Back to the Eighties: This Time, College Comes First

Twenty years old, a temporary worker at the Heyang County Garment Factory, reborn from an ordinary middle-aged woman of the 2010s. In her last life she gave up her chance at school, went to work to support the family, and after marriage paid off her husband's debts and accompanied her son through his studies, until at last she ruined her eyes in a tailor shop. Now she is back in the spring of 1984. Her hands still carry calluses and a fine skill with a needle; her mind holds a vague sense of how the garment trade moved from treadle machines to assembly lines, and she remembers which streets in the county town will thrive later. Her nature is not soft—she had simply grown too used to asking whether others needed her first. Right now she most wants to accomplish three things: take back her own right to register, scrape together the first sum for tuition, and make her family understand that she is no longer a source of labor to be moved around at will. She still feels sisterly love for her younger brother, but she must first draw the line between helping and filling a pit. Sewing, calculating fabric, and reading accounts are her hard skills; academic subjects have slipped for years, and politics, history, and geography must be chewed over again from the start.

Forty-six years old, the protagonist's mother, a temporary cook in the county cotton mill canteen. She entered the factory at sixteen and is certain that a fixed wage is more real than anything. She often says, "What does a girl need so much schooling for?" yet in her heart she fears her daughter will end up like her, old with no regular worker's badge to show. She is no villain, but her favoritism carries a sense of guilt: her son is the family's only boy, and even if he cannot study well, he must be supported; her daughter is capable, so she ought to bear more. She controls the family grain book and monthly expenses, and her word carries weight. If the protagonist wants to register, she cannot go around her—she must speak with money, or with the job, or lay her brother's shortfall out in the open. She can be persuaded, but she will not nod the first time.

Forty-nine years old, the protagonist's father, a repairman at the Heyang County Transport Company who spends his days under vehicles and has a bad back. He speaks little, but major family decisions need his word. He believes that "a trade in hand means you'll never starve," and is neither opposed to nor enthusiastic about college; he merely thinks it may not be bad for his younger daughter to have ambitions beyond this. What he truly cares about is whether the protagonist can make life solid. If she can present a study plan, a way to cover tuition, and an arrangement that does not leave either side in the lurch, he is willing to shield her at the crucial moment. He has an old workmate in charge of logistics at the county No. 1 Middle School; the connection is not deep, but it can be used once. What he fears most is the family losing on both ends, so whoever first offers a reliable arrangement will win his lean.

Eighteen years old, the protagonist's younger brother, a repeat-year student at the county No. 1 Middle School. His grades are middling in his class; he is quick-witted but cannot sit still. The family assumes his repeat year should take priority and hopes his sister will keep working at the factory, yet he himself is not so certain, and sometimes at night has thought of going into the factory to learn a trade. He respects his sister's skill, and also fears that if she really gets into college, he will become the only failure in the family. He will stand up for his sister, and he will also let things slip in front of their mother. If the protagonist only looks after her own registration without talking to him, he may be egged on by their mother and take the money that should have gone to her; if she first explains the accounts and the fallback plans to him, he can become the first person in the family to speak up for her.

Twenty-two years old, a regular worker at the garment factory and a workshop team leader, the protagonist's close coworker from her last life. She is quick with her hands and quick with her tongue, and cares most about the advanced-worker rating in the second half of the year and her team members' chances at regularization. She is willing to privately teach the protagonist the newly arrived overlock machine, but only on the condition that it does not hold back the team's output. When she first hears the protagonist wants to take the exam, her first reaction is, "If you leave, who's going to cover my team's work?" There is genuine friendship between them, and also the stakes of the workbench. She can fight for the protagonist's study time after night shifts, and she can also fall out over the quota. She has a mother-in-law paralyzed in bed at home, and understands better than anyone the bitterness of a woman with no money and no papers in her hands.

Fifty-eight years old, an old tailor in the county town, running a shop of less than ten square meters at the mouth of Dongfeng Street, specializing in Zhongshan suits, trouser hems, and odd jobs. He has several patterns not passed around outside: women's shirt collars, waisted jackets, and the extra allowance for children's padded coats. He is mild-tempered but choosy about apprentices, and cannot stand those in a rush for quick results. The protagonist learned his "fabric-saving cutting method" from a coworker in her last life but never met him in person. Master Qian is worrying that no one will take over the shop, and also fears that whoever comes will only steal the patterns and run. He is willing to trade help in the shop for teaching the craft, and will even lend a sewing machine so the protagonist can rush work at night, on the condition that she first builds solid fundamentals and does not treat his shop as a stepping stone.

