60s: I have a store

Chapter 320 Cotton Clothes
Zhou Dazhong got up and opened the door.

"Uncle Sixteen, my mother is back. What happened?"

Zhou Yimin waved his hand: "That's fine. I thought she and your brother hadn't returned yet, so I planned to send them off."

He is ready to return to the village.

The two chatted for a few words, and Zhou Yimin rode his bike back.

When he returned to the village, the old man, the fifth brother, told him that the quilt had been made and there was still a lot of cotton left, and asked Zhou Yimin what to do next.

Not long ago, Zhou Yimin took out the cotton and sent it to the cotton-spinning "Fifth Brother" to ask him to help make a few quilts. Today, it is finally finished.

They are all long-staple cotton from Xinjiang, of very good quality and in large quantities, so each quilt is quite thick. Covering this quilt in winter is very warm.

"How much is left?" Zhou Yimin asked.

He actually kept a portion of it and gave it to Aunt San, along with some cloth, so that Aunt San could make a few sets of cotton-padded clothes. Grandpa, grandma, Lai Fu and others all had one or two sets.

"These are all, take a look."

There is still a lot left, after all, it is several hundred kilograms of cotton! I just made a few quilts, how much can I use?
Zhou Yimin peeked inside and saw that there were quite a lot of them.

He thought for a moment and said, "Fifth brother, how about this! You find some helpers and I'll go get some cloth. You can make a set of cotton-padded clothes for each of the children in the school. If there are any left, you can make them for the elderly in the village."

Zhou Zhilong’s eyes widened.

So much good cotton, just given away like this?

He sighed inwardly: It still has to benefit the people!

"Okay! I'll go find someone."

This is a good thing for the villagers! Who doesn’t have children and elderly people?
Now, let alone cotton, even coarse cloth is hard to buy. In addition to money, you also need coupons. And cloth coupons, even for city dwellers, only allow a few meters a year.

Zhou Yimin hadn't even returned home yet, and he rode his bicycle out again. Actually, it was just for show, the cloth was all in the bag at the store! He had bought a lot of them for 1 yuan before.

Now is the perfect time to use it.

The fifth brother Zhou Zhilong went to find the old branch secretary and the school principal Zhou Zhigao first.

"Zhilong, is there something wrong?" The old branch secretary saw him running out of breath and thought something big had happened.

Zhou Zhilong said, "Secretary, didn't Yimin ask me to make a quilt for him? There is still a lot of cotton left. He plans to make cotton clothes with the remaining cotton and give them to the children in the school. If there is any left, he will make a set for the elderly in the village."

Ok?
The old branch secretary stood up immediately.

Cotton is very hard to come by! He also went to see the hundreds of kilograms of cotton that Zhou Yimin brought back. The quality was very good and it was hard to buy it outside even if you had money and tickets.

"Is that what he said?"

In fact, the old secretary believed it in his heart. This was indeed Yimin's style of doing things. Who doesn't know that the village school is under his protection? Now the villagers are trying every means to get their children into school.

Zhou Zhilong nodded: "Yes! He went out to find cloth."

The old branch secretary paced back and forth for a while.

Finally, he said, "We can't let Yimin pay for everything. Let's go to Zhigao and discuss with him. Let the school contact the parents of the students and give them 10 yuan for each cotton coat. At least, we have to make up the cost of the cotton to Yimin."

How can I feel comfortable asking Yimin to do this and that all the time?
So, they came to the school. Although there was no class today, Zhou Zhigao would basically be in school, and he would teach the villagers about literacy later!
"Make a set of cotton-padded clothes for the students?" Zhou Zhigao was stunned. Recently, the weather has turned cold, and he also found that some children are still wearing the same school uniforms as before. Although there is a stove in the classroom for heating, some people are still shivering with cold.

"Yes! Yimin is kind and righteous, but we can't just suck his blood! You contact the parents and ask them to give 10 yuan each to buy cotton clothes." said the old branch secretary.

Actually, 10 yuan for a cotton coat is a bargain no matter how you look at it! You can’t buy it this cheap outside.

You know, the cost of clothing is not small nowadays, and cloth, cotton and clothing materials are all in short supply. This is why, after three years of mending, the younger children can only wear the older children's clothes.

Nowadays, the children in school still rely on Yimin to have new clothes to wear.

In the city, a "polyester-cotton khaki men's uniform top" costs 19 yuan, and a pair of "polyester-cotton khaki men's uniform pants" costs 14 yuan. With the upper and lower "complete", an ordinary worker spends a month's salary.

Therefore, even for working-class families today, buying clothes is a rare luxury, not to mention rural areas. Even if they wear new clothes during the Spring Festival, they usually buy the materials and make them themselves.

For a winter coat like this, don’t even think about buying one unless it costs more than 20 yuan.

Therefore, no parent can refuse to buy a cotton coat for their child for 10 yuan.

The main reason is that the villagers in Zhoujiazhuang are gradually becoming richer. In addition to earning work points and making money from selling vegetables, a portion of the money will be distributed in the future!
"Okay! I'll go inform them right away." Zhou Zhigao was very enthusiastic when he saw that this was another "benefit distribution" for the school.

As a principal, it is his job to help children learn knowledge and study better.

Afterwards, the old branch secretary and Zhou Zhilong went to find a dozen skilled peasant women to make the cotton-padded clothes.

Soon, the whole village knew that Yimin wanted to make a set of cotton-padded clothes for the children in the school, and each set only cost 10 yuan. Everyone paid the money without saying anything.

"It's a pity that only children in school can buy it. Otherwise, I would like to buy one for my son Tiedan as well." Someone said regretfully.

A set of cotton-padded clothes for 10 yuan is worth it even if it is for children!

If adults can also buy it, they are even willing to pay twenty or thirty yuan.

"Children nowadays are still better! We used to..." Someone else talked about how he was in the past.

How can it be so happy?

Eat well, dress well, and don’t worry about anything else. Just study and play.

Not long after, Zhou Yimin brought back a batch of cloth that was not of good quality. This was defective cloth, a substandard product from the cloth factory. Usually, this kind of cloth was consumed by people inside the factory.

Even defective cloth is still very popular in the market.

On the one hand, defective cloth does not require tickets; on the other hand, the price of defective cloth is relatively affordable. Therefore, defective cloth is very popular among the people.

When Zhou Yimin learned that the old branch secretary charged him 10 yuan for a cotton coat, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.

However, he did not refuse. Grandpa and grandma also said that you can't just give blindly, otherwise some people will gradually take it for granted, and when they don't help one day, they will think it's your fault.

If you don't listen to the advice of the elderly, you will suffer the consequences! Zhou Yimin still understands this principle.

Sometimes, he would even specifically ask for his grandparents’ opinions on certain matters.

"Okay, I'll take it." Zhou Yimin took the money.

After getting the cloth, the group of skilled women began to get busy, measuring the children's bodies, sewing cotton clothes, etc.

(End of this chapter)