Chapter 644 Garment Cutting

Zhou Yue quickly reassured her, "It's not that easy, the government will step in."

Xiao Jiu touched her belly, "Things are different now."

As for Zhou Shengnan, "Could you please find out her exact address for me? I want to send her something."

She definitely won't accept the money, so I can only send her some gifts to comfort her.

"Don't worry, her husband's affair hasn't been publicized. The official statement is that he passed away due to illness."

She and her children will not be affected.

Even so, I still can't help but feel sorry for my old classmate.

This incident became a thorn in Xiao Jiu's side. She began to calm down and continue reading medical books, occasionally going into the pharmacy in her space to work on her research data.

She eventually provided the data percentages for the medications used on the plane, but she made it clear beforehand that these medications were patented abroad and could not be mass-produced, but could be used for medical research.

As the weather gradually warmed up, the four little girls in the eighth sister's family wore clothes made by their eldest sister to school, which indeed aroused the love of their classmates. Some of the girls who love to dress up have already gone home and asked their mothers for the same clothes to wear.

They didn't dare to openly come to buy, since cloth coupons were still a rare commodity. So they would secretly go to Tang Cuilan to see if they could exchange for something, and they would have to pay a slightly higher price than the market price to fill the gap in their cloth supply.

Because they had already seen it, and they hadn't seen those fabrics at the nearby supply and marketing cooperatives, they couldn't easily find out where she got them from.

Since Cuilan agreed to get the cloth, the children could go there after school to measure the dimensions, and then be paid according to the market price.

After the 1980s, the black market was not as strictly regulated as before. Occasionally, you could see small vendors racing against the management personnel on the street. As long as you can't catch me, I'll do it secretly.

Therefore, although Tang Cuilan's actions were temporarily illegal, given the living conditions of her mother and five children, it was enough for the neighborhood committee to turn a blind eye. As long as you don't bring it out in the open and no one reports it, it's still acceptable.

Cuilan also heeded Xiaojiu's advice and didn't take on too much, accepting only one case a week.

Xiao Jiu delivered all the daily necessities for the mother and her five children, including firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, coal, clothes, bicycles, school supplies, and even toilet paper. Even when she wasn't home, Zhao Lingli would help deliver them. She took meticulous care of them.

So, even though Cuilan earns 15 yuan a month, after deducting miscellaneous expenses like water and electricity, she can still save 7 or 8 yuan.

She keeps a detailed account book recording everything she has spent since coming to Northeast China, especially the part about Xiao Jiu helping her out.

She would go to the supply and marketing cooperative to carefully check the prices, and then estimate them when she got home. She used this to educate her children.

"Although your aunt doesn't care about these things, every penny of this money is a kindness to us."

It's her business if she doesn't want it, but if we don't return it and take it for granted, then we're being impolite.

Your tuition and living expenses are all paid by your aunt. Although Mom still has some savings, they can't last long.

So I've written all of this down, and when we're able to, we'll return it to your aunt, okay?

All four girls are very sensible, especially the eldest and second eldest, who are very diligent in their studies and don't require Tang Cuilan to worry about them at all.

Even the third child, knowing that her mother has to work when she gets home in the evening, will take the initiative to play with her younger sister.

The family of five is now united as one, working together for a better tomorrow.

This is something Duan Changwei could never have imagined in his life.

In mid-July, when the primary school started its summer vacation, Tang Cuilan let her third and fourth children stay at home with Zhao Lingli.

She then took her eldest and second eldest sons with Tao Changyi back to Guanshan Village to help make adobe bricks for building houses.

People have started coming to dig the foundation, and Tang Cuilan will cook for them in the makeshift shed.

And record the villagers who come to work every day.

Zhao Lingli was also busy, preparing the ingredients that Xiaojiu had prepared.

When Tang Cuilan went out, she was instructed to take her to Guanshan Village.

Their workers work eight hours a day, which is considered full attendance. They are paid one dollar a day and a meal is provided.

Four hours of work without meals, and the pay is 50 cents.

Settlement can be made on the same day.

Because it was quite hot, the ingredients Xiaojiu provided were mainly dried goods and cured meats and fish that are easy to store.

Xiao Jiu rested at home for more than a month before going back to work. Because she had too much to do at the hospital, her pregnancy symptoms were also relieved a lot.

She didn't dare to delay any longer. Even though she was busy with work, she no longer worked overtime. She worked eight hours a day and went home on time every day.

When it came time to use bricks, cement, and timber, she would have Tao Changyi, who had already learned to drive, transport them back and forth to the village in a truck with a dump truck.

She waited in an inconspicuous place near the village to replenish her father's raw materials.

Because these are rare building materials, they are afraid of losing them, so they haul two loads a day, and it's not too late to haul more after they're used up.

"Ever since they found out that we have one meat dish and one vegetable dish every day at noon, and that the staple food is free, more and more people have come to help us build our house."

Zhao Lingli was worried that the village chief would cause trouble, but Tao Changyi comforted her.

"Don't worry, I've heard about it. It's the rainy season now, and it rains every few days, so we don't need to work in two shifts to irrigate."

The village chief knew that it wasn't easy for the villagers to save up any money, so he would send people over in batches to help.

In rural areas, building a house is not a big deal at all. If there are many people, it can be built in ten days or half a month.

Only these two small wineries have to go through a bit more trouble, because they built suites with better insulation.

Once the manpower and materials are in place, it will basically be done in a month.

Although the busy farming season in the village has passed, there is still a lot of work to be done in the fields every day.

With all the able-bodied men in the village taking turns to help, her work didn't seem to be progressing slowly.

"Look how hard it is for ordinary people to make money. What's the use of having a lot of land? They can't earn much money even if they work themselves to death all year round."

Although we can eat our fill now, it's just that we can eat our fill; we're far from being able to eat meat every day.

"While I was cooking, I heard the old folks in the village say that they go out fishing every winter!"

This guy knows, "Winter fishing is probably their only source of income, it's not easy in such cold weather!"

Moreover, not just anyone can participate in winter fishing; you have to select those who are experienced and in good physical condition.

Those who are left out will have to rest and may not have any income for the entire winter. How can they not be anxious?

Xiao Jiu wasn't short of money, so she had an idea in her mind—a good way to accumulate raw materials in advance.

However, now is not the time to implement it. She will discuss it with her family after the house is settled.

Since this concerns her future money-making plans, she needs to start making arrangements in advance, which can also be considered as indirectly generating income for the villagers.