Chapter 7

Outside the window, there is flying yellow earth and blue sky with white clouds. There is no serious pollution like in later generations. There are layers of high-rise buildings, and everything is so vivid.

Shu Wan didn’t have many food coupons, but fortunately, transactions were now free, so she used the money to buy a lot of things she needed, such as rice, flour, vegetables, eggs, etc., but the variety was not as complete as that of the supply and marketing cooperative.

Meat was even more scarce, and was sold out almost immediately after it came on the market. Shu Wan arrived late and was unable to get any, and she didn’t have any food coupons when she went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

Shu Wan thought that she still needed to prepare more money, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to eat meat.

Shu Wan asked several people before she was able to exchange them for meat tickets. To her surprise, she also got a few candy tickets. Shu Wan immediately ran to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought the last two kilograms of meat.

After the purchase, I bought half a pound of white sugar and half a pound of fruit candy.

The fruit candy was bought for Hu Zi. When Shu Wan thought of the original owner’s dark history of fighting with the child for the candy, her face became hot unconsciously.

As soon as I stepped out of the supply and marketing cooperative, I saw a man following a little girl.

The man was short, with shifty eyes and darting around. He followed the girl closely, and his hand at his side seemed to be holding something, with a faint cold light flashing.

The little girl must be from a well-off family. She had a plastic hairpin on her head, a sling suit on her body, and expensive leather shoes on her feet. He didn’t realize that he was being watched.

Seeing that the time was almost right, the man took out the knife in his hand and was about to take action.

“Weiwei, Bai Weiwei! It’s me, don’t you remember?”

Shu Wan called out to the girl and chased after her.

“I don’t…” The little girl turned around and saw the tip of the knife flash by, her face turned pale with fright.

Shu Wan took a step forward, glanced at the man calmly, then held the little girl’s hand and whispered, “Don’t talk to me normally.”

The little girl immediately retracted her gaze and nodded slightly.

“I’m Sister Shu. I played with you when I was a kid, have you forgotten about it?” Shu Wan said as she put her arm around the girl and walked past the man and forward.

The man didn’t continue to chase after her, but stayed where he was with a mysterious look on his face.

After walking a long way and making sure the man hadn’t caught up with her, the girl let out a long sigh and said with a burst of fear, “I was so scared. He had a knife. I saw it!”

Then she looked at Shu Wan with gratitude, “My name is Xu Xiaoling, what’s your name, sister? Thank you so much for what you did just now.”

“Shu Wan, it’s just a small favor, don’t take it to heart.” Shu Wan said with a smile.

Xu Xiaoling recovered now, clenched her fists, and her face was puffed with anger, “It’s a pity that I didn’t see the pickpocket, otherwise I would have made him pay.”

Shu Wan also thought it was a pickpocket at first, but then the man’s behavior was inexplicably different. When a pickpocket realized that his action had failed, he would leave immediately instead of standing there and looking at them for a long time.

But this is just Shu Wan’s guess, there is no real evidence.

Shu Wan thought about it and said to Xu Xiaoling, “That person has a red birthmark on his right cheek. Be careful next time.”

Xu Xiaoling decided to recite it silently ten times every night and keep it in her heart.

Xu Xiaoling was even more grateful. “Sister Shu Wan, why don’t you leave the things you bought with me first? You can come and get them when you leave. I’m from Hai City and I’m very familiar with this place.”

It was indeed not very convenient to move while carrying things along the way. Shu Wan nodded and followed Xu Xiaoling.

“Do you know where I can buy meat tickets?” Shu Wan lowered her voice.

“I have them here. I have meat coupons, grain coupons, sugar coupons, cake coupons, and cloth coupons. If you want them, I’ll go home and get them.”

“Do you have cloth coupons?” Shu Wan was delighted. She didn’t expect there would be such a pleasant surprise. Now she wouldn’t have to worry about coupons anymore.

Xu Xiaoling’s eyes lit up, “Sister Shu Wan, do you want to make your own clothes? I’m an apprentice in a tailor shop, why don’t I help you make them?”

