"Okay, then I'll leave it to you, sister-in-law."

"Why are you being polite? By the way, have you seen any fashionable clothing styles in Shanghai? We can try them out when the time comes. I have a good sewing machine at home."

Pei Manning thought about it and realized that many people in Shanghai would wear a frock collar. They would make a fake collar out of scraps of cloth and turn the collar outside, which made them look much more energetic.

Now the saving collar has not become popular in other places. If it can be resold, it can be a business opportunity.

However, without the income from the publishing house, she didn't need to take the risk.

Within two months, Mrs. Xu took her to the supply and marketing cooperative and, through the relationship between internal employees, bought a lot of cloth that did not require invoices.

It is said to be defective fabric, but in fact the fabric is not seriously defective. It is just that the color is a little smudged in some places, which cannot be seen if you don't look carefully.

Pei Manning made a long-sleeved shirt with light blue cloth according to the style she saw in Shanghai, and then made wide-legged trousers with dark, crisp khaki cloth. She felt that they were too wide, so she used some waste material and made them a little narrower, but not too tight.

With the remaining money, after deducting living expenses, Pei Manning sent about 10 to 20 yuan to Han Jingchen's unit.

After sending the letter and leaving the post office, since it was still early, she bought some tools for restoring paintings, including tweezers, needles, horseshoe knives, brushes, sheepskin towels, water-based oil paper, rice paper, pigments... She planned to repair the paintings that were not so badly damaged and then frame them for preservation.

Especially those paintings she bought from the scrap yard in Shanghai. Many of them were severely moldy, sticky and faded, with dark colors, looking like wrinkled "salted vegetables". Some of the paper paintings were torn into pieces two fingers wide, scattered, thin and brittle.

The damage was so severe that it was almost unrecognizable from its original appearance. Pei Manning did not dare to repair it and only repaired what she could.

…

For a period of time, Pei Manning stayed at home and rarely went out.

Every day she was either drawing comic strips or making new clothes. Only at night when she was resting and returned to the Sumi world, she would start to use tools to repair the paintings.

Start washing the painting from the simplest and least damaged ones, carefully scrape off the stains with a horseshoe knife, peel off the backing paper and the supporting paper, first repair the paper fibers that were brought up when peeling off the backing paper, then put the backing paper back on, apply starch and pick out the hair.

After the painting core has dried in the shade, check the cracks on the painting against the light, and then stick thin pieces of rice paper on the cracks little by little to fill in the gaps in the entire painting.

It took more than twenty small processes and nearly a month to reach the full color and brush connection stage, ensuring that no traces of repairs can be seen from every angle.

After repairing a painting, Pei Manning never repaired it again.

This was too exhausting. She dared not shake her hands for fear of making the slightest mistake. Her wrists were extremely sore. She would start with the rest of the painting after she had rested for a while.

However, the result is not bad. The cleaned and repaired water painting finally revealed its original appearance. The peaks are towering, majestic and strange. The bridges and views are hidden among the cliffs and trees. There is a faint mist floating in the air, and there are many seals and inscriptions on it.

…

At this moment, the independent flying squadron stationed in Shanghai finally completed its rotation mission.

After a morning of intense flight preparations, dozens of fighter jets collectively transferred in the air and took off in batches, one after another, flying directly to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.

After forming a formation in the air, they flew from Hongqiao Airport to their air force base. The soldiers on the ground raised their hands one after another, standing in awe and saluting the sky!

After dozens of fighter planes had flown away, the ground crew and maintenance brigade began to leave the Shanghai Railway Station by rail.

Not long after returning to the camp, Han Jingchen received a letter from his comrade-in-arms, along with two packages.

"Brother Chen, this is the letter Comrade Pei sent to you? What does it say?" Jiang Ye leaned over to take a look curiously.

Pei Manning's letter was very simple. The gist of it was that she would submit her works to Shanghai Fine Arts Publishing House every month in the future so that she could have a stable income and they would no longer have to send money and tickets to her. In addition, the money she owed to Han Jingchen was placed in the parcel, wrapped in butter paper. The other things in the parcel were for them, including dried fruits and cakes bought in Shanghai, as well as mushroom sauce and meat sauce she made herself.

After reading the letter, Han Jingchen slowly folded it up.

Jiang Ye wiped his saliva and said with emotion: "Comrade Pei is really amazing. He actually got so much royalties. I will open this meat sauce and taste it first, and then take it to the cafeteria to eat."

Han Jingchen didn't say anything. Jiang Ye couldn't help but look at him. "By the way, Brother Chen, don't we have a two-day break after this round of battle? Do you want to go there? See Comrade Pei."

Comrade Pei is very attractive... no, very pretty, but it is too dangerous for him to stay alone. They still have to show their faces from time to time to scare off those villains.

Of course, after eating in the cafeteria for a long time, he missed the food at Comrade Pei's home very much.

Han Jingchen glanced at him and said, "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Even so, after having dinner in the cafeteria at noon, he was notified to answer the phone.

"Old Four, come pick me up tomorrow morning. I brought you some things."

Hearing that the old lady was coming, Han Jingchen's eyebrows jumped: "Mom, why are you here?"

"Why can't I come yet? You said you wouldn't come back even during the Chinese New Year. Tell me honestly, are you injured again and can't come back? Don't worry, I'll come to see if you have any broken arms or legs. I won't delay you, just do what you need to do."

Han Jingchen had a headache, and his dark and unruly eyebrows wrinkled and twisted into a knot: "Mom, what are you thinking about? Didn't I tell you that I was on a mission in Shanghai?"

"When haven't you said that? Okay, I won't waste my words on you anymore. I have to take the bus. I'll rest in your yard tonight." After sitting on the train for more than a hour, even in the soft sleeper, her back and waist ached.

"Wait..." Before Han Jingchen could finish his words, the old lady hung up the phone.

He held the phone in his hand, thinking of Pei Manning who had beaten Zheng Geng last time, and then thinking of the impetuous old lady. Not only his eyebrows but even his eyelids were twitching.