The 1960s: The Story of a Country Girl's Journey to the City

While they were talking, Chen Fang leaned closer to Bao Ya mysteriously and said:

"Hey girl, where did you get your clothes made?"

Bao Ya was taken aback by her question. She looked down at her crimson padded jacket, which had a three-dimensional cut and accentuated her figure.

"I made it myself. I learned some skills from the tailor in the village before."

"You can also make clothes?"

Chen Fang glanced to the other side as she spoke, then lowered her voice and said:

How much do you charge for making one garment?

After hearing her words, Bao Ya didn't rush to answer, but instead glanced at Sister Chen.

Sister-in-law Chen nodded to her, and Bao Ya then said:

"Ten eggs for the shirt, eight eggs for the pants, or you can pay with refined grains. That's the rule in our village."

She wasn't familiar with these people, so it wasn't appropriate for her to ask them for money so readily. It wasn't unreasonable for her to exchange her skills for some food.

Eggs would be the best option, but in the city, you need a food ration coupon to buy eggs, which she doesn't have. If there are no eggs, rice and wheat flour will do; if there's a chance to eat refined grains, who would eat coarse grains?

One egg costs five cents, ten eggs cost fifty cents, and eight eggs cost forty cents. That is to say, a shirt costs fifty cents and a pair of pants costs forty cents.

Bao Ya didn't know how much it cost to make clothes at the state-run tailor shop, but this price was definitely cheap. For her, making a piece of clothing was very simple.

Chen Fang's eyes lit up even more when she heard this. The state-run tailor shop would charge more than one yuan for the labor cost to make one, and the wait would be very long. It wouldn't even look as good as the one she was wearing.

"Okay, I'll come find you when I have time."

Chen Fang winked at her and said that she had added a few more pieces of material to the list she was counting.

After collecting the materials, Bao Ya and Aunt Chen walked to the door, greeted Shi Zhenxiang, and prepared to go home. Unexpectedly, she was stopped by her again.

"Tingting, let's get acquainted first. This is your sister-in-law Chen, and this is your sister-in-law Jiang, who lives diagonally across from our house."

"Baoya, Juxiang, this is Guosheng's girlfriend, Xie Liting. You two should get to know each other. You'll all be living in this area from now on, so you'll see each other all the time."

When Bao Ya heard "Xie Li Ting" (meaning "stop diarrhea"), she was stunned for a moment. The name seemed to match her croton seed quite well.

Xie Liting shyly called them "sister-in-law" and didn't say anything else, seemingly not really wanting to chat with them.

This should have been the end of it, but who knew that Shi Zhenxiang was just like Granny Zhou?

With a face beaming like a chrysanthemum, he continued speaking to Xie Liting:

"Tingting, you should learn from your two sisters-in-law. They are so lucky. They married into the city from the countryside and they don't have to do any work every day. They are so happy."

Her words successfully drew everyone's attention; both buyers and sellers slowed down, waiting to hear the excitement that was about to unfold.

Xie Liting just smiled shyly, but her eyes were full of disdain as she looked at the two of them.

Sister-in-law Chen wanted to argue with her, but she didn't know how to start, and her face turned red with anger.

Bao Ya wasn't annoyed by her words; anyone can be sarcastic or sarcastic.

"Auntie is too modest. If we're talking about good fortune, it has to be you."

I just heard Aunt Zhou say that your family's life will be better in the future. Not only will you have a good-earning daughter-in-law to support you in your old age, but you'll also have your in-laws, who are level eight fitters, to help you out.

If either of these two things happens to us, our lives will be complete.

After saying that, Bao Ya still looked at Shi Zhenxiang with envy.

Shi Zhenxiang's originally bright smile froze instantly, turning pale and then flushed.

What does she mean? Her son married Xie Liting for her job and even schemed to get his father-in-law to subsidize him. This is utterly disgraceful to their family.

Everyone at the supply and marketing cooperative suppressed their laughter, thinking that what the girl said made sense.

