She had always considered her Chinese language skills to be good, at least better than politics, but she never expected that not only would she not pass, but her score would be worse than mathematics.
With such a score, how could she get into university next year? Seeing her gloomy expression, Gu Xingping quickly explained, "Third sister-in-law, don't misunderstand. This score isn't your final score. I wasn't sure about the essay, so I didn't include your essay score. Your foundational knowledge score was already very high, and I only got forty points. Plus, I feel your essay is better than mine, so your Chinese score will definitely be higher than mine."
Hearing her words, Chen Lishu's gaze shifted down. Sure enough, she saw that the essay score was not included. As she let out a long sigh of relief, she looked up and glared at Gu Xingping, "You little rascal, are you trying to scare me to death?"
"Yes, yes, it's all my fault. Third sister-in-law, please be magnanimous and forgive me this time," Gu Xingping said with a smile, apologizing. Looking at her playful demeanor, Chen Lishu couldn't help but purse her lips and smile.
As it was almost ten o'clock and Gu Xingping had school the next day, the two quickly tidied up their things, washed up, and went to bed.
The next day, after Gu Xingping left, Chen Lishu completed the remaining geography and history sections and checked them against the answers. Finding that she had passed all of them, her mood immediately relaxed.
In the afternoon, she continued working on the work uniform she hadn't finished and then took the finished product to the Materials Bureau to find Zhou Bin.
"I've got a new batch of labor cloth to make work uniforms, so I thought I'd come and ask if you're interested in stocking them, Brother Zhou. It's sixteen yuan per set plus five feet of cloth coupons." Chen Lishu showed him the finished work uniform and then told him the price.
Zhou Bin hesitated at the sixteen yuan price, "The price at the store is similar to this. If I price it too high, I won't have any advantage."
"Brother Zhou, you also know that thick fabrics like labor cloth always require a measured amount of cloth coupons. How many people can only manage to save up for one set of clothes a year because of cloth coupons, and now I only need half the amount of coupons."
Chen Lishu paused for a moment and continued, "Besides, didn't the higher-ups recently issue a document about raising workers' wages? We require fewer cloth coupons, so they might be willing to spend a little more money with their increased income, right?"
Hearing her mention the wage increase, Zhou Bin couldn't help but tease, "You even know about this?"
Before the adjustment, the first-level wage was twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents, the second-level was thirty-two yuan and fifty cents, and so on. After the adjustment, each person's wage would increase by several yuan. Zhou Bin was also on the list for this wage increase.
Zhou Bin thought for a moment and nodded, "Since you've said so, sister, then alright. I don't know if I can sell more, but you can give me thirty sets first to see the situation. If they sell well, I'll order more later."
"Okay," Chen Lishu nodded. They agreed to deliver the goods in half a month, and then Chen Lishu left the Materials Bureau and went home.
The next day, estimating that the batch of goods mailed from the provincial capital should have arrived, Chen Lishu and Gu Xingye specifically went to the post office. Upon checking, they found that the items had indeed arrived.
Because they had received Zhou Bin's order for thirty sets, Chen Lishu and Gu Xingye took a portion of the cloth after picking it up and returned to the village.
After the autumn harvest, the fields along the roads were desolate. Since the stubble could also be used for firewood, after the crops were harvested, adults and children from various teams would go to the fields to dig up the stubble, so the fields looked bare.
They arrived home. Li Xiulan and Zhang Qin were sitting on the kang, sewing shoe soles. Seeing Chen Lishu return, Li Xiulan was very happy. She stopped her work, moved over on the kang, and patted the spot where she had just been sitting, "This spot is still warm. You must be cold walking all this way wearing so little, right?"
"It is a bit cold," Chen Lishu said with a smile, sitting next to Li Xiulan. After being chilled by the wind all the way, the sudden contact with warmth made her shiver.
Li Xiulan grabbed her hand and held it. Discovering it was ice-cold, she didn't let go. Frowning, she said, "You're still wearing the clothes you had on when you left. Of course you're cold! Didn't Xingping have clothes? Why didn't you wear one back?"
"I did, it's underneath," Chen Lishu said, lifting the collar of her outer garment to show Li Xiulan. It was Gu Xingping's padded jacket.
"Mom, where are Dad and the others?" Gu Xingye asked, placing the four nylon bags he had brought back on the bicycle against the wall. He noticed that Gu Shoufu and Gu Xingguo were not there.
Li Xiulan replied, "They've gone to the commune with the public grain delivery."
Seeing their gazes fall on the bags in the corner, Chen Lishu smiled and said, "Mom, Sister-in-law, I bought some labor cloth from the provincial capital this time to make work uniforms. I've already received an order for thirty sets. Do you want to help me make them?"
Then Chen Lishu stated the commission price. Cutting and sewing each cost one yuan, meaning the processing fee for a complete set of clothes was two yuan.
"Two yuan? That's so much?" Zhang Qin exclaimed, then nodded, "Third sister-in-law, I'll do it with you."
Earning two yuan for making a set of clothes was substantial. Now that it was cold and there wasn't much work in the team, she could make at least three sets of clothes in two days, earning nearly a hundred yuan a month.
Chen Lishu smiled, "Okay, Sister-in-law, it's settled then. I've arranged to deliver the goods in half a month. I bought another sewing machine in town. You can use the one at home, and I'll pick it up when I return to collect the goods."
Upon hearing that Chen Lishu was letting her use the home sewing machine, Zhang Qin felt very grateful, "Lishu, thank you."
"Sister-in-law, we're family, so thank you is too polite," Chen Lishu said with a smile, then sat and chatted with Zhang Qin and Li Xiulan for a while before getting up to go to the Chen family.
Wu Chunmei saw her return and immediately pulled her to sit on the kang to talk, "How is Xingdong's injury? I heard your mother-in-law mention it once, and I've been worried. You only returned after he completely recovered, right?"
Chen Lishu smiled, "Yes, I only returned after he rejoined his unit."
"That's good."
As Wu Chunmei breathed a sigh of relief, she couldn't help but advise, "I think being a soldier is too dangerous. Why don't you discuss it with Xingdong and transfer back? As an officer, the higher-ups should be able to arrange work for him. It's not good for you two to be separated for a long time. In my opinion, it's best to hurry up and have a child, preferably a son, so you can establish yourself in your husband's family."
Chen Lishu just smiled at her words, then told her about her plan to make clothes, "Cutting one set is one yuan. Mom, do you want to do it?"
"You're really brave, child. What if you get caught? That's the provincial capital, and you won't even know anyone there," Wu Chunmei exclaimed with a sigh.