Orders Increase

Reading note: According to research materials, in prosperous cities during the 1970s, a Bragi dress sold for between 40 and 60 yuan, while some fashionable long dresses even cost over a hundred yuan.

Shirts varied in price for men and women. Women's shirts were relatively cheaper, around 20 yuan, while men's shirts cost about 30 yuan. Custom-made ones were more expensive.

As for jeans, they sold for between 20 and 50 yuan. Sets were comparatively more expensive, with prices varying according to craftsmanship, region, brand, and other factors.

Ordinary wool coats ranged from 50 to 200 yuan, while higher-quality ones cost more. Suits likewise ranged from dozens to hundreds of yuan, as did leather jackets. Tracksuits cost 50 to 60 yuan per set, T-shirts cost 20 to 40 yuan, and plainer fabrics and styles were cheaper by around 5 to 10 yuan. Denim jackets cost about the same as tracksuits, selling for fifty or sixty yuan.

When Shen Jianan rode his bike to the Public Security Bureau, it was just lunchtime. Several female officers invited him to eat at the staff cafeteria, then brought him back to the break room to inspect the goods.

Lin Yaxin, otherwise known as Xiao Lin, had brought Bai Yun over midway through. As they watched him take clothes and backpacks from his bag, their delight was impossible to hide.

Officer Xu Hui held up the high-waisted culotte skirt before herself, comparing it back and forth. "Shen, you make clothes way too fast! It's only been a few days, and you've already finished all our clothes and bags?"

"No, no. I only rushed to make a few these past days."

Shen Jianan smiled as he explained, "The rest were items I'd prepared to send to the elders and sisters in my family. But since you needed them urgently, I gave them to you first."

"That makes us feel terrible."

Learning that they had "snatched" gifts the young man had intended for his family made them blush. Xiao Lin reluctantly pushed the clothes in front of her back toward him. "How about you send these to them first? The rest of us can wait a little longer."

Shen Jianan stifled a laugh. "No need! Keep them! Even if I mail them home, they won't be able to wear them for long before autumn arrives. Rather than that, I might as well make them some winter clothes. By the time they arrive, it'll be just the right season to wear them."

At that, smiles instantly spread across their faces. "In that case, we won't stand on ceremony."

Before she had even finished speaking, the girls lunged for the clothes. "This one is mine!"

"The dress! I saw that dress first!"

"Bullshit! Does it have your name written on it?"

Seeing their "ferocious" expressions, Shen Jianan hurriedly tried to mediate. "Don't grab them! Be careful not to tear the clothes! I matched these clothes and dresses to your looks and temperaments. If you scramble for them, everything will get mixed up."

At his words, they all let go and turned to glare at him with smiling eyes. "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

Shen Jianan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "You didn't give me a chance to say it!"

"Uh..."

Feeling guilty, everyone quickly changed the subject. "Wow, these clothes are so pretty."

Bai Yun pointed at the tangled pile of clothes on the table and tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Um... Jianan, help us sort them out."

Shen Jianan pressed his lips together to hide a smile. "Sure!"

He then explained that of the ten backpacks he had brought, half were casual styles and half were ladylike styles. They could try them on their backs right there and choose whichever ones they wanted. The women said they understood and immediately picked two bags each that they liked.

Only then did he begin sorting the clothes for them. "The solid-colored wide-leg pants, the blue-and-white floral sleeveless ruffled babydoll blouse, the fitted dress with a shorter front and longer back, and the dark red corduroy casual skirt are all for Xiao Lin."

Xu Hui's outfits consisted of a New Chinese-style floral short blouse with a V-neck and puffed sleeves, a pair of solid-colored wide-leg pants, and a mint-green cropped workwear set.

Meng Zijun's were an elastic-waist tiered skirt with a solid-colored fitted short-sleeved top, plus a printed short-sleeved shirt with a small suit collar paired with corduroy culottes.

As for Tian Yuan, Shen Jianan had also prepared a floral culotte skirt for her, paired with a solid-colored short-sleeved top embroidered with a simplified rabbit using the sewing machine. It looked adorable and lively, perfectly suited to her temperament. Her other outfit was a fitted cropped high-waisted top with a cross-over V-neck, paired with flared pants, which showed off her figure beautifully.

