Chapter 105 Caught
After breakfast, the brigade secretary and the wife of the brigade leader came with fabrics to ask Lin Shu to help them make clothes.
The son of the brigade leader and the daughter of the secretary are going to have
blind dates recently. They had agreed with Lin Shu before and had taken measurements, but they just couldn't get the fabric they wanted. They didn't like the ordinary fabrics in the supply and marketing cooperative.
In the past few days, they asked someone to get the fabric they liked from the city, and then came to Lin Shu to help them make it.
No matter who asked her to make clothes, Lin Shu would ask for money except for her family.
Except for summer clothes, 1.5 yuan per set is a courtesy price. Outsiders, such as Zhang Sigu and other city people, will pay at least 1.7 yuan per set, and the price will be increased according to the complexity of the style. Secretary Jing's family even gave 1.8 yuan.
Winter is the peak season for country people to make clothes after the cloth coupons and dividends are issued.
Older people can still sew by themselves, but young people love beauty and face, especially those who are waiting for blind dates. Clothes are what make a person, and of course they have to make clothes that fit them well and look good.
The clothes on Lin Shu's family are living signs, especially yesterday when they were dressed up, which attracted people's attention.
In addition, Zhang Sigu, Secretary Jing and other people who have asked Lin Shu to make clothes have promoted it, so more people come here because of her reputation.
There are even people in the city who don't use the tailors in the city and insist on joining in the fun and come to Lin Shu to make clothes.
In just a few days, Lin Shu actually took on more than ten sets of clothes!
It's already the end of winter, and there's not much time left before the New Year.
Even if she has a sewing machine to make a set every three days, and asks others to help with the hemming, buttoning, and ironing, it will take more than a month.
Making clothes every day for a month?
That's too tiring and too much!
The tailors in the commune are not that hardworking. They take four to five days or even a week to make a set of clothes.
Lin Shu picked and rejected the jobs. She would take the jobs introduced by her acquaintances, and forget about the jobs she took for those who came just to join the fun and keep up with the trend.
Some people who were in a hurry to wear the clothes would find someone else to make them. Some who were not in a hurry would put their clothes here and wait in line. And those who were free and had money would quietly ask Lin Shu to increase the price and make the work faster. She would pay two yuan instead of one yuan and seventy yuan for others .
Lin Shu could consider this.
But she didn't want to do everything herself. She wanted Lu Xiuxiu to come home and help. Then she would cut and Lu Xiuxiu would sew, and they would split the money in half.
Lu Xiuxiu studied with Guo Tailor in the commune for nearly two years.
Guo Caixiu is in his early sixties this year. He is an old master who lived before the founding of the People's Republic of China. He specializes in making cheongsams, and his workmanship is
very exquisite. Lin Shu thought that as his apprentice, Lu Xiuxiu must be very good.
Lu Xiuxiu was an apprentice to Guo Caixiu. She was paid 10 yuan in tuition in the first year, 5 yuan in the second year, and no tuition in the third year, but she had to help him with work during these years.
He was the master of the commune's tailor shop. Originally, there were two other tailors, but one of them went to work in a garment factory in the city because of connections, and the other got married and moved to another place. So he did not look for tailors anymore but took in two apprentices.
After the two apprentices finished their apprenticeship, they could work in the tailor shop.
Of course, apprentices also had to do odd jobs in the first three years, but they had no salary and had to bring their own dry food.
She discussed with Fang Dihua and asked Lu Dasao to go to the commune and call Lu Xiuxiu home on the pretext of celebrating the New Year.
Fang Dihua was still afraid that Guo Tailor would not let her go. After all, the commune tailor shop was busy at the end of the year, and Xiuxiu would definitely have to help out there. But
Lu Dasao didn't care and just went and gave it a try.
The girl didn't stay at home much throughout the year, so she shouldn't have a two-month vacation at the end of the year?
As a result, Guo Tailor said that she could only have a vacation on the 20th of the 11th month. Lu Dasao tried to persuade her, and both her grandma and her grandmother wanted it, and Guo Tailor agreed to give her a vacation on the 15th of the 11th month.
Mrs. Lu complained as soon as she came back, "So they are using us as free labor."
