"Mom, this is what I think. You see, many villages in the commune have side jobs, but the people in Shuangshui Village can only rely on digging in the fields to earn a few work points. When something urgent happens, we don't even have any money to spend.

Why don't we talk to Big Brother about setting up a clothing workshop in the village? We can gather some aunties and sisters who know how to make clothes and have them work together. We'll pay them a certain amount per piece of clothing, and the rest of the income will go to the brigade. At the end of the year, we'll distribute dividends to everyone in the village. This way, we can keep this business going and benefit the whole village."

This was the solution she discussed with Lin Jiayu. In fact, according to her plan, she wanted to start a private enterprise. Unfortunately, private economy was almost not allowed in this era, so she could only take this roundabout way to save the country.

When Cheng's mother heard this, her eyes lit up. It was indeed a good idea. It would increase the villagers' income and her son's position as the team leader would be more secure.

"It's easy to find people who can make clothes, but our team can't afford so many sewing machines. The one we have at home is not enough."

Cheng Maixiang had obviously considered this. "Mom, then we need to ask how many people in the village have sewing machines. If they are willing, the village can rent them out and pay a certain amount of money every month to the renter. I believe there will definitely be people willing to do this."

Cheng's mother nodded repeatedly. In fact, a sewing machine is not a piece of furniture that can be used every day. Instead of leaving it there to rust, it is better to rent it out to the villagers. Even if you do nothing with it every month, you can still make some money.

"Maizi, everyone has already discussed the amount of money they can get. What about you? You can't just design clothes for the village all day long and get nothing, right?"

Cheng Maixiang felt warm in her heart. Mother Cheng loved her so much that for the first time, she, who had hardly experienced any family affection in her previous life, felt the benefit of having a family.

"Mom, don't worry. Your daughter is not stupid. Why would she work for free? I'm a designer. I want to talk to the village and ask for money from the annual dividends I earn."

Mother Cheng nodded repeatedly, but then she thought of something very important. "A garment factory like this must be very busy. Have you decided who will be in charge? You can't let your eldest brother, a grown man, do it."

"How can that be possible?" Cheng Maixiang immediately rejected her proposal and said solemnly, "Mom, I want you to manage this garment factory."

"Me?" Mother Cheng was shocked. She seemed to have never expected that her daughter would nominate her to do this.

"I've never been a manager before, so I don't know if I can do this."

"Okay, I definitely will," Cheng Maixiang said coquettishly, shaking her mother's arm. "Mom, just think of it as helping your daughter."

Cheng's mother was so dizzy from being shaken by her that she couldn't think much. It was rare for her daughter to think about the village. If this thing succeeded, the village would probably benefit as well. So she patted her on the back and said, "Okay, whatever my daughter says is fine."

Cheng Maixiang was about to discuss her thoughts on the garment workshop with her mother when a woman's loud voice suddenly rang out from outside the house. "Mom, I heard Maizi's boyfriend is here. I didn't see him the last time he came. Can I see him this time?"

"It's my second sister-in-law! Why is she here?" Cheng Maixiang was a little impatient.

"Why else? Just now, when the children were eating, I saw Aijun sneak into the inner room. He must have seen the cloth you brought back from the county town. He used this excuse to come visit Xiaolin to see if he could get any benefits."

Mother Cheng had long been familiar with the character of her second daughter-in-law and immediately guessed her intention.

"Why isn't the second sister-in-law always taking advantage of us? A lot of the things Jiayu sent last time were distributed to the second brother's family. The eldest sister-in-law also sent things in return, but she acted like nothing happened and accepted those things for free without even saying thank you." Cheng Maixiang said dissatisfiedly.

"You're born with bones and flesh, and you expect a greedy person to not be jealous when he sees something. You might as well expect a sow to climb a tree."

Cheng's mother opened the door and said to Cheng's second wife, "Second wife, Xiaolin had something to do today. He sent your sister home and left without even having dinner. If you want to see him, I'll notify you next time he comes so you can see him enough. It's getting late, so you should go home and rest. I'm also tired all day and want to rest early."

Mrs. Cheng naturally knew that Lin Jiayu had left, after all, she didn't see him when her son came to eat.

However, when her son came back from dinner at his grandmother's house, he mentioned to her that his aunt had brought back some beautiful fabrics from the city. She felt itchy and started to think about whether she could take the opportunity to steal some fabrics.

Unexpectedly, Cheng's mother saw through her thoughts and actually drove her away.

Mrs. Cheng's eyes rolled, and she suddenly came up with an idea. "Mom, I heard everyone in the village say that Maizi's clothes today are very beautiful. I want to see them too."

As Cheng Ersao spoke, she walked into the inner room. Cheng's mother couldn't stop her, so she had to follow her in.

In the inner room, Cheng Maixiang was sitting on the bed, flipping through the high school textbooks she had bought from Xinhua Bookstore. Seeing Cheng Ersao come in, she stood up with a smile and said, "Secondsao is here. Do you want to see my clothes? Here, look. Do they look good?"

There was a glimmer of surprise in Cheng Ersao's eyes, but she was not interested in it. She just perfunctorily praised it for being beautiful, and her round eyes kept searching for traces of fabric in the house.

Just now when Cheng's mother went to open the door, Cheng Maixiang guessed that with Cheng Ersao's shamelessness, no matter how Cheng's mother refused, she would definitely find an excuse to enter the house, so taking advantage of the brief moment when Cheng's mother was dealing with her, Cheng Maixiang quickly locked all the fabrics in the cabinet.

Cheng Ersao swept the house and found no trace of the cloth. She also knew that Cheng Maixiang had hidden it. She was unwilling to accept this and sat down at the head of the bed before being driven away by Cheng's mother.

"Maizi, I heard you bought a lot of beautiful fabrics from the city today. Can you show them to your sister-in-law?"

"I heard that. Who told you that?" Cheng Maixiang pretended to be dumbfounded. "I didn't buy fabric from the city. I bought high school textbooks. Do you want to see them, sister-in-law?"

Cheng Maixiang deliberately shook the textbook in her hand.

Cheng Ersao's face immediately showed a trace of dissatisfaction: "Maizi, please don't lie to me. Everyone saw you bring back a big bag of cloth. How come I can't even take a look?"

Cheng Maixiang's face suddenly darkened. "Second sister-in-law, who told you that? Call him over. I want to confront him!"