After dinner, Shen Moxi went back to their room to design summer clothes, while Song Qi cleared away the dishes.
Summer clothes were simple. For women, there were dresses, short-sleeved tops, and thin trousers. People did not wear shorts outside in this era; they were still very conservative.
For the long dresses, she designed lantern sleeves and ordinary short sleeves, using five colors-red, white, sky blue, green, and apricot-and came up with eight or nine styles.
She designed five styles of short-sleeved tops. Most of the trousers were flared, since bell-bottoms were all the rage in this era.
She chose pure cotton and linen for the clothes, and used some polyester-cotton fabric too, though not much.
Polyester-cotton fabric had both advantages and disadvantages: first, it did not wrinkle; second, it did not shrink; third, it needed no ironing; fourth, it did not fade. Clothes made from it also looked very stylish when worn.
But its biggest drawback was that it was not breathable or cool at all, making it especially stifling in summer. Although the fabric would wrinkle easily, she would combine polyester-cotton with pure cotton to make the clothes.
She also designed several styles of women's sandals. For men, she designed summer leather shoes and sneakers. The children's designs were simple, with three or four styles.
There were also sun hats for adults and children. She only designed women's styles for the adults, but there were styles for both boys and girls among the children's hats. As for sunglasses, she could just buy some from the system later.
By the time she finished all the designs, three hours had passed. She put all the drawings into the workshop and let it take its time making them.
The storage space was now unlocked. Although it was not very large, at a little over a hundred square meters, it had enough room for the finished clothes.
When Song Qi returned from his run, Shen Moxi had just finished. They went to wash up, and when they came back, Song Qi told her to lie on the quilt so he could give her a massage. She really had worked hard these past two days.
Of course Shen Moxi did not stand on ceremony. A rare chance to relax was more than welcome.
After washing up, she changed into her pajamas and lay facedown on the quilt, while Song Qi sat beside her and massaged her.
"Mmm, that feels so good." Shen Moxi enjoyed it with her eyes closed. "Now this is living. So comfortable."
"You've worn yourself out leaving early and coming home late these past few days," Song Qi said with a gentle smile.
"Of course you have to work hard while you're young. Being human means being tired. How could we have a comfortable living environment without getting tired? If you want to live better than other people, you obviously have to put in more effort," Shen Moxi said solemnly.
"Heh, you always have the best arguments. Everything you say is right," Shen Moxi said with a smile as she massaged her head.
"I never thought we'd have our own shop and be our own bosses so soon. Without you, it would have taken ages to reach this goal," Shen Moxi said with feeling.
"That's why I say it was fate that brought us together. Without you, even with all those things, I wouldn't have known how to use them or where to exchange them for money. Who knows how long it would have taken me to adjust to life here?" Song Qi ruffled her hair.
"It looks like Heaven saw how badly we both lived in our previous lives and decided to let things go a little more smoothly for us in this one." Shen Moxi rolled over and took his hand. "Things will keep getting better for us, right?"
Song Qi leaned down and kissed her forehead. "They definitely will. We're both lucky."
"Mmm, I'm sleepy. Let's get some rest." Shen Moxi patted the spot beside her.
Song Qi nodded, took off his clothes, and switched off the light. He pulled back the quilt and wrapped his arms around her. "Go to sleep. Tomorrow we'll sleep until we wake up naturally before heading over. Get some more rest."
"Okay." Shen Moxi put her arms around him, and his scent instantly settled her heart.
They slept well all night.
When the two of them got up, Huang Yushan was still at home and had not gone out. Seeing Shen Moxi come out, she went to the kitchen and brought out breakfast for them.
"Moxi, how's the shop coming along? How about I go help you today?"
Shen Moxi finished washing her face and shook her head. "No need, Aunt Shan. We'll have it ready in the next couple of days. You can come over when we open. My brothers will be there."
"All right. Tell us if you need us. Once the grain's harvested in a few days, your uncle and I will come over," Huang Yushan said with a nod.
"Okay, Aunt Shan. My eldest brother, second brother, and sister-in-law will come help first. If we really can't manage, we'll talk about it then." Shen Moxi tied up her hair and walked over.
"Then hurry and eat. I'm going to help in the fields." Huang Yushan changed her clothes, picked up a shovel, and left.
The two of them ate, washed the dishes, and rode off on their bicycles.
There were already quite a few people in town when they arrived. Their storefront had been completely transformed, and plenty of people nearby were discussing it.
Only when they saw Shen Moxi and Song Qi arrive and take out a key to open the door did they realize these were the owners.
Someone came forward to ask, "Are you the owner of this shop? What sort of business are you planning to run?"
Shen Moxi turned around with a smile. "Comrades, we're opening a clothing shop. Once we finish getting everything ready over the next couple of days, we'll open for business. There'll be great deals, so please come support us. We have lots of beautiful clothes from big cities."
"Sure, we'll all come take a look. Even your decor looks grander than the department store's," the person said with a smile.
"We'll go inside and get things ready now. Wait for our good news, everyone." Shen Moxi smiled and waved to them, then the two of them went inside and shut the door.
Seeing that the curtains were drawn and they could not see anything inside, everyone finally dispersed.
Once inside, they switched on the lights. Shen Moxi took out all the clothes made the night before, piling them across the floor.
"Let's start sorting them out bit by bit. We'll hang up the adult clothes first, then do the children's clothes over there." Shen Moxi took out some hangers and began hanging up clothes.
"All right. Get the ones for the wall ready first and pass them to me. I'll hang them up," Song Qi said with a nod.
Shen Moxi first put together four women's outfits and handed them to Song Qi one by one to hang on the wall, then put together two men's outfits.
Then she put the clothes on hangers one by one. Once they were all on hangers, she carried them over to the freestanding racks and hung them up individually.
It took them half the day to finish the adult clothing section. They adjusted the direction of the freestanding racks several more times, so it looked uncrowded and everything could be seen at a glance.
Finally, she put together the children's outfits and hung them on the wall, then got the others ready one by one and hung them on the freestanding racks.
Once everything was done, the two of them rested for a while and drank some water. Shen Moxi took out all the shoes and hats and arranged them on the counter in the middle.
She placed each hat on a round display form. For the sunglasses, she got two small eyewear racks, filled them up, and placed them beside the hats.
With everything arranged, Shen Moxi looked around to see whether anything else needed adjusting.
She looked at the floor and thought for a moment, then bought some rugs and placed them around the shoe display counter. This way, customers would not have to worry about getting their feet dirty when changing shoes.
She also bought some lucky doll stickers bearing the words "Welcome" to put on the door later.
She planned to hold a prize draw for the opening. Customers who spent a certain amount on clothes could enter the draw, and those who spent another set amount could open a red envelope themselves.
So she got Song Qi to join her in making a draw box out of a cardboard box. They covered it with bright red paper and used a black marker to write a thick, bold "Prize" on it, then put slips for first prize, second prize, third prize, and lucky prizes inside.
Then she made some red envelopes out of red paper and stuffed money inside. The smallest amount was one yuan, and the largest was five yuan.
Looking at everything she had made, Song Qi felt thoroughly bewildered and asked, "What's all this for?"