When school started in September, Chen Xihua was in fifth grade, while little Chen Baohua happily followed her fifth sister to school to start first grade.
"Fifth sister, I can finally go to school! Before, only you guys could go, humph, leaving me all alone at home!"
Chen Xihua: Chen Xiaoliu, you're so young!
The county's No. 2 Middle School is located in the western part of the county, not far from the textile factory. Chen Meihua walks to school every day, which only takes about ten minutes.
She would wait for her older sisters at the school gate after evening self-study ended at nine o'clock. They would ride their bicycles back from the county's No. 1 Middle School and then go home together when they passed by the No. 2 Middle School.
She was afraid to walk alone at night. After junior high school, many of her classmates lived on campus, and there were few pedestrians on the road. Even if there were, they would pass by quickly on bicycles. Chen Meihua was afraid of running into Liang Jiale and the other boys from before!
At the end of the year, Chen Baohua scored two perfect scores on the final exams, and the school awarded him a "Good Student Certificate".
When Li Yumei found out, she was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. Her mouth was practically stretched to the back of her ears. That very day, she went out to buy meat and delicious food to celebrate her son's good grades. She told everyone she met that her son had gotten two perfect scores on his exams.
Because of what happened before the New Year, Grandma Chen hadn't visited Chen Xihua's house all year. Usually, it was Chen Lao Er who would visit his parents.
Following the steps, Grandma Chen said that her grandson had gotten a perfect score on his exam and wanted to come see Xiao Bao, so she also had a meal with him!
That year, Uncle Chen still arranged for his eldest son to work in the textile factory. He wasn't a permanent employee, but a deliveryman in the workshop, receiving half the salary. He would help out at whichever workstation was short of what kind of goods!
Normal workers don't want to do this job because it's too easy and the pay is low. They also don't want to do two jobs and only get paid for one. It was Uncle Chen, the workshop director, who helped deliver it before!
When Chen Xihua found out, she was puzzled. If he couldn't get into high school, why didn't she send him to a vocational school to learn a trade?
Looking back, I realized that at that time, vocational high school diplomas were highly valued, and one had to pass a formal exam to get in.
In particular, the Western Industrial Revolution brought about new technological requirements, and highly skilled workers such as craftsmen and technicians were in high demand after graduation!
On New Year's Eve, Chen Xihua's family did not go to her uncle's house for a reunion dinner, but on New Year's Day, the whole family still went to pay their respects.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, at noon, Chen Xiaogu and her family of three returned to her parents' home. They were dressed in fashionable and beautiful clothes, each wearing a leather coat and leather shoes.
Last year, Aunt Chen gave me a red envelope containing two yuan, and this year she gave me five yuan. Both adults and children received one, but she didn't mention the three hundred yuan she had borrowed before!
Two days before the Lantern Festival this year was Chen Chunhua's birthday, her sixteenth birthday.
Chen Xihua, remembering something important, was really eager to ask, "Dad, can my eldest sister go and get her ID card now?"
"Yes, it can be processed now. I'll take Chunhua to the police station to complete the process tomorrow, since school doesn't start for another two days!"
Chen Lao Er was puzzled. Xiao Wu looked excited and a little impatient when he mentioned the ID card. However, he also needed to get it done in time!
Chen Chunhua, who was clearing away the dishes, was also confused. She was sixteen years old. Why was her fifth sister so happy?
Chen Xihua was naturally delighted. With an ID card, she could buy train tickets and travel anywhere conveniently, and now she didn't need a letter of introduction anymore.
In the 1990s, many children who didn't go to school went out to work and earn money at the age of fifteen or sixteen!
Chen Xihua had only thought about it before, but now she couldn't wait for her older sister to get her ID card so she could take her to the provincial capital of Nan Province or to Hai City!
No rush, no rush. Once my older sister gets her ID card, I'll persuade her to take her to a big city during summer vacation to see what money-making opportunities are available!