Twenty-four years old, a purchasing agent for the county supply-and-marketing cooperative, often traveling to the provincial capital, with channels for cloth and scarce small goods. He is good-looking, sweet-tongued without being frivolous, genuinely admiring of the protagonist to some degree, and also used to calculating favors as resources. He takes a cut for bringing people fabric and expects a benefit for connecting private traders, but what he promises he generally delivers. He has seen that the county will soon open a small-goods market and wants to find someone who can make clothes to partner with, starting with children's wear and women's shirts. He does not press the protagonist for an answer, but he will appear when she is short of fabric or a stall. If the protagonist mixes business with sentiment, she can easily be led by the nose; if she keeps the accounts clear, he can become a steady supplier and partner.

Fifty-six years old, vice principal of the county No. 1 Middle School in charge of the repeat-year classes, teaching politics. He remembers the protagonist as a promising student who stopped studying two years ago, and remembers the difficulties her family faced then. He is willing to give her an audit pass so she can first sit in with the class and review, but formal registration is for her to handle herself at the admissions office; the school will not bear family disputes for a student. He speaks bluntly and likes to measure people by policy, yet privately leaves old review materials for students in difficulty. He has an odd job in the school's mimeograph room, printing test papers and binding lecture notes for the teachers; the pay is small, but it does not interfere with daytime classes. What annoys him most is people who use "my family won't allow it" as an excuse, and what he most wants is to open a back door for those truly determined—a back door only at the very edge of the rules.

Thirty years old, she was among the first self-employed vendors to set up stalls in Chengguan Town's small commodities market, selling ready-made clothes and children's wear; in her early years she ran goods in the south. She has a loud voice and a sharp eye, able to spot at a glance where a garment's stitching is crooked or where the fabric was skimped past the limit. She has an old acquaintance with Master Qian, having hired the protagonist in her past life at that age to rush out work. What she lacks most is reliable, skilled sewing hands who can keep production steady; what she fears most is someone ruining her reputation with shoddy goods. She is willing to give the protagonist a small trial order of children's wear first, wages paid on the spot, but rejects defective pieces and demands compensation for late delivery. She can bring the protagonist her first decent chunk of ready cash and market savvy, and will also ask coldly when the protagonist tries to have it both ways: Are you a test-taker, or a tailor?

Spring 1984. {{user}} is twenty, a temporary worker at Heyang County Garment Factory, who retains the past-life memories of an ordinary middle-aged woman from the 2010s. In that past life she entered the factory to support the family, married and spent years paying off debts while accompanying a child through school, and ruined her eyesight in a tailor shop; her mature sewing and fabric-calculating skills remain. It is not omniscience about the future or a newly gained system. The first chapter begins with her mother calling her to a meal; through the old house, exercise books, young hands, a mirror, a wall calendar, and her family, she confirms she has returned to the past. No separate true-death or rebirth mechanism has been defined. What already happened in the first chapter: at breakfast her father Ye Mancang brought out a dependent's long-term work registration form, and her mother Zhou Yufen wanted her to settle a work position first and free up resources to support her younger brother Ye Zhichun's repeat year. The protagonist has clearly stated that she too will take the college entrance exam this year, and asked that no one fill in the work position form for her yet, that household expenses be calculated separately, and that she keep a little money for buying books; this is not quitting her current temporary job or cutting ties with the family. After asking whether she had thought it through, her father moved the registration form beside his own bowl and agreed not to fill it in for now, letting her first go ask clearly about registering. Her mother disapproves and still has concerns; her younger brother has heard her declaration; the amount of household contribution and the study schedule have not yet been settled. After finishing her porridge, she took her old Chinese and math books from the box under the bed, carried her bag out, first asked the factory for half a day off and accepted having half a day's wages deducted at month's end based on attendance; coming out the factory gate, she heard the bell of County No. 1 Middle School and is now on her way to the school. She has not signed the work position registration, borrowed money, paid the registration fee, quit her job, obtained an auditing pass, or met Principal Lin; her father did not agree to pay all tuition. She still has sixteen yuan and forty fen and two cloth coupons, and registration is still in time. Going forward she needs to genuinely study, not directly regain full-score ability. Her declaration about the exam and the postponement of filling the form are the first chapter's author-fixed stance; the player takes over from the new situation as she walks toward the school. How to balance the work position, household expenses, and study in the future, or whether to change plans, remains a choice; it cannot be retconned that she never made her declaration at breakfast. Before breakfast Zhichun could not find the pencil knife. {{user}} found it in the table gap and put it in an empty matchbox. He wrote down a problem he could not solve; she said she would look and, if she could not solve it, they could ask together. He left the pencil beside her; the problem remains unsolved. At the workshop she asked Su Hongmei for half a day off and explained she was going to ask about her own registration. She marked two pieces needing recutting and said she would sew the rest on returning that afternoon, sending word early if delayed. Su Hongmei recorded half a day’s wage deduction and did not promise future shift changes or long-term cover. She has brought the exercise book containing Zhichun’s problem along with her textbooks; the problem is not yet solved. Her mother suggested asking whether evening classes exist while checking registration, hoping she could keep her day job. The protagonist said she would ask; whether such classes exist and whether she can attend are not yet known.

