Chapter 53: Renting a Shopfront

At half past eight, the pan-fried dumplings were all sold out.

Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi packed up all the things on the stall and put them into the cargo compartment of the tricycle.

Jiang Lihai and He Chunlin had been wandering nearby. When they saw them starting to pack up, they came over together.

Jiang Liyun stuffed the spatula into the gap and smiled at the two of them: “Let’s go; let’s go take a look at the fabrics first.”

At six or seven in the morning, the morning market was bustling, but by now, most of the vegetable vendors had already started to pack up and prepare to go home.

Some people recognised Jiang Liyun and greeted them aloud, while others asked, “Did your family grow radishes? Do you want some radishes?”

“Do you need any greens?”

“These baby bok choys are very tender; shall I get some for stewing tofu?”

…

Although it could get below freezing in winter here, it wasn’t particularly cold, so they didn’t lack vegetables to eat.

The vegetables that hadn’t been sold at the morning stall would not be fresh the next day, so they couldn’t be sold and were simply given away.

But the Jiang family also grew a lot of vegetables, so Jiang Liyun declined.

There was a newly opened fabric shop in the town, right at the entrance of the town’s cinema. It was run by a tailor, and you could have clothes made directly there if you bought fabric.

But her fees were expensive, so rural people usually took the fabric back to have it made by a rural tailor or just made it themselves.

These days, many people getting married demanded that the groom buy a sewing machine, and since they had already bought a sewing machine, they would definitely have to learn to make clothes.

Some girls Jiang Liyun’s age not only knew how to knit sweaters but also could operate a sewing machine to make clothes. Of course, they weren’t professional, so what they made might not be very good, and the styles might be outdated.

Jiang Liyun felt that this was mainly because there were too few recreational activities.

If they could play with their phones, not many people would be studying sewing machines.

Speaking of which, Jiang Liping could make clothes. She learned from their cousin, Jiang Limei, who was Jiang Ershu’s daughter.

After buying the fabric today, Jiang Liyun planned to take it to Jiang Limei to help make clothes.

They could ask Jiang Liping, but she didn’t like doing these things and was slow to do them. If they asked her to help, they didn’t know when they would be able to wear the new clothes.

It was different with Jiang Limei. She was a hardworking person and would quickly make the clothes.

Jiang Liyun chose inexpensive solid-coloured cotton fabric for Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi to make cotton coats, and for pants, they chose the same black fabric as Jiang Liyun.

The family bought a lot of fabric at the fabric shop. When it came time to pay, Jiang Lihai insisted on paying for Jiang Liping and Jiang Liyun’s fabric.

“This money should be paid by me,” Jiang Lihai said. If he didn’t have money or wasn’t here, that would be fine, but since he was here, he felt it was embarrassing for his younger sister to pay for their parents’ clothes.

Jiang Liping nodded repeatedly. They also felt that their son should support the family.

“Then let me buy my parents’ clothes, and I’ll buy Xiaoyu’s clothes. I already told Xiaoyu before that I would buy her clothes.” Jiang Liyun didn’t refuse. Anyway, Jiang Lihai has money now.

After leaving the fabric shop, they went to a clothing store.

There weren’t many styles of clothes in the clothing store, but the quality was very good, unlike the clothes on the roadside stalls, some of which would break after wearing them once.

Buying leather shoes from roadside stalls might even get you shoes made of cardboard.

But the clothes in the clothing store were not cheap, usually costing tens of thousands of yuan.

Summer clothes might be cheaper, but who cares since it’s winter now?

Chunlin picked a bright red woollen coat and a pink sweater to try on in the fitting room. Seeing this, Jiang Lihai said to Jiang Liyun, “Liyun, the clothes here are really cheap. You might not know, but when I was with Secretary Lu in Shanghai, I saw a plain suit there costing several hundred, and a pair of shoes also over a hundred.”

That’s indeed quite expensive. But those clothes aren’t meant for ordinary people.

Jiang Liyun chose a dark blue woollen coat for herself, along with a pair of black pencil pants. She picked a suit for Feng Yi and a yellow cotton coat with black pants featuring red patterns for Jiang Liyu.

When buying clothes for Jiang Liyu, Jiang Liyun had already chosen slightly larger sizes, but Jiang Lihai and his wife still thought it was too small and wanted her to buy even larger sizes so she could wear them for several more years.

They also thought yellow clothes were not resistant to dirt and asked Jiang Liyun to buy black ones. However, their opinions could be completely ignored. Jiang Liyun paid the money directly and went to the next store to buy shoes.

