Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 368 - 367: The Appearance of a Hidden Big Shot

Chapter 368: Chapter 367: The Appearance of a Hidden Big Shot

Wen Lan felt that Hezi might have a screw loose, churning out so many Head Flower designs. Either she was too idle and getting antsy, or she was too well-fed.

Even though it was annoying, the word ’surrender’ wasn’t in Sister Lan’s dictionary.

Before, when she had no classes, she’d tend to the vegetable plots on the school’s private land, but now that the vegetables were all harvested and there was no more work, she’d brought her sewing basket to the school. Whenever she had no classes, she’d hole up in Principal Wu’s room, continuing to labor over Lin Nianhe’s damn Head Flower designs.

Within just a few days, Sister Lan started seeing everything as a Head Flower.

As for Lin Nianhe, she originally wanted to take the designs back and send them straight to the textile factory for them to research, but seeing Wen Lan’s resoluteness in grappling with the Head Flowers, she didn’t forcefully snatch them back.

Not that she didn’t dare; she mainly feared that this trivial matter might become Sister Lan’s obsession...

She really was a very, very kind person.

One day, Aunt Zhao came to deliver shoes to Principal Wu, shoes made from patchworks of scrap fabric, intended for a few kids from the village school from families in need.

"Sister Wu, I’ve finished the shoes," Aunt Zhao opened her bundle and said with a smile, "Didn’t make too many, these little bastards walk so much every day, the shoes will be worn out in less than two months."

"Thank you for your hard work," Principal Wu said with grateful eyes, "If it wasn’t for you, I couldn’t have managed to make this many."

"It’s nothing, just something I did on the way." Aunt Zhao smiled and shook her head, "Next time you have scrap fabric, just give me a shout. I don’t have much to do at home anyway."

"Alright, then I won’t be polite with you." Principal Wu spotted Wen Lan gnashing her teeth on the edge of the kang bed, her eyes suddenly lit up, "Come over here, sister-in-law, Xiao Lan has been fussing over that Head Flower thing for the past few days, keeps failing. You have a look, help her out."

Seeing Wen Lan with needle and thread, Aunt Zhao didn’t refuse. She came over with a smile and sat down, asking, "Girl, what are you up to?"

Wen Lan let out a sigh, her curses towards Lin Nianhe flowing eloquently, "That silly girl Hezi, insisting on making some Head Flowers. She couldn’t even explain properly how to make them, just tossed me a drawing, fussing over it day after day, like she’s got nothing better to do, just begging for a beating..."

Principal Wu held back a smile at the side, explaining to Aunt Zhao on behalf of Wen Lan, "I heard from Nianhe that if these Head Flowers are made well, they are to be sent to the textile factory for mass production and sale, so Xiao Lan is also eager about it."

Aunt Zhao leaned over to inspect the drawing that had been crumpled and then smoothed out again. After examining it carefully for a while, she said, "Girl, here, let Auntie give it a try." With that, she reached out her hand and took the needle and thread from Wen Lan.

Aunt Zhao was the village seamstress, skilled and charging less, so everyone preferred to go to her for tailoring work. Originally, when Aunt Li wanted to make a wedding dress for Wang Xixi, she intended to have Aunt Zhao do it, but Aunt Zhao was busy with urgent tailoring work, and on top of that, Accountant Zhao’s leg injury flared up again, which led them to seek out Wen Lan.

Needless to say, Aunt Zhao had more experience than Wen Lan, being accustomed to altering children’s clothes and making trousers. After studying Wen Lan’s semi-finished product and the design for a while, she got to work.

Wen Lan watched on the side, her eyes going from tiredness to brimming with hope.

Principal Wu watched them busy themselves for a while, then went back to his desk and sat down, pulling out some draft paper and starting to write something.

Time quietly slipped away, and after nearly an hour, Aunt Zhao finally bit off the cotton thread and turned to Wen Lan, saying, "Xiao Lan, take a look, is this what Nianhe wanted?"

The red and white checkered fabric made into a headband, adorned with several little cotton thread pompoms. The pleating was exquisite, and the pompoms trimmed smooth and cute.