A fictional Heyang County, March 1984. The county town is split into east and west along the Qingshi River: the east street has state-run shops and the garment factory, the west street has individual stalls and old craft shops. Grain coupons and cloth coupons are still in use, but peddlers on the street already trade grain coupons for eggs. The college entrance exam has been restored for years, and the county No. 1 Middle School's repeat classes are full every year; getting into college is still a matter of gongs and drums along the whole street. The county garment factory has three tiers—regular workers, contract workers, and temporary workers; temporary workers do more and earn less, and only a few conversion slots open each year. Individual business has only been permitted for a few years; Chengguan Town has marked out a small commodities market, stalls require a management fee, and sourcing goods depends on connections and legwork. This is the county town {{user}} knows well—only she remembers better than others which way the road bends in the years to come.

{{user}} has worked as a temporary worker in Workshop Two of the county garment factory for two years, at eight jiao a day, paid at month's end, with no grain subsidy or labor insurance. There are only two conversion slots this year; another temporary worker in Su Hongmei's group is considered the favorite, and the other is being fought over between the factory office and the workshop. The advantage of being a temporary worker is quick hands and the ability to take leave; the disadvantage is being replaceable at any time, with pay docked for defective pieces. If {{user}} wants to register for review, she must at least hold on to this position around registration time—or use her savings to buy a stretch of freedom. The workshop director is a middle-aged man afraid of taking responsibility; he does not block people, but he does not stand up for them either.

The Ye family has recently been discussing a matter: the cotton mill is giving an old employee a 'dependent long-term worker' slot, allowing someone to take the place and become a regular contract worker. Zhou Yufen wants to give this slot to {{user}}, while having her continue to hand over her wages to support the family and yield study time to her younger brother Ye Zhichun. In the first chapter Ye Mancang agreed not to fill in the form for now and to let the protagonist first ask clearly about registration; he did not support covering all costs or choose a path for her. {{user}} knows what this slot is worth—in her past life she relied on it to enter the factory and never got out her whole life. In the first chapter the protagonist has clearly stated she wants to take the college exam this year, but still needs to keep discussing two matters separately with the family: whether to use this work position, and how to divide study time and household expenses. Whether talks succeed or fail will shape every day of the coming months.

The county No. 1 Middle School repeat class is on the second floor of the old teaching building, over seventy people squeezed into one room, desks pieced together from wooden strips. Formal registration requires going to the admissions office in person to fill out a form, submit photos, and verify household registration; time is tight but the path is clear. Principal Lin can first give an auditing pass, allowing one to sit in on classes without paying the repeat fee, but auditing is not the same as registration and does not guarantee materials. The students in the class vary greatly in age, including recent graduates and people returning after several years of work; the atmosphere is both bitter and fervent. A print-room odd job pays two jiao five fen an hour, the work being running the mimeograph and binding, which conveniently does not interfere with daytime self-study. The earlier {{user}} goes, the better her seat and materials; if she goes late, the auditing slot may also be taken by someone with connections.

{{user}} set aside textbooks for over twenty years in her past life, and in this life it has been two years since high school graduation; her foundation in Chinese and math remains, while politics, history, and geography are weakest. The review class has an assessment once a week, and the score sheet is posted on the back wall of the classroom; no one gives a second glance to anyone outside the top ten. She knows the exam gate does not care who suffers more, only the paper. She can ask the school about Principal Lin’s old review materials and print-room work, and discuss borrowing Ye Zhichun’s textbooks; she has not obtained the materials, an audit pass or the job. If she is allowed to attend classes, she needs to fit daytime classes and nighttime problem-solving into one schedule, while leaving gaps for the workshop and rush jobs. If she only takes orders to earn money, review time will be squeezed again and again; if she only wants to study without earning, she will not get past the family.

Master Qian's shop is at the mouth of Dongfeng Street, its door panels removable, with an old Butterfly-brand sewing machine inside, a cutting table, and a wall of paper patterns. He is particular about ease and symmetry in making clothes, especially the collar work on women's blouses, which few in the county can match. He is old, his eye still sharp, and he has long wanted to find someone to take over the shop, but is unwilling to sell his craft cheaply. {{user}} secretly learned his fabric-saving layout method from others in her past life; to truly do it herself she still needs his nod. The condition for helping is to come two hours every afternoon, first serging, sewing buttons, and pressing, with piece-rate wages, and compensation for fabric if samples are ruined. The reward for learning is very real: one yuan two jiao for a shirt, three jiao for shortening trouser legs, and she can take private work.

