Money-Making Ideas
In November, the temperature difference between day and night in City X was huge. During the day, when the sun was out, a thin jacket and long sleeves were enough. But once the sun went down, the temperature dropped immediately.
Qin Shi had already dug out the family’s old sweaters and thick clothes and begun preparing winter clothing.
She took out the padded jackets for the children to try on, but none of them really fit.
They had been eating well recently, growing taller and gaining weight. Last year’s old clothes were tight on them now, making them look like round little balls. If they wore a few more layers underneath, they would be so squeezed they could barely move.
“Hot~” An’an had been bundled in a pile of clothes and twisted uncomfortably. Qin Shi quickly helped her take them off and let her change back into normal clothes.
“It seems a bit small.” Pingping tugged at his big floral padded jacket. He couldn’t even put it on by himself.
“Mm, it’s small.” Qin Shi took out another padded jacket, but when she saw the sleeves and collar were already frayed, she frowned.
These padded jackets had already been altered larger before. Qin Shi examined them carefully and saw clear marks on the sleeves and trouser legs. They had probably been made two years ago.
It looked like she would have to make new thick clothes.
She rummaged through the wardrobe again. The other clothes were alright, and many could still be worn, so not everything needed to be remade.
Qin Shi had a rough idea now. She wondered whether she should make down jackets.
But duck down and goose down weren’t easy to find. There were no poultry factories nearby. If she wanted some, she would have to go to the city. And since she didn’t need much, they might not even bother selling it to her.
Should she get more? Make down jackets in bulk and sell them?
Qin Shi shook her head slightly. That wasn’t easy. Although the country had already established its own down jacket factories a few years ago, the styles were ugly, the feathers leaked, and the jackets were bulky. They were also expensive, so few people bought them.
An adult one cost more than fifty yuan—ugly and expensive.
At this time, down jackets were called “bread jackets.” It wouldn’t be until the 1990s, after they were improved, that down jackets became popular.
Right now, people were still proud to wear military coats in winter. They were thick and warm, and proper military coats were military supplies, difficult for ordinary people to get.
Lu Zetian naturally had one, so he didn’t need to worry. But the children did.
Qin Shi sighed. This year, she would just make padded jackets. Next year, she could focus on the clothing side of things, and by the end of next year there should be progress. She could do it then.
Three children plus herself meant four padded jackets. Making them would consume fabric, cotton, and time. Qin Shi had originally planned to get some yarn and knit things to sell, but with this situation, she might as well forget it.
Then Qin Shi’s eyes moved, and she thought of Auntie Zhao. Auntie Zhao was excellent at knitting. There must be other skilled women in the army compound too. Could she come up with some designs, let them knit, then send the products to the county or city to sell?
Wasn’t Mo Ling’s good friend Song Sinuo running a clothing shop in the county? She could place them there on consignment.
But knitting sweaters was also very troublesome. What about scarves instead? Later generations had all kinds of scarves—long ones, short ones, ones with words, ones with patterns, loose and fluffy thick-yarn styles, and so on.
There were so many stitch patterns too: fishbone stitch, lover’s knot, twill stitch, lovesickness knot… all sorts of viral knitting methods.
For several years in her previous life, hand-knitted scarves had been trendy. Her best friend had researched them every day, and Qin Shi had watched for a long time too.
Qin Shi carefully searched her memory for those knitting methods. Soon, all sorts of techniques appeared.
Her memories from her previous life seemed to have been stored away. Now, whenever Qin Shi searched casually, those memories would be pulled out. It was as if her brain were a computer and all her memories were saved on a hard drive. With a quick search, they would appear completely.
She didn’t know whether this golden finger had been given by the system or something else. She had only discovered it a few days ago while making cake, when she desperately tried to remember the ratio of ordinary flour to starch needed to replace low-gluten flour.
Before that, there hadn’t been anything that required her to think so hard, so she hadn’t noticed.
