In truth, most things in this era were priced in cents—a few cents here, a few cents there. But nylon socks were different. As an imported item, they were especially expensive.
Though not as costly as a watch or a bicycle, they were still considered a “light luxury” item.
Most villagers couldn’t bring themselves to buy them.
Zhou Quan said, “The pair I have was brought from home. They don’t even sell them around here!”
Chen Qiaoyu smiled. “Most of us don’t wear socks at all. If we really need to, we just sew a pair out of cloth.”
Zhou Quan shook her head. “How is that the same? The ones you sew yourself have no stretch. They always slip around and feel uncomfortable.”
With that, she kept pressing Chen Qiaoyu for details about the socks.
Chen Qiaoyu got up and went to the next room, returning with four pairs of socks. “Here, take your pick. This is all I have.”
The socks came in a riot of colors and patterns. Zhou Quan was dazzled. “The color on that pair is lovely, but the pattern on this one is even better… These are nice too. Ah, they’re all so pretty!”
After much deliberation, Zhou Quan finally chose two pairs. “I’ll take these two.”
Only after handing over the money did she remember something. “Hey, didn’t you say these were seconds? I don’t see any flaws.”
Not only did she see no flaws—she thought the colors, the weave, and the elasticity were all much better than the goods at the town supply and marketing cooperative.
Chen Qiaoyu shook her head. “I don’t know either. That’s just what they said. I only bought a few pairs because they seemed so good to me.”
Zhou Quan sighed with regret. “I wish you’d bought more. These must be new arrivals from Guangzhou. They’re so pretty.”
Chen Qiaoyu remembered how the elderly couple had said no one wanted these socks, even for free. She couldn’t help but laugh, revealing a neat row of small, delicate white teeth.
Today, she had to go to the fields. Work points weren’t just about food rations—they were also about contributing to the production team.
If she didn’t earn enough work points, she’d be criticized and re-educated. Qingyang was too young, so the responsibility fell on her.
Moreover, the culture of reporting on one another was strong these days. She’d managed to brush things off yesterday, but she couldn’t just “disappear” again today.
If people got suspicious, it would only cause more trouble down the line.
So Chen Qiaoyu didn’t delay. She tidied up, boiled a few sweet potatoes that her uncle and aunt had sent over, set aside half for Qingyang, tucked the rest into her pocket, and headed to the fields.
The sun had just started to peek over the horizon, but there were already plenty of people in the fields.
Their brigade was relatively progressive. The brigade captain, Yao Jinbao, had gone to town for training last year, and this year he changed the work point system to reward those who worked harder.
Now, even doing the same field work, some people earned five or six work points a day, while others could earn as many as twelve.
It was even more obvious when picking cotton—payment was by weight. The more you picked, the more you got.
Just as Chen Qiaoyu arrived, Aunt Jin also showed up. As soon as she saw Chen Qiaoyu, she asked, “Qiaoyu, where did you go yesterday? I didn’t see you in the fields all day.”
Chen Qiaoyu brushed it off with the same excuse. “I went to the market… I ran into my aunt there. Someone was selling off goods cheap, so I bought a few pairs of socks. Oh, speaking of which—last time, Yingzi said she wanted to buy nylon socks. Does she still want them?”
Aunt Jin hesitated. “Those aren’t cheap. One pair of socks costs as much as two catties of meat.”
But then she thought about how Yingzi was getting older, at the age for matchmaking. A girl should look her best. She gritted her teeth and agreed. “If you have an extra pair, save one for me.”
One pair was enough—to wear when visiting relatives, going to banquets, or meeting a potential match.
Chen Qiaoyu smiled. “Alright. After work, I’ll go find Yingzi.”
With that, everyone got to work.
The sun was still scorching and hot, but Chen Qiaoyu didn’t feel tired at all. Instead, she was full of energy.
Her hands moved quickly and neatly. The cotton sack tied around her waist soon had a thick layer piled at the bottom.
As she worked, she thought about the [modern] side of things, her heart full of joy and contentment.
From now on, she could go to the [modern world] every few days, do some odd jobs, and exchange her wages for all kinds of goods.
That way, she and Qingyang could eat their fill, and she could even send some things to Qingnan and Qiaoli in the provincial capital.
If anything was left over, she could convert it into cash.
