The oval-faced salesperson saw Su Yan take out the money and fabric, and was surprised to see that she was really planning to buy such expensive tweed fabric. "Are you sure you want it?"
She was afraid that just as she had finished cutting the cloth, the woman would suddenly change her mind and say she didn't want it. She only earned 30 yuan a month, which was not enough to buy one meter of cloth. Three and a half meters of cloth would cost more than 100 yuan, which would require her to work for four months without eating or drinking to save up enough money.
Su Yan also understood what the salesperson was worried about. "You can collect the money and issue the invoice first and then come to cut the fabric."
The salesperson had no choice but to do as he was told. He first issued the invoice and collected the money, then measured the fabric. After the fabric was cut and the change was given, the salesperson asked, "Comrade, would you like to take some more base fabric back?"
Su Yan felt that it was eye-catching enough now, so she shook her head and said, "No, I'll buy it next time when I have a ticket."
The warehouse still has the base fabrics for making clothes, but some special fabrics are missing.
When she went to the place where she bought fruit, she saw a large bundle of purple sugarcane. Sugarcane is available from October to April or May of the following year. The weather in the north is cold, so not many people buy sugarcane. Su Yan directly asked for six pieces.
She had so many things in her hands that she had to ask someone to help her carry the sugarcanes out and then find a way to tie them to the bicycle.
Su Yan was from the south in her previous life. During the Chinese New Year, southerners like to buy two pieces of sugarcane and put them at home. The sugarcane grows steadily. They also like to hang a head of lettuce in front of the door (to make money) and place two oranges in front of the door for good luck.
The reason she bought sugarcane today was because her child wanted to eat it. Fortunately, sugarcane can still be bought in the north during the Chinese New Year this year.
Su Yan rode her bicycle loaded with sugarcane, cloth and other items, and staggered back to the military compound.
She couldn't even carry six sugarcanes, so she had to yell downstairs, "Lu Yiming, come down and help."
Lu Yiming was helping his younger siblings with their homework in the room and didn't hear his mother calling him. If the kid next door hadn't knocked hard on his door, he wouldn't have known his mother was back.
The mother and son carried the sugarcane back, and Su Yan put the woolen cloth, as well as the children's overalls and shoes back into the room.
"There are six of us in our family. I bought six stalks of sugarcane. You four siblings can each pick one. The remaining two are mine and your father's."
She would never chew sugarcane in the middle of winter. Su Yan waited until the children had finished picking the sugarcane, then took the remaining two sugarcanes back to the room and returned them to the space. She cut them into twelve sections and stored them in the warehouse, ready to plant again in two months.
There are eight or nine spores on a section of sugarcane, so I don’t have to spend money to buy sugarcane next year.
After Su Yan finished her work, she took out a sugarcane peeling knife from the space and prepared to peel sugarcane for the children. However, the children were impatient and each of them cut a piece of sugarcane with a kitchen knife, washed it casually with water, and started to bite it with their teeth.
"What are you doing? Don't just chew the skin..."
"Mom, we have strong teeth. We can chew even the hardest sugarcane peel."
Su Yan looked at her two young sons and smiled. "Luckily, your front teeth have been replaced for a few months. Put down the sugarcane, and I will peel and chop it into small pieces for you."
Lu Yiming looked at the knife in his mother's hand and said, "Mom, let me do it. You go back to your room and rest."
Su Yan handed over the knife, "Be careful not to cut your hand, and put the knife away after use. Cook the rice while you're at it, and I'll do the cooking."
"good."
Su Yan returned to her room, closed the door, and found a notebook in the drawer. It contained the clothing sizes of the entire family. She flipped to the page for her eldest son, Lu Yiming, and took a look.
Take two pieces of cardboard from the space and draw each part of the clothing on the cardboard, then cut the cardboard and throw the excess cardboard back into the space.
Su Yan pinched the woolen cloth. It was true that you get what you pay for. The over one hundred yuan was not wasted. Why not wait until the child is older before making it?
The child has grown rapidly in the past two years, and I don’t know how many centimeters he will grow next year. Su Yan plans to make the sleeves a little longer.
She planned to make a Korean-style long coat for Lu Yiming. Even if he grew to 1.9 meters tall in the future, he would still be able to wear the coat. At that time, she would just need to let the sleeves out a few centimeters.
It’s such an expensive piece of clothing, and she made the coat so fashionable, it will take at least ten years for her to wear it, right?
Today's task is to make the lining of the coat first. The weather in the north is cold, so Su Yan plans to put some silk cotton in the lining.
She has silk cotton, so she can just go to the warehouse and find a silk quilt that is no longer needed by the bed.
Su Yan was disassembling a silk quilt in the space when someone knocked on the door.
“Knock, knock…”
"Mom, the meal is ready. What are we having for lunch today?"
Su Yan came out of the space, opened the door, and took out new clothes and shoes for the triplets.
"Here are your new coats and shoes. Put them in your lockers."
Seeing that her eldest brother had no new clothes, Lu Yirou said unhappily, "Mom, why don't you buy new clothes for him? He can only wear Dad's old military coat in winter."
"Okay, don't worry about your brother. I bought him some fabric. He'll have a new coat in a couple of days."
Lu Yiming's eyes lit up, "Mom, is that woolen cloth bought for me?"
"Yes, Mom is rewarding you for being in the top three in your grade this year. If you rank first in your grade next time, I'll buy you a new bike next year."
The bicycle at home can be ridden, but the brake pads are broken, the handlebars are loose, the fender at the back is shaking, and I don’t know how many times the chain has been replaced. Since there are more children in the family, I will buy another bicycle next year.
"Mom, are you serious? I'm going to take it seriously if you say that."
"I, your mother, always keep my word. If you study hard, I will buy you a bicycle next year."
Lu Yian and Lu Yining said at the same time: "Mom, will we get a reward if we get first place in the exam?"
"Well, as long as you are in the top three, there will be rewards."
It is said that there is motivation only when there is pressure. Su Yan thinks that children are motivated only when there are rewards, and the richer the rewards, the greater the motivation.
The triplets said in unison, "Long live Mom! That's wonderful! We will study hard."
Su Yan knew that the children all had good memories and were smart, but they were a little lazy, especially the third child, Lu Yining, who tried not to move as much as possible and would climb onto his sister's bed and occupy her quilt when watching TV.
It took Su Yan a day and a half to finish Lu Yiming's quilted Korean-style wool coat. After the coat was finished, Su Yan took out two old-fashioned sweaters from the space, one black and one white.
Now that she had clothes for the New Year, Su Yan quickly made two pairs of black pencil pants for her son. Fortunately, the leather boots had been bought a month earlier.
Su Yan still didn't plan to make new clothes for herself for the Chinese New Year this year. In her 200-square-meter dressing room, she had more than 20 cashmere coats of various styles, and other clothes were piled up like a mountain.
In the 1980s and 1990s, she took out these clothes and wore them. As for now, she can wear anything as long as she keeps warm.
"Yiming, your clothes and pants are ready. Take them back to your room and try them on."
Su Yan handed Lu Yiming a tweed coat, two pairs of quilted pencil pants, and two old-fashioned sweaters.
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