It was extremely hot in Nantang Town in June, and cicadas kept screaming.
Ning Juanhua squatted at the back door of the "Hao Zai Lai" tailor shop, sewing a zipper stitch by stitch. A red mark was made on her finger by the thimble. She did not raise her head, holding a piece of thread in her mouth and staring at the bend at the edge of the fabric.
"Sister Hua, have you changed your pants?"
A head poked through the door, it was Mrs. Liu who was selling fish in the market next door.
Ning Juanhua spat out the lint in her mouth, stood up and patted the ashes on her knees: "Okay, okay, Sister-in-law Liu, give it a try."
She took out a plastic bag from under the counter, with a pair of navy blue trousers neatly folded inside.
Sister-in-law Liu took it and compared it with her: "Oh, Sister Hua, your craftsmanship is really nothing to say. After the modification, it's just like the new one. How much does it cost?"
"Fifteen."
"Fifteen? The last time Tailor Zhang made a change, it cost twenty."
Ning Juan smiled and said in a thin and soft voice, "Sister-in-law Liu is a regular customer. I'm sorry for charging so much."
Mrs. Liu took out a twenty and forced it over: "Take it, your skills are worth the price."
Ning Juanhua pushed it twice and finally accepted it.
When Mrs. Liu left, she turned back at the door and said, "Sister Hua, your mother-in-law just scolded you in the vegetable market, saying that you even ran out to play cards without closing your shop."
"Really?" The smile on Ning Juanhua's face did not change at all, "Maybe mom remembered it wrong, I have been in the shop all day today."
