Man Lu

At eight o'clock in the morning, in the study, Manzhen dictated English words to Weimin and Jiemin.Man Lu is drawing blueprints, clothing blueprints.Mainly shirts and trousers.If the Gu family is going to move to the French Concession, they must prepare some new clothes.Otherwise, if they go in in old clothes like this, they will also attract attention.The price of buying ready-made clothes directly is at least five times that of the original fabric.The price was too high, so Manlu could only find another way out.

Now the big Shanghai is very westernized, and many students will wear western clothes.A few days ago, she and Manzhen checked in many clothing stores. The shirts, trousers and dresses were of very simple styles. She looked at them for a few days and looked at all the styles of clothes on the market. She was very confident in herself. can also be produced.Manlu and Manzhen, two black girls, received a lot of stares when they went in school uniforms, but as long as the shopkeeper didn't chase them away, Manlu and Manzhen would continue.For this reason, Manzhen feels ashamed of Manlu.

She came up with the idea of ​​making her own clothes because she saw a sewing machine in the small building in the concession, and the owner of the sewing machine kept it.It was Shengmei Sewing made in Shanghai, Taiwan. The owner was going to move out. Seeing that Manlu had paid a year's rent in advance, and the hostess' elder brother was the manager of the sewing machine factory, it would not be troublesome to get another one. Only agreed to stay.Seeing Manlu's eagerness when she saw the two bicycles, but she didn't see Manlu asking them to stay, the hostess gave her a higher opinion.

Downstairs, Mrs. Gu is cleaning up, and in the kitchen, Mrs. Gu is grinding mung bean paste.Ever since the old lady overheard Man Lu say that it would be better if it was mung bean paste, and seeing her yearning look, the old lady would boil all the mung beans into mung bean paste.In order not to waste coal, when Mrs. Gu finished cooking breakfast, she used the fire to put the mung beans on the stove first. When the beans were boiled, she kept grinding the beans to let the bean skins fall off from the beans.Generally, the coal fire in the morning can only cook the beans, but they can't be cooked, and they have to wait for the coal fire for lunch, but this is just what she wants.Man Lu and Man Zhen didn't come back until after 03:30 in the afternoon, when the mung bean paste was ready and cold.

Mrs. Gu was very puzzled by her mother-in-law, making mung bean paste around the stove in such a hot day.The first few times, she tried to persuade her, but the old lady ignored her, and she couldn't help it.But generally speaking, after more than a year, her mother-in-law stopped criticizing her, and she felt a lot more at ease.

Nearly nine o'clock, Mrs. Gu and Mrs. Gu went upstairs to chat, but there was no one in the book.Mrs. Gu opened the window and looked down.In the courtyard, the two children stood facing each other one meter apart.Mrs. Gu shook her head, and then told the old lady that the two boys were punished to stand again.Mrs. Gu had already knit the red rope with her hands, but she didn't take Mrs. Gu's words at ease and continued with her work.

Man Lu and Man Zhenben met a real estate agent at the corner of the street where they were going to order a few pieces of fabric.I got great news that the handover can be arranged tomorrow.

When handing over to the landlady, I saw that besides the original furniture and sewing machine, the landlady gave them a bicycle that was probably new, nearly a hundred books, and nearly four wardrobes of clothes and bedding, all of which were visible at a glance. , take a closer look, more useful items.This also proves that if the real estate is middle-class, the landlord has lived here for less than two years, only about one and a half years.The small room is well maintained, fresh and clean, there is no place to repair, even the wall paint does not need to be painted.

When she came to hand over, Man Lu prepared six Chinese knots when she came. These six Chinese knots were placed in a round jewelry box with a diameter of about [-] centimeters and a red background with golden dragon and phoenix patterns.These are only for the sewing machine and the one-month rent-free period, and I want the landlord to promote her family's Chinese knots.

When the landlady saw the gift box, she didn't pay much attention to Manlu and Manzhen's clothes.When she went back, it was still early, so she opened it casually, and immediately fell in love with it, and her favorability for Manlu Manzhen increased by [-]%.She didn't intend to rent the house to such a family at first, she felt that the Gu family was not decent enough, but the husband made the decision, so naturally she couldn't dictate.

The husband said that he could live in a mansion in the French Concession, without a monthly income of two or three hundred yuan, and without a family fortune of ten thousand or eight thousand, who would dare to move here.If you want to live here, you must want a decent life, so her small building is a bit embarrassing. This building is only two floors and not spacious enough. If the tenants can afford to live in a French Concession mansion, they may not be able to choose Go to her bungalow.

The small building was bought by my brother. She and her husband just came from Beiping a year ago. They don’t know much about Shanghai. They live in such a small building, which is an old building of someone else’s. Although it has been renovated, she is still a little dissatisfied. Wait until you know Since prices in Shanghai were more than three times higher than those in Beiping, I can only rejoice that there was no gap between my brother and sister-in-law because of the house.

