Chapter 21

After entering the room, she found Fang Hong was also knitting a sweater. Qin Xue looked at the color and pattern, guessing it was probably for Mr. Xie.

Qin Xue thought it looked pretty nice: “Sister-in-law, is this sweater for Mr. Xie?”

“Yeah, I don’t have a job anyway, and I’m just idling around, so I decided to knit a sweater for Mr. Xie.” Fang Hong closed the door and sat on the chair opposite Qin Xue.

“Sister-in-law, why don’t you look for a job?” Qin Xue is not a person who relies on others.

Perhaps it was because of her experiences growing up, Qin Xue believed that it was more reliable to rely on herself. As the saying goes, you can’t rely on the mountains to fall, and you can’t rely on your family. So Qin Xue had been very independent since she was young.

After graduation, she went to the hospital to work as a doctor and visited her grandparents on vacation. She rarely went back to her father’s home.

“It’s not that I don’t want to look for a job. Both my husband and I are from the city, and we have our own brothers and sisters.

After Mr. Xie became section chief, I followed him here. Later I got pregnant, gave birth and took care of the child’s schooling, cooking and so on, until now when the child is in the first year of junior high and living on campus!

Now that I have some free time, I’m thinking about finding a job, but since my education level isn’t very high, it’s not easy to find one.

If there’s a good job available at the department, it would be given to family members first, but there are more monks than porridge.

So I have to take it slow, eventually I’ll find one!” Fang Hong also wants to find a job, but due to her low education level, she can’t find a good one.

For mediocre jobs with long hours and low pay, Mr. Xie doesn’t want her to do it, so she has to wait.

“What if there’s capital for a small business, would you do it?” What Qin Xue wanted most was to start a business, as being her own boss gave her the most freedom and prevented her from fearing losing her job due to grievances.

“Gosh, are you trying to get us killed? That’s speculative behavior; if caught, we’ll be criticized.” Fang Hong was still afraid that Qin Xue would speak recklessly, and the criticism she would receive if someone found out.

“Sister-in-law, don’t worry. I think many people are doing business now.

As long as we get a stamp from the relevant department, it should be okay. I think the country will issue new instructions soon.

It won’t always be like this.” Qin Xue knew that soon the big pot eating would be disbanded and the land would be distributed to households.

The economy was also developing rapidly, so when she heard that Fang Hong had no job, she probed her to see if she dared to try business.

If Fang Hong agrees, Qin Xue will find ways to raise money and start a partnership with her. Qin Xue has knowledge of development trends for the next few decades and knows which direction to take and how to make money.

“Are you serious?” Fang Hong could tell that Qin Xue wasn’t joking.

“Of course. Look at our country with such a large population; if we don’t allow people to do business, how can we feed so many people with such small public shares? We would starve. Don’t you think so?” Qin Xue saw signs of loosening in Fang Hong and continued to lobby.

In fact, if Fang Hong asked Xie Jun, she would know a little about the direction, since Xie Jun was a section chief, and he would know both the vision and policies in advance.

So what Qin Xue is doing is giving Fang Hong a direction to prepare for her future, after all, Qin Xue has no capital now, does she?

“Sister-in-law, do you know how to make clothes? I mean with a sewing machine.” Qin Xue thought Fang Hong was gentle and polite.

Even if her academic qualifications were not high, she could still make clothes as long as she had a basic understanding of patterns and could interpret the blueprints.

“Yes, I have many siblings, and our family was poor, so we made our own clothes from a young age.

After I got married, Mr. Xie hadn’t become section chief. He often went on research trips and came back only after a long time. I took care of the child and did the housework by myself.

Mr. Xie saw that I was having a hard time, so he saved the bonuses he earned and eventually accumulated enough money to buy me a sewing machine. Since then, I have been using the sewing machine to make clothes. Why, do you want me to help you make clothes with the sewing machine?

I can do that. Just bring the fabric, and I’ll measure the size and make the clothes for you.” Fang Hong’s deep love for Mr. Xie came from his understanding and how he cherishes her, leading to an increasingly loving relationship.

“Yes, I do want to make clothes, but I want to sell them. I can’t make them myself.

How about we form a partnership? I can draw the blueprints, and you can make the clothes. I have some money, and I can buy fabric first.

After selling the clothes, we’ll deduct the cost and share the profits.” Qin Xue only provides blueprints and doesn’t know how to make clothes.

Once the clothes are made, Qin Xue can sell them at a stall first, then rent a storefront specifically for selling clothes and build her brand, taking the high-end route.

“Qin Xue, are you serious? You really want to make clothes to sell? Isn’t that a bad idea?” Fang Hong was actually tempted, but she was still more scared than anything.

She thought she should wait for Mr. Xie to get off work in the evening and discuss with him before deciding whether to do it or not.

Seeing that Fang Hong was interested but a little afraid, Qin Xue said:

“Sister-in-law, how about this? When Mr. Xie comes back, talk to him and see what he thinks, and then we’ll decide whether to do it or not. What do you think?”

“Alright, I’ll ask Mr. Xie when he comes back and see what he says.”

Having discussed enough, Qin Xue prepared to leave, giving Fang Hong the meat she brought.

“Sister-in-law, here are the apples and meat I bought. I’ll cut some for you to try. It’s not much, don’t mind it.”

“Qin Xue, what are you doing? Hurry up and take it back. Keep it for yourself and nourish yourself while being pregnant.” Fang Hong didn’t dare to accept Qin Xue’s meat. It looked like more than a pound, costing more than two dollars and also needing a meat ticket.

Apples were even more expensive and harder to buy. Qin Xue brought two.

Fang Hong thought it was a waste, but it was a gift for their family. In the residential building, no one had ever been so generous to others’ families before.

So even though it was wasteful, Fang Hong couldn’t criticize Qin Xue for it, otherwise, wouldn’t that poke at someone’s heart?

“Sister-in-law, don’t be so distant. You took care of me when I was injured, and now I’m recovered and pregnant.

I’m so happy that I started cooking and wanted you all to be happy with me. So just accept the meat.

When Molin comes back, I’ll invite you all over to my place for dinner.” Qin Xue finally managed to persuade Fang Hong to accept the gifts with much persuasion.

After returning home, Qin Xue delivered the gifts to Yu Xiu’s family as well. Then, she started thinking about making new and interesting clothes to sell if Fang Hong agreed to make them.

So she began to draw blueprints before it got dark. However, when she returned to her room, she realized that she had no paper or pencil.

Qin Xue thought there should be some in Chu Molin’s room. She pushed open the door to Molin’s room and saw the clean and tidy bed, with the neatly folded quilt in the middle. The bedsheets were so wrinkle-free that she wondered how he managed it.

Qin Xue knew she couldn’t achieve that level of tidiness. There were a few books and a cup on the desk, a chair, a wardrobe, and a small bookcase with neatly arranged rows of books.

Looking closer, Qin Xue saw that most of the books were about the military. Did this man want to change careers and become a soldier? Qin Xue really did find a stack of white paper on the desk.

She took a pencil and an eraser from the pen holder, and after thinking about it, she took a sheet of white paper and wrote a message, leaving it on the desk before leaving the room.