CTF 0038

“Yinyin, do you like mutton?” Xu Yin’s sister-in-law asked her. “There are a lot of sheep here. Mutton is cheaper than pork around here. Your brother thinks the mutton has a strong smell and doesn’t like it, and I was worried that you wouldn’t be able to eat it, so I didn’t buy it yet. If you like it, I can go to the morning market tomorrow to pick out a good piece of mutton leg and come back to stew some with potatoes for you.”

“I like it!” Xu Yin nodded vigorously. She had even planned to buy more. She wouldn’t be able to buy genuine free-range lake lamb meat at such a low price in the future.

“In that case, let’s go to the morning market together tomorrow. You can see what else you’d like to eat, and I’ll make it for you. After all, the summer vacation is quite long, so you can stay a few more days.”

Xu Yin smiled and said, “I promised my mom before coming here that I have to go back before the Qixi Festival. We have rice paddy fish at home now, you know? When the rice fields are drained, we can sell the fish. Mom said that when I get married, my parents will be confused about a lot of things because I won’t be around anymore. I guess I kind of know how it feels since you’re not at home anymore.

“We’ll have to see when the time comes, but if Brother can take some time off, you should have. This year, Dad planted three acres of watermelons. I don’t know how the harvest is going to be.

“You don’t need to worry, though. The watermelon seedlings are growing well. Dad is an old hand at growing watermelons, and he cares more about the watermelons than he does about me. Will those watermelons grow poorly with him taking care of them?”

The two sisters-in-law chatted about how life had recently treated them. 

Xu Yin learned that although her sister-in-law had only moved to the military residential complex less than two months ago, she had already made a lot of clothes for people.

“It’s all thanks to you, Little Sister. You designed this nursing dress for me. On the day I moved in, the neighbour came over, saw that I could breastfeed without having to lift my clothes, and thought the dress was great. There’s another family on the floor who had a new mother and asked me to make two for them. After that, people kept coming to me to make clothes…”

Xu Yin found it great. “Both Doudou and Dingding are still young. They can’t be left alone at home yet. It’s good that you can earn some money by making clothes at home. When your name eventually spreads, more people will be coming to commission you.”

Her sister-in-law hesitated for a moment, before saying, “There is something that I am a little undecided about. There is a tailor shop in the internal supply and marketing department in the military compound that is vacant. The original tenant went to live in another military compound somewhere else. Last week, the head of the Women’s Association came and asked me if I had any intention of renting the tailor shop. She presented some statistics and told me that I am the only one in our area who can make clothes. If I don’t rent it, they’ll have to change the tailor shop to something else.”

Xu Yin thought this was a good opportunity. There were a lot of families living in the military compound, and generally, each family consisted at least of two parents and two children. Since there were four seasons a year, each person should need at least two sets of clothes every season, right?

Even if the parents didn’t want to make new clothes for themselves, what about the children? Surely they cannot go to school and wear the same few clothes every year until their clothes have patches in them.

These families weren’t low-income families. Why would they let their children wear patched old clothes?

What was more, since Xu Yin’s sister-in-law’s tailor shop would be the only one around, it could have unlimited potential and could make considerable profits!

Xu Yin encouraged her sister-in-law for it.

“Are you worried about the high rent?”

Xu Yin’s sister-in-law shook her head. “It’s not that high. I just wasn’t sure about what to do. I discussed this matter with your brother, but he didn’t have much opinion and asked me to make my own decision. But I didn’t know what decision I should make.”

Xu Yin had made up her mind. “You must rent it! The God of Wealth has given you an opportunity, and you would be a fool not to rent it.”

Xu Yin’s sister-in-law: “…”

Xu Yin’s encouragement raised her sister-in-law’s confidence. 

What a pity that her sister-in-law needed to go to college elsewhere. Otherwise, it would have been a great experience for the two of them to open this tailor shop together. 

“Okay! I’ll rent it tomorrow and open my tailor shop, where I’ll make clothes!”

