“That’s right. I asked Educated Youth Su for help. Later, her husband helped contact an officer in the army. I left some money with that officer. As for Educated Youth Su and her husband, Mom, give me some money later and help me trade with the villagers for a few dozen eggs. I’ll bring them over as a gift.”
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Eggs might seem insignificant in the future, but in this era they were precious.
Rural families usually raised two or three chickens. They couldn’t bear to eat the eggs they collected and would instead exchange them for money or grain. Meanwhile, city dwellers had to spend money if they wanted to eat eggs.
Supplies were scarce in these times. There were only a handful of foods people could use to supplement nutrition—eggs, brown sugar, malted milk, or fish caught from the river.
“So it was Educated Youth Su who helped you.”
Lin Qinfen sighed emotionally.
Shen Yueliang was looking at the sewing machine in the room and didn’t notice the tone in her mother’s voice.
Since she was already here, she might as well make the best of it.
Now that the biggest crisis had been resolved, it was time to think about how to live a good life.
She had been in this world for two or three days already, and no legendary storage space or golden finger had appeared.
That probably meant she didn’t have one.
No big deal.
She had a good mentality.
If she didn’t have cheats, she’d just earn her own money.
“Oh right, Brother asked me to bring back last month’s allowance.”
She had already opened the small bundle Shen Xiangbei gave her while on the road.
Inside was a brief letter.
It mainly explained that his military allowance was in the envelope.
There was also ten yuan, one jin’s worth of grain coupons, and two cloth coupons for her.
The cloth coupons were for making herself a new outfit.
The money and grain coupons were meant for treating Officer Ji to a meal on the return journey.
Unfortunately, that officer never gave her the chance.
After thinking it over, Shen Yueliang simply left the money in the jeep.
Shen Xiangbei’s monthly allowance was twenty-three yuan and seventy cents.
He kept three yuan and seventy cents for himself and mailed the remaining twenty yuan home every month.
Mother Shen accepted the money and slipped it into her pocket.
Seeing the exhaustion on her daughter’s face, she said, “Mom will make you some noodles. Go get some rest.”
Shen Yueliang had been eating dry rations the entire trip and was craving something hot.
She also wanted a bath.
Although the weather wasn’t particularly hot, all the traveling made her feel grimy.
“I’ll come help. I can boil some water and take a bath too.”
Since she wasn’t the original owner, she felt a little embarrassed letting Mother Shen do everything.
Unexpectedly, Mother Shen refused.
“I’m not seventy or eighty years old. I can handle this much. Just rest. I’ll call you when everything’s ready.”
A woman who had raised two children alone was never lazy.
As long as she could manage it herself, she wouldn’t ask her daughter or daughter-in-law to help.
Besides, her daughter was already nineteen.
She wouldn’t stay by her side for many more years.
Once she married, life at her husband’s home would never be as comfortable as life at her mother’s home.
Even if Mother Shen wanted to spoil her, she wouldn’t have many chances left.
After leaving her daughter’s room, Lin Qinfen automatically closed the door behind her.
The moment she looked up, she found herself facing He Erhong’s plump figure.
Mother Shen wasn’t surprised at all.
No matter what they discussed, He Erhong would always eavesdrop.
“I heard what you two were talking about just now. Shen Xiangdong’s allowance is with you, right? Give it to me.”
Mother Shen glanced at her and handed over ten yuan.
After taking the money, He Erhong looked as if she wanted to say more.
Mother Shen simply turned around and left.
Feeling snubbed, He Erhong licked her finger and counted the bills before looking toward Shen Yueliang’s closed door.
“Mom, this money belongs to Xiangdong and me. We’re only letting you hold onto it. You’re not allowed to secretly give it to Shen Yueliang. Remember, Xiangdong is your only son. We’re the ones who’ll support you in your old age. If you’re not good to me now, don’t expect me to take care of you when you’re old. Surely you don’t think you’ll follow Yueliang to her husband’s family after she gets married!”
