Chen Lishu nodded, "Section Chief, rest assured, I will not mention today's matter to a third person."
All the way out of Li Zhengxing's office, Chen Lishu looked at the money in her hand, still feeling a little excited.
Corduroy at six cents a foot, let alone making it into finished garments to sell, even selling it as fabric would allow her to earn double the price difference. Moreover, making it into finished garments at twenty yuan each, after deducting costs and labor, she could also earn over three thousand.
It seemed she was really going to make a fortune this time!
Fifteen bolts of fabric, costing less than nine hundred yuan in total. After paying, Chen Lishu, holding the receipt from the finance department, went back to find Li Zhengxing. The latter then took her to pick up the fabric.
The city's textile factory warehouse occupied a large area, filled with fabric ready to be loaded onto trucks for transport, neatly stacked in boxes according to category.
Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the city's textile factory and printing and dyeing factory had merged, renamed the Textile and Printing and Dyeing Factory. Therefore, most of the fabrics in the warehouse were finished products.
The batch of corduroy Chen Lishu bought was jujube red. The warehouse keeper helped her find fifteen bolts.
Li Zhengxing turned his head to look at Chen Lishu, "Xiao Chen, how will you transport this? Self-pickup or will we help?"
The factory did have trucks that could deliver to the destination, but it would require paying for the freight separately.
Chen Lishu thought for a moment and said, "Section Chief Li, I don't have that much. Can I leave it here for now? I'll call for a vehicle to pick it up later?"
The quantity of goods was too small. If she hired a vehicle to deliver it to the town, the freight alone would cost over a hundred yuan. Thus, she chose to mail it.
Li Zhengxing nodded, informed the warehouse keeper, and then turned to Chen Lishu, "I have more work in my office, so I'll be leaving now."
"Thank you, Section Chief, you are busy." Chen Lishu thanked him again. After seeing him walk far away, she turned to ask the warehouse keeper for several nylon bags. She first tore off two meters of fabric to use as a sample garment, then securely bundled all the fabric. Only then did she go to find a tricycle.
Because she had so many items to mail, she spent nearly thirty yuan on postage alone.
After paying, Chen Lishu went to a public phone booth and called Lin Qi and Gu Xingye separately. After all, there was quite a bit of fabric this time, and she was afraid Lin Qi might not be able to handle it alone.
She roughly explained the pickup time, then detailed the specific arrangements before hanging up the phone.
The two phone calls cost her nearly two yuan.
After leaving the phone booth, Chen Lishu went directly to the department store.
Although corduroy felt elastic, smooth, soft, and thick, its wear resistance was poor, and it was prone to tearing. Especially after wearing for a long time, the elbows and knees would become thin and deformed.
Chen Lishu remembered that to improve this situation, starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it became popular to sew thin leather pieces on the elbows, collars, and knees. Leather was soft and highly wear-resistant, which could greatly improve the wear and tear of clothes.
However, she searched for a long time but couldn't find any leather being sold. She figured that the technology was not yet mature, and leather had not become widespread.
Finally, she had to settle for second best. Since the fabric was jujube red, she bought a piece of dark gray labor cloth.
After buying all the necessary items, Chen Lishu went to the non-staple food store to buy some tahini and sesame seeds, preparing to make tahini pancakes for Gu Xingdong at home.
It was already afternoon when she got home. After putting the things away, she immediately washed her hands and started making dough.
For dinner, she made tahini pancakes and simmered some tomato and egg soup with tomatoes and eggs stored from the summer.
"What did you make today? I could smell the aroma as soon as I entered the hallway."
Gu Xingdong opened the door and came in, and a strong sesame aroma rushed into his nostrils. His already hungry stomach couldn't help but start rumbling.
"Meow." As if in response, the Great King Cat also meowed impatiently.
Seeing Chen Lishu coming in with the pancakes, Gu Xingdong reached out to grab one and put it in his mouth. Chen Lishu unceremoniously slapped his hand away, "Aren't your hands dirty? Go wash them quickly."
Gu Xingdong didn't mind, didn't move, and made a mouth-opening gesture at her, "Feed me."
Chen Lishu smiled, picked up a piece of pancake, and fed it into his mouth, asking with anticipation, "How does it taste?"
"Whatever my wife feeds me must be delicious."
"Who asked you that?"
Watching Gu Xingdong quickly head into the bathroom, Chen Lishu couldn't help but purse her lips and smile.
At night, as they lay in bed, Gu Xingdong's hands became restless again. Just as he was about to make a further move, Chen Lishu doused him with a basin of cold water, "Xingdong, I got my period."
Gu Xingdong's hand movements paused. After realizing what she meant, all his passion instantly subsided, and he slumped back onto the bed.
Seeing his dejected look, Chen Lishu wanted to say something. However, before she could speak, Gu Xingdong rolled over, wrapping her and the quilt in his arms, and kissed her forehead, saying softly, "It happens, don't be discouraged. We'll try again next month."
Chen Lishu: "..." Which ear did he hear her say she was discouraged? The next day, when Chen Lishu woke up, Gu Xingdong had already left. After washing up and having a simple breakfast, she began to cut the fabric, cutting out the patterns for the clothes to be made.
Since she didn't have a sewing machine, sewing was quite slow. By the time she finished sewing the sample garment and mailed it to Lin Qi, Lin Qi had already taken all the fabric back and stored it in the rented small courtyard in town.
Gu Xingye took some of the fabric back to the village, while Lin Qi went to discuss ordering matters with Zhou Bin and Nan Haitao.
Due to the large quantity, Chen Lishu did not plan to sell retail. The wholesale price was eighteen yuan, and for orders exceeding fifty pieces, it would be seventeen yuan. Zhou Bin ordered fifty pieces, and Nan Haitao took all the rest.
Although it would be impossible to make all the clothes in the few days before the Chinese New Year due to manpower issues, it was fortunate that spring was approaching. Jujube red corduroy tops paired with snow-white "fake collars" would definitely cause a small fashion stir.
Just as Chen Lishu was waiting to receive the money, three letters from the provincial capital arrived at the青山 Village Brigade Headquarters.
"Congratulations, in-laws, Xingdong's wife's admission notice has arrived."
Zhang Changhe personally delivered the letters to the Gu family.
Upon hearing it was an admission notice, Li Xiulan and Gu Shoufu became particularly serious and quickly called Gu Xingping over to take a look.
"Xingping, quickly, your sister-in-law's notice has arrived. Read it to Mom. Which school did your third sister-in-law apply to?"
Gu Xingping took it and looked, "Dad, Mom, it says here that my sister-in-law has been admitted to the Foreign Language Department of the Provincial Normal College."
"Normal College is good! Upon graduation, she'll be a teacher. Educating people is a good profession." Zhang Changhe said with a smile.
In this college entrance examination, very few people from the entire commune were admitted to university. Their Qingshan Village accounted for three spots, while some surrounding teams had none at all. What did this indicate? It indicated that he, as the Party Branch Secretary, had led effectively! This year, at the year-end commune meeting, the leaders specifically praised him, and he felt his back was much straighter than other brigade leaders.
Hearing his praise, the elderly couple felt honored and beamed with joy.