Chapter 42
Qiao Wei used a branch to draw a square on the ground, found the umbrella, opened it, and propped it up at an angle: “You stay under this, don’t let the sun burn you.”
She taught Yan Xiang: “Only dig inside this line, don’t dig outside of it.”
Yan Xiang had a small iron shovel and a small tin bucket. In her memory, Yan Lei had someone custom-make them.
Although they were mini-sized, they were indeed usable. They were perfect for Yan Xiang.
Yan Xiang started by squatting under the umbrella, but later just sat down on his bottom. He dug shovel by shovel in the shade of the umbrella. He put the dug-up soil into the small tin bucket first, then dumped it in the corner of the yard.
The child wasn’t afraid of getting tired when working. Qiao Wei watched him with a smile.
The mung bean soup that had been soaking in the hand-pump well pool since the morning had cooled completely. Qiao Wei filled a cup and carried it over to Yan Xiang.
Yan Xiang held up his two mud-covered hands and, leaning against his mother’s hand, gulped down half a cup: “It’s delicious!”
The mung bean soup had sugar in it; it was cold and sweet, truly delicious. It was a pity there was no refrigerator here; the soup was just cool, not icy cold. It would be truly wonderful to drink it iced in the summer.
Qiao Wei asked Yan Xiang: “Have you ever had soda?”
Yan Xiang shook his head.
Qiao Wei felt Yan Xiang was so pitiful, having never even drunk soda. But then she thought about how she only saw ice lolly vendors at the Farmers Market yesterday; there really were no soda vendors. It was probably because it was a small place.
After all, it was just a small town; there should be soda in the city.
“Mom, is soda delicious?” Yan Xiang asked curiously, “Why is it called soda? Is there gas inside the water? Like little fish blowing bubbles?”
Qiao Wei was amused; what a smart baby.
“Soda is just gas called carbon dioxide pumped into water.” She explained to him, “This water looks no different from ordinary water, but when you open the lid, it bubbles up. It’s just like many, many little fish blowing bubbles at the same time.”
Yan Xiang imagined it, cupping his face: “That’s scary.”
He forgot he had dirt on his hands, and instantly became a little smudged face.
Qiao Wei laughed out loud: “It’s not scary at all, don’t be afraid.”
Yan Xiang was curious: “Then when you drink soda, will it bubble in your mouth?”
“Yes. There will be very, very small bubbles pricking your tongue.” Qiao Wei said, “That feeling is very wonderful; you’ll like it once you’ve had it.”
Anything mom praised like this must be good. The child couldn’t help but show a look of longing.
Qiao Wei softened and promised: “When we have time later, Mom and Dad will take you to the big city, and there will definitely be soda for sale there. We’ll drink our fill then.”
Yan Xiang clapped: “Okay!”
Although Yan Xiang was young, he was a child with great perseverance and was very focused on what he did.
He sat under the umbrella, concentrating on digging his sandpit.
Qiao Wei processed the ingredients for dinner first, washed her hands, went into the house, and looked at the Three-Five brand clock; it was almost 3:30 in the afternoon.
She called Yan Xiang over to wash his hands: “Let’s go, we’re going to Old Tailor’s place to pick up our things.”
“Let’s go!”
The 3:30 sunlight was too hot, so Qiao Wei put the straw hat on Yan Xiang and used an umbrella herself.
The adult-sized straw hat was too big for Yan Xiang. Yan Xiang deliberately shook his head, making the hat tilt left and right, laughing and giggling all the way.
When they arrived at the tailor shop, the three cushion covers were indeed finished.
“Great, this is exactly what I wanted.” Qiao Wei folded them up happily and put them into the basket.
This woven basket was really useful; it was easy to carry and had a large storage space. If it got dirty, she could just rinse it with water and it would be clean. Qiao Wei liked to take this woven basket with her whenever she went out now.
The Old Tailor pushed up his glasses: “Have you decided what to use for filling?”
Qiao Wei: “Uh…”
That “uh” made it clear she hadn’t decided yet.
But Qiao Wei was always someone who was open to advice, and feeling that the old man asked because he had an idea, she said: “What do you think?”
Sure enough, the Old Tailor said: “Although you cadres have good salaries and benefits, if you use cotton to fill them, it won’t look good for your husband if people find out.”
Qiao Wei nodded vigorously: “Mm-hmm!”
Seeing her receptive, the old man had the motivation to continue advising. He suggested: “The first method is to use old clothes or bed sheets that are broken and unwearable, cut them into strips, roll them into balls, and stuff them in.”
