Chapter 30 - Patriarchy, Signing a Contract

Because Su Yue went to town and didn’t have time to make pastries, the Han family didn’t go out the next day, and they were all busy at home.

It was raining and there was not much work at home. When Old lady Han was free, she took the cloth from Su Yue and asked her, “Yueyue, what kind of clothes do you want to make? Auntie will make them for you.”

Han Aiguo quickly glanced at Su Yue when he heard the old lady Han’s address to Su Yue.

However, Su Yue was discussing the clothes with the old lady with great interest and did not notice his eyes.

Su Yue was very happy when she was finally able to make clothes, and said to the old lady, “Auntie, I want to make coarse cloth clothes for work. You can make them as you see fit. I want to make these fine cotton clothes into a dress, and then Make a top and bottom. Don’t make the skirt too fat, tuck a little on the waist, and add some lace on this side…”

Su Yue told the old lady what she wanted the clothes to look like. In fact, she didn’t have any special requirements. She just wanted to make it fit her waist a little, not to wear it like a straight tube, fat and big, as if she didn’t even have a waist.

Old Lady Han’s needlework had always been very good. For so many years, she has made all the clothes for the four sons in the family. There is absolutely no problem with the technique, so when Su Yue asked for it she immediately understood the main points and wrote down the requirements that Su Yue said. and started to work on it for her now.

Su Yue was afraid that her eyes would have to suffer, so she said: “Auntie, my clothes are not urgent, so take your time and don’t do it at night, it’s not good for your eyes.”

The old lady Han smiled and said, “Alright, Auntie knows.”

But having said that, the old lady from the start did not lack any effort. She didn’t need to go to work on rainy days. Apart from being busy with the vegetable garden and a few chickens at home, the rest of her time was spent on making clothes. She didn’t have a sewing machine at home. But the speed was not slow. In two days, she completed making a dress for Su Yue.

This dress was very beautiful, done with meticulous workmanship, and the colour is different from the black, white and grey often worn nowadays. It is a very bright blue in colour, fresh but not eye-catching, and it looks very comfortable. In addition to that, The waist was tightened, and some ruffled lace was added to the sleeves and skirt’s hem according to Su Yue’s suggestion. The impression of the skirt was very strong. Even Su Yue, who was used to wearing all kinds of fashionable clothes in the 21st century, couldn’t help but like it.

It’s a woman’s nature to love beauty. As soon as Su Yue finished dinner, she went back to her room and tried on the dress.

Su Yue had a slender figure, but she had a curvy front and back, her complexion fair and a gorgeous face. After putting on this dress, it is not an exaggeration to say that she is a little fairy who has fallen into the mortal world. Anyway, Old Lady Han looked straight at her and kept saying, “Beautiful, truly beautiful, Yueyue, how are you so beautiful, oh my! This is so good-looking, even better looking than before. “

Su Yue is also a laywoman. Being praised for being beautiful naturally made her very happy. At this moment, overjoyed by the compliments from the old lady, She turned left, and then turned right repeatedly. It’s just a pity that there was no full-length mirror at home. Otherwise, she could see herself.

(T/N- Here laywoman is used in the sense that she’s an amateur.)

The old lady squinted her eyes when she saw Su Yue’s smug beauty, pushed her and said, “Girl, go out and show it to everyone, and let everyone see this old lady’s craftsmanship.”

In fact, the old lady didn’t want to show off her craftsmanship. What she really wanted to say in her heart was: Go and show my eldest son a look, and let him be fascinated by you.

Su Yue remembered that Han Aiguo was outside. She couldn’t help blushing, quietly biting her lower lip. She was pushed out by the old lady looking a little shyly and expectantly.

Just after dinner, it was still too early to sleep. Everyone was in the main room busy gossiping about their own affairs. Suddenly, they saw Su Yue come out wearing a dress. Everyone was stunned, forgetting any work at hand.

The old lady Han glanced at her eldest son and said with a smile: “Look at this, don’t the clothes made by this old lady look good? Especially when Yueyue wears it, it looks even better.”

