TPW – Chapter 107

Mid-September, Qiaoqiao was finally one month old!

The couple planned to host a full-month celebration banquet for their little baby that coming Sunday.

The baby reaching one month also meant that Qiao Lu’s confinement period was over. She could finally move freely again—and after being cooped up for so long, she ran wild through the house in joy.

Liberated!

On Wednesday morning, after feeding their daughter, Xu Haizhou struggled to get up and make breakfast for the whole family, but Qiao Lu pressed him back down.

“Don’t move. I’ll cook today, you just rest,” she said gently, leaning down and planting a kiss that still carried the scent of milk. “You’ve worked so hard lately. Just take it easy today.”

With those soft words from Qiao Lu, all his exhaustion seemed to melt into dust.

“Thank you, wifey.”

Having not cooked in over half a year, Qiao Lu was a little rusty. The millet and pumpkin porridge ended up too dry—it was more like pumpkin rice. The stir-fried vegetables were overcooked and came out dry and chewy…

It didn’t taste as good as Xu Haizhou’s cooking, and she was a little disheartened.

Luckily, both her husband and son gave her face, complimenting her cooking skills. Only then did Qiao Lu feel a bit better.

Breakfast was barely passable—lunch would still be left to her dear husband.

“Let’s not book the state-run restaurant for the full-month banquet,” she said. “I heard from Mrs. Li that a new private restaurant opened on the street by the department store. It’s called… Youzhuang Restaurant. She said the food there is great. Let’s book there instead.”

Just from the name, it was obvious that the place wasn’t cheap. Xu Haizhou raised an eyebrow and lightly tapped her nose. “You mean Mrs. Li from upstairs? The wife of Director Li from the hardware factory? Since when did you two become so close?”

Qiao Lu smiled playfully as she gently patted Qiaoqiao’s back, rocking her in her arms while replying, “Yeah, she’s the one I’m closest with in this neighborhood. We’re around the same age and both moms, so we have a lot to talk about. Plus, she’s a middle school teacher. She always shares funny stories about her students with me—it’s really entertaining. We just click.”

Xu Haizhou nodded thoughtfully. “Sounds good. I’ll check out this Youzhuang Restaurant then.”

“Great.”

These days, private restaurants were more expensive, but the food was also much more varied than in the state-run ones.

This “Youzhuang Restaurant” even served Hong Kong-style dishes—it would be a nice change of pace. And it wasn’t like they were short on money.

Last August, China sent a team of athletes to the Olympics in the U.S.

Xu Haifeng, wearing a red “Meihua” (Plum Blossom) brand tracksuit, won China’s first-ever Olympic gold medal. After that, Meihua-brand sportswear became wildly popular across the country—one could hardly get their hands on one.

By the time Xu Haizhou read the news in the papers, it was already October, just as the sportswear craze was hitting Lian City.

Sensing a money-making opportunity, he dropped everything he was doing, grabbed Li Hongjun, and made the long journey to Jin City to stock up.

Each of them carried two big burlap sacks and returned exhausted but satisfied.

Thankfully, their efforts paid off. Within a month, all the sportswear was sold out!

By the time other vendors caught on, the Lian City market was already flooded with Meihua-brand tracksuit sellers. The early birds had feasted—the latecomers could only sip the soup.

Then in November, Qiao Lu became pregnant, and she hadn’t paid much attention to the sportswear business since. Xu Haizhou and Li Hongjun had handled it all.

Chatting about it now, Qiao Lu finally learned that Xu Haizhou and Li Hongjun had made that special trip to Jin City just to purchase Meihua-brand sportswear. Over the past year, they had made 23,300 yuan in profit!

Even as of this August, the shop was still earning a steady 400–500 yuan a month from the leftover stock—a pretty decent income.

So when Qiao Lu suggested inviting relatives and friends to dine at Youzhuang Restaurant, it was an easy decision for Xu Haizhou—he immediately booked ten tables.

He handled all the guest invitations. On Friday, he took his wife and children to visit the old courtyard house, mainly to invite their old neighbors to attend Qiaoqiao’s full-month celebration.

Of course, it wasn’t just about the invitations—it was also a chance to let his wife and kids reconnect and socialize a bit. Qiao Lu had been stuck indoors for months and was dying for some lively company.

