Hearing that the processing fee was 1.5 yuan, the aunt's face immediately fell.

"Then I'll go back and discuss it with my daughter-in-law," she said dismissively before leaving.

Aunt Luo realized that the matter was likely to fall through, and told Wang Xiufen frankly:

"Now, apart from the grain distribution from the team, everything else, like oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, pots, pans, and utensils, has to be bought with money. The team can only get a little over a hundred yuan a year, and we have to save it for our son's wedding. Where would we get the money to buy new clothes?"

Wang Xiufen quickly smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't want to do it. Ningning just wants to make her give up."

Jiang Ning laid out her thoughts: "Making a garment takes a lot of effort, so it's only right to charge a labor fee. Tailor shops in the county also charge fees. Ordinary clothes cost 50 cents or 1 yuan depending on the size and style. Special garments like Tang suits probably cost at least 2 yuan."

Regardless of the era, hiring a tailor to make clothes is always very expensive.

A Tang suit, from cutting to sewing, takes at least two days to make, so one yuan and fifty cents is really not expensive.

We can't let Wang Xiufen work for nothing, can we?

She believed that once this was done, things would be much easier in the future.

We just happened to have a sewing machine at home. If my mother-in-law can sell ten Tang suits a month, that's fifteen yuan, which is a pretty good income.

Of course, we still need to ask the Party Secretary for his opinion on this matter. After all, the tailor shops in the county town are state-owned, and I don't know if it's feasible to do it at home.

Some people work as tailors at home, but they only do mending and patching. Their so-called payment is just a few eggs or a few kilograms of rice; they dare not openly pay money.

Having made up her mind, Jiang Ning immediately took action and went to Lin Fugui's house.

Upon hearing his purpose, Lin Fugui immediately rejected the idea:

"That won't do, isn't that speculation and profiteering?"

"How is this speculation? My mother-in-law makes clothes to serve the commune members. Who doesn't need to make new clothes for their wedding? There are no good tailors around, so we have to go to the county town to make them, and the round-trip fare costs several cents."

"Secretary Lin, other brigades are already encouraging side hustles, you can't be conservative. How about this, if my mother-in-law gets any work, she'll give the team 20% of her profits from each job. What do you think?"

As she spoke, Jiang Ning discreetly slipped a pack of Furong cigarettes into Lin Fugui's pocket.

Lin Fugui narrowed his eyes, smoking his pipe without speaking, seemingly deep in thought. After a long while, he slowly said:

"This matter needs to be considered carefully. Here's what we'll do: I'll hold a meeting with a few cadres in the team to discuss it first, and then report it to the commune for approval. If the commune leaders agree, I have no objection. However, paying 20% ​​is not acceptable; at least 30% must be paid."

Wow, that's pretty dark.

The people who make clothes work themselves to the bone to earn one or two yuan, but the team takes 30% of it.

No wonder there are very few pig farmers in the team. I heard that if someone raises a pig, they can't slaughter it themselves after it's grown; they have to take it to the food station to be slaughtered, and 70% of the pigs go to the state.

The remaining 30% can be taken away; it can be sold or consumed by ourselves.

Pork costs 80 cents per pound. Even if you sell the whole 200-pound fat pig, you can only get about 50 yuan.

Those are pigs that have been raised for a year. They have to get up early and work late every day to cut pig feed and feed them rice bran, and they only earn this little money. No wonder no one wants to raise them.

Of course, there's nothing we can do about it; that's just how the country stipulates it.

Fortunately, as the movement ended, the situation began to improve, and restrictions on the number of chickens and ducks allowed to be raised at home were lifted.

Originally, each family could only raise two, but now they can raise ten. However, food is limited, and there isn't enough to feed everyone, so how can anyone afford to raise chickens and ducks?

When Jiang Ning returned from the Party Secretary's house, she remembered the photo studio's suggestion to put their photos in the shop window.

People in the countryside are poor, and there are few people who make clothes. Perhaps there are more opportunities in the county town. She decided to go to the county town the next day.

After the visitors left, Jiang Ning told Wang Xiufen about Secretary Lin's reply.

Wang Xiufen immediately laughed, "Then there's a good chance. Old Lin has worked in the brigade for so many years and has accomplished some things. If he says he'll hold a meeting to discuss it, it means he's already approved."

You're quite clever; you knew he likes to smoke. And paying 30% is a good deal. Otherwise, there will definitely be envious people who will cause trouble, and then things won't be able to proceed.

Jiang Ning was surprised to find that her mother-in-law was quite clear-headed.

"You're going to the county town tomorrow, could you take me with you? I've never been far from home in my life, the farthest I've ever been is the countryside, I really want to go out and see the world," Wang Xiufen pleaded pitifully.

Jiang Ning immediately agreed: "No problem at all, let's invite Ah Chen to come along!"

As the two were talking, someone delivered a letter to Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning has been wondering these past two days that her family didn't send her anything for her wedding. Does it mean that complaining and trying to please them is useless?

Upon reading the letter, I understood everything.

Her parents already knew that she had willingly married him, and their attempts to please her and ask for things were purely to plunder the family.

Her mother made it clear that if she insisted on going her own way, the family would no longer send her a single penny, nor would they help her find connections to arrange her return to the city.

Jiang Ning chuckled. That sounds nice, as if if she obeyed, she could be sent back!

She's always been biased since she was little. Whenever there's something delicious or fun to do, it's always given to her two older brothers and younger sister, and she's always the one who gets ignored.

I remember once when we were eating watermelon, we cut a whole watermelon into four pieces, and my mother said:

"There's not enough to go around, so Xiaoning and I won't eat any more."

If my mother doesn't have to eat, why shouldn't she get a share?

Another time, my family made a bowl of braised pork. When it was time to eat, my mother said we were out of soy sauce and asked me to go get some. When I came back, the whole bowl of braised pork was gone.

Of course, whenever this happened, her two older brothers would remember her and would always risk being scolded by their parents to leave her some.

I used to be naive and always thought that I wasn't good enough, which is why I wasn't well-liked, so I worked hard to prove myself.

Only now do I realize that Jiang Rou is her father's illegitimate daughter, and her mother is someone who blindly follows her father's lead; their favoritism is so blatant.

Yes, Jiang Rou had suffered hardships for several years before being adopted into the family, and she needs to be carefully cared for.

But what did she do wrong?

Jiang Ning's eyes still well up with tears whenever she thinks about these things.

Just as I was calming down, a terrified scream came from next door:

"Quick, go get the money. We need to go to the county hospital. If this leg isn't set right away, it'll be useless."

Jiang Ning and Wang Xiufen looked outside and saw that Lin Baojia's leg had been hit by something and was bleeding profusely. It was probably broken, and he had been carried home on a door panel.

Yu Xiaofeng and Lin Tao were extremely anxious. They had no money at all. They couldn't even afford to spend a few cents at the local clinic for minor ailments like headaches and fevers. How much would it cost to go to the county hospital?

Fortunately, they remembered the old lady lying inside the house.

Yu Xiaofeng ran into the side room and knelt before the old lady's bed:

"Mom, I'm begging you, it's a matter of life and death, please give me the money!"