The two of them rode a tricycle to the textile factory. Li Zhengxing happened to be coming out of a meeting.
Chen Lishu smiled and greeted him, "Section Chief Li."
Li Zhengxing nodded, "Let's go to my office."
Chen Lishu nodded and followed Li Zhengxing into his office.
"How did that batch of fabric sell?" Li Zhengxing sat down at his desk and gestured to the seat opposite him, indicating she should sit as well.
"Some of it has been sold," Chen Lishu said, taking out three hundred yuan and handing it over. "This is your share from the last batch of fabric."
There were no fifty or hundred yuan denominations at this time. The largest was the "Da Tuan Jie" (Great Unity) ten yuan bill. Three hundred yuan in total, exactly thirty crisp notes, a considerable sum at first glance.
Li Zhengxing put the money away and said with a smile, "The factory has just produced a new batch of seersucker. It's six mao per chi. I'll give you fifteen bolts first."
Chen Lishu's eyes lit up when she heard it was seersucker. This was good stuff. Summer was approaching, and this fabric would be perfect for making summer clothes.
Although most people were chasing after Dacron these days, honestly, apart from Dacron having brighter colors and more patterns than seersucker, its quality was not as comfortable, and the price was several mao higher.
After they agreed, Li Zhengxing issued the invoice, Chen Lishu paid, and then went with Wang Aixiang to pick up the goods.
The two of them transported the fabric back to their rented place. It took considerable effort to finally get all the fabric into the house. They locked the door and returned to the Wang family's house together.
"Sister Aixiang, I won't sell this batch of fabric for now. I plan to transport it away in a couple of days. Once we make the clothes, we'll sell finished garments."
"Not selling the fabric anymore?" Wang Aixiang looked slightly disappointed when she nodded. Then she wouldn't be able to earn as much commission.
Chen Lishu naturally saw her thoughts and smiled, "We'll earn more by selling finished garments. The commission will definitely be higher than it is now."
"Really? That's wonderful then." Hearing this, Wang Aixiang became happy and expectant.
It was past four in the afternoon when the two arrived home. Wang Aixiang's mother-in-law had specially cooked four dishes: stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with cabbage, pig skin jelly, peanuts, and stir-fried bean sprouts with meat.
"Auntie, you're too kind," Chen Lishu felt a bit embarrassed looking at the four dishes on the table. She also noticed Wang Aixiang's mother-in-law and Wang Xiaopeng sitting by the kang and not at the table. She smiled and invited them, "Come and join us."
Wang Xiaopeng looked at the dishes on the table, swallowed hard, and then shook his head, "Auntie Chen, I'm not hungry yet. You guys eat first."
"Yes, we mother and son ate at noon. You and Aixiang must be hungry. Hurry and eat, don't mind us," Wang Aixiang's mother-in-law said with a smile.
Chen Lishu could see clearly that they were afraid there wouldn't be enough food for the adults, so they didn't dare let the children join the table.
"Auntie, please bring Xiaopeng over. If you don't sit at the table, I won't eat at home anymore."
Wang Aixiang got up and brought over two more stools. "Mom, please bring the child over to eat."
Seeing that both of them had said so, Wang Aixiang's mother-in-law finally brought Wang Xiaopeng over to sit with them.
After finishing dinner at the Wangs' house, Chen Lishu took the bus back to school.
In the dormitory, apart from Jiang Yuwei and Sun Ling, everyone else was present. Yang Lili was studying, Zhang Xue was reading a magazine, and the others were chatting together.
Zhang Xue saw her enter and quickly leaned her head out from her upper bunk, "Your water is ready."
"Xue'er, you're so kind." Chen Lishu smiled at her, placed her shoulder bag by the head of the bed, then picked up the thermos and basin to go to the bathroom to wash up.
After returning, Chen Lishu took out paper and pen and began to diligently complete the report on the academic atmosphere construction, as requested by the department head, Huang Jianjun.
Until the dormitory lights were turned off at nine o'clock in the evening, Chen Lishu finally finished writing the proposal. After organizing it and putting it into her shoulder bag, she went to bed.
The next day, after class, Chen Lishu specifically found time to hand the two pages of manuscript she had written to Huang Jianjun. After a brief look, he praised Chen Lishu's proposal highly.
"Student Xiao Chen, your proposal is excellent and practical. I'll find time to meet with the institute's leaders. Such a good suggestion must be implemented throughout the entire institute."
At noon, Chen Lishu and Zhang Xue returned to the dormitory after lunch. As soon as they reached the dormitory building, the dormitory manager auntie saw them coming in and quickly opened the door. "Hey, which one of you is Chen Lishu from room 106?"
Chen Lishu: "Auntie, that's me."
The dormitory manager auntie's gaze fell on her. "Your family called this morning. You were in class then, weren't you? They said something happened at home and asked you to go back quickly."
Something happened at home? Chen Lishu's face immediately changed, and she quickly turned to leave.
"Lishu, I'll go with you." Zhang Xue, seeing her rush out anxiously, feared something major had happened and quickly followed her.
Meanwhile, the Chen family was already in chaos. It was supposed to be the time when everyone was at work, but now many people were gathered at the entrance of Chen Mantun's house.
"Chen Mantun and his wife are too foolish. What kind of people are the Liu family to agree to such a marriage? Aren't they pushing their child into a fire pit?"
"You don't know this, but the Chen family has no son, and the Liu family agreed to have Liu Dabao move in, which is why they agreed."
"..."
"You agreed initially, and now you want to go back on your word. I've never heard of excrement being taken out and then put back. I demand an explanation today, or no one will have an easy time." Widow Liu pointed at Chen Mantun and his wife, shouting, insisting on an explanation.
"Auntie, it's all our fault. Originally, my husband and I thought it was a good thing to take in your Da Bao, but now our child is making a big fuss, locking herself in her room for two days without eating. You know, as parents, we can't just watch our child die."
As Wu Chunmei spoke, her eyes reddened, and tears began to fall.
"Pah, you two are talking nonsense. I'm telling you, there's no going back in my book. Even if she wants to die, she'll die after marrying our Da Bao. Otherwise, your Chen family will have no good days ahead."
"Auntie, can we not make a scene here? Why don't we go inside and talk it over? So many people are watching." Chen Mantun felt a splitting headache looking at the shrew-like Widow Liu. At the same time, he regretted it immensely.
He had initially thought of taking a son-in-law into the family but forgot how troublesome Widow Liu was. Now, it was impossible to shake her off once she latched on.
"Talk it over inside? You just tell me if this marriage is still valid. If it is, I'll leave without another word. If it's not, the three of us will immediately go home, pack our bags, and move in with you!"
"She, Auntie, aren't you blackmailing me?" Chen Mantun looked at Widow Liu in shock. Wu Chunmei, upon hearing her words, was so frightened that she covered her face and sobbed.