Chapter 75 Part 1

Chapter 75 Part 1

Despite Mao Jianxin and Jin Caifei's reluctance, Shen Moer still found time to visit the factory under construction. The commune had designated a plot of land surrounding the textile factory for the Embroidery Factory. Besides the factory currently being built, there was also a plot reserved for staff dormitories nearby.

Mao Jianxin was probably afraid that Shen Moer would interfere and offer her opinions, so his expression stayed rigid the entire time. Unbeknownst to him, Shen Moer merely glanced around and left without a word.

In fact, Shen Moer didn’t understand what Mao Jianxin and Jin Caifei were worried about. Constructing the factory was no small feat, but the purpose of building it was for production. If the production didn’t go well, what was the point of having a well-built factory?

They were willing to diligently and tirelessly oversee the factory construction every day, and Shen Moer was actually glad about that. It was clear that these two were genuinely eager to make a difference, so they were paying very close attention to the construction.

After her visit, Shen Moer decided not to get involved, as she was quite busy herself.

Not only did she have to teach, but she also had to arrange for the people from Yangliu Brigade who had learned embroidery from her to go to other brigades to mentor others. On weekends, she had to return to Yangliu Brigade to answer their questions and help them improve their skills. In her spare time, she also had to draw the designs for the factory’s first batch of products.

In short, she was busy every day.

Fu Mingze was equally busy. The test fields in Yangliu Brigade had expanded in scale, not just the three to five acres Zhou Mancang originally planned, but directly to thirty acres, as required by the commune. Zhou Mancang was now on edge every day, fearing that something might go wrong with these thirty acres, so he kept Fu Mingze close at hand.

Fu Mingze now not only had to study fertilizers and irrigation with the agricultural technicians but also had to screen seeds everywhere. He often left at the crack of dawn and didn’t return until well after nightfall.

In comparison, Shen Shaoyuan was the least busy of the three at home.

Time flies when you’re busy, and it seemed like the weather suddenly got hot. Heavy cotton coats were put away, and every household began planning to make summer clothes. It was said that a batch of Dacron fabric had recently arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative and was almost sold out.

Because Liuqiao Commune had a textile factory, the fabric coupons issued to various enterprises and institutions in the commune were relatively sufficient. The fabric Shen Moer’s family of three had accumulated was just enough for each of them to make a Dacron shirt.

The fabric was bought by their neighbor Liu Guizhi, who helped out. Their food station and the supply and marketing cooperative were practically sister units, with close ties, so it was no big deal to help reserve some fabric.

Recently, Shen Moer applied for a sewing machine ticket from the Embroidery Factory. Due to work requirements, the Embroidery Factory had close ties with the sewing machine factory, so getting a sewing machine ticket was easy. After receiving the ticket, Shen Moer used the wages she had saved over the past few months to buy a sewing machine.

The sewing machine was one of the "three big-ticket items." Besides the ticket, a sewing machine cost nearly two hundred yuan, and a better one could cost nearly three hundred. After comparing, Shen Moer spent one hundred and eighty yuan on a mid-range machine.

After purchasing the sewing machine, Shen Moer had a neighbor who knew how to use it teach her, and she quickly learned. After that, making things became much easier. The three Dacron shirts were finished in just a few days.

Although the weather had turned hot, it wasn’t yet time to wear short-sleeved shirts. Shen Moer had Fu Mingze and Shen Shaoyuan try them on, and since they fit well, she decided to put them away for now. Just then, Liu Guizhi, who had come to visit, saw them and couldn’t help but notice that even though they were just simple shirts, the shirts Shen Moer made had a great fit, making the wearers look sharp.

Of course, part of it was that they were naturally sharp-looking, but the cut of the clothes was indeed good, with the length and size being just right.

The next day, Liu Guizhi brought a pig ear and asked Shen Moer to cut the fabric for her husband. She knew Shen Moer was busy and didn’t dare ask her to make the clothes, but the quality of the clothes mainly depended on the cutting.

Shen Moer had been getting along well with Liu Guizhi lately and often needed her help with various things, so she readily agreed. After some persuasion, Shen Moer reluctantly took the pig ear and reciprocated with a piece of cured wild boar meat.

So when Zhou Xingwang returned home after overtime, Liu Guizhi dragged him to Shen Moer’s house.

Zhou Xingwang was the deputy head of the commune in charge of agriculture. When he entered and saw Fu Mingze, he couldn’t help but start talking about work: "Fu Zhiqing, how is the wheat in your brigade’s test fields doing? Are you confident about increasing the yield?"

Liu Guizhi rolled her eyes and slapped him on the shoulder: "Hold out your arms, we’re taking your measurements! Wheat, wheat, the wheat hasn’t been harvested yet, how would Fu Zhiqing know if the yield will increase? Focus on work during work hours, and leave it behind after."

Zhou Xingwang: "This fierce woman! Fine, fine, Fu Zhiqing, we’ll discuss it at the meeting."

He obediently spread his arms, and Liu Guizhi wrapped the measuring tape around him, asking Shen Moer, who was standing nearby: "Like this?"

