In early summer, the city of Shanghai is bathed in the faint morning light. The commercial district in the center of the city is full of department stores, with booming purchases and sales, and a dazzling array of street windows, showing a thriving scene everywhere.
As soon as the customs bell rang half past seven, the staff of the Pujiang Department Store on Chaoyang Road began to make preparations before the opening. On the flower cloth counter, there is an elderly worker who is rubbing the counter, he is Li Xiangrong, a member of the Communist Party.
Li Xiangrong rubbed the counter, took out a few pieces of clothing paper patterns, and measured them with a wooden ruler. Zhang Lei, a female saleswoman, saw it and asked Master Li what he was doing, Li Xiangrong said: "Recently, the master of the clothing department has designed a batch of new clothing styles, and I want to explore the rules of material distribution." ”
Zhang Lei is 20 years old this year, and it has been less than half a year since he graduated. She listened to Master Li's words and thought: These are all things about the clothing department, what is Master Li doing with it? Then he said to Master Li: "The law of this material is very simple, female comrades come to buy cloth, the old rule, "Four, five, six, seven will not be wrong." ”
Li Xiangrong asked what "four, five, six, seven" was, and Zhang Lei said, "Oh! That is, the short-sleeved shirt only needs to be cut four feet, the long-sleeved shirt is five feet, the Chinese smock is six feet, and the Chinese and Western style are seven feet. Four, five, six, seven, one is counted, isn't it quite simple!
Li Xiangrong knows that the width of this flower cloth is wide and narrow, and the customer's figure is long and short, fat and thin, how can it be stipulated that "four, five, six and seven" can be uniformly stipulated? He said Mr. Zhang's algorithm was unscientific. Zhang Lei said: "I'm talking about the general figure, the body is long and fat, you can add a little to become five, six, seven or eight, this is called flexibility!" ”
Li Xiangrong thought: Xiao Zhang loves his job and is active in his work, but he can't see the complexity of our work. He said to Zhang Lei: "The new style of clothing design is related to the big problem of breaking the old and establishing the new, we serve the people, and the direction can not be biased!" Zhang Lei said: "I understand this, it's nothing more than saving cloth!" ”
Li Xiangrong said: "This is not just to save the use of cloth, there is also a big question of what to advocate and what to oppose. Zhang Lei disagreed: "Master Li, you're thinking too much." We don't care about anything else, we just need to make customers "happy to come, satisfied to go, it's pretty good." ”
Li Xiangrong secretly thought: Xiao Zhang only cares about buying and selling, and lacks the string of ideological struggle in her mind, I must remind her well. I was about to talk to her when I heard the "Tick Bell" ringing, and when the business hours arrived, customers flocked into the store.
When customers came to the flower cloth counter, they saw a variety of flower cloth varieties on the shelves, and the cloth was bright and dazzling. A female customer said: "Ah, there are so many colorful flower cloths, I don't know which one to choose, it's really "pick flowers in the basket, the more you pick the more flowers." ”
Li Xiangrong stepped forward to greet her and asked her what clothes she was going to make. The female customer said, "Master, I want to make a long-sleeved shirt, please pick one for me." Li Xiangrong saw that this female comrade was of medium stature and in her thirties, so he picked up a piece of flower cloth from the shelf, shook it away, and asked, "Comrade, do you like this flower cloth?" ”
At a glance, the female customer saw that the color of this flower cloth was smooth, the idea was refreshing, and the flower shape was simple, and she felt that it was very suitable for her age to wear. She said with satisfaction: "Master, let's do it!" But I don't know if the cloth is firmly in prison? Li Xiangrong said: "Prison." Shrinkage, one or two inches in a foot. The color does not fade under normal circumstances. ”
The female customer was very satisfied with Master Li's answer, and asked again: "How many feet does it take to cut a long-sleeved shirt?" "Five feet two inches. "Is it enough? "That's enough. This is a two-foot-six-inch door width, cut five feet two, can be made one foot nine inches long, three-foot waist, one and a half inches shrinkage, and four more pieces of scraps, in the future, to change the shirt collar, even sewing and mending. ”
It's really thoughtful, master, just cut five feet two! The female customer praised. Li Xiangrong cut the cloth, settled the account, and the female customer thanked him and left. He went to receive other customers. Although the store is busy, Li Xiangrong can be busy but not chaotic.