“Yeah, not only can you make clothes, but you can also buy some popular fabrics and sell them,” Xu Yin said.

After she thought about it for a bit, she suggested, “Summer is just around the corner. I’ll design some new summer clothes for my sister-in-law. When you have time, make some to display in the store. It won’t only make the storefront look better, but it will also attract people to come and take a look. The more people see it, the more popular it will become. Perhaps some who initially had no plans to buy clothes might find them attractive and ask you to make them. That’s how you gradually grow your business, right?”

Upon hearing this, Xu Yin’s sister-in-law felt more at ease. She couldn’t wait to settle the shop’s arrangements now.

The next day, after returning from the morning market, she eagerly sought out the head of the Women’s Association to rent the shop. She knew her younger sister was going to the city, so before she left, she insisted on giving her fifty yuan.

At first, Xu Yin didn’t want to accept it, but then she thought her sister-in-law had two children and probably didn’t have much time to go to the city. If she saw anything that her sister-in-law might find useful, she could bring it back for her.

She took the bus at the entrance of the military residential compound to go to the city centre. She had initially planned to explore the street markets, but she overheard a few passengers talking about a large textile wholesale market in the northern part of the city. This piqued her interest.

After asking for directions on how to get to the wholesale market, she eventually found her way there. Although they called it the ‘northern part of the city’, it was really still in the suburbs. 

The bumpy and uneven stone road made her question her life choices.

However, when she saw the appearance of the textile wholesale market, she felt it was worth the journey. 

It was much larger and more organised than the usual wholesale markets, with spacious aisles where even trucks could drive through.

She followed the crowd of people who came here to purchase materials and made her way to a stall selling defective fabrics. With keen eyes and nimble hands, she managed to grab five rolls of fabric. Each roll was thirty metres long and cost only twenty yuan. Five rolls of fabric for one hundred yuan, and she even received two pieces of uniform fabric that could be used to make two pairs of pants. This was incredibly affordable!

The stalls offering processed clothing from the clothing factory were also packed with people. The styles were a bit outdated, and many items were defective, but they were cheap.

Xu Yin generously picked out a few items for her parents. Since they were cheap, she wouldn’t care if they got dirty while working in the fields.

With the remaining money, she purchased some high-quality fabrics, soft chiffon, and fine cotton fabrics in various patterns. 

Except for the slightly more expensive chiffon, everything else was dirt cheap.

She made sure to take note of the address of the fabric wholesale market and tell her sister-in-law later, so she and her sister-in-law could return here to buy fabric. 

After spending her money, Xu Yin contentedly rode the car back to the city. 

When she returned with five rolls of fabric in her hands and a bulging bag on her shoulder, the military residential compound buzzed with excitement. 

They had heard a few days ago that Battalion Commander Xu’s sister was coming to visit. His wife had started moving all sorts of meat and vegetables to their home as soon as she received the news. It was evident that Battalion Commander Xu’s sister was really cherished by her family. Otherwise, why would her sister-in-law be willing to spend a couple of months’ salary to stock up on groceries for her visit?

The family members who were close to Battalion Commander Xu’s wife couldn’t help but worry. With a sister-in-law like this, Battalion Commander Xu’s life in her husband’s family must be difficult, right?

Surprisingly, Battalion Commander Xu’s wife didn’t mind at all. She was looking forward to her younger sister-in-law’s arrival, even more than Battalion Commander Xu himself.

Though nobody said it out loud, who could deny the difficulty of dealing with mothers-in-law and younger sisters-in-law in this world? Could it be that Battalion Commander Major Xu’s family was an exception?

Now though, they saw Xu Yin coming back with rolls of fabric, stating that it was for her sister-in-law. They had learned of Battalion Commander Xu’s wife’s intention to rent a tailor shop, and they realised that the fabrics Xu Yin brought must be for the grand opening of the tailor shop.

Things suddenly became clear. This was why Battalion Commander Xu’s wife was so warm and considerate towards her sister-in-law. Who would be, if they had a supportive sister-in-law who was even willing to worry about their business?