Chapter 81: The Pretty Military Wife of the Seventies 4

Talk about a coincidence. Just as Su Huandan finished speaking, the factory leadership arrived.

After the seven or eight leaders rushed over, they happened to overhear Su Huandan’s words. They all let out a collective sigh of relief. Exactly! Their factory would never act recklessly. There were strict regulations for every official employee quota¹, and no one would ever be appointed as an official worker if they didn’t meet the criteria.

With just a few words from this mother and daughter, they tried to claim the factory leaders had accepted bribes to arrange a job. That was like throwing a bucket of filthy water over them. Before things were cleared up, who wouldn’t feel stifled and aggrieved?

No, leaders, you’ve misunderstood. They wanted to claim the original owner’s job was arranged by the Liu family to mislead the gossips in the factory and make the original owner’s life miserable.

“Let us clarify here. Comrade Su Huandan’s job quota was indeed issued by the government and complies with all regulations.” With this statement, the matter was officially settled.

The mother and daughter of the Liu family left in a huff.

When Su Huandan went home and told the people in the courtyard about it, they were instantly furious.

“I’ve never seen anyone so shameless. You’re divorced, yet they still come to your door to bully you? They have no conscience. Back then, you shouldn’t have married their son to save his life; he should have been sent to the firing squad².” Everyone in the courtyard shared this sentiment.

Lying in bed that night, Su Huandan pondered. Something must have happened to the Liu family, otherwise the original owner’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law wouldn’t have come running to vent their frustrations on her.

As spring blossomed, Su Huandan began thinking about ways to earn some extra money.

The best kind of work would be manual labor that could be done at home, something that could also involve the neighbors in the courtyard so they could all earn a little extra cash.

One could actually find such manual labor through the Street Office, like gluing matchboxes, but the Street Office prioritized families without official jobs or those with many members. Su Huandan’s courtyard didn’t fit the criteria.

Aside from the two grandmothers, everyone had an official job.

Not to mention that the government took care of the two grandmothers’ basic needs, and they received a monthly pension.

The people in this courtyard had no problem keeping their bellies full, even if they didn’t eat well. But Su Huandan wanted to eat well.

And just think about how difficult it was to eat well in this era.

After taking a stroll around the Street Office and finding no work at all, it would be a lie to say Su Huandan wasn’t disappointed.

After returning home, Sister-in-law Zhang came over carrying her daughter.

“Little Su, I remember you have a sewing machine³ at home, right?” Sister-in-law Zhang had thick eyebrows and large eyes, and her smile was exceptionally hearty.

“I do. Do you need to use it, Sister-in-law? Come in and talk. I don’t even know how to use it myself; it’s just been sitting there idle. You can use it whenever you like.” As soon as Su Huandan finished speaking, Sister-in-law Zhang rolled her eyes.

“If you don’t know, then learn. It’s very simple. I happen to know how, so I’ll teach you. Let me tell you, the Garment Factory next to our Woolen Mill took on a huge order. They don’t have enough female workers, so they’re giving out some simple tasks to outsiders. I’m asking if you want to take this job. If you do, I’ll sign you up. The work is very simple; they provide everything pre-cut. We just have to sew the trousers according to the marks they’ve drawn. I don’t have a sewing machine at home, so I thought since you have one, the two of us could cooperate. The other three sisters-in-law also plan to take the work, but they don’t have sewing machines either and plan to sew by hand. If they’re fast, they can finish one pair of trousers a night. The pay is twenty cents per pair. If I use your machine, I’ll give you ten cents per pair. I won’t use it for free.” After saying this, Sister-in-law Zhang looked at Su Huandan with a bit of embarrassment.

Paying ten cents was still taking advantage of her.

Furthermore, if she could use Su Huandan’s sewing machine, wouldn’t the other sisters-in-law ask to borrow it too once they found out?

She felt a bit dishonest.

Su Huandan’s mind was currently busy doing the math. Making one pair of trousers a day earned twenty cents, which was two yuan in ten days and six yuan a month. Wouldn’t that be enough for the family to eat meat several more times a month?

Of course she would lend the sewing machine. It made no difference who in the courtyard borrowed it. What Su Huandan was thinking about was whether this was long-term work or just an occasional job.

“It’s not impossible to do it long-term, but you have to give the person in charge some benefits. I’ve heard many female workers in our factory say that even if the person who secures the work takes more than half the money, you can still earn over ten yuan a month. Those with sewing machines at home take on private work every night.” This was a money-making opportunity that only existed because of the Garment Factory.

Su Huandan kept this in mind.

“I’ll learn how to use the machine from you later, Sister-in-law. You go ahead and start once you get the work. I’ll watch for a few days first.” She wanted to see if she could find a sewing machine at a second-hand market, though she didn’t know if such markets existed in this era or if they would have sewing machines.

As it turned out, she was being too optimistic. In this era, people kept any second-hand items they could repair and use. Who would sell them?

Only things that were completely unusable were sold as scrap.

Su Huandan didn’t know how to fix those, and if she called a repairman, the repairman would probably burst into tears at the sight of them.

So, Su Huandan decided not to do the trouser-sewing herself.

She contributed her sewing machine and let the other four sisters-in-law take turns. She didn’t ask for the ten-cent machine fee. The sisters-in-law would provide their own maintenance oil and thread. Once a pair of trousers was finished, they would just give her a two-cent usage fee for the machine.

At this price, the four sisters-in-law truly felt Su Huandan was getting the short end of the stick. A sewing machine was something that wore out faster the more it was used, meaning Su Huandan was essentially bearing the cost of depreciation herself.

Two cents was absolutely not enough. After a round of back-and-forth haggling, the two grandmothers made the final decision: five cents per pair of trousers for Su Huandan. That was that; no more arguing.

The four sisters-in-law all sewed trousers after coming home from work. Ten pairs a month per person was the limit, as they couldn’t stay up too late. They had to go to work the next day, and dozing off on the job could lead to a major accident. Working in a factory workshop, getting caught in a machine was a terrifying thought.

The four sisters-in-law worked until midnight every night before promptly turning off the lights to sleep. They took turns using the sewing machine, and Su Huandan’s cut was settled daily.

By relying on her sewing machine, Su Huandan was earning two yuan a day.

But this work only lasted for a month before the job of sewing trousers dried up.

The four sisters-in-law were all smiles. Each of them could earn one yuan and fifty cents a day, which added up to forty-five yuan by the end of the month.

Su Huandan had earned sixty yuan. She now had enough money to buy meat at the Black Market⁴ for the rest of the year. Surely no one would have anything to say about her spending habits this time, right?

As it turned out, the very first day she came home with a chicken, the two grandmothers teamed up and paid her a visit.

“Dandan, you really shouldn’t spend money like this.”

Su Huandan was speechless.

Well, they had come with good intentions to advise her, so what could she do? It wasn’t as if she could just lose her temper.

She had earned the money to eat meat, but the social environment for actually eating it still didn’t exist!

Su Huandan wondered to herself, when would these days ever end?

Why was it so difficult just to want to eat meat every day?

Sister-in-law Zhang came over again. She had taken on some private work and came to use the sewing machine at Su Huandan’s house, and while she was at it, she intended to act as a matchmaker for Su Huandan.

Translator’s Notes