Her shop was small, and business was just so-so, so she hadn’t been in a hurry to restock.
Most other shops had already gotten their new cotton in.
She still only had the old stock sitting in her storeroom.
Lin Xiaohe looked at the cotton sample she’d brought out—it felt soft and white, not like leftover goods at all.
She’d never seen cotton so white and soft in her whole life!
Even the cotton grown in their village wasn’t this good!
“We’ll take this. Ten jin for now!”
Ten jin of cotton would be enough to make padded jackets for the whole family, plus a quilt.
“Alright, wait a moment—I’ll go pack it up for you in the back. You two take another look at the fabric—I’ll be done in no time.”
Lin Xiaohe counted on her fingers how much money they had. They made at least 100 yuan a day from selling vegetables, and today was even more—close to a few hundred.
They could easily afford fabric for the whole family. One set of clothes for everyone first.
Winter was coming—it wasn’t the right time for light clothes. Better to go straight to padded jackets.
Once they got the materials back, they’d need Aunt Wu Xiang’s help to sew them.
Lin Xiaohe planned to bring a jin of lard, half a jin of salt, and half a jin of sugar as thanks for the help.
While she was thinking, Cheng Chunyun came back with the cotton. “Here it is—this is all that’s left in the storeroom.”
“Altogether eleven and a half jin—I’ll charge you for ten. We agreed on 10 yuan per jin, so that’s 100 yuan. Anything else?”
“Some fabric for two adults’ clothes too. My dad’s about the same height as Uncle Lin but thinner.
My mom’s half a head shorter than Aunt Chen and also thinner.
Also for winter clothes—outer fabric and lining. Auntie, could you cut the fabric for me?”
Originally she’d wanted to make clothes for the current season to rotate for washing. But on second thought, it didn’t seem right.
By the time they were made and worn, they’d be freezing.
“And a piece of bright-colored fabric—enough for a one-year-old’s set of clothes.”
She and her sister wanted light blue; her parents could have a muddy blue.
In their countryside, clothes only came in a few colors—anything else would stand out too much.
All together, it came to 320 yuan. Cheng Chunyun threw in a big bag of zippers, buttons, and elastic bands for free.
“Would you like us to sew them here? The labor for padded clothes is a bit more—around 150 yuan per set.”
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes went wide in disbelief. The labor cost more than the fabric?!
She quickly declined. “No, no—we’ll take them home and have the family make them.”
Better to have the aunties and village women do it—wouldn’t cost more than a jin of lard, about 8 yuan.
“Fair enough. Can you two carry all this?”
Lin Xiaohe flexed her arms. “We can manage. Of course we can.”
All the fabric was stuffed into the basket on her back. The cotton bag lay sideways, with her and her sister each holding one end—it wasn’t too heavy.
That’s how they made it home.
The thud of the cotton bag hitting the floor caught her parents’ attention.
“Xiaohe, what did you buy? That sounded heavy.”
“Mom, I bought some fabric and cotton. I’m making thick winter clothes for the whole family—I was going to ask Aunt Xiang to help sew them.
So I bought a little extra cotton and fabric.”
By winter, everyone would have thick clothes, and the second set would probably be finished too.
She’d make two thick quilts as well. Winter wouldn’t be so unbearable this year. Thinking back to winters past, Lin Xiaohe shivered.
The cold was brutal—bone-chilling, seeping into the very marrow.
“That’s good. I can’t sew in this state, and if I wait until I’m better, it’ll be too late.
Once autumn sets in, the weather changes day by day—hot one day, freezing the next. There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”
It was getting late, so Lin Xiaohe decided to talk to Aunt Xiang about it tomorrow.
Dinner was simple—stir-fried wild greens and some pork, served with steaming white rice. Everyone’s faces grew rosy after the meal.
Over at Wu Xiang’s house, the dinner table was full of smiles too.
Everyone got several slices of meat, and the food actually had a meaty flavor.
With meat on hand, Wu Xiang was generous for once—she cooked dry, corn grits mixed with brown rice, and with the oil-rich dishes, everyone’s face glowed with satisfaction.
“Mom, I saw cracklings in the kitchen—how are we eating those?”
Er Xiong licked his fingers, eyes full of anticipation.
“Eat, eat, eat—that’s all you think about. We’ll save those cracklings for a few days.
We’re not eating everything at once! You two little rascals keep your mouths shut outside. If I hear you blabbing, you won’t get any more.”
Wu Xiang rolled her eyes and glared at her youngest. The boy only had thoughts of food.
“Don’t worry, Mom—I won’t say a word. If anyone asks what we ate, I’ll say dried wild greens.”
“Alright, go wash up and get to bed with your brother.”
…
Taian Village
Yuya ate her food, now sufficiently salted, her eyes narrowing with satisfaction.
“Dad, are we not going to run out of salt anymore?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow, you and your grandpa go trade with her. I’ll round up a few people to search for beehives.
We’ll gather more honey—I see she really likes it. We can trade honey for salt and stock up. Salt doesn’t spoil, and we don’t know when she’ll stop coming.”
Shen Shan wanted to take advantage of her daily visits to stockpile as much as possible.
Stocking up on a few years’ worth of salt would make life much easier.
Trading salt down the mountain was the worst deal—it was hard to trade with regular folks since everyone had their own ration quota.
They could barely spare any for themselves, let alone buy extra for others.
So they had to buy salt of dubious origins—high prices and full of impurities.
But the salt that girl brought was white, fine, and cheap. Not stocking up would be foolish.
“Yuya, ask her what else she wants—anything we can get, we’ll gather more and trade.
Maybe our family’s fortunes will turn around just from trading with that girl.”
Yuya’s grandmother was fifty, her hair still jet-black save for a few streaks of white, combed neatly.
“Okay, I’ve got it all! Hehe, can I trade for something tasty? I’m craving good food.”
“Sure. After we get the essentials, if there’s anything left over, trade for whatever you like.”
“Yay! Grandma, you’re the best.” Yuya’s face nearly split with a grin.
No one in the village was dissatisfied—everyone was smiling. Tonight’s meals all had a little extra salt.
Wonderful! Simply wonderful!
Before, they’d had to trade hunted game for salt—but the game was undervalued while salt prices skyrocketed.
But people couldn’t live without salt, so they had to grit their teeth and trade.
Now, they didn’t even have to offer their best catches—just things they gathered in the mountains could get them salt!
This year was going to be so much better!
All thanks to Old Shen’s daughter! And thanks to Old Shen’s family for not keeping this opportunity to themselves—they’d shared it with everyone!
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