She thought about going to the provincial capital to see how things were. Firstly, the provincial capital was different from a county town; there would be more opportunities to earn money. Secondly, Gu Xingdong's previous letter had urged her to visit, but she had been reluctant to leave her business. Now that they had separated their households, she had more freedom to act.
Chen Lishu decided to act on her thoughts. She took some time to tell Li Xiulan and Gu Shouxu about her plan to visit the provincial capital to see her relatives. To her surprise, the elderly couple readily agreed.
"Xingdong has been gone for almost three months. I was actually wondering when you would go to see him. His unit isn't far; it's only a day's train ride. There's nothing for you to worry about at home, so you should go," Li Xiulan said.
"Mom, do you want to go with me?" Chen Lishu could tell Li Xiulan missed Gu Xingdong, so she couldn't help but suggest it.
Li Xiulan genuinely wanted to go, but with a large family at home, and the pigs and chickens to care for, not to mention the work in the village, and the fact that train tickets were not cheap, a round trip would take a considerable amount of time. Thinking it over, she decided against it.
"I won't go. That city is too noisy, and the journey makes me dizzy. I don't want to put myself through that trouble."
Seeing that she had made up her mind, Chen Lishu dropped the matter.
In those days, visiting relatives wasn't as simple as packing a bag. Chen Lishu still had many preparations to make. First, she had to write to Gu Xingdong to inform him of her estimated arrival time. Otherwise, if she went without notice and he wasn't there, it would be a wasted trip.
While waiting for a reply, Chen Lishu didn't idle. She took the opportunity to return to the Chen family home to inform them of her plan to visit the provincial capital and handed over the money from her previous two sales of hair ornaments to Wu Chunmei.
"That's the provincial capital! Can you manage to go by yourself? You've never traveled far since you were little. You must be careful when you're out on your own. Absolutely do not talk to strangers on the way. I've heard that snatchers are very cunning. They just need to touch you on your head or body, and you'll willingly go with them. A couple of years ago, there was a village not far from here, what was it called..."
"Xiaolin Village," Chen Mantun couldn't help but remind her from the side.
"Yes, in Xiaolin Village, a child who went into the city with an adult, even though he was seven or eight years old, was lost to snatchers. The parents were heartbroken and haven't found him after all these years."
Wu Chunmei sighed as she spoke.
"Mom, don't worry. I won't talk to strangers. Besides, I've already written to Xingdong. Someone will pick me up as soon as I get off the train, so I definitely won't get lost."
Hearing that someone would pick her up, Wu Chunmei felt much more at ease.
"Before you leave, come back one more time. I'll ask your father to go to the mountains and catch a couple of rabbits and pheasants for your husband. We have a lot of vegetables from our private plot that are ready, and I'll prepare some eight-treasure preserved vegetables to take to him as well."
"Mom, his food at the unit is good, and they have meat there too. Rabbits and pheasants are so heavy, and they're troublesome to prepare. Perhaps we shouldn't bring them?"
Since the incident with Old Mrs. Chen, Chen Mantun hadn't set any more traps in the mountains. Now that they were eating their own catch, no one could say anything.
"Does the meat at his unit compare to rabbit or pheasant? He needs a change of taste. Wu Chunmei glared at her. "Before you leave, I'll have your father clean them and salt them. It's hot, so they won't keep for long. You can cook them for him directly when you get there."
Seeing her persistence, Chen Lishu couldn't mention that she would be staying in a dormitory where she couldn't cook, so she could only nod in agreement.
At the Gu family home, Li Xiulan was busy on the kang, making shoes for her son Gu Xingdong. Although the unit provided shoes, they weren't as comfortable as the hand-stitched layered soles made at home. She thought that when Gu Xingdong had time off, his feet would be able to relax with her handmade shoes.
"Mom, Sister-in-law, Little Sister, I'll also be doing the hair ornament business from now on. You can make them for me, and I'll give you three cents each, just like Third Sister-in-law."
"Second Sister-in-law, I have final exams coming up at school, so I don't have time," Gu Xingping refused directly.
She wanted to earn money, but it also depended on who she was working for. If it weren't for Liu Yuemin's selfishness, the family wouldn't have had to separate their households.
"Third Sister-in-law is going to the unit, and I still need to pack things for Third Brother. We can talk about it later," Li Xiulan said, her hands never stopping, the thread pulled taut with a hissing sound.
After being rejected by the two of them, Liu Yuemin's smile faltered. She shifted her gaze to Zhang Qin. Before she could speak, Zhang Qin directly said, "There are many people asking your elder brother to help with building houses lately, and the three children are so mischievous that I have to keep a close eye on them, so..."
Although she didn't finish, she had also refused.
The second family had snatched business from the third family. The split of households had already been caused by this matter. If she were to greedily jump at the opportunity for money now, what kind of person would she be?
Besides, normally, when there was good news for her third sister-in-law, she was the first one she thought of. Although she earned a commission, Chen Lishu never cared about gains or losses. She always gave extra money. Moreover, Gu Hong's two new clothes this year were all made by her. For the food at home, she rarely returned empty-handed when going to town. Just like what her husband said, she couldn't kick someone when they were down.
Liu Yuemin looked at the three of them, her face turning pale, then red. Finally, in anger, she turned and went back to her room.
When Chen Lishu returned, she happened to see Liu Yuemin leaving in a huff. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"Mom, Sister-in-law, Little Sister, I'm going to town tomorrow. Is there anything you'd like me to buy and bring back for you?"
Since everyone knew she was going to visit her relatives, Chen Lishu took an extended leave of absence from the village.
"Fourth Brother left in a hurry last time and only took one set of clothes to change into, and only one pair of shoes. I'll pack some things for him later and have you take them tomorrow," Li Xiulan said, looking up.
"Alright," Chen Lishu nodded.
"Third Sister-in-law, when you go, please help me buy a few large handkerchiefs that don't require cloth coupons from the store. Gu Zhao and Gu Song, those two mischievous boys, are like they have teeth on their bodies; I can't even keep up with making their clothes."
The cloth coupons were only about ten feet per year. Besides clothes, bedding also required cloth coupons. The children grew quickly, and they seemed to eat clothes. Zhang Qin had no choice but to buy a few handkerchiefs that didn't require coupons and stitch them together to make sleeveless vests for the two children.
"Alright," Chen Lishu nodded in agreement. However, a thought suddenly struck her: "fake collars" that later became popular in Shanghai.
A shirt required a lot of fabric and cloth coupons. If the collar was severely worn after many years of use, losing a whole garment was heartbreaking. Thus, some meticulous people invented "fake collars."
"Fake collars" not only satisfied people's desire for beauty but also solved the problem of a shortage of money and cloth coupons. Wearing "fake collars" in spring and autumn, with a jacket or a V-neck sweater worn over them, was absolutely beautiful, fashionable, economical, and thrifty.
However, as far as she knew, there were no reports of "fake collars" being sold in the town yet. Perhaps she could give it a try.