But exchanging for cash would require caution. Chen Qiaoyu had heard that some places had opened up to private business, but that wind hadn’t reached Yaojia Village yet.
She still needed to keep a low profile, lest she be labeled a speculator.
The sun rose from the east to its peak overhead. Chen Qiaoyu’s clothes were soaked through with sweat several times over.
Most of the men had gone to do heavy labor. The cotton fields were full of women and girls.
Aunt Jin was feeling the heat. She took off her outer shirt, revealing a sleeveless cotton undershirt underneath, which made it easier to work.
She reminded Chen Qiaoyu, “Take off your outer shirt if you’re hot. There are no men here. You can put it back on when we go up.”
Chen Qiaoyu shook her head. “I’d better not.”
Aunt Jin laughed. “Young girls are so shy. Our Yingzi is the same.”
Just as she said that, Yingzi arrived carrying a food basket. “Mom! Sister Qiaoyu! Time to eat!”
The two women quickly gathered their cotton sacks, slung them over their backs, and headed toward the big tree at the edge of the field.
Yingzi had already laid out the contents of the basket: a bowl of eggplant, a bowl of greens, a small bowl of pickled vegetables, four steamed cornmeal buns, and a jar of loofah soup.
Everything was fresh, in-season produce. Not many seasonings, but the fresh flavors spoke for themselves.
Aunt Jin insisted on giving Chen Qiaoyu one of the cornmeal buns, and Yingzi poured her a bowl of loofah soup as usual.
“Sister Qiaoyu, don’t be so polite. It’s not worth anything. Everyone has this stuff—there’s always more than we can eat.”
That was true enough. When vegetables were in season, they came in wave after wave. You could never finish them all.
An idea struck Chen Qiaoyu. She asked Aunt Jin and Yingzi, “Auntie, Yingzi, do you have a lot of extra vegetables and melons at home?”
“Yes, we do. Do you want some? I’ll have Yingzi bring you a basket tonight. Pumpkins, loofahs, snake melons, cucumbers, plus beans and eggplants. We’ve already dried quite a bit for preservation too,” Aunt Jin said, taking a bite of her cornmeal bun.
Chen Qiaoyu thought of the [modern] world, where three cabbage leaves cost one yuan fifty at a spicy hot pot stall. An idea began to form.
“That’s perfect. Qingyang and I haven’t started working on our vegetable plot yet, and we can’t go back to pick from the old family garden. How about this, Auntie—would you trade some of your vegetables and melons for socks?” Chen Qiaoyu suggested.
Bartering was in line with the rural market tradition and something people were more comfortable with.
But Aunt Jin refused. “How could I do that? Vegetables and melons from the countryside aren’t worth anything!”
Yingzi, however, was intrigued. She tugged at Chen Qiaoyu’s sleeve and asked, “What socks? Qiaoyu, what kind of socks?”
Chen Qiaoyu explained. Yingzi’s eyes lit up, and she looked pleadingly at her mother. “Mom—”
Aunt Jin sighed helplessly. “Yingzi, greens and cucumbers are only two or three cents a catty. How many catties would you have to give Qiaoyu in exchange?”
Besides, among villagers, it was perfectly normal to go to a neighbor’s garden for a cucumber or pull a few scallions from someone else’s patch. No one paid with money for vegetables.
Chen Qiaoyu smiled. “The socks are discounted—one yuan a pair. That works out to about thirty or forty catties of vegetables and melons. Whatever you have at home is fine. You don’t have to give it all at once. Just bit by bit.”
Yingzi had a sweet, innocent temperament. Though she was a year or two older than Chen Qiaoyu, she was the youngest in her family, and her father was the village party branch secretary, so she was actually more naive and lively than Qiaoyu.
Aunt Jin couldn’t resist Yingzi’s pestering and finally agreed. “Qiaoyu, I’m sorry. This time, you’re the one getting the short end of the stick.”
Chen Qiaoyu laughed. “Not at all, Auntie. You and Yingzi have helped me so many times.”
They agreed that after work that evening, Yingzi would come over to pick out the socks.
The afternoon was still spent working under the blazing sun. At one point, Qingyang came to help.
“Sis, the brick kiln has no more work for us… We only picked for two days, then a bunch of kids from Dalu Valley Village showed up. They said only their people could pick there and chased us out.”