The next day, Chen Liyuan was sent back to school first, while Chen Lishu went to find Wang Aixiang, and the two of them went to the textile factory again to transport a batch of fabrics.
Before long, the previously transported batch of fabrics was successively made into clothes and delivered. By the time all the clothes were sold, it was already late autumn.
A total of six hundred and forty-five pieces of clothing. After deducting costs and labor, Chen Lishu made nearly five thousand yuan from this batch of fabrics alone. Her bank account finally broke through the five-figure mark, successfully becoming a "ten-thousand-yuan household."
In mid-October, the village began its annual rush harvest, and the production of ready-made clothes had to be temporarily suspended. However, the goods ordered from the textile factory did not stop. After consideration, Chen Lishu decided to sell the fabrics for the time being.
"Lishu, I always feel like my spoken English is a bit off. Do you have any way to help me improve?"
After the English corner ended one day, as they walked back to the dormitory, Zhang Xue spoke up.
Spoken English requires listening and practicing more, and the language environment is very important. The ten years of turmoil had only recently ended, and there were not many foreigners in the country. Therefore, everyone had almost no opportunity to come into contact with authentic pronunciation.
Chen Lishu thought for a moment and said, "I'll come earlier on Sunday, and then I'll take you to the Friendship Store to try our luck. Maybe we can meet some foreigners, and you can talk to them yourself."
Her own spoken English was honed through patient observation, and she believed Zhang Xue could do the same.
"Ah? Foreigners? Can I do it?" Zhang Xue had never interacted with foreigners before. Hearing Chen Lishu's suggestion, she was both nervous and a little excited.
"You definitely can. You've already mastered enough vocabulary. Trust me, now all you need is a chance to speak."
"Okay then."
After they made the arrangement, Chen Lishu finished her morning classes on Saturday, packed her things, and went home first.
As soon as she opened the door, she noticed the window was open. She went to the bathroom and saw that the basin indeed contained the combat uniform that had been changed and not yet washed.
Chen Lishu put down her bag, tidied up the house first, and washed Gu Xingdong's changed clothes before starting to make dinner.
On the other side, Zhao Jing had just finished a performance and returned home. Due to exhaustion, she went straight to the bedroom to sleep.
When Zhou Liang returned, he had just used his key to open the door and found that the door was unlocked. Knowing that Zhao Jing was back, he felt happy, and a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.
Upon entering, he found her sleeping on the bed. He turned and went into the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and started making dinner.
"Xiao Jing." That night, as the couple lay in bed, Zhou Liang looked at Zhao Jing beside him and couldn't suppress his desire. He rolled over and held her in his arms.
"Today is my safe period, so no," Zhao Jing frowned and pushed him away, her face full of refusal.
Hearing that it was her safe period, Zhou Liang's eyes lit up. His hands continued to try and undress her.
Seeing this, Zhao Jing felt a surge of disgust and slapped Zhou Liang across the face.
The crisp sound instantly echoed through the small room.
"I, I'm sorry." Zhao Jing quickly reacted and reached out to help him rub his cheek, but Zhou Liang flicked her hand away.
"Zhao Jing, do you have someone else outside?"
Zhao Jing was stunned for a moment, then sat up angrily: "Zhou Liang, you're talking nonsense! How can you insult me like this?"
Zhou Liang was unfazed and chuckled self-mockingly, "Otherwise, what do you want me to think? You're my wife, what's wrong with me touching you? Ask yourself, have you ever treated this as your home? Gu's wife is still in school, and she still comes back every week. If I meant even a little bit to you, you wouldn't treat me like this, would you? Or do you simply not think highly of me?"
"Zhou Liang, you're going too far. When have I ever looked down on you?"
"Then why are you unwilling to have children with me?"
"You only think about having children. Have you considered my feelings? There are so many young girls joining the troupe, have you ever thought from my perspective? Do you know the pressure I'm under?"
"Then don't perform anymore. The Wu family, the Wei family, so many military dependents are at home, and I can support you."
Zhao Jing felt a chill in her heart at his words. She pursed her lips tightly and said nothing more.
Seeing her like this, Zhou Liang also felt a hint of bitterness in his mouth. He went to the bedside, grabbed his clothes, and walked straight out of the room. With a "bang," the room instantly fell into a dead silence.
...
When Chen Lishu woke up, Gu Xingdong had already gone for his morning exercises. She propped herself up with her arm, and the quilt on her chest slipped, revealing a patch of bruises. Against her fair and smooth skin, they were glaring.
After scolding Gu Xingdong in her heart, Chen Lishu got up and went to the bathroom to wash up.
She ate a simple bite, remembered her appointment with Zhang Xue, locked the door, and took a bus directly to Friendship Road.
The Friendship Store was not far from the department store, located on Friendship Road, a parallel street.
As soon as Chen Lishu got off the bus, she saw Zhang Xue already waiting at the bus stop.
"Lishu, shall we go now? I, I'm not prepared at all." Zhang Xue nervously linked her arm with Chen Lishu's.
"Prepared for what? You speak quite well during English corner, don't you?"
"I haven't even met foreigners. What if they have bad tempers and scold us?"
Chen Lishu found her words amusingly perplexing, "Don't worry, it won't happen. We're just saying hello. Besides, look where we are."
After reassuring Zhang Xue, the two walked towards the Friendship Store.
Because there were guards at the entrance, and they didn't have a pass, they could only wait not far away.
Not long after, two foreign faces with yellow hair and white skin walked towards them. Before Chen Lishu and Zhang Xue could walk over, a middle-aged man emerged from the side. He first smiled at the two foreigners and then began to greet them in broken Russian.
Because their majors were different, Chen Lishu and Zhang Xue didn't hear clearly what the man said. However, after a few words, the three of them cautiously walked towards the alley behind them. Then the man produced money, and the two foreigners also took out a stack of colorful coupons, and they exchanged them.
Only then did Chen Lishu realize that the man was waiting there to resell overseas remittance coupons.
Located in the north, Soviet people were quite common in their provincial capital. And because of the special nature of the Friendship Store, many goods inside were unavailable elsewhere. This gave rise to a group of people who resold overseas remittance coupons. Most people knew a few phrases of Russian.
In fact, foreigners who had been in the country for a long time didn't need to buy everything at the Friendship Store. They also needed to spend money. If they exchanged money at the bank, taxes would be deducted. Selling their unwanted overseas remittance coupons to these "scalpers" at a low price was mutually beneficial.
Zhang Xue was seeing this situation for the first time, her eyes constantly darting towards them. Chen Lishu pulled her and signaled with her eyes to pay attention, and Zhang Xue then restrained herself.