Bab 24: Winter Clothes

The thick cotton-padded jacket in a rich dark brown color was a combination of modern and ancient designs. A masterpiece using the original owner Xu Zeng's talent and memories and Xu Feng's modern memories. The warm jacket was sewn generously to keep people warm through the winter months in Nanshan.

This deep, dark brown jacket was made generously to fit Erlang's big frame. It was large thick and made to take a beating. Erlang was probably more active than anyone else in Nanshan Estate, and his clothing needed to stand the test of time and heavy work.

The boy had been working extra hard, collecting extra wood from the nearby woods and burning charcoal in preparation for the cold winter Xu Feng was dreading. The estate had already made preparations for the winter, but Xu Feng wanted to be as cautious as possible.

There were also two smaller winter jackets in the same simple yet intricate style and stuffed full of cotton. One in pink and the other in green. These were made by Xu Feng for Si and San. Not knowing how cold it would be, Xu Feng even made a pair of gloves and socks for all three servants.

For himself, Xu Feng made two sets of ancient cotton stuffed jackets, gloves, and socks. One set was made in a navy blue color, and the other set in various shades of green. These jackets could be used regularly when he worked in the new greenhouse or went to town.

Xu Feng also made a final set with richer fabric and a flashier style of jacket in grey and white for special occasions. This set's jacket had detailed patterns that showcased his status and white gloves that looked more high-class. If he had leather for the gloves, the look would have been complete.

The look screamed young master from an ancient hidden family—not a real ancient young master, but one you would probably see in a historical N-drama in modern Dongmen.

On top of this, Xu Feng made two sets of simple clothing for Si, San, and Erlang to match what the people in town wore. He didn't want his people to feel inferior in public. Two sets of clothes were more than enough for the people of this era—especially since the young servants were still growing—but Xu Feng would make a few more sets for them in the future.

For Erlang, he used more durable fabric, layered to provide even more warmth. It was plain but made of high-quality material, and the tailoring was well done. For the girls, he used nicer fabrics and more fancy sewing patterns.

"Young mistress, you've made so many clothes!" Si exclaimed when she saw all the clothing Xu Feng made in the last week.

When they made the clothing daily, it didn't seem like too much, but looking at the piles of clothes was a different story. There were over four dozen pieces of clothing between the four people—Si, San, Erlang, and Xu Feng.

In addition to the newest additions, there were also at least fourteen basic pant and robe combinations in a variety of colors made with thicker fabric. Xu Feng meant to use these fourteen sets of clothes this winter, for himself.

He even made modern-looking underwear for himself! No more ancient underpants!!

To the people of Donghua, this was a large number of clothes. Even for rich households, it was a bit extravagant to have fourteen sets of clothes made in one sitting… for a single season.

"Well, your young mistress is a young mistress after all," Xu Feng teased before using their surprise to his advantage, "You see how many clothes I have; don't you think I'll feel ashamed if my servants are wearing old clothes while I wear these?"

"Ahhh!" Little Si exclaimed loudly with joy.

San, who was caught off guard, stared at Xu Feng wide-eyed.

It was obvious Xu Feng had made clothes in four distinct sizes. Both Si and San had been helping him with the sewing over the last week as they worked overtime.

While Si might have been surprised, San should have expected the smaller clothing to be made for their two little girls, not the tall ger in front of her.

San opened her mouth and stared at her young mistress, not knowing how to respond. No matter how icy Xu Feng could turn, he had never said or done anything harsh toward his three young servants.

There was no way he was ashamed of their shabby clothing, right?

'Would we be letting down the Xuan family and the young master by looking shabby?'

Taking the chance to seal the deal, Xu Feng continued, "My wedding is tomorrow, are you going to welcome guests in your shabby clothes? And as a new mistress, do you want to make me look bad by keeping your old shabby things when a new master of the house officially enters?

"I don't know how things are done where you come from, but where I come from…" Xu Feng coughed to cover up his bold lie, "When a new mistress enters the door, the old and weathered things must be removed, or renovated, (or cleaned if it's still useable, or you come from a poor family)."

Xu Feng could see San wasn't buying his logic at all. This custom of removing, renovating, or cleaning the old was actually very popular in Donghua at the moment, but Xu Feng purposefully left out the third option; cleaning.

Cleaning, deep cleaning, was the option most poor and average families in Donghua went with when there was a new marriage.

Seeing San's stubborn reluctance, Xu Feng offhandedly threw out another sentence, "Or maybe it's better if I get new servants, would two young gers be enough to serve me?"

It took a second, but Si's face fell. She went from excitedly clutching at her new clothes to a face full of tears. San wasn't much better, she wasn't teary-eyed yet, but the fear on her face was so vivid.