The “Blue Phoenix” promotion was quite effective.
By the time they were close to giving away all hundred pairs of stockings, this batch of spring clothing had also nearly sold out. In early March, as the weather in Commercial City finally warmed up with occasional sunny days, it further boosted the clothing store’s business. Under this double stimulus, spring clothing sales took off, keeping the store extremely busy every day. Seeing the inventory running low, Xia Xiaolan knew she had to make another trip to Yang City.
This time she couldn’t let Chen Xiliang simply replenish the existing stock. In March, Yang City had all sorts of new spring styles available, definitely offering more choices than last time. Replenishing old styles at the end of the season wouldn’t work – they needed new styles to catch consumers’ eyes while sales were hot.
This time she didn’t take Li Fengmei or Liu Fen along, as they couldn’t leave the busy store.
Liu Fen had originally planned to farm her allocated land, but seeing how busy the business was, how could she find the time? Yet with the warming weather, leaving the land fallow wasn’t an option. Li Fengmei suggested following her family’s example and renting it to villagers.
“This should have been arranged before leaving. Now we need to make another trip back – let Taotao’s father go!”
Li Fengmei made Liu Fen feel embarrassed.
Though Liu Yong hadn’t secured any business yet, he wasn’t idle. As a farmer who barely knew a few characters, he had gotten a library card through Gong Yang, the art student they met through Xia Xiaolan, and now spent every day in the library. Everyone in the family, young and old, male and female, was learning. Xia Xiaolan said society was progressing, one should learn as long as they lived, and knowledge was never excessive – it would prove useful sooner or later.
Among those who got rich in the 1980s, some private business owners turned their ventures into corporate groups, while others remained mediocre even decades later. Initial success might be opportunity, but maintaining long-term business vitality required knowledge – those who had it were always better off than those who didn’t!
Some business owners studied hard to improve themselves after success, while others spent their newfound wealth on cars, houses, and mistresses. Xia Xiaolan didn’t criticize the latter lifestyle, but she preferred seeing the whole family improve their living conditions without becoming strangers to each other.
In a marriage, if Aunt Li Fengmei became a strong career woman while Uncle Liu Yong remained stuck with old village mindsets, how could the family remain stable? Conversely, if Liu Yong became wealthy and worldly while Li Fengmei remained a simple village woman, how could they avoid relationship problems when they could barely communicate?
Progress should be made together, improvements should be shared.
This principle applies to spouses, and also between children and parents. When children become successful, they shouldn’t complain about their parents being old-fashioned. The parents lacked opportunities and courage to embrace new things – children should patiently guide them along. When the whole family improved together, no one would be left behind by society!
Being older meant having slower thinking and memory, plus a weaker educational foundation made understanding book knowledge more difficult. Liu Yong’s “recharging” was even more exhausting than farming. His studies were more technical, while Liu Fen and Li Fengmei’s fashion magazine reading seemed relaxed in comparison… Liu Fen felt sorry for her brother and refused to let him return to the village:
“I’ll leave a bit early in the afternoon and reach the village by evening. I’ll arrange for someone to help farm the land, then cycle back early tomorrow morning. It’ll only take half a day.”
Half a day – Li Fengmei could manage selling clothes and handling money alone.
Liu Yong had become obsessed with studying, often reading until his eyes were red. He seemed even more serious than Xia Xiaolan preparing for college entrance exams. Liu Zitao wouldn’t dare disturb his father after school, quietly studying on his own. Liu Zitao’s test scores had improved the day before yesterday!
Liu Fen didn’t want to interrupt her brother’s momentum, and Li Fengmei didn’t insist.
Just as Xia Xiaolan boarded the train to Yang City, Liu Fen cycled back to the village. The ladies’ bicycle was small and pretty, but its wheels weren’t as large as the 28-inch men’s bike, nor was it as fast. The ladies bicycle was fine for city riding, but for rural mud roads, Liu Yong’s big bicycle was better.
Liu Fen needed to bring some gifts back to the village.
This was influenced by Xia Xiaolan, who never visited empty-handed. This matter needed Chen Wangda’s help anyway – Village Chief Chen had helped the mother and daughter secure farmland and housing land. If they weren’t planning to farm the land themselves, they should at least inform him.
But what gifts should she bring?
Liu Fen had no experience with such social customs. She never had the means to give gifts before, having never handled money while married into the Xia family.
Grandmother Yu was quite exasperated:
“Such a quiet one, like a wooden person, only moves when prodded – how did she produce such a clever child?”
Having such a shrewd daughter made the mother seem even more foolish. Though Grandmother Yu complained, faced with someone so honest they couldn’t even talk back, she couldn’t help but worry for Liu Fen:
“Don’t you still have cigarettes at home? Take a carton of cigarettes, buy two packs of white sugar, and two bags of noodles. Don’t worry about who the village chief gets to help farm – just deliver the items and convey your message. I guarantee you won’t have to worry about it each year… If you ever want to take back the land to farm yourself, the village chief will help you arrange that too.”
Treating and gifting were skills to be learned.
Grandmother Yu might not understand other things, but she certainly knew about this.
With Liu Fen going back alone to arrange for villagers to farm the land, how should the “rent” be calculated? If they didn’t ask for anything in return, whoever farmed the land for a few years wouldn’t want to give it back. What a deal – free land that produced grain without having to pay grain tax or retained fees. They might appreciate Liu Fen at first, but it would soon become taken for granted.
They’d be grateful when receiving the land but resentful when having to return it.
Grandmother Yu had seen this often, so she told Liu Fen to go through the village chief. Whether to charge “rent” and how to calculate it should all be handled by the village chief. Since the village chief had authority, such matters should be left to him. Whatever terms he negotiated, Liu Fen should just accept the results.
After the New Year, Grandmother Yu’s relationship with the mother and daughter had improved significantly.
Once she started “meddling,” Grandmother Yu couldn’t stop. Her way of speaking was still harsh, but she would break things down and explain them carefully to Liu Fen. What did it matter that she was just a street-sweeping old lady? Liu Fen, almost forty years old, had far less experience than Grandmother Yu.
Liu Fen had her incomparable strength – she was obedient!
Previously she listened to everyone, habitually accepting whatever came her way. Now that she had improved, she listened to those who treated her well.
No one carried more weight than Xia Xiaolan in her heart, but since Xia Xiaolan wasn’t around now, and Grandmother Yu meant well, Liu Fen listened quietly. Following Grandmother Yu’s instructions, she cycled to Seven Wells Village and went straight to the Chen family home.
Chen Wangda wasn’t back yet, so Liu Fen left the items with Sister-in-law Chen.
Sister-in-law Chen patted her chest and guaranteed that her father-in-law would handle this matter well. She pulled Liu Fen aside:
“In this month or so since you moved to the city, your younger sister has returned home three times. She seemed quite anxious – I wonder what she wanted to see you about.”