After Fan Hua's consolation, Geng Ailing relaxed a lot and looked around boldly.

Fan Hua took Geng Ailing to the tool area first, and bought a box of colored pencils, ten sheets of quarto sketch paper and a plain page notebook, spending a total of eleven yuan and sixty cents.

"Oh my goodness, why is this thing so expensive! It's definitely not something that ordinary people can afford. Fan Hua, what are you buying this for? Are you planning to learn painting?"

Geng Ailing felt so distressed when she saw Fan Hua giving away money. Why was this girl spending money so lavishly? If she continued like this, they would be left with nothing in a few days!

"Sister Ai Ling, you'll know later that I have a lot of advantages!"

After saying that, Fan Hua rolled up the sketch paper and took Geng Ailing to buy some necessary tools for making clothes, such as scissors, before going to the ladies' clothing area on the first floor.

Fan Hua discovered that the colors and styles of women's ready-to-wear clothing in this era were still relatively monotonous, with gray-blue and military green still the main themes. Even the most conspicuous positions in shopping malls were filled with brand new, straight-fitting military green suits. After all, the propaganda that women prefer military uniforms over red dresses had already been deeply rooted in people's minds.

But she still unexpectedly noticed that some pointed-collar clothes, flared pants, professional suits, floral shirts, and floral long skirts had quietly appeared on the market, but the styles were simple and the quantities were very small...but they still attracted many young women who came here to shop.

Fan Hua walked over to a simple floral dress, and immediately a salesperson came forward to introduce it, "Comrade, do you like this floral dress?"

Fan Hua smiled and nodded, "It does look nice, but I don't see many people wearing it on the street, so I probably wouldn't be able to wear it out."

"This skirt is a new arrival from Hong Kong. It's very popular there. You're so pretty, you'll look really good in it. Although not many people wear it on the streets, quite a few young women buy it to wear on blind dates and dates. If you don't believe me, go to the cinema entrance and observe. You'll definitely see people wearing this skirt..." the salesperson introduced enthusiastically.

"How much is this dress?"

"Ten dollars!" the salesperson replied immediately.

"How much? Ten cents... This is too expensive!" Geng Ailing said immediately with her eyes wide open.

"Comrade, the material of this skirt is all imported. It's the only place in Guangzhou where you can buy it. And you don't need cloth coupons to buy ready-made clothes. It's well worth the price."

Fan Hua politely replied, "Thank you for the introduction, but it's a bit expensive for us. Let's look around a bit more."

Seeing that Fan Hua seemed so polite, the salesperson said nothing more and turned to greet other customers.

"Sister Ai Ling, if you have money, you can buy fabric and make clothes yourself. How much would it cost for one piece of clothing?" Fan Hua asked as they walked.

"It also depends on the material and what kind of clothes you want to make. It's hot here in Guangzhou, so I'll just make a shirt. Buying the cloth myself will probably cost you six or seven yuan!"

In that era, materials were scarce, and clothing was very expensive compared to other things. Ordinary people might not make a set of clothes with just one pair of pants, and they would often be washed and altered again and again, so there is a saying that three pairs of new pants are made, three pairs of old pants are patched up, and three pairs are made again.

However, Fan Hua also knew that there were still many wealthy people in big cities, and the clothing industry would be a highly profitable industry for more than ten years without online shopping!

Just as she was thinking about passing by a tailor shop that made clothes, Fan Hua stopped to look for a while and saw a lot of used and scattered fabrics in a bag next to the sewing machine.

Fan Hua's eyes lit up and she immediately stepped forward and asked, "Master, may I ask what you do with these scattered scraps of cloth? Are you selling them?"

The man who made the clothes was a middle-aged man. When he heard Fan Hua's question, he casually replied, "These fabrics are just scraps that aren't enough to make a whole piece of clothing. A textile factory will buy them back cheaply and make small items like insoles or school bags."

"Will you sell it to me? I really want it!"

The tailor looked up at Fan Hua and saw that her eyes were eager and she didn't seem to be joking. He asked, "Why did you buy so many scraps of cloth?"

"To be honest, my family is poor and I have many sisters. I can't afford to buy a whole piece of cloth. I want to buy some scraps and piece them together to make clothes." Fan Hua said, looking very pitiful, with tears in her eyes, which would make anyone feel soft-hearted.

Seeing Fan Hua's expression, the tailor sighed, stood up and said, "Then I'll find you some softer, brighter fabric. If you really want it, I'll sell it to you at a discount!"

"Really? You're so generous. I'm not picky. Any scraps of fabric will do. I'd also like to try making some schoolbag insoles or something like that for my family with the leftovers."

After hearing what Fan Hua said, the tailor pointed to a large bundle beside him and said, "That bundle is full of scraps of cloth in various styles. If you want them all, give me eight dollars."

I also have a few scraps of fabric left over from making skirts for people these days. The material is very fine and has a relatively regular shape. If you want it, you can add a dollar and I'll sell it to you."

"Okay, Master, I want them all. Here's thirteen dollars, please take them!" Fan Hua said excitedly, fearing that the master would go back on his word and not sell them.

The master saw that Fan Hua was so generous in spending money and it didn't seem like her family was so poor that they couldn't even afford to eat. However, since he had already taken the money, he didn't say anything else and went to pack up the scraps of cloth left over from making the skirt for Fan Hua.

In this way, Geng Ailing carried the big bag and Fan Hua carried the small bag, and they each returned home with a fully loaded bag. Especially the big bag that Geng Ailing carried, which must have weighed more than ten pounds. Although she didn't know what Fan Hua was going to do with so many scraps of cloth, the bag was so heavy that Geng Ailing couldn't help but feel that the thirteen yuan she spent was especially worth it!

After returning home, Fan Hua looked at the various types of fabrics in the bundle, and her eyes lit up like a mouse in a rice jar...

She took out a pen and paper and began to write and draw on the paper according to the color and size of the fabric. With her diverse artistic skills, she had a strong sense of color matching and style design. In a short while, she designed a fashionable suit.

The top is a short-sleeved dress with an open collar and a slim waist, and the bottom is a pair of wide-leg flared trousers, which is very suitable for work wear.

Although it is a bit avant-garde and bold, the style is in line with the aesthetic of this era and is trendy and fashionable enough.

"Sister Ailing, do you think this dress is suitable for Aunt Jiang?" Fan Hua handed the notebook to Geng Ailing.

Geng Ailing's face was filled with shock. She looked at Fan Hua in disbelief, "Lihua, you're amazing! You've already finished painting the clothes in just a short while, and they look so beautiful!"