It is said that she handed over the building ahead of schedule and should have to pay more than half a month's rent, but the tenant, Gu's family, had negotiated half a month ago, so she couldn't say anything about the rent increase at this time, and she wouldn't do it for such a small amount of money. , put yourself in an embarrassing place.

She got the key to Manlu, and the landlord moved out 20 days in advance, so Manlu received the key on July 26th.Receiving the key in advance means that she has more than a month's rent-free period, and there are so many family possessions, which makes Manlu and Manzhen very happy.Even if they don't wear these clothes, they can still pawn them off, which is another big income.

After the landlord left, Man Lu and Man Zhen cleaned up the small building carefully.Bedding covers, quilt covers, quilts, nine sets, all [-]% new.Sixteen sets of curtains.Clothes are Chinese-style and western-style clothes, which belong to the landlady's wife and husband, two boys and two little girls.If you don't take a closer look, it's almost like new, and the style and fabric are top-notch.These clothes are all starch washed, very clean.If you change it, it suits Mrs. Gu, Weimin and Jiemin.

The kitchen utensils are also complete, and there is no shortage of one piece.Man Lu silently estimated these clothes and kitchen utensils in her heart, at least two hundred yuan, and this is still based on second-hand prices.

Now they are still quite poor, living in troubled times, there is no such thing as not wearing old clothes.In addition to underwear, the two of them bought a lot of clothes at second-hand stores before.It's better to keep a low profile now. Father Gu is not here, and they are going to college again. It is really not safe to leave two old and two young at home.

Manlu discussed with Manzhen for a while, and bought a new set of bowls and ten pieces of cloth.The main purpose is to buy summer clothes for the two of them and Mrs. Gu, and of course also three sets of new clothes for Mrs. Gu and the two younger brothers.Anyway, they moved to a new house, which is always a happy event.

Man Lu went to the cloth shop to order all medium fabrics, twelve bolts of cloth, buttons, and other embellishments, all of which cost nearly 160 yuan.With so much fabric, there must be some left over.But during the war, the prices will only get higher and higher, and if you buy twelve horses, the discount is the lowest, which is actually [-]% lower. Seeing this, she was moved, and she acted.

Twelve bolts of cloth were pulled directly to the new house.Manzhen obeyed the arrangement, wiped and oiled the sewing machine, and cleaned the small building.

On the second day, Manlu just let Manzhen stay at home, there is nothing to do in the new house, and she can't help when she goes to make clothes there.Manzhen only said that although the clothes looked clean, it would be better to wash them.Seeing that Manzhen was willing to do the laundry job, Man Lu naturally didn't stop her.

Manlu has been busy for three days and the results are as follows.

Manlu made each for herself and Manzhen: eight shirts, two white, one paste blue, one goose yellow, one blue; one royal blue; one lavender, one beige; One silver and white; four vests, one black and white; one dark blue, one silver; three skirts, one black, one dark green, and one royal blue; five high-waist trousers with small feet, two black and white .Mrs. Gu: Five cheongsams, one dark green, one silver, one black, one dark red, and one dark blue.Mrs. Gu: Four cheongsams: one in paste blue, one in dark green, one in scarlet, and one in gold.Younger brother of the Gu family: Three shirts, two white and one royal blue.Three pairs of trousers, two black and one white.Two waistcoats, one black and one black.The most important thing is to give her and Manzhen seven sets of underwear, no steel ring underwear and flat panties.Manlu made seven sets of unimproved underwear for the other four.In the end, almost two-thirds of the fabric was left.

Of all the ready-made clothes, except for the younger brother of the Gu family, only two of them were actually finished, and there were still some embellishments left.But this speed can already be described as divine speed.

On the first day, Manzhen saw that Manlu's work from cutting to stitching was as smooth as flowing water.She was even more amazed when she watched her making corsets, she could also do this, she never knew that her eldest sister had such a skill.When Man Lu suggested that she make clothes, she didn't know what to do, but she readily nodded in agreement.It's not hard to see how much she trusts Manlu, just because Manlu says she can do it, that's what she can do.

On the fourth day, Manlu was doing the finishing touches.Manzhen took off the new clothes that had been washed and dried yesterday from the hangers, and did ironing, preparing to wear them the next day after checking in.Seeing that there are no jobs right now, sitting next to Manlu can't help much.In the end, she was sent out shopping by Manlu.

The landlord left nearly [-] catties of rice noodles. Manlu felt that now that the war is raging, she should keep more rice at home, so she asked Manzhen to go to the market to buy [-] catties of rice, and some dishes that could be put away, so that they could make it when they moved here tomorrow. meal.

The old Mrs. Gu at home has arranged for Mrs. Gu to clean up. Except for books and clothes, the rest will not be moved. The two of them have moved a lot of books to the new house one after another in the past few days.

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