"I found another one here!" a man's shout suddenly came from the distance.
Chen Lishu saw that the owner of the foot clearly paused, as if looking in the direction of the voice.
Immediately after, a man's exasperated voice came from afar: "Damn it, he dared to push me! Hurry, Xiao Sun ran towards your side, stop him! If I catch him, I'll break his dog legs!"
Amidst the curses, Chen Lishu noticed that the foot quickly changed direction, and then a man's loud reply came from overhead: "Brother Liu, I'm coming over now!"
As the footsteps faded away, Chen Lishu finally exhaled the breath she had been holding, feeling as if she had just run a marathon, her legs weak.
"They're finally gone," Dong Ji'an also felt drained, sitting down on the ground without any pretense and panting heavily for breath before feeling alive again.
After a while, the commotion outside gradually subsided. Knowing the alarm had been lifted, the two finally emerged from the woodpile.
"What did those two whistle sounds mean earlier?"
Thinking that the enforcers had arrived shortly after those two whistles, Chen Lishu couldn't help but ask curiously.
Dong Ji'an smiled, "Is this your first time encountering this? That's a signal for advance notice. We pay stall fees to the people here when we set up shop. It's not much, five cents per person per day. They'll notify us promptly if there's any trouble."
"I heard two whistles just now."
"That's a code. Three whistles mean the number of people is small or the distance is far, giving us time to retreat. Two whistles mean the situation is quite urgent. If it's one whistle, it means we'd rather abandon our goods and just escape."
"Have you ever encountered a single whistle?"
Dong Ji'an showed a bitter smile, "Of course. That time, they were well-prepared, and we couldn't escape. Not only were our goods lost, but I also spent a few days in jail. But it's alright; they'll release us eventually."
Chen Lishu felt a sense of relief. If Dong Ji'an hadn't been experienced enough to hide deeply, they both might have been in trouble.
Upon leaving the courtyard, others who had hidden and were fortunate enough not to be caught also emerged one by one. A glance at each other allowed them to read the feeling of surviving a disaster in each other's eyes.
After parting ways with Dong Ji'an, Chen Lishu returned the way she came to the place where she would catch a bus back to school.
Chen Lishu had no classes on Wednesday afternoon. After having lunch with Zhang Xue, she took a bus to Wang Aixiang's home.
All the fabric she had was sold. Wang Aixiang had nothing to do these past two days and decided to renovate her kang. Just as she had smoothed the surface of the kang, she saw Chen Lishu push the door open.
"Little sister, you're here? It's quite dusty in here. Wait for me outside for a moment. I'll wash my hands and come out." Saying this, she jumped off the kang and washed her hands in the basin nearby.
The room was indeed a bit suffocating. Chen Lishu went outside to wait for her as requested.
Not long after, Wang Aixiang came out after washing up.
"Sister Aixiang, can you use a sewing machine?" Chen Lishu had noticed during her previous visits that Wang Aixiang didn't have a sewing machine at home, so she asked with some uncertainty.
"Yes, I had one before. My late husband bought it when he was alive. Later, when the three of us struggled to even afford meals, I had to sell it at a reduced price."
After finishing, Wang Aixiang asked curiously, "Little sister, why are you asking?"
Chen Lishu smiled, "I'm planning to make clothes with this batch of fabric, and I'm short-handed. Sister Aixiang, if you can use a sewing machine, you could consider buying another one. I'll give you processing fees of one yuan per piece. If we later make them into clothes and sell them, you'll also get a commission of one mao per piece."
"Really?" Wang Aixiang was both surprised and delighted at the price. She then said with some regret, "I should have kept the sewing machine when I sold it. Now I have to spend money to get someone to fix the sewing machine tickets."
Since Chen Lishu didn't have time to transport the fabric home last week, she took advantage of her free time now and asked Wang Aixiang to go to the textile factory together.
Li Zhengxing had just returned from a meeting at the factory office. There was a significant backlog of Dacron gabardine fabric. The cooperative units in the city were almost saturated, and superiors required him to expand business and boost sales.
Since becoming the section chief of sales, these external errands were usually for junior employees. The fact that the leadership had sent him out with them showed they were truly anxious.
In his opinion, no matter how much was stockpiled, it could eventually be cleared. Although the unit arranged sleeper berths for train travel, it was still tiring.
As he returned to his office, he saw Chen Lishu waiting there. His previously furrowed brow turned into a smile. "Little Chen, you're here. Come in and have a seat."
Chen Lishu entered the office with him, and after closing the door, she asked, "Section Chief, does the factory have any fabric recently?"
Li Zhengxing, who was worried about the backlog of fabric, smiled and asked upon hearing her words, "Have you sold all the previous ones?"
Chen Lishu shook her head, "Not yet. I plan to transport it back to the county to sell, so I want to gather more fabric at once."
Li Zhengxing nodded, "Transporting it once is indeed not easy."
"I currently have a batch of Dacron gabardine. It's one yuan per foot. How much can you take?"
Chen Lishu's brow twitched subtly.
Li Zhengxing's price was indeed quite cheap, as Dacron gabardine in stores would cost at least two yuan per foot, and it also required a small amount of fabric coupons.
However, it wasn't the right season. Gabardine was mostly used for winter overcoats or spring and autumn clothing. If she bought it now, it would surely pile up. Moreover, as far as she knew, gabardine fabric didn't sell as well as Dacron poplin. Especially the military-green poplin, which was almost snatched up as soon as it hit the shelves, and its price was also two to three mao cheaper than gabardine.
"Section Chief Li, do you have other fabrics?"
Li Zhengxing shook his head with a smile, "Not at the moment, I'm afraid."
Chen Lishu's gaze swept over Li Zhengxing subtly.
How could Li Zhengxing, who dealt with fabrics all year round, not know the key issues that she had thought of? This was supposed to be a mutually beneficial matter, yet Li Zhengxing was pushing the gabardine fabric to her without regard for profit. There must be something she didn't know.
In a brief moment, Chen Lishu had thought of many possible explanations. Finally, she said, "Since the seersucker hasn't been sold yet, and I don't have that much money, I'll take ten bolts for now."
Li Zhengxing nodded with satisfaction upon hearing her words.
Ten bolts were a mere drop in the ocean for a large factory, but for Li Zhengxing, it solved many problems. After all, the superiors had given instructions, and he had taken action, hadn't he?
"Little sister, it's getting hot, why are you still buying this kind of fabric? It probably won't sell well, right?"
As they rode their bikes back, Wang Aixiang couldn't help but ask.