Chapter 107

Zhang Cuiping looked at the woman who came in with her with some dissatisfaction: "So-called literacy, that means you can write your own name and recognize a few simple characters, just to see how the basics are."

The word "foundation" was also uttered by Xia Juhua for the first time. After hearing it, Zhang Cuiping wanted to use it in every sentence, thinking it was very fashionable and sophisticated.

An Baoling smiled and said, "It's okay to give it a try, but you have to ask first if they are willing to weave in front of us. Just now someone was afraid that I would learn her craft, but I didn't dare to bear the reputation, so I asked them to go back."

The women who came in later had already sat on the futons. After hearing An Baoling's words, they secretly looked at the people who came in before them, wanting to know who was so ignorant.

Zhang Cuiping was delighted to hear this, and readily asked the people who came in with her: "Has anyone here ever woven mats or baskets before? If you're afraid that we might have to learn the craft, you can tell us directly." She glanced at everyone.

No one looked at Zhang Cuiping. All those who had just been confused by her test were cursing the person who was eliminated early. They looked at the reeds beside them, hoping that Zhang Cuiping would let them start weaving things as soon as possible.

Zhang Cuiping seemed to have heard everyone's thoughts. Seeing that no one was talking, she smiled and said, "Then start making it up."

It should be said that although the four production team leaders were a little selfish and arranged for people who were closer to them to come to Ping An Zhuang, they knew in their hearts that Ping An Zhuang would not want those who had no foundation at all. Therefore, there was no problem in the initial stage of these forty women, the only difference was the degree of intensity and the speed of progress.

Like An Baoling, Zhang Cuiping took some fresh reed skin after a few glances and started to weave the baskets with her fingers. The people who came to participate in the selection would secretly check on her and An Baoling's progress from time to time, and their initial feeling that Ping An Zhuang was too strict gradually changed.

They have their reasons for being strict. They come here to make money. How can they give you money for nothing? No wonder even Xia Juhua, who originally came up with the idea of ​​​​weaving new mats, did not become the production team leader of Ping An Zhuang but became the team leader. Ping An Zhuang's work of weaving mats and baskets has not been abandoned, and the orders are booming and increasing.

Look at how capable An Baoling and Zhang Cuiping are. They can arrange the mat weaving work clearly without Xia Juhua. And Zhao Xianzhi and her sister-in-law Chang Xiancao, I heard that they are in charge of the collection and delivery of reed stalks for Ping'an Manor.

I wish I could be as capable as them someday.

Zhang Cuiping, who didn't know that she had been listed as a capable person by other women in the production team, nudged An Baoling with her elbow and whispered, "There are not many people who can teach basket weaving directly. Why don't we talk to Auntie Xiancao and teach them how to weave mats?"

An Baoling shook her head: "I don't know what the four production teams were thinking. They didn't choose a few girls to come over. Young people have good memories and are nimble, so they learn things faster. If they had learned earlier, wouldn't they be able to earn money for their families earlier?"

Zhang Cuiping thought she could figure out what was going on: "Auntie, you haven't figured it out yet. They are afraid that the girls from their own production team will take a fancy to the boys from our production team. How dare we let them come to Ping'an Village to weave mats every day?"

An Baoling also has two sons, but she is now thinking about making money by weaving mats, and she really doesn't think about this. After listening to Zhang Cuiping's words, she still finds it a little funny: "What's wrong with marrying into Ping'an Village? Our annual food and work points are only deducted by 1,500 per person, and the work points are twice as much as other production teams. If a girl marries here, she will fall into a blessed nest." Should she start to look for Zhijun?

Zhang Cuiping chuckled and said, "But we have to bring all the betrothal gifts that are famous in Ping'an Village back to my husband's family."

This was the trouble caused by Liu Zhishuang: although Liu Zhishuang gave Xiaoman 50 yuan as a betrothal gift that day and bought fabric for Chen Dongsheng and his wife to make new clothes, in order to let people know that he was not after the Liu family's money, Chen Dongsheng wrapped the 50 yuan in red paper in front of everyone on the wedding day and gave it to Xiaoman to take to her husband's house.