It happened to be Friday, just as the school day was ending.

The old neighbors were just as warm as ever. When they saw her, they acted like she was some factory leader, covering their mouths in disbelief.

“Qiao Lu! Qiao Lu is back!”

“Sis Qiao Lu is back!”

“Auntie Qiao Lu is back!”

They fetched tea, moved chairs for her—it was all a bit overwhelming for Qiao Lu.

“It’s been over six months and you’re all still so warm. Nothing’s changed at all.”

“Heh, what would change in half a year?”

Wu Guifang teased her, “You’re the one who’s changed—you’ve put on some weight, but you’re still so pretty!”

Qiao Lu chuckled and instinctively looked down at her own figure. Oh no—her chest was too big! It blocked her view the moment she lowered her head!

She burst into laughter. “Really? I just finished confinement and was planning to lose some weight—I feel too chubby.”

Even if she lost some weight from her chest, it didn’t matter. Haizhou said he’d like her just as much even if she was flat-chested.

Cough cough—

“Lose weight? What for? You’re not even fat.” In those days, people dreamed of gaining weight—no one was trying to lose it.

Besides, where could you even find fat people, apart from the canteen chefs?

“Just a little slimming, get rid of the extra flab,” Qiao Lu said sheepishly.

After some friendly chatting, everyone’s attention turned to the little baby in her arms.

“This must be the big chubby boy you gave birth to for Little Xu. Come on, let us see!”

As soon as they heard Xu Haizhou had a new baby, everyone perked up. They crowded around to get a look at the little one who supposedly inherited her mother’s beauty and her father’s handsomeness—just how cute could she be?

Big eyes, small mouth, a perky little nose, rosy cheeks, well-defined features—it was hard to believe she was just a month old. Her thick black hair would put even Chen Jiamei to shame.

“Our Qiaoqiao is a little beauty, not a boy,” Qiao Lu said, holding her close for everyone to see but not letting anyone touch. “She’s a bit delicate. The doctor said not to let adults touch her face—it could make her sick, and then she’ll cry non-stop.”

The moment she said that, everyone pulled their eager hands back.

Such a delicate and adorable baby—if something happened to her, they couldn’t afford to take responsibility.

“Weak constitution? Is it because there wasn’t enough milk? Or what?” No one had heard of babies getting sick just from being touched by adults—at least, not in the ‘80s.

Of course, the doctor never said that. It was a little fib Qiao Lu made up.

“Not sure. She’s been fragile since birth. Even we hardly touch her at home.”

“Aiya, such a pretty little girl, and we can’t touch her—what a shame…”

At that moment, little Qiaoqiao, the so-called fragile baby, was sound asleep in her mother’s arms. With no one poking her chubby cheeks, she was having the most peaceful, blissful nap.

“By the way, what’s her name? What Qiao? Qiaoqiao? Xu Qiaoqiao?”

Qiao Lu shook her head, just about to reply when Qiao An excitedly raised his hand and explained to everyone, “Grandma Tian, my little sister is a girl, and her name is Qiao Qiao! She doesn’t take Dad’s surname—she takes mine!”

“Haahahaha—”

If they couldn’t touch Baby Qiaoqiao, then they’d shower little An’an with affection. One joke was enough to make everyone reach out and lovingly pinch and pat him.

“How can she have your surname? Isn’t that your mom’s surname?”

Scratching his head, Qiao An suddenly realized, “Oh, right! It’s Mom’s surname—we all take Mom’s surname!”

From the room across the hallway, the neighborhood kids, hearing the commotion, ran out with pencils still in hand—they had clearly just come home from school and were in the middle of doing homework.

They rushed out, surprised and happy:

“Qiao An! You’re finally back!”

“Qiao An! You look taller!”

Seeing his old playmates, the little guy’s eyes lit up with joy. He grabbed Chen Botao’s hand.

“Taotao! Brother Kangkang! Sister Nannan! Guess what—I’m a student now, just like you guys! In the first week, the teacher asked the class to vote, and I got chosen as the class study monitor!”

Qiao An talked about becoming class monitor to just about everyone he met—he was so proud.