Wen Lan took the Head Flower, scrutinizing it several times very carefully, and said, "If she dares to nitpick this, I’ll break her legs!"

Lin Nianhe just stepped through the door and heard Wen Lan’s words, her legs gave out, and she almost directly collapsed into Principal Wu’s arms.

Lin Nianhe stood by the door, pondering whether to run, or to run.

Sister Lan had been particularly irritable lately, and she couldn’t afford to provoke her!

She hesitated a little too long and got caught by Sister Lan’s eyes.

Wen Lan jumped up, holding the Head Flower and pounced in front of Lin Nianhe, glaring with slightly reddened eyes and said, "Come on! Try picking on it again!"

Lin Nianhe’s lips quivered, clearing her throat to defend, "Sister Lan, I wasn’t nitpicking before, it’s just..." genuinely impossible.

Honest truths are not always welcome, and Lin Nianhe consciously swallowed them back down, reaching out to take the Head Flower.

Her eyes lit up, her voice tinged with excitement: "Yes, yes, exactly like this!"

It wasn’t fair to blame her for being uneasy; she had been having a hard time lately.

She tested the Head Flower’s elasticity and, upon looking up and seeing Aunt Zhao, she instantly understood—this wasn’t Sister Lan suddenly becoming enlightened, but rather the real mastermind showing up.

Lin Nianhe’s eyes twinkled with stars: "Aunt Zhao, did you make this?"

"Mhm," Aunt Zhao said with a smile, "Xiao Lan almost got it right, and after seeing her work, it was easy for me to do."

"Aunt Zhao, you are really skilled with your hands!"

Lin Nianhe dragged Wen Lan over, sat next to Aunt Zhao, and handed her several patterns Wen Lan hadn’t yet had time to study, then said, "Aunt Zhao, could you please look at these patterns? If you’re not too busy these few days, could you and Sister Lan work on them together?"

Aunt Zhao nodded: "I’m not particularly busy, but will there really be buyers for these Head Flowers once we make them?"

"Rest assured, I will definitely be able to sell them," Lin Nianhe said with a smile, "I’m also planning to talk to the textile factory, to allocate some of the Head Flower production tasks to the villagers. This should earn more than gluing matchboxes."

Aunt Zhao wasn’t much concerned about making money and agreed with a smile: "Then I’ll work on it with Xiao Lan. You all are busy with important things, and I’m happy to be of use."

With Aunt Zhao’s help, Wen Lan’s inner demons finally dispersed.

In just two days, the pair had crafted all fourteen designs of Head Flowers drawn by Lin Nianhe.

Lin Nianhe checked them one by one and, feeling that they were well-made without any issues, she packaged them and put them in her shoulder bag, taking advantage of the lunch break to ride her bicycle to the commune.

She had just cycled around the big tree at the village entrance when she heard the ring of a bicycle bell from behind.

Before she could turn around, Su Yuncheng was already at her side.

Lin Nianhe blinked her eyes, asking him, "Aren’t you busy today?"

Su Yuncheng couldn’t help but smile wryly: "When am I not busy?"

"Weren’t you chopping firewood on the mountain with the villagers the last couple of days? Is it all chopped?"

"Not yet," said Su Yuncheng, "I am going to pick up some glass today, for house repairs."

Many hands make light work, and the village’s empty house had already been mostly tidied. The kang had been re-plastered in the last few days and was nearly dry. As soon as the glass and doors and windows were fixed, they could move out.

Lin Nianhe said with a smile, "That’s pretty fast... Oh, what about furniture and other stuff?"

"Just haul some from the town," Su Yuncheng replied, "We won’t need too much."

Lin Nianhe nodded, then suddenly laughed.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly remembered when I first arrived... Time really flies."

Lin Nianhe looked down the road she could now navigate with her eyes closed, avoiding holes, and her eyes curved with her smile.

While smiling, the tip of her nose suddenly chilled.

A snowflake landed on the tip of her nose.

It had started to snow.