The 1970s: Military Family Beauty

Speaking of new clothes, Jiang Xiaocui was very happy: "Someone came to visit Aunt Qin's house and saw that jacket. He said someone in the family was getting married and wanted to borrow it to make a dress sample. I thought you were not in a hurry to wear it anyway, so I agreed."

Jiang Furong asked, "Why don't you take over the job?"

Instead of asking others to make counterfeit versions of the same product, it is better to make a few more yourself.

Jiang Xiaocui got timid when she mentioned this: "If no one asked me, I would be embarrassed to say it."

Jiang Furong encouraged Jiang Xiaocui: "What's there to be embarrassed about? The first time is strange, the second time is familiar. If you say it a few times, it will become fluent. You said it very well when you were in the service center!"

Jiang Xiaocui started to shy away. "When I was at the service center, people kept asking me about it. But this matter with Aunt Qin's family is different. If they hadn't asked me, I would have taken the initiative to tell them. It would have made it seem like I was desperate to make money."

"Don't you want to make money?" Jiang Furong asked back.

Jiang Xiaocui was dumbfounded: "I do want to..."

Jiang Furong pressed the issue: "You make clothes for others just to make money, don't you?"

Jiang Xiaocui whispered, "Be quiet, don't let anyone hear."

"Okay, okay, keep your voice down," Jiang Furong lowered her voice and laid out the truth: "Auntie, think about it, working in a garment factory and making clothes, aren't you making clothes for others? The wages for making clothes will eventually be counted as wages and paid to you, right?"

Jiang Xiaocui's mind was awakened: "It seems to be the case."

Seeing Jiang Xiaocui's enlightened reaction, Jiang Furong was interested in continuing: "You are making clothes for others by yourself now, which means you are working for yourself. The wages you earn are your own wages."

Jiang Xiaocui's eyes lit up. "Ah? Just like when my dad goes to the market to sell vermicelli noodles and calls for them himself?"

"Yes, that's right! When my grandfather wanted to sell vermicelli at the market, he had to plant the crops first, then harvest them, and then make vermicelli. He would then carry them to the market to sell them. He would call them himself, do the accounting himself, and collect the money himself. He alone did the work of seven or eight people." Jiang Furong broke down the story and explained it in detail:

"Making clothes now is like setting up a clothes stall by yourself. You have to buy cloth, cut, sew, shout, do the accounting, pay wages, and collect wages. You do it all by yourself."

Jiang Xiaocui suddenly realized and exclaimed, "I can do all the work you mentioned. Can I do it all by myself?"

Jiang Furong gave Jiang Xiaocui a thumbs up and said, "That's right! If it were a garment factory, these tasks would require technicians to maintain the sewing machines, production experts to make the clothes, salesmen to buy cloth and deliver the clothes to department store counters, and accountants to collect the bills and pay the workers.

You are now a single person, a production expert, a technician, a salesperson, and an accountant. How capable you are!"

This series of analysis made Jiang Xiaocui's heart blossom with joy, her eyes sparkling. "Oh my God, I can still do the work of a technician or a salesperson, I can also be an accountant?"

It seems that all the problems have been solved, and the future is illuminated by brilliant light.

Jiang Furong struck while the iron was hot: "Yes, you can do everything, so there is nothing to worry about. Just tell others that you can do it.

If you tell someone you can do it, they may or may not ask you to do it, so you always have a 50% chance. If you are too embarrassed to even speak up, you don't even have a chance at all."

Jiang Xiaocui took a deep breath and then a long sigh. She felt her whole body was brightened up and she kept saying, "I understand, I understand!"

Jiang Furong smiled and said, "How is it? Is it easy?"

Jiang Xiaocui smiled and pinched Jiang Furong's earlobe: "It's not that simple. If you hadn't told me this, my brain wouldn't have been able to think of it at all. I would never dare to say this in my life!"

Jiang Furong jokingly said, "Do you dare to say it now?"

Jiang Xiaocui was already extremely passionate, and she kept saying, "I dare you! Aunt Qin will ask me to make clothes for her again. When there is another chance, I will take the initiative to tell her. Furong, will it really work if I tell her? Will she be willing to ask me to make clothes for her?"

Jiang Furong waved the white-thread gloves she had just found. "Of course they're useful! Look, someone asked me to help repair a bicycle."

Jiang Xiaocui was so shocked that she jumped up and screamed, "You can repair bicycles? Who taught you that?"

Jiang Furong calmly made up a story about learning a craft: "I often watched my dad clean bicycles, taking parts apart, cleaning them, and then putting them back together. If the chain fell off or the brake pads were broken, I could fix them all."

"Then how did you tell others that you can repair bicycles?" Jiang Xiaocui was very curious.

Jiang Furong smiled and said, "What a coincidence! The last time I went to pick you up, I took someone's tricycle to the county town. Later, I happened to meet him in the courtyard. His tricycle broke down..."

Jiang Xiaocui interrupted and said, "Just help him fix it!"

Jiang Furong hummed: "Almost."

Jiang Xiaocui was greatly encouraged: "That's great! I want to be as brave as you and be able to accomplish anything."

Jiang Furong chuckled and said, "How bold the people are, how fertile the land will be."

After talking for a long time, Jiang Furong had almost finished her words and stood up: "Aunt, I have to go to help someone repair a bicycle at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning. I'll have to trouble you and grandma to take care of little Baoying during the day."

Jiang Xiaocui was now overflowing with confidence, feeling that there was nothing in the world she couldn't do. She patted her chest and said, "It's not a problem at all. I'll take care of all the work by myself tomorrow."

The next morning after breakfast, Jiang Furong set off with a pair of white-thread gloves.

Squad Leader Fu brought her to the kitchen yard and pointed to the basket on the ground, saying, "Jiang Furong, I've borrowed all the tools I can from the repair team. It will be up to you in a while."

Jiang Furong squatted down and took a look. They were all large and extra-large repair tools, some of which were obviously special tools for repairing cars.

"Very good, it can all be used."

Jiang Furong took out her gloves and put them on, ready to work: "Team Leader Fu, come and help me turn the tricycle over first."

"Wait a minute, this kind of hard work is for men." Squad Leader Fu called a soldier who was looking in from behind the window to come over and help: "Li Xiaodao, you just watch there, come and help."

Li Xiaodao came over with a chuckle: "Captain Fu, is this your partner?"

Squad Leader Fu glared at Li Xiaodao and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm here to help me fix my tricycle. Come on, one, two, three, okay."

Jiang Furong didn't want Li Xiaodao to have any wild thoughts, so she took the initiative to explain, "My last name is Jiang, you can call me Xiao Jiang. I can repair bicycles and assemble bicycle tricycles, so Captain Fu asked me to help."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaodao stood at attention and saluted: "Master Jiang!"