The challenge was that producing these items required upfront investment in raw materials and equipment, which would be quite difficult to gather in this era.

Also, she hadn’t yet reached the 1980s, people were still quite simple now, and there weren’t many wearing skirts on the streets. Products like essential oils and ointments were unfamiliar to the general public, and she could only imagine they wouldn’t be well-received.

Even if someone wanted to buy perfumes or essential oils, they would likely head to the department store instead. Who would trust her stall products?

They might be less popular than items like soap, floral water, or mosquito repellent.

But those items were low-margin, high-volume products, and if she was the only one managing it, she probably wouldn’t even make enough to eat in the beginning.

This wouldn’t work.

Ji Meng pondered this and unknowingly led Qiuqiu to the overpass that Ji Qinghe had mentioned.

When they arrived, Ji Meng couldn’t quite describe her feelings.

There were indeed quite a few stalls set up under the overpass, and the variety was impressive.

There were vendors selling food, homemade fabrics, handmade jewelry for the head and hands, farm produce, clothes, kitchen utensils, and artisanal items like bamboo steamers and mats…

It felt a bit like a small market.

However, this small market was a bit chaotic, aside from not obstructing the road, their stalls weren’t particularly clean or tidy, and there were no signs hanging up. Most vendors just set up a table and chairs, laid down a large wooden board, or spread a thin plastic sheet on the ground to sell their homemade fabrics.

Ji Meng looked at the crowd, which was about the same as the department store.

However, it might also be that today wasn’t a weekend, and since it was nearly noon, the flow of people in a place could vary, so it was necessary to keep an eye on it regularly.

With no leads, Ji Meng decided to head over to the Youth Educated Office to see if they could arrange a decent job for her. If she could find a job there, she could start working and then come out during her breaks to earn some extra money while gradually figuring out ways to make a living.

The Youth Educated Office was just next to the street office, located at the last street near her home. Ji Meng relied on her memories to find her way.

It was an old street, and there were even fewer people around. She didn’t see many people on the road, and when she arrived at the Youth Educated Office, she saw an elderly lady and a short-haired girl with an oval face and fair skin standing outside.

The elderly lady had her back to Ji Meng, tugging at the girl’s arm and scolding her loudly:

“You stubborn girl, don’t run away! Tell me clearly, how much stuff did you get from your aunt’s factory?”

“You were told to stay in the textile factory’s collective. After some time, I would have figured out a way to get you a formal job. But you insisted on setting up a stall! Not only did you embarrass me, but you also made me help you pile up a mountain of debt.”

“Now you’re getting bold, huh? Your stall is getting bigger and bigger. Selling clothes is one thing, but you’re messing around, going from pots and pans to soap. Just how big do you want your stall to be? Should I praise you for this or what?”

The old lady scolded angrily while the short-haired girl leaned against a tricycle nearby, listening. But it seemed like her eyes were wandering, and she had that look of letting things go in one ear and out the other. The old lady seemed to notice and, in anger, slapped the girl on the shoulder.

“I’m talking to you! Are you listening?”

The girl flinched at the slap but didn’t dodge it. She scrunched up her little face and nodded vigorously:

“I heard, I heard! Mom, don’t worry, I’ll pay you back soon. In a month, no, in ten days, I’ll give it to you.”

“The money I’m earning is all tied up in the goods!”

Ji Meng watched from a distance, quite amused. She didn’t expect to come across a mother scolding her daughter for doing business at this time, it was quite a rare sight. However, it wouldn’t be right to just stand there watching, so Ji Meng pressed her lips together to suppress a smile and prepared to walk around them.

As she was about to bypass them, Ji Meng instinctively glanced over, and then she stopped. The elderly lady looked familiar, she was the one who had helped her knock on the door this morning.

At this moment, Aunt Lai also glanced at her and casually asked, “Are you here to find someone or handle some business?”

By now, Ji Meng had figured out who the mother and daughter were. She smiled back and said, “Auntie, I’m here to take care of something.”

Then she looked at the short-haired girl and called out with a smile, “Meng Ling, long time no see!”

“You know me? You still remember Lingling?”

