The two bundles of cloth were very large, and Lu Hang struggled a bit. “Brother Cheng…”

Cheng Rushan went over to help Lu Hang unload the bundles and carried them inside to place them on the kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).

Lu Hang admired him sincerely, “Brother Cheng, you’re really strong.”

Jiang Lin proudly added, “Yes, much stronger than you.”

Lu Hang commented, “Look at how happy Lin Lin is. You’re getting more and more beautiful.”

Jiang Lin rolled her eyes at him. “Dr. Guo didn’t come with you? It’s Winter Solstice today. Didn’t you go to her house with gifts?”

Lu Hang looked innocent. “Why would I go to her house with gifts?”

Jiang Lin said, “Why hasn’t anyone given you a hard time? Dr. Guo seems to tolerate you quite a bit.”

Lu Hang defended himself, “Lin Lin, don’t blame me. Guo Yanqiu and I are like enemies, not lovers! I’m actually afraid of her!”

Jiang Lin replied, “Usually, men are only afraid of the women they love, right, Shijin?”

Wu Shijin laughed, “I guess I’m afraid of my aunt.”

Lu Hang quickly responded, “She’s neither my aunt nor my mother. If I’m afraid of her, it’s because I really am.”

He joined Jiang Lin inside to greet everyone and showed off the cloth. “Good stuff.”

Jiang Lin said, “Don’t get too proud. Tell me where it came from. Don’t tell me it’s leftover cloth from some internal source.”

Lu Hang proudly declared, “No, no. I bought this cloth openly and honestly. It’s from the money we made from our consignment point. I applied for funds to buy it. I brought it to show you. The rest can be sold at Second Brother’s place.”

Wu Shuxian looked at the cloth and exclaimed, “What about the riding pants and the foreign goods? Where did you get those?”

Lü Hang, looking very pleased, grinned at Yan Runzhi and Jiang Lin. “We wove it ourselves!”

“Wow, did you weave this yourself?” Yan Runzhi examined the fabric, “It’s pure wool? No, it’s a wool-polyester blend.”

She was now working as an advisor for a theater troupe and had encountered many types of fabric, so she could identify it.

Jiang Lin asked, “Did your textile factory really get a new production line?”

Lu Hang nodded. “As Cheng Ge said, there’s meat to eat!”

Ever since that year when Cheng Rushan advised him, he went home and discussed with his father.

They planned to improve worker benefits, avoiding a crisis.

Later, they found ways to increase production and efficiency.

Last year, they planned to import a new production line, but didn’t have enough funds, so they applied for a partial grant, took out a loan, and used some of the workers’ funds.

They then imported a new production line from Japan.

Though it wasn’t the most advanced from Japan, it was still much better than their previous one.

They sourced wool from a factory in the Northwest, while cotton and polyester-cotton were already in production.

The new line increased their fabric production speed, improved quality, and allowed them to produce fabrics they couldn’t before, such as this wool-polyester blend.

His father, who was already quite indulgent, became even more accommodating.

Half of the trial-produced fabric was used to meet quotas, and the other half was sold directly to workers without coupons, to cover their previous contributions.

This approach prevented any errors.

The fabric available for direct purchase was quickly snatched up without any need for promotion.

Lu Hang managed to buy a roll and also brought a roll of improved duck cloth to show Jiang Lin.

In the future, he planned to regularly sell this fabric.

Duck cloth is a thicker cotton or polyester-cotton fabric, typically used for work clothes.

Jiang Lin inspected it and commented, “This is great. It’s very well-made. This fabric could be used for dress pants, suits, or uniforms, and the duck cloth can be used for jackets and workwear.”

Yan Runzhi immediately said, “Lu Hang, I’ll support your business. How much per meter? I’d like ten zhang.”

Lu Hang replied with a smile, “Aunt, all of these are for you. No charge; I’ve already paid for them.” Each roll wasn’t even ten zhang.

Yan Runzhi said, “That won’t do. You paid for this with our consignment point’s money, right? We can’t let you cover the cost. The consignment point is a business, and we have to follow business rules.”

She knew that riding pants were very expensive—about ten or more yuan per meter, which ordinary people couldn’t buy.

She had never heard of them until she came to the military district and saw them at the theater troupe.

It was said that pure wool riding pants were only made for generals and weren’t available to lower ranks.

One had to use connections to buy them.

Even this blended fabric version was great; it was previously unavailable.

Wu Shuxian said that they had to ask someone to bring it from Shanghai, as there weren’t enough goods in the provincial capital.

Even at her level, she couldn’t get any.