When Tian Yuan received that outfit, her face turned red, but the fondness in her eyes was impossible to conceal.

Shen Jianan smiled, then pushed Bai Yun's two outfits in front of her. Her clothes were more distinctive than those he had prepared for Lin Yaxin and the other four.

One set consisted of black-and-white printed wide-leg pants, paired with a long black overdress with high slits, along with an exquisitely designed inner top. Bai Yun was tall and slender without being gaunt. If she wore this outfit out, it would definitely turn heads instantly.

The other set was a white asymmetrical lace cutout mid-sleeve T-shirt with a matching inner layer, paired with a light brown midi skirt.

Looking at the clothes and backpacks before her, Bai Yun's eyes were full of amazement as she kept praising him. "Jianan, you're incredible. You actually came up with such beautiful designs."

"No, I just made them for fun."

Shen Jianan humbly waved his hand, then told them about the Production Brigade's cooperation with the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. "So if you want to buy bags or hair accessories in the future, you can go to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative."

The women all nodded and agreed, but inwardly, they admired him even more. He was willing to hand such a profitable business over to the Production Brigade. This kid had real vision.

"Jianan, calculate how much we owe you."

"Oh, all right!"

Shen Jianan nodded and counted on his fingers. "Sister Bai Yun, your bags have dyed details and three-dimensional woven rattan roses, so they're more expensive. The two cost 40 yuan.

"As for the clothes, they're made from rare lace and woven silk, with linings included. The pants and skirts also took quite a bit of work, so each set costs 78 yuan. Together with the 40 yuan for the bags, that comes to 196 yuan. You already paid a 50-yuan deposit, so just make up the remaining 146 yuan."

"Fine."

Bai Yun secretly felt that the money was well spent. She hurriedly took out her bills from her own bag, counted out 146 yuan, and handed them over. Shen Jianan happily accepted the money and tucked it safely into his pocket before calculating the bills for Lin Yaxin and the other four.

Their clothes did not use as much fabric as Bai Yun's, nor were the designs as difficult. Since theirs also lacked linings, Shen Jianan charged each of them 20 yuan less. In the end, he received a total of 650 yuan.

After putting away the money, the young man was about to say goodbye when they grabbed him again. They said they wanted to take him to the residential compounds where their families lived so he could make custom clothes for their neighbors.

Hearing that, Shen Jianan pretended to panic. "I don't have enough fabric at home."

"It's fine. They can bring their own fabric."

Bai Yun waved her hand grandly. "I'll handle the rest for you."

"Thank you, Sister Bai Yun."

The young man smiled brightly. "Then while you sisters still haven't had to return to work, let's get this done quickly!"

"Okay, okay! Let's go."

The women agreed repeatedly and took him to the Public Security Bureau compound and the furniture factory compound. When the residents heard Shen Jianan had arrived, they all rushed out with money and fabric, blocking him at the entrance to Lin Yaxin's home as they chattered about the styles of clothes, backpacks, and hair accessories they wanted.

Looking at the huge crowd before him, Shen Jianan felt a headache coming on. He thought that his blind-box-style way of doing business could no longer handle such a large stream of customers, so he told everyone.

From now on, every clothing design he made would come in four sizes, with only forty pieces made in each size. Six new designs would be released every season, first come, first served.

If they wanted to customize styles beyond those six, spring and summer clothes would require an additional customization fee of 10 to 20 yuan, while autumn and winter clothes would cost an additional 30 to 50 yuan. The delivery period would also have to be extended by seven to fifteen days. They could order if they were willing; otherwise, they could buy the existing styles.

In the past, people in these compounds would definitely have snapped back at him on the spot and accused him of being greedy for money. But ever since they had seen the hair accessories worn by Lin Yaxin and the others, as well as the outfit Bai Yun wore and the little bag she carried into the compound, they had been unable to stop thinking about them.

The department store did not have such beautiful things, and the Garment Factory could not make them either. What else could they do? Naturally, they would follow the little tailor's requirements. Otherwise, they would never get such lovely clothes and backpacks, so they readily agreed.

Seeing how cooperative everyone was, Shen Jianan was pleased as well. He took the chance to promote the Production Brigade again. "The backpacks will be made by the Production Brigade, while the clothes will still come from me."

