Chapter 32 : Reclamation Plan, Change Clothes

“Sister Shufen, are we buying too many kinds of vegetables?”  

Lu Fangfang felt a bit conflicted.  

But looking at the list of vegetables she had written, she wanted to eat all of them and didn’t want to give up on any.  

The regiment’s base was so remote. If she didn’t grow her own food, she would have to go to the commune or the county to buy vegetables whenever she wanted to eat them. That would be inconvenient. It was better to be self-sufficient.  

“Sister, just remember all of them for now. The state-owned seed store in the county might not have all of them anyway. We can decide what to plant later.”  

“Yeah! That’s true.”  

Lu Fangfang nodded and stopped worrying about it for now.  

In addition to vegetable seeds, they also needed to buy farming tools such as hoes, shovels, and sickles…  

As Wang Shufen spoke, Lu Fangfang took a pencil and wrote everything down in the notebook.  

Vegetable seeds and farm tools were easy to get, but fertilizer was another story. In this era, even manure had to be purchased with manure coupons, and those were only sold to collectives. It would be more reliable to raise some livestock for fertilizer instead.  

Speaking of raising livestock, Wang Shufen shared her plans.  

If there were no chicks for sale in the county tomorrow, she would buy fertilized eggs and incubate them herself on the kang.  

“Sister Shufen, you can hatch eggs on a kang?”  

Lu Fangfang was surprised, this was quite a skill!  

“Yeah, it’s not that hard. When I was in the countryside, I hatched chicks every year and took them to other brigades to sell. Unfortunately, we’re not allowed to sell them anymore. They say it’s like ‘cutting off the tail.’”  

Wang Shufen smacked her lips, feeling a bit regretful.  

If she could sell them, she would love to do some side work to earn extra money.  

“By the way, sister, do you want to hatch some chicks too? We can do it together.”  

Lu Fangfang quickly agreed, she had been thinking about this already.  

After some thought, she decided to raise two hens for now.  

Since the crops hadn’t been planted yet and she was already raising quails, if she took on too many chickens, there wouldn’t be enough feed.  

“Sister Shufen, besides chickens, I also want to raise some quails. Can you hatch quail eggs?”  

“Quail eggs?”  

Wang Shufen was stunned. She hesitated before saying, “I’ve never hatched those before, but it should be similar to chicken eggs, right? I can give it a try. But sister, why do you want to raise quails?”  

Lu Fangfang nodded and briefly explained the benefits of raising quails.  

Quails grow quickly and lay a lot of eggs, sometimes even two per day. Although their eggs were small, they were still eggs. Plus, quails were less prone to disease and didn’t eat much, making them very easy to raise.  

Wang Shufen was amazed. “Are quail eggs good for children?”  

“Yes, quail eggs are very nutritious.”  

Hearing this, Wang Shufen became even more interested. “Then I’ll try raising a few quails too.”  

“Oh, and I also want to raise a few geese and ducks. There’s a small river east of the family compound. I’ll let them forage for small fish and shrimp there.”  

Lu Fangfang took her pencil and added goose eggs and duck eggs to the list. But she personally didn’t plan to raise geese or ducks, taking care of the quails would already keep her busy.  

After counting everything, Lu Fangfang and Wang Shufen realized they had quite a long shopping list.  

Fortunately, seeds didn’t take up much space, otherwise, the sisters-in-law in the staff quarters would surely have something to say about them tomorrow.  

After finishing her discussion with Sister Shufen, Lu Fangfang returned home.  

She took out the money left by Zhuang Mingcheng and counted it, exactly forty-nine yuan and eighty cents.  

Money was tight in these times, and Lu Fangfang estimated that even if she bought everything on the list, it wouldn’t cost more than ten yuan.  

After thinking for a moment, she took out a ten-yuan bill.  

Worried that it might not be enough, she also took the 9.80 yuan in change.  

She then put five feet of cloth coupons in her pocket.  

Lu Fangfang planned to buy some fabric in the county and make herself a coat. It wasn’t good to always wear Zhuang Mingcheng’s military uniform.  

She wrapped the remaining money in a handkerchief and hid it in the closet.

Looking down at her green military uniform, Lu Fangfang suddenly realized that she had forgotten to ask Zhuang Mingcheng.  

If Zhuang Mingcheng no longer wore this military uniform, she could alter it to a smaller size and make it her own.  

In this era, having a green military uniform was the most fashionable thing.  

“Zhuang Mingcheng is a battalion commander, after all. He shouldn’t be short of military uniforms.”  

Lu Fangfang murmured to herself, growing more excited the more she thought about it.  

In her opinion, wearing a well-fitted military uniform was incredibly cool.  

Forget it. If Zhuang Mingcheng didn’t agree, she could always change it back.  

Lu Fangfang took off the military uniform, changed into her regular clothes, and eagerly began cutting the fabric.  

She didn’t cut it too tightly, leaving some extra room in case she gained weight later.  

As she worked, Lu Fangfang felt grateful that she had learned many hands-on skills in her previous life, even if she wasn’t an expert in any of them.  

Oh!  

Thinking about it, she still felt a little regretful.  

After working until the afternoon, Lu Fangfang finished cutting the clothes, but now she had another problem.  

She was good at cutting fabric, but sewing the clothes together was a bit tricky for her.  

It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to sew, but making sure the stitches were even over such a long seam was difficult.  

She was a perfectionist and couldn’t tolerate uneven stitching, so she preferred using a sewing machine.  

After thinking about it, she realized that besides Sister Shufen, the only other person she could ask in the family compound was Sun Manling.  

When they were washing clothes by the river, Sister Manling had left a good impression on her.  

“I wonder if Sister Manling has a sewing machine at home?”  

Lu Fangfang thought about it and decided to take the clothes over and ask.  

There were so many sisters-in-law in the family compound, and with the army salary being relatively high, there had to be a sewing machine somewhere.  

“Third row, first house…”  

Following the address Sun Manling had given her, Lu Fangfang quickly found the place.  

By this time, it was getting dark, and the door to Sister Manling’s house was not locked. She knocked a few times and called out twice.  

After a short while, Sun Manling came out holding her child.  

Upon hearing why Lu Fangfang had come, she led her inside.  

“My sewing machine is against the south wall, covered with a cloth. You can lift it up and use it. Fangfang, if you ever need to sew clothes in the future, just come over. Don’t hesitate.”  

“Thank you, Sister Manling.”  

Lu Fangfang walked over with her tailored clothes.  

After threading the sewing machine with the spool she had brought, she stepped on the pedal and quickly got the hang of it.  

Sun Manling stood by, holding her child and watching.  

Thinking about the gossip she had heard at noon, she smiled and asked, “Fangfang, I heard that Captain Zhuang moved the whole supply and marketing cooperative into your home. So why didn’t he buy you a sewing machine?”  

Lu Fangfang: “…”  

Her foot paused for a moment, and her face turned slightly red.  

“Sister Manling, please don’t make fun of me. Mingcheng only bought some daily necessities. The expensive things require ration tickets, and he can’t just buy those. Moving the whole supply and marketing cooperative home? That’s such an exaggeration.”  

Sun Manling laughed.  

She hadn’t really believed the rumors either. If someone actually moved an entire supply and marketing cooperative home, how much money would that cost?  

Forget about a battalion commander, even a division commander’s family wouldn’t be able to afford that.  

“Fangfang, tomorrow we’re going to the county town. After breakfast, the car will be waiting at the entrance of the family compound. Don’t forget.”  

Lu Fangfang responded and then focused on operating the sewing machine.  

It was getting late, she had to hurry and finish sewing the clothes.