At that time, everyone praised Chen Dongsheng's actions. Even when the young men in Ping'an Village got married again, the relatives who wanted their daughters to hold their heads high in their husband's family after marriage were embarrassed to leave any betrothal gifts, and just like Chen Dongsheng, they stuffed red envelopes into the daughters' hands in front of everyone.

Gradually it became a new custom in Ping An Village.

An Baoling smiled secretly: "Don't tell me, I really won't have to worry about the dowry for Man Zhijun and his family to marry a wife in the future."

Before she could finish her words, someone outside called out, "Baoling, the captain is looking for you."

An Baoling put down the work in her hands and said to Zhang Cuiping, "Wait for me to call Hongcui." After Hongling became an accountant, Hongcui also gradually became more skilled. Now she is in charge of the group of girls. Of course, Zhang Cuiping nodded in agreement.

An Baoling went out to ask and found out that it was not Chen Qiusheng who was looking for her, but her sister-in-law Xia Juhua. And she was not asked to go to the brigade headquarters, but to go directly to her home. This made An Baoling a little uneasy. After entering the hospital and seeing Xiaoman with a slightly bulging belly, the first thing she said was: "Why did your mother come back so early today?"

Xiaoman's face was much rosier than before she got married. Because of her pregnancy, she walked and talked even more slowly. She smiled at An Baoling and said, "Mother didn't say anything. Third Aunt, please come in and sit down."

Xia Juhua really didn't know what to say, her heart was in turmoil: the commune had sent down a batch of subscription quotas, and Ping'anzhuang Brigade would be allocated twenty, and each production team could select four children to participate in the physical examination.

But Xia Juhua remembered clearly that in a few years, that is, during the service period of this group of children, a self-defense counterattack war with the ungrateful country would break out in the south, and no one could predict whether these children would participate in the war.

Everyone knows that defending the country is glorious, but everyone is worried when it comes to their own children. Unfortunately, the commune only informed them of the quota, and did not say where the recruitment was to be conducted, so Xia Juhua had no choice but to call An Baoling.

This is □□'s biological mother, she has the final say.

"This is what happened," Xia Juhua told An Baoling about the military enlistment quota and said carefully, "Zhijun himself told me several times that he wanted to join the army. But I thought I had to discuss this matter with you anyway."

"That's great." An Baoling slapped the edge of the kang and said, "We haven't come to Pingde County to recruit soldiers for several years. I'm afraid that Zhijun is over the age limit. He has mentioned it to me several times. Sister-in-law, please sign him up."

Xia Juhua opened her mouth, swallowed the words that were about to come out of her, and thought of a new reason: "What if when the volunteer soldiers come back from military service, all the good ladies have been married off?" She didn't know where exactly they were going to serve, so she couldn't create a tense atmosphere.

An Baoling said nonchalantly, "He is willing to go out and explore, why worry about his wife? He has taken all the good things." Seeing that Xia Juhua still looked thoughtful, An Baoling whispered, "Sister-in-law, it's not that I am careless, I also want Zhijun to go out and see some new things, just in case the troops can stay."

All rural families who send their children to join the army have more or less had the same dream as An Baoling. Seeing that she had made up her mind, Xia Juhua nodded and agreed to give Zhijun a place. An Baoling was so happy that her eyes wrinkled together: "Sister-in-law, when Zhijun becomes successful, if he dares not respect you, I will break his legs."

If the volunteers go to the battlefield in the future, just don't blame me. Xia Juhua said in her heart, and sent An Baoling to the door, and saw Xiaoman had already started busying herself in the kitchen.

"Why are you cooking at this time?" Xia Juhua came back early and didn't spend much time talking to An Baoling. It was not even half past ten yet, so it was too early to cook.

Xiaoman poked his head out of the kitchen, called out "Mom" before saying, "Zhishuang said that the Xiakuo Brigade would ask him to transport a few loads of bricks this afternoon, and they would have to be loaded onto trucks at noon. I thought I'd prepare dinner early so he could have a bite before leaving."

