Chapter 6: Bold and Bright

While Tao Yu was deep in thought, Li Juan excitedly brought out a light-colored fabric dress and a pair of white cotton socks.

“Yu’er, come try this on. I got this soft fabric from the supply and marketing cooperative a few days ago, and I even bought a pair of socks.”

Tao Yu took the dress, lowered her gaze, looked at it, and then glanced at Li Juan.

“For me?”

“Of course. When we earn money, I’ll make you a new outfit first. If it weren’t for the money being tight, I would’ve gone to the foreign trade store to buy you some black leather shoes.”

Tao Yu lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought. Li Juan urged her to hurry up and change.

After Tao Yu changed into the dress, she had to admit that Li Juan’s sewing skills were quite good. The dress fit well, and Li Juan smiled with satisfaction.

The light-colored floral dress, with knee-length and small lantern sleeves, paired with white cotton socks, was of much better quality than what was sold in the supply and marketing cooperative. It was clear that the person who made it had put a lot of effort into it.

Tao Yu looked at the smiling Li Juan, who was still wearing patched-up old clothes and a worn-out apron.

A flicker of emotion passed through Tao Yu’s eyes.

A person who hardly had time to eat or sleep had still found time to make her a new dress…

That night, the dim oil lamp barely illuminated the small wooden house. Tao Yu sat at the bedside, watching Li Juan prepare the items for tomorrow’s vegetable stall. Then, Tao Yu said in a calm tone:

“We’re not selling vegetables anymore.”

Li Juan stopped what she was doing and, hesitantly, asked her daughter:

“Yu’er, why… why not sell anymore? I thought we could earn more money and then buy you more fabric. I want you to wear leather shoes, too.”

Tao Yu paused for a moment and then took out a few books on clothing she had collected from the scrapyard.

Li Juan came over to the table. The dim light didn’t prevent her from recognizing the words on the book covers. She flipped through the illustrations and uncertainly looked at her daughter.

“Is this a book on making clothes? For me? I don’t understand all the words.”

Tao Yu nodded, her tone firm.

“Yes, I’ve been studying middle school and high school knowledge. If you don’t understand any words, you can ask me.”

“Your skills are great, and selling vegetables is a waste of your talent. From now on, we should make clothes and sell them.”

Li Juan was a bit surprised. When did her daughter become so decisive?

But then, she became happy. After all, learning was a good thing. If her daughter hadn’t been delayed by illness, she would have surely been an educated person by now.

Li Juan cautiously spoke again.

“Yu’er, do you really understand all the books? Maybe we should sign up for a school or something. I’ll earn the tuition fees for you.”

“Also, about making clothes, I’m sure my skills are up to par, but getting fabric is a problem. The fabric at the supply and marketing cooperative is in high demand, and it’s hard to buy, even with a ticket. The fabric on the black market is too expensive…”

Tao Yu had already thought about these issues. Since she proposed this idea, she naturally had her own plan. After all, she hadn’t been idle during the past month.

That night, in the dimly lit small house, Tao Yu began to explain her plan to Li Juan in detail.

Li Juan listened carefully. From confusion at the beginning to gradually understanding, she came up with a plan of her own. In the end, she decided to follow her daughter’s suggestion. She would give up selling vegetables, take the money they had saved, and try making clothes. They would start a clothing business.

The next day, Li Juan tucked the 50 yuan she had earned, along with the 8 yuan Tao Yu had pressed into her hand, a total of 58 yuan, into her pocket. Early in the morning, the two of them set off for the textile factory in the city.

On the road, Li Juan couldn’t help but ask cautiously about the 8 yuan that Tao Yu had received.

Tao Yu briefly explained the incident where she had nearly been hit by a car at the gate of the courtyard, which made Li Juan worry and nag her for a long time.

However, Tao Yu surprisingly didn’t find this nagging annoying.

Outside the textile factory gate, the mother and daughter pushed their cart and stood in a hidden corner, watching the people go in for quite some time.

They were observing how others entered. Once they had figured out the way, they exchanged glances and decided to head to the textile factory gate themselves.

Tao Yu had already planned for Li Juan to make ready-made clothes for sale, so for the past month, she had been observing various textile factories in the city. After keeping an eye on several, she concluded that this particular textile factory had the weakest defenses, making it the best opportunity for them to get in.

Standing at the gate’s security post, with no one around, Li Juan, following Tao Yu’s instructions, shoved 50 cents into the guard’s hand and stated her intention.

She asked the guard to make some accommodations and let them inside to buy some cheap scraps of fabric, which they planned to take home and use to make clothes for her daughter.

The guard was initially cautious and reluctant to take the 50 cents, urging them to leave.

Finally, Li Juan gritted her teeth and handed over an extra 20 cents. After some persuasion, the guard relented.

“Normally, I wouldn’t dare let strangers in for fear of trouble, you understand?”

Li Juan immediately nodded, assuring him that she understood and promising to keep quiet. After all, dealing with fabric at a textile factory couldn’t be made public, or it could bring trouble.

Seeing that they didn’t seem suspicious, the guard led them to a small side door of the factory wall. He reiterated that once inside, if anyone asked, they should say they were his relatives. He also warned them to leave quickly after grabbing the fabric to avoid being noticed.

After knocking three times in a specific pattern on the small door—two long knocks and one short—the door opened. Without waiting for them to speak, the guard waved his hand and quickly left, his vigilance apparent.

With that, the rest of the process went smoothly.

The warehouse manager, after hearing a bit about their background, accepted them and led them to the warehouse, where they were shown fabric rolls more than 3 meters wide. He lowered his voice and asked, “How much fabric do you need? Don’t tell me you just want a few scraps to make clothes, those won’t be enough to make it worthwhile.”

Tao Yu looked at the fabric rolls, each weighing at least a thousand pounds, much better than the defective scraps the guard had mentioned. The variety was also quite rich, far exceeding her expectations.

She nodded slightly at Li Juan, signaling her to proceed.

Li Juan immediately followed the guard’s instructions and handed over 1 yuan.

Seeing that they were cooperating, the warehouse manager began to explain the prices of the fabrics in detail and told them to pick their fabrics quickly.

After picking out several types of fabric, including some brightly colored cotton and synthetic fabrics, the warehouse manager returned with a small roll of bright red fabric with white polka dots.

“Take a look at this one. This roll of fabric came from Haicheng. The factory said it’s too bold and eye-catching, so they don’t know what to do with it. Do you want it?”

“But I should warn you, this fabric isn’t cheap…”

Li Juan and Tao Yu touched the fabric and exchanged glances. Without hesitation, they both nodded in agreement to buy it.

In the end, they spent 20 yuan on the red polka dot fabric and used the remaining 20 yuan to buy other fabrics.