Jiang Lihai and his wife were getting a bit anxious. Buying clothes for Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi was fine, considering they were talking about marriage. But for Jiang Liyu… She was still young, and two sets of clothes would be enough. There was no need to buy more.

She didn’t lack clothes anyway.

Following Jiang Liyun to the next store, Jiang Liyun was choosing shoes for Jiang Liyu when Wu Xiaochun said, “You and Feng Yi don’t have a house yet. It’s better to save money to build a house first.” She thought her daughter could wear homemade cloth shoes; that’s how the children in their village dressed.

“Feng Yi won’t be able to get the certificate for another two years; there’s no rush,” Jiang Liyun said.

Seeing that Jiang Lihai and Wu Xiaochun still wanted to advise, Jiang Liyun directly asked, “Do you both want a pair too? Shall I pick two for you?”

Jiang Lihai and Wu Xiaochun dared not speak anymore, fearing that Jiang Liyun would really spend money to buy them shoes.

If it weren’t for their children getting married soon, they wouldn’t want to find a tailor to make clothes.

When Jiang Liping got married, they were criticised because they didn’t dress well.

Jiang Lihai and his wife went outside to look at the tricycle, and no one was nagging nearby. Jiang Liyun bought a pair of leather shoes for herself and Feng Yi, and they also bought two pairs of Liberation shoes for them to wear while working.

Feng Yi was smiling throughout the whole process.

When Jiang Liyun made clothes for him, he didn’t think much about it. But later, Jiang Liyun bought him a suit!

A suit!

What a great piece of clothing! That must be worn for the engagement!

According to Jiang Liyun, marriage had to wait, so could they get engaged first?

When trying on the suit, Feng Yi felt like he was floating. His mood was exceptionally good.

“Feng Yi, you look really handsome,” praised Jiang Liyun.

Over the past two months, Feng Yi had gained some weight and no longer looked as thin. He now appeared much more handsome, resembling a mature man.

Upon hearing the compliment, Feng Yi couldn’t help but laugh, revealing his two tiger teeth and showing a youthful vibe. “Liyun, let’s go buy yarn!”

Before buying anything, Jiang Liyun would decide what she needed in advance, making her shopping process very fast.

At the yarn store, she quickly chose red, black, white, and dark blue yarn, buying a substantial amount of each—enough for Wu Xiaochun to knit for a long time.

She didn’t forget to buy knitting needles, which were made of bamboo and not expensive. She bought ten in one go.

After this shopping spree, Jiang Liyun spent over four hundred.

Fortunately, she earns more now. If it were before, she would only make fifty or sixty a month, and there were various other expenses. It would have been impossible to buy clothes like this.

Jiang Liyun originally wanted to check out storefronts, but time was running short, so she skipped that.

By this time, Jiang Lihai and He Chunlin had also finished buying clothes, and the group headed back home.

At noon, Jiang Liyu returned home and was extremely delighted to see the yellow cotton coat, red-flowered black cotton pants, and new shoes that Jiang Liyun had bought.

She couldn’t wait to put them on and go out to show her new clothes to her friends.

Wu Xiaochun, seeing this, hurriedly followed: “Liyu, be careful not to dirty your new clothes.”

“Liyu, don’t drag your feet when walking; it will wear out the shoe soles.”

“Liyu, slow down.”

…

In Wu Xiaochun’s eyes, Jiang Liyu’s outfit seemed too extravagant. It was already considered a significant asset for their family, and she wished she could put it away for safekeeping.

Jiang Liyun: “…” With Wu Xiaochun’s constant reminders, Jiang Liyu almost forgot how to walk!

He Chunlin didn’t stay for lunch and took Jiang Lihai to the He family. Jiang Liyun only prepared a simple meal.

Recently, chicken was cheap, so they bought some and pickled them. Jiang Liyun steamed half of a salted chicken and stir-fried two plates of greens.

When she finished cooking, Wu Xiaochun brought Jiang Liyu back.

Because Wu Xiaochun felt the house was dirty, she was afraid Jiang Liyu would dirty her clothes while eating. So, she specifically had Jiang Liyu change into old clothes before letting her eat.

Jiang Liyun felt it was unnecessary, but she knew Wu Xiaochun couldn’t change her ways.

Only when they had enough money at home would Wu Xiaochun stop doing this.

After dinner, they went to Jiang Limei’s house, asking her to help make clothes.

Jiang Ershu got married much earlier than Jiang Lihai, and he had two sons and a daughter. Jiang Limei was the youngest, twenty-four years old, and had been married for four years with a daughter over two years old.