Upon hearing this, Aunt Lai immediately turned her gaze to Ji Meng, her eyes widening in surprise: “Xiao Meng, how did you suddenly change so much?”

It was around eleven in the morning, the sun was out, and it was a rare nice day with gentle weather. The sunlight, not too harsh, cast down on Ji Meng’s fair and radiant face, giving it a translucent glow. Her long, dark hair was loosely tied back with a light green hairband, her skin was pale as snow, her red lips were mesmerizing, and her bright, charming eyes were simply stunning.

The woman in old-fashioned clothes, who had appeared sickly in the morning, seemed like an illusion.

“Wow, girls really do change! Xiao Meng, you’re even more beautiful than before!”

Aunt Lai looked at Ji Meng and couldn’t help but murmur to herself. A thought flashed through her mind: If only that group of gossipy women from the morning could see this! Look at this rural woman, try bringing someone like that back from the countryside.

Beside her, Meng Ling slightly pursed her lips but couldn’t help sneaking glances at Ji Meng. When she saw Ji Meng smiling warmly at her, she nervously picked at her fingers and awkwardly replied, “Mm.”

Noticing the well-behaved little girl, Qiuqiu, who was curiously looking at her, she paused for a moment with a complicated expression and asked, “Is this your daughter?”

“Mm, yes, she’s my daughter,” Ji Meng nodded with a smile and then turned to Qiuqiu: “Qiuqiu, call her Grandma and Aunt Ling.”

“Hello, Grandma.”

Qiuqiu first looked at Aunt Lai and called out, receiving a kind smile in return before she turned to Meng Ling and obediently said, “Hello, Aunt Ling.”

When they came out, Ji Meng had re-styled Qiuqiu’s hair into a princess braid with a hairband. She wore a beige sweater with a traditional coat. In the past few days, Ji Meng had been nurturing her, and Qiuqiu wasn’t as skinny as she had been at first, she looked lovely and delicate.

Such a well-behaved child was hard for anyone to remain indifferent to.

Meng Ling was not surprised, her earlier discomfort faded away, and she became softer, her voice unconsciously lightening as she responded, “Mm, good girl.”

She reached into her pocket and after checking a few, finally found two fruit candies. Letting out a soft sigh, she walked over and handed them to Qiuqiu.

“I didn’t expect to run into you suddenly. I didn’t bring anything, just these two candies. Next time, Aunt will make it up to you with a proper gift.”

Qiuqiu didn’t take them immediately, she first looked up at Ji Meng. When Ji Meng smiled and nodded, she reached out her little hand to take the candies.

“Thank you, Aunt Ling.”

“It’s just two candies, no need to thank me,” Meng Ling replied somewhat dryly. She had many nephews who were very energetic and often annoyed her. Now, facing such a well-behaved child like Qiuqiu, she didn’t know how to interact.

“Xiao Meng, what are you here for?” Aunt Lai asked Ji Meng.

“I came back with Qiuqiu to handle the remaining paperwork for returning to the city and to transfer Qiuqiu’s household registration.”

Earlier, Ji Qing had said to talk to Aunt Lai about this matter, so when she asked, Ji Meng didn’t hesitate and straightforwardly explained the situation.

“Oh, for that, come in and fill out the forms. I’ll stamp them for you. But you’ll need to go to the police station to exchange the household registration booklet,” Aunt Lai said briskly as she headed inside.

Seeing this, Ji Meng took Qiuqiu’s hand and followed her.

Behind them, Meng Ling had been about to leave on her tricycle, but when she was about to get on, she paused for a moment, bit her lip, then retracted her leg and followed them into the Youth Educated Office.

“Alright, Auntie,” Ji Meng said.

Once inside, Ji Meng took the forms that Aunt Lai handed her and quickly filled them out. Soon, she handed the completed forms back to Aunt Lai.

“Okay, let me take a look.”

Aunt Lai took the forms, glanced at them, and couldn’t help but smile as she praised, “Xiao Meng’s handwriting is really beautiful.” But then her gaze shifted down to the spouse section, noticing the two elegant characters: “widowed.”

Her expression suddenly froze. “You… your husband is gone?”