At this moment, a girl came from afar, with a round red face and short haircut. She walked to the flower cloth counter and recognized Zhang Lei as her classmate, so she greeted her.
The girl's name was Fang Xiaoqin, who worked in a shipyard, and she came today to pick out a brightly colored piece of cloth to make a skirt. She told Zhang Lei: "Tomorrow morning, we will have a singing conference in the factory, I have a performance program, and I want to make a skirt tonight." You cut me four and a half feet. ”
Xiao Zhang looked her up and down and asked, "Xiaoqin, is four and a half feet enough?" Xiaoqin said, "That's enough." Someone has already calculated it for me, saying that "the skirt should be made shorter and cooler". Zhang Lei measured the cloth and was just about to cut it, when he suddenly heard Master Li call "slow"!
Li Xiangrong heard "the skirt is shorter and cooler", and felt that the taste of this sentence was wrong, so he came over and asked Fang Xiaoqin: "Comrade, do you buy cloth to make skirts?" Fang Xiaoqin nodded. Li Xiangrong said that this cloth is two feet and four door widths, cut four and a half feet, and the skirt is too short to look good when worn.
Fang Xiaoqin thought: This master is weird, I haven't made my skirt yet, why don't you say it's not good-looking? He said, "I'm just a little shorter!" Xiao Zhang looked at Master Li on the side, and thought: Everyone is happy to wear clothes, and Master Li is really nosy.
Li Xiangrong patiently said to Fang Xiaoqin: "You cut four and a half feet, the skirt is only one and a half feet long, and the shrinkage and welt have not been counted. ”
Fang Xiaoqin's face was unhappy: "Huh! You're a subjective person, and someone has already calculated this size for me. Li Xiangrong asked who counted it, and Fang Xiaoqin said: "The aunt of the Jin family in our alley." She said that now young people are popular to dress chic!
Comrade... As soon as Li Xiangrong spoke, he was interrupted by Fang Xiaoqin: "It's my business to make the skirt longer and shorter, why are you meddling?" Li Xiangrong said: "No, this is a big matter to maintain social customs, how can it be said to be nosy!" ”
Xiao Zhang thought: My classmate is an acquaintance of mine, if I provoke right and wrong, I can ... Hurriedly stepped forward and persuaded: "Master Li, customers can do whatever they like, don't make quarrels and quarrels, the impact is not good." A few customers next to him agreed with Master Li and said, "The old master has a point. "It's not decent to walk on the road in a dress like this. ”
Fang Xiaoqin was embarrassed for a while, and said, "Ah, I have never seen this kind of service attitude. She turned to Zhang Lei: "Xiao Zhang, cut me four and a half feet, and I'll make something else, okay?" ”
Xiao Zhang thought, why not, Xiaoqin rarely comes to cut cloth, don't make her unhappy. She didn't wait for Master Li to speak, "snort-" cut the cloth at once, and it was too late for Master Li to stop her.
Fang Xiaoqin bought the fabric and left in a huff. Li Xiangrong saw that there were other masters at the counter greeting customers, so he called Zhang Lei to the side and talked to her: "Xiao Zhang, that skirt has been cut out, what do you think will happen to next?" Xiao Zhang said: "The scissors have also been cut out, what to do with it!" ”
Master Li said that according to the size she just cut, the skirt she made must be a miniskirt. Xiao Zhang said that young people love to dress up, and it doesn't matter if the skirt is shorter. Master Li said solemnly: "Xiao Zhang, the miniskirt is a fancy dress, if our salesman ignores it, isn't it encouraging unhealthy tendencies?" ”
Zhang Lei thought: Isn't this saying that I'm not responsible? She said with a stomach full of grievances: "What am I not responsible for?" I love business work, and protect the best for the people. When the customer arrives at the counter, I am warmly received and greeted with a smile, what else can I do like this? ”
Xiao Zhang believes that as long as a salesperson makes customers happy and satisfied, he has fulfilled his responsibility. Master Li said, "No! There is an essential difference between who is happy and who is satisfied. ”
The more Zhang Lei listened, the more he didn't understand his thoughts, and said: "This dress is a trivial matter in life, what's the big deal?" After speaking, he picked up the cloth roll and swept it, and a ruler on the counter fell to the ground with a "snap".
