Zheng Shengli looked at Zhou Bingchen's retreating figure with a helpless expression.
Zhou Bingchen ran really fast. It seems his health is indeed fine. Being discharged two days early should prevent any major problems.
The headache comes from Dr. Zhang.
Dr. Zhang is a skilled doctor, but he has a foul mouth.
Forget it, considering that Zhou Bingchen came home this time to win back his wife, his old boss can only take the blame for Dr. Zhang's "sharp tongue" on Zhou Bingchen's behalf.
Zhao Zhenzhu was unaware that Zhou Bingchen was going home; she had been focused on her hair accessory business these past few days.
He Bo was quite capable; the next morning, he brought back a bag of scraps of cloth from the clothing factory in the county town, weighing about 60 or 70 kilograms.
"Sister, can you take a look and see if these are usable?" He Bo asked with a big smile.
He Bo no longer calls Zhao Zhenzhu "Sister Zhenzhu"; he simply calls her "Sister".
He Bo felt that Zhao Zhenzhu was like his own sister, no, even closer than his own sister.
On this trip, He Bo sold all thirty watches and made more than six hundred yuan.
Including the two hundred or so he earned last time, He Bo has already earned nearly nine hundred in just three or four days.
Previously, He Bo wouldn't have dared to even dream of such a wonderful thing. His entire family's savings, all combined, weren't even worth a hundred yuan.
Zhao Zhenzhu grabbed a handful of fabric from the bag He Bo had opened and was immediately stunned.
The bag contained scraps of cloth of various sizes, the larger ones being about a foot in size, while the smaller ones were only as wide as a fingertip.
Didn't she tell He Bo before that he needed at least a piece of cloth the width of a palm? Did He Bo not listen?
Zhao Zhenzhu emptied all the scraps of cloth from the bag, and after tidying them up, she found that only one-third of them were usable.
Zhao Zhenzhu was speechless.
She praised He Bo for being reliable yesterday, but she never expected him to do something so unreliable for her today.
“Sister, can’t we use these? I… I saw that your hair accessory was made of floral fabric the other day, and there’s a lot of floral fabric in here too.” He Bo’s smile froze when he saw Zhao Zhenzhu’s unpleasant expression.
“These are usable, but those aren’t,” Zhao Zhenzhu said, pointing to the two “little hills” she had just picked out.
"Huh? So many of them are unusable?" He Bo exclaimed anxiously.
“The pile of scraps on the left is too small. Although it can be pieced together to make hair ties, it’s time-consuming and wastes thread, and it doesn’t look very nice. The pile on the right is okay. However, some of the colors are too dark, so I guess it won’t sell well as hair ties,” Zhao Zhenzhu said, shaking her head.
"I was out of my mind. I should have taken a look at it first." He Bo raised his hand to wipe away cold sweat.
"Xiao Bo, why did you buy it without even looking at it? By the way, how much did you pay for these scraps of cloth?" Zhao Zhenzhu asked, displeased.
She had already told He Bo what kind of scraps of fabric to choose.
"Sister, this bag of scraps of cloth was a gift from Liangzi's aunt; it didn't cost any money." He Bo lowered his head, somewhat ashamed.
He Bo felt that he was being too petty.
Upon hearing that it was a free gift, He Bo was filled with excitement and completely forgot about what Zhao Zhenzhu had told him about choosing the fabric.
"Given away for free?" Zhao Zhenzhu asked in surprise.
“Aunt Liangzi said that there are many garment factories that use such scrap materials, and they usually use them as fuel,” He Bo nodded and said.
Qingshan County Garment Factory is a large state-owned enterprise with more than 500 workers.
The production workshop operates on a two-shift system, from 8:00 AM to midnight, with the machines humming non-stop year-round. Some of the garments produced are supplied to large department stores in Haishi, while the rest are exported.
In those days, large factories were like large communities, complete with production workshops, dormitories, canteens, kindergartens, and bathhouses.
The bathhouse needs a boiler to provide hot water 24 hours a day.
You need to buy coal to power a boiler, which costs a lot of money throughout the year.
Garment factories produce a lot of scrap fabric, which can be mixed with coal and burned together, making for excellent fuel. This can save a considerable amount of money on coal purchases over a year.
Therefore, most of the scraps of cloth in the garment factory's waste warehouse were burned in the boiler. Only scraps of cloth larger than one foot were picked out and sold cheaply to the factory's employees.
Yu Mingliang's aunt, Yu Hongying, is the deputy director of a garment factory in Qingshan County, and her husband works in a government department. Among the watches He Bo delivered to the county town to sell this time were two from Yu Hongying's family.
When Yu Hongying went to Yu Mingliang's house to pick up the goods, He Bo asked Yu Mingliang to inquire about buying some scraps of fabric from the clothing factory.
Yu Hongying immediately said, "You and my Liangzi are such good friends, why would I charge you for a few scraps of cloth? Come on, let's go get some."
After He Bo followed Yu Hongying to the factory, Yu Hongying had the warehouse manager of the scrap fabric warehouse drag out a bag of scrap fabric and let He Bo take it.
He Bo figured that since the scraps of cloth were free, there was no need to examine them; he would just take them home and show them to Zhao Zhenzhu first.
After hearing He Bo's explanation, Zhao Zhenzhu was speechless.
The scraps of cloth that were too small could be kept in the garment factory's warehouse and used as fuel for the boiler. But when He Bo brought them back, they were not only useless, but also a waste of his effort.
“He Bo, go to the county town the day after tomorrow and ask your friend’s aunt if you can spend some money to buy up the scraps of fabric in the garment factory’s warehouse. We can pick out the useful ones and bring them back, and leave the rest for them to use as fuel.” Zhao Zhenzhu thought for a moment and immediately came up with an idea.
"Sister, Liangzi's aunt told me that next time I need something, I can just ask her to move it, and it won't cost me anything," He Bo said weakly.
He Bo couldn't understand why Zhao Zhenzhu insisted on buying the scraps of cloth when she could get them for free. It wasn't like she had too much money to burn.
"Xiao Bo, do you think I'm wasting money?" Zhao Zhenzhu saw through He Bo's thoughts at a glance and asked.
He Bo nodded vigorously.
“Xiao Bo, some money can’t be saved. Right now, our hair ties haven’t gone on sale yet. You can go to the clothing factory and ask your friend’s aunt for a bag or two of scrap fabric; you can get it. But after we sell the hair ties, will you still be able to get it?” Zhao Zhenzhu continued, seeing the thoughtful look on He Bo’s face.
“Sometimes, the things that don’t cost money are the most expensive. Picking out a bag of usable scraps of cloth only costs two or three yuan at most. If you ask your friend’s aunt for it for free, won’t you owe her a favor? If she asks you for help in the future, you can’t just refuse, can you?”
He Bo understood this time and nodded vigorously.
Yu Hongying was willing to give He Bo scraps of cloth for free because she wanted He Bo to think of her next time he had any in-demand items to sell, and preferably let her know in advance, so that she wouldn't be a step too late like this time and almost miss out on buying the watch.
He Bo thought to himself, "Well, I'm selling things anyway, so what difference does it make who I sell to? If Yu Hongying wants to buy, I'll have another customer!"
After Zhao Zhenzhu's analysis, He Bo realized that he had been too superficial.
Indeed, owing money is easy; you just pay it back. But owing favors is hard to repay.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
