Chapter 96

Xia Juhua quickly found a good excuse for herself, shaking her head and saying, "Deputy Director Qi, I'm not a member of the Party, so I can't be the team leader."

"The team leader is not the team secretary, and he is not required to be a party member. Li Changshun used to be the team leader of Ping'anzhuang team. If you are worried about this, you can consider asking Hongxing Commune to assign you a secretary to work with." It can be seen that Deputy Director Qi is determined to let Xia Juhua be the team leader.

Seeing that Xia Juhua still didn't nod, Deputy Director Qi used his trump card: "There is no precedent for the production team to purchase tractors. Our production data is distributed to the brigade at most, and then the brigade distributes it to the subordinate production team according to production needs."

"So if you want to buy a tractor, you must report it to the county revolutionary committee in the name of Ping'anzhuang Brigade. I just met with the county director, and we can consider allocating two tractors to your Ping'anzhuang Brigade, and the Red Star Commune Agricultural Machinery Station will guarantee your oil."

Not one tractor, but two, and the oil is guaranteed!

Xia Juhua was moved. In the past year, the members of Ping'an Village had used the energy they saved from plowing and watering the land to build a powder room, a yard, and Liu Lizhu's classroom. She had witnessed many things that she had never dared to think of before. If there were two tractors...

"Then Deputy Director Qi, do we have to buy the diesel ourselves?"

Deputy Director Qi, who always assigned tasks to others and made sure they completed them, looked at Xia Juhua speechlessly and said, "Do you know how expensive the oil consumption of a tractor is for the commune's agricultural machinery station? They have to save money from their own mouths to give to Ping'an Village. Do you still want to take it for free?"

It didn't seem to make sense, Xia Juhua said awkwardly: "Can I go back and think about it?"

Deputy Director Qi shook his head and said, "I had to persuade the county director with great difficulty. If other communes or brigades knew about it, you Ping'an Village wouldn't even get one tractor, let alone two."

Xia Juhua, dazzled by the two tractors, had not noticed that Deputy Director Qi had mentioned Ping An Village, and had not added the suffix of production team or brigade. She asked with a bit of guilt, "Then the diesel supplied to us by the Agricultural Machinery Station is affordable, right?"

Xia Juhua was charged a price adjustment at the noodle factory last time, and she was not indifferent about it. There will be many places using diesel in the future, so she has to ask in advance.

Deputy Director Qi nodded with amusement: "Of course it's at parity."

Xia Juhua smiled and nodded, and Deputy Director Qi took it as her agreement: "Since you agree, go back and submit the report to the commune as soon as possible. I remind you that if time is delayed and the tractor project fails, don't come to the county revolutionary committee again."

Seeing Xia Juhua still nodding, Deputy Director Qi smiled secretly and told her: "Go back to Red Star Commune directly. Li Changshun is waiting for you there. Discuss with Director Zhang and submit the report as soon as possible. The reason you just mentioned, that is, to preserve agricultural modernization, will do."

Like Director Zhang, Deputy Director Qi still hasn't figured out how Xia Juhua linked the purchase of tractors with agricultural modernization. However, with this big hat put on her head, any opposing voices were suppressed.

If Xia Juhua knew that Director Zhang and Deputy Director Qi were both quibbling over why she brought up agricultural modernization, she might have generously told them that she had watched television for the first time in her life in the late 1980s, when the propaganda for agricultural modernization was very strong, so she was now applying what she had learned.

However, Director Zhang and Deputy Director Qi did not ask, so Xia Juhua did not have a chance to answer. Now it was her turn to be confused: "Captain, I agreed to submit the report in the name of the brigade, so how come we have to do the handover at the commune office?"

Li Changshun smiled with wrinkles on his face: "Why can't we meet at the commune? If there is no handover, how can I just bring the brigade seal to the commune?" No one would accept a report without the official seal.

Accountant Chang was holding the brigade's account book and was about to hand it to Xia Juhua: "Captain Xia, this is the brigade's account book. If you don't understand anything, I'll explain it to you."

