Elizabeth and Amanda had already estimated the time and were waiting at the train station. The weather in the commercial capital was still terrible these days, with the cold wind howling on the platform. Amanda and Elizabeth were both wearing heavy old coats. They were running a clothing business but couldn’t even afford to wear a light, fluffy duck down jacket themselves.
Even if they wanted to wear one, they had sold all the goods they had taken last time.
The train slowly steadied at the platform, and Amanda felt a surge of excitement:
“Is this the train? Hurry, let’s find Scarlett!”
The colder it got, the better the business became. After accompanying Whitaker Scarlett at a stall once, Amanda realized that there were so many “wealthy people” in the commercial capital. Rural people only spent money on salt, seeds, and fertilizer, and only when it came to paying school fees for their children would they be willing to spend. They would rather endure a headache than spend money. Making new clothes costs money; in the past, selling fabric required fabric coupons, and it wasn’t easy to save up enough coupons in a year to make a full outfit… Even if William withdrew the 5000 dollars of partnership capital to give to Amanda for safekeeping, she wouldn’t be willing to spend 100 dollars on a woolen coat!
City folks were willing to spend. They received a salary every month, and even jobs like burning boilers weren’t as hard as farming. They were usually frugal with their money, but the benefits varied by unit. Some earned only thirty-something dollars a month, while others could earn sixty or seventy. In particularly profitable units, salaries plus various bonuses could reach one or two hundred a month.
For couples who were both working and had a light family burden, saving for a coat costing over a hundred dollars could be done in two months. Good clothes were an important status symbol, just like a new bicycle or a wristwatch… If everyone had it, then they too wanted to have it as much as possible.
Even though Amanda had started her own business now, she was still conservative when it came to spending.
Elizabeth was even more so; her daughter was already 18 years old, and how many times had she ever touched money?
Even now that she could earn money herself, after so many years of hardship, money always seemed too little when it was needed. How could one complain about saving too much? If she had money, when Whitaker Scarlett had that wall incident and attempted suicide, she wouldn’t have had to kneel on the ground begging Old Lady Whitaker to send Whitaker Scarlett to the hospital.
Elizabeth was even stingier than Amanda; the money she saved wasn’t for herself but entirely for Whitaker Scarlett.
Scarlett, of course, was different from her; money in Scarlett’s hands could earn even more… Elizabeth wouldn’t even spend a dime on herself; even a box of clam oil costing a few cents made her feel pained, but when it came to Whitaker Scarlett wanting to eat meat and fine grains, Elizabeth never said a harsh word.
The two rural bumpkins sighed at how wealthy the people in the commercial capital were, while they strained to look around, finally spotting Whitaker Scarlett’s figure among the crowd.
“Scarlett!”
“That’s Scarlett!”
…
Whitaker Scarlett returned to the commercial capital with a large batch of goods, but it was two women from her family who came to meet her.
William was delayed by matters at the deputy factory director’s house today; the old man had broken his leg and needed to go to the hospital to check on the healing of the bones. William helped carry the old man down the stairs, wrapped a quilt around his leg, and asked a relative who came to help to push the old man to the hospital, while he ran back upstairs to help knead the dough.
Today, the son of the old couple, who was the deputy factory director, was coming home for dinner. The old lady had gone out early in the morning to buy meat and prepare the filling. William didn’t know how to cook, but he was strong, so he was responsible for kneading the dough.
In fact, his back injury hadn’t fully healed, but he didn’t let the family notice it at all. Carrying rice and coal balls, William worked tirelessly.
Not every old lady in the world is like Granny Johnson; people’s hearts are long. This old lady also felt she should do something for William. After they finished wrapping the dumplings, the old lady assured William:
“Later, you don’t say anything; just watch me.”
William felt a surge of joy, but his expression was quite uneasy. “You see, this is too embarrassing…”
The old lady counted the round dumplings, “What’s embarrassing about it? It will surely make your wishes come true.”