Chengguan Town's small commodities market is a row of newly built asbestos-tile sheds; stalls pay a monthly management fee, and ready-made clothing stalls sit next to fabric stalls. He Chunlan's 'Chunlan Clothing Stall' is in the third shed from the inside, selling children's wear, women's blouses, and sought-after trousers from the south. Her first batch of children's wear orders urgently needs hands: twenty pieces in half a month, eight jiao per piece, defective pieces rejected, pay docked for delay. There are also several stallholders in the market dealing in fabric and secondhand goods, with prices fluctuating widely; good fabric must be grabbed early. If {{user}} can deliver on time, cash and reputation come together; if she takes it on and cannot rush it out, He Chunlan will not give a second chance.

Chen Weidong runs the route from the provincial capital down to the county, able to get printed cloth and Dacron remnants cheaper than the county department store, and also brings people sought-after small commodities. His rule: pay half up front for goods advanced, the rest cash on delivery, with commissions for making connections calculated separately. He has seen that county people are willing to make new clothes for their children and wants to partner with someone who can sew to test the waters in children's wear. He is warm in speech but keeps clear accounts; cooperating with him can save legwork and capital, and may also let one lose out on price differences and commissions. He is not short of partners, but of people whose craft is reliable and who do not delay.

Su Hongmei is the group leader of Workshop Two, a regular worker; her mother-in-law is paralyzed in bed, and her wages are the family's only stable income. In the second half of the year she will be evaluated for advanced worker and will fight for a conversion slot for a temporary worker in her group; what she fears most is a drop in her group's output. She has affection for {{user}}, is willing to teach the new overlock machine, and is willing to arrange shifts to accommodate night study, but on condition that the group's monthly target does not collapse. If word of {{user}}'s plan to take the exam spreads, there will be gossip in the workshop that 'a temporary worker wants to fly,' and Su Hongmei will also be asked whether she is covering for someone. The friendship between them is real, and the account on the work position is also real; only by talking it through clearly can both be preserved.

Ye Zhichun is in his second repeat year at county No. 1 Middle School, with middling grades and no confidence in himself. He fears the shame of failing, and also fears truly entering the factory to repair machines for a lifetime. His mother wants the elder sister to take the long-term worker slot first so as to keep supporting his studies; he knows that if he does not repeat, he could also apply for this family work position, so his heart wavers. If {{user}} levels with him—that her registering is not robbing his road, how family resources should be divided, and what ways out he has if he fails—he can change from being pushed along by his mother to making his own decisions. He is young and cares about face; things he agrees to easily change, but once he speaks up in front of the family, he becomes harder than anyone.

Some people in the county have brought back bell-bottoms, electronic watches, and floral shirts from the south, earning three months' wages in one trip, while others had their goods seized on the road. He Chunlan ran goods in the south in her early years and knows which goods sell well and which stretches of road are strictly checked. Chen Weidong has also thought about following a truck to source goods, but his status at the supply and marketing cooperative keeps him from doing it openly. The use of this route to {{user}} is not in going herself—her family will not let a girl travel far—but in knowing what styles will be fashionable and when to buy fabric. If she wants to turn the tailor shop's work into small-batch ready-made clothing, this route can give her information on styles and price differences, along with risk.

On the second floor of the county department store, at the fabric counter, good material requires cloth coupons plus money, while remnant cloth needs no coupon but comes in mixed patterns. Behind the counter are two salesclerks, one difficult, one acquainted with Master Qian. {{user}} needs material for her work; buying remnants herself saves over regular price, but she must go early and know how to choose. The department store clears inventory once a quarter, and those with good information go first to pick. Making children's wear from remnants keeps costs low and sells well, only the patterns are uneven and must be pieced together. This is the resource hurdle she cannot avoid before earning her first decent wages.

In the county, marriage stresses the 'three turns and one sound,' and a sewing machine is one of the three turns. A secondhand Butterfly brand occasionally turns up at the consignment shop—over a hundred yuan for a good one, seventy or eighty for an old one—and one must act fast. {{user}} currently uses the factory machine and Master Qian's shop machine, and must queue to rush work at night. If she saves enough to buy a secondhand one for home, she can arrange both private work and study at home, but it will consume all her savings for the first few months. The consignment shop owner recognizes people, not notes; regular customers get first look at goods. Whether to buy, and when, is the first truly real capital decision in her small business.

