"But, but, if it weren't for the two of us, Miss Green wouldn't have discovered you were writing a novel, and you wouldn't have stopped writing." He Lanshan said with a guilty look on her face, "I'm sorry, Wanzhen."
Huang Wanzhen finally put down her pencil and looked up at her. "It's okay. I don't have time to write novels anyway. I have a lot to do in the shop, and I have to take care of my studies."
"Even if Miss Green didn't say anything about me, I would have stopped writing."
"Really?" Song Wenyin looked at Huang Wanzhen with bright eyes.
Huang Wanzhen smiled and nodded, "Of course it's true. If I really wanted to write, I could change my pen name and work for another newspaper, but I'm too busy."
"That's different." He Lanshan retorted, "You worked so hard to establish this pen name, and now you have to change it and start all over again. How difficult is that?"
"Well, you have some truth in what you said, but many authors have several pen names at the same time. I might as well follow suit!" Huang Wanzhen didn't give He Lanshan a chance to pester her again. She stood up and suggested, "Let's go eat. It's my treat."
The three of them arrived at a newly opened western restaurant on Dengshikou Street. As soon as they sat down, they heard a surprised voice, "Deputy squad leader!"
The three of them turned their heads at the same time and saw Su Jingyi sitting in the back with a young woman in her twenties. Song Wenyin and He Lanshan did not know the young woman and only exchanged a few words with Su Jingyi.
Huang Wanzhen, on the other hand, stood up with a smile and said, "Hello, Mrs. Su, what a coincidence."
The young woman was Chu Qingqing, Su Jingyi's sister-in-law, who worked at the telephone bureau.
"Hey! Isn't this Wanzhen?" Chu Qingqing greeted with a smile, "You're out playing with your friends."
Huang Wanzhen nodded, "Yes, my classmate."
Chu Qingqing reached out and pushed Su Jingyi, "We are all classmates, go over and play together, I have something to do later."
Su Jingyi glanced at Chu Qingqing gratefully, then stood up and walked over with a smile, "Deputy monitor, can I sit with you?"
Huang Wanzhen turned to look at Song Wenyin and He Lanshan. Seeing them nod, she smiled and said, "Sit down and eat together."
Su Jingyi waved her hands quickly, "I'm full, you guys eat, don't worry about me."
Huang Wanzhen smiled, called the waiter, ordered a cup of coffee for her, and then ignored her.
When Chu Qingqing left, she came over to say goodbye to a few people and asked Huang Wanzhen to take good care of Su Jingyi. Huang Wanzhen smiled and agreed, then she turned and left.
"Hey! Su Jingyi, is this your sister-in-law?" Song Wenyin asked curiously.
Su Jingyi was a bit timid and introverted. Apart from Ye Mengyu who took the initiative to stay close to her, she had almost no close friends. When she heard Song Wenyin talking to her, she nodded hurriedly, "Yes, my second sister-in-law, my second brother is Su Jinghui."
He Lanshan laughed at her, "I didn't even ask your brother's name."
Su Jingyi pursed her lips shyly. Just then, steak, toast, and coffee arrived, and Huang Wanzhen brought up the topic, "It's almost time to change into winter clothes. I've been a bit busy lately. Wen Yin, when you have time, take a look at the Illustrated Magazine and design a few dresses!"
"Okay." Song Wenyin likes designing and making clothes the most, but unfortunately she is not good at sewing, so she can only draw them and let others make them.
"Actually, I also like making clothes. My family has a lion dog. It's getting cold, so I plan to knit a woolen sweater for her." Su Jingyi racked her brains, trying to join their conversation.
"Can you knit sweaters?" Huang Wanzhen asked with interest. "Sweaters don't make you look bulky like cotton-padded jackets. If paired with a coat, they'd look better than a padded jacket. It's a pity I can't knit."
"If you want to learn, I can teach you," Su Jingyi looked at Huang Wanzhen with shining eyes. "Deputy monitor, wool sweaters are very popular now. We learned this from people who studied abroad. Aren't you running a Western-style clothing store? Why not buy some wool and hire workers to knit sweaters for sale?"
Song Wenyin didn't expect that the usually quiet Su Jingyi would be so cunning and actually set her sights on her and Huang Wanzhen's business. Thinking of this, she became angry.
"Do I need you to teach me? You're not the only one who knows how to do it. Wanzhen and I will go to Wangfujing to buy some yarn. Doesn't the yarn seller know how to knit? Even if one doesn't know how, there's always another, and another. Wherever there is yarn, there must be someone who knows how to knit. It's not a difficult task, so don't bother Miss Su."
Song Wenyin's words, coupled with her slightly angry expression, made everyone present realize that she was unhappy. Huang Wanzhen smiled and tried to smooth things over, "Well, let's go take a look together later. Jingyi should go too. If you like anything, just go ahead and buy it. I'll go out and pay the bill."
Song Wenyin pouted, somewhat reluctantly, but Huang Wanzhen had already said she would treat them, and it would be bad to offend her. So she had no choice but to put on a sullen face and start eating the steak in big mouthfuls. After finishing one piece, she ordered another.
Huang Wanzhen looked at her and felt that she was trying to turn her grief and anger into appetite. She thought, eat, eat, as long as it doesn't embarrass anyone, just eat as much as you can. Her stomach is so small anyway, even if she eats too much, it won't make her poor.
After eating and drinking, Huang Wanzhen didn't want to chat with them anymore. They were not the type of people who could be together. If a conflict arose during the conversation, she would have to rack her brains to smooth things over.
"Let's go to Wangfujing."
Several people came to the shop to buy wool yarn, and Huang Wanzhen paid for it. Song Wenyin and He Lanshan were not interested in knitting sweaters, so they asked the shopkeeper how much wool yarn was needed to knit one for themselves. They bought as much as the shopkeeper told them. Su Jingyi was a shy person, so she only bought ten taels of wool yarn, saying that she would go back and knit another one for her puppy.
Huang Wanzhen was different. Her purchases were truly lavish, and even the shopkeeper advised her, "You buy so many pieces by yourself, you won't be able to finish knitting them in a year."
Huang Wanzhen said, "It's okay, I'll ask someone else to help me weave it. Do you have any weaving instructions here?"
Huang Wanzhen was considered a big customer, so the store gave her four knitting books and seven pairs of knitting bamboo sticks as a gift.
Only then did Huang Wanzhen realize that there were books on knitting sweaters so early.
After buying the wool, Huang Wanzhen did not go home, but strolled around and visited many foreign goods shops. In one shop, she spent ten yuan to buy two wool sweaters.
"I still think cashmere skirts look better." Song Wenyin frowned, as if Huang Wanzhen had a problem with her aesthetic taste.
Huang Wanzhen was in the car, looking through her newly bought wool sweater and nodded, "Well, the cashmere skirt is very beautiful, but the price is also very high. An ordinary cashmere skirt is four or five times more expensive than this sweater."
Back at Jixiangtang, it was already past three in the afternoon. Huang Wanzhen left the three of them in the studio for tea, then went to find Xiulan, Huang Dongshi, and Xiuqing, and opened the knitting book for them to read.
"This is a new thing that's all the rage in town. It's called a wool sweater. The shop charges five dollars for one. I've asked around, and I've learned that two dollars' worth of yarn is enough to make the largest sweater. I'm planning to hire some women to knit sweaters and sell them at Huamei Clothing."
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