Chapter 81: A Savior

“The shirts my friend sent were all defective, and he didn’t mention it beforehand. But he still charged me the regular wholesale price, and I paid for them in advance. I just tried to contact him to return the goods, but he refused. Now I can’t reach him at all. He was my middle school classmate, and two years ago his whole family moved south…”

As Mu Chenze spoke, a trace of hurt and anger flashed in his eyes.

He treated the other person as a friend, but the other saw him as an easy mark.

Chu Xuan didn’t remember this happening in her previous life.

Maybe it did, and Mu Chenze just never told her.

Judging by what he said, it looked like returning the goods wasn’t an option.

“Where are the shirts? Let’s see if there’s any way to salvage them.”

Mu Chenze pointed at the post office. “They’re on the bench inside.”

Chu Xuan set her basket down and told Chu Feng, “Watch the grilled fish snacks for me. I’ll go take a look.”

Chu Feng nodded, signaling it was fine.

Chu Xuan followed Mu Chenze into the post office and stopped in front of a bench.

A bulging burlap sack lay on the bench.

When they opened it, every men’s shirt inside had holes—some the size of a grain of rice, others as big as a fingernail. The holes were in different places: on the sleeves, the shoulders, the chest pocket, the back…

No wonder Mu Chenze looked so grim. This was going to be hard to fix.

If they sold them as-is, they’d only fetch the price of defective goods—he’d definitely lose money.

Chu Xuan remembered her own mother, Tian Xiaoyun, knew a kind of invisible stitching technique.

When patching holes in clothes, she’d use thread in a matching color and this invisible stitch to mend the hole so thoroughly that not only was it unnoticeable, it actually made the garment look even better.

“I have an idea. Not sure if it’ll work. Give me a few minutes to make a phone call.”

Hope flickered in Mu Chenze’s eyes. “Go quickly!”

Chu Xuan called Tian Xiaoyun, but unfortunately couldn’t reach her.

Thinking back to the unanswered letter she’d sent earlier, she guessed her mother must have gone out of town.

Tian Xiaoyun had tried to teach Chu Xuan the technique, but she’d been too lazy to learn more than the basics.

Now, Chu Xuan deeply regretted it.

She walked out of the post office and looked at her little brother.

“Xiao Feng, I remember when Mom was teaching me that invisible stitch, you were there watching. Did you pick up any of it? You were pretty young, but you always liked sewing things.”

After Feng Chunhua took over raising them, she wouldn’t let Chu Feng touch needle and thread, saying that men sewing would bring bad luck to the family.

Chu Feng scratched his head, looking puzzled. “Sis, I don’t know what invisible stitch is, but I do know how to mend clothes.”

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Chu Xuan borrowed a needle and thread from the post office staff, took a white shirt with a hole in the cuff from the sack, and handed it to Chu Feng.

“Try mending this. Make it look as nice as you can.”

“Okay.”

Chu Feng sat on a stone by the post office door and began sewing with full concentration.

Mu Chenze carried the sack over to Chu Feng and held his breath, waiting for the result.

In less than five minutes, the hole in the cuff had become a small patch of white cloud embroidery.

For symmetry, Chu Feng embroidered a nearly identical cloud on the other cuff.

Mu Chenze was overjoyed. “Xiao Feng, you’re amazing!”

Chu Feng blushed at the praise and lowered his head. “Aunt Feng Chunhua used to say boys shouldn’t sew, that it would bring bad luck to the family and make people look down on you, so after that I didn’t dare touch a needle.”

Chu Xuan felt a pang of guilt. Her past inaction had caused her brother’s interests to be neglected.

“From now on, if you want to sew, just sew!”

Chu Feng jumped up happily. “Great! Next time, let’s buy some fabric scraps. I want to sew all kinds of little animals.”

Chu Xuan wanted to make it up to her brother. “No problem.”