Now that they could produce it locally, it was fantastic.

Jiang Lin offered money to Lü Hang, but he adamantly refused.

Cheng Rushan gave him a look, and Lü Hang quickly took the money to avoid Cheng Rushan thinking he was deliberately dragging things out.

Lü Hang took the money and asked Jiang Lin, “Lin Lin, can I stay for a meal?”

Jiang Lin replied, “Ask your aunt.”

Lu Hang confidently said, “Do I need to ask? It’s a sure thing.”

Yan Runzhi added, “You can have dumplings for lunch. I’ll make sure you get some for dinner as well. No one else is allowed to take them.”

Lu Hang felt very favored and was overjoyed, which annoyed Cheng Rushan so much that he wanted to kick him out.

Yan Runzhi looked at the fabric and had Wu Shuxian choose a few meters.

Wu Shuxian bought a few meters of the fabric, and the rest was kept by Yan Runzhi for future use.

Good fabric was hard to come by, so they decided to use it carefully.

The common cloth was kept in sufficient quantity to make clothes.

The remaining was bought by Wu Shuxian to give to her family and neighbors, and it was quickly sold out.

After Wu Shuxian, Wu Shijin, and the women who bought the fabric left, Yan Runzhi started organizing the fabric and planning what clothes to make.

Jiang Lin suggested, “Mom, with such good fabric, let’s make something new.”

She looked at the blended wool fabric, planning to make suspenders, trousers, and vests for the children.

They could wear sweaters underneath and warm cotton coats on top.

When it got warmer, they could just remove the coats.

Yan Runzhi said, “Jiang Lin, the kids are growing fast, and such good fabric would be wasted if not used. We should make uniforms for you and jackets for Da Bao and Xiao Bao with the duck cloth.”

Jiang Lin had informed Yan Runzhi about jackets, and since Yan Runzhi had already made them for Cheng Rushan and Wen Sheng, making them for Da Bao and Xiao Bao was quite straightforward.

Jiang Lin took a pencil and sketched patterns for dress pants and vests.

Yan Runzhi used a tape measure to take and record the measurements.

Noticing there was still plenty of fabric left, Yan Runzhi suggested making something for Cheng Rushan as well.

Cheng Rushan replied, “I don’t need it; I have my military uniform.” Moreover, as the transport unit leader, he was required to wear specific attire, and work clothes were acceptable, but woolen clothes would be too conspicuous.

Lu Hang said generously, “Since the factory can produce more, we can afford to make one for each of you.”

Jiang Lin smiled, “Indeed, with the increasing production speed, it’s definitely feasible.”

Yan Runzhi took Jiang Lin’s measurements and started making a three-piece suit, noting the differences between the male and female styles, which were no trouble for her.

Soon, Wensheng, Da Bao, Xiao Bao, and Bie Dongshan returned.

Seeing Lu Hang there, they excitedly created a bit of a commotion.

Yan Runzhi announced that dinner was being prepared.

As it was the winter solstice, it got dark earlier at the end of the month.

However, after a large lunch, they were not very hungry in the afternoon, and with the longer nights, dinner was served a bit later.

She asked Wen Sheng to go outside and fetch a few large frozen hairtail fish and large yellow croaker to thaw.

For dinner, they planned to fry the hairtail fish, make braised yellow croaker, and cook a couple of pots of home-style stews—cabbage, vermicelli, tofu, and pork belly—plus a winter bamboo shoot and cured meat casserole with the bamboo shoots that had been brought by Zeng Pengjie earlier in the day.

As they were preparing, Fang Chengguang and He Liang came back, followed by Jiang Xinglei, who looked quite troubled.

Fang Chengguang took off his coat and said, “We ran into him on the way back.”

Jiang Lin laughed, “What day is it today, and you and Lu Hang arrived one after the other?”

Lu Hang was surprised to see Jiang Xinglei. “Oh, how did you know I was here? I went to your house but couldn’t find you.”

He knew Jiang Xinglei had no classes in the afternoon and would be home for the Winter Solstice, so when he didn’t find him at Jiang’s house, Lu Hang came to Jiang Lin’s place.

Jiang Xinglei said, “Can’t I have some serious business to attend to?”

There was no direct public bus from Jiang’s home to Jiang Lin’s place, so he walked over directly and happened to run into Fang Chengguang and the others.

Xuao Bao said, “Uncle, come to our village next year to make bricks!”

Jiang Xinglei laughed, “Your uncle can make money doing other things now; I don’t need to do heavy work anymore. Hey, we’re living off the state now, and after graduation, we’ll be living comfortably with good jobs and fancy shoes, with four pockets full!”

