Chapter 320: Cotton Clothes

Zhou Dazhong got up and opened the door.

“Sixteenth Uncle, my mother has already gone back, is there something you need?”

Zhou Yimin waved his hand. “Nothing, I thought she and your brother hadn’t left yet. I was planning to see them off.”

He was preparing to head back to the village.

The two of them chatted for a few moments, then Zhou Yimin rode his bicycle back to the village.

Once he returned, Old Man Wu told him that the quilts had been made, and there was still plenty of cotton left. He asked Zhou Yimin what to do next.

Not long ago, Zhou Yimin had brought the cotton over to Old Man Wu, asking him to help make a few quilts. Today, they were finally done.

The cotton was long-staple cotton from the frontier, very high quality and in large quantities, so each quilt was quite thick. During winter, these quilts would be very warm.

“How much is left?” Zhou Yimin asked.

Actually, he’d kept some of the cotton aside and gave it to Third Aunt, along with some cloth, asking her to make a few sets of cotton clothes. This included a set for his grandfather, grandmother, and others like Lai Fu.

“All of this is left, take a look.”

There was quite a lot remaining, after all, there had been hundreds of pounds of cotton! They had only made a few quilts, so how much cotton would that use up?

Zhou Yimin peered inside and saw that there was indeed quite a bit left.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “Old Wu, how about this: you get some people to help, and I’ll go find some fabric. You all make a set of cotton clothes for each of the children in the school. If there’s any cotton left, make some for the elderly in the village.”

Zhou Zhilong widened his eyes.

So much good cotton, and he was just giving it away?

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: it’s still Yimin!

“Alright! I’ll go find people.”

For the villagers, this was a good thing! Who didn’t have children or elderly family members?

Now, not to mention cotton, even rough cloth was hard to get. Not only did you need money, but you also needed fabric coupons. Even city folk didn’t have much fabric in a year.

Zhou Yimin had not returned home yet and was riding his bicycle out again. In fact, he was just putting on a show. The fabric was already in his backpack at the store! He had bought a lot earlier for just 1 yuan.

Now, he could finally use it.

Meanwhile, Old Wu went to find the village party secretary and the school principal, Zhou Zhigao.

“Zhilong, what’s the matter?” The village party secretary asked as he saw him panting, thinking something serious must have happened.

Zhou Zhilong said, “Secretary, didn’t Yimin ask me to make quilts before? There’s still quite a lot of cotton left, and he plans to use it to make cotton clothes for the children in the school. If there’s any left, he’ll make some for the elderly in the village.”

Hm?

The village party secretary stood up immediately.

Cotton was hard to come by! He had seen the several hundred pounds of cotton Zhou Yimin brought back, and the quality was top-notch. Even with money and coupons, it was hard to get.

“Is that really what he said?”

Actually, the village party secretary already trusted this; it was indeed the way Yimin did things. Everyone knew that the village school was under his care. Now, villagers were doing everything they could to get their children into the school.

Zhou Zhilong nodded. “Yes! He’s out looking for fabric now.”

The village party secretary paced back and forth for a while.

Finally, he said, “We can’t let Yimin pay for everything. Let’s go to Zhigao and discuss it with him. The school can ask the students’ parents to pay 10 yuan per cotton jacket. At the very least, we need to cover the cotton cost for Yimin.”

It wasn’t right for Yimin to keep paying for everything.

So, they went to the school. Even though there were no classes that day, Zhou Zhigao was usually at the school, as he had to do some literacy work with the villagers later in the evening.

“Make a set of cotton clothes for the students?” Zhou Zhigao was stunned.

Recently, the weather had turned cold, and he had noticed that some children were still wearing their old uniforms. Although the classroom had a stove to keep warm, some were still shivering.

“Yes! Yimin is kind-hearted, but we can’t keep taking advantage of him! You should contact the parents and ask them to contribute 10 yuan each for the cotton clothes,” the village party secretary said.

Actually, 10 yuan per cotton jacket seemed like a bargain! You wouldn’t be able to buy it so cheaply outside.

You had to understand, clothing costs were not small nowadays, with fabric, cotton, and materials all in short supply. That’s why, after three years of patching up old clothes, younger children always had to wear their older siblings’ clothes.

Now, thanks to Yimin, the children at the school were getting new clothes.

In the city, a “polyester-cotton khaki men’s jacket” costs 19 yuan, and a “polyester-cotton khaki men’s pants” costs 14 yuan. Together, that’s a month’s wage for an ordinary worker.

So even families with regular incomes found buying clothes to be a luxury, let alone in the countryside. Even for “new clothes for the New Year,” they usually had to buy the fabric themselves.

For winter cotton clothes like these, you wouldn’t find them for less than 20 yuan anywhere.

So, 10 yuan for a set of cotton clothes was something no parent could refuse.

The villagers in Zhoujia Village were gradually getting wealthier. Besides the work points they earned, the money from selling vegetables would soon be distributed as well!

“Alright! I’ll go inform them now.” Zhou Zhigao, seeing that this was another “benefit” for the school, was eager to help.

As the principal, ensuring the children learned well and had the best conditions was part of his duty.

Soon after, the village party secretary and Zhou Zhilong went to find a dozen or so skillful farmwomen to make the cotton clothes.

Before long, the whole village knew that Yimin was making cotton clothes for the schoolchildren, and each set only cost 10 yuan. Without hesitation, everyone handed over their money.

“Too bad, only the kids in the school can buy them. Otherwise, I’d want to buy a set for my wife.” Someone lamented.

A 10 yuan set of cotton clothes, even for children, was a great deal!

If adults could also buy them, they’d be willing to pay 20 or 30 yuan.

“Children these days have it so good! Back when we were young…” Someone else started reminiscing about the old days.

How lucky they were now!

They had enough to eat, enough to wear, and didn’t have to worry about anything else except studying and playing.

Soon, Zhou Yimin returned with a batch of fabric that was not in great condition. This was defect fabric, a product from the factory that didn’t meet standards. Normally, such fabric would be consumed internally by the factory.

Despite being defective, this fabric was still popular on the market.

On one hand, it didn’t require fabric coupons, and on the other, it was cheaper than standard fabric. That’s why it was favored by ordinary people.

When Zhou Yimin learned that the village party secretary had collected 10 yuan per cotton jacket, he couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.

However, he didn’t refuse. His grandparents had often said that one shouldn’t always give without receiving, or else some people would begin to take it for granted, and if one day help wasn’t offered, they’d think it was your fault.

Sometimes, for certain matters, Zhou Yimin would even specifically ask his grandparents for advice.

“Alright, I’ll take it.” Zhou Yimin accepted the money.

Once he received the fabric, the skilled women got to work, taking measurements for the children and sewing the cotton clothes.

(End of chapter)