changYH
〈Sewing〉
Chen Cheng set up a sewing machine in the alley and spent forty years there. An old-fashioned treadle sewing machine, a spool of thread, and a few needles. He mended clothes for people, replaced zippers, and altered pant lengths. He charged whatever people could afford; if they had money, they paid, and if not, a simple thank you was enough. He had a peculiar habit: every evening before closing shop, he would sit at the sewing machine, pedal idly, and make the needle go up and down on a piece of cloth. The cloth had no pattern, just ordinary white fabric. He would sew a few lines each day, then unpick them, only to sew them again the next day. Neighbors asked him what he was sewing. He’d reply, “Practicing my stitches.” In truth, he was sewing a memory. Forty years ago, Chen Cheng was a young tailor working in a garment factory. His skills were excellent, and he was entrusted with making the most intricate formal wear. Just before Lunar New Year that year, he received an urgent order—a wedding dress custom-made for a bride, to be completed on Lunar New Year's Day. He clearly remembered the day the bride came for a fitting. She stood before the mirror, turned around, and smiled like a spring flower. She said, “Master, thank you. My fiancé works out of town and can only return on Lunar New Year's Day. I want to wear this dress to pick him up at the station.” Chen Cheng promised he would have it ready for her to pick up on the morning of Lunar New Year's Day. On Lunar New Year's Day, the bride never came. He waited until noon, until evening, until it was dark. His calls went unanswered, and there was no response at her address. He put the wedding dress back in its box, intending to deliver it the next day. The next day, a news report appeared in the paper: on Lunar New Year's Eve, a train traveling south had derailed. Among the list of fatalities was a young man who had been rushing back from out of town. And his name was on the bride's order form. The bride never came to collect the wedding dress. Chen Cheng took the
2026.10.15 PM 4:34 · View Count 3
Lv.24
changYH
AuthorChen Cheng left the wedding dress at the shop, and it stayed there for forty years. He moved three times and changed his shop location twice, but the wedding dress always followed him. Every Lunar New Year's Eve, he would take out the wedding dress, inspect it, reattach any loose beads, and mend any detached lace. After forty years, the wedding dress remained as it was back then. Only his hair had turned white, and his hands had begun to tremble. This Lunar New Year's Eve, an old woman walked into his shop. She stood at the doorway, gazing at the wedding dress covered by a dust cover on the wall, speechless for a long time. Then she slowly walked over, her voice very soft: "Master, this wedding dress... is it still here?" Chen Cheng looked up. He looked at the old woman's face for a long time. Her face was now full of wrinkles, but he still recognized her. It was her. The bride. "I thought..." Chen Cheng's voice caught. The old woman sat down, placed her hands on the sewing machine, and gently stroked it. "I didn't come to pick up the wedding dress that day," she said. "Because the night before, I received a notification. My fiancé's train was departing earlier. I wanted to surprise him at the station. I left wearing my old clothes. But when I arrived at the station, what I waited for wasn't him, but news of an accident." She paused. "I fell ill for three years afterward. When I recovered and wanted to come back for the dress, I felt... what good would it do to take it now? So I kept postponing it, for forty years." Chen Cheng stood up, walked to the wall, took down the wedding dress, and gently placed it before her. As the dust cover was pulled back, the white wedding dress, in the light of Lunar New Year's Eve, was still so bright. Not a single bead had fallen, and the lace was perfectly intact. The old woman touched the wedding dress, and tears fell.
Lv.73
woods
That's an interesting story.