novelraw Chapter 315 - 314: Only Fools Fight for Cotton—I’m Buying That Pile of Smelly Duck Feathers!
Chapter 315 - 314: Only Fools Fight for Cotton—I’m Buying That Pile of Smelly Duck Feathers!
The weather changed faster than flipping a page.
Yesterday was bright and sunny, but this morning, as the door opened, the north wind sliced across our faces like a knife.
A thick layer of ice formed on the water vat in the yard.
Inside the house.
Gu Ning was curled up in the bed, wrapping herself like a little silkworm cocoon, with only a pair of shiny black eyes blinking outside.
"Ningning, get up for breakfast."
Lin Wan Yi tried to lift the blanket.
"No!"
Gu Ning clutched tightly onto the blanket corner, her small body burrowing deeper into the bed, her voice muffled.
"Cold! It bites!"
The wind rattled the window paper noisily, indeed like a monster trying to bite.
Even normally over-energetic Gu An was behaving now, hugging Little Grey’s big tail, huddled at the foot of the bed, refusing to budge.
Little Grey buried its head in its two front paws, leaving only its ears visible, twitching.
The door curtain lifted.
A gust of cold wind rushed in.
Followed by a green, round "ball" rolling inside.
"Sis-in-law! It’s way too cold!"
The "ball" spoke — it was Gu Lan.
She was wearing an old military coat, who knows from how many years ago, with the cotton long hardened, stiffly poked up.
She was a slim young girl, now looking like a clumsy brown bear.
Gu Lan struggled to lift her arm, holding another bundle of green "iron plate."
"Sis-in-law, hurry and put it on! This was big brother’s coat back in the day, I dug it out from the bottom of the chest. Though it’s a bit stiff, it blocks the wind!"
Lin Wan Yi eyed the jacket, full of grease stains, cuffs worn shiny, and must weigh at least ten pounds, her eyelids twitched twice.
She reached out to pinch it.
Hard as a brick.
If worn, forget walking, even breathing would be uneven.
"I won’t wear it."
Lin Wan Yi refused decisively.
"Sis-in-law, it’s life or death now!"
Gu Lan stomped anxiously, the hardened cotton rustling with her movement.
"It’s below minus ten degrees outside, you’d freeze into an ice pop without it!"
Lin Wan Yi tightened the wool sweater on her, yet still shook her head.
"Too ugly, too heavy."
She hailed from a capitalist upbringing, even in these times, aesthetic was her ultimate bottom line.
Dress herself like a moving steamed bun?
That’s an insult to her dignity.
"Then what do we do?"
Gu Lan tossed the coat onto the kang, raising a cloud of dust.
"Our cotton tickets were all used last month to make little An An’s quilt, now we don’t have any, and at the supply store..."
"Let’s take a look."
Lin Wan Yi stood up, found a thick scarf to wrap herself tightly.
"There’s always a solution."
...
In front of the supply store.
This was a true battlefield.
A dense crowd packed like boiled porridge, shouts and cries forming a cacophony.
"Stop squeezing! You’re stepping on my shoe!"
"Hurry up in the front! Is there any cotton left?"
At the counter, two elderly ladies clenched a bundle of cotton, refusing to let go.
One of them was Aunt Wang who was terrified a few days ago.
Now her combat power was through the roof, hair as messy as a chicken nest, lost a shoe, yet gripping that cotton bundle tightly.
"I saw this half-pound first! I queued for three days!"
"Rubbish! I touched it first!"
The other lady wouldn’t back down either, aiming her nails directly at Aunt Wang’s face.
"Riiiip"
A crisp sound echoed.
The cotton, already of questionable quality, was torn into two halves.
Cotton fibers flew everywhere.
The clerk slammed the counter loudly with a feather duster.
"What’s going on, what’s going on! Take fights outside! There’s no cotton left! Not even one tael!"
A desperate wail erupted from the crowd.
Lin Wan Yi stood on the outskirts, watching this farcical scene, her brows furrowing tighter.
Such low-grade cotton, dark and hard, not only poor at retaining warmth but also required a fierce battle.
"Sis-in-law, what now?"
Gu Lan shielded Lin Wan Yi, afraid she’d be squeezed.
"We can’t even snatch a scrap of cotton."
As she watched a strand of cotton floating down, an idea suddenly sparked in Lin Wan Yi’s mind.
Who said warmth must come from cotton?
Future generations’ light and warm down jackets weren’t filled with this bulky stuff.
"Let’s go."
Lin Wan Yi turned and left.
"Where to? Back home?"
"To the meatpacking plant."
...
Behind the meatpacking plant.
This is where waste is processed.
A strong and pungent smell directly assaulted the senses.
The ground was covered in blood and mud, corners piled high with hills of duck and goose feathers.
Plucked from ducks and geese during slaughter, mixed with blood and dirt, fermenting.
Flies may be frozen to death, but the odor remains unaffected.
Gu Lan just approached and immediately retched from the stench, covering her nose and retreating.