Shen Moer responded, and after Liu Guizhi reported the numbers, she jotted them down in her notebook.

Thinking that she might as well trouble Shen Moer a bit more, Liu Guizhi gritted her teeth and gathered some more fabric coupons, planning to make a pair of pants for Zhou Xingwang to complete the set. So she took his hip and inseam measurements. Shen Moer jotted everything down and promised Liu Guizhi she’d have the fabric cut within three days.

After taking the measurements, Liu Guizhi and Zhou Xingwang returned home. When Zhou Xingwang entered and saw his son Zhou Pingan sitting there reading, he said: "Actually, I have clothes, you and Pingan should make new ones."

Liu Guizhi didn’t mind: "You’re a cadre, after all; you can’t keep wearing a washed-out shirt. I work in retail, so what I wear doesn’t matter. I did want to make a new one for Pingan, but he refused to go next door, saying that making it based on his old clothes would be fine."

Zhou Pingan shifted his position and glanced at Liu Guizhi without saying a word.

Liu Guizhi sighed inwardly but said, "It's fine. Kids can wear anything. Just having a new piece of clothing is good enough."

On the other side, Shen Moer tidied up the notebook and the fabric Liu Guizhi had given her, placing them aside. She turned to ask Shen Shaoyuan, who was writing at the dining table, "Dad, are you going to the brigade tomorrow?"

Since moving to the commune, Shen Moer and Shen Shaoyuan had come to understand why everyone here wanted to move to the city. Although the commune wasn’t exactly a city, it was much more convenient than the village.

First of all, the commune had electricity. Great Liang didn’t have electricity, and although Shen Moer and Shen Shaoyuan had experienced the benefits of electricity during business trips or work, having electricity available all day long, especially at home, was something they only enjoyed after moving to the commune.

Then there was running water and bathrooms, making life much more convenient. So now Shen Shaoyuan rarely went back to the village.

"I’ll go. I’ll borrow a bicycle from Xu Weiguo, and we’ll come back in the evening. I can also take some time to chat with Old Wang."

So the next day, the family of three rode two bicycles back to the village.

Fu Mingze usually had lunch in the village, and sometimes, when busy, even had dinner there. He had been keeping the house clean, so it wasn’t dusty despite not being lived in for a long time.

Shortly after they arrived, Li Xinmei and the others came in, a group of women full of energy.

These "direct disciples" had been training candidates from other brigades since the beginning of the year, essentially becoming mentors themselves. Being respected and having their abilities recognized made them unprecedentedly confident.

It was said that even Xing Fangjie, who was usually soft-spoken at home, had started speaking louder. Cheng Tao once bumped into Shen Moer and jokingly complained that Xing Fangjie’s temper had been worsening since she was "recruited" by her.

Li Xinmei and the others pulled Shen Moer to ask questions, while Wang Qiutong sought advice from Shen Shaoyuan.

Wang Qiutong was now a private teacher at the commune’s elementary school, essentially filling Shen Moer’s previous role. However, she not only taught art but also part of the main subjects.

The brigade had considered that the school would have four grades next semester, with more classes and naturally more scheduling. And in another year, all five grades would be filled, making scheduling even more demanding. Just Cheng Tao and Shen Lingling teaching the main subjects would be a bit overwhelming.

Moreover, Shen Lingling was pregnant. She had approached the brigade leader and Cheng Tao, explaining that her body was weak and she couldn’t continue teaching full-time after becoming pregnant, so she requested a reduced workload. Zhou Mancang and Cheng Tao discussed it with Wang Qiutong, who naturally had no objections. Teaching at the elementary school was a dream come true for her, and teaching a few more classes was no big deal.

Wang Qiutong’s academic performance in school was average, but she was more than capable of teaching elementary students. She wasn’t very interested in Chinese and math, but she had studied drawing for a while and was quite passionate about it. She thought that if she improved her skills, she could teach the children better, and maybe even win a prize in future competitions.

Since Shen Shaoyuan had nothing better to do, he was glad to teach her.

He didn’t like women who were full of schemes, but Wang Qiutong’s straightforward personality suited him well. Besides, Wang Qiutong had a good relationship with Shen Moer, so in Shen Shaoyuan’s eyes, she was like a younger sister to his daughter. Teaching her something was no big deal.

Both sides were learning enthusiastically. Fu Mingze glanced at Shen Moer, who was surrounded by everyone, smiled, and walked out of the yard.

Fu Mingze walked all the way to the experimental field and saw Zheng Jiamin sitting on the ridge with his head down. As he got closer, he noticed Zheng Jiamin was pulling weeds from the side of the ridge, and a small pile of weeds he had pulled out was already on the ground.

Fu Mingze couldn’t help but say, "If you want to pull weeds, go into the field."

What was the point of pulling weeds from the side of the ridge? They were growing peacefully by the roadside and hadn’t invaded the field to compete with the wheat for water and nutrients.