However, plans can't keep up with changes, and Chen Xihua waited for a few more years, but there was also a small, unexpected joy!
After the Spring Festival, two people in the family were particularly nervous throughout the semester: Chen Chunhua was taking the high school entrance exam, and Chen Xiuhua was preparing for the junior high school entrance exam.
The Chen family has been studying so hard lately that they've been neglecting to eat and sleep. Li Yumei even comes in from time to time to check on the Chen sisters' studies, but mainly to check on her son, Xiao Bao. Chen Baohua has basically taken over Chen Xihua's desk because he doesn't want to be alone outside the dining room!
In the first half of 1993, the Chen family spent their time preparing for the exams. Chen Chunhua was admitted to Jiangshi Middle School with the third-highest score in the county, and Chen Xiuhua was admitted to the county's No. 1 Middle School with the highest score in the primary school!
Jiangshi Middle School is the first high school in Jiangshi and a key school. Of course, other high schools in Jiangshi, such as Degao and Yucai, are also very good. At this time, it is very difficult to get into high school!
On the second day of the Dragon Boat Festival, Grandma Chen brought two balls of cotton yarn from the factory to Li Yumei. Aunt Wang Fen didn't know how to knit, so she brought them over for Li Yumei to knit, asking her to knit a sweater for her and the rest to knit a sweater for Xiaobao.
These two balls of yarn were brought home by Uncle Chen. Some time ago, when the textile factory was dyeing the yarn, they dyed the fifty kilograms of medium-coarse cotton yarn by mistake, resulting in three colors: red, yellow, and green mixed together.
If the factory can't sell them, they'll be given to the factory director, team leaders, and other managers as welfare. Employees can also buy them, but at a price five yuan cheaper, thirty yuan per kilogram. Only a little over ten kilograms have been sold, leaving more than thirty kilograms.
Chen Xihua happened to see this, and the color of the cotton yarn gave him a flash of inspiration. He thought of doing some business: a money-making opportunity had arrived.
She went directly to her second sister, Chen Jinhua, and said, "Second sister, could you ask Zhang Weibing to have his sister, Xiaolan, do me a favor and go to the textile factory to buy the remaining thirty-odd kilograms of cotton yarn that were dyed incorrectly?"
"Can't we just go buy it ourselves?" Chen Jinhua thought that his fifth sister was usually quite smart, but now she was making things so complicated!
“We’ll go buy it. Someone at the factory will definitely recognize us, and then Dad and Mom will know!”
Chen Jinhua: "Okay! I'll go see Zhang Weibing tomorrow morning!"
The next day at noon, when Zhang Xiaolan, wearing a faded floral print blouse, arrived at the textile factory, the gatekeeper asked her, "Hello, young lady, who are you looking for? The factory isn't hiring right now!"
Zhang Xiaolan said nervously and shyly, "Hello sir, I heard that the factory has twenty or thirty kilograms of colorful cotton yarn. Can you sell it to me at a discount?"
"Yes, yes, young lady, you want to buy it? I'll take you to the factory manager right away!" The gatekeeper, who was in his fifties or sixties, was overjoyed to hear this. He had also heard that the factory still had more than thirty kilograms of unsold stock, and his nephew, the factory manager, had been worried about it lately!
"Okay, thank you!" Zhang Xiaolan followed the gatekeeper in cautiously. About half an hour later, she and the gatekeeper came out carrying two snakeskin bags together!
The Chen sisters, who were already waiting at the corner of the textile factory gate, saw people come out. After the gatekeeper turned and went back inside, the two of them quickly ran over and, together with Zhang Xiaolan, carried away the two bags of yarn!
"Sister Xiaolan, thank you! We can carry it back to the family building ourselves later!" Chen Xihua was very polite and grateful to her. Sister Xiaolan was gentle and reserved, but very warm-hearted. When her younger brother told her that Chen Xihua and her sister had asked her for help, she came over without asking what it was about.
