news

with curly hair, brown short sleeves and glasses, li yaju looks very young and fashionable, but she is already 62 years old. in longshan vegetable market, her tailor shop is not very eye-catching. it is hidden in the middle of the first floor hall. the shop has only one machine, and many colorful zippers and customers' clothes are hung on the left wall. "i have been a female worker since i was a little girl. tailoring is a matter of practice. i will get better after doing it more." li yaju said while greeting and adjusting the waist of the skirt in her hand. she comes to the stall at 7 o'clock every morning, chatting with old friends in the vegetable market while doing her work.

after growing up and leaving her hometown in qidong, li yaju came to shanghai to work hard, and she never lost her sewing skills. after moving around in many shops, she finally "settled down" in longshan vegetable market. she said that she opened a tailor shop just to support her family, but she didn't expect that she would stick to it for 30 or 40 years.

patching clothes, altering trouser legs, changing zippers... these are just "basic operations" for a tailor in li yaju's eyes. when she was young, she would make all kinds of clothes for others. "shirts, pleated skirts, jeans, as long as they were popular in that era, i would make them." but as she got older, she could no longer cope with the complexity of making a piece of clothing, so she changed the business scope of the tailor shop to altering clothes and changing zippers. at the same time, in order to increase her income, she also learned some other skills, such as repairing watches, making keys, etc., and she could also do all kinds of minor repairs.

because she lives in shanghai south railway station, which is a long way from the shop, li yaju has to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning and go out. after the shop opens at 7 o'clock, she starts her day's work and finishes at 6:30 in the afternoon. except for lunch and rest, she almost sits at the table. "when it's busy, i don't even have time to talk, but when business is not good, i can't even make 100 yuan a day." the rental fee for her stall is 3,000 yuan per month. not only can she not make money, but she also has to pay for materials and labor. but her charge for a business is not expensive. usually, if the clothes are not difficult to modify, she only charges 20-30 yuan. if multiple modifications are required, the price is higher, so she will directly persuade the customer to buy a new one.

the advantage of setting up a shop in the market is that residents can bring in clothes that need repairing when they buy groceries, so li yaju's business can support her life. as a self-employed business owner, you can decide when to retire. li yaju plans to work for another three years, and when she is 65 years old, she will close the shop and live a peaceful retirement life. her skills will not be lost. a desk lamp and a sewing machine can trim the corners of life and make life smoother.