He Zhilan was fiddling with some items in her hand, emptied them all onto the unoccupied bed, and ruminated, given how long Jiang Biyun and Lin Deng had been together, she had failed to perceive any move on the part of Gu En. Therefore, Gu En probably didn’t consider Lin Deng within the scope of her possessions.
"That’s true." Chen Xiting nodded and then crossed her legs and sat down on the vacant spot, propping her chin while watching He Zhilan bustling about.
Actually, making these handmade accessories was not troublesome at all. He Zhilan could put these cloth pieces into use directly after slightly trimming them with scissors, especially materials like lace and silk, they were particularly appealing to her.
With the basic tools, it only took her several minutes to make a large bow-knot hairpin. She first molded the bow-knot shape using thread and needle, and then, stick it together directly with a hot-melt glue stick. Voila, the final product was ready.
Chen Xiting, watching by the side, praised He Zhilan for her nimble fingers.
"So this is what you’re making?" Chen Xiting just couldn’t part with the first finished fabric bow-knot hairpin He Zhilan made, as she placed it on her head and kept fiddling with it. As all girls love to beautify themselves, she asked, "These beautiful bow-knots, are you making them to sell? Did you take in some piecework from a factory?"
"No, I’m not doing piecework. I plan to set up a stall to sell them in a crowded street when I’ve made enough. I’ve been free this semester because I didn’t work part-time on campus. So I have some time to make some handmade accessories to earn some money! My sister will be taking her college entrance exams soon, and her scores are not bad. It’s guaranteed she’ll go to college. But we don’t have enough money in our family. The pressure on our father must be great if both of us are in college. So I plan to try my best to cover my own living expenses and tuition from now on."
Having heard He Zhilan’s intentions, Chen Xiting, who wanted to keep the hairpin for herself, put it somewhat reluctantly back, and said, "Then you teach me, let me help you!"
He Zhilan smiled, "You don’t need to. I can finish these stuff very quickly. After I’ve made them, I’ll keep one for each of you as a gift, and then sell the rest."
Hearing this, Chen Xiting’s eyes sparkled. She nodded her head obediently but did not go to doze off. Instead, she sat aside helping He Zhilan cut the fabric and pass things. In just a couple of hours, He Zhilan actually made dozens of them!
"Each of them seems slightly different, but they all look so beautiful!" Chen Xiting, looking at the large spread of finished products, said, "When will we go to sell them? Tonight, or tomorrow during the day? I have a feeling that any woman will love these after seeing them! They will definitely sell well!"
"I think so too. As long as I sell them at a price slightly lower than in the shopping mall, it will be fine. Though we also have these kinds of accessories in our domestic market, the cheaper ones don’t look good and are all over the streets looking tacky; the good-looking ones, mostly imported, are displayed in department stores, but they are expensive!" As they were about to go out for dinner, He Zhilan tidied up her things.
The two of them got off the bed, and just as they were about to put on their shoes to go out, the dormitory phone rang. He Zhilan, being the closest to it, went to answer it, guessing in her mind that it should be Jiang Biyun saying she wouldn’t be coming back for dinner with them. However, when she held the receiver to hear her ear and heard He Teng’s voice, she was genuinely surprised.
"My mission has finished and I’ve returned to the base." He Teng was quite vexed when he made this call. Ignoring the fact that they had already divorced, he never had such a habit, generally preferring to keep to himself in the past.