"You're welcome, Little Sister Wu. Thank you for teaching my little brother Xiaobing martial arts!" Zhang Xiaolan blushed slightly, waved her hand quickly, and then left.
After that, the Chen sisters secretly took more than 30 kilograms of cotton yarn home and put it under the bed in their room.
These two bags of cotton yarn cost more than 940 yuan, almost using up the 1,000 yuan that Grandma had left for us.
At that time, manufactured goods were very expensive. A pound of cotton yarn originally cost thirty-five yuan wholesale, but a little over a pound of yarn was enough to knit a sweater.
Chen Xihua certainly wasn't using it to knit sweaters; she was planning to knit bags!
In her previous life, after she graduated with a master's degree, her father told her to go to other companies to gain experience.
However, she frequented flower shops, craft shops, handmade goods shops, crocheted bag shops, cheongsam shops, Hanfu shops, and even worked at an entertainment company as an assistant to a newly signed artist.
Chen Xihua has a bit of an artistic flair. She knows that after she turns thirty, she will have to go home to inherit the company and will no longer have any free time. She might work endlessly like a robot, so she tried out all the things she wanted to do in advance.
She especially loves the bags crocheted with yarn in the craft shop, all kinds of styles, each very creative, and with different crochet stitches.
At this time, knitting sweaters is done with two knitting needles, using only a few stitches such as knit stitch, purl stitch, and stockinette stitch. Crocheting, on the other hand, is different. It only uses one single crochet stitch with a hook to knit many patterns!
With everything ready, Chen Xihua started knitting bags after the summer vacation began. Less than half a pound of cotton yarn was enough to knit one bag.
She plans to sell each bag for fifty or sixty yuan. With over thirty kilograms of cotton yarn, she can knit more than sixty bags, which would bring in over three thousand yuan. Just thinking about it makes her happy.
When we sell them to large department stores in the provincial capital, young women and female college students should really like this new type of woven bag!
The idea was wonderful, but when she started knitting, she found that even with her skillful crochet stitches, it took her two or three days to finish one.
She also had to design the bag's style and pattern. With over 30 kilograms of cotton yarn, Chen Xihua calculated that even if she used it for more than half a year, she wouldn't be able to finish knitting it all by herself. Oh dear, she had been a bit naive when she bought it.
Immersed in writing and drawing, Chen Xihua designed five bag styles and stitching techniques in three days. It had been a long time since she had thought about things so seriously, and she felt a little tired.
She turned her gaze to the room and saw her sisters lying comfortably resting. Suddenly, an idea came to her!
"Sisters, do you want to make money?"
"How do you make money? Is it by weaving those bags you've been doing these past few days?"
Chen Jinhua knows best what Xiao Wu has been doing lately. It was Xiao Lan who helped her buy the yarn and even helped carry it back!
When I found out that my fifth sister had spent over nine hundred yuan without a second thought, she didn't dare tell her anything, afraid that her parents would scold her to death!
"Yes, that's it. It's called a bag, not a pouch. Isn't it pretty?"
Chen Xihua took out the bags she had knitted over the past few days, which looked like small handbags, and showed them to her sisters.
The bag features three vibrant colors interwoven, it's beautiful, small and cute! Chen Meihua's eyes lit up when she saw it!
"Do you want to learn? I'll give you twenty yuan for every bag you weave, but you'll only get paid after I sell it!"
"Really? You'll really give me twenty yuan? Then teach me how to knit first. If it's too difficult, I won't learn!" Chen Jinhua was tempted, but she couldn't sit still!
Chen Meihua's eyes lit up even more: "Twenty yuan? Really?"
"Really! During this summer vacation, you should be able to knit about ten of these, which will earn you two hundred yuan. Do you want to learn?" Chen Xihua tempted her!
"However, you can't tell Dad and Mom!" she reminded them carefully.
"Fifth Sister, can you teach us how to crochet? I want to see if it's difficult!" Chen Xiuhua was also a little excited. Fifth Sister really had a lot of ideas!
