The shop in Zhangcheng came with a rear courtyard. They could conduct business in the front and live in the back, saving them the trouble of renting a separate home.
It was convenient, economical, and spared them the hardship of travelling back and forth.
Shen Jiao could not have been more satisfied.
Naturally, such satisfaction had to be expressed by properly rewarding the person responsible for this great achievement.
Shen Jiao specially prepared a lavish dinner.
However, when Gu Xinguo saw the beautifully presented dishes on the table, he barely looked at them. Instead, he fixed Shen Jiao with an intense gaze.
“Jiaojiao, I thought you would understand what kind of reward I want better than anyone.”
No.
Shen Jiao did not want to understand at all.
This man had been forced to restrain himself throughout her pregnancy and recovery after childbirth. Once those restrictions were lifted, he became like a starving wolf who could never be satisfied.
Her waist had been aching faintly for the past several days.
If she agreed to him again, she genuinely suspected that her body might completely give out.
Unfortunately, no matter how she tried to evade him, the man who had been longing for her still succeeded.
When she woke the following morning, she rubbed her painfully sore waist, grabbed a pillow, and hurled it at the sanctimonious scoundrel.
Gu Xinguo deliberately made no attempt to catch it and allowed the pillow to strike him.
It did not hurt to be hit a couple of times.
What mattered was allowing his wife to release her anger. Otherwise, it might affect his chances of “eating meat” again.
Shen Jiao had completely run out of ways to deal with this man.
His skin was probably so thick that even artillery shells could not penetrate it.
Just then, little Yanyan began his usual morning vocal performance.
Shen Jiao hurriedly picked him up and breastfed him.
They had not bought any infant formula.
Not only was it expensive, but it was also extremely difficult to obtain.
Shen Jiao produced plenty of milk—far more than little Yanyan could finish by himself.
As for the excess milk…
Humph.
It certainly had not gone to waste.
It had all benefited a certain shameless man.
“Brother Gu, now that the shop in the city has been rented, opening the business in Zhangcheng is about to be placed on the schedule. Once Sister takes over our shop in the county town, she definitely won’t be able to help look after Yanyan anymore.
“We need to find someone to care for him. Do you have anyone in mind?”
Gu Xinguo had actually considered the matter long ago.
Even setting aside the fact that the current political environment did not permit them to employ a nanny, they would not dare entrust their child to a stranger even if it were allowed.
“I’ve already spoken to Eldest Grandma. She has agreed to move to the city with us.
“The children in Eldest Uncle’s and Second Uncle’s families are cared for by their own Grandmas, so they rarely need her help.
“When the time comes, we’ll pay her the same wage we pay Eldest Sister. That way, Eldest Uncle’s and Second Uncle’s families won’t have any complaints.”
“Brother Gu, you’re amazing. You always manage to think of everything before I do.”
“Then tonight—”
“Get lost!”
The man who had been hoping to receive another reward because his wife was pleased was struck by yet another pillow.
He rubbed his nose and left.
Admittedly, he had been somewhat lacking in restraint recently.
But could anyone really blame him?
Any man forced to abstain for nearly an entire year would behave the same way.
After he left, Shen Jiao held her nursing son and thought furiously that if she allowed that man to succeed again tonight, she would perform a live demonstration of eating a pillow.
News that Shen Jiao intended to open a tailoring shop in Zhangcheng had already spread throughout the Shuanma Village production brigade.
However, since Shen Jiao had not made any visible preparations, many people assumed it was only an excuse to refuse those who came asking to borrow money.
They had felt rather resentful about it.
As expected, they thought, the wealthier someone became, the stingier they were.
Only when Gu Xinguo moved his entire family to Zhangcheng did everyone finally realise that Shen Jiao truly was opening a shop in the city.
For a time, people throughout the Shuanma Village production brigade could talk of nothing except how capable Shen Jiao was.
Their village had people working in the county town and even a few working in the provincial capital, but they were all men.
Shen Jiao was the first woman from their production brigade to become successful.
That was why the news created such a strong reaction.
Meanwhile, some of the more intelligent villagers began forming plans of their own.
Although Shen Jiao had moved to Zhangcheng and was now beyond their reach, the apprentices she had trained still lived in the village.
There were five of them.
The villagers did not expect their wives or daughters to earn enormous sums and open shops like Shen Jiao.
They would be satisfied as long as the women could earn some ready money to cover household expenses.
As a result, a craze for learning tailoring soon swept through the village.
The other families could simply refuse those who came asking for lessons.