Mu Chenze looked at Chu Feng as if he were a savior. “Xiao Feng, can I ask you something? Could you help me mend over a hundred shirts? I’ll pay you one yuan per shirt. Is that okay? You can start with the short-sleeved ones—there are about fifty.”

Chu Feng’s mouth dropped open in surprise. You could earn money by mending clothes? He quickly recovered. “Brother Chenze, you and my sister are good friends, and you’ve always been nice to me. I don’t want any money.”

He looked at Chu Xuan, as if asking, Sis, did I say the right thing?

Chu Xuan gave him an encouraging look. “That’s right. No charge.”

Mu Chenze didn’t insist. “Xiao Feng, you and your sister should go to the county first. I’ll bring the shirts to your house. Sorry to trouble you with the mending these next few days.”

Chu Feng was young, but he could tell Mu Chenze wanted to sell the shirts as soon as possible.

“I won’t go to the county today. Sis can go by herself. Let’s go home together.”

He was happy to help Mu Chenze.

Once they got home, he could start sewing right away.

Chu Xuan didn’t object. Considering the sack of men’s shirts came in several colors, she suggested the two of them buy matching thread before heading back.

She’d planned to go with them, but Chu Feng said he could pick out the thread himself, so she didn’t insist.

After returning the borrowed needle and thread to the post office staff, Chu Xuan slung her basket over her back and caught the bus to the county.

At 3:30, Chu Xuan arrived at the residential building of the county machinery factory and set up to sell grilled fish snacks.

“Come get your grilled fish snacks! Fresh and delicious grilled fish!”

After only a few shouts, a pretty woman in her thirties, walking with a slight limp, approached.

She asked cautiously, “Are you Chu Xuan? I’m Zhang Feifei.”

“You’re Dr. Zhang’s niece!” Chu Xuan greeted her with a polite smile. “Did you come here especially to see me?”

She’d heard that after Zhang Feifei was injured at work, her husband abandoned her, and now she lived with her ten-year-old daughter.

“Yes. I couldn’t wait for you to come see my uncle again, so I wanted to talk to you about wholesaling grilled fish snacks and starting a business as soon as possible.”

Zhang Feifei still received a disability pension, but it was much less than her regular salary and bonuses.

She didn’t want to keep relying on her uncle for help.

She wanted to stand on her own feet as soon as possible, so her family wouldn’t worry.

Chu Xuan lightly tapped the lid of her basket and, seeing no one else around, said quietly, “Let’s start today! Here’s thirty jin, wholesale price is 1.6 yuan per jin. How much you sell it for is up to you. Since this is our first time working together, I’ll give you the basket and the white cloth for free. I’ll just take the scale with me.”

Zhang Feifei was overjoyed—she hadn’t expected to start business today. “Thank you!”

She quickly pulled out a thick wad of cash, counted out 48 yuan, and handed it to Chu Xuan.

The transaction was settled.

Chu Xuan explained how to store the grilled fish snacks, and told her if she needed more stock urgently, she could call the village office and let whoever answered know—she’d deliver it herself.

They chatted a bit more, then Chu Xuan left.

On her way past the tailor’s shop, she spent eight yuan on a pair of blue bell-bottoms for her brother, one mao on ten jin of fabric scraps, and ordered two short-sleeved tracksuits for herself—one red, one blue—specifically designed to look slimming and stylish on a fuller figure. She paid a fifteen-yuan deposit, with the rest due in three days when she picked up the clothes.

She also stopped by the old pastry shop to buy five yuan worth of sachima and peach crisps for her brother…

After six in the evening, Chu Xuan walked through her front door.

Almost at the same time, Widow Niu and Liu Zhaodi looked over at her.

And almost at the same time, they both spoke.

“Xiao Xuan, I need to talk to you.”

“Xuan-jie, I need to talk to you.”

Chu Xuan walked over to Liu Zhaodi, her expression calm. “Zhaodi is younger, so let’s talk in my room first.”

She hoped Zhaodi wouldn’t let her down."