Nobody answered her.
Mother Shen had already gone to the kitchen.
As for Shen Yueliang, she simply stayed in her room and didn’t come out.
He Erhong curled her lips.
She felt quite pleased with herself, believing she had intimidated everyone in the family.
Holding her money, she swaggered back to her grand brick house.
Shen Yueliang finished a large bowl of noodles and enjoyed a comfortable bath.
Only then did she feel truly alive again.
As for He Erhong’s earlier remarks, she had heard every word.
She simply didn’t plan to deal with them for now.
Winning a few verbal arguments didn’t really mean much.
Besides, He Erhong was still her sister-in-law.
Whether this marriage continued or ended in divorce depended largely on her brother’s wishes.
And her brother was a soldier.
Marriage and divorce both required official approval, making things far more complicated than for ordinary people.
Of course, she had already thought about it carefully.
She wouldn’t simply ignore the situation.
She would earn money.
With money, she could take Mother Shen and move out.
With money, she could throw a stack of bills in He Erhong’s face and tell her to shut up—or get a divorce.
After all, if a problem could be solved with money, it wasn’t truly a major problem.
Turning on the light, Shen Yueliang looked at the sewing machine in the room and gently ran her hand over it.
Thankfully, her mother in her previous life had been obsessed with making her children excel.
To put it simply, whenever someone else’s child learned something, her daughter had to learn it too.
Since childhood, she had been enrolled in countless classes—dance, piano, painting.
When she got older, she was also made to study cooking and baking.
Her university major had actually been Media Studies.
However, her mother believed the family lacked the resources to support that career path.
So she had also forced Shen Yueliang to study fashion design as a second specialty.
The main reason was that her older sister had married into a family that owned a clothing company.
Her mother figured that if Shen Yueliang graduated only to end up unemployed, she could at least work for her brother-in-law’s company.
As a result of her mother’s careful planning, Shen Yueliang had ended up learning quite a lot.
Back then, she had thought her mother was annoying and endlessly nagging.
Now…
Thank you, Mom.
Thinking about her old life made her miss her family a little.
Fortunately, she was the youngest child.
She still had an older brother and older sister.
And even though they now lived in different worlds, she believed her family would want her to live happily.
She wasn’t the type to worry endlessly about things beyond her control.
Very quickly, she adjusted her mood.
Outside, Mother Shen had already finished her work and came by to check on her daughter.
“Yueliang, don’t stay up too late. Go to bed early.”
She knew her daughter often worked on clothing orders and sometimes spent half the night operating the sewing machine.
“I know. I’ll sleep when I get tired.”
Shen Yueliang wasn’t tired at all.
She didn’t own a watch, but she estimated it was only around seven o’clock.
Going to bed at seven?
That would be ridiculous.
Mother Shen didn’t disturb her.
She earned eight work points during the day—the highest among the women in the village.
The work was heavy, so she always slept early at night.
Otherwise, her body wouldn’t be able to endure it.
After Mother Shen left, Shen Yueliang stood up and locked the door.
Returning to the table, she opened the locked drawer on the right side.
Inside were several notebooks and a biscuit tin.
The notebooks contained detailed records of all the clothing the original owner had made over the years and exactly how much money each piece had earned.
She skimmed through them and quickly gained a rough understanding.
During the two years she worked as an apprentice, she earned very little.
After she began making clothes independently, she started earning around ten yuan per month.
The original owner was beautiful and gentle by nature.
As time passed, more and more people sought her out to make clothing.
At present, her best month had earned more than thirty-five yuan.
Aside from the six yuan she handed to Mother Shen every month, she had also contributed money toward building the family’s first two houses.
Later, when her brother got married, she had contributed over a hundred yuan toward both the house construction and the bride price.
Even after all that, there were still a full two hundred yuan sitting inside the biscuit tin.
Two hundred yuan was already a huge fortune in this era.