Xia Juhua had to ask Li Changshun: "Captain, you know I want to buy a tractor, right? Just now, Deputy Director Qi of the County Revolutionary Committee said that he could give two tractors to the Ping'anzhuang Brigade."

"I'm not afraid that you think I'm selfish. Our Ping'an Village production team has to keep one machine, and the other four production teams can use the remaining machine as they please. But Deputy Director Qi said that we have to report to the commune in the name of our team. Let's ask Accountant Chang to write the report first?"

"Don't worry, take a look at the account book first. If you don't understand something, ask Accountant Chang." Li Changshun said that he was not someone who could be easily fooled. He knew that the main point of today was to let Xia Juhua take over the Ping'anzhuang Brigade.

They were in a conference room of the Red Star Commune. Director Zhang had to work, so they couldn't really hand over the work in his office. Given Li Changshun's relationship with Director Zhang, it was not a problem to borrow a conference room. There were only three people from their Ping'an Village Brigade. Xia Juhua was not afraid of being overheard, so she said to Li Changshun:

"Captain, think about it. If our team had two tractors, wouldn't it be easier for the production teams to repair canals or water the land? I pretended to agree just for the sake of these two tractors. Don't worry, I will never be the captain. When the tractors are driven back to the Ping'anzhuang team, I will explain it to Director Zhang and the others."

Anyway, the tractor driven back to Ping'anzhuang belongs to Ping'anzhuang. Can the leaders of the commune and the county revolutionary committee still steal the farmers' things?

Seeing Xia Juhua being so smart in every aspect over the past year, Li Changshun put away a little smile on his face: "Dear Dazhuang, I have been holding on for the past few years. If it weren't for their incompetence, I would have to drag my crippled legs to hold on for so many years. You are finally more capable than them, why can't you take over this position as the captain?"

"You said you promised the county revolutionary committee and the commune. If you change your mind at will, what will you do if they change their mind too? For example, the county is embarrassed to ask for the tractor back, but the agricultural machinery station refuses to sell diesel to us. How can you run your tractor?"

Xia Juhua was speechless. She wanted to buy a tractor, of course not for its appearance but to have it do work. If it couldn't be started, wouldn't it be a waste of money?

Seeing that she didn't say anything, Li Changshun struck while the iron was hot: "I know you are worried that there are people like Sun in each production team, and maybe they don't believe you and won't listen to you. But don't you think that it's enough for Li Daniu and the others to listen to you? With them managing the members for you, as long as you let the members see that your life is getting better and better after you become the team leader, can they still sing against you?"

Xia Juhua remained silent. She was afraid that she didn't have the ability to make everyone's life better. Compared with worrying about the future, the tractor in front of her made her more excited and it was difficult to choose.

"Take a look first. There is only a few dollars in our team's account. Maybe even less than your Ping'an Village production team." Li Changshun took the account book from Accountant Chang and handed it to Xia Juhua.

Xia Juhua took the account book in a daze, and subconsciously turned to the last page. She was really surprised to see the number on it: "Only 1,700 yuan?" This should include the reserve funds submitted by each production team.

Li Changshun nodded solemnly: "So think about it, if we rely on the brigade's financial resources, when can we afford to buy two tractors? Now the county is allocating two tractors to us for free."

If it weren't for these two tractors, would Xia Juhua have to be in such a dilemma? She looked at Li Changshun and said, "Captain, you can't just ignore everything."

Li Changshun smiled: "How could I not care about anything? I would get angry if you really didn't let me take care of it. Doesn't Fifth Master care about the Ping'anzhuang production team's affairs?" The old man has been living more and more energetic in the past year.

Xia Juhua finally had some idea in her mind: "Then let's write a report to the commune first? How do we write this report..."

Accountant Chang took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Xia Juhua. When she took it, she saw the word "Report" on it, which was very direct and clear.