"Look, first do this, then backstitch, then stitch two more times, then cast off, then backstitch two more times..."
Chen Xihua took out some cotton yarn, started a new one, and slowly taught her sisters!
"Learn this simplest needling technique first, and then... once you're familiar with the other needling techniques, they'll be easy to follow."
Chen Jinhua was eager to try: "Let me try, right? It's not too difficult."
"I ordered several of these crochet hooks before. You can all take them and try them out first. Ask me if you have any questions." Seeing that the other girls were also interested, Chen Xihua took out a few crochet hooks!
Chen Chunhua immediately picked up a crochet hook and slowly began to crochet. She was quite meticulous and quickly got the hang of it, becoming familiar with it in half an hour and finding it wasn't difficult at all.
"So, ladies, do you want to make some money?"
"I'll try knitting it first!" Chen Xiuhua said with the seriousness of an adult!
"Fifth sister, I want to make money too! What are you all doing?" At this moment, Chen Baohua ran in!
"This is our secret, Xiao Liu. You can't tell your mother, or I won't play with you anymore!"
"I want to learn too, but I won't tell my mother."
"Alright, come here, I'll teach you!"
Chen Xihua also taught him seriously. Unexpectedly, Chen Baohua's chubby little hands were very skillful. He quickly learned the simplest stitches, but he couldn't make turns and could only weave long strips.
For the next two or three days, the Chen siblings secretly studied how to knit bags in their room. At first, they didn't knit very well and were very slow, so they took it apart and knitted it again.
After everyone had taken everything apart and received guidance from Chen Xihua, everyone was able to get started. It was just a matter of speed; they were able to make bags with the simplest stitches.
And so, by the end of August, Chen Xihua had finished knitting all the more than 30 kilograms of cotton yarn she had bought, and in the end, she knitted 65 bags in five different styles.
Twenty of them were woven by Chen Xihua herself, and Chen Baohua also woven five of the simplest ones, which were completed with Chen Xihua's help. The other four sisters also woven ten each!
Chen Xihua wanted to go to the county department store first to ask if they would buy it.
If they don't accept her, she plans to have her older sister take her to the provincial capital, but she doesn't know how to ask Mr. and Mrs. Chen about going on a long trip.
"Second sister, are you free later? Come with me today. I want to go to the biggest department store in the county and find their manager to ask if they will buy our bags."
In the afternoon, Chen Jinhua and Chen Xihua each carried a bag and went out.
Half an hour later, carrying two different styles of bags, Chen Xihua and her sister arrived at the Mingliang Department Store in the center of the county. People would occasionally turn around to look at them on the way.
The department store actually only had one floor and not a particularly large selection of goods. Chen Xihua went up to a sales clerk and asked, "Excuse me, is your manager here?"
The saleswoman was a young woman. Seeing that two girls in their teens were looking for the manager, she said in a bad mood, "The manager isn't here. Kids, don't bother us!" She hadn't met her sales target for the month and had just been scolded by the manager yesterday.
Just then, a tall man in his twenties or thirties walked in through the door. As soon as he arrived, he noticed that two girls were arguing with the salesperson.
But his eyes were drawn to the yarn bags they were carrying, and he quickly walked over. "Excuse me, where did you buy those yarn bags?"
"Who are you? What do you want!" Chen Xihua pretended to be a little nervous, as if she was afraid of encountering bad people, and took two steps back!
The man quickly explained, "My name is Wang Jun. I'm not a bad person. The manager of this Mingliang Department Store is my cousin, and I also work in the largest department store in the provincial capital!"
"You're not lying, are you?" Chen Xihua was excited. "These are handbags that our family knitted themselves, and there are also styles that can be worn crossbody!"
"You knitted it yourselves? Then why were you looking for the manager just now?" Wang Jun asked tentatively, somewhat intrigued.
“Ask him if he can buy our bags!” Chen Xihua said with a troubled expression.
