Chapter 34 Almost Exposed

Jiang Ruzhen quickly dried herself off, changed her clothes, and came out. As soon as she entered the outer room, she saw a group of people picking through her pile of clothes.

The scene was as if money was no object; several groups of older women even started pulling each other's hair and hurling insults at each other over a single coat.

"Hey! Aunt Liu, stop fighting! Be careful of your old back! Look, there's a bright red wool coat inside. It suits your style perfectly. Why don't you take a look at it?"

Aunt Liu's tiny, bean-like eyes spotted the red wool coat precisely, and she immediately stepped forward, pulling it into her arms, her smug gaze sweeping over Aunt Zhang across from her.

Aunt Zhang was too late and glared at Jiang Ruzhen when she turned around.

"Old Shen's family, we're all from the same village, you can't show favoritism!"

Jiang Ruzhen quickly picked out another fuchsia coat from the pile of clothes and handed it over, "Aunt Zhang, this color suits your dignified temperament very well, don't you think?"

"This one looks nice." Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhang immediately hugged the clothes to her arms, as if afraid someone would snatch them away.

Shen Zhuoyi stood at the door doing the accounting, while Shen Zhuohang and Shen Shuxin helped find clothes. In her spare time, Jiang Ruzhen helped the women put together outfits.

Everyone listened to Jiang Ruzhen's eloquent explanation and gathered around to ask her for help with the matching.

Jiang Ruzhen was so busy she barely had time to breathe, and her mouth was constantly watering.

After finally seeing the villagers off, the group was so exhausted that they collapsed on the ground, too tired to move.

Jiang Ruzhen also talked too much and seemed to run out of breath.

She forced herself to go back inside and fetch several large vats of spiritual spring water for the children to drink. She herself also drank a whole vat of water before she felt better.

Who said their little fishing village was poor?

These women went crazy and practically snatched half of her clothes.

This shows how hungry people were for clothing in that era.

Their fishing village had never seen anything good before, and besides, she didn't even need cloth coupons to sell clothes. Everyone went crazy when they saw her bring back these new styles of clothes.

Everyone felt it was cheaper than in the mall, and since it could be worn for two seasons in spring and autumn, they had to buy a lot.

"Mom, did you make us some sugar water? It's so delicious!"

After drinking the water, the children smacked their lips and thought it tasted refreshing and sweet, even better than sugar water.

"Hmm, if you like it, I'll make you a few more cups."

Jiang Ruzhen picked up a water glass and was about to go inside when Shen Shuxin quickly got up and took it from her, saying, "Mom, you're too tired today, I'll go."

Jiang Ruzhen watched helplessly as Shen Shuxin went into the house to make sugar water, unable to refute her.

After the brothers drank the sugar water that Shen Shuxin had made, they all frowned.

"Sis, are you being stingy with the sugar? It doesn't taste as good as Mom's!"

Shen Zhuoyi asked, and the fourth brother licked his lips and nodded, "The taste is indeed not quite right."

Seeing Xin Xin's helpless and embarrassed expression, Jiang Ruzhen said sternly.

"What's wrong with you two? Did you drink too much sugar water and feel full? It's all the same sugar water, it's just that you were particularly thirsty just now, so it tasted especially good."

The second and fourth brothers realized that what they had said might have made Shen Shuxin overthink things, so they immediately offered their comfort.

"Yes, yes, Mom is right. Second brother just drank too much water and is feeling bloated. Don't worry about it, little sister."

Shen Zhuoyi forced a fawning smile, and the fourth brother squeezed in and apologized repeatedly, "Third sister, I'm bad at talking, don't be angry, or you can hit me a couple of times."

Shen Zhuohang grabbed Shen Shuxin's hand and slammed it on his head, but then Shen Zhuoyi suddenly punched him in the head.

"What's the difference between letting Xin Xin hit you and tickling you? I'd rather stand up for my sister."

"Second brother, why are you hitting me? You're not the third sister, give it back to me."

The two brothers were playfully fighting around Shen Shuxin. In the end, the fourth brother was pinned down and tickled by the second brother. The fourth brother struggled and begged for mercy. Shen Shuxin was amused by the two brothers and ran over to break up the fight.

As a result, the three siblings played together, occasionally bursting into giggles.