Even though he was only six, his language skills were great—everything he said was clear and easy to understand.

“Wow, Qiao An, that’s amazing! In our class, the study monitor is a girl who scores over 90 every time!”

“Well… I haven’t had any tests yet. Once I do, we’ll see if I’m any good. If I’m not, will the teacher stop letting me be class monitor?” he asked nervously, glancing at Qiao Lu and Xu Haizhou, then back at his friends.

“Then just study hard and do well next time. If your teacher’s nice, maybe she’ll let you keep the role,” Chen Nannan encouraged him.

That made Qiao An happy again. He giggled, “Ms. Chen Hua is super nice! She said I was smart. If I don’t do well, I’ll just ask her for another chance—I’ll work hard, and my grades will improve!”

“Stop chatting! Qiao An, come here! We’ll show you our new home—it’s your old room, but it looks totally different now! Come on!”

From the other side, Chen Jingkang enthusiastically waved him over.

Chen Nannan joined in, “Yeah! Come on—we’ll show you our new room!”

Hand in hand, the children walked into the room that used to belong to Qiao An and his parents. It had now become a shared bedroom for the elementary school kids from the inner courtyard.

Following behind them, Qiao Lu held little Qiao Qiao in her arms, stepping into the old house while curiously glancing around.

The outer room had been converted into a storage area, where rolls of fabric and newly made clothes were stacked neatly, all covered by a huge piece of coarse cloth to keep the dust away.

The children lived in the inner room. In a way, they acted as “guardians of the goods.” If anyone came to steal or snoop, the kids—with their sharp hearing—could detect them quickly. Their presence inside served as an early warning system.

Three beds were placed in the inner bedroom—one was the big bed that used to belong to Xu Haizhou and his wife, one was Qiao An’s small military-style cot, and the third one—whether bought by the adults or custom-built by Tian Jianzhong’s father—was a wooden bunk bed.

It was a two-tiered bed with fine craftsmanship. A small staircase leaned against the left side for climbing up to the top bunk.

The room was packed to the brim, with just a narrow pathway between the beds that allowed only one person to pass through at a time. Every inch of space was maximized.

Such was the wisdom of the working people!

“Auntie Qiao Lu! After you left, my brother, my younger brother, Hu Fengyun, and I all moved in here!” Chen Nannan said excitedly.

“How does it feel to live here? Is it a bit cramped?” Qiao Lu asked as she looked around.

The little ones all shook their heads vigorously. “Not cramped at all! It’s amazing living here! We each have our own bed now! No more squeezing in with our parents. Plus, it’s just us kids here—it’s so much fun!”

Of course, letting a bunch of kids sleep together had its downsides. Sometimes, when they didn’t feel like sleeping, they’d chat endlessly, ignoring the fact that they had to get up for school the next day.

On a few occasions when things got really out of hand, the adults took turns standing watch in the room for three to four nights. If anyone talked, they’d be sent out to the courtyard to stand as punishment—until their mouths went dry—before being allowed back to sleep.

Only then did the kids develop the habit of sleeping as soon as they hit the bed. Otherwise, with all the late-night chatting, they’d be too tired for class the next day.

“Qiao Lu, this house was truly a blessing. Just look at how happy the kids are,” Aunt Chen sincerely sighed as they walked out.

Tired from carrying the baby, Qiao Lu handed Qiao Qiao over to Xu Haizhou, then turned her head, her eyes filled with admiration. “Yes, it’s really nice. Very nice, indeed.”

She had heard from Haizhou earlier that one room of the old house had been set up as a storage space and another for the inner courtyard neighbors. At that time, being pregnant, she hadn’t thought much of it. Giving up the house was just a matter of kindness, no big deal.

But now she realized—it wasn’t just about kindness. It genuinely solved the problem of insufficient housing for everyone!

It was wonderful. Truly wonderful. A sense of pride for having helped others welled up in her heart.

Oh, of course—the prerequisite for helping everyone was that the five members of Li Xiuxiu’s family “couldn’t return home.”

But still, as the saying goes, if you don’t bring it upon yourself, it won’t happen. Li Xiuxiu had brought it all upon herself—she deserved the consequences.

“If you ever need to come back, just say the word. We’d never cling on and refuse to leave,” Aunt Chen added earnestly, holding Qiao Lu’s hand.