Han Aiguo didn’t even notice that his mother was looking at him teasingly. He just looked at Su Yue, dumbfounded. She was like a fairy who fell from the sky. In this world, there was no girl as beautiful as her. Beautiful enough to capture all of his heart and soul.

Han Aiguo could hear the thumping sound of the heart in his chest, beating faster and faster, but he couldn’t stop it, so he could only let it beat for her.

Su Yue also observed Han Aiguo’s reaction. Seeing him like this, her heart was bubbling with sweetness, and she couldn’t help but quickly show him a sly and bright smile.

Han Aiguo became hot all over by her teasing smile. And the corners of his mouth couldn’t help curling up.

Everyone didn’t notice the intimacy between the two, and everyone’s attention was on Su Yue. Han’s second daughter-in-law was the first to praise: “Su Zhiqing is so good-looking, and wearing this dress is simply too beautiful.”

[T/N- Zhiqing(知青) refers to an Educated youth(sent to work in farms during the Cultural Revolution)]

Han Aimin was young and didn’t have so many qualms. He said whatever came to his mind, “Sister Su Yue, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.”

Everyone was amused by this sentence, and Su Yue couldn’t help but feel happy.

Han’s second child house’s Hehua, is a girl. It is natural for a girl to love beauty. This is the first time she has seen such a beautiful dress. When she saw that she couldn’t help it, she ran to Su Yue, touched her dress carefully, raised her head and whispered enviously and eagerly: “Aunt Su Yue, your dress is so beautiful. I want one too, and I want to be as beautiful as you.”

(T/N- I believe Hehua is her name, it means Lotus.)

Su Yue bent down and touched her hair, “Okay, wait for Aunt Su Yue to get some more cloth like this, and next time, and let Grandma make one for Hehua next time. ”

Although this child Hehua is only eight years old, she is very sensible, works diligently, and takes good care of her younger brothers and sisters. Su Yue likes her very much. Now that she likes this dress so much, she(Su Yue) just wanted to change some fabrics suitable for a little girl of this age, and make her a dress to wear. The little girl would be happy.

The old lady Han also nodded and said to Hehua, “Okay, next time I have a nice cloth, grandma will make you a dress like your aunt Su Yue.”

When Hehua heard the words, her eyes lit up.

The second daughter-in-law of Han heard what the Old Lady Han said, but waved her hand hurriedly, “Mother, she is a little girl, how can she need such good clothes to be made for her to wear, it’s a waste of clothes.”

But the old lady Han said, “There are still a few months until the Chinese New Year. I’m planning to save some cloth(fabric) to make clothes for the children. What is the waste?”

Han’s second daughter-in-law didn’t feel distressed when she heard that she planned to make cloth for all the children, so she said, “Then, mother please make an extra set for Xiaolei. Xiaolei has grown longer this year, and last year’s clothes were all short. Hehua can just use my old clothes to change and wear, but you can’t waste such a good fabric. “

As soon as these words came out, the originally bright eyes of Hehua quickly dimmed, full of loss and sadness, but she didn’t say anything, she silently retreated to the corner and lowered her head without making a sound.

Su Yue looked a little distressed and frowned slightly. Unexpectedly, this second daughter-in-law of Han looks pretty good at ordinary times, but she has such a serious mindset of patriarchal preference. As a girl, Hehua isn’t worthy of such good clothes but her son deserves it? What logic!

Su Yue couldn’t help but look at the clothes Hehua was wearing. It was big and wide. It looked like it was made from an adult’s clothes. On it, there were patches in many places, and the cuffs were frayed. It was obvious that it had been worn for a long time. No matter how careful one would be, it was going to break(the fibres). The same is true of Han Laoer’s daughter Taohua, whose clothes are also shabby(worn out). But looking at Xiaolei, the youngest son of his family, although his clothes were dirty because of playing, one could see that his clothes were much better than the ones Hehua and Taohua were wearing, at least there were no patches on them.

(T/N- The name Taohua means peach blossoms)

This difference was too big.