Lin Shu could understand, "In the past, those craftsmen taught their apprentices like this, for fear that the apprentices would starve the master to death. They would squeeze the apprentices hard during the three-year apprenticeship period, and would not teach them any tricks until the very end."
Although she felt that making clothes was just a matter of making clothes, there were no tricks.
In her previous life, she just did it out of interest, bought books to study, and taught herself by watching videos, and she was getting better and better.
Later, she went to a garment factory to learn from a pattern maker, and found that her work was more refined than that of the pattern maker on the assembly line, and it was completely at the level of a private garment factory.
However, many people nowadays hide their skills and do not have videos or books to teach themselves. If the master does not tell them the secrets, they really cannot figure it out.
After entering the month of Ram, the weather was freezing cold, but the members' enthusiasm for the New Year was ignited, and they flocked to the market and the supply and marketing cooperative to buy New Year's goods.
Buying new clothes is also a rigid need.
Lin Shu is very busy, and it costs money to make clothes for others. Most families in the village are embarrassed to ask her to make clothes.
After all, if you don't pay, it's like taking advantage, and if you pay, you're a little reluctant.
On this day, Lin Shu was clacking on the sewing machine, and Lu Hehuan came over with cloth and money, wanting Lin Shu to make a nice dress for Xu Shihua to wear during the New Year.
Because he saw the new clothes worn by the son of the team leader, he praised "the style is good and the workmanship is exquisite, but it's a pity that the person is a little ugly, and the clothes are wasted."
Lin Shu refused directly, "I'm so busy, how can I have time to make clothes for him?"
Lu Hehuan: "I paid! I also gave more, others gave 1.5 yuan, I gave 2 yuan!"
Lin Shu looked up at her, pressed the edge of the cloth with an awl, and looked at her with a smile, "Who do you think I care about money from? I'm not afraid to tell you straight, if you hadn't rushed to marry him, I wouldn't even look at him, let alone make clothes for him?"
Lin Shusi didn't mind hitting her sister-in-law, she just wanted to let her sister-in-law know that the man you treat as a treasure is nothing to me, so don't rush to throw yourself at him. She
had made her mother-in-law angry enough before, how could Lin Shu, who holds a grudge, not make up for it?
Lu Hehuan was so angry at Lin Shu that she burst into tears on the spot. Fang Dihua saw that she was a little annoyed by Xu's mother, so she drove her away. It's
New Year's Day, why are you crying at your mother's house?
Who are you trying to annoy?
Seeing that her own mother disliked her, Lu Hehuan went home and cried to Xu Shihua, why did her mother and sister-in-law dislike her?
As a result, Xu Shihua not only did not comfort her, but accused her with a cold face, "Why did you ask her to make clothes for me? Are you stupid? Can't you see that she looks down on me very much?"
"She obviously looks down on me, but you still rushed her to ask her to make clothes? Did you do it on purpose?"
Xu Shihua was in great pain for a while because he suspected that Fang Dihua and Lin Shu sent food to his house on purpose to suppress and humiliate him.
He thought about it and felt that he shouldn't give them face!
Foolish women, no matter how capable or beautiful they are, are just... narrow-minded.
He is an artist, a poet, and he is above the world. He only needs to look down on her, not look at her straight, let alone look up at her!
The fire is poisonous, he can't let her burn him to death.
He will ignore her, even if she hangs in front of him, he will not look at her again!
So he tried not to mention her, let alone talk about her, and he would hide when Lin Shu went to his house.
Lu Hehuan actually asked her to make clothes for him, how could he not be angry?
Xu's mother was gloomy and said, "Yaoyao, look, there's a bastard at home."
Lu Hehuan felt wronged and angry, and didn't want to eat.
Xu Xiaoyou comforted her and told her not to be sad, "My aunt doesn't like my father, so don't use his things to annoy my aunt."
Lu Hehuan's grievances were like the Yellow River, flowing thousands of miles.
How could a man like Xu Shihua, who was so handsome, be considered a stinky man?
Why did my sister-in-law dislike him so much?
Although Lin Shu was busy, she was not messy at all. When she had time, she used beautiful scraps of cloth to make several hair ornaments for Tiantian.
