Chen Changyuan dipped his tea in the water and drew circles on the table. "Wang Quezi's men specialize in robbing carts carrying livestock."
The shouting outside the window suddenly became louder, and Chen Changyuan caught a glimpse of two men in blue shirts wandering around the truck.
He picked up the teapot and refilled Zhang Mazi's cup with water, pouring the boiling hot water accurately into the cup. "Load the truck at noon and go to Laoyinggou."
Seeing the other party's eyes widen, he smiled and took out the front door of Baoda. "There is a wild road under the cliff. It was washed out by the flood last year."
Zhang Mazi's cigarette nearly fell out of his pants: "Two tractors overturned in that damn place last year!"
"So you have to use your car."
Chen Changyuan flicked the ash from his cigarette and squinted his eyes in the smoke.
"Weld anti-skid chains onto the truck bed, and assign a clutch repair technician to each truck. That's all I have to do. I'm leaving now, Brother Mazi."
When Chen Changyuan walked out of the teahouse on the bluestone road, the sun had just climbed up the eaves of the City God Temple.
The copper basin of the street barber was half filled with dirty water, reflecting his newly cut hair.
He reached out and touched the stubble on the back of his neck, remembering how his mother had trimmed his hair with a pair of sewing scissors in his previous life.
“How much is pork belly?”
He stopped in front of the meat stall and poked the shiny ribs on the chopping board with his fingers.
The vendor, cigarette in hand, squinted his eyes and said, "38 cents, with half a pound of lard."
The back of the knife clanged against the iron hook, and a weasel jumped out from under the chopping board, carrying a piece of meat in its mouth and crawling into the gutter.
Chen Changyuan took out five yuan and slapped it on the bloodstained wooden board: "I want two pounds of hind legs, fat separately."
As he spoke, he stared at the other person's right hand which was missing the ring finger - in his previous life, this butcher had his finger chopped off because he injected water into the meat, and now the severed end was still wrapped in yellowed gauze.
When turning the corner, the blue printed curtain of the cloth shop was blown up by the wind, and Chen Changyuan caught a glimpse of the navy blue khaki cloth behind the counter.
Old Yuantou always wore work clothes with patches on top of patches, and the cuffs were worn so much that they were visible through.
He stepped over the threshold and the smell of camphor mixed with mold hit him in the face.
"What are you looking at, comrade?"
The salesman was pasting matchboxes with glue still between his fingernails.
Chen Changyuan ran his fingers over the fabric: "It needs to be 7 feet 3 inches long, for a Zhongshan suit."
When he took out the food coupons, cockroaches were gnawing on the cloth under the glass counter.
Suddenly, I heard a quick bicycle bell outside the door. Two young men wearing red armbands rode past on a 28-inch bicycle, with half a hemp rope sticking out of the basket.
By the time he came out with the oil-paper bag, the sun was already setting.
The popcorn machine at the entrance of the alley exploded with a cloud of white mist, and several children screamed and rushed towards the scattered popcorn.
Chen Changyuan stepped aside to make way for the old man pushing the manure cart, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the window of the tailor shop diagonally opposite - a faded "囍" character was pasted on the glass, and the dacron shirt hanging inside was shining coldly in the twilight.
"Comrade, do you want to make a shirt out of some cloth?"
The proprietress lifted the cotton door curtain, revealing glasses wrapped in tape on her nose.
Chen Changyuan twisted his fingers on the navy blue khaki cloth. The rough touch of the fabric reminded him of Lao Yuantou's cracked palms.
The proprietress's eyes behind her glasses suddenly lit up, and when she lifted the counter panel, a smell of mothballs came up.
"Comrade, you have a good eye. This cloth is new from Shanghai No. 3 Factory."
She stood on tiptoe to reach for the entire piece of cloth, dust swirling in the slanting sunset. "It takes 36 measurements to make a Zhongshan suit. You..."
"Need not."
Chen Changyuan unbuttoned his military coat, revealing a brand new Dacron shirt underneath. "Take this size and widen it by two fingers."