"How much are you planning to sell it for? Where are the adults in your family?"
"My parents can't come out, so my sister and I knitted this bag ourselves, taught by our maternal grandmother!" Chen Xihua told a lie!
"Uncle Wang, do you like them too? They're originally sixty yuan each, but I can sell them to you for fifty yuan each, the wholesale price!" Chen Xihua seemed a little reluctant to part with them!
When Chen Jinhua heard about the fifty yuan, he became very nervous and anxious, but he dared not speak for fear of disrupting his fifth sister's plans!
"Fifty yuan? That's a bit expensive!"
Wang Jun works in purchasing at a department store in the provincial capital. He specializes in finding novel and unique items in various county towns. Nowadays, people in the provincial capital are becoming more and more discerning when it comes to buying things, and some even want imported goods!
"It's not expensive. I have a cousin who studies in the provincial capital. She bought a small bag made of some kind of leather for over two hundred yuan! Ours is knitted from cotton yarn, and the cost is thirty or forty yuan!"
"Oh, so you know about costs, little one?" Wang Jun noticed that the younger sister was the one doing all the talking, while the older sister remained silent and looked very serious, standing behind her sister as if to protect her. Perhaps she wasn't good with words!
"Uncle Wang, do you want to buy it? I'll sell it to you for fifty yuan!" Chen Xihua didn't answer, but instead pressed on!
"Alright, little student, let's find a place to sit down and talk slowly!"
Wang Jun did the math and realized that fifty yuan was indeed not expensive. In the provincial capital, it could probably sell for seventy or eighty yuan. It was novel enough, and the material was cotton yarn, not a common item!
"There's a small teahouse right next door. Let me invite you to have something to eat, and then we can talk more!" Wang Jun said, and then led the way.
Chen Jinhua was a little worried and looked at his fifth sister with his eyes, asking, "Could it be the bad guy you mentioned who came up to us first: a human trafficker?"
Chen Xihua found it somewhat amusing: No!
She could still tell that this guy named Wang Jun had a calculating look on his face. He was planning to rip them off. Their bags had caught his eye; he had good taste!
After sitting down in the small teahouse, Wang Jun ordered a pot of tea and some snacks. Chen Jinhua and Chen Xihua did not drink the tea, but each took a piece of pastry to eat!
"Little student, how many of these bags does your family have?"
"Uncle Wang, my name is Chen Xihua, I'm the fifth child in my family, you can call me Xiao Wu, and this is my second sister!"
Chen Xihua felt that the deal should go through, so they should be honest with each other!
"Okay, Xiao Wu, I'm twenty-five years old this year. Your second sister must be fourteen or fifteen, right? Just call me Brother Jun, don't call me Uncle!"
Wang Jun felt a little upset that a teenage girl was calling him "uncle."
"Okay, Brother Jun, we have sixty-five bags in five styles. My second sister and I brought out two of them. The wholesale price is fifty yuan each!"
Chen Xihua had no intention of testing each other or going through a few rounds of haggling!
"Forty-five yuan each!" Wang Jun still wanted to lower the price! Purchasing people are very price-sensitive and always want to haggle!
"Fifty yuan a day!" Chen Xihua was firm; this was the bottom line. If necessary, they would sell it themselves in the provincial capital.
Although it's a bit difficult, it's not impossible. We can bring Chen Lao Er in, but it'll be harder to do this business secretly in the future!
It's even possible that Chen Lao Er and his wife will take it over and make it a side business for the family!
"Deal! Where is your goods?" Seeing that the young girl was determined, Wang Jun stopped haggling. Girls in the county, even at ten years old, are so hard to fool?
"By the way, Brother Jun, could you please not tell anyone that we sold it to you? My sisters and I just wanted to make a little money without our parents knowing."
“Sure, where shall we deliver?” Once the price was agreed upon, Wang Jun readily agreed, as he didn’t want anyone to know where the goods came from!