He smiled and reminded them, "As for hair accessories, sisters and aunties, you can line up at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in a week. There's no need to order them from me, so you won't be delayed from looking pretty!"

He then had everyone line up, registered the quantities of clothes and backpacks they wanted one by one, collected the money and some of the fabric, agreed on delivery dates, and left the compounds with Bai Yun.

On the way, Shen Jianan asked Bai Yun what they should do about the fabric. Today, they had received orders for over 300 sets of clothes and more than 200 backpacks. It would not be easy to gather enough fabric scraps, and besides, he only had one bicycle. He could not carry so much stuff.

"It's fine. I'll handle it."

Bai Yun smiled and waved her hand. "Come on! Let's go to the Garment Factory and buy the fabric scraps first. As for the other fabric, wait three to five days. I'll personally deliver it to the Chaoyang Production Brigade then."

Hearing this, Shen Jianan knew she had connections and said no more. "All right, I'll leave it to you."

He immediately followed her to the Garment Factory and bought two bags of clean fabric scraps and two bags of flawed goods of the same quality as before. When Wang Hong saw the young man, his expression was much friendlier than last time. Before they left, he quietly told him, "The two bags tied with loose knots have a few extra pieces of better fabric and some backpack accessories inside. Keep them safe."

Shen Jianan was immediately delighted and slipped him another two yuan. "Thanks, Brother Wang."

"You're welcome."

Wang Hong accepted the bills with a smile and left. Shen Jianan said goodbye to Bai Yun, then went to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative to buy 3,000 rubber bands, needles, thread, elastic, and other supplies.

When Gao Xiaofen saw him, she was beside herself with excitement. The reason was simple: like Bai Yun, many people in the residential area where she lived had taken a liking to the clothes and backpack Shen Jianan had given her and wanted custom orders. Of course, the other salesclerks at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative wanted them too.

Shen Jianan told them about the Production Brigade's cooperation with the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. "When the time comes, you can buy bags directly at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. As for clothes, customized pieces and ready-made styles have different prices, and delivery will take a month."

"No problem."

The salesclerks happily took out money for deposits and even volunteered to watch over Gao Xiaofen's counter so she could take Shen Jianan to her home area and serve the neighbors there.

Gao Xiaofen was flattered and hurriedly thanked them. She then took Shen Jianan nonstop to the family housing compound. The moment they arrived, before either had caught their breath, she invited Shen Jianan into her home to rest, then went out to call around and brought back a group of women of all ages.

In the end, Shen Jianan received orders for over ninety sets of clothes and sixty backpacks. He immediately handed Gao Xiaofen fifteen yuan. "This is your reward for bringing me customers. In the future, whenever you bring someone to me for clothes, I'll give you a fifty-cent commission per set. Backpacks cost little and don't sell for much, so I can only give you twenty cents each."

Gao Xiaofen and her mother-in-law immediately looked as if their eyes were glowing green. They nodded repeatedly. "All right, just wait for our good news."

"Okay, then I'll be leaving first."

Shen Jianan stood and said goodbye to the two women, then left on his bicycle. Gao Xiaofen watched his departing figure, her eyes gradually reddening even as her face was full of smiles. She quickly returned inside and handed the money in her hand to her mother-in-law, Li Xiangyun.

Li Xiangyun froze for a moment, then smiled and waved her hand. "Why are you giving it to me? Keep it yourself. Just give me a little money for groceries each month."

After thinking for a moment, she grabbed her daughter-in-law's hand and guiltily patted the back of it. "Xiaofen, you've suffered these past years."

Gao Xiaofen suddenly choked up. "Mom, don't say that. You, Dad, and Guohua have all been good to me. I know that."

"Ah!"

Li Xiangyun smiled and nodded, reaching out to wipe the tears from the corner of her eyes. "Don't cry, child. Our good days are here. That educated youth is capable. If you help him promote his clothes, you'll definitely earn money. But you must know your limits. Don't let anyone find something to hold against you, understand?"

Gao Xiaofen broke into a smile through her tears. "Mm, I understand."

Shen Jianan made a killing on his trip into town, and Gu Yu also received one piece of good news after another. When he went to the Post Office, he indeed received a telegram from Capital City. The sender told him that the goods would arrive at Abundant Source Town on time in half a month and instructed him to prepare to receive them.

