Chapter 18: Preparations for Setting Up a Stall

Xu Sangluo smiled, “I’m going to buy some to make cotton wadding. Winter is coming, and I want to make another quilt.”

The female comrade looked her up and down in surprise.

Most people would buy cotton to make cotton wadding. While using scraps to make wadding was also common, it was rare in the county.

Seeing that the female comrade was fair and clean, she thought she was from a well-off family, but she didn’t expect this.

She said, “Those aren’t worth much. If you want them, I’ll charge you 1 yuan per bag.”

“Okay, thank you. I’ll take three bags. Can I choose?”

Each bag of scraps was quite large, at least ten or fifteen jin.

“You can open them and look, but you can’t pick individually, you have to buy the whole bag.”

“Okay.”

Xu Sangluo paid and went to look for a while, choosing three bags with a variety of colors.

She lifted them and felt they weren’t too heavy, so she carried them to her bike.

She wanted to put them on the back seat of the bike.

But the bike was already unbalanced because of the things in the right basket.

The bamboo basket was leaning against the wall and was about to fall.

She suddenly put the fabric on, the bike shifted forward, and the rear rack that was fixed to the ground bounced up.

Xu Sangluo was startled, she quickly reached for the handlebars.

But she couldn’t take care of the bags that were about to fall to the ground.

“Be careful.”

At this time, a pair of well-defined hands suddenly reached out from the side.

One hand pressed down on the seat to stabilize the bike, while the other pressed down on the bags that were about to fall.

Xu Sangluo grabbed the handlebars, she breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to thank him.

The one who helped was a tall young man wearing work clothes.

Looking at the embroidered words on his work clothes, he was clearly a worker in the textile factory.

But judging from his temperament and appearance, he didn’t look like a worker at all, he looked more like someone who studied.

Xu Xingtao pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up, and he gave her a slightly reassuring smile.

Then he exerted force with his hand, stepped on the rear rack of the bike with his foot, and pushed back with his other hand, fixing the bike back in place and pressing down on the rear rack lock.

“Anything else? If you have, hold the bike, I’ll help you put the rest on.”

Xu Sangluo smiled awkwardly, “No need, thank you so much just now.”

“It’s nothing, it’s just a small thing. Helping comrades is also promoting unity and party spirit. Anything else?”

Xu Sangluo, “…”

She hadn’t heard such red and positive words in a long time.

There were many people around, so she didn’t want to waste time, “Thank you, there are two more bags, the yellow and blue ones over there.”

“Okay, wait a moment.” Xu Xingtao turned around and quickly picked up the two bags of fabric, helping her put them on the bike seat one by one.

Xu Sangluo thanked him again, with his help, she tied all three bags of fabric securely to the bike seat.

Xu Xingtao’s smile was still warm, he looked at the crowded bike.

“It’s a bit dangerous to ride with so many things. Where do you live? I’ll help you send them back.”

Xu Sangluo politely smiled, “No need, my home isn’t in the county, it’s a long way, I won’t delay you. Thank you so much today.”

“You’re welcome, it’s my pleasure.”

Xu Sangluo didn’t know how to respond, she just said, “Then I’ll go now.”

“Okay, see you later.” Xu Xingtao nodded with a smile.

Xu Sangluo rode her bike away.

“Hey, Director Xu, snap out of it.” A hand suddenly rested on Xu Xingtao’s shoulder.

A young man, also wearing work clothes, smiled and looked at Xu Sangluo’s departing figure, his expression ambiguous.

“I said, why did you suddenly stand there and not move? I thought you were thinking about something. It turns out you were smitten!”

Xu Xingtao turned his head and pushed the young man away…

“Let’s go, let’s go eat.”

“Tsk, don’t act like nothing happened. Did you ask for her name?”

Xu Xingtao ignored his fussing and walked towards the state-owned restaurant across the street.

Xu Sangluo, on the other hand, went to the supply and marketing cooperative after leaving the textile factory.

She bought a few bundles of nylon rope, a few packs of colored and black rubber bands for tying hair, and needles and thread.

When she returned to the brigade with a bunch of things, she attracted the attention of many people.

“Oh, Da Qin’s family, where did you go? You bought so many things.”

An aunt greeted her loudly.

Xu Sangluo didn’t change her speed, but her voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“I went to town to deliver lunch, and I happened to see the textile factory disposing of scraps, so I bought some to make quilt wadding.”

Everyone lost interest when they heard this.

They watched Xu Sangluo’s departing figure, their expressions varied.

Unlike in the city, people in the brigade used less cotton. Of course, this only applied to the Luo Xi brigade.

After all, the Luo Xi brigade was the poorest brigade in the Gaoshui commune.

In the past, the brigade planted cotton, and each household could get a little cotton every year.

But it wasn’t enough, so they usually traded it for grain.

When making quilts, they would usually use cattail down or scraps for the wadding.

Like the quilt in Xu Sangluo’s room, which was not warm at all and was very heavy, was made with scraps for the wadding.

Now, cotton cost three yuan per jin, and cotton tickets were hard to get, only people in the city could afford it.

One yuan could buy over ten jin of scraps, and if you stuffed some cattail down, it would be enough to make two quilts.

But thinking about how Xu Sangluo was a girl from the city, she couldn’t help but use scraps for her quilt.

“So, it doesn’t matter if a girl’s family background is good or not, it depends on whether she marries well.”

“That’s right, no matter how good her family is, a married daughter is like water that’s been spilled, she can’t always go back to mooch off them.”

“Anyway, my Da Feng will definitely marry into the city.”

“Your Da Feng will definitely be fine, she’s getting prettier and prettier, and she’s quick at work.”

Xu Sangluo returned to the Qin family and found that the yard was quite lively.

Little Qin Yan, a clever little guy, heard the bicycle bell and ran out on his short legs.

When he saw it was Xu Sangluo, he immediately showed a row of small teeth.

“Aunt Sang, you’re back! Wow, so many things!”

Qin Zhiyu also ran out to see, followed by a few little girls.

Everyone looked at Xu Sangluo first, then their eyes couldn’t help but be attracted to the pile of things behind her.

“Sister Sangluo, what did you buy? I’ll help you.”

Qin Zhiyu quickly ran over and helped her push the bike into the yard.

The little girls also stepped forward to help push the bike.

Qin’s mother had already gone back to the house, she wasn’t in the yard.

Xu Sangluo stopped the bike, smiled and thanked everyone, while untieing the ropes, she answered Qin Zhiyu’s question.

“I happened to see the textile factory disposing of scraps when I came back, so I bought a few bags.”

The villagers were no strangers to scraps, and it was almost winter, so some people would go to the textile factory to look around.

The girls stepped forward, helped lift the bags down, and sent them to Xu Sangluo’s room.

Xu Sangluo took a bag of peach cakes from the bamboo basket and handed it to Qin Zhiyu.

“Xiaoyu, help me distribute the snacks to everyone, thank them for their help.”

“Sister Sangluo, no need, we just helped a little.” One of the girls who was about the same age as Qin Zhiyu quickly waved her hand.

Xu Sangluo smiled, “It’s just a little snack, take it.”

“Okay.” Qin Zhiyu took the paper bag, opened it, and was about to distribute the snacks.