The report was handed over to Director Zhang, who encouraged Xia Juhua with a smile: "Comrade Xia Juhua, the burden on your shoulders will be even heavier in the future. I hope you will continue to work hard and lead the entire Ping'anzhuang Brigade to make the brigade's agricultural production the best in the entire Red Star Commune."

Xia Juhua's smile was uglier than crying: "Please ask the Commune Revolutionary Committee to give us more guidance on the work of the Ping'an Village Brigade."

Director Zhang smiled warmly and said, "Okay, when the tractor arrives in two days, I will personally take it to Ping'an Village and hold a meeting for you to announce that you have become the captain."

If Xia Juhua were to say, she would rather as few people as possible knew about her being the captain, and it would be best if no one knew about it, and she would just focus on the affairs of Ping'an Village.

But the commune and Li Changshun obviously didn't think so. That night, the brigade gathered several production team leaders and informed them that Xia Juhua would immediately take over as the team leader of Ping'anzhuang Brigade.

The person who came to the meeting from the Pingan Village production team was Chen Qiusheng. Although he had already known the news, he did not expect it to come so soon. After Li Changshun announced the "good news", he immediately stood up and asked: "Captain, what about our production team? Who will be the captain of our production team?"

Li Changshun said as a matter of course: "You have to ask Captain Xia. I am no longer the captain. From now on, you should report anything to Captain Xia."

Old comrade, are you forgetting what you said too quickly?

Xia Juhua glanced at Li Changshun, and said to Li Daniu and the others without feeling guilty, "Don't be dissatisfied just because Captain Xia is a female comrade. She is much better than you. If she can learn half of what she has learned, your production team will have a good life."

Chen Qiusheng looked at Xia Juhua who was in a dilemma, but he didn't ask any more questions. He just sat there with his head down and was picking at the cracks of the table. When the meeting was over and they were walking towards Ping An Village together, Chen Qiusheng asked, "Captain, are they..."

Xia Juhua did not regret the decision she had made and told Chen Qiusheng directly: "The county agreed to allocate two tractors to Ping'anzhuang Brigade, and the commune agricultural machinery station will also guarantee the oil for these two tractors, so I agreed."

What else could Chen Qiusheng say? Being a team leader wasn't a bad thing, and he would get two tractors for free. If he were to meet such a person, he would be willing to take one of the tractors.

After hearing this, Master Wu agreed with Chen Qiusheng: "I think it's a good deal. It's just a team leader. You don't have to work in the fields anymore. You can just go around the production teams every day. And you have a bicycle, so it won't be a big deal."

In fact, the three people in the room knew that the problem was not whether Xia Juhua would have to work hard, but what to do with the Ping'an Village production team. After a while, the fifth master continued to speak: "I think we should let Qiu Sheng continue to be the team leader. He knows everything you have done this year."

Chen Qiusheng waved his hands repeatedly: "Fifth Master, you know I can only organize people and assign tasks. I am not as good as the team leader in farm work. Besides, if I become the production team leader, what will happen to the accounting?"

Difficulties came one after another. Xia Juhua thought for a while and said, "Everyone in our production team is united now. It doesn't necessarily require you to lead the way and work hard. You can just arrange the work clearly and make the money you deserve."

Wu Ye started fiddling with his pipe: "As for accounting, Zhishuang and the others can all read with Lizhu, otherwise why not let Zhishuang do it?"

Xia Juhua shook her head quickly: "Zhishuang is too active and can't sit still to do accounting. He told me that he wanted to drive a tractor. I originally wanted to persuade him, but now that there are two tractors, it's okay to let him drive one."

"In fact, Hongling, Xiaoman and other young ladies have learned well, but they are almost going to marry their mother-in-laws, and they have to choose a new partner when they get married." Chen Qiusheng said with some regret: "Cui Ping said that they have learned better than her."

Xia Juhua nodded. Hongling and the others cherished their learning opportunities very much. In addition, Zhang Cuiping's order to check on Xia Juhua every day was carried out very thoroughly. The girls had no choice but to study hard.