Xia Juhua just smiled when she heard this. Liu Zhishuang had taken on such jobs many times over the past year. In the beginning, other brigades paid Liu Zhishuang's one-day work points to the Ping'anzhuang Brigade in addition to the gas money. But when the work points of Ping'anzhuang were announced last year, everyone felt that they were at a loss.

The work points of the Ping'an Village production team were too high. Liu Zhishuang had to record ten work points a day, which was two yuan and sixty cents.

So now, apart from the gas money that everyone pays to the team, the rest is paid directly to Liu Zhishuang according to the car and the distance traveled, and he then hands it over to Ping An Zhuang. It sounds like other teams are taking advantage, but in fact Liu Zhishuang is not at a disadvantage.

He didn't just make one trip a day, sometimes he made two or three trips - although other brigades were also allocated tractors this year, they were still a minority after all. A tractor could carry more things than ten carts. It would not be noticeable on a short trip, and it would be too much for people to push the carts on a long trip, and it would also take a lot of time.

This resulted in Liu Zhishuang not being able to eat on time every day. Fortunately, Wang Caifeng now works in the production team kindergarten. After becoming pregnant, Xiaoman, like when Wang Caifeng had Lele, was only responsible for preparing three meals at home, allowing Liu Zhishuang to have a bite of hot food in time.

Xia Juhua did some calculations in her mind. After the autumn harvest, Liu Zhishuang drove every day and must have made a lot of money. So she smiled and asked Xiaoman, "Do you have enough money to build the house?" If so, build the house quickly and move out.

Xiaoman paused while cooking, carefully raised her head to check her mother-in-law's expression, and whispered, "Mom, I don't want to move out."

"Nonsense again."

Xiaoman was a slow talker to begin with, and she spoke even slower after she got pregnant. After hearing what Xia Juhua said, she didn't say anything for a long time. Xia Juhua thought she had successfully brainwashed her, so she slowly opened her mouth: "Mom, I can eat whatever I want now, and you can follow me when I want to buy things." She was nothing like other mothers-in-law who would nag for half a year when they saw their daughter-in-law adding something.

Xia Juhua, who was originally feeling somewhat proud, stared in amazement at her little daughter-in-law, who then looked at her silently. Her eyes were as clean as if they had been washed with water, and it was obvious that she was saying what was in her heart.

Xia Juhua didn't know what to say. Xiaoman saw that her mother-in-law looked unhappy and thought she was angry with her, so she said slowly and quietly: "Mom, I want to learn from you for another two years, please don't think I'm tired."

How did it become that I disliked her for being too tired? Xia Juhua didn't know where Xiaoman came to this conclusion: "When did I dislike you? I just wanted you to enjoy your youth. You spend a lot more money on shopping when you are together as a family every day."

Xiaoman was so touched: "Mom, don't say that. Baoguo and Lele are both good kids, they can't eat much. Zhishuang is able to fight, he is not afraid."

Forget it, another day of failed brainwashing. Xia Juhua glanced at Xiaoman, and without much to say, she left the hospital and went to the yard. It was only eleven o'clock when Liu Zhishuang returned home, and Xiaoman had already prepared noodles for him and poured thick salsa on them.

Liu Zhishuang handed the net bag in his hand to his wife: "Brother Qi has bought a lot of apples. Try them and see if they are delicious. If they are, I will buy some for you next time."

Looking at the bright red apples in the net bag, Xiaoman couldn't help but saliva. She swallowed it quietly out of embarrassment and said, "They are so expensive. Don't buy more. I just want to taste them." As she said this, her hand had already uncontrollably taken out an apple, washed it with water, and stuffed it into her mouth.

Liu Zhishuang was eating noodles while watching his wife munching on apples. He thought this was what life was all about: "No wonder mom said pregnant women should eat more fruits. Look, your face is whiter now."

Xiaoman looked at the apples in his hand, counted the ones in the net bag with his eyes, took out one, washed it for him and said, "You can take it with you for the time being, and eat it yourself when we load it into the car."