Nowadays, girls only have those rubber bands to tie their hair, which are easy to tangle. Lin Shu never gave them to Tiantian, but only used red hair ties.
However, she found that it would be more beautiful and practical to tie three rubber bands with beautiful pieces of cloth to make cloth head flowers.
She made more than ten at a time and gave them to the girls in different patterns.
Tiantian was generous. After obtaining Lin Shu's consent, she gave two to Xu Xiaoyou and one to Huahua, Honghong, Juanjuan and others.
Huzi was greedy and asked for one too.
Now, except for Panpan, everyone else has a beautiful head flower. Generally,
girls can go back to their parents' home for a few days before the Chinese New Year, and then go back to their parents' home for a few days in the first month of the lunar year.
Country people are busy with farming almost all year round, and women can only go back to their parents' home for a few days.
Fang Dihua never stopped her daughters-in-law from going back to her parents' home. In addition to the gifts they packed themselves, the family also gave everyone some extra gifts.
Each person gets two ribs, a straw raincoat radish, five salted duck eggs pickled until bright red, and ten eggs.
The radish and salted duck eggs were Lin Shu's work.
The eggs were Lu's father's work.
Of course, what Lin Shu gets when she returns to her parents' home is not included in this list. Fang Dihua can take whatever she wants.
In addition to the ribs and a piece of meat, she is also given radishes, pickled cucumbers, pickled tofu, salted duck eggs, pickles, spicy cabbage, etc. She can take whatever she wants.
The daughter-in-law and Tiantian and Panpan have to eat when they stay for a few days, right?
Of course she hopes to eat better.
Lu's wife basically doesn't stay at her parents' home when she returns to her parents' home. Her mother has to weave cloth and has no time to take care of her.
She went back to eat at her mother's house. Her big appetite made her disliked by her sister-in-law and brother's wife. It was better for her to stay at home.
She could also do some work in the team to earn work points.
The Lu Ping brothers didn't like to go to their grandmother's house either. Although their grandmother was a good person, the dining table was too shabby and they couldn't bear to eat anything. They
would be hungry if they went there.
Lu Er's wife didn't want to go back either, because she didn't make shoes for her brother's wife.
To be honest, she didn't want to make shoes for her brother's wife.
Although Fang Dihua distributed the cloth coupons to each family this year, she specifically warned them not to take the cloth coupons of men and children to their mother's house, unless someone in their mother's family got married and got the cloth coupons, and they had to return them in the future, otherwise they were not allowed to take them back.
Everyone else in the family lives a good life, but your husband and children are the only ones wearing tattered clothes. Isn't it shameful?
You don't feel ashamed, but I, your mother and grandmother, feel ashamed.
Second Sister-in-law Lu discussed with Fang Dihua whether she could ride the bike back and come back the same day.
She thought about riding the bike back and telling her mother that her mother-in-law asked her to ride the bike back the same day, so she couldn't stay.
But Fang Dihua immediately thought that Second Sister-in-law Lu's parents would confiscate the bike. Whether it was for showing off in the village or for her sister-in-law to ride it back to her parents' home to show off, the bike would be in trouble.
She refused!
"How about this, let your eldest sister-in-law take you back and then pick you up." Fang Dihua still trusted her eldest daughter-in-law very much, and gave the bike to her for safekeeping.
When Lin Shu went back to her parents' home, she asked the eldest sister-in-law Lu to take her back and pick her up. There was nothing wrong with that.
Second sister-in-law Lu: "Then can't Cuicui's father ride a bike? Ride back in the evening."
Fang Dihua refused to give in, "Who can Cuicui's father refuse?"
When the mother-in-law spoke, the second son, that fool, couldn't even say no.
Second sister-in-law Lu felt particularly aggrieved. How come the third son's family in the eldest family can ride a bike, but she can't? Fang
Dihua didn't care if she was angry or not, because she was the head of
the family and she had the final say. She was not afraid of being accused of being partial now, she was partial, and she admitted it.
Anyway, she would follow the third son's family in the future, so what if she was partial? If
the daughter-in-law wanted to go back to her parents' home, the daughter-in-law could naturally go back as well.