Her personality was the opposite of Jiang Liping. While Jiang Liping only cared about herself, Jiang Limei always took care of others, constantly trying to please them.

This was related to Jiang Ershu and his wife. They were a bit biassed towards their sons, thinking that daughters would eventually get married and become someone else’s. They focused more on their two sons and didn’t pay much attention to Jiang Limei.

In fact, the people of Jiang Lihai’s generation believed in relying on sons for elderly care, considering daughters as someone else’s family after marriage. However, Jiang Lihai and his wife were mild-mannered and let their children do as they pleased, so it wasn’t evident.

They were even manipulated by Jiang Liping.

Jiang Ershu and his wife were different; they expected their children to obey them and didn’t allow any resistance.

When Jiang Liping threw a tantrum as a child, Jiang Lihai and his wife indulged her. This ultimately shaped her current personality. Jiang Limei, however, was different.

When Jiang Limei threw a tantrum as a child, she only got a spanking.

Even if she worked slowly, didn’t wash the clothes clean, or didn’t cook the meal on time, she could be scolded or beaten, or Jiang Ershu would lecture her endlessly, telling her how a girl should behave.

Although Jiang Lihai and his wife had their flaws, Jiang Liyun always felt that her parents were pretty good. Part of the reason was that Jiang Ershu’s wife often beat her children, but Jiang Liyun had never been hit from childhood to adulthood.

But Jiang Limei had a decent life in her previous life. Her husband later opened an appliance store, and she was in charge of running the store while her husband delivered and installed appliances. The couple managed their business together, living a prosperous life.

Running a business was a good exercise. Middle-aged Jiang Limei had a cheerful personality. Unlike when she was young, she dared not oppose others.

But neither she nor her husband have opened a store yet. Usually, her husband worked odd jobs to earn money, such as driving a tractor to help plough fields for others.

Their production team’s land was cultivated by Jiang Limei’s husband using the village’s tractor. They earned one yuan for ploughing one mu of land. The entire production team had about one hundred mu of paddy fields. Ploughing all day and night could earn them a hundred yuan.

Hearing that Jiang Liyun planned to make clothes, Jiang Limei directly offered to do it for free. However, Jiang Liyun didn’t agree and gave her ten yuan as a deposit, saying, “Sister Limei, this is a deposit. When the clothes are ready, I’ll give you another ten yuan.”

“No need…” Jiang Limei hurriedly refused.

Jiang Liyun had a way to deal with Jiang Limei, similar to how she dealt with Wu Xiaochun: “If you don’t take it, I’ll find someone else to do it. It’ll probably cost thirty yuan to have so many clothes made by someone else, and I’ll have to spend more money.”

How could Jiang Limei let Jiang Liyun spend more money to find someone else? She quickly said, “I’ll do it.”

Jiang Liyun knew it would turn out this way.

After buying clothes, Jiang Liyun began to consider renting a storefront. The next day, after selling out of pan-fried dumplings, she briefly read the newspaper in the reading room and prepared to rent a storefront.

As she was about to leave, Feng Yi, who had come with her, was still engrossed in a book about knitting.

“Feng Yi, let’s go,” Jiang Liyun said.

“Okay.” Reluctantly, Feng Yi put down the book and went with Jiang Liyun to see the storefront.

The storefront Jiang Liyun had in mind was next to the workers’ club, facing a small alley.

It wasn’t actually a storefront but the old house of a family.

The family had moved to the factory dormitory, leaving this place empty, intending to rent it out to supplement their income.

The house wasn’t located on the main street and wasn’t in a prime location. However, in this town, there was only one main street, and most of the storefronts there were already rented out.

Moreover, her business mainly relied on regular customers. With a sign outside, people would naturally come in, so the location wasn’t the most critical factor.

If she was really worried, she could set up a stall outside.

Buying clothes was expensive, and rent wasn’t cheap either. It cost two hundred and forty yuan to rent it for a year.

Living space per capita is relatively small nowadays. Many units had tiny houses, with one bedroom and one living room for a family, and sometimes the kitchen was even in the corridor.

But for Jiang Liyun, renting this house was quite cost-effective. Although the house was old and uncomfortable to live in, it was quite large, with over one hundred square metres, including the small courtyard.

After renting the house, she would need to spend money to refurbish and paint it.

Buying tables and chairs for customers would cost money.

Buying items like steaming baskets would also cost money.

She would even need to buy a gas stove and gas cylinder, which also required money.

Suddenly, Jiang Liyun felt that she had too little money on hand.

But the money she had was enough to open the store, and she should have some left.

