"If he finds out we're getting close, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause," Qin Xiaoye sighed.
Qin Xiaoyu understood who she was referring to, and sighed. That person, who was supposed to be connected to them by blood, was completely out of place with them.
"Only four of your classmates came to our factory. What about the rest? How are they being distributed?"
"Don't even mention it. Some of them were assigned to workwear factories, which are really easy. They only have to draw one design a month, and they're all pretty much the same."
"Anything else?"
"Some people went to the mayor's wife's clothing factory. They were told it was very well-paid with all sorts of benefits. But when they got there, they found it wasn't like that at all. The factory was half-shut down and they often had holidays. On holidays, they didn't get paid. Those classmates were almost unable to hold on. It was even worse than working in a labor protection clothing factory."
"What about those assigned to our factory?"
"The process you arranged for me was to go to the workshop and learn the basics as soon as I entered the factory. At first, I complained a lot, but fortunately, I was paid and received bonuses along with those on the front lines. So I was able to put up with it."
"Xiao Ye, I'm looking to poach some people. Our factory needs a lot of designers right now, but there are very few students in the north who study this major. Your junior college class is the first one, and I heard they can't recruit anyone for the second class. It's difficult to poach people from the south. Can you help me think of a way?" Qin Xiaoyu also wanted to test Qin Xiaoye's abilities. If she wanted to send someone to Shanghai to work at a counter, simply being obedient and knowledgeable in business wouldn't be enough.
"Sis, are you crazy? You can open a hairdressing school, why can't you open a fashion school?" Qin Xiaoye's words woke her up from her reverie.
Qin Xiaoyu was so excited she almost jumped up. How could she not have thought of that?
It seems this younger sister is no pushover; she's been raised correctly.
She had originally planned to go back to the factory to arrange things at the school, leaving Qin Xiaoye to eat alone. She'd been living in the factory and eating in the canteen for a while now, and it was taking a toll on her. But then she thought, "Qin Xiaoye might feel embarrassed and sneak away again."
"Girl, let me tell you, you have the ability now and a strong personality, but there's one flaw you must change. If you don't, you'll suffer a lot in the future."
"Sister, you say it." Qin Xiaoye's eyes widened upon hearing this.
"You've followed his example, suffering for the sake of saving face. Think about it, isn't that right?" Qin Xiaoyu offered a word of advice.
When Qin Xiaoye heard that he took after his father, she felt embarrassed and lowered her head, biting into a small dumpling, unable to eat it for a long time.
"Girl, I understand you. Your living environment is different from mine. They treat you relatively well and dote on you. That's why you're in more pain and can't make a clean break like I did. But you need to know that some love is poisonous. You need to be discerning and not fall back into that trap."
"Sister, you don't need to say anymore. I know I have this problem, but I've never been able to bring myself to change it. But after hearing you talk about it today, I have no choice but to change. Because the thing I fear most in this life is becoming like him." Qin Xiaoye's eyes were filled with tears as she forced a smile.
"Well, that takes experience. You haven't suffered enough. You need to be like me, getting used to being tough in the mud, which naturally brings out a bit of fierceness..."
"Girl, I feel like you're just trying to make yourself look good. I can't stand listening to you anymore." Qi Si came in at some point, but hearing their lively conversation, he didn't want to disturb them and just stood at the door.
"Brother! What do you mean? Am I not fierce enough?" Qin Xiaoyu stood up angrily and rushed towards him.
"You? You shrew? Do you know what you were like in that fight that night? Go to hell... Hey... Ouch... If you take another step, I won't be polite!" Qi Si imitated Qin Xiaoyu's gentle and weak fighting style. The contrast between the burly man and the timid man was so cute that it made people laugh.
Even Qin Xiaoye, who wasn't familiar with him and had the same stern face, burst out laughing.
"Brother! Stop making fun of me!" Qin Xiaoyu pinched and twisted him angrily.
"Don't pinch me anymore, or you'll bruise me. Your fourth sister-in-law will come after you, and I won't stop her." Qi Si used this as a shield.
"Fine, fine, I'll let you off the hook for your sake, Fourth Sister-in-law. But you've completely ruined your sister's image! Am I really that bad?"
Qin Xiaoyu stomped her foot angrily.
"Well, ask your Lei. You don't believe me, but you have to believe him, right?" Qi Si raised an eyebrow smugly, then couldn't help but get mischievous, mimicking Qin Xiaoyu's tone, "Go to hell!"
"Cough cough!" Qin Xiaoye had just taken a sip of water when she spat it out again.
"Brother!" Qin Xiaoyu's eyes turned red with anger.
"Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. This is your sister, which is also my sister. From now on, whatever you want to eat, come to my shop. You can eat at any of the eight shops, it's on me." Qi Si turned to Qin Xiaoye.
"Fourth Brother, I might be eating now." Qin Xiaoye remembered Qin Xiaoyu's teachings and mustered up the courage to make a joke.
"If you're so capable, try and bankrupt my shop!" Qi Si laughed heartily.
"What's going on here? Why is it so lively?" Sister-in-law Xiao Si opened the door and came in.
"Sister-in-law! My brother bullied me!" Qin Xiaoyu rushed to complain as soon as she saw her come in.
"Wait till I get my hands on him!" Sister-in-law Xiao Si said, linking her arm with Qin Xiaoyu's and glaring at Qi Si.
Qin Xiaoyu suddenly realized that their relationship was quietly changing, becoming more and more harmonious and just right.
Upon hearing that Qin Xiaoyu was going to open a clothing school, Factory Director Xie offered her strong support. After discussing it for a long time, they decided to get started as soon as possible.
By the late 1980s, the population boom had intensified, and the original job allocation system could no longer solve all the employment problems. Many high school graduates entered the workforce, and the number of people working as temporary workers increased.
People back then still attached great importance to the Spring Festival. Many people would quit their jobs before the Spring Festival to have a good New Year before going out to find work again. Therefore, the period before the second day of the second lunar month was the golden period for recruitment, with a particularly large number of mobile laborers.
Qin Xiaoyu asked Factory Director Xie to handle the school registration, and she personally drafted the enrollment guidelines.
She has strict requirements regarding education, insisting that students must have at least a high school diploma. She believes that spending those extra three years in school is beneficial to everyone, and that having more knowledge is never a bad thing.
When the school started, the classes were divided into two groups: one for production and the other for design. However, all courses started from the basics, and students were divided into different groups after a certain period of learning.
The school is located in the shops downstairs. Several shops had their leases expiring at the end of the year, so they were reclaimed. However, these were originally breakfast shops and other small eateries, and the buildings were dirty and dilapidated, so they needed to be cleaned up before anyone could move in. For now, they'll be housed in the hairdressing school.
There are still many empty seats in the upstairs dormitory, so accommodation is not a problem, which solves the problem for some children from other counties and rural areas.
In those days, hairdressing and clothing were very special industries. When a daughter in the family was unemployed, she might be tempted to go into this line of work, but her parents knew perfectly well that it was hard work, impossible to make a lot of money, and just enough to make a living.
Compared to hairdressing, being a tailor seems to be a lower class.
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