The two first went to inform Liu Yong. Chen Lishu took the opportunity to ask about the garlic sprouts. Upon hearing that they could be sold for two mao per jin, Chen Lishu specifically called home.
"Mom, I asked for you. The garlic sprouts are two mao per jin. Liu Yong said he also accepts bean sprouts and other things if you can sprout them."
Wu Chunmei became very excited upon hearing her words, "Lishu, the phone bill is too expensive. Mom knows. I'm hanging up!"
As Wu Chunmei said that in a hurry, a busy signal came from the phone.
This was the first time Chen Lishu had seen Wu Chunmei in such a flustered state. She shook her head helplessly, looking at the receiver.
After leaving the phone booth, Chen Lishu returned home and began making "fake sleeves."
Around noon, she packed the remaining thirty-odd undergarments into her bag. After some thought, she added a set of false collars and fake sleeves before heading towards the back of the department store.
"Sister Chen, how many undergarments did you bring this time?"
Zhang Li was anxiously waiting at the alley entrance. Seeing her approach, she quickly walked two steps to meet her.
"They sold out so quickly?"
Seeing her nod, Chen Lishu was slightly surprised. It had only been a day since the last batch of thirty pieces.
"My family knows I'm selling undergarments. Not only did they not scold me, but they also gave me more capital," Zhang Li said, her plump cheeks flushing slightly, her eyes sparkling.
Chen Lishu was also happy for her to have such open-minded parents. "I don't have that many on hand right now. There are thirty-six pieces in total. The next batch will likely not be delivered for another week."
Zhang Li pursed her lips and smiled, "It's okay, Sister Chen. I'm not in a hurry. These are enough for me to sell for a while."
With the holidays approaching and final exams in between, she needed to pace herself. After the holidays, she would have plenty of time.
After parting ways with Zhang Li, Chen Lishu went to the Material Supply Bureau.
"Did you come up with a good idea, little sister?" Zhou Bin knew she must have good news when he saw her approach.
Indeed, when Chen Lishu took out her set combination, Zhou Bin's eyes lit up.
"Brother Zhou, we've cooperated for so long, so I won't hide anything from you. The cost of fake collars, including labor and fabric, is around one yuan and fifty. I'm not making any profit from them, just to increase the sales volume of the fake collars."
Chen Lishu smiled as she spoke, "Of course, you can also sell them individually if you wish."
Zhou Bin looked at the "fake sleeves" in his hand and couldn't help but admire Chen Lishu, "Little sister, you are truly amazing. You can even come up with this."
Chen Lishu smiled, "It's not that I'm amazing. It's entirely due to the wisdom of the broad masses."
In her previous life, "fake sleeves" had been popular for a time. Due to the circumstances of the era, if people had extra money and fabric coupons, they likely wouldn't have gone to such lengths to create these awkward items.
Zhou Bin didn't quite understand what she meant, but it didn't affect his judgment. Such a combination, once launched, would surely be very popular.
With this thought, Zhou Bin immediately placed an order for a hundred sets.
After parting with Zhou Bin, Chen Lishu went straight home to work.
"Third sister-in-law, I've arranged with Brother Liu. He's having people pick up pigs from the village tonight, and I'll be riding back with him."
In the evening, Gu Xingye returned from outside and told Chen Lishu.
He had sold most of the grain collected by the family throughout the day. Having a ride back would allow him to return earlier to help with grain collection.
...
At Chen Mancang's house, Zhang Chunhua and Old Mrs. Chen occasionally opened the door to listen. Seeing no activity, they couldn't help but say to Chen Baozhu, "The举报信 (anonymous letter) was sent two days ago, why is there still no news?"
"We should have gone directly to Zhang Changhe at the time. Even if he's related to the Gu family, so what? If he dares to be negligent, we'll report him too."
Old Mrs. Chen pouted and said dismissively.
"Grandma, if we tell the branch secretary, wouldn't that be equivalent to alerting the Gu family and my second uncle's family? Let's wait patiently. When I delivered the letter, I saw the staff at the Civil Affairs Bureau pick it up with my own eyes. They will definitely handle this."
This time, he not only reported Chen Mantun and Chen Lishu but also the Gu family. It was because they were Chen Lishu's in-laws.
This time, he was determined to prevent that bitch from ever recovering.
Old Mrs. Chen and Zhang Chunhua felt a little relieved after hearing what he said.
...
"Excuse me, is this Secretary Zhang's home?"
Zhang Changhe was stunned as two men pushed the door open. He knocked the dottle from his pipe and stood up, "Who are you two?"
"Hello, Secretary Zhang. The matter is like this, someone has reported villagers in your village..."
The handwriting on the letter was atrocious. The staff member carefully identified the recipient, "Chen Mantun and Gu Shoufu. Someone has reported that their families did not sell their pigs to the purchasing station but privately sold them to others."
Zhang Changhe's heart skipped a beat, but he maintained a calm demeanor, "Those two families did raise pigs this year. I really haven't heard any reports from below."
"Now there is a report. Please take us there first. If it is true, it will be dealt with as it should be."
"Alright, alright, I'll take you there now." Zhang Changhe agreed without hesitation. "It's so cold. Please wait a moment, comrades. I'll put on a hat."
The two staff members nodded. Zhang Changhe turned around, his face sinking. He wondered which ignorant person was causing trouble for him.
"Old woman, where did you put my hat?" Zhang Changhe deliberately hid the hat under the quilt and craned his neck to shout into the inner room.
Soon, Zhang Changhe's wife came out. Zhang Changhe quickly leaned in and whispered a few words to her. After watching his wife leave, he lingered for a while before taking out the hat from under the quilt and putting it on.
"People get older, and their memory isn't as good. Let's go now."
...
Zhang Changhe's wife ran quickly to the Gu family and recounted what Zhang Changhe had told her, "Brother, what should we do about this? They'll probably be here soon. You guys think of a solution. I still need to go to the Chen family to inform them."
The Gu family panicked upon hearing this. Speculation and profiteering were crimes. In normal times in the village, it might result in criticism and education, but now the town had been alerted.
"Dad, what should we do? If they find out, will our whole family have to go to jail?" Liu Yue was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
"Dad, should we run?" Gu Xingmin said fearfully, holding his youngest son.
"Run where? Abandon the house?" Gu Shoufu reprimanded him. "It's just an investigation. It hasn't reached the point where the public security bureau will arrest people. Everyone should go back to what they were doing!"
Then Gu Shoufu began to instruct the women to put away any fabrics or other items that shouldn't be seen by people.
"Don't worry. If this matter is really to be investigated, I will bear the brunt of it. Since we were aiming for profit, we should have expected this day to come."