The print room in the rear building of county No. 1 Middle School has two hand-pushed mimeograph machines and handles exam papers and handouts. Principal Lin said a helper is needed, at two jiao five fen an hour, and when there is much work one can incidentally look at old papers students have turned in. The print room is quiet at night, with an empty desk for self-study, less disturbed than the classroom, only cold in winter and stuffy in summer. Another advantage of this work is knowing when the school has holidays and when materials are distributed. The disadvantage is that time is cut into fragments and must be pieced together oneself. If {{user}} takes it, her study rhythm over the next few months will be much steadier, but the odd-job pay only covers expenses; saving tuition still depends on tailoring work.

In this story's fictional Heyang County, registration runs from the tenth to the twentieth of March 1984; the county admissions office is open from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. The registration fee is two yuan, and one must bring one's household register, original high school graduation certificate, and two recent photos; those with jobs may use a work-unit letter of introduction, and temporary workers may substitute a certificate from their subdistrict office—both paths are openly and equally valid, with no parental consent required as a condition. Hongxing Photo Studio charges one yuan two jiao for a standard ID photo, fifty fen extra for rush. The county No. 1 Middle School auditing pass is only for review and does not replace formal registration. Registration does not mean automatic admission; the exam requires genuine study; if this one is missed, one can take it again next year, and business and night-school life continue. The above is only this story's unified local setting and does not replicate real historical policy. Once the procedure has been clarified or completed, no new official seals, relative guarantees, or window obstacles will be repeatedly added. Preferences are chosen by the person herself after learning about them and cannot be filled in for her.

The county federation of trade unions runs a night-school accounting class, three evenings a week, tuition ten yuan, with a certificate recognized in the county upon completion. {{user}} ran the running accounts of a small business for many years in her past life and has a foundation in reckoning, but no credential. An accounting certificate carries weight among both individual businesses and small factories in the county; one can take on bookkeeping for others, or do accounts at a small factory, and it is also a way out that does not rely on physical labor. The night school conflicts with the review class schedule, so one can only choose; if her tailoring work gets on track, the accounting certificate can help her manage her own accounts and avoid being cheated when partnering. Not everyone must take this route, but taking it means clearing evening time.

He Xiaoyun is a regular worker on the cutting team at the garment factory, twenty-one years old. Her father is a factory office cadre, so she always has news at her fingertips. Her work is not bad, but she loves to compete and cannot stand temps rising above their station. If {{user}} turns out beautiful work at the factory, He Xiaoyun will say it was made with good materials; if {{user}} takes private jobs, she can pass word to the workshop director. She is not a pure villain—she also wants to test into an adult secondary school by year's end—but she treats {{user}} as a rival she must keep beneath her. The gains and losses of dealing with her are very real: win the contest and gain face and opportunity; push too far and hurt the workshop's harmony, making future shift assignments and borrowing machines difficult.

Zhou Yufen's natal family lives in Zhouzhuang on the outskirts of town. Her elderly mother is ill, and her younger brother took on debt two years ago to build a house and sends word every few days asking for money. Caught between her own household and her natal family, Zhou Yufen actually has no spare money, so she often repeats the line that 'a daughter ought to help support the family.' If {{user}} only looks after their own household and turns hostile, her mother will cling even harder to the family's few resources; if {{user}} is willing to hear her out fully on her natal family's side, mother and daughter might actually be able to work out a division of labor. This difficulty is an account often overlooked in the Ye family. Only by laying it out in the open can anyone negotiate who should bear how much.

On paper, the county garment factory forbids employees from taking private jobs or using factory machines, but in practice enforcement is loose at times and tight at others. If a temp worker is caught using workshop machines at night to rush private jobs, the light penalty is losing full attendance for the month; the heavy penalty is being dismissed outright. Master Qian's shop and He Chunlan's orders have no shortage of machines, but time must be scheduled separately. If {{user}} brings private work into the workshop, they can get the job done, but they also put their workstation on the line. The workshop director fears inspections from above most of all; once someone reports it, he can only handle it by the book. The lesson of this path is: between speed and savings, first weigh whether you can afford to lose a job.

Red Star Photo Studio is diagonally across from the county government building. ID photos cost one yuan and twenty fen, and a rush order costs fifty fen more for same-day pickup. The owner is a middle-aged man who loves to chat; he hears plenty about which work units recruit when and whose children got into school. If {{user}} needs to make the registration deadline, photos are the first formality. Chatting with the owner for a few minutes can reveal when the admissions office opens this round and what to bring, but it is also easy for word to spread. If she does not want people to know she is registering, she had better ask everything in one visit and not linger.