At the door, Meng Ling stopped in her tracks, not stepping inside.

“Mm, he was a soldier, he sacrificed his life a month ago.”

Seeing that Qiuqiu might be saddened by the news of her father’s passing, Ji Meng responded calmly, remembering something: “Do you need proof of documentation? I have it with me.”

As she spoke, Ji Meng took out the paper from the military unit that she had brought in her tote bag and handed it to Aunt Lai.

Aunt Lai took it blankly, looking at this girl she had watched grow up, now blossoming like a flower. The thin piece of paper suddenly felt heavy.

“Alright, you can take this to the police station to exchange the household registration booklet.”

Almost instinctively, she stamped all the necessary seals, filled out the paperwork, and handed it back to Ji Meng. Hesitating, she asked Ji Meng, “Xiao Meng, since you just came back, do you need me to arrange a job for you? Auntie can look for you, pick one that suits you.”

Neighbors and friends had some feelings for each other, and knowing the situation, Aunt Lai couldn’t help but worry.

Especially since the Ji family had just gone through such a difficult time, Old Ji was in poor health, and the Chinese medicine clinic had been forced to close, which made her even more anxious.

Why did the Ji family have to encounter so many troubles?

Aunt Lai couldn’t bear it and decisively opened the drawer to take out the job listings she could arrange.

Now that a large number of educated youth were returning to the city, there weren’t many job openings available, and they were mostly left to figure it out themselves. Unless there were exceptional circumstances, she wouldn’t pull out the job listings.

Otherwise, Aunt Lai wouldn’t have let her daughter waste her time.

“Let me see… there’s a position for a machine operator at the cotton spinning factory.”

“But the third factory is a bit far from here, and you have to pass through a dark alley…”

As Aunt Lai spoke, she glanced at Ji Meng’s delicate face and shook her head.

“Let’s find another one. How about this? The daily chemical factory needs a cleaner, and the rubber factory needs someone in the workshop…”

“Mom, what kind of jobs are you introducing?”

Before Aunt Lai could finish, Meng Ling interjected, “A cleaner? At the rubber factory? Do you know that rubber is toxic? You want to make sure that a child loses her dad and then loses her mom too?”

“What are you talking about!”

Aunt Lai was infuriated, her good intentions were completely undermined by her daughter, especially with the person involved right there. She really wanted to give her daughter a good talking-to. She looked at Ji Meng:

“Xiao Meng, Auntie didn’t mean it like that, let’s look again.”

But when she glanced at the remaining job options, there weren’t many good ones left. It was either sweeping the streets or cleaning city sewers, and her expression slightly changed.

Meng Ling noticed and said with understanding, “There aren’t any suitable ones, right? There definitely can’t be.”

The street office’s job placements were transferred from various factories and units, but now every factory had children of factory workers, and they couldn’t even accommodate their own people, so how could they spare any decent positions?

The reason why the collective work units existed was precisely that there weren’t enough job positions, leading to the arrangement of temporary jobs out of necessity.

“If you don’t mind, you can come help me sell clothes. I need someone from 7 AM to 11 AM and from 2 PM to 5 PM. I’ll pay you… one yuan a day!”

Meng Ling said this while noticing Qiuqiu beside Ji Meng. She hesitated for a moment, bit her lip, and added, “I’ll also give you 30 cents for every piece of clothing sold, considering it’s me bringing you along!”

Both mother and daughter were very decisive, and Ji Meng didn’t find an opportunity to interrupt. Hearing Meng Ling directly offer her a job, Ji Meng was momentarily taken aback and didn’t know how to respond.

However, Meng Ling thought Ji Meng was unwilling, and her expression changed, growing serious.

“What? Do you look down on me for being self-employed? The authorities are encouraging self-employment now. Just the day before yesterday, the industry and commerce bureau asked me to get my permit. What’s there to look down on?”

Meng Ling scoffed coldly, “The salary I’m offering you is several times more than what those jobs my mom mentioned pay. If you’re not happy with it, then…”

“Sure!”

Before she could finish, Ji Meng’s melodious voice rang out. She looked up to see Ji Meng smiling brightly at her.

“Thank you, Meng Ling! When do I start?”