Chapter Twenty-Four: Awarded Advanced
The next day was the weekend, and neither of them had to work. After eating and settling the two children in their aunt's care, he rode his bike with her to the department store. The New Year was approaching, and it was time to prepare new clothes.
What do you think of this gray one?
"I'll buy it for you first. I have clothes to wear."
“We have them all.” She smiled gently, as beautiful as a peony. She led him to the counter, asked the sales clerk to bring over the fabric and hold it up against him, nodding and smiling.
"Comrade, this is ridiculous."
"Okay." The woman was in a good mood today, and their good looks also made them stand out. "This man is really lucky; his wife just came in and she's already busy cutting cloth for him."
Su Xiangdong smiled and nodded, taking the receipt to pay. Shu Yao had already bought the fabric but didn't plan to make it herself; men's Zhongshan suits require considerable skill, and a poorly made one wouldn't look good. She paid a tailor, and the wait was until the end of next month.
"The 28th of the twelfth lunar month?"
"yes."
"Okay, I understand."
She bought some fabric and went home to make it for herself and her child; she knew how to make women's tops. "Let's make one for Auntie too."
"Are we still using enough cloth coupons?"
“That’s enough. My third aunt’s supplies, she took them and gave them directly to me, saying she didn’t need them.”
"Then let's break it."
I made a blue printed top and dark blue pants, and I even bought her a set of thermal underwear. When I got home and gave her the things, my aunt was so touched she didn't know what to do.
"Third Aunt, don't cry. You can exchange the fabric if you don't like it."
“No.” Auntie sniffed. “I haven’t had new clothes made for years. They’ve been using up the annual rations.”
I really didn't expect that I would be doing so much better with my nephew than with my son. My nephew's wife is easier to get along with than my son's wife; she always thinks of this old woman.
"That's why I'm getting you some fabric to make new clothes. Hurry up and make them so you'll have something to change into."
"well."
With the Lunar New Year approaching, her son and husband, who had previously come to visit her, have vanished without a trace. No one has offered to take her home for the New Year, and her son hasn't even mentioned coming to see his mother.
My aunt, on the other hand, accepted it well, and was cheerful every day. Perhaps she had long seen through those people's true colors, and now she wasn't sad for them at all. When her daughter came to visit, she had just finished making her own clothes and was happily showing them to her daughter.
"Is it pretty?"
"It looks beautiful. Mom, where did you get the money to buy the fabric?" She didn't have a sewing machine at home, so she came to borrow her cousin's today.
"Did Shu Yao tear it for you, or did Xiang Dong secretly give you the money?"
"The couple went shopping at the department store, and the whole family had something, even mine."
"That's wonderful," the daughter said, a little ashamed. "Better than any of us children."
"Mom knows you're having a tough time, don't be sad."
"I sold half of my cloth coupons and made clothes for my two older children for the New Year. They're growing so much that their old clothes are too small for them."
"Yeah, that's life. Don't be sad, it will all pass."
Shuyao borrowed her cousin's sewing machine from home every day without saying a word. She handed over her work before leaving at noon, and by the time she got home, her cousin had already left.
"Sister, she's only making it for her two kids. Is it because she doesn't have enough fabric ration coupons? Our workplace can get fabric scraps without coupons. If she needs some, I'll buy it for her."
Her aunt brought in her lunch: "No. She sold her cloth coupons. Sigh, don't even mention it."
"Why don't we have Su Xiangdong talk to him? How can a grown man live like this, so irresponsible and irresponsible?"
“That works too. Let’s wait until the New Year and find a suitable opportunity to have Xiangdong talk to him. The child is getting older, and it won’t do for him to be such an irresponsible father.”
"yes."
Even if she doesn't earn as much as the woman, she still has to work. Without one less source of income, life is a struggle. In her family, without Su Xiangdong, how could she possibly live so comfortably with her child?
Her workplace was selling off leftover fabric, and she bought some more. Solid colors could be used for trousers, while floral prints could be used for vests or linings—it didn't matter at all.
She arrived at work at 2:30 PM, signed in, and had just entered the workshop when she saw Xiao Li, who was on duty, looking panicked. She quickly asked what was wrong. Before Xiao Li could even speak, she had already seen it.
“This…” She reached out and grabbed the unfinished fabric. “It’s printed wrong.”
Xiao Li looked dejected. "What should we do, Sister Shu Yao?"
She looked at the materials, checking them anxiously. "Could this whole batch be printed wrong? Did you tamper with the machine? What did you tamper with?"