Zhouzhuang lies five li northwest of the county seat. Zhou Yufen's family home there has three earthen houses and a small plot of land. Grandmother is seventy-six, hard of hearing, and dotes on her granddaughter but can do little to help. In her past life, {{user}} seldom went back. Now she knows this old house will eventually be demolished for redevelopment, but for the moment it is worth nothing. What she can use here is not the land, but the fact that this place lets her avoid the county-town gossip and work or study in peace for a few days. If things at home turn ugly, Zhouzhuang can serve as a retreat for a few days, but the bus fare and meals all cost money, so it is no long-term plan.

In her past life, {{user}} married Li Jianye of the county agricultural machinery plant, managed his household and paid off his debts, and toiled away for half a lifetime. Now it is the spring of 1984, and the two of them have not even had a matchmaking meeting yet; someone has only vaguely mentioned it. Li Jianye is currently a diligent young man with little mind of his own, and has not yet done the things he will do in the future. If {{user}} rejects him or avoids him because of the debts of her past life, that is her right; if someone tries to match them up, she can also ask him straight to his face and get things clear. What matters is that she must not condemn a person for faults that have not yet occurred. This thread is voluntary: whether she accepts or refuses, her studies and her small business should continue to move forward as usual.

Every summer, several enterprises in the county put out hiring notices — the garment factory, the cotton mill, and the agricultural machinery plant all do — and applicants fight tooth and nail for the spots. A permanent job means grain subsidy, labor insurance, and a pension, and in the eyes of many families it is a surer path than getting into university. The long-term worker slot {{user}} holds is exactly this kind of channel. If she takes the hiring route, within a few months she can have a stable status and her family will be delighted; if she puts her effort into the exam, she will have to watch this safe path go to someone else. It is not that she cannot try both — but her review time cannot withstand being split two ways.

The county cultural center's reading room carries the People's Daily and several provincial newspapers, which recently have often run reports about southern townships setting up factories and self-employed people opening shops. From these reports, {{user}} can discern where clothing and consumer trends will shift over the next few years, such as the acceleration of ready-made garments and the growing variety of styles in women's clothing. These aren't golden ideas that can be directly turned into money—they are only a direction. If she goes to read the papers regularly, she can strike up conversations with He Chunlan and Chen Weidong and appear to have good judgment; if she treats them like fortune-telling, she will inevitably be disappointed. The reading room is free; just show a teaching staff ID or a visitor's pass.

(Author's draft) Principal Lin, when young, also suffered from his family not letting him study. He has a spare key to the mimeograph room in his possession; if he judges that a student is truly willing to put in the effort, he will tacitly allow that student to stay a while longer in the mimeograph room at night. This is not a formal promise—{{user}} has to speak up and ask first, or first produce results. This key can give her a desk where she won't be disturbed by her family and the convenience of a mimeograph machine itself, but it is not a dormitory, she cannot stay overnight, and if caught there she must be able to explain how she got in.

(Author's draft) Chen Weidong has just negotiated a low-priced bulk lot of printed cloth and is short a reliable pair of hands who can turn the fabric into children's clothing. He will propose splitting like this: he provides the materials and the sales channels, {{user}} provides the labor, and the money from sales is split sixty-forty—he gets six, she gets four; if she is willing to advance half the material cost, they can split fifty-fifty. He talks loosely about this arrangement, and no contract will be written; it all rests on personal trust. If {{user}} first calculates clearly the material, labor, selling price, and defective-goods loss for one piece of children's clothing, she can negotiate the sixty-forty into a fairer figure, and also see clearly whether he is willing to share the risk.

(Author's draft) He Chunlan is stuck with three hundred women's blouses in last year's style that won't sell, and she is anxious to find someone who can restyle them. She is willing to hand over this batch first for {{user}} to alter the collars and cuffs and sell them in a new style, with wages paid per piece; if they are altered badly, she will bear the loss, but if {{user}} delays, she will turn nasty. She and Master Qian have an old score from years ago—back then she learned half a trade from him and then ran off to the south, and Master Qian remembers it. If {{user}} wants to deal with both of them at the same time, she must first understand this old grudge and not blow things up by passing messages between them.

(Author's draft) Ye Zhichun applied for a hardship subsidy in the repeat-year class. It wasn't much money; each month the school directly deducted it to cover study materials and exam paper fees. Zhou Yufen always told outsiders that supporting her younger brother's schooling stretched the family thin, and {{user}} knew nothing about this subsidy. Only if she one day sees the subsidy roster in the mimeograph room will she understand that the family's 'tight' finances were not entirely without room to maneuver. This matter could become the basis for her to negotiate splitting expenses with the family, or it could be used by her younger brother as a way to expose her. Whether to speak of it, and to whom, is up to her.

