"What are you going to sell at the stall? Food?" Song Qi looked at her, his eyes smiling.
"Mm, I want to go into town. How about we sell clothes?" Selling food required preparation and processing, which clearly was not possible here for the time being. She would need an excuse before she could make food. After all, the original owner had always been in school and did not know how to make all kinds of food.
"Clothes? Sure. Food and clothing are the two most profitable things," Song Qi said with a nod.
"When we come back from selling clothes, if we make money, we'll tell Aunt Shan and the others that we earned it doing temporary work for someone. If we tell them we went to sell clothes, they'll be shocked. After all, we don't have any capital." Shen Moxi looked at Song Qi as she gave him these instructions.
"Mm, got it. You've thought it through more carefully," Song Qi said, nodding.
"Once we've made a lot of money, we'll take over a shop and stock it with clothes. Then we can tell them we bought it with the money we both earned working, and they won't have to worry." Shen Moxi nodded.
"Then how are you going to get the clothes? Buy them from that system you mentioned?"
"Mm. Tonight, I'll come to your room and buy everything we need in advance. Then you can put it all in your space. We'll leave before dawn tomorrow. There's a bicycle at home, so we'll ride into town. If we get there early, we can look around first, find a suitable spot, and take everything out while there aren't many people around."
"All right, let's head back. You can tell them in a bit that we're going out tomorrow morning." Song Qi took her hand and walked back with her.
When they got inside, they saw Huang Yushan washing clothes and Song Yongjun chopping firewood.
"You're back." Hearing their footsteps, Huang Yushan looked up and saw the two of them approaching, talking and laughing.
"Mm, Aunt Shan, while we were out, Brother Song and I talked it over. We're planning to go out tomorrow, have a look around town, and find some work." Shen Moxi led Song Qi over and sat on a bench nearby.
"Into town? Isn't that too far? Have you both recovered?" Song Yongjun looked up when he heard this.
"I'm fine now, Uncle. Brother Song has pretty much recovered too, and he wants to go out and have a look himself. We know our own bodies. We wouldn't run around if we weren't well." Shen Moxi nodded.
"Qi, are you really all right now?" Huang Yushan was still a little worried.
"I'm fine, Mom. I'm young, so I recover quickly. Since I can't go back to the army, I need to go out and find some other work. I can't stay home forever." Song Qi nodded.
"Ah, all right. You two must be careful. What time are you leaving tomorrow morning? I'll get up early and cook for you." Huang Yushan hung up the washed clothes.
"Aunt Shan, there's no need. We'll just cook ourselves some noodles in the morning. Don't worry, I can manage something this simple." Shen Moxi waved her hand.
"All right. I'll have your uncle give you some money in a bit. When you're away from home, keep some money on you. Don't go hungry because you can't bear to spend it on food." Huang Yushan nodded.
"Aunt Shan, I have money. I still have plenty of what my parents gave me. Uncle doesn't need to give me any," Shen Moxi quickly refused.
It was not as though she did not know the family's situation. How much money could they have left? If they gave it all to the two of them, there would be even less left at home.
"Keep your own money, but you must accept what we give you too. We had you come marry our Qi to bring him good fortune, yet we haven't given you anything. That's already been very unfair to you. You can't refuse this little thing as well." Huang Yushan took her hand and sighed.
"All right, then thank you, Aunt Shan." Shen Moxi smiled and nodded.
"Dear, once some time has passed and we're doing a little better, I'll make sure you have a proper wedding banquet. Pick an auspicious day and go register your marriage with Qi," Huang Yushan said, looking at her son and then at Shen Moxi.
"Uh..." That was quite a turn. Hadn't they been discussing going out tomorrow? How had they suddenly ended up talking about marriage?
"What, you don't want to? Or do you think our Qi isn't good enough? You don't want to marry him?" Huang Yushan's eyes suddenly reddened again.
"No, Aunt Shan, you'll have to ask Brother Song about that. After all, we haven't seen each other in years. What if Brother Song doesn't like me?" Shen Moxi was flustered now.
"Our Qi definitely likes you. He's liked you since he was little. As his mother, I couldn't be wrong about that." After saying this, Huang Yushan looked at Song Qi. "Qi, what do you think of what I just said? Will you register your marriage with little Xi?"
Song Qi looked at Shen Moxi and nodded. "Mm, sure. You decide, Mom."
"Ah, good. Tomorrow I'll go to your house and discuss it properly with your parents. We'll find a day for you to register your marriage, then choose another day for your wedding banquet." Huang Yushan happily patted Shen Moxi's hand.
"Hehe, all right. Aunt Shan, I'll leave the arrangements to you." Shen Moxi nodded.
"You should sleep with Qi tonight. You slept apart before because he hadn't woken up. Now that he's better, you two can't keep sleeping separately. I'll move your things over in a bit." Huang Yushan suddenly remembered this important matter. How would she get a grandson if they did not sleep together?
"Huh?" Huang Yushan's one surprise after another that evening had left Shen Moxi's head spinning.
"Song, stop chopping wood. Come on, let's help move her things over." Without waiting for Shen Moxi's answer, Huang Yushan stood up, pulled Song Yongjun along, and went into the room to move her things.
Shen Moxi turned to look at Song Qi. What do we do?
Song Qi shrugged. I really don't know what to do. We'll just sleep together, then.
That night, the two sat on the kang, staring at each other.
"How about you sleep on the floor?" Shen Moxi pointed at the floor as she looked at him.
"No. This kang is so big that even two more of us could sleep on it. Why should I sleep on the floor?" Song Qi shook his head. "We're husband and wife. We're supposed to sleep together."
"Hey, we're not yet. Right now, we're allies." Shen Moxi shook her head.
"Let's get the clothes you want to sell sorted out first. We can talk about everything else later." Song Qi quickly changed the subject.
At that, Shen Moxi finally stopped.
"Mm, right. I'll sketch a few designs for men's and women's clothes first, then have the workshop produce them." After saying this, Shen Moxi first went to the shop to buy design paper and pens in various colors, then sat at the small table nearby, writing and drawing.
Clothes in the eighties were generally monotonous. Men's and women's clothes alike lacked variety, with nothing to catch the eye. It was May now, neither cold nor hot. For the women's styles, she would design long-sleeved dresses, and pairing them with leggings would be enough. With two trench coat designs as well, the wearer would be a thoroughly fashionable woman in the eighties.
For men, there would be shirts and trousers in lightweight fabric. She could design a few men's trench coats too. Relatively speaking, men's clothes were the simplest.
She wrote, drew, revised, and adjusted. Three hours passed, and she finally finished designing all the clothes.
She designed four styles of women's dresses in five colors: apricot, gray, ginger yellow with blue color blocking, red, and black. They were all mid-length, fitted and slimming, with an elegant air.
She designed two styles of trench coats in two colorways: apricot with black color blocking, and red. She could buy the leggings directly from the shop, and she could get a few pairs of little leather shoes to match the clothes too.
There was just one style of men's shirt, in white and blue. The trousers came in black and dark blue, and the men's trench coats in black and navy. She would also look through the shop for men's leather shoes in a bit and get some.