Shu Wan smiled and refused, “No, I’m used to doing it myself.”

Xu Xiaoling said “oh”, disappointed for a moment and then regained her lively look, “You don’t need cloth coupons to buy in our store, but the price will be a little higher.”

The two stopped at a shop called Boutique Tailor.

“Here we are. This is it.”

“Sister Shu Wan, I’ll put your things away first. Just tell me when you come to get them.”

Xu Xiaoling took the things from Shu Wan’s hand, turned and went into the inner room, leaving Shu Wan alone outside.

The boutique tailor shop is not small. Shu Wan is sitting in the ready-made clothing area which is displayed to customers. In addition to the fabrics piled in the middle, the walls are covered with ready-made clothes for display.

The style and design of each ready-made garment are different, as if they were made by different people and are full of the characteristics of the times.

The delicate and fine stitches, the clever composition and the solid basic skills, the craftsmanship of each veteran tailor is evident.

Xu Xiaoling came out and pointed at the clothes on the wall and said, “These were all made by old tailors from past generations. For example, that one was made by our great-grandmaster, the one next to it was made by my master, and the one on the far left was made by my master.”

“It looks good, but unfortunately the master has been out recently and can’t make clothes.”

“The embroidery technique is solid, the colors are bold, and the thread ends are handled cleverly. It’s a good work.” Shu Wan praised. They are all good, except for the one on the far left which is a little disappointing.

Xu Xiaoling, who was standing by, opened her mouth wide when she heard this. “Sister Shu Wan, are you a tailor?”

Shu Wan nodded, “I guess so.”

Xu Xiaoling’s face turned red. She had just boasted that she helped make clothes for others. Now she was so embarrassed!

At this time, a woman who was about 25 or 26 years old came out from the inner room. She had a square face, narrow eyes, sunken cheeks, and prominent cheekbones, which made her look a bit sharp and mean.

Li Shengnan put her hands on her hips, “Xu Xiaoling, are you slacking off again?!”

“Senior Sister, I’m entertaining guests.” Xu Xiaoling stuck out her tongue.

Li Shengnan glanced at Shu Wan from top to bottom, then turned to warn Xu Xiaoling, “Keep an eye on the guy, don’t let the country bumpkins damage your clothes.”

Shu Wan frowned, a little unhappy.

As soon as Li Shengnan left, Xu Xiaoling explained in a low voice, “That was my senior sister. She’s not a bad person, but she has a sharp tongue and a bad temper. But it’s also because she’s good at cooking, so she’s a little arrogant.”

“Sister Shu Wan, you go ahead and do whatever you need. Just come and get the things before five o’clock.”

Shu Wan saw clearly the disdain and arrogance in Li Shengnan’s eyes just now, but she was not the kind of person who gossiped behind people’s backs, so she didn’t plan to tell Xu Xiaoling.

“Okay, thank you for your help.”

Shu Wan left the shop and explored the surroundings, centering on the boutique tailor shop.

Sure enough, there were three or four similar tailor shops nearby, but their prices were much lower than those of the boutique tailor shops, and the quality of their finished products was also poor.

Afterwards, Shu Wan went to the finished product store, but it was deserted.

In this era, people are still accustomed to making their own clothes, or finding tailors to alter their clothes. The poor development of ready-made stores is related to the relatively high prices and limited styles.

Shu Wan wanted to find a clothing factory to sell her designs and quickly accumulate her first pot of gold, but most of the factories in Hai City were heavy industries and there were really no clothing factories. Besides, people nowadays have a weak sense of originality, and they might just turn around and make something similar after looking at the design drawings.

The idea of ​​selling design drafts has been put on hold. I will start my own factory when I have money in the future. After all, my mind is full of design drafts and I can have as many as I want.

It’s too far-fetched to think about these things now. My current goal is to save money and move out.

It’s early October now and the weather has started to get cold. It would be a good idea to set up a stall and sell some small seasonal warm items.

So, Shu Wan paid close attention to the flow of people at the stall location, went to buy some materials, and then went back.

When I arrived at the store, I found a group of people gathered at the door.

There seemed to be some disturbance going on inside.