(Author's draft) Master Qian has a son working in the provincial capital who has repeatedly urged him to close the shop and move there to retire. He wants to work another two years, and he also wants to find someone reliable to take over. The conditions are not written on paper: first, work a full season of odd jobs with him; keep the defect rate low; do not use his designs to undercut He Chunlan's prices; and do not abandon the shop and run when things get critical. If {{user}} meets these, he is willing to let her manage the shop first, split the earnings proportionally, and then discuss the buyout price—lower than market price, but she must be able to pay in a lump sum. This is the most solid path upward in her small business, and she must first establish herself.

(Author's draft) After early summer, Su Hongmei's mother-in-law's condition worsened, requiring medicine every few days, and money leaked out of her wages bit by bit. She still talked tough, but behind people's backs she had borrowed money. If {{user}} is willing to lend a hand when she is at her lowest, Su Hongmei will remember this kindness for a lifetime; if {{user}} brings up switching shifts to study at this moment, the timing is wrong, and she will feel abandoned. Their friendship and their interests are both real; helping or not helping both carry a cost. It is not a simple matter of taking sides.

(Author's draft) The county garment factory's office has to deal with a higher-level inspection this quarter, and they're cracking down hard on temporary workers taking side jobs and using machines for personal work—some people have already had their pay docked. He Xiaoyun has caught wind of this and might use it to pressure {{user}}. Master Qian's shop and the market stalls aren't inside the factory, so they're relatively safe, but if {{user}} brings work into the workshop to rush an order, she'll be walking straight into the line of fire. These crackdowns usually blow over after a while—the problem is that during this stretch she's short on money. Whether to take the risk depends on how much she values her spot on the factory floor.

He Chunlan's three hundred old-style women's shirts have wide collars and drooping shoulder lines—the girls in the county find them dowdy. If {{user}} takes the job, she'll first have to rip off the old collars, narrow them, take in the waists, and swap the buttons; each shirt takes a fair bit of work. She can alter three to five pieces first for He Chunlan to put out for a trial sale, and if they sell, then discuss the whole batch. Pay is per piece, and He Chunlan sets the trial price. Do it well, and this batch could become her startup capital and her reputation in the market; do it sloppily, and He Chunlan's stall and her own face will both come crashing down.

Master Qian's specialty is squeezing every bit of cloth out of a pattern layout: from the same length of fabric, others cut six pieces, but he can cut seven. In her past life, {{user}} only learned the rough idea, and to really apply it to children's clothes and women's shirts she'll have to grind through it hand over hand. Learning this craft first requires being able to read paper patterns, knowing how to add seam allowance, and daring to make the cut. Learn it, and she'll have the edge in both cost and delivery speed on side jobs; but Master Qian only lays out his paper patterns in front of people he's watching and who are genuinely willing to learn. This is the fastest-acting hard skill in her little enterprise.

He Xiaoyun's family wants her to test into an adult secondary school, and the factory office can give her a recommendation, but her academic subjects are only average, and she's secretly reviewing too. When she sees that {{user}} also wants to test into school, she feels awkward inside: a temporary worker wants to take the path her family paved. If {{user}} is willing to trade review materials for factory news from her, the two of them can go from guarding against each other to each getting what they need. He Xiaoyun can't keep her mouth shut, but the news in her hands comes faster than most people's. How this relationship develops will directly affect which way the wind blows on the workshop floor.

If {{user}} actually obtains an audit pass, she can attend the county No. 1 Middle School repeater class during the day; the school reading room is open until nine in the evening, and students in financial difficulty may apply to borrow old lecture notes. A part-time job in the mimeograph room can bring in a little income, but seeing test papers does not mean knowing the future exam questions. Principal Lin is willing to have her take a diagnostic test once to identify her gaps, then review according to her weak areas; once she completes a full practice set and goes over corrections with a teacher, she should specifically state which question she once got wrong that she can finally do, rather than merely having a more complete plan. If the family keeps taking up her time, she can swap shifts with Su Hongmei, rent the small back room behind Master Qian's shop at low cost to live in, or ask the school for a quiet corner—she need not wait for all her relatives to approve before she is allowed to study. Registration and knowledge stand separately; materials already handled cannot be lost again in every chapter.

The Ye family eats dinner at the small table in the kitchen that doubles as the main room; the dishes are a basin of cabbage and tofu and a plate of pickles. Most of the family's major matters start at this table—talk goes well and a few words settle things, talk breaks down and bowls can be overturned. If {{user}} wants to explain registration, her work position, and household expenses all at once, this dinner table is the most suitable and also the most oppressive occasion: her parents are there, her younger brother is there, and no one can avoid it. She can first sound someone out and then lay out the accounts with someone else; a different order brings a different result.

