Chapter 29: Go to the black market to sell clothes!
Su Mengxue saw that the master was being mysterious. Since it wasn't about learning tailoring from him, she couldn't guess what other conditions he might propose. She frowned and asked with a puzzled look, "Master, please tell me?"
"Make a set of clothes according to my requirements and send it to the place I said."
Su Mengxue secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a matter of making clothes according to a problem. She thought it was a big deal. But for her, a designer who had made countless sets of high-end clothes according to customer needs, it was a piece of cake.
She responded readily, "Okay, I promise." Then her eyes fell on the pile of fabric on the ground and she asked softly, "Master, can you give me some time to finish this pile of fabric?"
Zhou Weidong waved his hand at her: "There's no rush for this matter, just go and do your thing first. Feel free to use the things here, there's only one, don't mess it up."
Su Mengxue agreed with gratitude. She planned to make bell-bottom pants first, then squatted down and picked out the indigo material from the pile of fabrics. After she picked out the fabric, she walked quickly to the brand new sewing machine with the fabric in her arms.
After she sat down, she reached out to grab the paper and pen beside her and drew a pattern swiftly. Then she picked up a slightly thicker spool from a pile of spools and placed it on the machine. She picked up the slip powder and quickly drew arcs on the indigo fabric, making a low-waisted and narrowed version of the front piece, and deliberately leaving a three-inch wide flare at the trouser legs.
After completing these preparations, she began to press the pedal, and the sewing machine immediately began to make a rhythmic "tick-tick" sound. The fabric under the machine head moved slowly with the stitches. Her eyes were fixed on the black line mark, and her hands carefully adjusted the direction.
………
As the last stitch fell, she lifted her foot to pause the machine. She looked at the finished flared pants, and a slight smile rose at the corner of her mouth. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and carefully examined the stitches again. Only then, satisfied, did she pick up the scissors, stand up, and shake out the pants.
Zhou Weidong had come up to her to watch her draw the pattern. After her pants were finished, he couldn't help but ask, "Girl, this is the first time I've seen the style of your pants. They look quite unique, but tight pants are in fashion right now. Are you sure such baggy pants can sell?"
Su Mengxue raised her eyebrows confidently: "No problem."
Zhou Weidong smiled at her appreciatively, then gave her a thumbs-up. "Girl, regardless of whether the clothes you make can be sold, just for your confidence, I have to give you a thumbs-up. This is the mentality a tailor should have."
After thanking him for the compliment, Su Mengxue looked up at the time. It was already 12 noon. It took her almost half an hour to make this dress, so it would take her five hours to make ten pieces, and that didn't include the bat shirt.
Thinking of this, she let out a long sigh and went back to the sewing machine to work hard.
Just when she was about to pedal the sewing machine until it started smoking, a distant voice came to her ears: "There's noodles in the back room. They're for you."
Su Mengxue looked up and saw that it was the female apprentice she met here last time. Only then did she realize that the master was no longer in this room.
Seeing that she didn't move, the female apprentice said coldly: "The master asked you to eat it. Anyway, I have delivered my message. It's up to you whether you eat it or not." After she said that, she turned and went somewhere else.
Su Mengxue glanced at the clock and saw it was already three in the afternoon. She counted and found she had finished exactly seven pairs of pants. She had intended to finish ten pairs in one go, but she found her stomach growling with hunger, her waist aching, and her arms and neck stiff and uncomfortable.
She raised her eyebrows. A healthy body was the prerequisite for everything. She couldn't go on like this. She stood up, pounding her back all the way to the inner room. Sure enough, there was a bowl of noodles on the table.
It was a pity that the noodles had already clumped together. She glanced at the kettle beside her, added some hot water to the noodles, then stirred them with chopsticks and ate them voraciously. It was not until the bottom of the bowl turned upside down that she realized that she hadn't even tasted what the noodles tasted like.
She washed the dishes and piled them with the other dishes, then returned to the machine to continue working.
This time she worked in one go until six in the afternoon, and she managed to make a total of ten pairs of bell-bottom pants, three bat-wing shirts, two braids, and a Siberian-style long skirt.
She stood up with satisfaction and stretched herself. She had calculated carefully while working just now that the bell-bottom pants were the most time-consuming and material-consuming of all the clothes. The skirts and batwing shirts were relatively easier to make. If she came at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, she could finish making all the clothes before noon.
The reason why she didn't continue working today was not because she was tired or because the master was going off work, but because she had to rush to the black market to test the waters.
She remembered that the book clearly stated that there was no one in the black market during the day, and people would wait until night when no one was around to secretly come out and sell things. To be on the safe side, she also asked the old master, and the old master confirmed this with her.
She looked at the pile of unmade cloth and thought carefully. If she took all the cloth away, she would have to go to the black market and return home with Gu Jia, which would be too tiring. Besides, it was illegal to buy and sell clothes privately in 1980, and she would not be able to explain herself to Gu Jia.
If she was discovered, confiscating her clothes would be a small matter. It might cause trouble for the Gu family and her. Even if she was not discovered, Sun Suqin's family would find out and would definitely report her for "speculation and profiteering."
Thinking of this, she folded the finished clothes neatly and piled the unfinished fabrics in a corner out of the way. Then she walked up to the master and pleaded, "Master, I can't take these unfinished fabrics away. Can I leave them with you for the time being?"
Zhou Weidong smiled gently: "Of course, as long as you trust me."
Seeing that he agreed, Su Mengxue felt relieved and said, "Master, of course I trust you. I'll leave first."
Seeing her leaving with a pile of clothes in her arms, Zhou Weidong immediately called out to her, "Girl, if you go out like this, you're just waiting to be caught. Just wait."
He turned and went into the inner room. In the blink of an eye, he came out with an army green faux leather travel bag. He took a few quick steps and stuffed the bag into her hand: "Girl, this bag is quite big. Take it."
Su Mengxue took a look and saw that the bag was printed with Shanghai's iconic buildings and the word "Shanghai". She was obviously not cheap. She concealed her touch and thanked the old craftsman.
"Go out and walk to the end, then turn left onto the avenue and take the bus. Remember to get off at Baifo Station. After getting off, walk straight west. The black market is hidden there. Hurry up, or you'll miss it."
Su Mengxue nodded to the master, quickly packed her clothes and left. By the time she arrived at her destination by bus, it was completely dark.
Meanwhile, in the jeep on the side of the road, Wang Qi nervously looked at the sullen-faced Gu Yunting in the passenger seat and whispered, "Captain, I just called home. Aunt Wang said Miss Su hasn't returned yet. Where should we go to find her next?"
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