The Dog Food Festival for Those Without Lovers: The Author's Well-Intentioned Update
The dress is made primarily of canvas, with a snow-white lining made of another fabric. Fine wool is lined inside for warmth, while the outer layer of sheer gauze is almost transparent with extremely fine threads. It is dustproof without obscuring the pattern on the canvas, and even gives the pattern inside a hazy, dynamic feel.
Just like the animated version of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" exhibited in many places, it always feels like the river, the pedestrians, and the donkeys and horses coming and going are moving slowly.
An Nuan lifted her skirt and examined it carefully. There were very few seams on the skirt, especially the middle layer of canvas, which looked like a famous painting was embedded in the interlayer. Unlike the leftover fabric that was stuck to the wall, the canvas used in the interlayer had been softened and had a soft, flowing feel.
The most dreamlike element is the deep red lace, used like the border of a scroll painting. The deep color becomes the most vivid rendering of the dreamlike scene.
An Nuan carefully turned up the hem of her skirt, her arms, and her collar, and couldn't help but lower her head to smell it. There was a fresh scent, just like Liu Chang'an's scent. Sure enough, he had sewn it by hand, stitch by stitch.
An Nuan couldn't help but lower her head, sniff her face, touch her beautiful little dress, and look at Liu Chang'an with gentle, watery eyes.
"Oh my god... it's so sassy, Liu Chang'an, how did you do that..." Bi Wanwan stared incredulously at the little dress underneath.
Ding Lin and Gu Meng pressed themselves against the glass window, grabbing at the glass with their hands without any regard for their image, as if they could feel the gorgeous and elegant little dress even from a distance.
"Can we make another one with the remaining fabric?" Liu Yuewang pulled Liu Chang'an behind her, lowered her voice, and her eyes sparkled. My God... every woman must own a dress like this. She felt her heart pounding so hard she could hardly breathe.
Even the new designs of "Explanation," the major new products from major fashion brands, and those bags, shoes, jewelry, and watches that women can't tear themselves away from, none of them aroused such a strong possessive desire in Liu Yuewang.
"At most, I'll make one set of underwear." Liu Chang'an shook his head. These fabrics must be treated to maintain their softness, and it's not enough to just have enough fabric; the pattern also needs to be carefully chosen, and we need to ensure that there aren't too many small scraps.
Just like the dress Liu Chang'an made, if An Nuan doesn't like it anymore, or if there are problems and it's no longer suitable to wear, Liu Chang'an can take it apart and restore it to its original form as the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll.
If a painting is fully restored without affecting its visual expression, such cropping does almost no damage to its significance or historical research value.
Liu Yuewang was greatly disappointed. Was she the kind of person who would wear gaudy, flashy lingerie? She couldn't imagine lingerie made with such patterns. But then she looked at the little dress in An Nuan's hand. Liu Chang'an's aesthetic sense and design taste were... well, not bad at all. Maybe he had some unique designs that would be acceptable?
But, having him make me a set of underwear feels a bit off, and with An Nuan being such a jealous little thing, she definitely won't agree to Liu Chang'an making it for Liu Yuewang.
An Nuan walked out, lifting her skirt and carrying a rattan box in her other hand. The box had a distinctly vintage feel and matched the skirt perfectly.
"An Nuan... why don't you wear it and let us see?" Ding Lin said eagerly.
"Yes, there's a lounge over there when we came over; we can change there." Gu Meng nodded vigorously.
"Let's go, let's go." Bi Wanwan grabbed the person directly.
"Oh..." An Nuan exclaimed coquettishly, glanced back at Liu Chang'an, and saw that Liu Chang'an nodded before following them.
Liu Yuewang withdrew her envious gaze. So, the request she made to Gao Yening last time wasn't unreasonable. Why should An Nuan's boyfriend be so outstanding, while she couldn't find a boyfriend who could completely satisfy all her vanity?
"Liu Chang'an, how old are you exactly?" Liu Yuewang didn't mean anything by it, but just felt a little angry and asked casually.
"Eighteen."
Liu Yuewang raised the bag in her hand as if to hit someone, but after glancing at the other visitors, she restrained herself.
It was only at this point that many people realized that the exhibition design, titled "Return to the Song Dynasty," should actually be called "Dog Food."
However, one has to admire the exhibitors' ingenious ideas, much like the text "Carving Phoenix" that many older people learned in their childhood.
"That piece of cloth... that piece of cloth at the corner... make me a shawl... and I won't hit you anymore." Liu Yuewang made a few hitting gestures, but the movements were small, so that no one would notice.
"Go ahead and hit me. It's either you hitting me or An Nuan hitting me, it makes no difference," Liu Chang'an replied calmly.
"What I mean is... I mean, let bygones be bygones," Liu Yuewang said through gritted teeth. He should understand now that she'd put it that way.
"Past mistakes will not be held against you" means she knows what you did in the past!
"Hesitant mouth."
"CHI is the radical for 'double person' (彳), and CHU is the radical for 'one person' (一丁亍), right? If you break the characters down and read them, it means unwilling, very reluctant, right?" Liu Yuewang was quite knowledgeable, and of course she could understand Liu Chang'an's expression of reluctance!
"Witty."
"I don't care, as long as you agree." Liu Yuewang didn't care whether he was willing or unwilling; the important thing was his design and his work, not his feelings.
All she needs is a pretty shawl.