"Come to the outskirts of the western district of the county at seven o'clock tomorrow morning. There's an open space there where we'll take the goods. Is that convenient for you?"
After careful consideration, Chen Xihua decided that it was best not to deliver the goods near the textile factory.
It's easy for people to see, and if someone asks, everyone in the textile factory will know. If they also want to learn, should she teach them or not? She wants to earn money a few more times.
This crochet method is relatively difficult to figure out if you follow the ordinary knitting method with two knitting needles, but once you know that it is crochet, it is easy to learn.
Moreover, they haven't even thought of this style of bag yet; they mainly use yarn to knit sweaters now!
"Okay, it's settled then. I'll drive my small truck over to pick it up tomorrow morning!" Wang Jun offered the Chen sisters another piece of pastry, and the three of them got up and left!
"Xiao Wu, can it really be sold? For fifty yuan?" Chen Jinhua was both excited and incredulous!
"Of course we can! Let's hurry back, Mom and Dad should be home by now!" Chen Xihua was also a little excited!
The next day, while Chen Lao Er and his wife were at the pastry shop, Chen Xihua and her sisters secretly carried out the bags from the two snakeskin bags.
As they approached the entrance to the residential area, someone noticed and asked, "What are those two Chen sisters carrying in those two big bags?"
They casually remarked, "Just some trash I found while cleaning the house!" and then quickly left.
When they arrived in the suburbs, Chen Xihua and Chen Jinhua were still waiting in the same spot, while Chen Chunhua and the others went home first!
Around seven o'clock, Wang Jun drove up in a small truck with a cargo bed behind it, similar to the truck driven by Mr. Hu, the owner of the furniture store.
As soon as Wang Jun jumped out of the car, he immediately opened the other three styles to look at them. He was very satisfied after seeing them. "Little Wu, there's no problem with your bags. Here's three thousand two hundred and fifty yuan. Keep it safe!"
"Thank you, Brother Jun, it's a pleasure to work with you!" Chen Xihua took the money handed to him and put it into his small crossbody bag. With three thousand yuan in capital, he could borrow the money for his sisters' crafting fees.
"Aren't you going to count them?" Wang Jun saw that Xiao Wu didn't even count them before stuffing them into her bag. He was a little upset because he was going to leave early in the morning, but that mood vanished instantly!
"No need, Brother Jun, we believe you!" Chen Xihua tugged at her second sister, Chen Jinhua, and prepared to leave.
"Wait a minute, will you continue weaving these bags?" Wang Jun asked tentatively, as if remembering something.
"Not for now. We're starting school in September, so we won't have time. Besides, we won't have this color combination again. It's a limited edition, so good business, Jun-ge!"
Chen Xihua reminded him that there might be opportunities for cooperation in the future!
"Thank you, Xiao Wu. How can I contact you if I want to look for you next time?"
Wang Jun instantly understood what it meant. When selling, the price could be raised further. This little girl might bring some surprises in the future!
"You can usually see us sisters at the gate of the county's No. 2 Primary School or the gate of the county's No. 1 Middle School after school!"
Chen Xihua stayed at the school she was attending, and she will most likely continue to attend the county's top high school!
"Alright, see you later! This is my contact number in the provincial capital. Little Wu, if you come across any interesting new gadgets next time, remember to call me. And Miss Chen, don't be so wary of me!"
Wang Jun was in a good mood. However, this Miss Chen was fourteen or fifteen years old and 1.6 meters tall. She was almost a young woman. She looked at him as if he were a bad guy, so he didn't know what to say to her. But he was very unhappy to be stared at as if he were a bad guy all the time!
Chen Jinhua remained silent, his face still serious: "Hmph, who knows if they're bad people? Xiao Wu said before that some people just pretend to be rich or legitimate businessmen, get to know people, and then set traps to cheat them!"
"Let's go, second sister!" Chen Xihua noticed that ever since she talked about the human traffickers, her second sister saw everyone as a bad person and was always ready to fight and beat people up!
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