Zhang Lan was eager to escape the Zhang family, a vicious and cruel family, and upon hearing that a job could be arranged for her in a big city, she readily agreed.
Therefore, Zhang Hong took leave to accompany Zhang Lan back to her parents' home. While Zhang Hong was distracting her parents, Zhang Lan stole the household registration book, secretly obtained a certificate from the brigade leader, and then left the commune with Ji Xiangjun and others.
When Zhang Lan left for distant lands, Zhang Hong's two children were naturally sent back to the countryside to be cared for by Ji's mother.
The Ji family consists of only two elderly people. Ji's father goes to the fields every day to arrange work, while Ji's mother stays at home to take care of the two children. They live a relatively comfortable life and don't worry about the two elderly people getting sick from being idle.
Under Ji Xia's guidance, Xu Yufen and Chen Zhang indeed picked two sacks of chestnuts from the mountains, and then made sugar-roasted chestnuts every day to sell in the city.
At first, the two didn't dare to make too much. For the first few days, they only made a few kilograms a day, which they packed in small paper bags, totaling only twenty or thirty portions.
For three cents a serving of chestnuts, a small basket would be placed outside the movie theater, and customers would immediately gather around. In less than an hour, twenty or thirty servings of chestnuts would be sold out.
Although three cents isn't much, after a few dozen copies, you can still earn six or seven dollars.
This stuff is picked from the mountains, so there's no cost involved. It just takes a little effort to stir-fry it, and the cost of the little bit of sugar water is negligible.
Having tasted the sweetness, Xu Yufen and Chen Zhang were overjoyed and gradually increased their weight from five or six jin to ten jin and then twenty jin.
Profits also increased from six or seven yuan at the beginning to twenty or thirty yuan, which is no less than what Chen Zhang earned selling clothes at his stall.
After Chen Jing sent out the two batches of orders, the small workshop only received one small order and resumed its small-scale wholesale business.
Chen Zhang and his wife would go out early and return late. In the morning, they would be busy roasting chestnuts at home, and in the afternoon, the couple would go to the city. Chen Zhang would set up a stall to sell clothes, while Xu Yufen would carry a basket and sell chestnuts. The two of them worked together to make money and were very happy.
The money came too easily, and Xu Yufen was extremely grateful to Ji Xia. One day, when she saw Ji Xia hurrying past the school on the road, she even stopped her and insisted on giving her a pound or two of roasted chestnuts.
Captain Chen and his wife were overjoyed to see that their two sons were living a promising life, and that their fourth son had also sent a letter from his unit.
The fourth son of the Chen family is two years younger than Chen Jing and joined the army last year.
He wrote back to congratulate his third brother on his wedding, and sent a red envelope and several receipts. He then told the battalion commander that he had recently made a contribution and been promoted to platoon leader.
After listening to Captain Chen read the letter his youngest son had sent back, Chen's mother whispered excitedly, "A few days ago someone told me that Ji Xia is a lucky star, and I think there's some truth to that."
Since our third son and Xia started dating, our family's life has been getting better and better.
“They all used to be with Lin Haodong. When Lin Haodong got into university, Haodong’s mother looked very happy. But they broke up. Now look, Haodong’s mother looks more than ten years older.”
"It's all superstition, don't listen to it."
Captain Chen chuckled and scolded him, then happily put the letter away.
Chen's mother snorted in dissatisfaction: "Did I say something wrong? Look how well the third son is doing now, and the eldest son and his wife are doing quite well too. I heard the other day that they earned six hundred yuan in the past two months."
In the village, a family of several people might not earn 600 yuan a year just by farming.
Captain Chen smiled faintly. Lin Haodong's mother was doing well because Ji Xia was filial and would send her good things to eat from time to time. Wasn't she in a bad mood because she was eating well?
As for Chen Jing, because of Ji Xia's connections, Ji Xiangjun arranged a job for him to earn money, which was indeed thanks to Ji Xia.
The idea of the eldest couple setting up a stall to sell clothes and chestnuts was also Ji Xia's. Although she only gave a suggestion, it represented a huge opportunity for the Chen family.
The fourth brother's promotion had nothing to do with Ji Xia, but he was promoted not long after getting married. Thinking about it this way, it's not unreasonable to say that Ji Xia is a lucky star.
Captain Chen still reminded his wife, "There's no need to tell anyone about the benefits. It's not good if people gossip behind your back and say you're spreading feudal superstition."
"I know, I'm not that stupid."
Mother Chen responded, then sighed, "Now I'm worried about my second son, Ayi. She married over there and hasn't been home for a long time. I wonder how she's doing?"
Last time Chen Jing got married, she specifically asked someone to inform Chen Yi, but in the end, not only did she not attend, but she didn't even send a message. Chen's mother felt a little worried about her daughter.
...
After Chen Jing and Ji Xiangjun left, Chen Qiuyu took over Sun Xiaoyu's position as workshop foreman, responsible for production arrangement, sampling, cutting and other work, while the wholesale courtyard was handled by Monkey for shipping.
After the autumn harvest, Monkey, Tiger, Liu Xiaogang and others were called over. The heavy work such as receiving goods, warehouse management, moving, and cutting fabric was assigned to the group. The boys could earn thirty yuan a month and were very grateful to Chen Jing.
Ji Xia received a letter from her teacher, Rong Xiaorou, reminding her of the content of the professional exam after the New Year.
To get into the fashion design program at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, you absolutely need to create renderings, and you also need to take three other subjects: history of fashion design, and fashion design technology.
In terms of design techniques, in addition to clothing design, dyeing and weaving design, and apparel design, they also have expertise in these areas.
The Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) has a strong artistic atmosphere and its designs emphasize artistry, but are not very practical.
Ji Xia felt a little uneasy. Every day after school, she would go to the small workshop to follow up on the work of pattern making, paper pattern making, and cutting.
They even began to study the dyeing and weaving techniques for fabrics.
Fortunately, she had met a professor from the Central Academy of Fine Arts beforehand. However, Rong Xiaorou also pointed out the biggest problem with her design: the designs were too practical and targeted, and instead lacked a sense of artistry.
As Ji Xia made the paper pattern, she secretly complained that clothing design was meant to be worn by others.
If the design is only for show on the runway and a fashion show, and then that's it, and ordinary people will never wear it, then what's the point of this design?
Chen Qiuyu followed Ji Xia back to the office, flipping through the renderings and design drafts while asking suspiciously, "Sister, these designs look a bit strange. Would anyone actually wear these clothes?"
Ji Xia shook her head with a wry smile: "These unwearable clothes are not for you. They are my homework that I'm going to mail out. You don't need to worry about them."
"By the way, I heard that the textile factory has produced some sweater fabric. When we deliver this batch of orders, we'll go and take a look at the textile factory."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qiuyu couldn't help but frown: "We need to order more fabric? Of the money we received from the last order, apart from setting aside some for wages, the rest was all taken over there by them."
How much money do we have left in the account?
"We only have about three thousand yuan left. The wages for more than a dozen people will also be about two thousand yuan. We also need to replenish our thread, and the fabric in the warehouse is running low."
Ji Xia thought for a moment and said, "The vendors have been ordering the most children's clothing lately, so let's make more and try to recoup more funds here."
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