Gu Yu immediately sent another telegram, telling them to deliver the goods directly to Zhong Ning at the Salvage Station when they arrived and simply say that Yu Gu had sent them. He then instructed them not to reply and hurried back to the Chaoyang Production Brigade.

At the same time, after Zhao Gang and his group went to the Commune to report their cooperation with the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, they immediately returned to the village and told everyone in the Production Brigade that Shen Jianan had helped secure the partnership and obtained the first order for two hundred hair ties and fifty backpacks.

The villagers cheered wildly and praised Shen Jianan for being capable, but Jiang Hongmei sneered disdainfully. "Tch! How much can two hundred hair ties and fifty backpacks sell for? Split among all the households, it won't amount to much."

"If you think it's too little, then don't make any."

Hearing Jiang Hongmei spouting nonsense again, Niu Chunhua immediately shot back. With her hands on her hips, she turned her head and angrily scolded the other woman, "As long as you don't do it, the rest of us can get a bigger share. Even one cent is money, right, everyone?"

"Of course! Add another eight cents and that's enough to buy a pound of rice."

"Captain, since she thinks the money is too little, just cross her name off. We don't mind doing one person's share of work."

"Exactly, exactly. We don't mind earning less..."

Everyone spoke over one another, leaving Jiang Hongmei red-faced and speechless. The cadres were tired of her too, but they could not go too far. They feared that before the work was even underway, she might cause trouble out of spite. So they criticized her a few times in front of everyone and then stopped paying attention to her.

But Jiang Hongmei could not take it. Everyone called her a rat dropping in the soup, said she had high ambitions but low ability, and mocked her with veiled sarcasm. What young woman could stand hearing that? She immediately began crying in grievance, saying she would go to the Commune and ask the leaders to stand up for her.

The moment Zhao Gang heard that, he got angry. "Go on, go on! I'll go with you. I'll also give the secretary a proper report on how you've been stirring up trouble in the Chaoyang Production Brigade."

Everyone chimed in, "Captain, we'll testify for you. While we're at it, we can ask the Commune to transfer her away so she stops jumping around and holding everyone up every day."

"Right, transfer her away! She's too annoying!"

"I've never seen such a troublesome educated youth!"

Seeing that she had provoked public anger, Zheng Lei and Huang Qimei hurriedly edged away from her, lowering their heads and not daring to speak. Lu Xiaoyue and the others were even more disdainful of associating with her. Jiang Hongmei was so angry she nearly spat blood and cried even louder. "You're all going too far! You only know how to bully honest people! Boohoo..."

Seeing her pull this trick again, everyone was annoyed to the limit and began cursing angrily. They were so caught up in it that they did not even notice Shen Jianan riding past the fields from far away.

When Shen Jianan saw everyone arguing noisily, he thought something had happened. He quickly stopped his bicycle and called out, "Captain, what are you all doing? Have you prepared the things I asked for?"

Hearing him, everyone turned around and saw him standing by the roadside, drenched in sweat, with four bulging burlap sacks tied to the back of his bicycle. They hurried over and stopped below the embankment.

"Shen, what are you carrying?"

"Oh, these?" Shen Jianan pointed behind him. "This is fabric I bought to make clothes and fabric scraps for everyone to make hair accessories."

His voice paused as he turned to Zhao Gang with a serious expression. "Captain, while I was in town just now, I brought in another order for 260 backpacks for our Production Brigade..."

"How many? Two hundred and sixty!?"

Everyone was startled by the number and stared at him wide-eyed, as if asking whether he was lying.

Shen Jianan curled his lips and nodded proudly. "Two hundred and sixty. Also, the people from those residential compounds all want to buy hair accessories. The two hundred orders we signed with the Supply and Marketing Cooperative definitely won't be enough, so after work, everyone needs to hurry and learn how to make hair accessories. We can't miss our chance to make money!"

"That's wonderful!"

Zhao Gang struck his fist into his palm and laughed heartily. "If we calculate it this way, after costs, we can make quite a bit!"

"Right!"

Shen Jianan smiled and continued, "I bought two sacks of fabric scraps for you. One sack cost six yuan. Rubber bands cost one jiao for twenty, and I bought three thousand, which came to fifteen yuan. The beads for decoration, colored silk, buttons, and other things cost twelve yuan. Once you start earning money, just pay me back the capital."

