Back at the guesthouse, Ling Huanwu immediately took out the work clothes and called Lin Xiaoqin and Qiao Hui for an emergency meeting.

"Qiao, could you help me find a few skilled embroiderers in the city?"

"Xiaoqin, can you help me rework these work clothes?"

"Iron Egg, Steel Cannon, help me take off my clothes and cut the rubber bands..."

Qiao Hui and the others looked at the bag of rubber bands, puzzled by Ling Huanwu's meaning.

These work clothes have already been put on the shelves of department stores. How can these few people rework them?

"Why don't we take the clothes back? We can add two more pockets under the hem, and then they'll be different from the work clothes in the department store."

Lin Xiaoqin made a suggestion, but she really didn't expect that their clothing style would be copied, and they would have to modify it to be different from the copyist's style.

When Ling Huanwu took out a small piece of red rubber band and stuffed it into the cuff of her work clothes, they were all so surprised that their mouths dropped open.

The originally ordinary cuffs can now be loosened or tightened.

Ling Huanwu put it on, loosened the elastic band, and just like with her old work clothes, rolled up the sleeves and tightened the elastic band. No matter how much she shook her hands, the sleeves would not fall off.

"My God, my bourgeois friend, how did you come up with this idea? It's simply a godsend for us working people!"

"That's right, this way the workers won't have to keep rolling up their sleeves while working, it's really practical!"

Several people tugged at Ling Huanwu's work clothes and praised them repeatedly.

Even Tie Dan and Gang Pao, who were dressed, reached out and tugged at Ling Huanwu's sleeves, pulling on the rubber band and praising the idea.

Zhou Jiuzhen stood beside Ling Huanwu, and with a single glare, the three men who had been excitedly playing with rubber bands withdrew their hands and obediently lowered their heads to get back to work.

In the small guesthouse, a simple assembly line was set up.

Tie Dan and Gang Pao each took turns: one unpacking the package, and the other cutting the rubber band.

Ling Huanwu hemmed the sleeves, Zhou Jiuzhen followed closely behind, adding rubber bands, and Lin Xiaoqin tied knots. Then, the meticulous embroiderers hemmed the sleeves again, leaving the knotted rubber bands for the workers to tighten.

The final step was for the embroiderer to embroider a bright red five-pointed star on the collar of the work clothes, which became the finishing touch to the entire garment.

After the clothes are finished, the same steps are followed for the trousers to make them into work pants that can be rolled up to make it easier for workers to roll up their trousers and get to work.

I was busy until 5 a.m. the next morning.

As the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window, they shone on rows of black, blue, and gray work clothes, making the five-pointed star embroidery on the collars stand out brilliantly under the starlight.

The neatly folded sets of clothes were put into nylon bags. Even though everyone hadn't slept all night, there wasn't a trace of fatigue on their faces. They chatted and laughed as they finished more than a thousand pieces of clothing.

Time is of the essence.

Zhou Jiuzhen insisted on buying breakfast and forced Ling Huanwu to finish her eight-treasure porridge before going to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The group then hailed several pedicabs and set off together to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Zhou Jiuzhen noticed that one of the tricycle drivers was quite old and had difficulty riding uphill, so he offered to let the old man get off and ride for him.

Sitting on the back of the tricycle, Ling Huanwu couldn't help but complain to him, "You really have a lot of energy but nowhere to use it. You feel uncomfortable all over if you don't exert yourself for a day, don't you?"

Zhou Jiuzhen turned his head and looked at the woman behind him who was smiling with her eyes crinkled. He puffed out his cheeks and looked at her, "Come sit a little closer and hug me."

"You wish! We're not married yet, so I'm not going to hug you!"

The next second, the man grabbed his hand and placed it on the thin muscles of his waist.

The tricycle shot off like an arrow, leaving the drivers of the other tricycles behind cursing and swearing, unable to catch up no matter how hard they pedaled.

Ling Huanwu held Zhou Jiuzhen's strong, muscular waist, which still felt great to the touch a year after he lay down, feeling and tracing the way it rippled and undulated under the pull of his long legs as he pedaled the tricycle.

The wind whistled in her ears, and she leaned her head against his back, feeling sleepy and completely satisfied and safe.

Even after the tricycle came to a complete stop, she still couldn't bear to let go of Zhou Jiuzhen's waist, and said with a smile, "It's so nice to sleep in your arms, let me hold you a little longer..."

Zhou Jiuzhen turned his head to look at her sleepy eyes, his eyes smiling like a clear spring.

At the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative.

Zhao Jingxiang came over to distribute work clothes, and from afar he saw Ling Huanwu shamelessly riding a tricycle with Zhou Jiuzhen in her arms, the tricycle piled with goods like a small mountain.

If you didn't know better, you'd think it was a couple moving house.

Zhao Jingxiang felt a tightness in his chest, and his breathing became rapid.

"Don't you two feel ashamed to be hugging and kissing in the street?"

These cold words pulled the two people, who were still immersed in their own world, back to reality.

Zhou Jiuzhen looked at Zhao Jingxiang, quite surprised, "Why did you come out?"

At the police station, he wondered if Qin Jinshen had predicted that Ling Huanwu would get sick, which was why he secretly asked Xu Amei to give Ling Huanwu the cholera vaccine.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, he felt a sudden pang of panic and a wave of dread washed over him. He rushed to the city to find her without thinking twice.

Fortunately, his guess and premonition were correct, otherwise he might never have seen her again.

So at the time, he didn't hear what Captain Sun told him: Zhao Jingxiang should be released because there was insufficient evidence.

Ling Huanwu also looked up at Zhao Jingxiang in a daze.

These days she's been busy setting up the cooperative and has completely forgotten where Zhao Jingxiang went. Just yesterday, she was still thinking about whether the state-owned department store's copying and putting their work clothes on the shelves was done by Zhao Jingxiang.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Jingxiang appeared before the two of them looking so fresh and beautiful.

Zhou Jiuzhen braked the car and stepped out with his long legs. He then naturally carried Ling Huanwu out of the car, his eyes fixed on Zhao Jingxiang, as if silently provoking him, "I can hug you in public if I want, it's none of your business!"

For some reason, Zhao Jingxiang felt a tightness in his chest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but he still couldn't relieve the feeling of suffocation.

When he opened his eyes again, his voice was as cold as ice.

"What are you doing here? The clothing factory that our department store partners with has already produced enough of the same work clothes and distributed them to the supply and marketing cooperative. So, this batch of yours should go back to where it came from!"

Zhao Jingxiang's gaze fell on the bag of goods on the tricycle behind the two men, his eyes filled with mockery, disdain, and a sense of certainty.

They didn't mind revealing that they had stolen the design drawings and used them to produce clothing for factories.

Ling Huanwu looked closely at the man in front of her who resembled Zhou Jiuzhen by three points, and couldn't understand why he always used such despicable means to target her.

If it had been yesterday, hearing Zhao Jingxiang's aggressive and determined manner would have definitely made her lose her composure.

But now.

Ling Huanwu glanced at the goods on the tricycle behind her, now completely renewed, then looked at Zhao Jingxiang's name tag, her eyes calm. "Oh? Director Zhao is so approachable. You're the director of the commerce department, yet you still care about the distribution of mere goods!"

She stepped forward, tilted her head back, and stared at him confidently. "Since Director Zhao thinks no one wants my goods, then let's have a competition today to see whose work clothes are more popular..."