“The second method is to use Gengsheng cloth directly. Gengsheng cloth has been re-woven; although it tears easily, its fluffiness is better than worn-out clothes. Remember to cut it into strips too.”
“The third method is to use hay. Don’t look down on hay; the fluffiness of hay is also very good. It is harder than Gengsheng cloth, but it bounces back better after being pressed.”
“You can also fill it with both Gengsheng cloth and hay; I think the effect will be better.”
“That’s great, thank you!” Qiao Wei was happy, “This solves a big problem for me.”
The old man asked: “What rank is your husband?”
“Regimental Commander.”
The Old Tailor was a bit surprised. Because Qiao Wei was very young, looking only about nineteen or twenty. He thought her husband was just a Battalion Commander.
“Not bad, not bad.” The old man nodded and said no more.
The two agreed on a time to pick up the clothes. The old man said: “Wednesday, just come in the morning. Your flat-pattern cutting is simple.”
That was quite fast.
But rather than saying it was because the flat-pattern cutting was simple, it was more like…
Qiao Wei looked around the shop, a small room. Qiao Wei said: “You don’t have much business here.”
The Old Tailor picked up his enamel tea mug, opened the lid, and took a sip of the thick, strong tea: “I don’t make many clothes all year round.”
With the rise of garment factories, traditional tailors were impacted. Materials were scarce, and ordinary people would mend and patch one piece of clothing for several years.
The families in the Military District here were well-off, but they preferred to go into the city to buy ready-made clothes at the Department Store.
“It’s fine; I get a salary even without work, it’s fine.” The old man waved his hand.
Artisans like them had already been incorporated by the state and had salaries. Wages were not linked to performance. Whether there was business or not, the salary was paid the same.
Qiao Wei comforted him: “It’s stable, an iron rice bowl, good for retirement.”
The old man recalled his heroic past: “A custom-made wedding dress, with a three-meter train.”
“The pleats on the skirt took me three days to finish.”
“The customer was very satisfied and tipped me…”
“Ahem!” Qiao Wei coughed loudly, interrupting him.
The old man woke up, sweating slightly: “Oh, oh, cough, what was it?”
“Wednesday.” Qiao Wei said nonchalantly, “I’ll come to pick it up on Wednesday morning.”
“Okay, okay, take care.”
“See you Wednesday. Xiangxiang, say goodbye to Grandpa.”
“Goodbye, Grandpa.”
“Good child, good child.”
Watching the young woman leave with the polite, cute child, the old man picked up his cattail fan and fanned it twice.
Really, why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut? He shouldn’t be reminiscing about the past blindly.
“As the saying goes… a virtuous wife means fewer disasters for the husband.” The old man sang a line in an operatic tone.
Just after he finished singing, Qiao Wei poked her head back in and asked embarrassedly: “Um, where can I buy Gengsheng cloth?”
The old man: “…”
It turned out that Gengsheng cloth was sold at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
The Supply and Marketing Cooperative sold almost everything. The Farmers Market was actually under the jurisdiction of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
Qiao Wei took Yan Xiang to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. As soon as they entered the store, they saw the clerk surnamed Xu inside the counter, sitting on a square wooden stool, arms crossed, leaning against the shelf, head tilted, sleeping soundly.
He was even drooling.
This was small-town life. Except for the morning Farmers Market, nowhere was busy; everything was leisurely.
He was sleeping so soundly that Qiao Wei was a bit embarrassed to wake him up and was planning to back out and come back another day.
Clerk Xu suddenly woke up.
He was only here to watch the shop because if even a needle of public property went missing, they would have to pay for it themselves. Otherwise, he would have gone to the back to sleep long ago. He was quite alert when sleeping; as soon as Qiao Wei’s footsteps sounded, he woke up.
Being woken up, he naturally had some morning grumpiness. He rubbed his eyes and said unpleasantly: “What do you want, didn’t you see… Oh, it’s you.”
He recognized this military dependent. A few days ago, she had given him an industrial coupon to buy a few more cans.
Clerk Xu immediately put on a smiling face: “You’re here, what are you buying today?”
Qiao Wei asked: “Do you have any Gengsheng cloth? I want to buy some Gengsheng cloth.”
Clerk Xu asked curiously: “What do you want to buy that for?”
Gengsheng cloth was cheap and didn’t require cloth coupons, but it would tear as soon as it was pulled. It was a substitute that families with poor financial conditions had to choose out of helplessness.
Someone like Qiao Wei, who could pull out an industrial coupon at will, wouldn’t wear Gengsheng cloth.
