"Why is it too much? You can give me less."
Wu Meili thought Qiao Baozhu thought it was too expensive, so she quickly handed over the initiative.
"I'm not complaining about the high price, I'm just curious about how sister-in-law saved up so many coal coupons. I saw there are still some from the first quarter, but you and I haven't sold them yet."
Expired coal tickets will be invalidated according to regulations. However, there are countermeasures to every policy. If you can’t buy coal at the affordable coal ticket station, you can go to the premium coal ticket station to buy it.
No matter how expensive the premium coal is, it will never be more expensive than the black market price. Therefore, Qiao Baozhu still found use for the expired coal coupons, but she was curious as to how a frugal person like Wu Meili could bear to let the coal coupons expire.
"I, I can't read. My relatives gave me eggs to exchange for their children, how could I refuse? My husband doesn't even know I have saved so much. What can I do if he knows? We are all my family, so I will help if I can."
Wu Meili was afraid that Qiao Baozhu would think she was stupid, so she quickly explained with a smile: "Let me tell you, my brothers are really not heartless. If I have anything to do, I can call the whole family to come by sending a letter. Whenever the land is reclaimed, my family is the first to reclaim it."
Qiao Baozhu's lips curled up slightly, "I understand, Sister Wu."
Wu Meili was relieved to see that Qiao Baozhu looked normal, but also a little disappointed.
If Qiao Baozhu could scold her like Zhang Cuilian did, would she be treating her as her own?
Wu Meili was absent-mindedly sewing the soles of her shoes and didn't notice that Qiao Baozhu got off the kang and took out some cloth from the cupboard.
"Sister Wu, you want to make a smock for your child. Take a look at my fabrics and see if there's anything you like."
When Wu Meili saw Qiao Baozhu spread cloth on half of the kang, her eyes widened.
She slapped her thigh with excitement and shouted exaggeratedly, "How could I forget that you still have a lot of cloth. The day you got married, our family compound was in an uproar. Wow, your parents gave you 39 feet of cloth as a present."
99 feet is only 100 chi. After removing a few beddings and two sets of clothes, there will not be much left.
The cloths Wu Meili saw were the dirty cloths that Wei Dong had poured manure on the supply and marketing cooperative on the day he first met Bai Hongmei.
Bao Huihua left the dirty cloth, saying that it was for making clothes for herself and Qiao Changhai. It had been washed clean and ironed neatly in secret, and was taken back by Qiao Baozhu when she returned home.
Qiao Baozhu knew that they were afraid that their son-in-law would look down on their daughter because of her disability. Let her bring back anything good at home.
She respected the behavior of her adoptive parents. If they asked her to take the item back, she could take it back. She could also send it to a tailor shop to make clothes and then honor them as a filial piety.
"Our farm's service center charges 4.8 cents per egg, and 100 kilograms of coal tickets is 48 cents. Your 6,780 kilograms of coal tickets total 32.54 yuan, which is rounded off to 33 yuan."
"Sister Wu, do you plan to exchange it all for cloth or half for money and half for cloth?"
Wu Meili touched the fabric with curiosity in her eyes, not daring to blink. When Qiao Baozhu said that she could pick out cloth worth more than 30 yuan, she turned around and asked, "How do you calculate the cloth coupons?"
Qiao Baozhu smiled and said, "With our relationship, why would we need cloth coupons?"
Although Wu Meili usually appears to be careless and heartless, she is not confused about this matter.
She said with a straight face, "That won't do. Everyone knows that cloth coupons are the hardest to get. The members of the commune have saved cloth coupons in the hope that they can be sold to the educated youth for some money. If you don't want cloth coupons, I dare not buy them."
With such a down-to-earth and honest character, Qiao Baozhu had a better impression of Wu Meili.
"Sister Wu, I was thinking of asking you to help me with sewing. Now that you're so polite, I don't dare to ask you anymore."
