Reborn during the early days of China’s reform and opening, the narrator finds himself in the 1980s countryside. In this setting, the past is still a cold reference, yet it is also a fresh start....
This bamboo bar must be taken, otherwise it will be a shame to the country and the party.
When the group of women heard Wan Feng's words, they almost laughed at the same time. It was a laugh of contempt.
"Well, how much does it cost to make a suit like this?" A wealthy woman spoke up, with an attitude that said she had no shortage of money.
It was not easy to see a wealthy woman in the 1980s. Except for restaurants, you would rarely see one. She was as precious as a panda.
It is estimated that this woman has the highest status in this group, or her husband has the highest official position in this group.
"It's not very expensive. This suit comes in two styles, one regular and one thickened."
"What are regular and thickened types?" someone asked.
"The regular style is a single piece, like the one my godmother is wearing. It's just one layer of cloth, and the price is relatively cheap. This set costs about twelve dollars."
This price can be considered very expensive. A set of clothes in a store usually costs around six dollars, and the highest will not exceed seven dollars.
"It's not expensive, not expensive." The wealthy woman took the lead in expressing her opinion.
"What about the thicker ones?"
"The thickened style means the size of the clothes is slightly enlarged, and there is a thick lining inside. It is easier to keep warm in winter, but it is only limited to clothes. Pants are not as expensive as this style. It is more expensive because of the high cost. It costs about 16 or 17 yuan."
Of course, if you want to be beautiful, you have to pay a price. Decades later, women spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on plastic surgery without feeling any regret.
Women decades later won’t feel bad about throwing money away, and women today won’t feel bad about it either.
"Make me a regular suit and a thickened suit, one for spring and autumn and one for winter. Here are my measurements and the money." The wealthy woman spoke first and handed over a note and three big unity notes at the same time.
"No need to change. The rest of the money is for my son to run errands." The wealthy woman was very generous.
"I want two sets too. This is my size and money."
"And my..."
Wan Feng quickly waved his hand and said, "Please wait a moment, ladies and gentlemen. We can only offer these colors. Please choose from dark red, egg cyan, dark purple, light gray, and blue."
"I want dark red and blue. I want the normal blue one, and the thickened dark red one."
"I want the egg blue and light gray ones, the regular style..."
Wan Feng worked for a whole hour, and finally managed to send these grandmas away in a state of exhaustion.
In total, he received orders for twenty suits and six hundred dollars.
This was the largest sum of money he had handled since his rebirth.
Wan Feng was not going to use his own defective fabrics for these clothes. Since people paid so much money, of course he would use good fabrics. If the textile factory couldn't buy them, he would buy fabrics from retail stores.
Most of the fabrics in the store are 40 cents a foot.
Three meters of fabric was enough for one set of clothes. At 40 cents a foot, one set of clothes cost 3.6 yuan for the fabric. Including the processing fee, 5 yuan was enough. The cost of twenty sets of clothes was only 100 yuan, and he still had a surplus of 500 yuan.
"Godmother, wait for me to give you a set of thick clothes. When we have new styles of clothes in the future, just wear them and walk around in front of your sisters. The clothes you wear for free will be your advertising fee."
Bai Liyun was overjoyed. She had never expected such a good thing to happen. Advertising fees? She seemed to have never heard of this term before.
Just when he was about to order something, he saw Huaer running in in a panic. She glanced at Wan Feng and went into the inner room without saying anything.
"You silly girl, you didn't even say hello when Wan came. Oh, it's time to get off work! I'm going to cook. Son, don't leave. Godmother will make you something delicious."
"Godmother, you don't have to worry about anything, just a simple meal will be fine. Godfather told me that he won't be back at noon. If you copy three plates of face dishes, Sister Hua'er will be too late for work."
"I've already prepared the meal, so I'll just copy a few words. Godmother will make some delicious food when she has time."
Then I went to the kitchen.
Bai Liyun copied the dishes very quickly, and she finished two dishes in more than ten minutes. One was tomato and egg, and the other was green pepper and potato slices with a few pieces of shredded meat. The rice was a mixture of rice and millet.
"I'm going to call that damn girl for dinner."
Bai Liyun went to the inner room, and within a minute she heard her voice: "You little bitch, where did you get these pants? They're so tight on your butt, it's so uncomfortable! Take them off quickly, or I'll beat you to death if you go out wearing them."
"I bought it with my own money, why should I take it off? Many sisters in our factory have bought it." Huaer retorted.
"All night long, instead of working hard, I just want to show off."
"What's wrong with me being conceited now that I'm young? If you don't know how to be conceited, why do you immediately wear a set of clothes that your godson gave you and show off? Isn't that conceited?"
Wan Feng, who was drinking water, almost spit out a mouthful of water. What a sharp mouth!
The door of the inner room was opened with a bang, and Hua'er was pulled out by Bai Liyun by the collar.
"You let your fucking brother see what this thing is?"
Huaer covered her butt with her hands: "Mom, he is an outsider."
"He's my mother's godson, how can he be considered an outsider? Son, come over and see what kind of pants your godsister bought?"
Wan Feng smiled bitterly: "Godmother, these pants are made by us. I have seen them many times."
"What! Is this what you guys made?"
Hua Er immediately perked up when she heard this. She stopped covering her butt with her hands and roared at Bai Liyun, "What are you going to do this time?"
Bai Liyun thought about it and asked in disbelief, "Did you really do this?"
"Sister Hua'er, was it a woman in her thirties selling bags at the gate of your factory? Two yuan each?"
Hua'er nodded: "Yes, there is another guy keeping watch on the side."
"That's right, we made it. We made eighteen in total."
"Yes, that's right, eighteen of them, all bought by the female workers in our factory. I was lucky enough to grab one." Huaer looked proud when she said this.
After finishing, he turned around on the ground and asked: "Does it look good?"
Bai Liyun's face was long.
"Of course it looks good. If it doesn't, why would we do it? I designed these pants specifically to fully display your youthful beauty."
Huaer deliberately moved closer to Bai Liyun and said, "Did you hear that? This is called showing off your youthful beauty!"
"It's like having a naked butt. What's so good about it?"
Wan Feng thought it necessary to give Bai Liyun a political lesson.
"Godmother, you need to change your mindset too. The country is about to start reform and opening up, and people's minds need to change too. If you don't, you won't be able to accept many new things in two years."
"Hey, why does your accent sound like your godfather's?"
"Isn't this what a family is like?"
"You're still talking nonsense. This damn girl is making me so angry."
Huaer snorted and went back into the inner room.
"Eat! Get out of here after dinner!" Bai Liyun shouted towards the inner room.