"What brings you here?" Lu Chengming's eyes widened, momentarily captivated by Chen Lishu's pretty face, her two dark braids neatly falling before her chest, her apricot-yellow short-sleeved shirt making her skin appear fair and tender.
Chen Lishu frowned in annoyance, "I'm here to find Xu Ning."
"I'll go call her for you." Without waiting for Chen Lishu to refuse, he turned and went back inside.
Xu Ning came out soon after and couldn't help but smile when she saw Chen Lishu.
"Is there something else?" Chen Lishu looked at Lu Chengming, who was lingering by their side, and frowned unhappily.
"Comrade Lishu, I heard from Xu Ning that you're studying, and I think that's a very good thing. I was an excellent student in school, and I'm even planning to apply for the Worker-Peasant-Soldier university this time. If there's anything you don't understand, I'd be very happy to help you."
Hearing his words, Chen Lishu couldn't help but let out a cold sneer. How dare he say such a thing? In her past life, she only learned after returning to the city with him that Lu Chengming was sent to the countryside precisely because he had poor grades and spent his days associating with a bunch of bad friends and hooligans. And now he was bragging about his good studies to her. His face was truly thick.
"I have Xu Ning, that's enough. It might be inconvenient for you to listen to us girls talk, so please excuse yourself," Chen Lishu said impolitely.
Seeing that Chen Lishu had said so much, Lu Chengming had no choice but to leave reluctantly.
Only after he left did Xu Ning finally breathe a sigh of relief and relax completely. She smiled at Chen Lishu, "Don't be fooled by his good looks. He's actually quite flirtatious, always joking around with those young educated women. You should stay away from him."
Chen Lishu nodded, "Yes, I know."
As she spoke, she handed Xu Ning the novel she had just bought. "I found this in town today. I have a few more. We can read them one after another."
Xu Ning glanced at the book cover and looked slightly surprised. It was a foreign work, "Boule de Suif." Due to a special period, such foreign books had long become banned.
Chen Lishu saw her surprise and knew that this book was probably a banned item, otherwise, it wouldn't have been discarded as scrap.
"We'll read it secretly, and then I'll destroy it. I promise no one will find out."
Seeing that she understood the seriousness of the matter, Xu Ning swallowed the words she was about to say. She took the book and then took out her own teaching notes. "This is a summary and key points I made for the junior high school textbooks. It should be helpful for your studies."
The notebook was about two fingers thick, filled with neat and beautiful semi-cursive script, showing Xu Ning's thoughtfulness. After thanking Xu Ning, Chen Lishu turned and left.
At the provincial city's Tiger Regiment, when Gu Xingdong opened Chen Lishu's letter, the smile on his lips faltered. After a long while, he licked the tip of his tongue against his cheek, his eyes narrowing dangerously. His little wife was indeed "asking for a spanking." The letter, full of three pages, began with "Xingdong:"
"First, let us, with immense enthusiasm, study the meaning of the phrase 'miss very much.' It means to miss greatly, to miss extremely, to express profound longing for the other person. Shen, originally meaning... Its synonyms include: to be consumed by longing, to gaze with longing, to think of day and night..."
"Finally, I think a thousand words might not be enough. This task is actually very easy to complete, don't you think?" "Old Gu, I heard Sister-in-law wrote a letter? Did she mail some food too?" Wu Zheng's head poked in from the doorway, giving Gu Xingdong a silly grin.
"Do you have a dog's nose?" Gu Xingdong put away the letter and nodded towards the beef sauce on the table. "If you want to eat, take it yourself."
"Then I won't be polite." Before Wu Zheng could enter, Zhou Liang suddenly squeezed in from behind.
"Old Zhou, what's going on? Didn't you say you were going to the toilet?" They had met downstairs, and he had planned to go up together, but when they reached the second floor, Zhou Liang said he needed to go to the toilet first and told him to go ahead.
"The meat sauce is more important. It doesn't matter if I go to the toilet or not, I can hold it." Seeing Zhou Liang heading straight for the beef sauce on the table, Wu Zheng finally realized that the guy named Zhou had wanted him to go first! Wu Zheng stepped forward and thumped him hard on the chest. "You old fox Zhou, you dared to play mind games with me!"
After dealing with Zhou Liang, Wu Zheng said to Gu Xingdong, "My family is using the warm stove today. My wife said we're eating at home tonight. Let's all have a good drink together."
Gu Xingdong nodded, "Alright."
...
"Third sister-in-law, my classmates think this skirt I'm wearing is beautiful, and many people are asking where I bought it." Gu Xingping happily said to Chen Lishu, wearing her newly made skirt.
Chen Lishu, who was operating the sewing machine, looked up and asked, "What did you tell them?"
Gu Xingping twirled a strand of her braid around her finger, looking both amused and proud. "I said I bought it in the provincial city. They actually believed me and asked how much it cost, saying they wanted to buy it too. Guess how I answered?"
Chen Lishu stopped her work and asked curiously, "How did you answer?"
"I said it costs twelve yuan a piece and requires three feet of cloth coupons. If they need it, I can help them inquire. What do you think?"
Lately, by working with Chen Lishu on hair accessories and observing her actions, Gu Xingping had learned quite a bit. She had used five feet of cloth to make this skirt, costing six yuan at 1.2 yuan per foot. Although it also required five feet of cloth coupons, the price had doubled. To make it sell, she only mentioned three feet of cloth coupons, and sure enough, many girls were interested.
Chen Lishu couldn't help but laugh. "Little sister, you are truly clever."
"So, third sister-in-law, are you planning to take on this order?"
Chen Lishu nodded, "Of course, why not? I should thank you, little sister. If this business really goes through, how about I give you a commission?"
"I've already gained enough face in front of my classmates. I don't want a commission."
"Then help me take down the sizes of your classmates first," Chen Lishu said with a smile. With the measurements, she could go to town to buy fabric.
Gu Xingping was very efficient. She quickly took down the sizes of the girls who wanted to buy skirts and collected half of the deposit money. Chen Lishu was surprised that there were five of them.
The next day, she took leave from the team again. Besides going to town to buy fabric, she also planned to deliver the hair accessories she had saved to Zhou Bin. This was her first time at the Materials Bureau. After informing the gatekeeper outside, Zhou Bin soon appeared at the main entrance.
"How long have you been here? Why don't you come into my office and rest for a while?"
Chen Lishu smiled and shook her head. "I happen to have something to do today, so I thought I'd deliver these first. I have other things to take care of later, so I won't come in." The two of them were conducting a private transaction, and she was not related to him by blood or marriage. Going to his office would surely cause him trouble, so Chen Lishu politely refused.
"There are a total of over one thousand eight hundred and twenty-something. You can give me one hundred and eighty."