"I'm not pregnant, why should I eat this?" Liu Zhishuang quickly put the apple on the table and refused to put it in his pocket no matter what.

Xiaoman slowed down his pace of eating apples and discussed with Liu Zhishuang in a low voice: "Baoguo and Lele are still young, should we give them one each?"

Liu Zhishuang was happy: "Just give it to me, why do we need to discuss it? I took their share with me when I took it."

Xiaoman quickly looked into the yard, and when she saw that her mother-in-law hadn't come back, she whispered, "Mom asked me about building a house again today, and she wanted us to move out."

When Liu Zhishuang heard this, his eyes popped up: "Did you make your mother angry?"

Xiao Man shook his head very quickly: "No, I just wanted you to have something warm, so I cooked a little early. Mom happened to come back today to talk to Auntie, and when she saw me, she asked me how we saved money, and if we had enough, we would build a house and move out. She said she wanted us to take advantage of our youth and live a life of ease for a few years, so as to save a lot of money on buying things."

Liu Zhishuang finally breathed a sigh of relief and said to Xiaoman, "Mom is biased towards us. She is also afraid that we will always give back to our elder brother and his friends. She doesn't say it, but she has a knot in her heart. But Xiaoman, tell me the truth, are you willing to move out and live on your own?"

Xiaoman shook his head repeatedly: "I feel at ease living with my mother. I get scared when I think about living on my own. I don't want to move."

Liu Zhishuang nodded in agreement with his wife: "Mom loves us, and we can't help but love her. Big brother's family is burdened now. If we move out again, it will be very tiring for mom to support big brother's family alone. If you are at home, mom can have a ready-made meal when she comes back. Otherwise, she has to cook for herself and help big brother's family cook."

"Well, Mom is tired all day, I will definitely handle cooking by myself." Xiaoman nodded to Liu Zhishuang to express her determination: "Don't worry, I like Baoguo and Lele very much, I don't mind if they eat or use a little."

Liu Zhishuang was happy now: "Don't worry, your man can earn it back for you." With money in hand, it doesn't matter if the nephews and nieces eat and drink a little. Thinking of this, he took out two yuan from his pocket and handed it to Xiaoman: "Look, this is the money for the haul this afternoon, keep it."

"Why is there so much? Didn't you buy apples?" It was not the first time for Xiaoman to receive money, but he still felt that it was a lot of money.

Liu Zhishuang was a little proud: "Brother Qi wanted me to carry two loads of sweet potatoes for him tonight. He wanted to give me money but I refused. I just asked for two apples instead."

Are those two apples? It's clearly a large net bag, okay? Even if it was a large net bag of apples, Xiaoman still felt more sorry for her man: "Don't be too late, and don't join the load."

Liu Zhishuang couldn't help but stroked his wife's head twice: "Other people's cars don't care about loading, how can Brother Qi not lend a hand?" If his judgment is correct, Qi Weidong will not let him down in the evening.

Xia Juhua, who wanted to brainwash her youngest daughter-in-law but was interpreted as favoring her youngest son, is now looking at the things that people are going to weave with Zhao Xianzhi and Zhang Cuiping. Zhao Xianzhi is looking at them and feels lucky: "It's a pity that I thought of testing whether they can do it or not, and didn't bring more reeds, otherwise a lot of things would be wasted."

Xia Juhua had no choice but to persuade her: "No one is born with the ability to break through the reed skin. It will take a few days of practice before you can get the hang of it."

Zhao Xianzhi still felt distressed: "You don't know how cunning those people are now. They all agreed to deal with me alone and are thinking about raising the price."

"Those four production teams?" Xia Juhua found it unlikely.

Zhao Xianzhi also denied this statement: "No, they still charge three cents for ten kilograms. It's other teams. Everyone treats reed stalks as treasures and insists on raising the price by one cent. They don't think about the fact that if our production team didn't collect their reed stalks, they would have to pile up manure."

Xia Juhua was helpless about this - Ping'anzhuang Brigade had only so many places near the Xihe River, and this year all the production teams sent the reed stalks to Ping'anzhuang. But the orders were there, and there were not enough, so Zhao Xianzhi had to go to other brigades to collect reed stalks.