Zheng Jiamin looked at the weeds on the ground, scratched his head, and said, "Oh, right, why am I pulling weeds from the outside? But there aren’t many weeds in the field. The experimental field security team, led by Comrade Zhang Zhiqiang, has been pulling weeds from dawn to dusk, afraid that the weeds would take even a bit of the precious fertilizer from the wheat. There’s hardly any weed in the field."

Fu Mingze didn’t comment. He walked around the ridge, carefully observing the growth of the wheat in each plot, then returned to Zheng Jiamin and asked, "What’s the matter?"

Zheng Jiamin scratched his head and rubbed his face, then said after a while, "I got a letter from home saying my dad fell and was hospitalized. My sister-in-law is pregnant, so they probably won’t be able to send me much money or coupons for the next few months."

Fu Mingze glanced at him, "Your family used to send you quite a bit. Didn’t you save any?"

If it were anyone else, Zheng Jiamin wouldn’t have said anything, but since it was Fu Mingze asking, he hesitated and then said, "I had saved some money and coupons, but Xu Wei borrowed some of it."

Fu Mingze had expected this and asked, "How much did she borrow?"

Zheng Jiamin rubbed his face again and finally said in a muffled voice, "The expenses are too scattered to keep track of, but the money, adding up all the small amounts here and there, should be over a hundred yuan."

Actually, at first, when Xu Wei borrowed one or two yuan at a time, Zheng Jiamin didn’t bother to keep a record and didn’t expect her to pay it back. Later, she said Zhou Chuntao was seriously ill and needed to go to the county hospital. Seeing her so anxious, Zheng Jiamin gave her thirty yuan at once. Not long after, Xu Qi broke his leg and also went to the county hospital, and Zheng Jiamin gave another thirty yuan. These were the two major instances. Later, for miscellaneous expenses like buying cooking oil, soy sauce, kerosene, and milling rice, she "borrowed" small amounts of two or three yuan many times.

Zheng Jiamin wasn’t stupid and soon realized what was happening. Several times he made excuses about not having any money, but Xu Wei would roll up her sleeves to show him the bruises on her arms, crying that her mother scolded her for being useless and would beat her if she couldn’t "borrow" money.

Zheng Jiamin couldn’t bear to see it, never expecting Zhou Chuntao to be so harsh. Thinking the amounts were small, he still gave her the money.

However, he did keep a record of these loans.

Later, when Xu Wei came again saying her brother was sick, Zheng Jiamin didn’t give her any more money.

Originally, his family sent him money and tickets every month. Zheng Jiamin thought his situation was better than that of the widowed mother and her children, so he didn’t think about asking for the money back. Now that his family had written to him, they figured he should still have some left from the previous remittances and said they wouldn’t send any for the next few months.

But where did Zheng Jiamin have any spare money?

He didn’t know when his family would send him money and tickets again. Even for daily necessities like buying soap or socks, he needed money, and the little money he had on hand was far from enough.

Suddenly finding himself penniless made Zheng Jiamin, who had always been quite comfortable, very uneasy. He felt that the months ahead would be harsh and difficult, possibly even longer.

Fu Mingze was puzzled by his worried expression: "If that’s the case, why don’t you ask Xu Wei to return the money you lent her?"

Getting the expenses back was unlikely since that family had no source of income, but getting the money back shouldn’t be hard. Over a hundred yuan couldn’t have all been spent. Even if they were really sick, a visit to the county hospital would cost no more than ten yuan, so thirty yuan would leave two-thirds. Moreover, Fu Mingze suspected the illness was overstated—they might have been sick, but not as serious as claimed.

A family of widows and orphans couldn’t be entirely without plans. They probably saved most of the over a hundred yuan they got.

Even if Zhou Chuntao couldn’t repay, she had brothers. Zhou Qingguo and Zhou Weiguo were reasonable people.

Zheng Jiamin: "I actually did ask her."

He had gone to Xu Wei yesterday to ask for some of the money back, not much, just thirty or fifty yuan. But Xu Wei cried in front of him, swearing that her family really had no money and that she would be beaten to death by Zhou Chuntao if she had money. In the end, she even asked if he could lend her two yuan to buy some matches. Zheng Jiamin, at a loss for words, realized he might not get the money back.

No wonder Wang Qiutong had called him a sucker.

He actually saw his own younger sister in Xu Wei’s situation.

There were three siblings in his family: the eldest brother, who was older and already married, Zheng Jiamin was the second, and his younger sister was the same age as Xu Wei. Back then, the educated youth office kept urging them to go to the countryside. His father was an eighth-grade worker and couldn’t give up his job, and his mother couldn’t give her job to both of them, so one of them had to go.

Zheng Jiamin had mentally prepared to go to the countryside, but his younger sister secretly went to the educated youth office to sign up. If the neighbor hadn’t seen her, she might have really gone.

When he went to the countryside, the little girl clung to him and cried, saying her second brother was suffering for her. Actually, Zheng Jiamin was worried about her. With her soft personality, he didn’t know if she was being bullied at work.

Fu Mingze glanced at him and said, "Since you didn’t get it back, there’s no time like the present. Go ask her again today."

With that, he turned and walked toward the village.

Zheng Jiamin was stunned for a few seconds, then got up and followed.