Chapter 151 - 151: Making New Clothes
Before Jiang Xia agreed, Jiang Gu had already started cheering. That joyous look was exactly what a child her age should have.
In any case, it was decided that Jiang Xia would go to school with Jiang Gu.
Since they were going to school, they couldn’t wear ragged clothes. They didn’t want to be laughed at.
Zhou Lan planned to exchange six feet of cloth tickets to make new clothes for Jiang Xia and Jiang Gu.
At first, Jiang Xia refused. The cloth was intended to make clothes for Zhou Lan and Jiang Chuan, and besides, they were wearing clothes given by elder sister Wang Ping. Although old, they were still wearable.
“Stop talking nonsense. We adults will have plenty of chances to wear new clothes later. Let’s make yours first!” Zhou Lan was getting impatient with Jiang Xia’s resistance and went straight to exchange for the cloth.
Although Zhou Lan was no longer the original Zhou Lan, she still had the skills of the original Zhou Lan. Therefore, in just two days, Zhou Lan had made two pieces of clothes. She immediately called Jiang Xia and Jiang Gu over to try them on.
“Xiao Gu, come, try it on and see how it fits?” Jiang Gu looked at the brand new clothes in front of her, extremely excited.
“It’s pretty, so pretty! It’s so comfortable to wear!” Once she put them on, Jiang Gu didn’t want to take them off, even spinning around to admire them.
“Mom, where’s sister’s clothes?” Jiang Gu, being a little kid, never forgot about Jiang Xia.
“Here they are, I didn’t forget your sister!” Zhou Lan held up a sky-blue tunic, speaking to Jiang Gu.
“Why does it feel like mine is prettier?” Jiang Gu was full of curiosity, even sneaking a glance at Jiang Xia.
“This really suits me.”
Under Jiang Gu’s puzzled gaze, Jiang Xia confidently put on the clothes and started spinning around just like Jiang Gu.
It was only then that Jiang Gu confidently walked over, holding her sister’s hand, and started laughing happily.
In Jiang Gu’s world, if her sister was happy, she was happy.
Several days passed.
Jiang Chuan plowed the fields as usual and sowed the seeds before he went to visit the village chief.
Jiang Chuan wanted to ask the village chief where Jiang Xia and Jiang Gu could attend primary school.
Upon hearing Jiang Chuan’s inquiry, the village chief knew that children’s education was important and not to be taken lightly. He said he would have to ask around. Jiang Chuan trusted the village chief and, although he was eager to resolve the matter, did not rush him.
During the waiting period, the village chief gave Jiang Chuan some good news first.
There was a bus in the village!
For the village and the Jiang family, this was good news.
Not to mention how troublesome it was for Jiang Chuan to go on a long journey, even if he could drive, he was always nervous and couldn’t focus on driving, risking accidents.
With the bus service, first, it was more convenient for them to sell their goods, and second, the villagers could now go out and explore.
Sometimes, some policies were implemented overnight, catching you off guard, but also making you feel like it should have been this way.
In any case, it was something to be happy about.
However, to catch the bus, they still had to walk six miles to a bus stop outside the village. But compared to riding a donkey cart to the county town, it was much more convenient.
And so, one day, Jiang Chuan decided to take Jiang Xia on another trip to the county town.
Jiang Chuan wanted to earn more money before Jiang Xia started school, so he planned to go to the town again to see if he could sell some more wild animal meat.
With their previous experience, Jiang Chuan and Jiang Xia went out alone this time. This way, they could go and return early and not waste too much time.
After the father and daughter walked out of the village, and only then did Jiang Xia take out things like wild rabbits from her interspace, covered with a layer of wild vegetables.
In order to sell her wild rabbits to the townsfolk, Jiang Xia didn’t wear her new clothes. She still wore her old clothes, the ones with patches.
The father and daughter carried a bamboo basket and walked a long time before they arrived at the bus stop. They waited there for quite a while before they saw a bus coming.
This bus was small and old, looking like a discarded vehicle from the town. It seemed even older than the rural buses of later generations.
The bus ticket cost ten cents, and twenty cents for two people. For an ordinary family in this era, twenty cents could buy a lot of things. Ordinary people could not bear to spend twenty cents on a bus.
As soon as they got on the bus, the ticket seller kept eyeing them up and down, as if he was afraid that they would avoid paying the fare.
However, Jiang Xia could understand that anyone would have such thoughts when they were dressed in such tattered clothes. Even in the later generations, the habit of judging people by their appearance still existed, let alone in the 1960s.
But she wasn’t afraid. She handed over twenty cents to the ticket collector and said, “Two tickets for us, please..”