Fang Dihua also asked Lu Ping to pick up the eldest and second aunts.
However, both aunts did not come back. The eldest aunt said that she had a bicycle and lived nearby, so she could go home when she was free, and she did not need to come back to live and cause trouble for her parents. The youngest aunt said that she had to go to work,
so she did not share the same courtesy with her sisters-in-law. Fang Dihua let them do as they pleased, because she was just being polite to her in-laws.
Lin Shu went back to her parents' home to give her New Year gifts, chat about their respective recent situations, ask if her grandchildren were making trouble, and have a meal. She would go home in the evening.
After she came back, she concentrated on making clothes for others. Fang Dihua was afraid that she would be tired, so she took the initiative to cook. She also asked Lu Ersao, Lu Ping, and Lu Cuicui to help Lin Shu, hem the clothes, and sew buttons. Ironing clothes could be left to Lu Ping, who was attentive.
It was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and from the tenth day on, the Lujiazhuang Brigade started sending pigs to the commune's pig collection station.
Lin Shu's piglets were caught last fall, and they were ready to be weighed out in the winter of this year.
In those days, there was little food, and there was no fattening pig feed, so every household raised pigs on sweet potato vines, rotten vegetable leaves, pig grass, etc., and the best ones were fed with some dried sweet potatoes.
It was considered good if a pig could weigh 100 kilograms in a year, but most pigs weighing 70 or 80 kilograms were not even enough to pass the pen standard. Many families had to raise their pigs for one and a half to two years before they could reach the standard of 120 kilograms and send them to the pig collection station.
Lin Shu's pigs usually ate a lot of vegetables from home, such as pumpkins, gourds, etc. If there were any bad ones, Lin Shu would throw them to the pigs.
In addition, when the family cooked pickled mustard greens, adding crushed sweet potato vines and a small amount of cooked shredded dried sweet potatoes to the pot water would also help the pigs gain some fat.
Most of the piglets caught last year by most families in the village have just been weighed enough to be put into the slaughterhouse. These days, they have gathered together to deliver piglets to the commune pig station.
In the past, I would deliver the pigs by myself without hesitation. Either the pig station staff would deliberately give me a low grade, or the pigs on the road would be rejected if they were less than a few ounces and a half of shit.
This year, Lin Shu suggested that Brother Lu go to the pig station early to make some connections, and there was no need to go through the back door. He could just go to smoke some cigarettes and deliver some pickles or something to get acquainted with the people, and then he would be there to help when the members of his brigade went to deliver the pigs.
At least I feel embarrassed to give a low rating to malicious people, so I can get away with it if it's just half a dozen.
It's just like delivering public food. How much trouble will it have for you to dry it when you go home?
It was so hard to tie up the pig and send it to the commune, and then take it back home to raise for two days. How much trouble is that?
The pig was frightened by the trip and refused to eat or had diarrhea. Not only did it not gain weight, but it became thinner and thinner. It would be greasy even if you raised it for another ten days. You must feed it more food.
But people don’t have enough food these days, so who would be willing to feed the pigs?
So it seems like a small matter, but it leads to a big problem.
In the past, the brigade cadres didn’t see this and no one cared.
This year, Lin Shu gave Brother Lu an idea, and he thought it made sense so he went ahead.
Sure enough, the brigade has been very successful in delivering the mission pigs these days!
If there was a shortage of a few ounces, Big Brother Lu would not let the staff raise their hands, but asked those who brought cooked pumpkin, cabbage and sweet potato vines to rush to feed a few mouthfuls to make up for it.
Big Brother Lu and Second Brother Lu helped so much, and the members saw it, and the brigade secretary and team leader and other cadres also praised them frequently.
"Big Brother Lu and Second Brother Lu really work for the members!"
"Accountant Lu really cares more and more about our members. It's a good choice to choose him as the accountant!"
Lin Shu hurriedly made two more sets of clothes, both from Houtun, and one of them was for Lin Aidi's husband.
Lin Aidi said she would come to pick it up the day before yesterday, but she was nowhere to be seen today. Lin Shu thought about sending them over together.
By the way, she made a surprise visit to Xu's house to see how Xiaoyou was doing and to piss off Xu's mother.
