Chapter 1 Hair Dryer
Back then, you needed ration coupons to buy stools. It would be easier in the countryside; you could just get a slip from the brigade headquarters, cut down trees on the mountain, and find someone to make one. But living in the city meant following the rules. So when Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei moved in, they saw they already had four stools left over from before, so they didn't think about buying any more, since it was just the two of them.
However, four stools are usually enough, but when guests come, they are not enough, and we have to borrow stools from next door.
So after finishing cooking, Lin Qingqing checked the time and, seeing that Yu Xiuhong should be back soon, went next door. Chen Aiguo wasn't home today, so it was just Yu Xiuhong and her son at the Chen family home. She lent Lin Qingqing the two extra stools and asked, "Do you have guests?"
"Xie Wei's comrade-in-arms, come over for dinner," Lin Qingqing said.
Yu Xiuhong said "oh" and then asked who else had come.
Lin Qingqing then told them who they were, and politely asked Yu Xiuhong and Chen Jianbang if they wanted to come to her house for dinner.
When Chen Jianbang returned, he smelled the delicious aroma wafting from the Xie family's kitchen. Knowing that they were having meat, his eyes lit up immediately: "I want to go!"
Yu Xiuhong looked embarrassed upon hearing this: "You child, all you know is how to be greedy! Sister-in-law, don't mind him."
“We have extra food at home,” Lin Qingqing said with a smile, then asked Yu Xiuhong if she wanted to go.
Although Yu Xiuhong also craved meat, she didn't really take advantage of it. However, Lin Qingqing's words about Commander Ding being among the visitors resonated with her.
She used to think that if her husband couldn't get promoted, it would be better if he transferred back to his hometown sooner, so she didn't worry much about her husband's career and her relationship with Commander Ding's wife was lukewarm. Now that she has feelings for him, she greets Commander Ding's wife with a smile every time they meet while she's buying groceries, but the woman seems to avoid her.
Today was a good opportunity, but unfortunately her husband wasn't home, and it wouldn't be appropriate for a woman to eat at a man's table alone, so she said, "I think I'll pass, Jianbang..."
"Let Jianbang come with me. He can come back after dinner," Lin Qingqing said.
Chen Jianbang stared longingly at Yu Xiuhong.
Yu Xiuhong wanted him to go, but seeing that he was a little worried, she said, "Be good when you go to eat."
Chen Jianbang, eager for food, naturally agreed and carried his stool out with Lin Qingqing. Just as they went outside, Xie Wei came over, took the stool from Lin Qingqing, and looked at Chen Jianbang: "What's this?"
Xie Wei was always very serious and rarely joked with people. Chen Jianbang was a little afraid of him, and when he saw Xie Wei staring at him, he hid behind Lin Qingqing.
“I invited Jianbang to our house for dinner,” Lin Qingqing said, noticing Xie Wei’s serious expression. “Don’t yell at him.”
Xie Wei is completely innocent. When did he ever act more aggressively towards Chen Jianbang?
But seeing that Chen Jianbang was indeed afraid of him, he didn't say anything, just grunted and took the stool back.
After entering the house, Commander Ding teased him again, saying that he was clingy to his wife and started getting anxious after Lin Qingqing had been gone for only a short while. Xie Wei didn't argue, but just smiled and said, "I was just worried that you'd get impatient and delay your meal."
The group laughed upon hearing this, and Deputy Commander Huang asked again, "Who is this child?"
“He’s the son of Battalion Commander Chen from next door.” Lin Qingqing then asked Chen Jianbang to greet everyone.
Chen Jianbang usually doesn't seem introverted, but now he's a little intimidated by the room full of men. He hides behind Lin Qingqing, clinging to her clothes and only softly calling out, "Hello, Uncle."
Deputy Political Commissar Liang, unaware of who lived next door to the Xie family, asked curiously, "Which Battalion Commander Chen?"
"Battalion Commander Chen Aiguo, from Old Ding's regiment," Xie Wei said, then told Chen Jianbang to let his wife go over to eat.
He spoke with a stern face, and Chen Jianbang, fearing him, remained silent. Xie Wei frowned again, about to speak, when Lin Qingqing retorted, "I told you not to scare him." She bent down and said to Chen Jianbang, "Put the stool down, let's get some rice, okay?"
"Mm." Chen Jianbang responded this time, put down his stool, and followed Lin Qingqing into the kitchen.
Xie Wei: "..."
Old Jiang suppressed a laugh and said, "This kid is quite attached to his younger siblings, isn't he?"
