Chapter 30: Making Layered Shoe Soles
Chen Fan and Jiang Lili returned to the Educated Youth Dormitory together after the meal ended with everyone feeling warm and tipsy.
As they walked on the road, they could still faintly hear people talking on both sides.
Chen Fan glanced in that direction, but the trees blocked his view, so he couldn't see what was happening, so he asked, "Is there any farm work today?"
Jiang Lili also glanced over there, thought for a moment, and said, "They should be digging for soft-shelled turtles."
Chen Fan "..."
Then he couldn't help but chuckle, "They're quick to act."
I wonder if there will be any soft-shelled turtles left in the fish pond after today.
The corners of Jiang Lili's mouth curled up slightly, but she didn't speak. Actually, if Captain Yang hadn't called her over today, she would have gone to dig for soft-shelled turtles, but not in those big ponds, but in the small ditches behind the village, so that she could avoid other people.
The two entered the courtyard and closed the gate. Chen Fan yawned and said as he walked, "Are you reading in the room today too?"
If he hadn't looked for her yesterday, she probably would have sat in the room all day without moving.
Jiang Lili, "Oh, I'll go loosen the soil in the vegetable garden in a moment, and there are some other things to do."
Chen Fan was stunned, "Are there things to do even during the winter slack season?"
The two stood still under the eaves. Jiang Lili smiled lightly, then quickly lowered her head, "It's said to be the winter slack season, which means there's less work, but there are actually still a lot of things to do. In previous years, after the rice harvest, we would start repairing the dikes in the winter months, and we would be busy until the end of the lunar month.
The task hasn't been issued this year, and I don't know if it's been postponed or canceled. If it's postponed, it's probably coming soon, otherwise it will be even more tiring to repair the dikes when it snows and the weather is freezing.
Even if it's canceled, the team will arrange for everyone to repair the team's small water conservancy projects, and the ditches within the entire production team's scope must be reinforced and made safe. After the spring, we will also fertilize the rice fields to prepare for transplanting seedlings, so that the crops will grow better in the coming year.
In addition, we also have to weed and fertilize the rapeseed. In addition to the work in the fields, each household also has a lot of its own work. We have to take care of the vegetables in the private plot, and we also have to prepare for the New Year, which is coming soon. The men have to do heavy work, like carrying water, chopping firewood, slaughtering pigs for the New Year, digging lotus roots, and dredging the ponds. The women also have to be busy preparing snacks, boiling sugar, making tofu, making sweet potato vermicelli, slaughtering chickens, ducks, and geese, and pickling preserved goods.
The team has a bumper harvest this year. Except for a few individual families, most people can get a lot of money. Some may go to invite a tailor to measure their size and make new clothes for their family, or ask a bricklayer to repair the house and stove, or ask a carpenter to repair the furniture..."
Jiang Lili's voice became smaller and smaller as she spoke, and she stared blankly ahead, her eyes no longer focused.
Chen Fan looked at her carefully, guessing that she should be homesick.
Before her family had an accident, they were probably also busy preparing for the New Year like thousands of other families.
He sighed inwardly. He didn't know what the situation was with Jiang Lili's family now, so he naturally didn't know what to say. He coughed and said loudly,
"So there are so many things to do in the countryside in winter. I thought everyone was hiding in their houses warming themselves by the fire in the freezing weather."
Jiang Lili suddenly came back to her senses, was stunned for two seconds, then smiled softly, "If it snows heavily, everyone will indeed be warming themselves by the fire at home. But in addition to work, the team will also often organize meetings in the winter, especially when it snows heavily, when every family doesn't have to be busy, it's the best time to hold meetings."
"Is that so?"
Chen Fan was a little curious, "What kind of meetings do you hold?"
Jiang Lili counted on her fingers, thinking as she spoke, "There are labor summary meetings, advanced commendation meetings, backward criticism meetings, struggle meetings, study meetings, evaluation meetings, remember the bitter and think about the sweet meetings, and some meetings to arrange labor and convey documents. That's probably it."
Chen Fan opened his mouth wide and sighed inwardly. Sure enough, the excellent tradition of holding meetings has a long history, and even the production team can't avoid it.
After chatting for a while, the two returned to their respective rooms.
Chen Fan wanted to pour some hot water to drink after drinking the wine, but there was only cold water, or yesterday's can of cold tea.
Drinking a bowl of cold tea in winter, the consequences didn't need to be thought about. It would be good if he didn't have to move to the toilet to live.
Chen Fan didn't dare to gamble after recovering from a serious illness, so he ran to the kitchen to boil a pot of hot water.
As he passed by Jiang Lili's door, he saw her carrying a thermos out.
When Jiang Lili saw Chen Fan, she quickly handed the thermos over, "You drank wine just now, you should be thirsty. It's not good to drink cold water in winter. Take this bottle of hot water."
Chen Fan didn't take it and looked at her, "What about you?"
Jiang Lili smiled and shook her head, "I drank a lot of water at the captain's house just now, I don't need it for the time being."
So there was only one thermos?
Chen Fan blinked and hesitated before nodding, "I'll just pour a bowl."
I forgot to ask Captain Yang to borrow a thermos.
But whether Captain Yang had a spare thermos was also unknown.
In this era, thermos were considered "major items" in the household. In 1987, when Red Sorghum was filmed in Mo Yan's hometown, Jiang Wen accidentally kicked and broke Mo Yan's family's thermos, which was the only one in his family.
Anecdotes aside, thermos were indeed very valuable at this time. Chen Fan just thought about it in his head and then put it out of his mind, not daring to mention it.
He took the thermos back to his room and poured a bowl of water, then took it back, and saw Jiang Lili carefully brushing paste on the table.
Chen Fan put the thermos aside, leaned over and looked, "What is this?"
Jiang Lili glanced at him, continued to brush paste, and smiled, "I'm making layered shoe soles."
Chen Fan looked at her in confusion, then looked at the things on the table.
She brushed paste on a piece of wood, and then picked up a piece of cloth from the side, spread it on top, and smoothed it out, then brushed again, and spread again.
He was still a little confused, "Making arms?"
What arms?
Jiang Lili chuckled, then quickly restrained herself, lowered her head and said, "It's making layered (ge) shoe soles (bei), for making cloth shoes."
Chen Fan suddenly realized, "Oh, I know, thousand-layered sole cloth shoes, right?"
Jiang Lili nodded, "Yes, that's it."
Chen Fan seemed to have discovered something amazing, and stared at her busy work.
These things were purely handmade, and they cost several hundred or even thousands of yuan a pair in later generations, definitely high-end goods!
Oh, right, the pair he was wearing was also made like this.
He tilted his head and watched for a while, then asked softly, "It takes so much effort to make a shoe sole, how much would a pair cost if you bought it outside?"
Jiang Lili didn't know if she was shy or what, but she lowered her head and didn't look at him, just said softly, "This isn't worth much. If it's exquisitely made cloth shoes made by a shoemaker, it can be worth two or three yuan. These homemade cloth shoes aren't good-looking, so even if someone buys them, they'll only be willing to pay up to one yuan. Any more than that, and they won't want them. Besides, every woman in every family here can make this, so not many people spend money to buy them."
(End of Chapter)
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