Chapter 34: Chen Xueru

They cut off other paths, and the couple's thoughts returned to the road Yang Qing had originally planned.

After enduring for a long time, Chen Hong finally spoke.

"Can you tell me about that old lady?"

Yang Qing felt that Chen Hong's mental preparation was about ready, so he began to explain.

That's a pitiful old lady living in the military compound.

Her child passed away the year before last; the reason was that back then, life on the peninsula was too harsh, her body broke down, and she had barely held on until the year before last, which was already her limit.

The old lady was also devastated by the blow, and her family members collapsed one after another on the road; nobody could bear it, and her situation is much like yours.

Chen Hong empathized, and a feeling of mutual sympathy arose.

Yang Qing continued: "As her health gets worse and worse, Jiedao wants to arrange someone to take care of her."

But the old lady is also very stubborn; she just refuses.

However, your identity is special, so you should be accepted.

Chen Hong, out of kindness, said: "That would be even more inappropriate to take advantage of her."

Yang Qing, however, said.

I think this is what your family deserves; you haven't taken anything you shouldn't have.

So you shouldn't feel burdened.

You deserve the urban hukou more than anyone.

Besides, we haven't broken any rules; we're just transferring my hukou to you, not taking up any urban quota.

Chen Hong still couldn't get past that mental hurdle, mainly because she didn't want to take advantage of the old lady and Aunt Wang.

Yang Qing let out a sigh.

Ah, forget about transferring the hukou; you should still go take care of the old lady—it counts as having a job, Jiedao will pay a wage, but it's not an official position, at most a temporary worker.

If you want to go, I'll take you there.

Chen Hong wanted to go in her heart; after all, their circumstances were similar, she couldn't stand by and do nothing, but she also felt something was off.

Hesitating, she finally said.

I'm just going to look after the old lady, nothing else.

Yang Qing also nodded seriously.

Exactly, our house needs renovation; you can go stay there and take care of her for a while, then come back when the house is fixed.

However, you first need to change your clothes; Yi Da Ma is right, as a new daughter-in-law you should have a whole new set.

Yang Qing didn't sleep either; he pulled Chen Hong up.

Let's go, we'll go buy cloth and cotton, then find a tailor shop to make you a set of clothes, and add a pair of shoes.

Chen Hong said nervously.

Making a cotton outfit would take how much cloth? Where are we going to get that many cloth coupons? Don't listen to Yi Da Ma; she's just making trouble.

Yang Qing looked at her build and estimated.

Your build will need over twenty feet of cloth (cotton clothes need double layers, so they use more fabric; back then cloth wasn't wide, only about three feet, and in some places even narrower). Don't worry, although I've lost many coupons over the years to scams, I still have a lot stashed.

Chen Hong's eyes showed surprise as she looked at Yang Qing.

Yang Qing went back inside, climbed up to the roof beam, and after a moment took out a small roll of something.

When opened, there were some cloth coupons, shoe coupons, and cotton coupons.

These are what he has saved over the years.

The other meat coupons and side-food coupons have been sold off.

After tallying, Yang Qing had hidden nearly 76 feet of cloth coupons, 9 catties of cotton coupons, and three pairs of shoe coupons.

Chen Hong counted these coupons, tears welling up—partly moved, partly feeling sorry for him.

His situation is so difficult, yet he hid so many coupons; the process must have been arduous.

In the end, it turned out to be her gain.

For city dwellers, these things might not be rare, but for rural people they are quite valuable.

In recent years, these items have almost run out in the village.

City residents might still have three feet per month, but in the countryside maybe only one foot, and even that might not be distributed.

Qin Huairu, Qin Jingru—why were they so determined to marry into the city?

In the Jia family, Qin Huairu was just a maid; everything in the household was her responsibility, she lived like a slave, and she even enjoyed it.

Qin Jingru even gave herself to Xu Damao upon first meeting; do they really think she's a fool, a casual person? No, she just wanted to become a city dweller through this.

As for Sha Zhu, his reputation is bad; people despise him, dogs avoid him.

This is the gap between workers and peasants.

This is also the price of forced industrialization under the broader historical context, given insufficient productive resources.

Holding substantial funds, the couple came to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative (which everyone knows sells everything).

Nothing happened like hitting customers.

Of course, they weren't overly enthusiastic either; when you pick goods, don't be too picky, don't make trouble for the salesperson—usually nobody will give you a dirty look.

Yang Qing and his wife came with a purpose; they went straight for labor-protection cloth, sturdy and durable, although the color isn't great, it also doesn't attract attention.

After spending all the cloth coupons, it was almost enough to make Chen Hong a set of winter clothes, a set of spring/autumn clothes, and a set of summer clothes.

This also left enough for Yang Qing to make himself a set of spring/autumn clothes.

With three shoe coupons, they bought Chen Hong a pair of rubber-soled shoes—namely the famous Red Star shoes—and a pair of sandals.

Yang Qing also asked for a pair of rubber-soled shoes.

In total, they spent twenty or thirty.

Mainly the shoes are expensive.

When Chen Hong was walking back holding the cotton cloth, Yang Qing pulled her into the tailor shop.

Chen Hong was extremely anxious.

"Oh dear, I can do all of this, I do it really well, believe me, really believe me."

A woman came out of the tailor shop, fair-skinned, beautiful, with big wavy hair; in this era, she was considered unconventional.

Exactly, everyone had guessed it.

This is Chen Xueru from another drama.

This tailor shop isn't hers; her shop is in the Correct Yang Gate area (if you don't know the Correct Yang Gate, you probably know the Gate of Heavenly Peace Square).

Chen Xueru watched the two beggars tugging at each other; if they weren't holding a pile of cloth and cotton, she would have thought they were just there to mooch.

She smiled charmingly and teased them.

"Hey, you two, mind the occasion."

These days, tailor shops have a hard time; she came this time to visit an old family friend, Master Xu.

Xu Qingji is fairly well-known around here, especially as the shop owner and master craftsman, renowned for his skill.

However, Master Xu is over sixty; he's not a petty person, he's a person of stature, and he doesn't lift a hand for trivial matters.

He is someone Chen Xueru needs to win over.

Yang Qing didn't come to look for Master Xu either; he wasn't qualified enough, so he came to look for his apprentice.

Seeing business come to her door, Chen Xueru actively solicited customers.

"Miss, I'm telling you, clothes you sew yourself can't compare to our master's."

"We have a Border Lock machine here; you don't, right? Our machine's stitches are fine and don't leak cotton—you couldn't do that either."

"Moreover, the cotton in what the master makes is evenly distributed and doesn't clump; even after many washes, its warmth remains excellent."

"If you make it yourself, after one wash the cotton ends up in lumps here and there—not only does it look bad, it also isn't warm; if the clothing isn't warm, isn't making it a waste?"

"What we make here is good, and it doesn't cost much either."

"Come on in; I guarantee you'll want to come back after trying us once."

Chen Hong was obviously persuaded, because Chen Xueru's words hit the nail on the head—if a cotton jacket isn't warm, what's the point of calling it a cotton jacket?

Yang Qing saw her inclination and pulled her inside.

"What the boss said is a lot; making full use of things is the best outcome."

"Professional matters should still be left to professionals."