Xie Wei nodded expressionlessly, then stood up and said, "I'll go get the rice."
"What's the point of eating? Let's drink first, let's drink." Commander Ding said, getting up to get the wine he had brought from the living room.
"You guys drink, I've given up alcohol," Xie Wei said.
Commander Ding paused in his act of opening the bottle: "You really quit drinking?"
"I told you long ago that Lao Xie had given up drinking, and I told you not to bring alcohol, but you wouldn't listen," Lao Jiang said with a chuckle.
Deputy Regiment Commander Huang and Deputy Political Commissar Liang were both a little surprised: "Why did you suddenly quit drinking?" As they spoke, they both looked at Lin Qingqing, who was carrying food out of the kitchen.
Lin Qingqing was taken aback by their stares and asked, "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, I just want to quit drinking." Xie Wei took a bowl of rice from Lin Qingqing and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to eat?"
If Lin Qingqing weren't here, they would definitely have urged Xie Wei to have a couple of drinks. But since Lin Qingqing was here, they didn't know what to say and instead suggested, "Let's eat first then?"
Commander Ding frowned and said, "I've already opened the wine."
Old Jiang put down his chopsticks and said, "I'll drink with you."
Deputy Regiment Commander Huang and Deputy Political Commissar Liang changed their minds again, saying they would drink first and not eat.
After sitting down, Commander Ding poured drinks for everyone while asking Xie Wei, "You've really given up drinking? You're not kidding me, are you?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Xie Wei asked, amused.
"Actually, it's good that I've quit drinking. Every time I get drunk, my wife nags me about it." Deputy Regiment Commander Huang said, picking up a piece of fatty intestine. "Old Jiang has been raving about my sister-in-law's cooking lately. I'd better have a good taste today... Hmm! This tastes a bit different from what I get at state-run restaurants?"
"This is stir-fried pork intestines, it's supposed to be spicy," Lin Qingqing explained.
Deputy Regiment Commander Huang took another bite of food and said, "If my wife had my sister-in-law's cooking skills, I guarantee I would give up drinking too."
Deputy Political Commissar Liang scoffed, "You just don't want to quit drinking, do you?"
"Isn't this the kind of fun in life?" Deputy Regiment Commander Huang chuckled. "Your sister-in-law's cooking skills are unparalleled; even the chefs at state-run restaurants can't compare."
Speaking of this, Lao Jiang remembered: "Has your sister-in-law secured a job yet?"
"I've been working for a week now," Lin Qingqing said.
"Oh, where does your sister-in-law work?" Deputy Political Commissar Liang asked casually.
"Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative, the Revolutionary Committee is a little over there."
Regiment Commander Ding said, "I know that place; it's quite close to the family compound."
"Yes, it's convenient for commuting to and from get off work," Lin Qingqing said with a slight smile, then picked up another piece of fish belly meat and gave it to Chen Jianbang.
Chen Jianbang was still young and didn't understand what the adults were talking about. All he did when he arrived was eat. When he saw the fish that Lin Qingqing was putting in his mouth, he opened his mouth to stuff it in, but Lin Qingqing quickly stopped him and removed the large bones from the fish.
Xie Wei saw this but didn't say anything. He couldn't stand boys being timid and hesitant, but he also knew that getting a fishbone stuck in your throat was no small matter.
Chen Jianbang was still young, and although he loved meat, he didn't have a big appetite, so he quickly finished eating. Feeling bored at the table, Lin Qingqing told him to go home first.
Not long after Chen Jianbang left, Lin Qingqing also left the table, leaving only Xie Wei sitting and talking with everyone.
As she went out, she ran into Chen Jianbang running out. Yu Xiuhong stood at the door, pointing at his back and cursing, "You brat!" She couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"
"It's nothing," Yu Xiuhong said with a dry laugh.
When Chen Jianbang returned, she asked her son about the details of the dinner table, wanting to know if he had spoken to Commander Ding. To her surprise, her son knew nothing about anything, but he knew exactly what dishes were on the table and which ones were delicious, which infuriated Yu Xiuhong.
However, Yu Xiuhong couldn't say this to Lin Qingqing, so she made up an excuse and said, "You want to go out and play right after you finish eating, and you don't even do your homework. You're never home!"
"Hasn't he finished his summer homework yet?" Lin Qingqing asked. She had seen Yu Xiuhong watching her son's homework when she first moved in.
"Yes, there's still half left! Summer vacation is almost over," Yu Xiuhong said helplessly.