However, the Party secretary’s and brigade captain’s families found themselves in a more difficult position because of their status.
Consequently, the two families had to postpone their plans to open shops in the county town.
Their daughters-in-law were full of resentment but had nowhere to express it, so they went to Gu Xinmin to complain.
Except for a few particularly clumsy daughters-in-law, almost all the women in those two families already knew how to make clothes.
The younger daughters-in-law who had studied under Shen Jiao had returned home and taught the others.
This had been part of the original agreement when the families sent them to learn from Shen Jiao.
Eldest Grandma’s family had done the same.
Opening shops had also been a collective family decision.
The money had already been gathered, yet this unexpected problem had delayed everything.
How could the women not feel resentful?
But what could Gu Xinmin possibly do?
She could not prevent other people from learning tailoring.
Besides, after Shen Jiao moved to Zhangcheng, Gu Xinmin took over the shop in Linqing County.
She had never understood the difficulty of running a shop until she became responsible for one herself.
Now she felt as though worry had turned several strands of her hair white.
It was clearly still the same shop, and most of the customers were familiar faces.
When she had worked under Shen Jiao, she had been energetic every day. Although the shop had been extremely busy, the work always proceeded in an orderly manner.
Yet after taking control herself, she constantly felt rushed and overwhelmed.
She worked herself to exhaustion every day, but the shop produced fewer clothes than it had when Shen Jiao was there.
That was despite having help from her younger sister-in-law, Wang Juying.
Gu Xinmin was already worried enough about her own problems.
How could she possibly offer advice to anyone else?
Still, she felt she ought to visit Zhangcheng and ask Shen Jiao for more guidance.
Moreover, they had been separated for almost ten days, and she missed her precious nephew.
Shen Jiao had already operated her shop in Zhangcheng for several days.
Thanks to the help of Zhou Ying, the wife of Deputy Director Lin—Gu Xinguo’s former comrade—the tailoring shop quickly attracted customers.
Ultimately, tailoring depended on skill and reputation.
Shen Jiao’s craftsmanship was excellent.
She could even reproduce the outfits worn by actresses in films almost exactly.
Naturally, people were willing to support her business.
Xinjiao Tailoring Shop soon repeated its success from Linqing County.
However, its turnover in the city was far higher than it had been in the county town.
It earned at least five hundred yuan every month.
Shen Jiao had also accepted two new apprentices to help her.
One of them was Deputy Director Lin’s younger sister.
Lin Hongxia had been an educated youth sent to the countryside. She had failed to gain admission to university, while jobs in the city were scarce and competition for them was fierce.
Deputy Director Lin, however, was a principled man. He refused to use his position to arrange a job for his younger sister through the back door.
His mother sighed every day whenever she looked at her daughter.
Lin Hongxia was already twenty-five, yet she had neither a job nor a marriage prospect.
Ever since her eldest son was transferred back to Zhangcheng and appointed deputy director, his mother had begged him countless times to arrange work for his younger sister.
He always refused.
He was a Party member and a cadre. He had to lead by example and could not create trouble for the organisation.
After learning about the family’s situation, Gu Xinguo mentioned it to Shen Jiao.
Shen Jiao immediately dropped several hints to Zhou Ying.
She needed apprentices anyway, and it made little difference whom she accepted.
If Lin Hongxia was willing to study tailoring, she was welcome to come to the shop. Shen Jiao would teach her with complete sincerity.
Naturally, Zhou Ying was delighted when she heard this.
Her sister-in-law’s employment problem had become a source of anxiety for the entire family.
Zhou Ying’s husband refused to intervene. Without respectable employment, and already being older than the usual marriageable age, Lin Hongxia was also having difficulty finding a husband.
Her mother-in-law did not dare openly criticise her son for refusing to help, but it was extremely easy for her to take her frustration out on her daughter-in-law.
If Zhou Ying could solve her sister-in-law’s employment problem, she would finally have the confidence to respond whenever her mother-in-law tried to find fault with her.
Because of this, Zhou Ying’s impression of Shen Jiao improved dramatically.
Whenever anyone at her workplace wanted clothes made, she spared no effort in recommending Xinjiao Tailoring Shop.
She brought Shen Jiao a considerable amount of business.
Of course, Shen Jiao did not allow her to help for nothing.
She gave Zhou Ying a commission for every customer she introduced.
The amount was not large, but it was still an additional source of income.
Zhou Ying praised Shen Jiao to her husband more than once, saying she was an exceptionally perceptive and sensible person.
