Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 46 - 046 Xue Baimei at Dawn (Seeking a Patron!)

Chapter 46: 046 Xue Baimei at Dawn (Seeking a Patron!)

The Jishui Production Team and the Li Family Village Production Team are separated by a stretch of road; once you cross it, you’re in Jishui Team. The two production teams are very close, and plus, for over a decade, there’s been a tradition of mutual marriage between them, with girls from Li Family Village marrying into Jishui, and Jishui boys taking wives from Li Family Village. As a result, most people know each other, and in-laws are connected everywhere.

Mr. Li was leading the way up front, with Li Xianglu carrying a big bundle behind him. Along the way, quite a number of people greeted Mr. Li, and some curiously observed Li Xianglu who was donning brand-new clothes.

Initially, Li Xianglu felt somewhat uncomfortable, but who was she? A fine young adult from the 21st century. Back in her university days, she often chatted up handsome strangers, so being looked at a few times now was trivial. Before long, Li Xianglu was accustomed to it and continued walking forward, ignoring the stares of the people around her.

And Mr. Li, walking ahead of her, noticed this scene and kept nodding his head. This girl was quite interesting indeed.

The Jishui Team, like the Li Family Village Team, also had members sent down to toil. Some were sent here because they had a "bad class background," others because they had erred; due to these reasons, treatment could vary. The Jishui Team’s senior tailor Xue Baimei was such a person; sent here because of a bad class background. However, because of a kinship with the team leader’s family, the leader had specifically brought Xue Baimei over to work on the team.

During the slack farming season, Xue Baimei would make some clothes for the peasants, free of charge, only asking for some grain in return. The Xue Family was pretty savvy in dealing with these matters, and every year they provided the team leader’s family with considerable benefits. The team leader’s family received free tailoring as well, so no one reported them, and life was relatively peaceful as a result.

But this family was also smart not to tailor clothes for unfamiliar outsiders, only offering service to acquaintances who brought them in.

Mr. Li and Xue Baimei were indeed acquainted, although the specifics of their acquaintance remained a mystery. Upon meeting, the two greeted each other cheerily.

As for Li Xianglu, she froze for a moment. Why was Xue Baimei a middle-aged man? Blinking, she saw Mr. Li introduce with a beaming smile, "Xiao Xue, this is my granddaughter, Li Xianglu. We’ve come today to make some trousers for the girl."

Li Xianglu said with a smile: "Hello, Uncle Xue!"

Xue Baimei was a slim, delicate-looking middle-aged man, resembling more of a southerner, with his fine willow-browed eyes. Seeing Li Xianglu act so forthright and polite, he too was slightly startled. He had been demoted to the countryside for many years and had seen quite a few village girls and boys, but not many were as forthright and polite as her.

Especially since he had heard about that big row at the Li Family not long ago, he hadn’t expected to meet such a girl today—an unexpected surprise.

Xue Baimei’s wife, a comparatively sturdy woman, hurriedly set up the kang table and invited everyone onto the kang, before bringing over a few bowls of water.

Li Xianglu quietly sat there, listening to Mr. Li and Xue Baimei chatting with a joyful smile, without interrupting—to which her excellent upbringing was now evident.

Mr. Li, on the other hand, became increasingly pleased. This girl was quite accomplished. It seemed he had underestimated her at the beginning.

After the conversation, they took out the fabric to start measuring, and the person doing the measuring was Xue Family’s young daughter Xue Xiaoran, a twelve-year-old girl. She took the measurements with practiced skill, recorded the numbers, and then discussed styles. Xue Baimei asked Li Xianglu if she wanted something fashionable like what’s popular now.

Li Xianglu paused, "Fashionable style?"

Xue Baimei seemed slightly surprised, finding this young girl uninterested in flair, and with a smile, said: "Just make the leg openings a bit tighter."

Are those like bell-bottoms? Li Xianglu shuddered and quickly shook her head, "No, those pants are not convenient for working."

Xue Baimei’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, clearly gaining an even more favorable impression of the girl before her. This young lady always thought about working; she seemed very down-to-earth.

Mr. Li still wanted a Sun Yat-sen suit, while Li Xianglu suggested that the collar of Mr. Li’s summer Sun Yat-sen suit could be made smaller; after all, it wasn’t particularly cold in the early morning and late evening of summer, and the tall collar of the Sun Yat-sen suit was somewhat uncomfortable.

Mr. Li did not object to Li Xianglu’s suggestion to modify his clothes; instead, he appeared to be completely open to any ideas his granddaughter had.

When it came to the dress shirt, Li Xianglu hoped for a double-breasted Lenin Suit style white shirt with black round buttons. However, the buttons would need to be provided by Li Xianglu herself, as Xue Baimei did not have them.

The floral fabric had a white background with tiny plum blossom patterns, which looked quite elegant. Li Xianglu proposed adding pleats to the shoulders, creating an effect reminiscent of puff sleeves. The resulting garment should be pretty when worn, and Xue Baimei’s eyes brightened at the mention of the design; it was indeed a unique style, and she expected it would look extraordinary on the wearer, so she laughed even more heartily.

Thread was also in limited supply; the Xue Family did have some, but those coming to have clothes made needed to provide their own or pay for it, which could also be offset by grains.

After calculating the cost, the tailoring fee for a pair of pants was 20 cents, so four pairs were 80 cents. Three dress shirts were four cents each, totaling one yuan and 20 cents. A Sun Yat-sen suit was two yuan and 40 cents, including the cost of thread, adding up to a total of only four yuan and 40 cents.

As Li Xianglu was astonished by the purchasing power of money these days, Xue Baimei, somewhat embarrassed, said, "There will be some spare fabric from the pants left over; the gray and black can be pieced together to make a vest, and I’ll tailor that for Mr. Li’s granddaughter free of charge."

Mr. Li paid the amount, nodded in satisfaction, and asked that the clothes be made promptly before leaving leisurely with Li Xianglu.

On their way home, Li Xianglu asked, "Grandpa, how did Uncle Xue get such a name?" Initially, she had thought Xue Baimei was an aunt.

Mr. Li smiled and explained, "Your Uncle Xue is the eighth child in his family, with seven older sisters. He was born frail and weak, so the family feared they couldn’t raise a boy and gave him a girl’s name to increase his chances of survival."

Li Xianglu nodded in understanding.

Just as the two approached the courtyard of their home, the loudspeaker from the Jishui Production Team started announcing, "Attention, attention, all members of Li Family Village Production Team, we’re screening a movie tonight, a movie screening at the back of the commune office’s drying yard, starting at seven o’clock sharp." The message repeated several times before stopping.

Li Xianglu’s eyes lit up; it must be a movie screening event in the countryside. Mr. Li chuckled and said, "Let’s have lunch a bit later. We have some raw pumpkin seeds at home you can roast. Take some with you along with the Qin Family boys, and we’ll go see the movie tonight."

Li Xianglu happily nodded her head without any pretense.

For lunch, fearing Mr. Li wouldn’t digest well, Li Xianglu cooked soft, stewed noodle slices that were fragrant and steaming. Previously, Mr. Li had always just made something simple for himself, but now, eating such hot stewed noodles, he couldn’t help but delightfully eat a bit too much.

At noon, Qin Xi from next door hadn’t come over for lunch, which pleased Li Xianglu greatly.

Mr. Li, however, laughed. He hadn’t expected the girl to be so petty, but she did seem good at managing household affairs.

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