Anyway, Xu Shihua and Xu's mother already regarded her and Fang Dihua as the best relatives, so she was not afraid of being a nuisance.
She said a word to the two kids playing on the street, and then went to Houtun with her clothes.
On the way, she met a slightly crazy woman in Houtun. She stared at Lin Shu fiercely and murmured, "You are my daughter-in-law, you are Shuilian."
Lin Shu heard from Lin Aidi that there was a woman in Houtun who was a little crazy because her only daughter Shuilian ran away with a man three years ago.
She just wanted to be a daughter-in-law, and when she saw a handsome girl, she thought she was her daughter-in-law, but she had no bad intentions.
Lin Shu was not afraid of her.
Jeeps were shuttling through the woods in the north of Houtun.
Chen Yanming: "Old Lu, you are not lost, are you?"
Lu Shaotang's handsome face was reflected on the car window, and his slender fingers turned the steering wheel flexibly, "Lost at the door of your home?" You
must be kidding.
Chen Yanming: "I said to take the national highway, but you insisted that this road was faster. How is it faster?"
He looked at his watch, "It took me three minutes longer than last time."
Lu Shaotang turned the steering wheel, went around a tree and got on a small road, and stepped on the accelerator to get on the main road.
There was a village in front of the main road.
Chen Yanming: "Old Lu, you are awesome."
A living map.
Lu Shaotang parked the car on the side of the road, "Come pick me up in a few days."
Chen Yanming: "How many days?"
Lu Shaotang: "When there is a breakthrough in the case, I will pick you up."
Zhou Qiaofeng, the suspect of the Zhou family, has been controlled, but she refuses to confess. She is a stubborn person who is not afraid of death. So we can only wait for the time being.
Lu Shaotang just gave himself a vacation and went home to his wife and children.
Chen Yanming: "Oh, don't stop, I want to go to my aunt and brother and sister-in-law to wish a happy new year and have a meal."
Lu Shaotang parked the car, grabbed the backpack and got out of the car. In one go, he waved to Chen Yanming and told him to hurry up... Run.
When he is no longer poor, he will be invited to visit his home.
His wife is shy and thin-skinned, and Chen Yanming is a poor talker. Lu Shaotang doesn't want him to offend his wife.
Lu Shaotang strode to the back village with his bag on his back.
Lin Shu carried a cloth bag and went to deliver clothes to that family first, and then went to Lin Aidi's house.
At this time, many families caught pigs and sent them to the commune pig station, so the village was very noisy with voices and pig cries.
Several families here locked their doors, and there were a few piles of pig shit on the road. They must have left. The surroundings were quiet against the background of the pigs' screams in the distance.
Suddenly, she heard a faint strange sound.
The sound was like the sound of a small animal struggling for death and asking for help.
She stopped and looked to the south.
There were no houses to the south. There was an open space between two houses, with a few haystacks and some miscellaneous trees. There were vines growing inside, and there was a palm-sized vegetable patch next to the haystacks near the road.
The strange sound came from inside.
She walked closer to the haystacks and listened, but there was only the sound of the wind blowing, as if the faint sound was just her hallucination and illusion.
Nothing. So
she continued to walk forward, walked out of the haystack area and took a few more steps, she immediately stopped and then slowly walked back a few steps along the back of the house to the south.
After hiding in the corner for a while, she heard a rustling sound again, mixed with a short scream, but unfortunately the scream was blocked by something before it could come out.
Lin Shu's scalp suddenly went numb, and she felt like her hair was going to blow off!
She immediately pulled out a stick more than two meters long and as thick as her arm from a haystack outside a house, and picked up a few stones from outside the wall.
She walked along the north side, and then suddenly threw a stone to the haystack in the south. The stone fell into the haystack with a "swish" sound.
The tiny sound disappeared again, as if it was her illusion.
But Lin Shu believed that it was not her illusion!
She threw another stone in with a clang!
After throwing five stones in succession, a hoarse and vicious voice of a man suddenly came from inside, "Who wants to die? Get out of here!"
Lin Shu was so scared that she ran away, shouting as she ran: "Fire! Fire!"