Can a girl who can come up with a new style of basket making by herself be a stupid person?

Xia Juhua thought for a while and said, "If it doesn't work, just choose one of them to do it first, and then think of a solution after they are really married. Cuiping is capable, but Qiusheng is the production team leader and Cuiping is not suitable to be the accountant."

Chen Qiusheng quickly said, "With her personality, she is so fickle that we can't do anything about it."

The Fifth Master nodded in agreement with Xia Juhua's opinion: "Then let Hongling do it first. That girl is smart and tight-lipped. She is not afraid to talk to people. I think she is better than her two brothers."

The so-called two brothers of Hongling refer to Liu Zhiquan and Liu Zhishuang. Xia Juhua did not think that the Fifth Master was belittling his own sons - those two were not cut out to be accountants.

The next day, Chen Qiu Sheng blew the whistle to start work early as usual, which surprised the people of Ping An Village who were immersed in making sweet potato pulp or weaving baskets: these days everyone took advantage of the good weather to make as much sweet potato pulp and clarify starch as possible, but suddenly the production team had to hold a meeting, and everyone was a little uncomfortable.

When they heard that Xia Juhua was going to be the production team leader, even if she was going to be the captain, the people in Ping'an Village became anxious.

Zhao Xianzhi jumped up and said, "Why? The captain is doing a good job, why do you say that you can't do it? Who said that if you are a big captain, you can't be a production captain?"

Chang Xiancao and a few others also had an argument. They all felt that if Xia Juhua did not become the leader of the Ping'an Village production team, then the entire production team would have to be disbanded. How would the people of Ping'an Village make money and farm in the future?

Xia Juhua slammed the table vigorously: "What are you guys arguing about? Qiu Sheng has done very little this year. Whatever you do, it's all done with Qiu Sheng's help and planning. Besides, I'm still living in Ping'an Manor, I'm not going far away."

Zhao Xianzhi was still unconvinced: "Then you can be the team leader and the production team leader at the same time. Why should they let you be the team leader just to make money? Many of those production teams are notoriously unreasonable, and you don't know how to quarrel with others, so aren't you going to be bullied?"

"If you are afraid that the captain will be bullied, you can just follow her as a bodyguard." Someone joked with Zhao Xianzhi from behind, which made Zhao Xianzhi angry. She turned around and wanted to find the person who said that. When she failed to find him, she was not discouraged: "I want to follow the captain wherever she goes, so what."

You are so awesome that even Li Changwang can't deal with you, so what can others do to you?

Seeing that no one was talking to her, Zhao Xianzhi thought more and more and felt the truth of what she had just said: "Captain, how about I go with you to the brigade, so that they won't bully you because you're a woman. I can go to the brigade to sweep the land without recording the work points, just let me go with you."

"Just give it up now." Li Changwang had no idea what to do with this stupid wife: "The captain is going to be the big captain, and everyone else has to listen to her. Who can bully her?"

"You know shit." Zhao Xianzhi finally found his opponent: "Don't think I don't know. When the captain first became the production captain, you men were not convinced. If the captain hadn't made money by leading us women to edit the mats, and taught you how to leak powder, you would be like this..."

The Fifth Master glared at Zhao Xianzhi, who suddenly became silent. She glared at her man fiercely and looked at Xia Juhua expectantly, hoping that she would agree to follow her to the brigade.

Xia Juhua naturally couldn't agree: "If you go to the brigade, who will take care of us women weaving mats and baskets? Do you want our good skills to go to waste?"

Seeing that Zhao Xianzhi was speechless, Xia Juhua said to the members who were listening: "Qiu Sheng has been an accountant for many years, and everyone knows what kind of person he is. I also know what everyone is worried about. I believe in Qiu Sheng. He has the same desire as me to lead everyone to live a good life. If you think Qiu Sheng can do a good job as a production team leader, please raise your hand. If you think there is someone more suitable than Qiu Sheng, you can also put forward someone."