"I see," Lin Qingqing said softly. Although she had worked as a tutor when she was in school, she had only taught girls. Although the girls' grades were not good, they were very well-behaved and would listen attentively in her lessons. Therefore, she did not have much experience in taking care of children and could not help Xiuhong with her problems.
Actually, Yu Xiuhong wasn't too troubled. The college entrance examination had been suspended for several years, and the only way to go to university was through the worker-peasant-soldier quota. And in this quota, good family background was more important than good grades. Her husband was a soldier, so her son's family background was definitely not a problem, and it wouldn't be difficult for him to go to university.
However, Yu Xiuhong felt that going to university was pointless; it would only lead to a job in a factory or government agency with mediocre pay. She thought it was better to join the army. Although military service was tough, promotions were quite good. Xie Wei, for example, had only served for ten years and already earned over two hundred yuan a month—far better than those who worked in government agencies for ten years. Besides, after leaving the military, one could also get a job in a government agency.
Yu Xiuhong and Chen Aiguo had discussed it. If their son couldn't concentrate on his studies, they would let him join the army. With his father's connections, it wouldn't be a problem for him to be promoted to sergeant.
So the words of worry didn't really bother her; instead, she was concerned about the Xie family's situation: "Are they still eating?"
“I’m drinking,” Lin Qingqing replied.
"Then it probably won't be finished eating anytime soon. Aren't you going in to keep them company?" Yu Xiuhong asked.
Lin Qingqing shook her head and said, "Xie Wei is here, and I can't join in their men's conversation."
Yu Xiuhong muttered, "That's true." She felt a little disappointed, as this made it even more difficult for her to greet him. She should have asked Chen Aiguo to come back today; they were all acquaintances, and it would have been natural for them to sit down and have a meal together.
...
The man couldn't stop drinking; the meal didn't end until almost nine o'clock.
Commander Ding and Jiang Feng were both drunk and were being helped out by Deputy Political Commissar Liang and Deputy Commander Huang. Lin Qingqing saw this and said to Xie Wei, "Why don't you take them back?"
There were no streetlights in the residential compound; they relied entirely on moonlight and stolen lamplight from each household for illumination. There were ditches on both sides of the road, and Lin Qingqing, seeing that the other two were also somewhat drunk, worried that no one would help them fall into the ditches.
Before Xie Wei could even speak after hearing her words, Deputy Political Commissar Liang said, "No need, we can take them back." He was even slurring his words a bit.
Deputy Regiment Commander Huang was in a similar situation, which made Lin Qingqing even more worried after hearing what they were saying.
"I'll take them back and then come back myself," Xie Wei said, helping Jiang Feng walk out, while Deputy Political Commissar Liang and Deputy Regiment Commander Huang helped Regiment Commander Ding.
After they left, Lin Qingqing cleaned up the table. Thinking that she had to go to work the next morning, she didn't want to put it off until tomorrow, so she washed the dishes and chopsticks directly.
By the time she had almost finished washing the dishes, Xie Wei had returned.
Lin Qingqing wiped the countertop clean with a rag, then turned to Xie Wei and asked, "Have you sent everyone back?"
"Yes, I sent it back." Xie Wei walked into the kitchen and hugged Lin Qingqing from behind.
Lin Qingqing retorted, "You reek of alcohol."
Xie Wei innocently said, "I didn't drink."
"That's just the smell of alcohol on it," Lin Qingqing said. "Go take a shower."
Xie Wei knew she didn't like the smell of alcohol, so he reluctantly let go of her and took the kettle to the bathroom to shower. His hair was short, making it easy to wash, so he washed it while showering. When he came out, he was wearing a white undershirt and had a white towel draped over his hair, drying it as he walked out.
Lin Qingqing had finished her work and felt that she smelled of alcohol mixed with sweat. When she saw him come out, she found her clothes and went into the bathroom as well.
It was already ten o'clock when they finished everything. Lin Qingqing sat on the edge of the bed, drying her hair and dozing off. Xie Wei couldn't bear to see this, so he took the towel from her and let her rest her head on his lap while he dried her hair.
Lin Qingqing quickly found a good position, closed her eyes, and mumbled sleepily, "It would be nice to have a hairdryer."
"What's a hair dryer?" Xie Wei asked.
Lin Qingqing's eyes snapped open, and she instantly became alert: "What did I just say?"
"You said a hairdryer would be fine," Xie Wei said while drying her hair, repeating his previous question, "What's a hairdryer?"
