6:10 a.m. — Pine-Tree Alley courtyard 🔍

At 6:10 a.m. in the courtyard of our tiled-roof house on Pine-Tree Alley, I drew cold well water into a brass basin and washed while sparrows shook droplets from the eaves. Mother handed me a bowl of barley mixed with rice, bean-paste soup with young squash, and a little salted radish before I left for work. I pinned my hair neatly, put on a pale ramie jacket over a dark cotton skirt, and wrapped my lunch in a faded cloth. The unpaved lane was soft from the night rain, so I lifted my hem as I stepped around cart ruts and bundles of firewood. A streetcar bell sounded from the wider road ahead, sharp and metallic in the wet morning.

12:25 p.m. — Willow Gate dressmaking room 🔍

At 12:25 p.m. in the rear workroom of Willow Gate Dressmaking, I sat beside the open lattice window with indigo thread looped around my left fingers. The treadle sewing machine thumped steadily while I finished a narrow cuff by hand, careful not to stain the pale cloth with the ink smudge already on my thumb. For lunch I ate a cold barley-rice ball and pickled cucumber from my cloth bundle, sharing a slice of melon with Sunja, the senior apprentice. She showed me how to turn a worn collar so its less-faded side faced outward, a useful trick for a household that cannot casually replace cloth. When the rain stopped, sunlight flashed on the wet roof tiles, and the whole room smelled of damp cotton, machine oil, and melon rind.

7:40 p.m. — Oil-lamp room at home 🔍

At 7:40 p.m. in our main room beside the courtyard, I trimmed the oil-lamp wick and settled near the low table while insects hummed beyond the paper door. Father counted a few coins for tomorrow’s bean curd and lamp oil, and I silently measured how many days of careful saving might buy my own sewing shears. After supper, I opened the borrowed, thread-bound storybook that Sunja had hidden beneath my lunch cloth, though I kept the pages well away from the lamp flame. My fingertips were sore from the needle, but the quiet act of reading made the small room feel wider than the alley outside. Before lying down, I placed a scrap of indigo cloth beside my pillow so I would remember to practice the turned collar in the morning.