Chapter 22

There were more customers than usual today. After all, ready-made clothes are still a bit expensive, especially for children.

So quite a few people just picked up cheap cotton fabric and had a couple of breezy, breathable shirts made.

Zhang Hongying’s sewing machine didn’t stop all day, clicking and clacking nonstop.

Shen Jianzhen wanted to help, but she was all thumbs—she could even stab herself trying to sew on a button. Zhang Hongying was exasperated. To avoid getting blood on the clothes, she had no choice but to make her sit aside and just watch.

But Shen Jianzhen had a good eye for reading people and wasn’t afraid to talk. Even if her words weren’t always sweet and polished—more blunt than anything—some customers still liked her for it.

Some customers enjoy sweet talk, but others prefer straight shooters. They’d say, “This one’s honest, definitely won’t lie to me.”

Shen Jianzhen had that kind of face—looked simple and honest, and she spoke with a hint of naivety. Yet somehow, she managed to help Zhang Hongying bring in more customers than Zhang could on her own.

Zhang Hongying would quote a price, and customers would haggle endlessly, finally settling right at her bottom line.

But when Shen Jianzhen quoted a price, she always started just a bit above the minimum—say, three yuan fifty—and then quickly corrected herself: “Oh no, I got it wrong, it should be four yuan fifty. Sorry, sorry, we can’t sell it at three-fifty, I’d be out of a job.”

Then she’d snatch the fabric back like she was terrified the customer would walk away with it.

Naturally, the customer would cling to that three-fifty price and argue till the end. In the end, Zhang Hongying would step in and settle it at three-eighty. But the labor cost? Not a cent less: “You already got the fabric cheap. If I cut the labor cost too, forget rice—I won’t even have porridge to eat.”

Master Wang joked that he could do without Zhang Hongying, but Shen Jianzhen had to stay.

That’s when Zhang Hongying realized that despite seeming so dopey and naive, Shen Jianzhen was actually quite cunning underneath.

Master Wang always set a price range. The lowest price was enough to close a deal—with a little profit, but not much.

He knew Shen Jianzhen needed to earn tuition, so he promised her a commission for anything sold above the minimum price.

No wonder people said Zhang Hongying had a smart face and a dumb brain, while Shen Jianzhen had a slow face and a clever heart.

Zhang Hongying would work herself to the bone for a lifetime, but Shen Jianzhen—though she suffered the first eighteen years—once she got into university, her life completely turned around.

Whenever anything happened at home, one letter or phone call from her father Shen Dalin, and Shen Jianzhen would send back ten thousand yuan without hesitation.

When her younger brother Shen Jianxing was in technical school, she had just graduated from university, but she could already cover all his expenses.

During quiet moments, Zhang Hongying would ask her, “So, what do you think—having a younger brother, is it good or bad?”

Shen Jianzhen thought about it. “It’s both.

If you don’t have a younger brother, when people argue with you, they’ll call you a dead-end branch. And you’ve got nothing to say back.

Like Shen Qingqing’s mom—tough as nails, but even she would shut up when someone called her that during an argument.

So having a younger brother is kind of a good thing.

But if you do have one, girls usually end up being married off. Who knows what kind of family you’ll marry into. That’s not so great.

And everything to eat, wear, or use at home—you only get what your brother leaves behind.

I’ve heard of worse cases, where girls even get traded off in marriage to secure wives for their brothers.

And whenever I argued with my brother, I was always the one who got hit.”

Zhang Hongying laughed. “You? Getting hit? Didn’t you always scream bloody murder whenever your mom tried to spank you?”

Shen Jianzhen chuckled too. “I had no choice. If I didn’t yell, they’d just beat me right then and there. But if I made a scene, they’d feel embarrassed to hit me. I’d run off for the day, come home all pitiful at night, and by then their anger would’ve cooled down, and their hearts would soften.

After all, I’m still their own child. They’re not monsters. Once their temper passes, they still care about me.”

Zhang Hongying thought to herself, I just never learned to cry like that.

If only she had wailed a bit when Li Xiaofang or Zhang Xiaoshu got sick—cried about being poor, maybe her parents would’ve pressured her brother to do something.

After all, it’s easy to ask the willing mule to pull the cart. When one child helps without being asked, and the other one’s unreliable even under pressure, it’s obvious which path the parents will take.

You’re obedient, easy to manage, and helpful—they rely on you. Mess up one or two things, get scolded and still don’t change? They give up on you. They didn’t just raise one child, after all.

Shen Jianzhen said, “You have no idea how grateful I am that you found me this job.

All these years, I never dared ask my parents for anything.

Our family was so poor—if I so much as asked for anything, I’d feel like I was being ungrateful.

All my clothes were hand-me-downs from villagers, and my schooling was paid for by borrowed money. As for food,” she glanced at Zhang Hongying, then continued, “I didn’t even dare reach for the dishes on the table. Only if my dad put something in my bowl, then I could eat it.

One time, I mumbled, ‘That’s it?’ and my dad smashed a whole bowl of food on my head.”

“If something fell into my rice bowl and it was still clean, I’d pick it out and not touch it at all.

When they worked night shifts and brought back snacks…”

Shen Jianzhen was crying now. “The sound of the door opening, of them calling my brother to come eat—it rang in my ears like thunder. I didn’t even dare to breathe differently.

Even when they called my name, I pretended to be asleep.

Only when they came over, pulled open the mosquito net and called me again, would I pretend to wake up from a deep sleep. I’d even rub my eyes.”

Then she smiled again.

“But my brother turned out okay. Except when he was very little and used to fight with me, he stopped arguing as he got older.

Brothers need to be taught. If you can keep him in check, he’ll listen to you.

Whenever we played any kind of thinking game, he could never beat me. At school, all the teachers who knew he was my brother would say, ‘He’s not even as smart as her little toe.’

Now he really respects me and listens to everything I say.

As long as you’re stronger and can keep him in line, he’s a good brother.”

Zhang Hongying gave her a pat.

She thought of Li Xiaofang and Zhang Xiaoshu, and of Shen Dalin and Wu Xiaohong. She couldn’t quite decide which pair of parents was better.

Shen Jianzhen wiped away her tears and said, “No matter what, they gave birth to me and raised me. That’s still better than being abandoned at birth.

Whenever I hit a rough patch, I just think: At worst, I could’ve died as a newborn. Now, every extra year I live is a bonus.”

Zhang Hongying thought about it and shook her head. “Well, we’re growing up, and there are so many factories now. As long as we work hard, we’ll be okay.

What kind of parents we had—that’s just fate. But where we go from here, that’s up to us.

You’re definitely going to make something of yourself. When that happens, let’s go out into the world together.”

“Mm, I remember you said to take you with me. We’re not going to spend our whole lives stuck in this little town.”

Zhang Hongying looked at the ambitious light in Shen Jianzhen’s eyes and felt a deep sense of envy. Her courage to dream that far ahead was surely part of why she’d go far.

The two girls were in the middle of their heart-to-heart when someone suddenly shouted:

“Hongying! Hongying! Come home quick—your brother fell into the water! They carried him back just now!”