“Do you know that this child is very young but she’s very filial? She knows that I like to wear Mao suit[1] and insisted to make one set for me. The two of them were already very busy with their engagement. There’s no need to do so! After a long round of persuasion, that child finally agreed to make me one only after this period and before the school reopens, so that I can wear it and walk around.”
At this moment, Old Master Zhai was getting the kick out of showing off.
It was already the 21st century. It was common to hear the youngsters buying instead of making them something. This batch of old revolutionary veterans still preferred handmade instead of ready-made stuff.
As such, it was obvious that Old Zhai was showing off when he said this.
It was true. So what if one was young? It was fine as long as she was sensible.
The granddaughters-in-law of their family were all much older than this young lady before their eyes. They had not even made them a pair of socks, let alone a Mao suit.
It was so different from the times when they were a child. When a lady was getting married, she had to make so many pairs of shoes for the husband’s family as meeting gifts. Without these, they would be labeled as a lazy daughter-in-law that was not presentable.
“Go, go, go.” After much boasting, he had attracted some annoyance. “Move aside. Get the young lady to serve us some tea.” This old man was too annoying.
“Hahaha…” Old Master Zhai was not angry. Instead, he was smiling with joy. “When that set of clothing is ready, I’ll wear it back for all of you to see.”
“…” Facing the enthusiasm of Old Master Zhai, the old generals rolled their eyes continuously. His grandson was already engaged and he did not know how to restrain himself despite his age. Childish!
“Did you hear that? Words that have been spoken are like water that has been spilled. The old master has in mind this set of clothing. You’d better get it ready for him before he goes back. Otherwise, if he has boasted about it today and you don’t make it for him, do you believe that he won’t leave?” Zhai Sheng laughed. He seldom saw the old master behave in this way. It seemed like the old master was genuinely happy today.
Qiao Nan turned red. “Actually, I have already made the measurements. Once I finish cutting the fabric, I just need to spend one day to make it.”
Qiao Nan did not expect that the ‘cheap’ design that she came up with was a hit among these old generals. Was this considered hitting the mark by a fluke?
The family situation of the Qiao family was not good. They had to cough up the tuition fees from various ways and sponsorships. This was just the engagement and Qiao Dongliang felt shy to accept too many things from the Zhai family. It would seem that he was selling his daughter.
To give face to both Qiao Dongliang and the Zhai family, she certainly had to make proper preparation for the engagement gown. She could not afford an expensive one. Therefore, she could only rely on herself to make something different.
Who would have thought that these old generals would like it so much?
The money in Qiao Nan’s hands was enough to buy the fabric to make one set of clothing for Old Master Zhai. However, if she really wanted to buy something of good quality at the mall, she could not even afford to buy the upper or lower piece of the clothing, not to mention the whole suit.
Zhai Sheng smiled. “If the old master knows about this, he will boast to his former comrades again.”
“…” Qiao Nan looked very shy. “It’s good that the old chief doesn’t mind.” Fortunately, these veteran revolutionaries were so down-to-earth and adorable. Otherwise, given her preparation today, it would, at most, be considered presentable. Those who were mean might say that she reeked of poverty or give even worse comments.
[1] A type of suit that was named after Mao Zedong because it became closely associated with him in the Western imagination