Qiao Wei took out a cushion cover to show him, explained her needs, and said: “I don’t know how much I need, can you help me check?”
Clerk Xu said: “You wait, I’ll have someone go to the back and check how much there is.”
He opened a door and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Xiao Liu, Xiao Liu! Stop sleeping!”
Someone in the back responded lazily.
Clerk Xu shouted: “Bring the Gengsheng cloth over to me.”
He turned his head: “Wait a moment.”
Qiao Wei waved her hand and smiled: “No rush.”
She asked again: “Are there any cans left?”
Clerk Xu scoffed: “Good things are never left out for more than a day.”
“However, there are other good things, do you want them?” He said, “You haven’t come for the past two days, and they were all bought by others. I kept it specially, thinking you might come someday.”
Qiao Wei’s eyes lit up: “Then thank you so much. What is it?”
Clerk Xu squatted down, opened the cabinet, and took out a square tin: “Cream biscuits. This is high-quality stuff.”
It was indeed high-quality; the square tin had the four big characters “High-Quality Biscuits” printed on it.
Yan Xiang: “Wow~”
Hearing this sound, one could tell how much the child wanted it. Qiao Wei smiled: “I’ll take it. Brother Xu, thank you so much.”
Clerk Xu had kept it specially for her; this was a favor that had to be accepted. Otherwise, next time there were good things, he wouldn’t keep them for her.
She didn’t even ask about the price; she was indeed a cadre family. Clerk Xu was envious and said politely: “No need, I’ll keep good things for you in the future. Just remember to come by and check every few days.”
Qiao Wei smiled: “Okay!”
At this moment, a female clerk brought out a bundle of dusty cloth and threw it on the counter.
Clerk Xu asked: “Is there any more?”
“No more.” Xiao Liu said, “That’s all there is, it’s all here.”
Qiao Wei touched it with her hand.
The so-called Gengsheng cloth was recycled cloth, which was re-woven from broken cotton batting and rags. The quality was very poor, fragile and easy to tear; its advantage was that it was cheap and didn’t require coupons. But to the touch, the texture and elasticity were not very good.
Clerk Xu asked: “Is it enough?”
Qiao Wei took out the cushion cover again to measure: “Almost…”
Recalling the advice given by the Old Tailor: “I’ll add some hay in, and it should work.”
“You’re quite resourceful.” Clerk Xu clicked his tongue.
Qiao Wei smiled: “You have to come up with your own solutions for your own life.”
But Qiao Wei was still carrying the woven basket, the Gengsheng cloth was a fairly large bundle, and there was a newly bought tin of biscuits.
The biscuit tin was not small, and the woven basket had cushion covers, so it couldn’t fit inside. Qiao Wei worried: “How do I carry this?”
“Hey~” Clerk Xu made a dismissive sound.
Clerks in this era had some skills. He first took a bundle of plastic rope, wrapped it around his hand a few times, and then pressed it onto the biscuit tin. He saw his movements were very fast; wrapping left, wrapping right, tying a knot, and cutting it off.
The plastic rope turned into a net, holding the biscuit tin like magic.
After tying the knot, there were two handles on top that could be carried by hand; it was amazing.
Yan Xiang: “Wow~”
Clerk Xu picked up the Gengsheng cloth and asked again: “You’re going to tear it up anyway, right?”
Having received confirmation, he directly took a pair of scissors, cut a few small slits in the fabric, and then tore the cloth with his bare hands, swish, swish, swish.
He tore out a few long strips of cloth, and fearing they wouldn’t be strong enough, he layered a few together for reinforcement.
He asked Qiao Wei to turn around and bend over slightly, had Xiao Liu help hold it, and placed the whole bundle of Gengsheng cloth on Qiao Wei’s back.
Then he used the long strips of cloth to wrap it horizontally and diagonally across Qiao Wei’s body. Finally, he tied a knot.
Qiao Wei stood up, looking just like the mothers and grandmothers in town who carried babies on their backs.
Must say, this method was really useful. Now Qiao Wei was carrying the woven basket in one hand, the high-quality biscuits in the other, and the Gengsheng cloth on her back; everything was set.
After she happily took Yan Xiang and left, Xiao Liu muttered: “What does this person do?”
If you say she’s poor, she buys high-quality biscuits. If you say she’s rich, she buys Gengsheng cloth. Baffling.
Xiao Liu wanted to go back to the back to sleep, but Clerk Xu said: “You sit in the front for a while.” He went to the back to rest. Tsk!