The neighbors were still honest and grateful—not like that ungrateful wretch, Li Xiuxiu.

Qiao Lu reassured her, “No rush. Stay as long as you like. If we need it in the future, we’ll figure it out then.”

Speaking of ungrateful wretches…

“Aunt Chen, what’s going on with Li Xiuxiu these days?”

Wu Guifang interjected, “Tch! What else? The man’s out hauling heavy loads, and she stays home with the kids.”

She curled her lips and warned Qiao Lu, “You’d better not be too soft-hearted. That Li Xiuxiu comes here every day to pick up fabric and sew—she earns at least a few yuan a day. They’re doing just fine. As long as your family stays upright, hers won’t collapse. As for the house…”

Her daughter was living there now—giving it back to Li Xiuxiu? Not a chance.

Wu Guifang said, “She needs to suffer a little. Otherwise, she won’t learn. She thinks that just because she acted pitiful after doing wrong, everyone should forgive her.”

Not only was she an ingrate, but also a manipulative white lotus. The women present were all shrewd—they had decades of experience under their belts. Playing innocent with them? What a joke.

It was understandable to be fooled at first. But over time, who couldn’t tell if someone was a human or a ghost under that “mask”?

After thinking for a moment, Qiao Lu smiled and said, “Mm, this punishment is probably enough. Let bygones be bygones. As long as she doesn’t make a scene or act shamelessly, I won’t bother with her.”

“Right! If she doesn’t cause trouble, we won’t fight her. But if she does—don’t worry, you won’t need to lift a finger. Aunt Chen and I will go up and slap her ourselves!” Aunt Tian rolled up her sleeves, miming a slap and making Qiao Lu laugh until her stomach hurt.

As they chatted, Qiao Lu suddenly realized someone was missing: “Where’s Sister Liu? I haven’t seen her.”

Everyone looked around, puzzled. “Dunno. Maybe she’s not off work yet. She wasn’t here before you arrived.”

Speak of the devil!

Just as they spoke, footsteps approached from the outer courtyard, followed by Liu Xiaohong’s shrill, excited voice: “Go, go, go! Hongxing Garment Factory’s gone bust! Final clearance sale—fabric and clothes dirt cheap! Hurry before it’s all gone!”

Turned out Liu Xiaohong had come home late because she and a few old friends had gone to snatch up deals on fabric!

“Sister Liu, you’re wearing a scarf in this heat? That’s quite fashionable,” Qiao Lu teased.

Hearing Qiao Lu’s voice, Liu Xiaohong froze, then quickly ran inside to stash her newly bought fabric and remove the two long cotton scarves she had randomly draped around her neck.

She dashed back out and hugged Qiao Lu, stamping her feet in excitement as she patted her, “Ahhh! You actually came back! It’s been so long—I missed you! You changed, didn’t you?”

She looked Qiao Lu up and down carefully, nodding non-stop, eyes gleaming with joy, more excited than even Qiao Lu’s own mother would’ve been.

“You got chubbier! Put on weight! You really look like a mom now!” The innocence and youthfulness of before had faded, replaced by a maternal glow.

“Oh stop, if you keep calling her fat, she’ll end up slimming down to skin and bones,” Aunt Chen joked, pulling Liu Xiaohong aside.

“Skin and bones?” Liu Xiaohong was confused.

The others filled her in on Qiao Lu’s plan to lose weight, and she burst out laughing once she understood.

“Lose weight for what? Being chubby is good! It means you’re blessed!”

Back then, being fat meant you were well-off. Without money, who could afford to get fat?

After sharing some laughs, Liu Xiaohong asked why Qiao Lu had returned, teased little Qiao Qiao a bit, and then remembered something important.

“Just now, those two cotton pieces around my neck—guess how much I paid for them?”

“How much?”

“Two pieces, this long! Only 85 cents!”

“What? That cheap?” That length of fabric would’ve cost at least 1.50 yuan at market price!

“Yup! You guys know Hongxing Garment Factory? It’s just behind Xiao Gao’s place, quite a big one. Don’t know what happened, but it’s closing down. The factory director resigned! They’re liquidating everything. The place’s gone bust!”

