Bonnie led Xu Meifeng to Wei Hong's workplace, a place she knew well. Wei Hong had connections at the supply and marketing cooperative and could buy defective products there.
"Bonnie, here you are."
Zhou Weihong and Wu Fang came together; Bao Ni hadn't seen Wu Fang for a while.
Qian Limin had previously gone to support the Third Front construction and was only recently transferred back.
"Sister-in-law Wu Fang, it's been a long time! Have you finished your work?"
"Long time no see, Bonnie. I just finished my work and heard from Sister Wei Hong that you were going shopping together, so I came along to browse."
Wu Fang was gone for four or five years. She could only keep in touch with a few childhood friends like Qian Limin. Her relationships with the others had faded.
"It's good that you're back. We can get together more often now. By the way, I've grown a lot of autumn vegetables myself. If any of you need more, just ask me."
Bao Ni and Wu Fang caught up, and Bao Ni introduced Xu Meifeng to them.
"Meifeng is very good at making clothes, so I want to buy some fabric to make clothes. Before, when we lived in the south, it was quite hot, so we didn't need thick clothes."
That won't work now. We have to prepare everything from scratch. We need to buy all the fabric, but where are we going to find that much fabric?
Bonnie's family does need to make a lot of clothes, and this time it's not just for Xu Meifeng; she mainly buys the fabric herself.
The group of people went to the supply and marketing cooperative's warehouse, chatting and laughing. Having connections makes things easier.
Bonnie looked at the warehouse full of defective products; there were quite a lot of things, all kinds.
Bonnie doesn't need any household items; she mainly wants a cotton-padded coat, which she urgently needs, and also some yarn. She won't be able to wear her sweaters and long johns this year; it's getting colder, but she can wear them next spring.
Bonnie started a big shopping spree, buying slightly flawed yarn and children's cotton-padded clothes—minor imperfections that Xu Meifeng said she could fix.
With that in mind, Bonnie began to choose.
Each of the four children received a coat, and she also chose one for herself. Gu Ye received one as well, even though he had a military overcoat issued by the army, he still needed to prepare civilian clothes.
Xu Meifeng was dumbfounded. Bao Ni's sister-in-law bought things as if they were free, one item after another, and soon she had selected a whole bunch.
"Sister-in-law, even though it's a defective product, it's still not cheap!"
Xu Meifeng couldn't help but offer a word of advice.
"These are all useful, and we don't know when we'll have more next time. The main problem is that none of my family members have warm clothes for winter."
Bonnie knew that Xu Meifeng meant well, but she had her own spending habits and couldn't live like most people.
The group took their belongings and headed to the cotton mill.
In the cotton mill's warehouse of defective products, Bonnie wasn't so excited. She didn't understand fabric and didn't know how to make clothes.
Xu Meifeng was very excited. "So much cloth! It's amazing!"
Bonnie told Xu Meifeng about the clothes she wanted to make and asked her to help her choose the fabric.
Two sets per person is enough. She knows that it will be open soon, and it will be more and more convenient to buy things in the future. In particular, Sister-in-law Gu is still there. She can just ask her to buy them and send them back later.
Bonnie took a hands-off approach, leaving everything to Xu Meifeng. She figured she should leave professional tasks to professionals; she really had no clue how to handle this.
Xu Meifeng leverages her strengths: the material, color, and thickness of fabrics, and what kind of clothes they are suitable for—these are all things that Xu Meifeng likes and excels at.
Zhou Weihong and Wu Fang watched Xu Meifeng select items and mutter to each other, seemingly very professional.
"Bonnie, let's take a look at the clothes now. If we can, we'll make some too."
"Yes, yes, we'll do it too."
The two of them were good at math; the cost of labor plus the fabric was still cheaper than ready-made clothes.
"Okay, no problem, I'll start, and you can see the finished product later."
Apart from Sanqi, the other family members in Bonnie's household don't have many requirements for details; as long as it's wearable, that's fine.
Xu Meifeng helped Bao Ni choose the fabrics, and she also bought some for herself.
"Sister-in-law, that's enough."
"That's enough, then let's go pay."
Bonnie spent a lot of money again, but there was nothing she could do; she still needed to wear clothes.
The group left the cotton mill and went to a nearby state-run restaurant; they hadn't had lunch yet.
Because it was past mealtime, each person ate one bowl of noodles, and that was it.
By the time they arrived at the family compound with their bags and packages, it was already dark.
Bonnie helped Xu Meifeng take the things home before she carried the yarn she had bought home herself. She'd have Meifeng take their measurements again tomorrow night.
"Honey, you're back. Are you tired?"
Gu Ye came out of the kitchen. He was looking at the pot, which contained an old hen that he had been stewing all afternoon.
"I'm back! The chicken soup is ready, I can smell the aroma!"
Bonnie put down her things and went to wash her hands.
"Mom, what did you buy?"
Liu Jiu saw her mother carrying such a big bag of things back, and wondered what she had bought.
"I bought yarn so Sanqi can learn to knit sweaters and wear them next spring," Bonnie said seriously.
"What? Mom, what did you say?"
Sanqi's composed demeanor crumbled; she rushed out of the room, her face filled with disbelief.
"Yarn, such a big bag, it's all yarn."
Bonnie gestured for Sanqi to look over, where there was a large bag of things on the ground.
Sanqi felt her legs were too weak to move, so she dawdled over, opened the package, and took a look. It was really nothing.
"Mom, I was wrong. I'll never be so talkative again."
I haven't even started knitting the 37 yet, and my hands are already hurting. Seriously.
Xuan Yi stood aside, watching the spectacle unfold. After all this time, he finally saw San Qi lose his composure.
His image as a retired cadre is gone; he no longer keeps his hands behind his back. He's completely ruined.
"You know you were wrong this time, but let's see if you'll still be so outspoken next time. Here, leave these yarns; you can decide what to do with them yourself."
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