Su Yue felt uncomfortable. In her previous life, she was always spoiled by her parents, who loved her very much. Although there was a younger brother at home, her parents followed the saying of raising sons poor and daughters rich. Materially it is better for her than for her brother, The younger brother also understood this very well, and didn’t feel that the boy needed to be spoiled by his parents, so he was not jealous or angry because of it. On the contrary, the relationship between them as brother and sister was very good.

Influenced by her parents, she has always felt that girls should be pampered by their parents. At least they should not have any thoughts of valuing boys over girls. She also disliked such patriarchal behaviour. Fortunately, in the previous life, the people around were sufficiently open-minded. Most people regarded girls as treasures, and there was no traditional feudal ideology that prioritised sons over daughters.

She didn’t expect to come here and actually see it, which really made her uncomfortable.

On the other hand, Han Lao Er, the father, didn’t think there was anything wrong with his wife’s words. He didn’t stand up and say anything at all. Obviously, he also felt that it should be worn by the boys, and it was a bit of a waste to give it to girls.

The third daughter-in-law of Han stood up, but only spoke for herself, “Mother, then you should also make clothes for my family’s Mao Mao, his clothes are too short.”

The old lady Han frowned slightly, glanced at Han’s second daughter-in-law unhappily, and said, “I don’t need you to make arrangements for me. We have both the children in our family. there is no reason for the younger brother to have it when the elder sister does not. Even if the fabric is not enough, the eldest should have it first. And if the eldest can’t wear it, the second child will wear it.

Seeing that the old lady was in a bad mood, the second daughter-in-law of Han didn’t say much, although she disagreed in her heart.

Because of this little episode, Su Yue was no longer in the mood to show her clothes, so she went back to her room to change her clothes, and continued to work in the kitchen to bring cakes to the town tomorrow.

Han Aiguo started the fire for Su Yue, and it was obvious that her mood was not right from the beginning.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you upset?” he asked.

Su Yue glanced at him, and suddenly wanted to know if he was also a man who valued sons over daughters, and asked, “What do you think of your second sister-in-law’s actions just now?”

“What actions?” Han Aiguo didn’t realise what she meant for a while, after all, at the moment most of his mind was on her.

Su Yue gave him a white look, thinking that he didn’t take what happened just now seriously, taking it for granted, and was so angry that she didn’t want to talk to him.

Seeing her even more angry, Han Aiguo hurriedly recalled what his sister-in-law(Han’s second daughter-in-law) said just now. After thinking for a while, he realised what she meant and also understood why she was unhappy.

He hastily explained: “I know that the second and his wife both value sons more than daughters. I don’t agree with them. But as the eldest brother, I can’t say anything about second’s wife.

I’ve talked to second about it before, but it doesn’t seem to be useful. But don’t worry, neither my mother nor I have such thoughts. My mother gave birth to us four brothers, and she wanted a girl from the beginning, but unfortunately, she didn’t have the chance in the end. She likes girls in her heart, Our (in the whole family) children, whether male or female, are loved the same.”

Hearing what he said, Su Yue felt a little more comfortable and asked him, “What about you? Do you think boys are better or are girls better?”

Han Aiguo didn’t know what to think, his face was a little hot, and he said, “I like both boys and girls.” As long as it’s yours, I like it.

Su Yue’s heart was pleased. Fortunately, Han Aiguo, unlike most people in this era, did not give preference to sons over daughters, otherwise, she would really have to think about how to treat him.

After talking to Han Aiguo, Su Yue’s somewhat unhappy mood caused by the dress incident just now dissipated. She now thought about taking care of Hehua and Taohua in the future, and trying not to let the two’s childhood be shrouded in the shadow of patriarchy.

* * * *

The next morning, Su Yue got up early and went to town with the three Han brothers.

Today was the time agreed with Sister Jiang to confirm whether they were going to sign the contract or not.

This time, Su Yue didn’t allow Han Aiguo to follow her, so he stayed at home obediently.

Han Aiguo didn’t go, so they didn’t borrow a mule cart and walked to the town.

When they got to town, Su Yue distributed the cakes to Han Aimin and the other two. She then asked them(the Han brothers) to sell them(cakes) separately, while she went to Sister Jiang’s house with the cakes she was going to sell at the textile factory.

