Chapter 92: The temporary workshop has ten bags of scraps of cloth, which are sent to Xu Heye...
Ten bags of rags were placed in Xu Heye's rental house. The whole house was filled up and there was no space left for people to pass through.
"This won't do. If we keep all the sacks in the house, how will people live here later?" Dong Xinghua was a little worried. Besides, these scraps of cloth would need to be made into fake collars, which would require cutting, sewing, and buttoning. There was no space in the small rental house for all these processes.
"We need to rent a factory." Xu Heye said.
"But if we rent an additional factory, the cost will be too high. Besides, our lease is for a short time, so people may not be willing to rent it to us." Dong Xinghua raised an objection.
The most important thing is that making fake collars does not require much technical skills. If you want to make money, all you need is an advantage.
Once someone with foresight discovers the profit and sells the fake collars before them, the money they spent on the ten bags of rags will be wasted.
"But if we don't rent a factory, we'll have to rent a slightly larger space." While making clothes doesn't require the same level of hygiene as making food, it can't be too messy. The finished fake collars must be spotless, otherwise, why would customers be willing to pay for them?
But these days, housing is very tight for every household. Where can they rent a large space for them to make goods?
Lian Jiashu was playing in the yard. After hearing Xu Heye's words, his eyes rolled and he thought of a place.
"Sister, the old church." Lian Jiashu tugged at Xu Heye's sleeve.
"The old church?"
Lian Jiashu nodded. He didn't have any psychological trauma about the old church. Although, occasionally, some strange and uncomfortable images would appear in his mind.
However, the brain injury not only froze his intelligence, but also gave him a dullness that ordinary people do not have.
Xu Heye looked at Dong Fuyun and said, "Uncle, have you been to the old church? What was it like there?"
Dong Fuyun thought for a moment and said, "It's really nice there."
Although the old church is dilapidated, it's quite spacious. Furthermore, it was built under the supervision of foreigners, so the quality is excellent, and the walls are still intact. Of course, there must be a reason why the old church was abandoned.
What attracted Dong Fuyun the most was that no one would disturb him there.
The old church was never frequented to begin with, and after the incident in July, the children who used to love going there for adventure no longer went there. Of course, even if they wanted to go, their parents wouldn't allow it.
"Will it be unlucky there?" Dong Xinghua was a little confused.
Dong Fuyun didn't believe it: "The old church is just a little dilapidated, how can it be unlucky? Besides, as long as we have the lotus leaves, no bad luck will ever come to us." Their lotus leaves are very good at fortune-telling!
"Aunt, in this situation, the old church is really a better choice." It is close to Zhangshu Lane, the place is large, and it can be used after cleaning. More importantly, there is no rent.
Hearing Xu Heye say this, Dong Xinghua made a decision: "Okay, let's go there."
Dong Xinghua was a quick-witted person. Once she made up her mind, she would act immediately. She grabbed a broom and dustpan and headed for the old church. "Youngest, go borrow a duster from Sister Lian's house. Let's go to the old church and clean it up."
"Auntie, auntie." Xu Heye quickly pulled Dong Xinghua aside, "Auntie, look at the sun. It's already noon. Even if you have to go to the old church to clean, you should have lunch first."
"It's such a big place, abandoned for so many years, it's filled with filth and dirt. It's definitely going to take a while to clean it out. You need to be well fed to have the energy to work, right? And besides, you still have to prepare lunch for Grandpa!"
Dong Xinghua put down the broom: "You are right." She was really anxious and confused.
Dong Xinghua heated up the fish soup she had made in the morning and blanched some green vegetables. She gave some to Old Dong, and there wasn't much left, just enough for her and Xu Heye.
As for Dong Fuyun, Lu Jun and others, Xu Heye gave Dong Fuyun ten dollars and asked them to go to a restaurant.
After lunch, the group took their things and went to the old church.
The house was generally in good condition, but the interior was in a state of disrepair. Not only was the floor dirty, but the walls were blackened by smoke. There were holes in the roof, allowing sunlight to filter through. If it rained or snowed, water would flood the house.
Another thing is that the windowpanes are all broken and need to be replaced. After all, it's December and the weather is too cold. If you don't put the windowpanes up, the wind will be so cold that you will freeze to death if you work inside for a short time.
Xu Heye hesitated a bit. Cleaning the walls, repairing the roof, installing the window glass—all these processes would cost a lot of money. Furthermore, if they could use it for free, it meant that others could use it too.
If they spent a lot of money to renovate it, but it turned out to be a bargain for others, she would be furious.
"Aunt, how about we find a way to rent a place?"
Dong Xinghua shook her head: "No, this place is great, we can use it after cleaning it up."
Dong Xinghua put down the broom and began to direct: "Youngest, Xiao Lu, Xiao Cheng, you three, please work hard and move all this mess in the church outside."
"Xiao Huang, Xiao Liu, one of you should use a duster to sweep down the dust and cobwebs on the walls and roof, and the other one should use a broom to sweep down the dust and garbage on the ground."
"He Ye, let's go home and get the old newspapers you collected from the scrap yard."
Dong Xinghua rode a tricycle and took Xu Heye back to Zhangshu Lane.
"It doesn't matter if the walls are black. We can just cover them with old newspapers. It's just a temporary solution. As long as it doesn't get people or fabrics dirty, it'll be fine."
