Daily Life in the 70s
Chapter 106: Improvement

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: Improvement

Yang Pei Min’s days became filled with purpose, as she spent her time preparing medicine pouches for her in-laws before and after work, and reviewing her lessons in the evening.

Gong Cheng Lan came to her, declaring that the market had indeed been opened by her. After several sporadic days, she notified her to increase production once again.

Pan Shui Qin also came over to help, as she had been aware of the situation the whole time. At Yang Pei Min’s request, she took charge of gathering and transporting the raw materials and got involved as well.

Her enthusiasm and level of involvement exceeded even that of Yang Pei Min, and she even went out of her way to get her relatives to keep an eye out for materials like honey and beeswax. She would often come over to Yang Pei Min’s house to urge her to hurry up and produce the finished products.

Yang Pei Min had been following the same materials and procedures as before, but Pan Shui Qin pulled her aside and said, "Minmin, I was thinking, could we perhaps introduce two more colors for the lipstick? I think carrots and red plums could be worth a try. Can we experiment with those?"

Yang Pei Min looked at her admiringly, impressed by her ability to apply a principle in a broader context.

So, with her supervision, Yang Pei Min couldn’t afford to slack off. Gong Cheng Lan’s first trial run had brought back a profit of fourteen yuan and fifty cents for her, nearly two-thirds of her salary as a teacher.

"The girls at the factory love to compare with each other," Gong Cheng Lan said with a sense of achievement. "Once one person buys it, the business then spreads from that person. We’ve also set the price reasonably; it’s only 50 cents a piece, much cheaper than those powders. A little goes a long way, lasting over a year, which makes it an acceptable expense for the factory girls and young brides with salaries."

When Gong Cheng Lan talked about this, she was filled with pride. "You know, the first customer is the hardest to win over. I did what you said—let her try it, demonstrated the effect, and went to great lengths to explain where it came from..."

The joy of success is contagious, and Yang Pei Min’s enthusiasm was likewise ignited. She went to Fourth Uncle for help, getting him to make some simple equipment, like distillation apparatus, and brainstormed with him about creating lipstick tubes out of bamboo which could twist the lipstick up with a rotating mechanism below.

They also crafted batches of rouge and foundation boxes out of bamboo, with a diameter of four centimeters, but considering uniformity, they had to revert to the original clumsy method, bringing their boxes—the products would be packed in their homemade boxes if no others were available.

Perhaps finding the novelty intriguing, Fourth Uncle was also eager to help.

Fourth Aunt came out to watch and even offered suggestions, "You could carve something on this, right, a lady’s portrait would be best. This is a good use of material, can speed things up, and it doesn’t bother you. It’s the perfect timing with the spring planting; you’re just fidgeting at home, so hurry up and make them for Minmin."

With his wife strictly watching over him, Fourth Uncle, under the watchful eye of his spouse, dared not to neglect his work and immediately sped up.

Now that there was a market, she hoped to perfect the products continuously, making constant improvements,

and, following Pan Shui Qin’s suggestion, expanded the lipstick color options to include orange-red, light red, and deep red, even though the hues weren’t exactly standard.

Pan Shui Qin was delighted and took every chance she could to visit the Shen family. To outsiders, it only seemed that the cousins had a great relationship and were always found chatting.

"I know my sister-in-laws have been talking again, saying that I’m always coming over here whether there is a reason or not. I haven’t missed a day of work, I can go wherever I want, what is it to them? Always watching where others are going, aren’t they afraid of getting jealous?" Every family has its own difficult scripture to recite, and since the Zhao family hasn’t split up, living together with a few sister-in-laws and a mother-in-law in the mix, there’s bound to be more gossip and quarrels. Pan Shuiqin comes over to help, and sometimes she can’t help but murmur a few words of complaint.

"It’s a bit quieter over here, without Zhao ManCang’s older and second sisters-in-law always watching our pockets as if our mother-in-law was giving us extra allowance. They don’t think about how our mother-in-law is the shrewdest of all, only taking in and never giving out. Trying to get money from her pocket is next to impossible..."

Yang PeiMin listened to her silently, also sighing quietly to herself. As smooth as her cousin was, she still had these little anxieties.

"Speaking of which, it’s been almost a month since your husband returned to the army. Has he written back?" Pan Shuiqin asked, bringing up Shen Yiguang.

Yang PeiMin nodded, mentioning him seemed to stir her interest for conversation.

There were letters indeed. As soon as he returned to the army, he sent a telegram home, stating that he had arrived safely. Then, a letter followed five days after the telegram, saying that they started training immediately upon being reassigned to the unit. The dried food and local specialties he took from home, he also shared with his comrades. For those who didn’t get leave to visit their families, seeing so much New Year’s goods made them really happy; they kept saying he had married a virtuous wife.

Yang PeiMin could feel his slight pride through the letter, probably because he resolved a significant personal matter swiftly, married a virtuous and generous wife, and was envied by his comrades. Not to mention, she felt a bit smug herself. Yang PeiMin’s cheeks flushed slightly, amused by her own shameless thoughts.

Pan Shuiqin, seeing her expression, unsure if it was more comforting or gratifying, said, "It’ll be better once you get through this period."

As she spoke, she glanced at Yang PeiMin’s stomach, "Minmin, did you have your ’visitor’ this month?"

Yang PeiMin understood immediately what she was asking, as she was not the first to inquire subtly, following Chen Guizhi and Zhang Minghua...

She couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head, "I just had it."

Pan Shuiqin sighed faintly with a hint of disappointment, then comforted her, "Don’t take it too hard, these things can’t be rushed. It’ll be fine once you’re following the army."

She still seemed a bit worried as she asked again, "Your mother-in-law hasn’t said anything, has she?"

Yang PeiMin remembered Chen Guizhi’s somewhat disappointed expression, finding it difficult to say much, and shook her head, "There’s bound to be some disappointment, but she understands as well. After all, we haven’t been married long, and she’s been comforting me instead. Like you said, it’s all about fate when it comes to children; rushing won’t help."

She was already taking care of her body. Eating medicinal meals, combining it with exercise, and even picked up practicing yoga when she had nothing to do in her room. This month’s ’visitor’ wasn’t as painful as last month’s, but was still irregular, delayed by a week.

Irregular menstruation is an indicator that it’s better not to conceive, as it signifies the body is not in its optimal state. Such irregularity can affect future children, causing issues like hyperactivity and being difficult to discipline.

She loved children, indeed, but she wouldn’t consider having them before her body was fully healthy. Before that, she had been consistently using contraception.

But everyone always pays extra attention to newlyweds, as if they start counting when the woman’s belly will swell up from the moment they’re married. Whether tradition or tacit agreement, Yang PeiMin also went with the flow and began to inquire about her cousin’s belly.

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