When cooking, recipes appeared instantly, but Qin Shi had thought that was part of her chef golden finger and hadn’t thought much of it.
This golden finger was quite powerful. Qin Shi could even dig out childhood memories or things she had only glanced at unintentionally, though it took longer.
The deeper the impression, the faster the memory surfaced. If the impression wasn’t deep, she had to search slowly, bit by bit.
Qin Shi still remembered scarf-knitting methods fairly well, so it didn’t take long to pull them out.
After carefully recalling them, she wrote down the messy details and kept the matter in mind.
Once Mo Ling was done and they went to the city together, she would first visit Song Sinuo’s shop and test the waters. If it could work, she would come back and find people. Although time would be tight, they could still make a small profit.
After making her plan, Qin Shi happily got up to continue working.
That afternoon, Auntie Zhao came over with a basket of sweet potatoes.
“My relatives came this morning and brought a big sack of sweet potatoes. I steamed two at noon, and they were very sweet!”
“Take these and try them. I remember the children all like sweet things.”
Qin Shi looked and saw that every sweet potato in the basket was large and plump. She was instantly surprised. “This is too much!”
The sweet potatoes looked excellent.
Auntie Zhao shoved the basket into Qin Shi’s hands. “Don’t be polite with me. They’re so heavy, I can’t carry them anymore!”
Qin Shi was just about to say a few would be enough, but Auntie Zhao understood what she was thinking and spoke before she could.
“Don’t be polite. How much are sweet potatoes worth anyway? That cream cake you made the other day—tsk, tsk! My Old Zhao said those sell for more than twenty yuan outside!”
“That was homemade,” Qin Shi said, carrying the basket and feeling its weight before placing it directly on the ground.
So heavy.
“The ingredients weren’t cheap either.” Auntie Zhao waved her hand, pretending to be angry. “If you keep refusing, I’ll be angry! Our two families aren’t outsiders. It’s just some sweet potatoes.”
Since Auntie Zhao had already said this much, Qin Shi stopped refusing and smiled. “Then thank you.”
“Aiya.” Auntie Zhao looked at Qin Shi with a smile, like she was looking at one of her own children. “Why be polite with Auntie?”
After chatting for a while, Qin Shi asked, “Auntie Zhao, do most of the women in the army compound know how to knit sweaters?”
Auntie Zhao nodded. “Of course. Every year, the family’s sweaters are knitted by ourselves. What’s the matter? Something on your mind?”
“You want to learn? Auntie can teach you!” Auntie Zhao was very enthusiastic.
The scarf-selling idea wasn’t certain yet, so Qin Shi hadn’t planned to say anything. But she needed a few samples, so she explained her plan to Auntie Zhao.
When Auntie Zhao heard that Qin Shi had no time because she needed to make padded jackets for the children, and that she had many patterns and even planned to sell them in the city, she immediately clapped her hands.
“I’ll do it! This is simple!”
“My family is small, and we don’t need many clothes made. In winter, I don’t have much to do either. I can knit while looking after the child.” Auntie Zhao asked excitedly, “What pattern do you want? I know lots of stitches!”
Seeing Auntie Zhao’s expression, Qin Shi knew she liked this kind of work. She smiled and said, “I plan to use thick yarn and knit them looser. Those are simple, with many styles, and more fashionable. If we put them in a city clothing shop, young people should like them.”
Although scarves now had many patterns too, they were mostly tightly knitted. The woollen, thick-yarn, loose styles from later generations were still rare.
“Oh, that kind. I have quite a lot of thick yarn at home. Want to come and take a look?” Auntie Zhao asked.
Qin Shi smiled and nodded. Then she turned toward the room and called, “Pingping, An’an, I’m going to Grandma Zhao’s house. Are you coming?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” An’an’s voice arrived before she did.