"A hair dryer is an electric fan. Who told me that last time? That's how they call an electric fan in their hometown." Lin Qingqing turned her head away from Xie Wei's gaze, pretending to think. "Who exactly said that?"
Xie Wei recalled that when they were shopping at the department store during the day, Lin Qingqing had glanced at the electric fan several times. He didn't doubt her explanation, but he secretly remembered her words and thought that he still needed to get a ticket to buy a hair dryer as soon as possible.
Although Xie Wei didn't question her, Lin Qingqing didn't dare let herself fall asleep. However, she had just been drenched in a cold sweat and was no longer sleepy, so she kept her eyes open and talked to Xie Wei.
"This week is a rotation week, so I can take any day off, but once the counter is booked, it'll be hard to get weekends off." The store has ten people including Lin Qingqing, and only two are allowed to rest from Monday to Saturday, with even fewer on Sundays—only one person can rest. Therefore, once Lin Qingqing's counter is booked, she'll have to follow the same schedule as everyone else.
After hearing this, Xie Wei asked, "Have you decided when you'll be taking your leave next week?"
"Fridays are a day off."
Xie Wei thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll be back next Friday."
...
Lin Qingqing didn't even know when she fell asleep last night; when she opened her eyes, it was already the next day.
After waking up, Lin Qingqing was stunned for a while before asking Xie Wei, who was standing by the bed wearing a shirt, "I didn't say anything last night, did I?"
"What are you worried about saying?" Xie Wei asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lin Qingqing was afraid she would bring up things like the hair dryer again, so hearing him ask that made her feel relieved. She sat up, rubbed her face, and said, "It's nothing." She got off the bed and stood in front of the wardrobe looking for clothes.
Xie Wei felt something was off, but after thinking about it, he couldn't figure out what the problem was, so he could only say, "That's good then."
After washing up, the two went to the canteen for breakfast. Xie Wei usually came back on Sundays, and he ate breakfast at the canteen for two days in a row, Sunday and Monday. Sister Fu knew their habits, and when she saw Xie Wei, she asked, "Going to the camp?"
"Yes," Xie Wei said.
Sister Fu said "oh" and then asked Lin Qingqing why she got up so early.
Lin Qingqing smiled and said, "I have to go to work too?"
"What time does your supply and marketing cooperative start work?" Sister Fu asked, puzzled.
"I start work at eight," Lin Qingqing replied.
"Then why did you get up so early?" Sister Fu joked. "You just want to spend more time with Commander Xie, right?"
Lin Qingqing denied it: "I just couldn't sleep in the morning."
Sister Fu scoffed: "So how do you usually sleep?"
Lin Qingqing: "..."
After finally getting her breakfast and leaving the window, Lin Qingqing saw Xie Wei's lips slightly upturned as soon as she sat down. He looked very happy, and the temperature on his cheeks, which had just cooled down, rose again.
...
By Wednesday, Lin Qingqing had finished rotating through all the counters. Before leaving get off work, Director Gao called her to his office and asked her which counter she had decided to manage.
After checking out all the counters on the second floor, Lin Qingqing had already made up her mind and said, "I want to manage ready-to-wear clothing."
Director Gao was somewhat surprised. The ready-made garments looked expensive, but they weren't actually easy to sell. This was because the garments from the supply and marketing cooperative were mostly basic styles allocated from above, with fewer styles and less fashionable designs compared to the department stores in the city. Therefore, people who wanted to buy clothes directly didn't like the styles from the supply and marketing cooperative and went directly to the department stores. Those who came to the supply and marketing cooperative were often reluctant to spend money and would choose to buy fabric and have clothes made.
Therefore, although the supply and marketing cooperative had two wardrobe counters, their sales volume was always among the lowest. If it weren't for the requirements from above, Director Gao would have wanted to remove the wardrobe counters.
Hearing that Lin Qingqing wanted to manage the ready-to-wear clothing business, Director Gao pondered for a moment and asked, "Have you thought it through? Ready-to-wear clothing isn't easy to do."
"I've thought it through, but before that, I'd like to talk to you about something." Lin Qingqing said, taking out the plan she had made over the past few days from her bag and handing it to Director Gao.
This is just a simple plan, and it's not long, only two pages long.
Director Gao quickly finished reading the proposal and asked in conclusion, "You want to cooperate with a garment factory in your hometown?"
"Yes, I went to the department store in the city on Sunday and found that the department store has a wide variety of products and styles. The clothing has all kinds of fabrics, and there are also a lot of goods imported from Shanghai. I think this is one of the reasons why our supply and marketing cooperative's ready-made clothes are not selling well," Lin Qingqing said.
