Chapter 40: New Year's Eve Gifts

  But nothing conveys thoughtfulness more than something made by one's own hands, Lin He thought that there was really nothing she could make with her own hands, those toy dolls were to be sent to the store for sale, this is too commercialized, not good.

  It's either making sweet potato dry goods, but giving these to Uncle Wen wouldn't be too good, these things can't be put on the table, there really isn't anything else, this is really a headache.

  Huang saw Lin He's troubled look and burst out laughing, tapping her head and saying "You clever ghost, you can't think of something? Think slowly, I won't bother with this. If you need money, ask me for it, but you have to think carefully about the gift for Wen Shu on Laba Festival."

  After a few more days, Lin Er Niu returned home in the evening and discussed with Huang Shi on one side about what gifts to send to relatives and friends during the Lantern Festival. Huang Shi calculated that there were still many relatives and friends who needed to be sent gifts, including her own parents, brothers, and of course, Huang Shi's family could not be left out.

  The Xu aunt's family, Mr. Xu's family are all to be sent, and some relatives also need to send some, just what kind of things should be sent, and how much is suitable is also a problem.

  Actually, in this era, there's not much fuss about giving gifts. Generally, people give food and snacks like pork, white flour, pastries, etc. It's mostly these kinds of things. Unlike the previous life, where as long as you had money, you could give whatever you wanted.

  Huang and the two oxen whispered for a long time before deciding that from both the paternal and maternal families, each would send one piece of pork, one bolt of cloth, five kilograms of white flour, and two packets of pastries, plus an additional 200 big coins. From the brothers' side, they would send one piece of pork, five kilograms of corn flour, and two packets of pastries.

  Aunt Xu's side is actually going to send a lot of things, in the past years Aunt Xu sent many things to their home without receiving any gifts in return. This year they are going to send some things over, deciding to smoke some cured meat, add two packages of cookies, and also send some dried sweet potatoes from their own home. As for Mr.'s side, it's just like brother's family, that's all.

  Other relatives just need to buy some corn flour and pork and send it over, and the gifts from the head of the clan's family must not be less, fearing that they still need to be extra rich, this is almost enough, adding up to about one or two taels of silver.

  Fortunately, in these days, Lin He brought his family to make most of the sweet potato dry goods. In these days, Lin Er Niu also sold most of them with Qin Lao Die in the town and earned almost one or two silver coins back, which can be used to supplement. Lin He said that after the Laba Festival, the weather will get colder and colder, and it will not be good to go out at that time, so he hurriedly rushed to finish making them.

  Of course, other people's families also have gifts in return, but the gifts are not many. Thinking of those relatives and clan members at home, I'm afraid they won't be able to get any gifts back, which is another expense.

  After that, Huang wanted Er Niu to take Da Bao by oxcart to buy these things back. In a few more days it would be the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month and things were almost ready, the meat had to be bought back too, and the smoked meat needed several more days. Lin He had not thought of what to give to Wen Shu yet, so she also said she wanted to go to town to see if there was anything that could be bought back as a gift for Wen Shu.

  The next day, Lin He and Da Bao followed Er Niu to the town early in the morning. Maybe because it was approaching Laba Festival, the town was particularly lively, with many people and rising prices of goods. Pork and other things started to rise in price. After buying all the things for home, it was almost noon. Fortunately, Lin He also bought some things she needed, planning to make something herself to give to Wen Shu.

  In the afternoon, Lin He returned home and started making it. Lin He was also inspired by seeing people in town buying hot water bottles for warmth. The weather in this era is much colder than in previous lives, and poor families would not use such things, but rich families often do.

  This ancient hot water bottle looks a bit like a pumpkin, flat and round, with big and small ones. The bigger one can be placed on the bed at night to warm feet, while the smaller one is filled with charcoal and wrapped in a thicker layer of cloth outside, which can be held in hand for warmth during daily activities. It's not bad, but it doesn't seem very convenient to hold in hand, plus it gets cold quickly because it's small.

  Lin He remembered that in modern times, when winter arrived, many girls would buy those hand warmers to hold in their hands. Those hand warmers were rechargeable and quite convenient. They could be put in a cute case and held in one's hand, or even worn around the neck like a pendant, which was very convenient and lovely.

  But at this time there was no electricity, and the convenience of charging was forgotten. Lin He decided to use a sheepskin bag inside to make a water bag, and then make a plug that can be plugged tightly without leaking water. On the outside, she would make a nice cartoon case to hold the water bag. Lin He thought that Uncle Wen's family also had young children, so it would be great to give it to them as a gift.

  Just then, Lin He saw someone selling rabbit skin on the street, which was not expensive, and a piece of rabbit skin cost only 25 cents. After returning home, she cut the rabbit skin into a size that could just fit into the hot water bottle, so that when the water bottle was put in, it could keep warm for a longer time, and there was no need to worry about the water inside getting cold all the time. In addition, the size of the water bottle was also larger than that of the thermos flask, so it should be able to last for several hours without needing to be replaced.

  Then she thought of a way to embroider a small bear on the outside of the rabbit fur, with two pockets sewn on it, so that it could be held in her hand or worn around her neck. Lin He worked for an entire afternoon and evening, and finally came up with the design for the hot water bottle.

  Apart from not being able to charge, it's much better looking than modern ones. The outer cover of modern ones is made of inferior artificial leather with poor craftsmanship, but this one is made of real fur and even has a double-layered design - the inner layer is for warmth and the outer layer is for aesthetics.

  Moreover, the handmade work is also good. On the snow-white fur, a small red bear was embroidered on the outside, which looks particularly good. The little bear was embroidered by Lin He and let Huang Shi embroider it. Lin He's embroidery skills are not good enough to embroider a small bear, so she asked Huang Shi to embroider it. When Xiao Bao and Lin Chen saw this thing, they took it in their hands and didn't want to put it down.

  But Lin He said it was a gift, and then made one for them later. In fact, if there were beautiful silver fox skins, they would be even more beautiful. However, silver fox skins are too hard to find, and even if you can find them, they are very expensive. Lin He couldn't afford them either, so temporarily used rabbit skin as a substitute.

  Lin He looked at his own masterpiece and was quite satisfied, plus he bought a small sheepskin water bag and rabbit fur for less than 60 cents, but it turned out to be such a great gift, which was really surprising, and not something unusual.

  It's only in ordinary farmhouses that people use bamboo tubes to carry water, so Lin He had no idea there were such things as small sheepskin water bags. Today, she saw various types of water bags being sold at a store and suddenly thought of the hot water bag idea.