Chapter 15

After Fan Hua’s consolation, Geng Ailing relaxed a lot and looked around boldly.

Fan Hua took Geng Ailing to the stationery area first, and bought a box of colored pencils, ten sheets of quartet sketch paper and a plain-page notebook, spending a total of eleven yuan and sixty cents.

“Oh my god, this thing is so expensive! It’s really not something that ordinary people can afford. Fan Hua, what are you buying this for? Are you planning to learn painting?”

Geng Ailing felt so distressed when she saw the money Fan Hua gave out. Why did this girl spend money so lavishly? If she continued like this, they would be left with nothing in a few days!

“Sister Ai Ling, you will know later that I am very useful!”

After saying that, Fan Hua rolled up the sketch paper, and took Geng Ailing to buy some necessary tools for making clothes, such as rulers and scissors, before going to the women’s ready-made clothing area on the second floor.

Fan Hua found that the colors and styles of women’s ready-made clothes in this era were still relatively monotonous, with gray-blue and military green still the main themes. Even the most conspicuous positions in shopping malls were filled with brand new and straight military green suits. After all, the propaganda of not loving red dresses and loving military clothes has been deeply rooted in people’s hearts in recent years.

But she still unexpectedly noticed that some pointed-collar clothes, bell-bottom pants, professional suits, floral shirts, and floral long skirts have quietly appeared on the market, but the styles are simple and the quantities are very small…but they still attracted many young women who came here to shop.

Fan Hua walked to a simple floral dress, and a salesperson immediately came forward to introduce it, “Comrade, do you like this floral dress?”

Fan Hua smiled and nodded, “It does look nice, but I don’t see many people wearing it on the street, so I probably can’t wear it out.”

“This skirt is new from Hong Kong. It’s very popular there. You’re so pretty, it will look really good on you. Although not many people wear it on the street, many young ladies buy them to wear on blind dates and dates. If you don’t believe me, go to the entrance of the cinema and observe. You will definitely see people wearing this skirt…” the salesperson introduced enthusiastically.

“How much is this dress?”

“Twenty-five dollars!” the salesperson replied immediately.

“How much? Twenty-five…that’s too expensive!” Geng Ailing said immediately with her eyes wide open.

“Comrade, the material of this skirt is all imported. It’s the only place in Guangzhou that sells it. And you don’t need a cloth coupon to buy ready-made clothes. It’s worth the price.”

Fan Hua politely replied: “Thank you for your introduction, but it is indeed a bit expensive for us. Let’s look around.”

Seeing that Fan Hua was pretty and polite, the salesperson said nothing and turned to greet other customers.

“Sister Ailing, if you have tickets, how much would it cost to buy fabric and make clothes yourself?” Fan Hua asked as they walked.

“It also depends on the material used to make the clothes. It’s hot here in Guangzhou, so I’ll just make a shirt. It’ll probably cost me six or seven yuan to buy the cloth myself!”

In this era, materials were scarce and clothing was very expensive compared to other things. An ordinary family might not make a set of clothes in a year. They were often washed and altered over and over again, so there is a saying that clothes are new for three years, old for three years, and mended for another three years.

However, Fan Hua also knows that there are still many wealthy people in big cities, and the clothing industry will be a highly profitable industry in the next 20 years without online shopping!

Just as she was thinking about passing by a tailor shop that made clothes, Fan Hua stopped and looked for a while, and saw a lot of used and scattered fabrics in the bag next to the sewing machine.

Fan Hua’s eyes lit up and she immediately stepped forward and asked, “Master, may I ask what you do with these scattered pieces of cloth? Do you want to sell them?”

The man who was modifying the clothes was a middle-aged man. When he heard Fan Hua’s question, he casually replied, “These fabrics are just scraps that are not enough to make a whole piece of clothing. A textile factory will come and recycle them cheaply to make small items like insoles or school bags.”

“Then can you sell it to me? I really want to buy it!”

The tailor looked up at Fan Hua and saw that she looked eager and didn’t seem to be joking. He asked, “Why did you buy so many scraps of cloth?”

“To be honest, my family is poor and I have many sisters. I can’t afford to buy a whole piece of cloth. I want to buy some scraps and piece them together to make clothes.” Fan Hua spoke pitifully, with red eyes, and anyone who saw her would feel soft-hearted.

Seeing Fan Hua’s expression, the tailor sighed, stood up and said, “Then I’ll find you some softer, brighter material. If you really want it, I’ll sell it to you at a lower price!”

“Really? You’re so kind. I’m not picky. Any scraps of fabric will do. I’d also like to try making some schoolbag insoles for my family with the rest.”

After hearing what Fan Hua said, the tailor pointed to a large bundle beside him and said, “That bundle is full of scraps of cloth of various styles. If you want them all, give me eight dollars.

In addition, I have a few pieces of cloth left over from making skirts for people these days. The material is very good and relatively regular. If you want it, I will sell it to you for an additional five dollars.”

“Okay, Master, I take them all. Here’s thirteen dollars, please keep them!” Fan Hua said excitedly, fearing that the master would go back on his word and not sell them.

The master saw that Fan Hua was so generous in spending money and it didn’t seem like her family was so poor that they couldn’t even make ends meet. However, since the money had been taken, he didn’t say anything more and went to pack up the scraps of cloth left over from making Fan Hua’s skirt.

In this way, Geng Ailing carried the big bag and Fan Hua carried the small bag, and they each returned home with a fully loaded bag. Especially the big bag that Geng Ailing carried, it must have weighed more than twenty pounds. Although she didn’t know what Fan Hua was going to do with so many scraps of cloth, the bag was so heavy that Geng Ailing couldn’t help but feel that the thirteen yuan was worth it!

After returning home, Fan Hua looked at the various styles of fabrics in the bundle, like a mouse entering a rice jar, with both eyes shining…

She took out a pen and paper and began to write and draw on the paper according to the color and size of the fabric. With many years of art experience, she had a strong sense of color matching and style design. In a short while, she designed a fashionable suit.

The top is a short-sleeved top with an open collar and a slim waist, and the bottom is a pair of wide-leg flared trousers, which are very suitable for work.

Although it is a bit bold and advanced, the style is in line with the aesthetic of this era and is trendy and fashionable enough.

“Sister Ailing, do you think this dress is suitable for Aunt Jiang?” Fan Hua handed the notebook to Geng Ailing.

Geng Ailing was shocked. She looked at Fan Hua in disbelief. “Lihua, you are amazing. You finished drawing the dress in just a short time. And it looks so beautiful!”