Master Li leaned over and picked up the wooden ruler and held it in his hand, his heart stirring. He saw the copper sheet on the wooden ruler glittering, as if a long alarm bell was ringing in his ears. He silently said to himself: "Xiao Zhang, Xiao Zhang, we can't just look down and collect money without looking up at people!" ”
He saw Xiao Zhang rolling cloth on the counter, approached her and said, "Xiao Zhang, look at this ruler!" Do you know how? "I don't know how. Li Xiangrong told her about a past incident in the past
One summer, there was a clothing exhibition on the Bund that was previewing inside. I went with a few masters (33) in the garment processing department to take a look, ah! It's all weird costumes, and it's hard to see.
At that time, a textile worker said angrily: "Isn't the cloth we weave into such strange clothes a green light for unhealthy tendencies?" After speaking, she picked up her pen and wrote in the opinion book: "Hanging red cloth banners, putting revolutionary songs, decorating them in colorful colors, and advocating fancy costumes. ＇
I was also angry when I saw it. Back at the store, the sales director of the store ran to the counter and asked us to cut a batch of floral cloth and hand it over to the processing department, and arrange two large windows along the road according to the style displayed at the exhibition. When I asked him why he did this, he said: This is an instruction from the higher authorities, in order to meet the needs of the masses! ＇
What does the masses need? "I thought: This kind of clothing style was worn by rich young ladies and young masters before liberation, and it has been more than ten years since liberation, why do you want to move it out again now?
At this moment, a woman of about forty years old came to the counter, dressed in a strange shape, and asked me to cut a piece of flower cloth with a large flower head for her, and said that she would make a shirt without a collar and no sleeves.
I advised her, "It's not good." The woman said menacingly, "Why is it bad? Have you ever seen a clothing exhibition on the Bund? The business director next to me said to me: "You stand at the counter, as long as you receive every customer, do a good job in every business, and do more care!"
At that time, the masters disagreed, they said, "This kind of example cannot be opened!" What kind of atmosphere will be created in society when such clothes are worn? The business director patted the counter and said: Dress and wear hats, each has its own advantages, and you as salesmen have no right to intervene!
I replied, "* Teach us that our duty is to be responsible to the people. This kind of fancy dress just can't be cut! The business director got angry and said: If you don't cut it, I'll cut it. "He came to grab the wooden ruler, I grabbed the wooden ruler, he tried his best to pull it, and with a bang, the wooden ruler broke.
Later, this clothing exhibition was canceled due to ideological and style problems. The business director also accepted the criticism of the masses because of the unstable revolutionary concept. In order not to forget this struggle, I wrapped this broken ruler in copper sheets and kept it all the time. ”
Zhang Lei listened to it and thought: No wonder Master Li loves this ruler so much, it turns out that there has been such a struggle on the ruler. I didn't just put the ruler on the ground. But what does this have to do with cutting the skirt for Xiaoqin today?
Li Xiangrong patiently said to her: "Xiao Zhang, don't think that after many years of liberation, the society will be too peaceful, and you must not lose your vigilance!" We hold a wooden ruler in our hands, like a gun held by the People's Liberation Army, we must hold it tightly and stand a good post for the revolutionary line! ”
After listening to this, Xiao Zhang's thoughts were touched, so he asked Master Li: "So, this skirt has been cut out, what should I do?" She told Master Li that Xiaoqin made this dress because she was going to attend a singing conference early tomorrow morning.
Master Li asked Xiaoqin if she lived in **, and Xiao Zhang said, "Daxingli, Beijing Road." Li Xiangrong said: "Two days ago, we just went to this lane to hold a symposium, and the party branch of the Li Committee is very concerned about our store work and social atmosphere, so we will go now." ”
The two crossed several roads and rushed to the Daxingli Committee on Beijing Road.