Everyone was deeply moved and filled with fighting spirit. They all shouted that they would hurry and finish work so they could go to the Production Brigade and learn how to make hair accessories and backpacks.

"All right, unload the goods and take them to the Production Brigade first. I'll go home for lunch and come find everyone afterward."

"Okay, okay! Zhao Quan, you guys lend a hand and carry the fabric back."

Zhao Gang excitedly turned and waved his hand. "Everyone, hurry back to work. We'll finish an hour early today. Eat quickly and gather at the Production Brigade afterward."

"Got it, Captain."

Everyone responded enthusiastically, thanked Shen Jianan, and returned to the fields. As they passed Jiang Hongmei, each of them looked at her disdainfully and mocked her.

"Didn't you look down on our orders because there were too few? Now there are more than two hundred extra. What do you say now?"

"Don't ask her. She looks down on it."

"Remember, you said you wouldn't do it. Don't come snatching our work later!"

Niu Chunhua rolled her eyes at Jiang Hongmei and left proudly with her close friends. Jiang Hongmei was so angry she panted heavily, her lips trembling as she remained unable to speak for a long time.

Meanwhile, after hearing that Shen Jianan had taken so many orders, her two followers temporarily abandoned their alliance with her and eagerly followed the Production Brigade workers back to the fields.

Shen Jianan took in the three women's reactions and could not help sneering. With Jiang Hongmei's pathetic fighting ability, she still wanted to fight him? She was digging her own grave.

After unloading the two sacks of fabric scraps and accessories, he rode his bicycle to Cheng Hu's home. Once he unloaded his own two sacks of flawed goods there, he rode back to the Half-Mountain Courtyard.

Hearing the movement, Chen Ming hurried out to take a look. When he saw Shen Jianan had returned, he immediately smiled. "Shen, I'm cooking. Rest for a bit first. We can eat soon."

"That couldn't be better."

Shen Jianan raised a hand and rubbed his sore shoulders, then told him about everything that had happened in town that day. Chen Ming was infected by his enthusiasm and grew happy too. "So we'll be able to get money by the end of the month!?"

"Right!"

Shen Jianan nodded, then said, "Sit beside me later and learn properly. Try to earn enough to buy meat when we divide the money at the end of the month."

"Okay."

Chen Ming nodded with curved brows. "When the time comes, I'll treat you and Educated Youth Gu to braised pork. I'm especially good at making that dish."

He then turned and went into the kitchen. Seeing that his steps had become much lighter, Shen Jianan could not help tugging up the corner of his mouth before returning to his room. Not long after, Gu Yu returned to the Half-Mountain Courtyard carrying a basket of mountain goods.

Seeing the wild rabbits, pheasants, wild eggs, fruit, and mountain delicacies in the basket, Chen Ming's eyes flashed with struggle. Then he straightened his back and raised a hand in oath. "Don't worry. Even if someone beats me to death, I won't say a word."

"Pfft!"

Gu Yu laughed. "Even if you tell someone, I'm not afraid!"

What he really meant was, I have a storage space. What do I have to fear? But Chen Ming thought he was relying on powerful backing. Still, he approved of Gu Yu's actions in his heart. After all, Shen Jianan had made such a major contribution to the Production Brigade, so it was only right for the two of them to eat some wild game.

After the three ate a lavish meal of meat, rinsed their mouths, picked up their tools, and carried stools, they headed to the Production Brigade. On the way, they happened to meet Cheng Hu's family, and the two groups naturally joined together.

By the time they entered the courtyard, quite a few people had already arrived early to claim spots. Shen Jianan looked around, saw there was still space beneath a tree, and led everyone over to sit there.

Not long afterward, Zhao Hongjun, who had been away for two days, appeared near their group with his wife, children, and his brother's family.

Gradually, the children of several cadres also took the initiative to gather around. Shen Jianan and Gu Yu exchanged smiles, then looked up to see Zhao Jianguo, who had not appeared for a long time, entering the courtyard with his younger sister Zhao Xiufen.

Behind them followed the haughty-looking Jiang Hongmei, along with Zheng Lei and Huang Qimei, who both wore reluctant expressions. Shen Jianan immediately laughed.