After the crowd dispersed, Song Shixu glanced down at the shoeprint on his polished shoe and asked coolly, “Can we go home now?”
Su Jinle nodded, then looked at him curiously. “Brother Song, are you walking me home?”
“On the way,” he replied briefly.
In her previous life, she hadn’t seen him many times. But lately, her brother’s friend seemed to appear in front of her far too often. Didn’t he have other duties in the army?
Yet before they even reached her doorstep, he vanished again—truly living up to the phrase “come and go like a ghost.”
Su Jinle looked around, brows knitting slightly, when Lin Yun came out to greet her. The first thing she asked was, “Lele, how many keychains are left?”
Snapping back to reality, Su Jinle made a small circle with her thumb and forefinger. “Zero!”
Lin Yun’s eyes widened. “All sold out?”
“Still wasn’t enough!” Su Jinle beamed as she went inside and poured the loose change from her bag onto the table. “Mom, how about you and Brother split half?”
Lin Yun counted the money over and over, smiling so wide her mouth could barely close. At her words, she pushed it back. “You earned this. Your brother and I only helped.”
Knowing persuasion wouldn’t work, Su Jinle simply pulled out six yuan. “Then I’ll pay wages—three each!”
Lin Yun stared at the money in her palm, inhaled deeply, and declared, “After dinner, I’ll keep making more!”
Before, there simply hadn’t been a chance to earn like this. Now that she knew how well the keychains sold, how could she possibly rest?
Even Su Yian was stunned when he received his “salary.” At first, he’d treated his sister’s efforts as half play. Yes, she’d made some money, but he hadn’t truly taken it seriously.
Now, it dawned on him.
His little sister was… impressive.
Including today’s earnings, Su Jinle had already made one hundred yuan—more than Su Weihua’s monthly salary—in just a few days.
But after dinner, she grew a bit downcast. “Too bad no one ordered clothes today. I didn’t buy new fabric either. Tomorrow I can only sell keychains.”
They sold well, sure—but clothes brought in more money. And more importantly, she genuinely loved designing them.
Lin Yun waved it off. “Clothes use too much fabric. High cost, troublesome to make. And they don’t sell every day. Keychains are better—each one sold is pure profit!”
That night, Su Jinle lay over her desk drawing designs. All the girls today had come for the keychains. Not one had paid attention to her sketchbook. She felt a small pang of disappointment.
It had once been just a hobby.
Now… perhaps she was growing greedy.
She wanted people to recognize her designs too.
That same night, Qiao Fengxia couldn’t sleep either.
She had washed her new green dress and hung it outside, then squatted in the courtyard staring at it with her chin in her hands. After a while, she panicked—what if it didn’t dry by tomorrow?
So she sneaked into the kitchen, lit the stove, and in the sweltering heat sat on a small stool drying the dress over the fire. Once satisfied, she hung it at her bedside and finally lay down.
Five minutes later, she sprang back up.
She put the dress on and stood before the mirror.
The vertical stripes slimmed her figure. The cinched waist wasn’t too tight. The layered skirt concealed her little tummy just right. The green shade made her skin look fair.
The more she looked, the prettier she felt.
Remembering Su Jinle’s advice, she added the matching green headband, braiding her hair to one side. She stared at herself, entranced.
That night she dreamed sweetly—of the gentle technician asking her if she liked pig’s trotters.
Before the rooster crowed, Qiao Fengxia was awake.
She fussed in her room for a long while before stepping out shyly in her dress.
Her mother, brushing her teeth at the doorway, nearly dropped her toothbrush. Foam still on her lips, she circled her daughter in delight. “Oh my! This dress is beautiful! My girl looks like a fairy from the heavens!”
“Mom!” Qiao Fengxia covered her face, embarrassed—but pleased.
She could barely eat breakfast. In five minutes she washed up, grabbed her bicycle, and left.
“Where are you going so early?” her mother called.
“To buy big buns!”
Her skirt fluttered, green tassels dancing in the breeze. A beauty-loving girl feared neither hardship nor heat. She deliberately rode half the city, savoring the admiring glances along the way.
At the bun stall, another plump girl couldn’t resist asking, “Which department store did you buy that from?”
Same body type—why did she look so good?
Qiao Fengxia answered proudly, “On the street across from the steel factory. There’s a little girl there. This dress was specially designed for me!”
“Specially designed?”
Gasps all around. “Isn’t that expensive?”
“Not at all! Only twenty yuan! She designs based on your body shape. There’s even a drawing! And she gives keychains and headbands too!”
Twenty yuan wasn’t cheap—but add the words “custom-designed,” plus gifts? It felt like a bargain.
Across from the steel factory… a girl who designs clothes…
Most of the bun buyers were women. Who didn’t want to look pretty? Not everyone had a perfect figure. Custom clothing was something only the wealthy enjoyed.
And now—for twenty yuan—they could have it too?
By late afternoon, Lin Yun insisted on coming to the stall. “If more people come, you won’t manage the money alone.”
They hadn’t even finished laying out the keychains when seven or eight eager women surrounded them.
“You’re the girl who designs clothes?”
“Finally found you! My daughter’s a bit plump too—make her a green dress!”
“My daughter’s not fat, just thick legs. What suits her?”
“Don’t argue! We have a blind date next month—do ours first!”
“My girl’s taking a recruitment exam. She needs it first!”
“Mine first!”
“I got here first!”
…
Su Jinle stood there, stunned.
She hadn’t even made any clothes today…