Dong Xinghua explained, "As for the windows, there's no need to buy replacement glass. How expensive is it to replace glass? We can buy some plastic paper to cover them. It's thin, light-transmitting, and draft-proof. As I said, we can use it temporarily, whatever's more convenient."
As for the floor, the same principle applies. Scrub it first, wash it almost thoroughly, then cover it with waste newspapers, and then cover it with a layer of snakeskin bags on the waste newspapers. Place the fabric on the snakeskin bags, and it will not get dirty.
"Aunt, you are so great. You are good at saving money." After being arranged by Dong Xinghua, Xu Heye found that those dirty, messy and dilapidated things were not really a big problem.
The two of them loaded all the old newspapers she had read onto the tricycle. Dong Xinghua thought about it and realized that glue would be needed to paste the newspapers.
So he picked up a few pieces of honeycomb coal, packed a bag of flour, filled a bucket of water, and used the small iron stove and aluminum pot that Xu Heye used to boil water, intending to make paste himself.
When the two of them quickly returned to the old church, Huang Wangcheng had already cleaned up the cobwebs and dust on the roof and walls, and together with Liu Tong, he helped Dong Fuyun and the other three move the miscellaneous items.
Xu Heye wanted to help, but Lu Jun stopped her: "No need for you, the things are heavy, we have almost finished moving them."
Since the move was almost complete, Xu Heye didn't force it.
She started to light the coal stove and helped her aunt make the paste. She mixed water and flour in a 1:1 ratio, stirred them evenly, and then boiled them over the fire, stirring constantly to prevent them from burning.
This job may seem easy, but it actually requires a lot of strength. Especially when the paste is heated, its viscosity increases, making it even harder to stir. After Xu Heye stirred it twice, her hands gave out.
Dong Xinghua took over the work with a smile: "Are you exhausted?"
"Yeah." Xu Heye nodded.
"I'll come, you go and rest."
Inside, everything had been moved. Dong Fuyun drew water from the church's well, poured it on the floor, and began to clean it.
The first time they mopped, the water was black. After five people mopped four or five more times, the dark floor finally revealed its original color. Only then did everyone realize that the floor of the old church was paved with beige tiles.
The winter wind is cold and dry, and the water stains on the clean floor tiles will be blown dry soon.
Dong Xinghua had already prepared several pots of paste, and a group of people immediately began to paste newspapers on the wall. Of course, the newspapers didn't cover the entire wall, only about two meters high.
Above two meters, no matter how dark the wall is, it cannot be scratched.
Even so, the discarded newspapers Xu Heye bought weren't enough. Dong Fuyun was about to go buy more, but Xu Heye stopped him. It was getting dark, so why not do it the next day?
The next day, Monday, Xu Heye, a student, had no choice but to put all these things aside and go to school for class.
After a whole day, after school in the afternoon, Xu Heye got off the bus and went to the old church without even returning to the rental house. When she got there, she found that the church had been completely transformed. It was not brand new, but it was completely different from its previous dilapidated appearance.
The walls were covered with newspapers, the beige floor was clean, and the broken windows were sealed with transparent plastic. It wasn't as warm as spring inside, but at least it wasn't as chilly as before.
There are two square tables on the left side of the church near the door. On the table near the door are scissors, paper templates, and cloth pressing stones. On the table behind are silk threads, thimbles, sewing needles of various sizes, and various buttons. There is even an old-fashioned iron next to it, which is used for sewing buttons and ironing.
On the right side of the church, placed side by side with two tables are two sewing machines.
This is actually a small sewing factory.
Xu Heye didn't expect her aunt to act so quickly. She bought the fabric and booked the venue yesterday, and she arranged the fake collar workshop today.
"How is it?" Dong Xinghua asked Xu Heye with her hands on her hips.
Xu Heye gave her a thumbs up: "Aunt, you are really amazing, super awesome."
Further back, the light wasn't as good as near the door. On one side, the floor was covered with old newspapers and oilcloth, used to store fabrics. On the other side, there was a wooden bed with folded bedding on it.
Xu Heye felt strange: "Auntie, why is there a bed here?"
"This is for the night watchmen to sleep on," said Dong Fuyun. "We have fabrics, wooden tables, and two sewing machines here, which are quite valuable. I feel uneasy if no one is watching over me at night."
During the day, it was fine; they were all there. Even though they had bought an iron lock to lock the church door at night, it wasn't secure. If someone broke the lock and stole something, they wouldn't know.
So we still have to keep someone watching.
Dong Xinghua led Xu Heye to the table by the door and took out a stack of paper patterns for her to see: "Heye, take a look, is this the fake collar you talked about with your aunt yesterday?"
"My aunt drew two kinds, one with pointed corners, and the other with rounded corners as you said."
This kind of paper was drawn by Dong Xinghua based on Xu Heye's drawings and in accordance with the proportions of adult clothing.
Xu Heye took a look and pointed out a problem: "Auntie, the placket should be left a little longer. Don't be afraid of wasting fabric. If it's too short, the placket will easily run towards the neckline when you wear the clothes, which is not decent."
She had encountered this problem with the fake collar she bought in her previous life. The placket of the fake collar did not fit well, and the chest area was wrinkled and looked ugly.
"As for the version with rounded lapels, the arc of the collar should be larger and wider, which makes it more gentle and elegant."
"Okay, I'll make some changes." As soon as Xu Heye said that, Dong Xinghua understood.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