“What?!”

Everyone bombarded her with questions, and Qiao Lu’s eyes lit up the more she listened.

Jackpot! Time to grab those deals!

Once they had the full scoop, the crowd couldn’t bother chatting anymore—they rushed off to Hongxing to take advantage of the clearance!

Qiao Lu quickly took Qiao Qiao into her arms and pushed Xu Haizhou forward: “Go, Haizhou, grab the deals! Buy a lot—we need it!”

After the reform and opening up, China—as a socialist developing country—saw a wave of industrial “surges.”

In simpler terms, this meant that many manufacturers suddenly entered the same industry at once. For instance, the textile and clothing industries had no major innovation barriers—anyone could invest and start production, leading to market overcrowding.

Eventually, supply far exceeded demand.

This was one of the reasons behind the “layoff wave” in the 90s. When products couldn’t sell, factories couldn’t make money. No money meant no wages. No wages meant massive layoffs…

“Hurry, Haizhou, keep up—grab those deals!” Qiao Lu was itching to go herself.

If she weren’t holding Qiao Qiao, she would’ve joined her husband in the mad rush to shop.

In the end, Xu Haizhou went. Among the crowd of aunties and older ladies, his young and handsome presence was like a fresh breeze.

Two hours later, as twilight set in and Qiao Qiao finished her third bottle of milk, Xu Haizhou finally returned.

He had borrowed a tricycle and came back fully loaded.

After three years in the garment industry, he knew exactly which fabrics were worth buying and which ones weren’t. Qiao Lu inspected everything inside out and rated his haul nine out of ten stars—just one shy to keep him humble.

“How much did we save?” she asked, beaming.

“About a hundred yuan,” he said, kissing their daughter.

The more you bought, the more you saved—this haul was totally worth it!

“Wow—amazing! A hundred bucks could buy a bicycle!”

But there was still one thing Qiao Lu couldn’t quite understand.

“Sister Liu, if I remember right, wasn’t Hongxing a state-owned factory? How could it go under?” The layoff wave didn’t happen until the 90s, and the decline of state-owned enterprises hadn’t fully started yet.

This was still 1985—didn’t make sense.

“Tch, no business means you can’t keep going. You don’t know—there are tons of private factories springing up now! They may be small, but they’re eating into the market. No matter how big state-owned ones are, they can’t withstand that kind of competition bit by bit.”

“How does that saying go… water dripping wears through stone? Not sure if that’s the right way to put it, but you get what I mean?”

“Yeah, I get it.” Crude as it was, she had a point. But the more Qiao Lu thought about it, the more she realized it couldn’t be that simple.

She checked the ready-made clothes Liu Xiaohong had bought. The styles were outdated, the patterns dull. No wonder they couldn’t sell.

So it wasn’t just outside competition—the factory itself had failed to keep up with the market!

“Didn’t Erni’s brother apprentice at the cotton mill? I heard he moved to a private factory this year and became a full employee right away. After two months, his wages rose to over forty yuan! Twenty more than before!”

“For real? I’d switch too!”

“Wait, could Hongxing have collapsed because all the workers left and no one was there to run the place?”

“No idea—but it sounds logical.”

“Tch, that’s why the ancients said, ‘Misfortune comes without warning.’ The old sayings always have truth to them!”

Qiao Lu deeply agreed.

The world changed every day. She remembered reading an old comedy skit online. Someone in the 90s studied to repair pagers in college, but before they even graduated, pagers were obsolete. The whole world had moved on to mobile phones!

Graduation equals unemployment. What a joke.

Saturday, the day before the full-month celebration, the couple woke up early to flip through the newspaper. They really did find information about starting factories.

“Hey hey, look here! Lian Daily—it says all private enterprises will enjoy three years of tax exemption!”

“Look at this—between 1980 to 1984, the country was experimenting with contract systems. Ownership stayed the same, but you could get management and usage rights… And starting from 1985, local governments could start contracting finances. The method wasn’t fixed.”

“Whoa, look here! It says individuals can legally contract state-owned enterprises!”

After reading the newspaper, Qiao Lu felt like she had found her path.

“Haizhou, let’s contract the nearly-bankrupt Hongxing Garment Factory!”