He pointed at the shoulder line with his fingers, "I want four hidden pockets and a padded collar."
The proprietress paused on the account book with the tip of her pen, which was dipped in glue. "We need imported resin to add lining, which will cost an extra three dollars."
Chen Changyuan took out five food coupons and slapped them on the glass counter. The cockroaches were startled and burrowed into the cracks in the cloth rolls. "It's made for an old man, so it needs to be crisp."
He turned his head and glanced at the indigo cotton cloth piled in the corner. "Take that piece seven feet long and make a double-breasted jacket."
“You are…”
A corner of the tape on the boss lady’s nose was lifted up.
"Give it to my mother."
Chen Changyuan took out a matchbox and scratched a mark on the counter. "Give the waist three inches and hem the cuffs."
He suddenly remembered that his mother in his previous life was wearing a cotton jacket with seventeen patches on it when she died. His Adam's apple moved, "The collar was hemmed with plain satin."
When the proprietress put down her scissors and went to look for satin, Chen Changyuan noticed the ready-made clothes hanging on the wall.
The goose yellow braid on the edge has a perfectly fitted waistline and the hem is decorated with imported lace - this kind of craftsmanship cannot be found in Qingshui Village.
“This skirt…”
He was interrupted by the sound of the door curtain being lifted before he could finish his words.
The postman in green military uniform leaned halfway in and said, "Tailor Liu, is the dress for that girl in the Overseas Chinese Building ready? She's been asking for it three times!"
The proprietress hurriedly brought out a package from the inner room: "Just say it got caught in the rain this afternoon and is hanging here to dry!" Chen Changyuan leaned against the counter and watched the proprietress cutting cloth, and the scraps of cloth fell to the concrete floor.
Under the glass counter, cockroaches crawled up the roll of cloth, leaving tiny claw marks on the indigo cotton.
"Speaking of the Overseas Chinese Building, the people who live there are all rich and well-dressed."
The proprietress bit off the thread and glanced out the door from behind her glasses. "Last month, a girl came to order brazi, and she paid ten kilograms of national food coupons as a deposit."
The scissors cut through the khaki cloth, and Chen Changyuan noticed the silver bracelet dangling on her wrist - it was much newer than the one sold at the Qingshui Village Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
There were a few strands of gold thread mixed in the scraps of cloth piled in the corner, glowing faintly in the twilight.
"Your craftsmanship is considered top-notch even in the provincial capital."
Chen Changyuan crushed a cockroach to death with the tip of his shoe and asked nonchalantly, "What new things do overseas Chinese still crave?"
The proprietress suddenly lowered her voice and drew circles on the glass countertop with her sticky fingers. "Last week, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses insisted that I embroider English on his shirt collar. Guess what?"
She proudly lifted the curtain of the inner room, and Chen Changyuan caught a glimpse of the silk shirt hanging on the sewing machine, with the word "LOVE" embroidered in floral script on the collar.
The muffled sound of popcorn popping came from deep in the alley, and Chen Changyuan paused as he was counting the food coupons.
At this time in my previous life, the Overseas Chinese Building had not yet been built, let alone the returning overseas Chinese wearing gold-rimmed glasses.
The wind stirred up by the butterfly's wings seemed stronger than he had expected.
"The most generous person has to be the young lady who just came to take care of my business."
The proprietress folded the cut fabric into squares and said, "Last month, her driver came to pick up the clothes in a black sedan, and the trunk was full of medicine boxes with foreign-style labels on them."
"Comrade?"
The proprietress waved her hand in front of his eyes and asked, "Do you want to button up your Zhongshan suit or..."
"Sukou."
Chen Changyuan took out the last two industrial coupons and said, "Please sew a secret pocket for me."
As dusk deepened, he finally went out carrying a bulging package.
The aroma of roasted chestnuts wafted from the alley, and a few children wearing red scarves ran by holding paper windmills.
Chen Changyuan turned into the alley next to the post office and planned to find a small restaurant to eat.
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