The production team that was trying to curry favor with Ping An Zhuang in the past two years in order to sell reed stems, when they saw Zhao Xianzhi approaching them so early this year, they thought it was time to get a grip and started asking for a price increase. No wonder Zhao Xianzhi now views reed stems as if they were gold.

"Don't worry, if they want to raise the price, let them do it. The Xihe River doesn't just flow through Hongxing Commune. When Zhishuang and the others are not busy, you can ask them to drive the tractor and take you farther. Are you afraid that you won't be able to collect the reeds?"

The look in Zhao Xianzhi's eyes when she looked at Xia Juhua was nothing but admiration. "Otherwise, why would I be willing to tell you everything? I haven't thought of it myself. Then go back and tell Zhishuang to come to me when they are free."

Listening to the information conveyed by Zhao Xianzhi's loud shouting, the women who were waiting for the results to be announced looked at Xia Juhua with changing eyes. They all knew that Xia Juhua led everyone to dig wells during the drought, which enabled the entire Ping'anzhuang brigade to have a harvest. They also knew that in the past two years, because Xia Juhua had always insisted on inviting technicians from the agricultural technology station to guide farming, the wheat of Ping'anzhuang brigade produced a lot more grain than other brigades.

But they had not expected that Xia Juhua would come up with ideas so quickly and so cruelly: those brigades that were waiting for the price increase must have cut a lot of reed stalks, just waiting to sell them to Ping'an Village and make a good profit. But Ping'an Village changed to collect the reeds from a farther place, so what would happen to their reed stalks?

You can't just pile up manure - the reeds grow naturally, but they don't have the legs to run to the production teams. They still have to be cut and returned to the members after the work points are recorded. No matter how small the work points are, members still have to be given dividends according to the work points. If the reeds of the brigades can't be sold, it will be a loss-making transaction for the production teams.

By then, I won’t know who will be begging whom.

The women who could come to Ping An Village were all close to the production team leaders and were smart, otherwise they would not have been able to get the quota. They all understood the importance of this and secretly made up their minds to talk to their production team leaders when they returned and obey them in everything, otherwise their production team would suffer from their own decisions and would not be able to find fault.

The women who had this plan scared themselves first. Whoever Zhao Xianzhi asked them to learn to weave mats did so, and whoever Zhao Xianzhi asked them to learn to weave baskets did so without any complaints.

"Okay, you guys go ahead and do your work. I'm going home." Seeing that the recruitment was going smoothly, Xia Juhua stood up and left. Unfortunately, Chen Qiusheng had just heard that she was coming to the yard and was waiting for her at the door. Zhao Xianzhi, who was sending Xia Juhua out, even hit him: "Captain, why don't you go in and find the big captain? Did Cuiping deal with you again yesterday?"

Chen Qiusheng's face turned red. He looked into the yard with a timid look. He was relieved when he didn't see Zhang Cuiping. He whispered to Xia Juhua, "Captain, I want to discuss something with you."

It seemed that she had really been punished. As Xia Juhua followed him to the production team, she wondered what Chen Qiu Sheng had done wrong that made Zhang Cuiping so angry that she punished him. However, she did not ask - she even pretended not to see how her son and daughter-in-law got along, and she did not want to get involved in other people's affairs.

After the production team sat down, Chen Qiu Sheng poured Xia Juhua a glass of water and took the initiative to talk about the matter: "Captain, Cuiping told me last night that her family wanted to raise two more chickens. I was afraid of causing trouble for the production team, so I didn't agree, and she..."

Xia Juhua laughed and said, "Why bother? Now that the criminal gang has fallen, do you think the Red Team is still roaming around looking for trouble? They are just afraid that others will come after them. If no one is watching over the wall every day, who would know how many chickens you have at home?"

"No, Captain, you don't know how brave Zhang Cuiping is. She doesn't want to raise more chickens for herself, but wants our Chen family to raise more chickens together, and then collect the eggs together to sell to Xiao Qi."