The 1970s: Military Family Beauty

Jiang Furong's words came true again.

Jiang Xiaocui not only became famous with her exquisite tailoring skills, but also returned home with a great harvest.

Some people originally only planned to buy quilts and cotton, but when they saw someone who could sew clothes and had cloth coupons, they bought a few feet of cloth on the spur of the moment and asked Jiang Xiaocui to help draw the cutting lines. Those who didn't have cloth coupons just watched how Jiang Xiaocui drew the lines and used the scissors, and those who were interested asked her where she lived and who her family was.

Jiang Furong pushed Xiao Baoying to the grocery cabinet to buy half a pound of biscuits. When she came back, she saw Jiang Xiaocui surrounded by people. She was holding a ruler and a drawing board, measuring on the cloth, with a confident look on her face.

With Jiang Xiaocui attracting everyone's attention, Zhang Haiyan sat back at the counter she was in charge of and pulled Jiang Furong aside to talk: "Your aunt is really capable. Many people said they would come to buy cloth later and want to ask your aunt to make clothes."

Jiang Furong smiled and said, "Even if you want to ask my aunt to make clothes for you, you have to queue behind me. My aunt said she wanted to dress me up a little, and the two pieces of cloth in her hand were meant to make clothes for me. Unfortunately, my family doesn't have a sewing machine, and we only have a pair of folding scissors, which are still hanging on my dad's keychain."

Zhang Haiyan laughed out loud: "Jiang Furong, you are already good-looking. If you dress up a little more, you can join the art troupe."

Jiang Furong tugged at her cotton-padded jacket and made a tear-wiping gesture: "I joined the art troupe to perform as an old lady who remembers the bitter past and thinks of the sweet future."

Zhang Haiyan laughed so hard that she trembled all over: "You are really good."

Little Baoying was chewing a biscuit, looking around in confusion, and asked, "I want to go home."

The more engaged the adults are in the conversation, the more bored the children become.

Jiang Furong felt guilty. Taking care of Xiao Bao should be her working hours, so chatting now would be considered slacking off. She quickly got down to business: "Zhang Haiyan, do you know where to buy books? I saw a child reading a picture book."

Zhang Haiyan certainly knew: "I usually go to the Xinhua Bookstore in the provincial capital to buy books. Our service center sometimes also gets novels and picture books, but they sell out as soon as they arrive."

Jiang Furong suddenly realized: "No wonder I've never seen books for sale here."

Zhang Haiyan asked, "What book do you want to buy? I'll be the first to tell you if I have a book next time."

"Read whatever you have. You won't be idle if you have books to read." Jiang Furong said the truth.

Zhang Haiyan glanced at the crowd, leaned over to Jiang Furong's ear, and whispered, "There's a library in the office building. There are many books that you can't buy outside. Ask your dad to help you borrow some books."

"Why can't I buy it?" Jiang Furong was puzzled.

Wouldn’t it be good to promote good books more?

Zhang Haiyan still looked mysterious and whispered, "You'll understand when you see those books."

This incident aroused Jiang Furong's strong curiosity.

She reasoned for a while and realized that in this era, there couldn't be such explosive, exaggerated and eye-catching books. What else could soldiers read that was not available on the market, except for something related to the military?

Jiang Furong secretly remembered this.

Little Baoying shouted again: "I want to play with my brother."

Jiang Furong finally remembered that when she pushed Xiao Baoying out just now, she told him that when she returned home later, she would go to the elementary school to pick up Jiang Guoqing and go home together.

"Okay, okay, let's go find my brother." Jiang Furong went to call Jiang Xiaocui to go with her: "Aunt, go home and cook."

When promoting yourself, you should know when to stop and give people the idea. As for the effect, you will know when you come back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

As they walked out of the service center, a cold wind blew past. Jiang Xiaocui hunched her shoulders and covered her red face with her hands. "Oh, I was so happy talking that I forgot to buy you some cotton. I'll go buy it now. You walk slowly first, I'll catch up with you in a moment."

After saying this, he turned around and went back in without waiting for Jiang Furong to reply.

Jiang Furong picked up Jiang Guoqing and walked and played on the way home. Jiang Xiaocui hadn't caught up yet.

"Your aunt just loves to be praised," said Grandma Jiang, who knew Jiang Xiaocui too well. "As long as you say something nice about her, she'll be open-hearted and willing to do anything for you. If you really want to wait for her, you'll miss her even after sunset."

Jiang Furong smiled: "As long as someone is willing to listen to her, who knows, someone might come to see her soon."

Grandma Jiang took it seriously, her face filled with anxiety. "Furong, your aunt is making clothes here, so she won't cause trouble, right? I only mentioned it to your dad briefly, and wanted to bring it up again later, but I ended up going to the hospital. Sigh."

"What kind of trouble are you looking for?" Jiang Furong was very confident. It wasn't illegal to do odd jobs. "If I were to cause trouble, then I wouldn't be able to continue my job as a babysitter. There's a food exchange outside the service center gate."

Grandma Jiang felt a little relieved. "That's right. I asked your aunt to come here. I hope it was the right decision. Oh, oh, you see, I'm really old and confused. I kept nagging you about this. I'll change it, I'll change it, and say something happy. Here, these are steamed cakes specially made for Xiao Baoying and Qingqing. I added sugar to them. Let them eat them while they're hot."

With Grandma Jiang and Jiang Xiaocui around, the quality of the food at home has improved several levels.

"This one's mine, too." Jiang Guoqing was already eating a piece of steamed cake. Seeing that there was only one piece left in the bowl, he immediately grabbed it and said, "If I don't eat enough, I'll starve and lose weight."

The movements and expressions were exactly like his uncle's. Grandma Jiang couldn't bear to watch it. She shook her head and went to the kitchen, out of sight, out of mind.

Jiang Furong couldn't pretend not to hear, so she turned around and looked at Jiang Guoqing without saying a word.

Jiang Guoqing was very proud at first. After taking two bites, he noticed that his sister's eyes were not right: "Sister, why are you looking at me? I have already taken two bites. I can't give it to you even if you want to eat it."

Jiang Furong said nothing and continued to stare.

Jiang Guoqing stopped and raised his bandaged hand: "My injury hasn't healed yet. I'm a patient."

Jiang Furong snorted but still said nothing.

Jiang Guoqing rolled his eyes and shouted, "Grandma, it's time to eat, sister, it's time to eat."

"Yeah," Jiang Furong nodded, "You can still remember what to say, that's good."

Jiang Guoqing immediately asked, "Can I have an apple after dinner?"

Jiang Furong shook her head: "No, you can eat with Xiao Baoying when you come back from school this afternoon."

Jiang Guoqing grumbled, "But I want to eat now. I'm a patient."

Jiang Furong hated bargaining the most. She put on a stern face and said, "Yesterday, the aunt said she could give you half of Xiao Baoying's apples, but you didn't give Xiao Baoying any of the food you ate yesterday."

I stuffed the candy wrappers in my pocket after eating the candy, and several of them fell out when I was playing hopscotch in the house at night.

Jiang Guoqing loudly defended himself: "It was Mom who said I wouldn't give it to you."

Jiang Furong resisted the urge to hit someone and was silent for a long time before she said, "If you want to eat apples from me, you have to listen to me."