Li Xiangrong told the comrades of the Li Committee that Fang Xiaoqin went to the store to cut skirt materials, explaining that he wanted to understand the situation and wanted to deal with this matter well. As she was talking, an old mother hurriedly came in from outside the office of the Liaison Committee, and as soon as she saw Li Xiangrong, she shouted: "Master Li, you came just in time!" ”
When Li Xiangrong saw it, he recognized her as Mother Zhao, a retired worker who participated in the symposium last time, and said, "Mother Zhao, hello! Mother Zhao said, "Master Li, I was about to go to you." As he spoke, he took out a piece of cloth from his bag and placed it on the table.
It turned out that Zhao's mother was Fang Xiaoqin's mother; She found that her daughter had cut this cloth to make a miniskirt, and rushed to the store to report the situation, only to find out that Li Xiangrong and they had arrived here. She said to Li Xiangrong angrily: "My daughter cut clothes to make miniskirts, and she was surnamed Jin in the alley!" ”
Zhao's mother said that the man surnamed Jin was a foreman of the Guangming Underwear Factory before the liberation, and after the liberation, he specialized in cutting and cutting people and making strange clothes, saying that "young people should dress up chic" and "the shorter the skirt, the cooler it is". She also instigated teenagers to do bad things and compete with us for ** people, which is really more poisonous than snakes and scorpions.
Zhao's mother said that recently she and the cadres of the alley went outside to investigate the problem of the surname Jin, and the person surnamed Jin took advantage of her absence to instigate Xiaoqin to make a miniskirt to participate in the singing party, but fortunately she was found and stopped in time. The comrades of the Liaison Committee said that a meeting will be held tonight to deal with this matter in a serious manner.
Zhang Lei was taken aback when he heard this: I really didn't expect that there was such a sharp and complex ideological struggle behind the skirt! She thought: If Xiaoqin wears a miniskirt to attend the singing conference, won't she fall for the bad guys!
She said to Master Li with deep feelings: "The ideological struggle is tight, and the three-foot counter is not calm!" Master Li said, "Yes! Therefore, we must be more vigilant and study hard! ”
Zhang Lei felt that she was responsible for what happened today, so she said to Zhao's mother that she would buy this skirt. Mother Zhao held Zhang Lei's hand and said, "Comrade Xiao Zhang! I'm not here to return the skirt, I've already calculated, as long as I add another foot and a half to put it together, I can still make a skirt. ”
Zhang Lei said: "No! Add a foot and a half to put together, this skirt is not beautiful, and it will be wasted. Li Xiangrong asked: "Xiao Zhang, do you have any other way to deal with it?" "Yes. "What's the solution? "Return this skirt to us, and adjust another piece." ”
Zhao's mother said, "No! The country cannot be lost! Li Xiangrong said: "I agree with Xiao Zhang's opinion, we can do special treatment under special circumstances, and besides, the four-and-a-half-foot skirt material can be used as a piece of cutting, and it will not be wasted." ”
Zhang Lei also said: "I will cut another five-and-a-half-foot skirt, and the master of the Toga factory will hurry up to ensure that Xiaoqin will wear a beautiful and generous floral skirt to participate in the singing meeting tomorrow." Zhao's mother finally agreed.
Li Xiangrong and Zhang Lei bid farewell to the comrades of the Li Committee and Zhao's mother and returned to the Pujiang Department Store.
Master Li walked to the counter, picked up the wooden ruler, and said affectionately: "Xiao Zhang, through today's incident, it fully shows that only by taking the party's basic line to command the ruler in our hands can we truly serve the people wholeheartedly!" Xiao Zhang, you take it and measure it with your heart! ”
Zhang Lei took Master Li's ruler and said passionately: "Master Li, I must stand up for the revolution with practical actions in the future." Li Xiangrong said: "Yes, we must guard the three-foot counter, stay vigilant, and be a good soldier at the counter for the people of the motherland!" ”