Chapter 97
97 Knitwear
Zhou Jia brought Li Qing back to pack his luggage. The next morning, he sent him to school at Xiushan Private School in Tongzhou.
Li Yu went to look at the yarn that Uncle Zhou had dyed and realized that most of the yarn in Uncle Zhou’s batch was brown. After looking at it, Li Yu felt that they were just right for men’s sweaters.
After the wool threads dried, Li Yu looked at the threads that were dyed with natural dye. Although the color was not as bright as in modern times, the color was uniform. It still exceeded Li Yu’s expectations.
Li Yu wrapped the ball of thread and thought to herself that it was impossible to wear the sweater outside here. She started by knitting a sweater with two stitches on the top and two on the bottom.
Laidi watched curiously as Li Yu wrapped the yarn around the bamboo stick. After wrapping it around, she knitted it with the bamboo stick. Only an hour had passed, but it was already as long as her middle finger.
Laidi tugged at Zhaodi. “Sister, look at what Cousin knitted with bamboo sticks. It’s like a bucket.”
Zhaodi stood up and looked at Li Yu’s sweater. “Cousin, is this the wool coat you mentioned? How do I wear it?”
Li Yu laughed. “This is just the beginning! Why don’t you stop the spinning and I’ll teach you how to knit socks? Socks are quite fast to make.”
Laidi was even more curious. “Cousin, what are socks?”
Only then did Li Yu remember that this wasn’t called socks here. “Socks are footwear. When it’s cold, wool socks are warmer than footwear. I’ll start teaching you now.”
Laidi ran to get the knitting needles. Li Yu taught the sisters to knit socks. “Start, add the needles, and lift them up after you’re done…”
One sock was quickly knitted. When Li Yu continued to knit the other sock, the sisters had already learned it. Laidi smiled sweetly. “I’ll knit a pair for my mother first, then for Father. Then, Cousin…”
Li Yu and Zhaodi laughed when they heard that. “Laidi, you’ve forgotten yourself.”
Laidi looked at the two of them strangely. “I’ve knitted it for you. Aren’t you going to knit it for me?”
“Hehe!” Li Yu and Zhaodi laughed. “So that’s what you’re thinking! We won’t gift you!”
The three cousins laughed for a while. Li Yu simply knitted a pair of gloves. After teaching the two sisters, Li Yu continued to knit.
In the afternoon, after the female workers finished work, Li Yu and Zhaodi brought the socks and gloves to Li Mei. After Li Mei saw them, she said in surprise, “Yu’er, is this what you used those wools to make? How did you come up with such a good idea?”
“Aunt, I want to knit this to sell. Do you think anyone will buy it?” Li Yu was a little smug and sad. In her previous life, her grandmother and mother liked to knit these things and knew all kinds of styles. There were also a few sweaters in her dormitory cabinet.
Li Mei put on the socks that Laidi had knitted and stood up happily to take a few steps. “Yes, why not? This footwear, oh! These socks are much better than the footwear we made.”
Seeing that even Li Mei could accept socks, Li Yu became confident. “Alright, Cousin and I will start teaching you. Get Uncle to cut out more knitting needles according to the thickness and length of the knitting needles I cut.”
“Isn’t that simple? I’ll get your uncle to make them.” Li Mei left in a huff.
When Zhou Jia returned to Phoenix Village from Tongzhou, Li Yu had already knitted a set of sweaters, fur pants, hats, scarves, gloves, and socks.
Li Yu handed the socks, gloves, and sweater she had personally knitted for Zhou Jia to him. “Go and see if they’re suitable.”
“These are what the wool was woven into? Not bad, Yu’er. The things you made are so good that they surprised me.” Zhou Jia hugged it in surprise and turned to run into the room.
Li Yu smiled and pulled him to open the sweater. She pointed at the sweater and taught him, “Wear the low collar in front. Don’t wear it inside out.”
