CH 120

“Big Sister Liu, where are the fabrics?”

Big Sister Liu whispered, “In the alley. I can’t just take it out to merely let the administrator cut it off and confiscate it.”

Although things were not so severe now as no one was in charge of the purchase-trade relationships between food and vegetables, industrial products were still not allowed to be bought out of stores.

In particular, materials such as cloth and cotton should be kept secret in private.

Lin Lan followed the old lady to the alley, where a wheelbarrow was parked as a simple and honest-looking young man was waiting there, holding a large sycamore leaf.

There were two pieces of cloth on the car. One was of  a dark beige natural colour and one was a three-colour plaid yarn-dyed cloth. Due to the limitation of the loom, this cloth was only about one foot wide, but four feet long.

Homemade cloth was not as fashionable and good-looking as store-bought cloth, which was not uncommon for urbanites. People from the countryside also pursued woven cloth and chemical fibre cloth.

Lin Lan felt that this was a pretty good quality and sewing a quilt with it would be the best. She could also make a bed sheet, use it as a mat in summer to absorb sweat and cool down the place, so it was very good.

The price was also beautiful!

The woven fabrics of the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives were about three feet a piece. The cheapest one was 28 cents, but the better ones were 40 or 50 cents, which was still very expensive when it was compared to the current income.

Soil-woven fabrics were cheap, so natural-colored fabrics were less than a cent per foot. The entire piece was really cheap as it needed not more than 3 to 5 Yuan, whereas dyed fabrics were about 4 or 5 Yuan per piece, making the total price easy to calculate.

Two pieces of cloth cost only 8 Yuan.

Influenced by the consumption concept in the previous life, Lin Lan felt that it was cheap!

However, buying things was a matter of habit, and if she bought more, she would always have to counter-offer and ask for a cheaper price.

At this time, Big Sister Liu began to sell things out of desperation. Things were not easy at home and it was no simple task to weave. Her back was sore and  there were many difficulties to it, evident from the wrinkly and swollen fingers Lin Lan could see before her.

The short knuckles of her fingers were twisted and it was very unbearable to see, causing Lin Lan to suddenly feel an ounce of compassion.

Influenced by the value concept of labour in the previous lives, she had always felt that it was not easy for others to turn cotton into cloth.

The cotton would be planted and cared for for several months before it was finally harvested. Cotton seeds were ginned, then the cotton was stretched before it was spun, rolled, dyed, sized, threaded, machined and weaved.

It could be said that it was very difficult. Before getting the machines for it, a lot of work was done. Even after getting the machine, Big Sister Liu had to sneak around to weave amidst her normal working hours. She was often so tired that her back was sore and her eyes were blurred. It took several days to even make one batch of it.

Out of respect for the working people, Lin Lan felt that it was okay not to bargain. After all, the market price was worse.

And at this time, she has not fully integrated into the current environment. There was always a feeling that as a citizen from a developed society looking upon the working people in difficult times, she thought that life for them was too hard. Till now, she was slightly unable to fathom the fact that a few cents were enough to feed a family.