He Liang saw Yan Runzhi was preparing to cook and went over to help, carrying a basin to clean and prepare fish.

Jiang Lin felt nauseous watching him clean the fish and quickly walked away.

Jiang Xinglei came closer to Jiang Lin and said, “Sis, I need to tell you something.”

Jiang Lin looked at him. “What’s so secretive? Are you going to tell me something in front of everyone? Are you looking for advice on a girlfriend or something?”

She went with Jiang Xinglei into the bedroom. “What’s the matter? Tell me.”

Jiang Xinglei took out a piece of paper and handed it to her. “Sis, look at this.”

Jiang Lin looked at it and saw it was a list of admitted students for the 1978 class of the X Province Finance Academy.

Many names were listed, and one name was circled in red.

The name was: Jiang Min.

Jiang Lin was surprised and said, “Elder sister got admitted this year? Why didn’t she come to report… No, she didn’t even mention taking the exam in her letters. Could it be a case of mistaken identity?”

Jiang Xinglei responded, “It’s not a case of mistaken identity. I begged the teacher to check the additional admission list. The list includes the place of origin and exam location. She’s at the Beidahong Construction Corps, 352nd Regiment, and her place of origin matches ours. It’s her.”

Jiang Xinglei studied at the provincial finance academy, a specialized institution focused on economics and accounting.

He had gone to the school office this morning to help a teacher and accidentally saw the admission list.

To his surprise, he found Jiang Min’s name.

His first thought was that it might be a case of mistaken identity, so he asked the teacher to check the detailed information. It turned out to be indeed his elder sister.

In their family, the eldest brother and sister were the best students, while the second brother, second sister, and he were average in their studies.

Moreover, the eldest sister had completed regular high school, so she would have had a better chance of passing the university entrance exam.

Jiang Lin asked, “Have you told Mom and Dad?”

Jiang Xinglei replied, “What good would it do to tell them? They can’t solve the problem. I thought you and brother-in-law might have some ideas, so I’m telling you two first.”

Jiang Lin said, “It’s better not to spread the word for now. We don’t know the details of the situation yet.”

If she’s been admitted but hasn’t come to report, it might be because she didn’t receive the admission notice or received it but refused to enroll.

Either way, they need to confirm Jiang Min’s situation first.

She continued, “I’ll let brother-in-law know so that he can help us contact elder sister.”

Jiang Min had kept in touch with the family through letters, though the letters were slow due to the distance.

However, they would always receive letters during the Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Dragon Boat Festival, and she would also write if there were any special circumstances.

The original owner didn’t pay much attention to the eldest sister, and after Jiang Lin traveled to this world, some of the information became vague, so her memories of the eldest sister were not very clear.

Most of the information she had was from later inquiries with Jiang Xinglei.

Jiang Min was five years older than Jiang Lin, making her 30 this year.

She went to the Beidahuang Construction Corps in 1967.

In 1969, she was injured while cutting timber; her leg was crushed.

Because of the harsh climate, she was given sick leave to recover at home.

However, due to the overcrowded living conditions and her difficult temperament at the time, she often clashed with her family, especially since Meng Yiyi stirred up trouble, making her parents focus more on her siblings and less on her.

After two months, Jiang Min’s leg improved a bit, so she returned to Beidahuang and hasn’t come back since.

Later, she wrote that she married a local military officer who had been taking care of her.

They had a daughter and a son, and her in-laws treated her well, so her family didn’t have to worry about her.

It seemed like she was settling down in Beidahuang and wouldn’t be coming back.

Jiang Min’s letters always spoke of happiness and never mentioned any complaints, so her family thought she was content there.

But now, with her getting into college and not reporting back, it raised questions. Previously, she only shared good news.

Jiang Xinglei was worried that his older sister might not be doing well. “Sis, let’s ask brother-in-law to get some meal tickets for me so I can go and check on her.”

Jiang Lin replied, “If there’s really an issue, you won’t be able to do much even if you go. It’s better if I go with your brother-in-law. We should first call and find out the situation.”

If only Cheng Rushan went, it might be inconvenient for him to communicate with Jiang Min if there were hidden issues.

If Jiang Xinglei went, he wouldn’t be able to handle any problems that might arise.

Her older brother couldn’t take time off from his factory job, so it was easier for her and Cheng Rushan to take time off.

Moreover, she had become part of this era and family, considering them her own.

Since Jiang Min had been pushed away by the previous family, Jiang Lin, as her younger sister, felt it was right to handle this situation.

Jiang Lin went to find Cheng Rushan.