Director Gao nodded: "That's right." If they were a supply and marketing cooperative in a lower-level commune, it might be a little better, as it's far from the city center, and many people wouldn't bother to travel all that way to the city to buy clothes. But they're not like that. It takes less than an hour to get to the city from the supply and marketing cooperative, and there are many buses running, so they can go to the city whenever they want.
So it's not just the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative; the family compound supply and marketing cooperative is also struggling to sell garments.
"So I think there's only one way to start a wardrobe counter: enrich your product range."
Director Gao was certainly aware of this, but said, "We don't have that much money to compete with them on product quality." The department store was well-funded; in addition to the quota of ready-made garments allocated by higher authorities, they also had funds to purchase goods from big cities like Shanghai, but the Qingshan Supply and Marketing Cooperative didn't have that kind of capital.
"So we need to find another way," Lin Qingqing said.
Director Gao remained silent for a long time before asking, "How can we find another way?"
Lin Qingqing stood up, walked to the wall opposite the desk, turned around, and asked, "What do you think of my outfit today?"
She was wearing a light purple dress today. Director Gao had seen her wear this dress three times before, the first time being her first day working at the supply and marketing cooperative.
At the time, Director Gao only thought the dress was quite pretty, but since she was older and the style and color didn't suit her, she didn't think much of it. Now, listening to Lin Qingqing's words, it seemed there was something special about the dress, so she carefully examined it.
Upon closer inspection, Director Gao discovered some things he hadn't noticed before.
First, the dress has a very novel design; she had never seen anyone wear it before. Second, the dress flatters the figure very well. This is not only because Lin Qingqing has a good figure, but also because even someone with a less-than-ideal figure would look quite stylish in the dress.
Director Gao asked, "These clothes were made by Xingfeng Garment Factory?" This time, she didn't use the description "the garment factory in your hometown."
Lin Qingqing sat back down opposite Director Gao and nodded, saying, "Yes, this is their new model released this summer."
“We don’t have that much money to buy goods in Shanghai, but I think we can look at the clothes made by garment factories in the province. Yes, you might think that all the clothes hanging in our supply and marketing cooperative’s wardrobes are made by garment factories in the province, and that the styles are outdated and can’t be sold. But like the clothes I’m wearing, doesn’t that prove that there are always exceptions?”
Hearing her words, Director Gao fell silent.
She was certainly not only moved by Lin Qingqing's clothes and a few words, but also by the fact that she had been thinking about enriching the product range for more than just a day or two, but had not been able to figure out where to start.
But now—
“Our competitors are not department stores, so I think we don’t need to compete with department stores in terms of the number and variety of products. As long as we have one product that can rival department stores… no,” Lin Qingqing shook her head, “even with this product, we don’t need to compete with department stores. As long as we can attract more customers and let them know about our supply and marketing cooperative, that’s enough.”
Do you think the clothes from Xingfeng Garment Factory are acceptable?
"The clothes are new and beautiful enough, aren't they?" Lin Qingqing said meaningfully. "No matter when, people always love beauty."
People who come to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy fabric will also go to the department store to buy nice clothes. Therefore, Lin Qingqing believes that the reason why the clothing sold in the supply and marketing cooperative is not because customers are unwilling to spend money, but because the clothing styles of the supply and marketing cooperative cannot impress them and make them spend money.
"This summer, Xingfeng Garment Factory launched five dresses. Before these dresses hit the market, Xingfeng Garment Factory had only fifty employees. Less than two months after the dresses hit the market, the number of employees at the garment factory doubled."
Lin Qingqing didn't choose Xingfeng Garment Factory without reason; it was because the factory's clothes had already been tested by the market in Shicheng. Lin Qingqing believed that this batch of clothes would be the stone that breaks the calm surface of the supply and marketing cooperative.
Director Gao, who had been hesitant, changed his expression upon hearing this.
She slowly lowered her head, pondered for a moment, and said, "I can approve a sum of money for you, but it won't be much."
After visiting all the counters, Lin Qingqing had a general understanding of the supply and marketing cooperative's current situation. It wasn't that they were running a deficit, but their finances were definitely not very tight. So before coming to see Director Gao, she hadn't expected to receive any money. Now, she naturally wouldn't complain about the amount, and smiled, "Thank you, Director."
Director Gao is a straightforward person. Once he made up his mind, he didn't hesitate any longer. He smiled and said, "If this is the right path, I should be thanking you!"
Author's Note: First update
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
