They then each offered 10% to Jian Dan, the person who initiated the deal. This startled Jian Dan, who repeatedly refused and only agreed to accept one year's payment.
The travel expenses were to be covered by Fang Ping's side. However, since they were all family, Jian Wenxiu didn't hide anything from them. His caravan was his own from a few years ago. Although he had only recently started it up again, he had frequently traveled this route in previous years and had also gained many veterans. Safety was not a concern. As for the travel expenses, Jian Wenxiu and the others didn't ask any questions and let them discuss it with Fang Ping themselves.
In short, no one will suffer a loss.
After leaving the village office, Jian Dan led Zhu Yan directly to Liu Sanye's house.
She was clumsy with her hands, but the Liu family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were both skillful. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw the bow on Xiaohua's head. The color was not bright. It was sewn from the scraps of cotton-padded jackets that Cheng Rui and the others had used. It was made of military green fabric with a small red stripe sewn on it, which was a nice finishing touch.
From a modern perspective, red and green together seem incredibly tacky, but the craftsmanship is remarkable; the stitches are invisible, and the bow is exquisitely made. Zhu Yan's eyes lit up.
"Huh? This is pretty fresh?"
The Liu family mother-in-law and daughter-in-law both breathed a slight sigh of relief.
She just thought of this on the way back that day; she didn't care about such a small gain.
However, the things Liu Weimin mentioned before, two out of three things, were related to women, and it was not unsettling. For example, now that it's time to hibernate, there's not much physical work to do, and the hardworking men in the village are still gathering firewood and helping to tidy up the house.
Those who are lazy and chauvinistic have no interest in work except for being at their jobs.
On the other hand, with everyone having more free time, there's more gossip in the village, and more people are scolding and beating their children. No wonder, it's still a very small minority who treat girls like treasures. In most families, even if the preference for sons isn't severe, it's considered good if they don't beat or scold the children. That's all.
I had this sudden idea that day, and for some reason I wanted to tell Zhu Yan today. Who knew that the old lady would be so helpful and have already made the finished product?
On the way back, Zhu Yan's bag was filled with a bunch of little trinkets, and she kept trying to persuade Jian Dan...
"Don't underestimate these things just because they're worthless. They're just as good, and they require less effort and materials. Look at what I have in my pocket. If they were any brighter in color, they would be gone in a day. Do you believe me?"
I briefly mentioned it to the old lady, then forgot about it and didn't bother to get her any fabric. The scraps of fabric the old lady found were all leftovers from before, and most of the remaining fabric wasn't very bright in color. But the old lady and Sun Xiang were very skillful, and they actually managed to come up with several patterns.
According to the old lady, she even saw some of them in Xiaohua's books.
However, Zhu Yan clearly took it to heart. She worked at a state-run restaurant, but she also had children at home and dealt with these kinds of odds and ends all day long. It was easy to tell at a glance if she didn't say so.
She could easily tell that Jian Dan didn't value this little gadget, and if she put herself in his shoes, she could understand.
"Don't worry about that. I'll go talk to them when we get back and ask them to keep all the scraps of cloth for us in the future."
Simple was so shocked that her mouth dropped open.
"Well, is that really necessary? How much can one bag produce? Can we even eat the scraps of fabric that textile factories throw away?"
"You,"
Zhu Yan was so angry that she pointed at her directly.
“That stuff is ridiculously cheap at that factory. I see the villagers wearing clothes that are all patched on top of each other. Tell me, how could they not like it when that stuff is brought over?”
Let me tell you, sometimes there are big pieces of cloth in there, two or three big pieces, enough to make a jacket for Yuanyuan. They didn't have cloth coupons, so they considered it a good thing.
"You, you, that cheap stuff, wouldn't it be better to use it to do favors? It's always better to have someone owe you a favor than to owe someone a favor."
These were heartfelt words, and although Jian Dan felt they weren't necessary, she nodded repeatedly in agreement, for she could still tell the difference.
The matter here was settled, and coincidentally, it was Jian Wenxiu's men who drove over in a large truck. Liu Weimin had been thinking about this matter recently, and naturally did not want to miss this opportunity. He discussed with Fang Ping why they should simply take advantage of the situation now.
Chen Ping hesitated for a moment but did not refuse. Firstly, the eagerness in Liu Weimin's eyes was too obvious, and secondly, he also wanted to see if he could take the things back directly, which would make it easier to explain to his unit.
Liu Weimin and his group had kept this a secret, but suddenly the villagers heard that someone was coming to buy their mountain produce, and they all rushed home with joy. In previous years, there was never such a good thing. Even when they sent their produce to the supply and marketing cooperative in the county town, the cooperative would be picky and would drive down the price.
They're dealing with each other officially, all in the name of the collective. Liu Weimin now knows the tricks of the trade; he'll collect a share from his own village first.
Liu Weimin was busy and couldn't persuade him to stay for dinner. Sheng Zhiyuan was eager to know news about his daughter, and Zhu Yan also wanted to go back and check the hair ties in her bag. No one had the mind to deal with unfamiliar people. In the end, Fang Ping could only reluctantly agree to go over for dinner.
Liu Weimin then hurriedly went back.
Watching Jian Dan lead a few people back, Sun Xiang helped the old lady walk into the courtyard as well.
"Mother, do you think this will work? It's just something sewn from scraps of cloth, will anyone really want it?"
"Then look, doesn't Xiaohua look good wearing it?"
Sun Xiang immediately put on a smile.
"She looks beautiful! Look how happy she is!"
"Well, just wait and see, it's something to look forward to."
By the way, keep an eye on the mountain produce at home. Make sure everything you're selling is spotless. We finally have some income, so let's not let it cause any trouble.
Sun Xiang also knows what's important.
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