Chapter 37: Help Lu Yuanzhou make clothes!
Although Su Mengxue hadn't had much contact with Jiang Weilong, she could tell he wasn't the type to talk to. She bit her lip and quickly came up with an excuse, feigning composure as she said, "I... these clothes are a little... outdated. I want to take them to a tailor's shop for some alterations."
After saying that, she quickly bent down, gathered the clothes and the waterproof cloth together, and stuffed them neatly into the bag.
Outdated? Jiang Weilong's eyes suddenly darkened. He wasn't someone who could be easily fooled. The clothes were obviously new. Besides, who would buy the same style of clothes? Seeing Su Mengxue's panic, he sneered in his heart, thinking that she might be planning to sell the clothes on the black market!
He sneered. This woman said that she would not marry Gu Yunting, but she kept staying in the Gu family. It was obvious that she was a scheming person. He was thinking about how to drive her away when she bumped into him.
He raised his eyebrows calmly, said nothing, and walked straight past her into the Gu family compound.
When Su Mengxue saw Jiang Weilong leave without looking back, her heart suddenly settled down. Without thinking too much, she picked up her bag and walked out quickly.
When she arrived at Zhou Ji's Tailor Shop, she was busy until noon and finished making the remaining cloth. She had not had time to eat in the morning and her stomach started to growl. She felt embarrassed to stay there for dinner, so she found an excuse to buy some more cloth and left.
As soon as she turned onto the main street, she smelled the aroma of meat. She looked from a distance and saw that the steamed buns were being taken out of the steamer at the window of the state-owned canteen.
She swallowed hard and walked to the window to ask the price. The canteen chef said to her, "Meat filling is 30 cents each, and vegetarian filling is 10 cents each."
She took out money from her pocket and bought two meat-filled ones. As soon as she bit into the dough, the hot gravy came out with a "sizzle", and the oil slid down the corners of her mouth and into the gaps between her fingers.
It's strange to say, she is used to eating delicacies from land and sea and has a very picky taste, but at this moment she actually thinks that this hot bun is more delicious than anything else.
She wolfed down two buns, then spent fifty cents to buy a bottle of soda at the corner. After eating and drinking her fill, she wiped her mouth and walked into the department store to buy some fabric.
The fabrics and colors that men wear are much less than those of women, including cotton, Dacron, denim, and khaki, and the colors are mainly concentrated in military green, black, white, khaki, navy blue and gray.
Taking the weather and the occasion for wearing the clothes into consideration, she decided to buy 3 meters of Dacron for the top and 4 meters of khaki for the pants. Just as the salesperson was about to buy the cloth for her, she touched her pocket and realized that the cloth coupons Gu Yunting gave her were used up.
She had to give up for the time being and decided to try her luck at the door to see if there was anyone reselling tickets.
As soon as she reached the door, she saw a tall and thin man huddled against the wall, looking around with his hands tucked into his sleeves. From time to time, he whispered something to passersby. She guessed at a glance that he was a ticket reseller.
She first glanced around and saw that no one was around, so she slowly walked towards the man. When she reached him, she heard him lower his voice and say, "Little girl, would you like to exchange one or two grain coupons for two feet of cloth?"
Su Mengxue was not familiar with the exchange rate in that era. She thought of trying to bargain first, so she frowned and whispered tentatively, "One ounce of food coupons for three feet!"
The tall and thin man immediately became anxious: "Little girl, you are not the one who bargains like that. Are you planning to not let me earn anything at all?"
Su Mengxue knew something was up from the tone of his voice. She curled her lips and said, "I'm not in a hurry to use it anyway. If it doesn't work, forget it."
As she spoke, she started walking forward. The tall and thin man saw her and grabbed her: "Who told me to rush to sell it? How much do you want?"
Su Mengxue stopped and thought that she would need cloth coupons many times in the future, so she took out two kilograms of food coupons from her pocket and exchanged them all for cloth coupons.
After she changed, she went back to the department store to buy fabric. After deducting the fabric coupons, she spent 20.5 yuan.
When she took the torn cloth and returned to Zhou Ji's tailor shop, she didn't see the master tailor, only the female apprentice. He must have gone for lunch break.
She sat in front of the sewing machine and thought for a while before deciding to make a white shirt with gray trousers.
In order to avoid the color tone being too monotonous, she spliced royal blue on the collar and cuffs of the white shirt. She deliberately chose herringbone fabric for the shirt, which looks solid from a distance but has texture when viewed up close. The waist has changed the style of the wide hem of the 1980s and has been slimmed down.
She also made a business casual outfit for Lu Yuanzhou, a beige polo shirt paired with khaki straight-leg trousers.
She decorated the collar and cuffs of her polo shirt with contrasting ribbing, which was low-key yet exuded a sense of design. The invisible elastic band at the waist of the pants fit the waist without being bloated. The slightly tapered straight legs were both neat and more casual than formal wear.
After the clothes were finished, she looked at the clock and saw that it was already five o'clock in the afternoon. She stood up, rubbed her sore waist, and stretched herself. Then she saw the master craftsman approaching her.
Zhou Weidong's fingertips caressed the freshly rolled edge of the lapel. After examining it for a long time, his eyes lit up with praise: "Girl, your work is really authentic and the style is trendy. You really are a good tailor."
After saying that, he sighed heavily and asked again: "Girl, are you really not going to stay and learn tailoring from me?"
Su Mengxue could see that the old man valued his talent, but she was busy making money right now. Besides, she graduated from a prestigious university and had won many awards. The old master was from this generation, so how could his vision and aesthetics compare to hers?
She naturally wouldn't say these words to his face. She smiled at the master and then changed the subject: "Master, it's getting late. I have to go to the night market to set up my stall."
Seeing that she had no intention, Zhou Weidong waved his hand helplessly: "Go ahead, be careful."
Before leaving, Su Mengxue wrapped the five big unity cards with waste cloth and placed them next to the sewing machine. After she tidied her clothes and said goodbye to the master, she went out to take the bus. When she arrived at the night market, she saw Lu Yuanzhou pushing a 28-bar bicycle and looking around.
She put her bag aside, waved at him, and shouted, "Lu Yuanzhou, I'm here!"
Lu Yuanzhou looked in the direction of the voice. When he saw Su Mengxue, he immediately pushed the cart towards her quickly. After he stopped, he asked with a smile on his lips, "Have you eaten yet?"
Su Mengxue had forgotten about it in her busy schedule. Only after Lu Yuanzhou reminded her did she remember that she hadn't eaten dinner yet. She shook her head and said, "I haven't had time to eat yet."
Lu Yuanzhou was worried that she had already eaten, but when he saw she said no, he smiled and took down the thermos hanging on the handlebars of his bicycle and stuffed it into her hand: "The food is still warm. Hurry and eat while there are not many people around!"
Su Mengxue's fingertips touched the warmth of the thermos, and she waved her hands repeatedly to refuse, "No, I'm not hungry."
Lu Yuanzhou's eyes darkened, and he asked in a very serious tone: "Don't you consider me a friend?"
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