Seeing the scene before her, Jiang Ruzhen's eyes welled up with tears. She turned away to wipe them, then went to the kitchen to cook something delicious for her family.

Everyone has worked hard today. We still have to go out to work later, so we need to make sure we get enough nutrition.

She had just taken out various meats, eggs, and vegetables from her space when the three children came in, playfully scrambling to help.

Shen Shuxin was taken aback when she saw these things in the kitchen. "Mom, when did you buy the meat and eggs?"

"Yes, where did these baby bok choy come from? They're so fresh!"

Although the second son didn't speak, he also looked at Jiang Ruzhen with a questioning gaze, which made Jiang Ruzhen choke.

She was just too tired today, which is why she didn't go to the market to buy anything to pretend to be busy. Now look what happened, the kids caught her red-handed.

However, in the blink of an eye, Jiang Ruzhen could come up with a lie.

"Uh... these are the leftovers from the last purchase that we didn't finish, and there's some more that I just asked your Aunt Liu to buy."

"You were so busy selling clothes that I didn't notice."

Yeah?

The children were just asking casually. They said their standards for food and drink had recently improved, and they were used to having plenty of meat and fish at home.

They didn't pay much attention. The three children helped Jiang Ruzhen make lunch and packed some food in lunchboxes to send to their older brother and Old Man Xu.

After finishing their work, the family immediately headed to the city.

Upon arriving at the entrance of a state-run restaurant, the two groups decided to separate.

Shen Zhuoyi borrowed a small tricycle from the kitchen of his old workplace to buy groceries, loaded it with his pile of men's clothes, and went to the shipyard, while Jiang Ruzhen took Shen Zhuohang and Shen Shuxin straight to the textile factory.

Jiang Ruzhen and Shen Shuxin specially changed into new clothes. Although the weather was very hot, they did so in order to achieve a good advertising effect.

The mother and daughter endured the high temperatures, wearing bell-bottoms and brightly colored long-sleeved tops, standing like models at the entrance of the textile factory.

It immediately attracted the attention of female factory workers who came out for a stroll during their lunch break.

Jiang Ruzhen warmly greeted them, "Come and see! The latest celebrity fashion trends, the newest styles from factories in the south. The prices are half off compared to department stores. Wear these and you'll be the next star!"

The female workers couldn't resist the word "celebrity" and crowded around to inquire about the price, which was indeed half the price of what they found in the mall.

In addition, the clothing style was indeed fashionable and novel, and Jiang Ruzhen and her daughter set an example.

The female workers rushed to grab the goods, their momentum even stronger than that of the men at the shipyard that morning.

The large truckload of clothes that Jiang Ruzhen brought was sold out in less than half an hour.

The female workers who hadn't bought any clothes were filled with regret. Jiang Ruzhen assured them that she would have the factory ship the clothes as soon as she got back today.

The women dispersed after they were told they would be back to sell here the day after tomorrow.

But after the crowd dispersed, an impatient female worker ran over to Jiang Ruzhen and asked to buy the two sets of clothes that she and Shen Shuxin were wearing.

Jiang Ruzhen was in a dilemma. If she took off her clothes and gave them to the female worker, what would she and her daughter wear when they went back?

The female worker immediately suggested that she find a way to get two sets of old work clothes so that they could change out of their old clothes.

Jiang Ruzhen was a little reluctant; she quite liked the outfit she was wearing. However, Shen Shuxin, who hadn't said much and had only been collecting money, nodded directly.

He pulled Jiang Ruzhen along and followed the female worker into the factory to change clothes.

Jiang Ruzhen looked at the old work clothes she had changed into and sighed deeply.

I thought that once she had money, she wouldn't have to wear these tattered clothes anymore, but I never expected that she would still have to wear patched clothes after she made money.

Since they had already worn both outfits, Jiang Ruzhen offered to charge them one yuan less, which made the female worker beam with joy.

She promised to go back to the factory and help promote the business, bringing more women to buy clothes from Jiang Ruzhen.

Shen Zhuohang and Shen Shuxin exchanged a glance. Their mother seemed to be a born shrewd businesswoman, with endless ways to win over customers.

They can't learn it all. It seems that next time they go out, each of them will have to bring a small notebook to write down all of Mom's various sales tips.