Ever since Ye Guosheng and Xie Liting started dating, Shi Zhenxiang has been showing off everywhere, saying that her future daughter-in-law is a saleswoman and her in-laws are an eighth-grade fitter. Isn't that what she's after?

Xie Liting's face paled. Her future mother-in-law had been humiliated, and she felt embarrassed too. But upon reflection, it was indeed true. Her gaze towards Shi Zhenxiang changed completely.

"What nonsense are you spouting? When did our family ever ask our in-laws for subsidies? If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart..."

Shi Zhenxiang's lips trembled with anger as she pointed at Bao Ya's nose and began to berate her.

Bao Ya still smiled at her and continued to stir things up.

"Auntie, why are you in such a hurry? We only heard it from Aunt Zhou. She said your in-laws are a level eight fitter who earns over a hundred yuan a month. Is she lying?"

Shi Zhenxiang felt a lump in her throat. What did that gossipy old woman, Granny Zhou, have to do with her? Why did she have to flaunt it everywhere?

"My in-laws are definitely an eighth-grade fitter..."

"That settles it, I wasn't wrong. Hey, Auntie, why are you so magnanimous? Let's just chat for a bit, don't get upset. Let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about something else."

Hearing Shi Zhenxiang shouting from ahead, Wang Juxiang thought something had happened. She went out to see what was going on. When she came out, she saw Lin Baoya smiling and Shi Zhenxiang with a livid face.

The customers who came to buy things were no longer in a hurry to make their purchases, and instead listened attentively to the commotion.

Shi Zhenxiang quickly looked around, especially at Xie Liting, and patted herself to calm down. She glared at Lin Baoya and said:

"What are you trying to say?"

"Auntie, why are you so magnanimous? I was just asking, have you bought a sewing machine, a radio, a bicycle, and a watch yet? You're marrying such a good daughter-in-law, the dowry can't be any less than mine, can it?"

Hearing her say that, Chen Fang curiously chimed in.

"Bao Ya, how much dowry did Jiang Yuan give you?"

"Not much. According to the customs in the city, it's three turns and one radio, thirty-six legs, plus 200 yuan."

She wouldn't tell people it's 500 yuan, because for ordinary people, 500 yuan is really too high a bride price.

After hearing her words, everyone gasped, thinking, "Who told you this is a city custom? How come they didn't know?"

Jiang Yuan lives here alone and rarely chats with these women. Her mother-in-law doesn't live here either, so few people here know how much dowry Jiang Yuan gave her family.

"You, your family is selling their daughter, how can you ask for such a high dowry?"

Shi Zhenxiang was really worried now. She had been running around here every day to deliver food to Xie Liting, hoping to win her over emotionally and save money. But now that this brat had messed things up, she didn't know what would happen.

Thinking about it, she turned to look at Xie Liting again, but Xie Liting had already stood two steps away, not even glancing at her. Being outshone by a country girl in front of so many people had already made her lose face.

"Who said that? I brought them all back. You can see for yourself."

As he spoke, he casually held out his wristwatch to her for a look.

"you……"

"Hey auntie, you need to use more bait to catch big fish. This whole box doesn't even have a speck of meat. Does our meat processing plant really need that little bit of meat?"

Bao Ya leaned closer to Shi Zhenxiang and whispered, glancing at the lunchbox.

Mrs. Chen was getting a little anxious from behind, thinking, "Why are you so close to her? Everyone here can see she wants to hit you."

I heard about it while chatting at Grandma Liu's house this morning. Shi Zhenxiang and Granny Zhou are a pair of troublemakers, the real troublemakers on this street. I've seen them both today, and they're not very good at fighting.

When Bao Ya returned home with the ingredients, Jiang Yuan was already cooking. Bao Ya put down her things, went to the storeroom to get two white radishes, and then went to Aunt Chen's house.

Someone helped me find a job that pays well, so I can't just leave without showing any appreciation.