Buying cheap wood and hiring someone to make tables, chairs, and counters wasn’t expensive. Carpenters only charged three yuan per day for work, and she could paint the place herself. She could even build the shed in the courtyard herself.

Jiang Liyun calculated in her mind the things she needed to buy and the tasks she had to do.

Her eatery was just a simple place, and the rented house didn’t require luxurious decoration. The only time-consuming part would be getting someone to make the tables and chairs, but the tables and stools she made for customers were the simplest ones. It should be quick for a carpenter to make them.

She aimed to open her shop at the end of the month, and everything seemed feasible.

Jiang Liyun had visited the place several times before today. Now, she had gone to pay the money and signed a contract with the landlord.

After completing all these tasks, Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi returned to the place where they sold pan-fried dumplings.

Wu Xiaochun and Jiang Qie were waiting by the tricycle. When they saw them return, Wu Xiaochun said, “Liyun, are you really going to open a shop? Doesn’t that require a lot of money?”

“But by opening a shop, I can earn more,” Jiang Liyun replied.

“But… but…” Wu Xiaochun thought selling from a stall was good enough, and there was no need to spend money renting a storefront for a shop.

“Mum, the house has been rented. Put the coal stove and iron pot there.” Jiang Liyun interrupted Wu Xiaochun and, along with Feng Yi, placed all the unnecessary items from the tricycle into the house they had just rented.

With this, the tricycle was suddenly empty, and Jiang Qie and Wu Xiaochun could easily ride it back.

Back at home, Jiang Liyun immediately went to find the village carpenter.

This time, she didn’t bring Feng Yi along. Meanwhile, Feng Yi took the knitting book and needles that Jiang Liyun had hung on the rafters when she bought them and tried knitting.

Knitting had a nice aspect to it—if you made a mistake, you could unravel it and start over. Even if you finished the product and didn’t like it, you could unravel it and knit again. How convenient!

Today, Feng Yi read some books in the reading room. With a good memory, he learned the starting methods from the book. He also practiced two knitting techniques: plain and purl stitches.

Taking a black ball of yarn, he took two needles and tried knitting, quickly producing a small section.

Of course, with this method, he could only knit a plain scarf. Knitting a sweater was much more challenging!

The total number of stitches, the knitting pattern, how to connect the sleeves… all these needed thorough study.

The book did have detailed instructions, along with some pictures, but it wasn’t as easy to understand as someone explaining it in person.

After some thought, Feng Yi took the yarn and needles to find Jiang Limei.

Yesterday, when he went to Jiang Limei’s house to measure sizes, he saw that she had already knitted half of a sweater. She must be good at knitting!

Jiang Limei had measured Jiang Liyun’s size yesterday, so she should know how big Jiang Liyun’s sweater needed to be!

When Feng Yi went to Jiang Limei’s house with the yarn and needles, he found Jiang Limei working on a sewing machine in the bright living room.

The well-lit living room made it easier to work on clothing.

Seeing Feng Yi, Jiang Limei whispered, “The clothes are not finished yet.” She had cut the fabric yesterday and marked it with chalk. Today was the beginning of the sewing process, and no clothes were completed yet.

Feng Yi said, “Limei sister, there’s no rush with the clothes. I wanted to ask you about how to knit a sweater.”

Jiang Limei looked at the yarn and needles in Feng Yi’s hands and was momentarily stunned.

When Jiang Liyun came home after discussing making tables and chairs with the carpenter and saw Feng Yi knitting a sweater, she too was surprised.

Feng Yi heard the commotion, lifted his head, and smiled at Jiang Liyun. “Liyun sister, I know how to knit a sweater now. I’ll practice by making one for Uncle first, and then I’ll knit one for you!”

Since it was his first time knitting, the clothes he made wouldn’t be of the highest quality. So, he decided to let Jiang Qie wear it.

As for Jiang Liyun… He planned to knit a beautiful red sweater for her!

If he paired it with the deep blue wool coat that Jiang Liyun bought, it would surely look stunning.

Jiang Liyun watched in amazement as Feng Yi’s fingers danced swiftly, knitting at a surprising speed.

Although Feng Yi had mentioned knitting a sweater before, she hadn’t taken it seriously.

In her previous life, Feng Yi could handle basic sewing tasks, but she had never knitted a sweater.

Now, observing Feng Yi’s knitting skills, she was impressed. His speed was impressive, and the finished product was smooth and delicate, without any dropped or misplaced stitches.

Feng Yi’s knitting skills were much better than hers. It didn’t seem like something he had just learned!