"I'll get started after the exhibition is over." Liu Chang'an nodded. He had only made an online friend before, so why did it become a mistake on his part?
At this moment, many people standing in the corridor seemed to suddenly sense something and turned to look in the other direction.
A tall, slender girl, her steps faltering in the dappled sunlight filtering through the fallen leaves, walked over with a slightly flustered and shy air.
Her shadow was long and slender, like a dancing red-crowned crane. The sunlight fell on her white stockings, as if reflecting all the heat, leaving only a warm color that softened the gaze of anyone who looked at her.
The light gauze on the skirt seemed to be woven from moonlight filtered through the chill, or like the clouds above a city in a painting, or even like time itself, lingering on the past, reluctant to reveal its splendor to posterity.
Along the River During the Qingming Festival, a sight that has captivated for a thousand years.
The girl wearing it plucked the waves of time, and together with her face, they formed an unparalleled beauty in the world.
A soft murmur of applause broke out. No one had expected to see such a high level of fashion at an amateur art exhibition, and most importantly, the young woman wearing it looked so beautiful.
"Besides being envious, I don't know what else to say," Bi Wanwan sighed. Sometimes, when you want something and feel hopeless about life, it's really heartbreaking.
At this moment, Ding Lin and Gu Meng even felt a little more understanding of Zhao Xiaotong... If Zhao Xiaotong were here today, she might have gone to Liu Chang'an to ask for his contact information without any regard for the consequences.
The exhibition could have taken quite a while, but after seeing this dress, An Nuan Liu Yuewang lost all interest in browsing.
An Nuan didn't take the dress away immediately because she felt it was Liu Chang'an's exhibited work. She couldn't take the dress away and let others think that Liu Chang'an's work was just scraps of cloth pieced together on the wall. She had to consider her boyfriend's feelings, even though she knew that Liu Chang'an didn't care about other people's opinions. She just didn't like others making biased comments about Liu Chang'an and looking down on him.
"Where are your bones? Did you get hit by the Bone-Melting Palm?" As they walked out of the exhibition center, Liu Yuewang said to An Nuan, who was clinging to Liu Chang'an. To be precise, Liu Yuewang thought An Nuan was like a dog skin plaster that had just been burned, sticky and disgusting.
"Yes." An Nuan chuckled.
An Nuan's smile reminded Liu Yuewang of Zhou Dongdong. During that dinner party, when Liu Yuewang served Zhou Dongdong some delicious food, Zhou Dongdong had that same silly smile.
However, Zhou Dongdong has a cute smile, but An Nuan... just looking at her makes me unhappy.
Liu Yuewang didn't want to pay attention to An Nuan anymore. She even suspected that now, as long as Liu Chang'an beckoned, An Nuan would run over and wiggle her head, lie down in front of him and let him pat her head, or roll on the ground and let him pat her stomach.
"What should we eat for lunch today?" Liu Yuewang started a new topic. She had gotten used to letting Liu Chang'an the decisions about meals when he was around.
There's no way around it; whether it's ordering food or cooking, Liu Chang'an can completely win over Liu Yuewang and An Nuan. They're so self-disciplined that they don't cause trouble or offer unsolicited opinions.
"It's quite cold today, let's buy some dog meat to eat," Liu Chang'an thought for a moment.
"Cold dishes or hot pot?"
"For cold dishes, the meat needs to be bled when it's killed, otherwise it will have a fishy smell. We usually don't bleed it here because it's often braised, dry-potted, stewed, and then stir-fried, which have strong flavors and the fishy smell is already masked. But dog meat bought from stores isn't suitable for cold dishes either."
"So that's how it is." Liu Yuewang said, then suddenly smiled and glanced at An Nuan.
An Nuan frowned, truly baffled. She couldn't understand why a mother would constantly call her daughter a "simp." What was so funny about her own behavior? An Nuan was her own flesh and blood; wasn't scolding An Nuan the same as scolding herself?
Liu Chang'an went to buy dog meat, and seeing that there was also Arhat Meat, he bought some as well, planning to cook a sumptuous winter feast for the mother and daughter at noon.
"Why is this meat called Arhat Meat?" Liu Yuewang the kitchen as Liu Chang'an started cooking.
"Arhat Meat is a piece of meat from the edge of a pig's liver, sandwiched between tendons and membranes, making it chewy and resilient... Fujian people like to boil it directly, slice it, and eat it with shrimp oil. It is said that Fujian people who grow up eating Arhat Meat can become Luohan (Buddhist monks) directly when they go to the Southern Shaolin Temple to become disciples, hence the name Arhat Meat. Guangdong people also particularly like to eat this kind of Fujian meat."
"What?! You're kidding me, right?" Liu Yuewang looked at Liu Chang'an was cutting meat, with suspicion.
"Ah, you saw through me." Liu Chang'an said in surprise. He could even spot that the story was a lie, which was so flawless. Professor Liu is truly worthy of the title.
"Mom, go watch TV, I'll help Liu Chang'an." An Nuan rushed in, only to find that while she was sitting on the living room sofa replying to comments on her WeChat Moments and social media, Professor Liu had already been alone with Liu Chang'an in the kitchen for several minutes.
"You're in the kitchen, you should be chopping off his hand." Liu Yuewang was already used to it and knew An Nuan's little scheme perfectly well. She was too lazy to scold An Nuan anymore, and lazily walked to the living room, swaying her hips and lying down to watch TV.