"I...I..." Xiao Li was on the verge of tears. "I only paused for a moment, I didn't move anywhere."
Shu Yao carefully checked this batch, and on the third check, they were all misaligned. "It's over, the patterns definitely won't match."
"What should we do then, Sister Shuyao?"
Shu Yao sighed: "Don't cry yet, let's think of a solution. Crying won't help."
Shu Yao has worked in printing workshops for decades, and she is very familiar with the printing process, including the design and adjustment of patterns. After carefully observing the misprinted fabrics, she quickly came up with an idea.
"Go find the director and I'll discuss it with her."
"Okay." With someone's help, Xiao Li was finally less panicked, but still very worried. He quickly found the workshop director and told him on the way that he had printed the wrong pattern.
"What did you do? The machines were all fine-tuned, how could you mess this up? How many parts are wrong?"
"It's all wrong." Xiao Li lowered his head and explained the situation with a forced smile. "The mistakes weren't big, I didn't notice them."
The supervisor gave her a scolding and soon arrived at the workshop. Shu Yao had already redesigned the pattern; by adding two lines to the originally misprinted areas, it became a completely different pattern.
"Director, look, isn't this one beautiful too?"
The director glanced at it. "It looks nice, but the problem is the paint..."
"They're all existing; we just need to adjust the machines."
"Alright, I'll have a technician come and adjust it. Since the pattern has been adjusted, let's print a few more batches. No need to keep going back and forth to the machine."
"I can handle it; I guarantee there won't be any delays in shipping."
Are you sure you can do it?
"no problem."
In front of the director, she quickly redesigned the printing plate, debugged the machine, and started it running. The director nodded silently when he saw the newly printed patterns, very satisfied.
"It's quite pretty. It's not much different from the previous one. I'll take it to the factory manager to see if we should promote a batch."
"good."
This machine is quite large, and this batch is very big. If it can't be fixed, the losses would be more than Xiao Li could afford. Seeing that Shu Yao had actually solved it, she kept thanking her coworker.
"It's alright. Let it go this time. Just be more careful next time." Back then, everything was state-owned. As long as the pattern wasn't wrong, just slightly different, the other party wouldn't pursue it too much. In later times, it wouldn't be so easy. If the distributor didn't like it, they wouldn't accept it.
I modified the design, and Shuyao personally felt it looked better than before after printing. State-owned factories at that time rarely innovated. They couldn't even keep up with demand; getting any stock at all was already a blessing. There were only so many classic designs; they just produced the same ones every year.
The distributors didn't have the right to choose the products, so the factory wasn't afraid of changing the design. On the contrary, the factory manager also quite liked the new design. People experience aesthetic fatigue; constantly producing the same few designs, a slight change can be refreshing.
The problem was successfully resolved, and Shu Yao personally oversaw the completion of this batch before leaving in the afternoon. As soon as she exited the factory gate, she ran into Su Xiangdong, who visibly relaxed upon seeing her.
Why are you so late?
She explained the situation. "I was a little worried, so I personally oversaw the printing of this batch."
"Oh, I see. I was so scared, I thought something had happened to you."
"It's nothing," she said, smiling at him. "But I'm so happy to see you come to pick me up."
"You like me picking you up? Then I'll pick you up every day from now on."
"No need, I still have children to take care of."
"Anyway, I'll definitely come out to find you after the time is up."
"Yes." It wasn't just a sentence, but his consistent fulfillment of his promise. Knowing this, she was no longer afraid. She knew that if things went beyond the norm, he would definitely appear.
So this is what marriage is like, this is what home should be like. The home of her childhood memories has appeared in her life now. As a child, she had her parents; now she has him. Supporting each other, leaning on each other, they can see each other when they turn around, and touch each other when they reach out.
Snowflakes began to fall that night, and he accompanied her to the restroom. Meng Xi saw him standing outside, and sure enough, Shu Yao was inside using the restroom.
Snowflakes blanketed the ground, melting as they fell because the temperature wasn't particularly low. The mixture of water and snow made the ground extremely slippery. She slipped and nearly fell into a ditch. She steadied herself against the wall, her heart pounding with fear.
Shu Yao finished and stood up to pull up her pants. She heard footsteps and heard a man's deep voice outside, reminding her, "Wife, be careful, the ground is slippery."
"good."
His concerned voice made Meng Xi's heart ache. She had a feeling that if she hadn't been there, that man might have come in to help his wife. Just as she was about to say how sentimental he was, she heard a commotion outside.
"No need to carry me, it's just a few steps, we can help each other back." The woman's voice was very low, and her delicate voice made it hard for her to believe that it was Shu Yao.