When Gu Xinmin arrived, Shen Jiao happened to be away from the shop.
Little Yanyan was ill, so she had taken him to the hospital.
The previous day, Shen Jiao had been unable to resist eating a spicy meal.
After the little fellow drank her breast milk, his body could not tolerate it.
Shen Jiao sighed.
Being a mother truly was not easy.
In addition to the hardships of ten months of pregnancy, there were countless dietary restrictions and physical discomforts while breastfeeding, not to mention all the exhaustion involved in caring for a child.
Her pressure and anxiety multiplied whenever the baby’s father was absent.
She now genuinely admired single mothers.
She could not imagine how many hardships they endured while raising their children alone.
“Jiaojiao, what happened to Yanyan?”
After arriving and learning that her nephew was ill, how could Gu Xinmin calmly remain at the tailoring shop?
She asked Eldest Grandma which hospital they had gone to and hurried over.
“Sister, the doctor has already examined him. He has a slight cough and was prescribed some medicine. We can go home now.”
“Oh, Auntie’s precious darling has suffered so much.”
Gu Xinmin took Yanyan from Shen Jiao’s arms and spoke to him as though he were the most precious treasure in the world.
Unfortunately, Yanyan did not appear to appreciate his aunt’s concern.
He only noticed that this embrace lacked his mother’s familiar scent.
His tiny mouth turned down, and he prepared to cry.
Gu Xinmin hurriedly returned him to Shen Jiao.
After they reached home, Shen Jiao needed help from both Eldest Grandma and Gu Xinmin before she finally managed to feed the medicine to the little fellow.
Looking at his face, red from crying, Shen Jiao’s heart ached so badly that tears flowed down her cheeks.
She was not a good mother.
She had failed to resist her appetite and caused her child to suffer.
“Jiaojiao, don’t be so upset,” Eldest Grandma comforted her. “That’s what raising children is like. The slightest carelessness can make them fall ill and become unsettled.
“Just remember not to eat overly heating, raw, or cold foods in the future.”
Eldest Grandma had raised three children and several grandchildren.
However, she had never seen anyone care for a baby as meticulously as Shen Jiao.
Nearly everything the child ate, drank, or wore was the best available on the market.
Only a family in good financial circumstances could afford such treatment.
Gu Xinmin quickly joined Eldest Grandma in comforting her.
But how could Shen Jiao forgive herself?
It would have been different if the baby had simply fallen ill on his own.
This time, however, his illness had been caused by his mother.
After making up her mind, Shen Jiao never touched another forbidden food before Yanyan was weaned, no matter how badly she craved it.
A mother’s determination could be that strong.
Once the little fellow had finally exhausted himself from crying and fallen asleep, Gu Xinmin explained her difficulties to Shen Jiao.
After listening, Shen Jiao immediately wrote out a clear division of responsibilities for the shop, along with the common problems that arose during daily operations and methods for handling them.
Gu Xinmin held the paper as though she had obtained a priceless treasure.
As for the problem faced by the Party secretary’s and brigade captain’s families, Shen Jiao thought for a moment and suggested that they open a tailoring training class in the village.
They could specialise in teaching sewing and accept anyone who wished to study.
Naturally, the lessons could not be free.
They should charge a reasonable training fee.
No one could be expected to spend time and effort teaching others without receiving anything in return.
The Party secretary’s and brigade captain’s families followed Shen Jiao’s suggestion.
Their tailoring training class soon became extremely successful.
They could not have been more grateful to Shen Jiao.
In the blink of an eye, it was 1982.
Reform and opening up had already been underway for three years.
However, it was only this year that Shuanma Village and the vast rural regions across China formally began dissolving their production teams and implementing the household responsibility system.
When Shen Jiao heard the news, the corners of her lips curved upward.
The opportunity she had been waiting for had finally arrived.
She counted the money she had accumulated.
It was more than enough to return to the village and open a ready-made clothing factory.
And that was not all.
The first cohort of university students admitted after the restoration of the national college entrance examination was also approaching graduation.
They would enter their fourth year this year.
Whether they were arranging internships or preparing for their state-assigned jobs after graduation, it was time for them to take action, secure good placements, and begin using their influence.
A cold smile appeared on Shen Jiao’s lips.
Certain people were also due to receive a lesson.
She wondered how it would feel to have a bright future directly in front of them, close enough to touch, only for everything to come to an abrupt end.
Would the fall from heaven back to the mortal world be satisfying enough for them?
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