CHAPTER 44: CHAPTER 44: STATING THE TERMS UPFRONT

Yi Chichi was silent for two seconds, "I have fabric, do you want it?"

She had scavenged Zhang Lanxiang’s stock of fabric; there was no cotton, only Dacron.

There wasn’t much, but it was enough to make three pieces of clothing.

"Yes!"

Bai Chen’s eyes instantly lit up. He calculated the money he had and said in a negotiating tone, "I don’t have fabric coupons, how about I pay you a bit above market price?"

Yi Chichi thought for two seconds, nodded, and said okay.

"Shall we trade now?"

He seemed quite eager.

"I’ll go get it."

Saying this, she got up and went back to her room.

Bai Chen and the others awaited eagerly, and within two minutes, she returned with the fabric.

"Dacron, white, according to your heights and sizes, it can make three pieces with some left over."

Her gaze swept over Bai Chen, Zhang Yunhao, and Qi Yang, hinting at something.

Qi Yang reacted the fastest, immediately responding that he wanted one.

Zhang Yunhao’s eyes brightened, he actually had a share too.

"Me, me, me too."

His urgent manner seemed to fear losing out.

Wu Yongfei was unhappy, "Why is there none for me?"

Yi Chichi was straightforward, "You have clothes to wear."

She had observed during the autumn harvest that Bai Chen and the others didn’t have much spare clothing, mostly wearing one outfit during the day and washing it at night.

Sometimes, when they woke up, the clothes weren’t dry yet, and they had to wear wet clothes to work in the fields.

Although Wu Yongfei’s conditions weren’t much better, they were still better than Bai Chen’s group.

At least they had clothes to change into.

"Exercise a little generosity and let these three have a full outfit first. Otherwise, come spring, if they go to plant crops bare-bodied, it will tarnish the reputation of all the educated youths!"

This was reasonable and made Wu Yongfei and Zhou Yadong, who initially wanted to complain, promptly shut up.

Thus, the fabric Yi Chichi brought out was divided among the three.

The price for Dacron was five yuan and two cents for one zhang and five cun, requiring fabric coupons.

Since Bai Chen and the others didn’t have fabric coupons, they calculated it at five yuan and eight cents.

Whether it was a loss or a gain was hard to say, but since they all lived in the same courtyard, no one intended to be overly calculative.

After paying, Yi Chichi handed over the fabric, "Are you going to sew this yourselves?"

"We can’t, need to find someone to help."

"Who will you find?"

"We’ll ask Aunt Ma in the village to see who has time to help, tailoring fees are around fifty cents to a yuan."

Tailoring fees too?

Yi Chichi’s eyes lit up, thinking that she might as well develop a side business while she had spare time.

"How much do you pay the aunts for tailoring fees?"

"We haven’t paid any."

"Huh?"

Understanding her question, Bai Chen explained, "We haven’t had clothes made yet, just going by the price from the next-door Red Flag Production Team."

It’s not expensive, but also not particularly cheap.

Fifty cents sounds like little now, but at that time, it had quite a purchasing power.

A single egg cost 6-7 cents, and fifty cents could buy seven to eight eggs.

She smiled, "I can sew."

"??? You can make clothes too?"

Ge Sujuan was surprised, as she had previously asked for help with making shoes, but now suddenly she could sew clothes.

"I’ve always known how."

"But you couldn’t make shoes."

This left Yi Chichi speechless, as the two aren’t the same category. She was skilled at making clothes but genuinely couldn’t make thousand-layer cloth shoes.

She’d never seen anyone do it before.

Since as long as she could remember, she bought shoes, and no one around her had this skill.

"I can make clothes, skirts, pants, shirts, and even coats, and I can embroider too, but I can’t knit sweaters or make shoes."

Implying that while she isn’t all-capable, she certainly isn’t useless either.

Bai Chen didn’t want to dwell on this topic further, decisively saying before Ge Sujuan could speak, "Then could you make it for us, and we’ll pay you the tailoring fee?"

After some thought, he asked in a negotiating tone, "Would sixty cents work?"

"Yes!"

Yi Chichi nodded and smiled, "But just to say, if I need help from you guys in the future, you should lend a hand."

"Definitely."

Of course, they would help.

After all, people tend to lean towards profit and away from harm.

They weren’t sure about Yi Chichi’s exact background.

But over time, they realized this girl had some skills.

Spies were hard to discover and even harder to capture, yet she found and caught one.

Just this alone was enough reason for them to befriend her rather than become adversaries.

Not to mention she can make medicine too.

"If you have any good stuff in the future, think of us too, don’t give it all to the villagers right away, at least keep some for us,"

Ge Sujuan hugged her arm coquettishly. Yi Chichi just smiled, "Okay, next time there’s something good, you’ll have first pick."

This one sentence made everyone smile happily.

Thereafter, Yi Chichi took the soft measuring tape she got from the Yi Family, measured the three, noted down the sizes, and directly started cutting with scissors.

Wang Nan and the others watched as she worked quickly and steadily, cutting the fabric as if it had been measured with a ruler, not a bit off, quite shocked.

What kind of job did Yi Chichi have before coming to the countryside?

This masterful cutting skill surpassed many veteran craftsmen; even the seasoned tailors needed chalk to draw lines, while she didn’t need anything and just went right at it.

Every action was so precise and deft, a skill they felt they’d never learn in their lifetime.

"Chichi, aren’t you afraid of cutting it wrong?"

Yi Chichi didn’t lookup, her hands never stopping, "Such a simple job can’t be cut wrong."

Her voice was confident and firm.

Wang Nan and the others felt... Chichi was wasted by being sent to the countryside; with her skills, she’d make a great pattern maker or seamstress in a factory, how did she end up in the countryside?

As time passed and it was getting darker, Wang Nan softly said, "Let’s go make dinner first."

"What about Chichi?"

Zhou Qiuyu glanced at Yi Chichi, guessing that in her current state, she might not even think about making food.

Bai Chen thought for a moment, "How about we ask her if she wants to eat with us?"

Having tasted the benefits previously, Wu Yongfei offered, "I can make her a separate meal."

That sounded good.

Then, Wang Nan mentioned it to Yi Chichi.

Her eyes lit up, turning to Wu Yongfei, "Are you cooking today?"

"Yes."

"Then make some pickled fish?"

Aunt Ma had exchanged a black fish, weighing around two to three jin, with her for two enamel mugs, and she was puzzling over how to prepare it. Wu Yongfei volunteered, so she might as well take advantage.

"I’ll supply the fish and oil, you provide pickles, peppers, and all the spices like sesame, onion, ginger, and garlic. We’ll have dinner together, alright?"

Bai Chen and the others had no reason to refuse; after all, they were getting the better deal.

Thus, they awkwardly suggested, "Actually, we could supply the oil."

"No need."

Yi Chichi refused decisively; pickled fish wouldn’t taste great without enough oil, and putting just a few drops from Wang Nan’s share would be a luxury.

Which made her imagine what clear water boiled pickled fish would taste like.

To be safe, she decided to provide the oil herself.