Sister Jiang knew that Su Yue would come today, so she specially waited for her at home. Besides her, there was also a very energetic young man in his twenties.

Su Yue guessed that this was Sister Jiang’s younger brother.

Sure enough, Jiang jie introduced: “Su Yue Meizi, this is my brother, Jiang Haishan. Haishan, this is Su Yue, the pastry maker I told you about.”

(T/N- Jie is an older sister, usually used for an older female friend and meizi is a younger sister.)

When Jiang Haishan saw Su Yue, his eyes involuntarily brightened up. He felt a little uncomfortable seeing a beautiful girl, and his ears were slightly red. Originally, he thought that the person who could make such delicious cakes must be a hard-working woman in the image of a housewife, but he didn’t expect to be such a beautiful girl. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, even at their auto parts factory. Even Yu Linlin, who is known as the flower of the factory, couldn’t compare.

(T/C- Wdym? Housewives can’t be beautiful?)

(T/N- I believe the factory makes parts of cars? That’s what the dictionary said but I’m not sure.)

(T/N- Flower here means like the most beautiful person)

Jiang Haishan’s heart was pounding, and he showed a fitting(appropriate to the occasion) smile to Su Yue a little nervously, “Comrade Su Yue, He-hello.”

Su Yue also said to him, “Hello, Comrade Jiang Haishan.”

Seeing the two greeting each other, Jiang jie said, “Su Yue Meizi, I told my brother about your conditions, and he agreed. A colleague in their factory can get a car, and they can drive to pick up the cakes.”

Hearing this, Su Yue smiled and said: “Since there is no problem with your side, let’s make a contract, write down the specific details, and we will all sign it and put our fingerprints.”

Jiang jie took out two contracts, “I have prepared them in advance, Meizi, take a look if it works.”

Su Yue took a look and found that it was a handwritten contract, which basically included the rights and obligations of both parties. It was the same as what she meant, so she couldn’t help but nod: “Jiang jie, no problem, then I will sign it first.”

Su Yue signed under the contract and then dipped in red paste(ink?) and pressed a fingerprint. Jiang Haishan did the same afterwards. In this way, the cooperation between the two was finalised.

Jiang Haishan scratched his head and asked Su Yue, “Comrade Su Yue, which day should I come to get the cakes?”

Su Yue thought for a while and said, “In this weather, the cakes won’t go bad even if you leave them for a week. Then we will supply them every five days. I will prepare them for you when I go back this time. You can come and get the first batch of goods in the next three days. Is that okay?”

Of course, Jiang Haishan had no objection, “Sure, then I’ll come over in three days time.”

After dealing with the contract, Su Yue took out the cakes she brought, “Sister Jiang, I brought cakes to sell this time. See if anyone in your compound wants them.”

As soon as these words came out, before Sister Jiang could say anything, Jiang Haishan asked, “Comrade Su Yue, can I buy these cakes from you first? I want to take them to some people for them to try. Try to sell and figure out the method. That way, It will be easier to sell when we start to sell it officially.”

Su Yue had an “oh” in her heart, she thought that this young man was quite capable of doing business. At first glance, he was quite a business-minded person. If it’s a few years later, this young man will definitely make his mark.

“Okay, then I’ll sell this batch to you first.”

Jiang Haishan’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly took out the money to give to Su Yue.

Su Yue counted the cakes in front of the two of them. The total was 110 yuan. She sold them to Jiang Haishan at 20% off the market price. As for Jiang Haishan’s selling price after he went to the city, she didn’t care.

After coming out of the textile factory compound, while waiting for Han Aimin and the others, Su Yue thought about finding someone to help her. In the future, there will be more sales, and she will not be able to make all of it by herself. And when the weather is good, she will have to go to work. At that time, she will not have time to make so many cakes, so she needs to find someone to help.

However, the person she was looking for must have good craftsmanship and ingenuity. They should also be reliable and trustworthy. The most important thing is that this person should not be working and could stay at home and make cakes.

After thinking about it, there is only one person who is suitable for doing this.