There was silence until the Fifth Master raised his hand, and then some people from the Liu clan slowly followed suit. Chen, who had wanted to raise his hand for a long time, saw this and naturally raised his hand high, while Zhao Xianzhi, Chang Xiancao and others from the other clans slowly followed suit and raised their hands.

Compared to the doubts about Chen Qiusheng being the captain, almost no one objected to Liu Hongling being the accountant. The only one who questioned her was Li Daya: "Sister-in-law, Hongling only knows a few words, can she do it?"

"Why not?" Xia Juhua would not say at this time that she was worried that Hongling would have to choose another person to marry in the future: "Hongling is a fast learner and has learned all the characters. She can learn to use an abacus from Qiu Sheng and learn to keep accounts while she is not busy now. She will be able to get the hang of it soon."

Liu Hongling's eyes were red. She had never thought that the old lady trusted her so much. She was just vowing in her heart that she must not embarrass the old lady when she saw Xia Juhua waving at her. She walked to Xia Juhua with trepidation. Liu Hongling realized belatedly that Xia Juhua was standing opposite the entire production team, which was equivalent to her standing in front of all the members.

With her face flushed, her heart racing, and her palms sweating, Liu Hongling tried her best to think about the time she and Xia Ju were together in the courtyard, and tried hard to make her voice less trembling: "Auntie?"

Xia Juhua smiled at Liu Hongling and told her to turn her back to the others and face the members directly. She said, "Although you have grown up under everyone's watch, you are going to be an accountant now. You have to show your position to everyone and let them believe that you can do a good job."

I can't embarrass you, I can't embarrass you, Liu Hongling kept repeating this sentence in her heart, and slowly raised her head. Her little face was red, and her eyes were shining with a light that she had never seen before: "Grandpa, aunt, uncles and aunts, when I become an accountant, I will work hard, keep accounts carefully, not miss any money, and not take a penny from the government."

"Okay." Xia Juhua took the lead in clapping: "The last sentence is the most important. You must remember it. Everyone else has remembered it for you."

All the members had kind smiles on their faces. Who wouldn’t want to see the children grow up?

Li Daya couldn't help but groan, and An Baoling quickly pulled her back: "Second sister-in-law, this is a good thing."

It was a good thing, of course it was a good thing. The girl who had only done some housework at home had learned how to weave mats without realizing it, and she could weave new style baskets by herself, and she was rewarded with five yuan. Li Daya originally thought that was the limit of a girl, but she didn't expect that the girl would become the accountant of the production team.

This is comparable to Liu Erzhuang being the production team leader, and it also makes Li Daya happy.

Why would such an old man let a little girl like her be an accountant? Li Daya thought that she was taking advantage of Xia Juhua, and that it was Xia Juhua who was taking care of her niece. She choked up and said to An Baoling: "If I ever let my sister-in-law down in the future, you must remind me."

An Baoling knew her sister-in-law too well: "If you want to thank your sister-in-law, don't cry here. If someone doesn't know, they might think your sister-in-law has been wronged by you."

Li Daya quickly wiped away her tears and pushed Liu Hongling who had returned to her side: "If you dare not work hard in the future and embarrass your aunt, I will break your legs first."

No one cared about what Li Daya told her daughter. People's attention was still on Xia Juhua. When she announced the adjournment of the meeting, the women surrounded her and asked questions that concerned them.

What they are concerned about are just a few things: one is whether the baskets should continue to be made, two is whether the work points will change, and three is whether they can continue to give some rewards to the people who make them quietly if there are orders in the future as they do now.

When the women were about to gather around, Xia Juhua held Chen Qiu Sheng back and stopped him from leaving. She also asked Chen Qiu Sheng to answer their questions one by one. Now Chen Qiu Sheng is the leader of the Ping'an Village production team, and Xia Juhua wanted the women to listen to Chen Qiu Sheng more so that they would be able to talk better when they met in the future.