“Yuwei, Sun Ling was expelled, and her character is notoriously bad throughout the school. You’d best not interact with her,” Li He quickly advised in a low voice upon hearing Sun Ling’s words.
She had finally managed to get along better with Jiang Yuwei, and she couldn’t afford to have Sun Ling steal that away.
“Li He, if you’ve got the guts, don’t pull tricks behind my back. What makes you think I don’t know? What good are you, anyway? You slept with someone just days after starting to date them, and you really think everyone doesn’t know?”
Passing students, upon hearing such explosive news, cast curious glances at Li He.
Li He’s face instantly flushed red. “Sun Ling, stop talking nonsense here!”
“You couldn’t go to the guesthouse, so didn’t the two of you sneak into the school’s grove of trees?”
Seeing that she even knew the location, Li He’s face turned ashen.
Jiang Yuwei took a step forward and said to Sun Ling, “Let’s go, let’s head over to the lecture hall.”
There were fewer people there, and her interactions with Sun Ling wouldn’t be seen by too many.
Sun Ling glanced at Li He with a hint of triumph and then followed Jiang Yuwei.
Soon, the two arrived at the lecture hall. Sun Ling casually sat on a stool. “I know why you asked me to meet here. My family has fallen from grace, and I was disgracefully expelled from school. Do you feel embarrassed having a friend like me?”
Sun Ling looked at Jiang Yuwei, saying with a hint of self-mockery, “No, you have new friends now. Perhaps you don’t consider me a friend anymore.”
Since her family’s troubles, Jiang Yuwei hadn’t shown her any genuine concern. When she’d sought help before, Jiang Yuwei had avoided her, going to her uncle’s house. After nearly a year of these changes, Sun Ling was no longer as naive as she once was, and she began to think about things more deeply.
Jiang Yuwei’s delicate brows furrowed. Without offering much explanation, she simply asked, “Do you have something you need to ask me about today?”
Sun Ling put away her self-mockery, her expression serious. “Yuwei, your family has many connections. Can you help me find a job?”
Whether it was a contract position or working for an individual proprietor, Sun Ling found it difficult to lower her standards. After all, given her former background and university education, she disdained associating with such people. However, entering a company or enterprise was difficult without connections in her current situation. Thus, she thought of asking Jiang Yuwei for help.
Jiang Yuwei’s brow furrowed again. Both her parents were public officials, and the Sun family’s situation was too complicated. Who knew if someone would continue to monitor them, waiting for a chance to catch them out? It was best not to get involved.
However, they were friends of many years. Refusing outright would seem too cold-hearted. Therefore, Jiang Yuwei thought for a moment and said, “I’ll remember to mention it to my parents, but whether it works out is uncertain.”
Hearing that she would talk to her family, Sun Ling became happy again. It seemed Jiang Yuwei hadn’t forgotten their friendship.
“Yuwei, I knew you would still be the one to treat me best, no matter what,” Sun Ling said with a smile as she stood up. “Shall I treat you to a meal at the restaurant outside the school we always used to go to?”
Jiang Yuwei gave a perfunctory smile. “Sun Ling, I’ve already made plans with Li He and the others. They’re waiting for me, so it wouldn’t be good to miss it.”
She didn’t suggest another time. Sun Ling, however, didn’t catch her refusal and nodded with some disappointment. “Then another day. I’ll come find you again another day, and we’ll go together then.”
Jiang Yuwei neither nodded nor shook her head. She turned and left the lecture hall.
Sun Ling walked out of the teaching building. As she passed the sports field, she couldn’t help but stop and glance at the basketball court. Upon seeing Li Zhiwei’s figure, her eyes lit up.
She wanted to go over and say a few words, but then she suddenly remembered something, and her gaze turned gloomy again. In the end, she could only walk away silently.
…
Time flew by, and it was the weekend. Chen Lishu called Liang Chunsheng to go to the textile factory to pick up goods together.
The weather was gradually warming up, and a large number of polyester-taffeta fabrics began to appear on the counters.
This year, the colors and patterns had increased significantly compared to last year, but the prices had not changed at all. They remained very expensive. The cheapest polyester-taffeta fabric sold at the counter cost at least one yuan and fifty per chi, plus two inches of cloth coupons.
Not to mention the eye-catching patterned ones, which sold for one yuan and eighty or ninety per chi, and even then, they were in short supply.
“At the meeting earlier this year, all factories were undergoing reforms. Previously, we solely pursued output value. Now, the regulations require us to change patterns at least once a month, so there have been significant improvements in fabrics and patterns compared to before.”
In the past, the factory wouldn’t produce low-output varieties, difficult-to-produce items, or those with many patterns. Furthermore, production and sales were mismatched, leading to a large backlog of fabrics.
Now, the factory was gradually beginning to consider market demand and determine the increased, decreased, or discontinued production of different varieties.
At the beginning of the year, the factory decided to adjust varieties only a few times a year, with minimal changes to the looms. Now, they had to adjust varieties and change looms monthly.
Li Zhengxing chatted briefly with Chen Lishu before taking the two to the warehouse to select patterns.
Chen Lishu noticed that the stacked fabrics indeed had many more patterns and colors than before.
“I wonder about the pricing?”
Li Zhengxing said, “The lowest price I can offer is one yuan and three per chi, but you can choose any pattern you like.”
Chen Lishu’s brows knitted imperceptibly upon hearing the price.
Although she could buy at negotiated prices in her own name, the price was significantly higher than before. If she were to follow the counter prices, she could indeed make a little profit, but this small amount was truly insignificant.
After deducting Li Zhengxing’s share, labor, and rent, there was almost no profit. Not to mention transporting it back to the county to make ready-made clothes and then transporting them back. The round trip made the price uncompetitive.
Nowadays, a sewing machine and a bicycle were essential for wedding dowries. People simply bought fabric themselves to make clothes, so why would they come to the shop to buy ready-made garments?
As the few of them walked further in, Chen Lishu suddenly caught sight of a stack of white fabric over two meters high along one wall, and she couldn’t help but look a few more times.
“That’s the white fabric produced by the factory.”
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the city’s textile factory and the city’s first printing and dyeing factory merged to form the current textile factory. The so-called white fabric was the fabric produced but not yet processed through printing and dyeing.
Chen Lishu walked a few steps closer and found that these white fabrics were also made of polyester-taffeta material. With a slight change of heart, she couldn’t help but curiously ask, “Brother Li, how much are the white fabrics sold for?”
Li Zhengxing, unaware of her intentions, casually said, “They haven’t been colored yet, so the price will definitely be cheaper.”
Chen Lishu pressed, “If I wanted to buy, what’s the lowest price you could give?”
Li Zhengxing was surprised. “Of course, everyone wants to buy patterned ones. Who would you sell plain white fabric to?”
Chen Lishu smiled. “I’m just inquiring about the price.”
Thinking she was merely curious, Li Zhengxing didn’t think much of it. “If you take it, the lowest is eight mao.”
Eight mao! Compared to the price of one yuan and three, there was a difference of a full five mao per chi!