Chapter 21: I Have a Solution
After making her rounds, Su He had already chosen her target—Old He’s family on the fourth floor.
Only the elderly couple lived there. Their son, He Xiangqun, was the chief engineer at the textile factory, responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of all the machinery.
Lately, due to some machines malfunctioning, he had been working overtime for several consecutive days.
His wife had passed away from illness years ago, and he had not remarried.
All this was information provided by Zhou Dayong. He turned out to be a very competent guide, giving detailed introductions about every household, even including some juicy tidbits.
Su He marveled inwardly—who would have thought there was such a gossip-loving heart beneath that bushy beard!
She gave all her remaining candies to Zhou Dayong and then returned to Old He’s home.
Grandma He opened the door and was surprised to see her again. “Little girl, do you need something else?”
Su He replied sincerely, “Granny, I noticed that you and Grandpa aren’t very mobile. Do you need any help?”
Seeing the older woman hesitate, she quickly added, “Let’s not even talk about how you saved my life—just speaking of Engineer He tirelessly contributing to modernization efforts day and night, helping you two is the least I can do. If you treat me like an outsider, you’ll just be delaying my personal progress!”
Hearing this, Grandma He finally said, “My legs are too stiff to go to the food store. We’re out of vegetables. If you don’t mind, take our ration book and buy some for us.”
Su He agreed readily, took the ration book, and dashed off to the food shop.
She waited in line for ages and finally bought two heads of napa cabbage, a white radish, and a few potatoes.
It was the off-season for vegetables, so only these winter staples were available.
She also used her dimensional space to exchange for a bag of wild vegetables and brought them all upstairs.
“Granny, I bought these at the food store. The wild vegetables I brought from the countryside—do you think you can eat them?”
Grandma He beamed with joy. “Of course we can! If my legs were better, I’d go dig some up myself. Your grandpa has been craving these!”
Su He put the vegetables away, cleaned up the house for the old couple, and even helped make dinner. By the end, she was drenched in sweat.
She laughed at herself inwardly: I came here to borrow the iron ox, but ended up becoming the old ox instead!
Grandma He insisted she stay for dinner. After a bit of polite refusal, Su He finally sat down.
Just a few bites in, the door opened—He Xiangqun had returned.
His hair was messy from not washing it for days, and his uniform was stained with oil.
Seeing Su He surprised him—where had this girl come from?
Grandma He quickly introduced them: “Xiangqun, this is Su He. Seeing that your dad and I aren’t very mobile, she helped us buy vegetables, clean the house, and even made dinner. She’s such a kind girl…”
He Xiangqun had been so busy lately he only knew that Deputy Director Zhao had gotten into trouble. He hadn’t heard the full story, let alone who Su He was.
He quickly said, “Thank you, Comrade Su He. I’ve been worried about them too. I just squeezed out some time to come check on them.”
Su He responded earnestly, “Engineer He, compared to your contributions, what I did is nothing.
I heard from my second aunt that several machines have malfunctioned. I wish I could help more, but this is all I can do.
Anyway, I should get going. Grandpa, Grandma, I’ll come visit again tomorrow.”
Grandma He refused to let her leave. After some insistence, Su He agreed to stay and finish dinner.
During the meal, Grandpa He asked, “What’s wrong with the machines, anyway? Did you find the cause?”
Engineer He sighed, “Yes, we found the issue. But the weaving machines are no longer in production. Replacement parts are nearly impossible to find.”
Grandpa He asked, “Did you call the manufacturer? Do they have spare parts?”
He Xiangqun shook his head. “Not only did we call them, but we also contacted several other weaving machine manufacturers. No one has the parts anymore. If it comes down to replacing the whole assembly, the cost would be too high.”
Su He’s heart pounded—Here’s my chance!
She hesitated a bit, then said, “Engineer He, I might have a suggestion, but I’m afraid it’ll sound silly.”
He Xiangqun chuckled, “Go on.”
“You have the blueprints for the parts, right?”
He nodded.
“Then that’s perfect! You could commission the county’s machinery factory to custom-make the parts!”
Grandma He immediately praised, “That’s a brilliant idea, little He! So clever!”
But Engineer He smiled bitterly. “We’ve considered that, but the quantity we need is too small, and the specs are demanding. It’s time-consuming and labor-intensive. The machinery factory is fully booked with orders—they won’t take something like this.”
Su He thought for a moment and said, “I know Qian Huifang from the factory union. She told me the machinery factory hasn’t made uniforms in years and is quite troubled by it.”
He Xiangqun frowned, “You’re thinking of trading fabric? That won’t work. All our fabric is already allocated—we can’t spare any.”
Su He smiled. “Didn’t my second aunt say there’s been a lot of defective fabric recently? Sell that to the machinery factory—cheap and without needing ration coupons. They’ll want it.
If that’s not enough, toss in some leftover fabric scraps—they’d be more than happy!
With that as leverage, they might agree to manufacture the parts.
Engineer He, if you trust me, I can go negotiate with the machinery factory.”
He Xiangqun looked uncertain. It sounded feasible, but would it actually work?
Just then, Grandma He chimed in, “This would benefit both sides! If it works, great. If not, we’ve lost nothing. Let little He give it a try!”
He Xiangqun made up his mind. “Alright, go ask. But you’ll have to act fast.”
Su He nodded. “Then let the factory know not to sell the remaining defective fabric.”
“Got it.”
After a few bites, Su He set down her chopsticks and hurried to Qian Huifang’s house.
Qian Huifang was delighted to see her. “Xiao He, just in time! I steamed some buns today. Come try one!”
Her husband, Qi Weimin, was also home. After greeting Su He, he quickly found an excuse to leave.
The buns were made with mixed flour and filled with veggies. Honestly, they were average at best, but Su He praised them sincerely.
Qian Huifang beamed. “You sweet-tongued girl!”
After a bit of chit-chat, Su He finally got to the point. “Auntie Qian, yesterday you mentioned the factory still hasn’t sorted out uniforms. Any luck yet?”
Qian Huifang sighed, “How could there be? Fabric is in short supply. Even the best housewife can’t cook without rice!”
Su He blinked. “I can solve that—but I’ve got a condition!”
Qian Huifang thought she was joking and teased, “You little rascal, don’t mess with me! If you really solve this, I’ll agree to whatever condition you name!”