Qiao Baozhu made an embarrassed joke, which stunned Wu Meili. Then she grabbed Qiao Baozhu's hand with a look of surprise and said, "Help you with needlework? Sure, whatever you want to do, I'll help you do it."
"I want to make a set of cotton-padded jackets and trousers for my parents. The tailor shop charges 1.5 yuan for a set of cotton-padded jackets and trousers. It will cost 3 yuan for two sets of clothes for my parents."
Wu Meili was shocked by the price of the tailor shop. "Oh my god, without any cotton or material, the labor fee alone is 1.5 yuan? Isn't this just robbing me! Okay, sister Baozhu, leave this job to me."
Wu Meili patted her chest and promised, "After I finish sewing the soles of your shoes, I will make you a cotton-padded jacket..."
After saying this, Wu Meili was stunned. Seeing this, Qiao Baozhu chuckled.
"Sister Wu, you spend all your time making cotton-padded jackets and trousers for me. How can you make money sewing shoe soles?"
Only then did Wu Meili realize that she still had to make money by sewing shoe soles. But she had already made the promise, and it was too late to regret it now.
Qiao Baozhu looked at Wu Meili's conflicted expression and thought she was extremely cute.
"Sister Wu, I'll give you half of the money. Two sets of cotton jackets and trousers cost one dollar and fifty cents. Is that okay?"
This price cannot be lowered in a tailor shop, but it is quite expensive for an ordinary housewife.
"Ah? This... I am taking advantage of you too much."
Wu Meili was at a loss as to what to do. She felt that she had taken advantage of Qiao Baozhu and her mind was full of thoughts about how to repay the favor.
"I haven't finished yet. I'm not good at sewing. I can sew a sock or a quilt cover, but I'm not good at making clothes or cotton-padded jackets."
Qiao Baozhu pointed at the woolen trousers on the table with embarrassment, "I have been knitting these woolen trousers for several days. When I was almost finished, I found that the crotch was falling, so I had to take them apart and knit them again."
In her previous life, she didn't know how to make clothes. When her family bought a sewing machine, she only learned how to make insoles. But knitting sweaters is still okay, after all, I used the sweater club as a platform for socializing. Without some amazing craftsmanship, you won’t be able to win people’s hearts.
In this life, Qiao Baozhu does not intend to waste time and energy on this. I would rather spend some money on labor and focus on making money.
Wu Meili is a genuine person with good skills, efficient at work and short of money, making her the best person to help her.
"From now on, I will leave the work of making clothes, pants, shirts and cloth shoes to Sister Wu. The labor fee is half of that of the tailor shop. Do you think this price is okay?"
The tailor shop belongs to Qingyanshan Farm. It was originally established to serve the educated youth who came to the countryside. In the beginning, they did sewing and mending for free for the educated youth who could not sew, and later they changed to charging a fee for making clothes.
A shirt costs 1.2 yuan, a pair of pants costs 80 cents, and a shirt costs 1 yuan. These labor costs seem high, but no money goes into anyone’s pocket because it is collective property. The tailors were all educated youth and their salary was the same as Qiao Baozhu's.
So when Qiao Baozhu offered to pay the tailor shop half of the labor costs, Wu Meili felt that she was getting a good deal.
"Sister Baozhu, making clothes is much easier than sewing shoe soles. I'll put the shoe sole work aside for now and make the cotton-padded jacket and trousers. I can't say anything else, but I guarantee that the stitches will be fine and dense, and not at all foolish."
Wu Meili put her shoe sole making business aside and couldn't wait to start making cotton trousers.
The soles of shoes need to be handed over to the shopkeeper in the shoe store for inspection, and the requirements are definitely higher. The cotton-padded jacket and trousers were worn by Qiao Baozhu's parents, so they would definitely not be reworked. As long as she works day and night for two days, she will be able to earn the money.
Wu Meili was feeling very happy. Just as she was about to ask Qiao Baozhu for the material, she heard a car horn outside the courtyard gate.
The two of them subconsciously looked out the window, and it turned out that Shen Xiao and the others had returned...
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