Mu Xueqing was suddenly ambushed and ended up with a face full of drool, her pretty little cheeks instantly flushing red.
For the past few days, due to Wu Dong and the others, Mu Xueqing and Wang An had essentially been living apart.
Consequently, the little bouts of intimacy they usually shared every night had been interrupted.
Of course, since Mu Xueqing was pregnant, their "intimacy" was indeed just light affection—the kind involving mouths, hands, and feet—and definitely not the real thing.
Having been deprived for several days, Wang An's sudden attack made it inevitable for the two of them to lose a bit of self-control.
When self-control is lost, the movements inevitably become a bit too bold; specifically, Wang An's hand reached into a place where it shouldn't be reaching during the day.
This made Mu Xueqing even more shy. She wanted to push Wang An away, but unfortunately, she was still holding a pile of things in her arms.
Thus, Wang An took the opportunity to act with a bit of reckless abandon.
Much later, Mu Xueqing finally escaped Wang An's demonic clutches and said in a coquettish voice
"It's broad daylight, are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Wang An gave a hehe laugh and said cheekily, "Wife, you really are my lucky star! Haha!"
As he spoke, Wang An took the *bubie* (layered cloth) from Mu Xueqing's hands.
Seeing Wang An's action, Mu Xueqing asked in surprise
"What? You want to help me make shoes?"
Wang An paused, subconsciously glancing at the *bubie* in his hand. Come to think of it, the sole purpose of *bubie* really seemed to be for making shoes.
However, Wang An immediately said with a smile
"What do you mean 'make shoes'? We'll just find a way to buy a few pairs from the supply and marketing cooperative someday. It'll save the trouble of stitching soles every single day."
Hearing Wang An's words, Mu Xueqing immediately replied
"Buying shoes costs money. I just do this when I have nothing better to do. Now that we have a sewing machine, making shoes is fast."
While Mu Xueqing's words were logically sound—reflecting the characteristic frugality of women from this era—Wang An felt a surge of emotion. He suddenly had the feeling of "having such a wife, what more could a husband ask for?"
Still, Wang An insisted
"From now on, except for the *yungxue* (snow) shoes I wear for mountain trekking, we won't make cloth shoes anymore. Our family isn't short on money; stitching soles every day will ruin your eyesight."
Mu Xueqing wanted to speak further, but Wang An immediately used a tone as if coaxing a child
"Be good, wifey, be a good girl."
Mu Xueqing rolled her eyes at Wang An and said crossly, "Are you treating me like a child?"
"Hahahahaha..." Wang An laughed cheekily.
Once he finished laughing, he didn't dwell further on the issue of buying shoes. After all, many things are like this—once they are bought and brought home, people usually accept them whether they were willing at first or not.
Then, Wang An brought up his idea of making clothes for the dogs.
After listening, Mu Xueqing said with great curiosity
"You want our dogs to wear a set of armor, like ancient generals?"
Wang An thought about it and felt that was exactly the case, so he nodded and said
"When worn by a dog, this thing shouldn't be called armor; it should be called protective gear."
Mu Xueqing nodded and subconsciously asked
"This *bubie* is so stiff, will the dogs be comfortable wearing it?"
Hearing this, Wang An also realized the problem.
He suddenly discovered that while protective gear looked simple, actually making it was a genuinely difficult task.
Because hunting dogs entering the mountains needed to maintain their flexibility; in other words, this gear could not interfere with their jumping, leaping, or turning.
This placed high requirements on the material: it couldn't be too heavy, couldn't be too stiff, and most importantly, it had to be durable.
Actually, Wang An had initially thought of leather, but in terms of durability, only well-tanned cowhide could do the job.
Unfortunately, if he tried to collect cowhide by going door-to-door throughout the entire Kaoshan Village, he might not even be able to gather a single full hide.
Because cowhide, besides being sellable for money, had far too many uses in the countryside.
The vast majority of cowhide was sold; even those that weren't were made into *yungxue* shoes.
One must know that *yungxue* shoes made of cowhide were exceptionally durable.
Saying a pair of shoes could last three generations was nonsense, but wearing them for three to five years was truly no problem at all.
Even the scraps left over from making shoes weren't thrown away; they could be used as patches later or as covers for horse carriages.
Furthermore, in the countryside, there was a type of rope that was essential called *shisheng*, used for tying crops to carts during harvest.
Generally, these ropes were twisted from hemp, but if cowhide was used, they became practically indestructible.
Although cowhide was incredibly useful, these weren't the most critical points.
The most critical point was that in this era, cows in the countryside simply wouldn't die unless they died of old age, disease, or severe injury.
But if the cows didn't die, where would the cowhide come from?
To be honest, while *bubie* was just several layers of cloth glued together, it was truly durable, provided it wasn't subjected to abrasion.
Considering this stuff was always used for shoe soles, one could tell how tough it was.
But it was also very stiff and brittle; once folded, the glued cloth would quickly separate and lose its strength.
Thus, the spark of inspiration from a moment ago instantly turned into darkness.
Just as Wang An was at his wit's end, Mu Xueqing continued
"Why not cut the *bubie* into strips and then sew them onto leather, just like stitching shoe soles?"
Wang An thought about it, and his eyes lit up again.
He had to admit, Mu Xueqing's brain was truly quite sharp.
Consequently, Wang An hugged Mu Xueqing again and gave her a round of kisses.
"Oh, stop it, you're getting drool all over my face again," Mu Xueqing whispered while being kissed.
She really didn't dare speak too loudly, as the sounds of the two little sisters playing and fighting could be heard from the outer room.
Once Wang An had his fill of kissing, he laughed, jumped from the *kang* bed to the floor, and ran outside toward the three dogs.
Although Wang An's tailoring skills were superb and he could judge a person's measurements accurately, he had truly never made clothes for a dog, so he had to take their measurements first.
After measuring the dogs, Wang An ran to the lower room and brought out several pieces of wild boar hide.
In the absence of cowhide, wild boar hide combined with *bubie* was the toughest material Wang An could think of.
Returning to the room, Wang An quickly cut out three pieces of protective gear based on the dogs' sizes.
Actually, he had only measured Da Hei, because while doing so, he realized that this protective gear needed to be adjustable.
If made to a fixed size, once the *bubie* was sewn onto the boar hide, there was a high probability the gear wouldn't fit properly.
After cutting the boar hide, Wang An pondered carefully for a while before finally putting the scissors to the *bubie*.
***
Thanks to the big shot "ubuhyvygt" for the tip! Thanks to the big shot "202211052270" for the tip! Thanks to the big shot "202011309037" for the tip! Cupped-fist salute to the three big shots!
(End of Chapter)