Soon, she pulled Pingping out and sweetly greeted Auntie Zhao with a smile. “Grandma Zhao~”
When Auntie Zhao saw the two children, she immediately grinned. She held one in each hand and patted their heads. “Good, good, good. Come to Grandma’s house. Grandma will give you biscuits!”
Qin Shi placed the sweet potatoes in the courtyard, closed the room door, pulled the gate shut, and took the children into Auntie Zhao’s house.
People in this era were simple and honest. The army compound was full of soldiers’ families, so there were no thieves. Many people didn’t lock their doors when they went out.
Qin Shi, who closed all the doors when going out, was already considered cautious here.
The Zhao family had already set up a stove in the room. Qin Shi looked at the thick chimney in surprise. “You’ve started heating this early?”
Auntie Zhao had given the twins biscuits and came out just as Qin Shi asked. She explained, “There’s a little child at home, so we brought it out early. We burn it for a while in the morning and evening, otherwise the room feels chilly.”
Qin Shi nodded. The temperature had dropped quickly recently. It was indeed cold in the mornings and evenings. The baby was only a little over one year old and had weaker resistance, so keeping the stove going was better.
Auntie Zhao gave the twins biscuits, and the twins didn’t stand on ceremony. The two families were very familiar with each other. Especially since Qin Shi had arrived, the two households often exchanged food. The twins had become experienced at running errands.
As long as it wasn’t something especially expensive, the twins could eat it freely because they knew their family would send something else in return. They weren’t eating and drinking for free.
But this was only at Auntie Zhao’s house. At anyone else’s home, the twins wouldn’t behave like this.
“Thank you, Grandma!” The twins accepted the biscuits and smiled at Auntie Zhao, one sweeter than the other.
Auntie Zhao, who already liked children, smiled even more lovingly.
“Grandma, where is little brother? Is he sleeping again?” Pingping asked while eating.
“Yes. That boy is lazy and loves sleeping,” Auntie Zhao said, patting Pingping’s head.
Pingping lowered his voice. “Then we’ll play with him when he wakes up.”
“Good~ So obedient.” Auntie Zhao poured water for them, then went to the bedroom to fetch yarn.
Auntie Zhao came out holding a pile of yarn. As soon as Qin Shi saw the thickness, she thought, *As expected.*
Even the thickest yarn was still very thin. What she wanted was the especially, especially thick kind. As expected, this era didn’t have it.
“Does the supply and marketing cooperative have anything thicker than this?” Qin Shi asked, unwilling to give up.
Auntie Zhao said, “They have some that’s a little thicker, but not by much.”
Qin Shi sighed inwardly and picked up the yarn to feel how soft it was.
Seeing that she wasn’t satisfied, Auntie Zhao asked, “How thick do you want it?”
“The thicker, the better.”
Auntie Zhao clicked her tongue. “They’re all about this thickness. I’ve never seen anything too thick.”
Qin Shi had expected this result, so she wasn’t too disappointed. “It’s fine. When the time comes, we can twist several strands together. It’ll be about the same.”
“Tomorrow, I’m going to the county to buy fabric and cotton. I’ll look at the yarn too.” Qin Shi asked Auntie Zhao, “Are you going grocery shopping tomorrow?”
Auntie Zhao waved her hand. “I only went yesterday. The cabbages in the vegetable garden are ready too, so I won’t go.”
Qin Shi also remembered the vegetables in her own plot and smiled. “The chives in my garden can be cut now. I’ll send you some later.”
Auntie Zhao smiled. “Good. Old Zheng just happened to want dumplings. I’ll make chive and egg ones.”
The two were chatting and laughing when suddenly the sound of a vehicle came from outside, along with people talking. The movement wasn’t small.
Auntie Zhao was curious. “What’s going on?”
Qin Shi said, “Let’s go out and take a look. I should go home and make dinner anyway.”
The two of them came out with the twins. When they walked out of the courtyard, they saw Lu Zetian directing people to move large boxes. Qin Shi was immediately surprised.
“What is all this?”
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