Soon, Zhou Jia walked out in a sweater and socks. He looked at Li Yu happily. “I like it a lot. Yu’er, thank you.”
Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia’s handsome smile and walked over to hold his chin. She teased, “Yes! Where did such a good-looking brother come from? Come, give me a smile.”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu’s red lips and couldn’t resist the urge. He picked Li Yu up and kissed her forehead hard. He said in a hoarse voice, “Good Yu’er, don’t smile like this outside.”
Li Yu wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him. “Can I do it in the house?”
Zhou Jia looked at Li Yu and sighed. “Little vixen.” He suddenly bit Li Yu’s cherry-red lips. Li Yu pushed Zhou Jia away and touched her lips with a plaintive expression. “You’re hurting me.”
Zhou Jia saw looked at Li Yu’s lips and was stunned. Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia’s silly expression and couldn’t help but smile as she pushed Zhou Jia into the house. “Hurry up and put on your outerwear. We’ll look at the other things and discuss how to sell them.”
Zhou Jia entered the house with a red face and put on his outerwear. When he came out, he looked at Li Yu’s broken lips with heartache. “Yu’er, does it still hurt?”
Li Yu shook her head and the two of them went to the workshop. Zhou Jia looked at the yarn and was surprised. “Yu’er, where did your master come from? These clothes are really amazing.”
Li Yu smiled and shook her head. “I don’t know either. It’s probably a demon in the mountains!”
Zhou Jia smiled and glanced at Li Yu. “You’re a little demon.”
Li Yu bared her fangs and brandished her claws at Zhou Jia. “Are you afraid? Demons want to eat humans.”
“Then hurry up and eat me!” Zhou Jia grabbed Li Yu’s hand and said with a smile.
The two of them played for a while and discussed the price of those clothes. After half a month, Ji Xiang sent the clothes that Li Yu had knitted for Li Qing, the bags that Li Mei and the female workers had processed, and the wool fabric to Tongzhou. He also included the precautions to wash the wool fabric. He instructed Ji Xiang to get Zhao Cai to ask every shop assistant to explain the laundry instructions clearly to every customer.
After the sweater and socks and scarf were hung up, no one cared for a few days. Finally, Ji Xiang thought of a way to get Li Qing to wear gloves, a hat, and a scarf to the private school.
When Li Qing’s classmates saw his outfit, they were all envious. When they returned home, they asked their parents to go to Zhouji to buy it. The adults realized that there were other things and bought them to use at home. Business began to pick up.
The weather was getting colder. Heavy snow was frequent in Tongzhou. The locals were saying that the snow was heavier this year than any other year. Everyone was discussing if the heavens had brought the rain from Qingzhou to Tongzhou.
When Li Yu found out, she was a little worried that the snow on the mountain would melt and the stream in the village would flood.
Li Yu found Village Chief Chen Yaohui. “Uncle Village Chief, the snow is so heavy this year. Will there be a lot of water at the mountain stream after spring turns into snow?”
Chen Yaohui nodded and said, “I’m also worried about that. When the weather gets warmer, I’ll gather everyone to widen the mountain stream and dig deeper.”
Seeing that Chen Yaohui already had a plan, Li Yu was relieved. “Alright, let me know when the time comes.”
“Xiaoyu, just take good care of your workshop. You can have a prosperous New Year with your workshop!”
“Don’t worry, Uncle Yaohui. I’ll take good care of it.” Li Yu smiled.
Ever since the weather turned cold, Zhou Ji’s wool fabrics were in short supply. Zhao Cai went to Ganzhou’s fur shop and bought another batch of wool. Li Yu brought the men, women, and children in the village to work overtime to weave the items and send them to the shop. Only then did the shop not run out of goods.
In the blink of an eye, it was the 23rd of December. It had been almost four months since Li Yu and the others arrived in Tongzhou. Li Yu was also preparing to give everyone a break to go home and prepare the New Year’s goods.