The next day, Gu Xingping went to school, Gu Xingye went to discuss selling grain with Liu Yong, while Chen Lishu went to the department store.
After a night of deep thought, she had come up with a solution.
With people's limited living conditions, many had their shirt or knitwear sleeves severely worn out from the inside of their outer garments; some even had completely bare sleeves.
Since there were "false collars," she could also make "false sleeves." A pair of sleeves wouldn't require much fabric. She would then introduce a promotional set to the public, and she was confident it would sell.
Arriving at the department store, Chen Lishu spotted an acrylic fabric. It was thick, soft, and brightly colored, available in red, green, and blue.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Chen Lishu specifically went through Nan Haitao's backdoor to buy two bolts of acrylic fabric, and two more bolts of pure white fabric for "false collars."
After paying for everything with money and fabric coupons, she was left with no fabric coupons at all.
"Should I drive you back?" Nan Haitao asked, seeing her buy so much fabric.
"No need to bother. I'll have someone come pick it up in the afternoon." Gu Xingye was home, and besides, refueling required gasoline coupons, and the gas price wasn't cheap.
"Let's go, it's on my way to run some errands," Nan Haitao said, making the storekeeper move the fabric to his car without further ado.
Chen Lishu had no choice but to get in the car with him.
Nan Haitao drove her home and helped her move the fabric inside before driving away.
After seeing him off, Chen Lishu glanced at the time. It was almost time for the students' lunch break. She packed some undergarments into her satchel, locked the courtyard gate, and headed towards Sixth Middle School.
When she arrived, Zhang Li and Li Fang were already waiting at the school gate. Chen Lishu hurried over and said with a smile, "Sorry, I was delayed by something."
"It's fine, the teacher kept us late, and we just arrived not long ago," Li Fang replied with a smile.
"Sister Chen, I still want to..."
"There are too many people here. Let's go talk over there," Chen Lishu interrupted Zhang Li just in time, pointing to a nearby alleyway.
The three quickly reached the alleyway, and Zhang Li said eagerly, "Sister Chen, I'll take thirty pieces this time."
Chen Lishu was surprised. "So many?"
Zhang Li smiled sheepishly. "I showed the undergarments to my former classmates, and now many people want to buy them, so I asked them to pay a deposit first."
After hearing her words, Chen Lishu immediately felt a greater admiration for the young girl in front of her.
Soon, Chen Lishu collected the money and finished handing over the goods. They agreed on the time and place for their next transaction, and she headed straight home.
When she arrived home, Gu Xingye was already there. He had arranged with Liu Yong to pick up the grain that evening and was now preparing to carry half a bag of grain to sell at the black market.
"Be careful when you go out," Chen Lishu instructed. Seeing him leave, she went back inside, took the newly bought fabric, and began cutting "false sleeves."
The cost of a pair of "false sleeves" was about one yuan and fifty cents. She decided to sell them individually for two yuan, or offer a discount at five yuan if bought as a set.
As the work was simple, she soon finished making two pairs. Seeing that Gu Xingping was about to finish school, Chen Lishu got up to make dinner.
In the evening, Liu Yong arrived by bicycle, bought all the remaining two and a half bags of grain, and also pre-ordered another two hundred jin.
His restaurant business was good this year, and he had even hired two relatives to help since he couldn't manage alone. The demand increased, and so did the supply of ingredients.
"My business has been good since winter. Sis, can you get me two pigs? And if you can get some vegetables, please get them for me too. We can discuss the price."
With money in hand, his courage naturally grew, and he was no longer as hesitant as last year.
"I'll try my best." Chen Lishu didn't dare to make grand promises, as there were few vegetables in winter, especially in the north. Even the cabbage, radish, and potatoes, families didn't keep much of.
After seeing Liu Yong off, Chen Lishu took the fabric and "false sleeves" to the Wang family.
The false collars and false sleeves required no special skills, and they didn't use much fabric. She planned to stock up on more first, at least to earn more money. Once the prices dropped and profits approached costs, she could abandon this venture.
The next day, Gu Xingye was returning to the village, and Chen Lishu went back with him, bringing some fabric along.
...
At Chen Mancang's house, Zhang Chunhua had been craning her neck, paying attention to the movements outside. As soon as she saw Chen Mancang's figure, she immediately pushed the door open to greet him.
"What did the acquisition station say this time? Did they accept it?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Chen Baozhu pushed a cart in from behind, his voice filled with anger and helplessness. "The staff said the weight wasn't up to standard and kicked us out without even letting us weigh it."
"The pig was already stressed from the trip, and now it's been stressed twice more." Chen Mancang was also full of frustration. His family had some surplus grain this year, and he thought raising a pig to sell to the acquisition station at year-end would bring some ease. Who knew the pig had a leg injury in the summer, and after that, it didn't eat much.
Zhang Chunhua anxiously asked, "It's all pork, calculated by the pound. Why don't they accept it? Didn't you say anything nice to beg them?"
Chen Mancang shot her a glance. "What do you know, old woman? Don't we know how to say nice things? We practically bowed and scraped, but they were all so arrogant, and nothing we said mattered."
"Then what should we do? It's been raised for so long and isn't gaining weight. If we keep it any longer, it'll just be a waste of feed!"
"If not, we'll kill it and eat it ourselves," Chen Baozhu said stubbornly.
"Eat it ourselves under these conditions?"
Just as Chen Mancang and his son began to unload the pig, Zhang Chunhua had a sudden inspiration. She said to her husband and son, "Husband, doesn't our second brother's family also raise pigs this year? Their pigs are fat and strong. The acquisition station will definitely be willing to accept them. If we send them over together with theirs, maybe the acquisition station will accept them?"
Her reminder brightened Chen Mancang's eyes. In those days, lean meat wasn't popular, and acquisition stations were happy to accept fat pigs.
"I'll go tell my second brother right away," Chen Mancang said, heading for the courtyard gate, but Zhang Chunhua stopped him.
"Why are you going? I'll tell our mother about it later, and she can go." The acquisition station also graded the pigs. Their pig didn't meet the weight standard, so they had to rely on Chen Mantun's family. This would definitely affect the grading of Chen Mantun's family, and a lower grade would involve money. If Old Mrs. Chen mediated this matter, Chen Mantun and his wife would have no choice but to agree.
...
"Dad, do you remember Liu Yong from the state-run restaurant in town?" Chen Mantun smiled and nodded. "I brought him some game last year."
Chen Lishu nodded. "My in-laws' pigs were sold to him last year for 1.3 yuan per jin, several jiao more than the acquisition station. He wants to buy more pork this year, so let's sell our pigs to him."
The Gu family would need to keep some of the pork for themselves this year because of Gu Xingye's marriage. Selling the Chen family's pigs to Liu Yong would be less troublesome than taking them to the black market.