"Get on. My shoes are non-slip. Hurry up, it's cold outside." The man chuckled softly, his gentle voice unlike his usual serious tone: "Don't worry, no one's watching. Besides, we're a couple, so what's wrong with me carrying you if you fall?"
Shu Yao was carried away by the man, and Meng Xi felt a mix of emotions in the restroom. Was it because Shu Yao had given birth to twins that she was being pampered like this? She secretly touched her own stomach; it had been so long, why wasn't she pregnant yet?
If she also got pregnant and gave birth to a son for Sun Yaozu, wouldn't he pamper her just as much? Thinking about how Sun Yaozu would carry her and coax her, she couldn't help but smile happily. Her desire to get pregnant became even more urgent.
As the year draws to a close, everyone is incredibly busy. Families are starting to prepare for the Lunar New Year. Although supplies are not plentiful this year, it can't dampen everyone's enthusiasm for the holiday.
Long queues form every day to buy meat, firecrackers, peanuts, and other items. Some people even start queuing at 2 a.m. just to get a piece of the pie.
In her previous life, Shu Yao was the same; these kinds of time-consuming tasks that required getting up early were mostly hers. When Sun Yaozu complained that he couldn't get up, she remembered what her mother-in-law had said: men need more sleep.
Women have strong endurance and can withstand hunger; women have good stamina and don't need as much sleep. Therefore, the best food was always given to Sun Yaozu, and the work requiring staying up all night was all hers. She was truly foolish, or rather, pitiful. She was unknowingly subjected to long-term mental control by the Sun family.
"You want me to go queue up to buy meat?" Meng Xi protested. "Then you come with me, otherwise I won't go either."
Hearing the commotion over there, Shu Yao held her child and smiled calmly. With Su Xiangdong at home, she didn't need to worry about these things. She could buy pork later; the melon seeds, peanuts, and candy were already prepared. She also had several extra pounds of cooking oil to use for frying dough sticks.
After they got off work and went home to take care of the children, Auntie San used this time to prepare everything needed for the New Year. She brought the new clothes home, ironed them neatly, and hung them up. She bought red paper and prepared to write the couplets herself.
"Shu Yao, you've been recognized as an outstanding individual this year. You'll need to prepare a speech for the awards ceremony tomorrow night."
"What? I've been recognized as an outstanding worker?"
The workshop director nodded with a smile: "That's right. You are conscientious and responsible in your work. Last time, you saved a batch of fabric that had been ruined by printing very smoothly. If you're not an advanced worker, who is?"
"Thank you, thank you, Director."
Shu Yao grinned happily. Being named an outstanding worker not only brought honor but also prizes. Moreover, these would serve as valuable experience on her resume. She knew the workshop director would retire next year, and if she could negotiate, her salary would increase by one grade.
The factory's commendation ceremony lasted for more than an hour, and everyone took their seats in the auditorium that evening. Meng Xi and Zhou Aili sat together, and when they heard that she had been awarded the title of Advanced Worker this year, they looked at each other with envy in their eyes, but they couldn't say anything.
This year's outstanding workers will receive not only medals, but also two zhang and four chi (approximately 6.6 meters) of pure cotton cloth from their factory, a pair of pillowcases, and an enamel mug as prizes.
"Comrade Shu Yao, this commendation recognizes your outstanding performance at work. We hope you will continue your efforts and achieve even greater success."
"Thank you, leaders, thank you everyone."
Knowing she was going on stage to receive an award, Shu Yao made a point of dressing up today. She wore simple dark blue trousers with a light gray coat, the lace collar adding a playful and cute touch.
She stood out so much under the spotlight, among the group of outstanding workers. Like a phoenix in a chicken coop, she radiated light without needing to say a word. Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, and reporters from the city newspaper snapped photos.
The floral fabric that Shu Yao received was of very high quality; it was the factory's latest product. Pure cotton fabric could be used to make duvet covers or shirts. She already had bedding, and planned to use it to make a cotton-padded jacket so she could alternate wearing it.
It was getting late when the event ended, and many family members came to pick them up as the event was ending. Su Xiangdong was also waiting at the entrance with his cart, and she ran towards him as soon as she saw him.
“I’ve been recognized as an advanced worker.” She held up what she was holding. “Look, a floral fabric, a pillowcase, and an enamel mug.”
The man beamed with pride. "My wife is amazing. Come on, get in the car, I'll take you home."
He had just brought her here, so there was no need to worry about her car. She got on the back seat, he pushed her a few steps to get on the bike, and they sped off towards home.
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