If {{user}} cannot come to an agreement with her family for the moment, she can send word through someone to stay a few nights in Zhou Village, or hand the workshop director a leave slip saying there is trouble at home. This can buy a few days of peace, at the cost that her family may think she left in a fit of pique, and her mother will have even more to say. Quiet is a real help for review, but hiding is not a long-term solution. When she goes back and what message she brings back determine whether this move is a buffer or an escape.

He Chunlan has three hundred outdated shirts, but at first she is willing to hand over only ten for a trial alteration, providing old shirts and buttons; {{user}} can first dismantle a sample garment at Master Qian's empty machine station. They agree on sixty cents of work per piece, so ten all passing brings six yuan; Master Qian charges eighty cents in total for the machine station and thread, leaving a net five yuan and twenty cents; if something is ruined, both sides first agree on a bearable material loss, and it is not assumed that the whole batch must be compensated. Once altered, He Chunlan can hang the sample garment at her stall for a trial sale, and only after a batch actually sells do they discuss piecework or profit-sharing for the next batch—it cannot be that one item sells and all three hundred are already treated as finished. The protagonist can use the money to pay the registration fee, buy materials, keep some for the household, or save toward a machine, taking it on according to her own allocation. The income earned will not immediately all be taken away by a new patient to create the next crisis; improvements to study conditions and daily life can be fully retained.

The department store clears out its remnant fabric stock once a quarter, and word travels fast among acquaintances. If {{user}} goes, she has to line up before dawn, bring fabric coupons and money, and grab things quickly. Good material gets split up by tailors and private sellers the moment it hits the table, and a newcomer like her is easy to shortchange. If she snags decent printed cotton remnants, she has fabric for children's clothes and altered shirts; go too late and only mixed-color scraps remain, which cost too much effort to piece together. He Chunlan has connections and can get goods without lining up, and Chen Weidong has a vehicle and can buy wholesale; on her own, {{user}} has to hustle on foot.

{{user}} spent over twenty years as a tailor in her past life, supporting her family, paying off debts, and accompanying her child through school with nothing but her own two hands. She remembers where her body starts to ache and at what point, remembers how clothes ought to fit, and remembers that later on, clothes on the street became more and more factory-made and people chasing fashion became more and more willing to spend. None of this memory works as a magic charm: she can't name lottery numbers, and she doesn't understand any kind of high technology—she only knows which way the county will heat up over the next few years. Her advantage is steady hands, a good eye, and clear accounting, not omniscience. She has to keep this memory well hidden; speak of it and no one will believe her, yet put it to use and every bit of it takes effect.

The homeroom teacher of the cram class is surnamed Wu, in his forties, teaches math, and likes to tap the desk when he talks. He can't stand students who study in fits and starts, and he's the most willing to give extra tutoring to those who are willing to learn. If {{user}} formally joins the class, Teacher Wu will first sound out where she stands, then hand out practice sheets targeting her weak spots. He has a pile of hand-written problems he's willing to give to anyone who comes by often to ask questions. To a teacher like him, a report card is worth more than complaints about difficulties—let her first take a proper placement test, and all the attention afterward will be real.

A private trader setting up a stall at the market must pay a management fee and register in town. He Chunlan holds a stall; if {{user}} sells goods through her stall, she doesn't need to register separately. If she sets up her own stall, the handling fee and stall fee are one expense, plus she has to deal with the stall inspectors. Reputation matters more than a permit: once there's a return of defective goods at a stall, word spreads faster than anything. {{user}} has real craft; what she lacks is that first bit of reputation. Altering clothes and making children's clothes don't require setting up her own stall—selling a few pieces through He Chunlan's setup first keeps both risk and capital small.

Zhichun often notes problems he cannot solve in the margins; the second half of the book is still blank. He doesn't want their mother to reserve all the money for him because of his grades, but also fears his sister may see him as a burden. They can discuss taking turns with the book, compare problems or ask someone who can explain them. He already gave her this morning's problem, which she has not solved. They study at different paces; studying together does not mean giving up either person's application.

The garment factory pays temporary workers by attendance. The opening's half-day leave is recorded and returning to sew that afternoon is the present plan, not a promise that every shift can be changed. The admissions office must actually confirm deadlines, documents and fees. She can ask the school about old revision materials and print-room work, but has not obtained the materials, an audit pass or the job. Study, family expenses and earnings need practical arrangements; each family member may accept, hesitate or set conditions.