Chapter 101
Xia Juhua didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What I said doesn't count. I just thought that after such a long drought, it's time for some rain."
"Yes, yes, yes," Li Daniu echoed, "I think it's time to snow, too."
Okay, you can say whatever you want. Xia Juhua took advantage of the fact that Li Daniu was immersed in the thought of snowing soon and could finally continue walking towards the brigade headquarters.
Unfortunately, she was destined not to reach the brigade headquarters smoothly today. On the way, she was stopped by Team 5 who was waiting for her: "Team leader, are you going to the brigade headquarters?" Team leader 5 greeted Xia Juhua with a big smile on his face.
Xia Juhua was thinking, Li Daniu knew that Liu Zhiquan went to the fourth team to collect vermicelli, and was seen by Li Daniu when he passed by the small village. How did the fifth team leader know this?
"Captain, are you free today? Would you like to come to our production team? The old people in our production team are very grateful to you." Captain Five did not mention anything that Xia Juhua had not figured out, and asked Xia Juhua to go to their production team to listen to the old people singing her praises.
Seeing that Xia Juhua was unmoved, the captain of the fifth team, like Li Daniu, recounted the situation of the fifth team implementing Xia Juhua's suggestions one by one. In short, all the ideas proposed by Xia Juhua were implemented by the fifth team, and all the credit for doing so was attributed to Xia Juhua:
"Now, not only the old people and women with children are grateful to you, but also their families. Everyone says that it is a blessing for the entire Pingan Village Brigade to have a leader like you. We will definitely live a good life together."
Xia Juhua looked at the fifth team leader with a half-smile, as if she was looking at him but also as if she was looking at something else through him. The fifth team leader felt uncomfortable. Xia Juhua pointed to the road leading to the brigade and said, "Look, is that a tractor?"
"Tractor?" Captain Five thought Xia Juhua was going to talk to him about something, but she actually mentioned the tractor. If he hadn't asked Xia Juhua for a favor, Captain Five would have said: We know you became the captain for the tractor, but you don't have to talk about it every day.
But when I looked back, I saw two tractors that were kicking up a trail of yellow soil, approaching the brigade headquarters from the direction of the commune. I couldn't see clearly the person sitting in the co-pilot's seat of the first tractor, but I could guess that it was the leader of the commune - how could a person who was not a leader sit in the co-pilot's seat?
Xia Juhua said happily to the fifth team leader, "Quick, go and inform the four production team leaders to come to the brigade headquarters to welcome Director Zhang of the Commune Revolutionary Committee. No, also inform the members who have not gone to the fields, and let those who can come to the brigade headquarters come, so that everyone can welcome our modern agricultural machinery and equipment together."
Although he was confused about the terms such as agricultural modernization and mechanical equipment that Xia Juhua mentioned, Captain Five could see that Xia Juhua was really happy. So why didn't he follow her instructions?
He shouted to the people who were shaving stubble in the field, "Hurry up and go to the brigade headquarters to welcome modern agricultural machinery and equipment." He was about to run to another production team. After running a few steps, he felt something was wrong and stopped.
He turned around and greeted the confused members: "Niu Hongqi, go to Xiaozhuangtou and tell Captain Li that our brigade's modern agricultural machinery and equipment has arrived, and ask him to bring the members to the brigade headquarters to welcome them."
"Sun Erniu, you go to Team Three."
"Lee Jae-ri, you go to Team 4."
"I've made it clear, it was the captain who asked them to go through. The more people, the better, and the faster, the better." Seeing that the two men still didn't move, the fifth captain became anxious: "Hurry up, what are you all standing there for? If you're late, the captain's welcome party will be over and your work points will be deducted."
"I, of course I will go to Ping'an Village in person. Can you explain it clearly?" After saying that, the fifth team leader smiled at Xia Juhua who was stunned and said, "Team leader, you should go to the team headquarters quickly, otherwise the commune leaders will complain that you are late and what will happen if we don't give the machinery and equipment to our team."
Xia Juhua was stunned and walked towards the brigade headquarters in a daze. On the way, she remembered Captain Niu's evaluation of Captain Five and smiled: It's true that you go where the wind is stronger. Look at how this matter was handled today. It was both labor-saving and focused. If it were Li Daniu, he would definitely not be able to do it as well as Captain Five.
Seeing the tractor getting closer and closer to the brigade headquarters, Xia Juhua didn't think too much and walked for a while, but still let the tractor stop at the entrance of the brigade headquarters before her. Director Zhang, who got off the co-pilot seat, looked at Xia Juhua with a red face and laughed:
"Captain Xia, do you come to the brigade headquarters at this time every day? If you work like this, I won't trust you to hand over the Ping'an Village Brigade to you."
Xia Juhua calmed her breathing and smiled nonchalantly: "If the leader thinks I'm not doing a good job, then let Captain Li continue to do it."
Li Changshun, who was already standing next to Director Zhang, glared at Xia Juhua unhappily and said, "You wish. Why are you late again today? If you don't come again, I will have someone drive the tractor back to Xiaozhuangtou."
"Captain, we can't do this." Xia Juhua still called Li Changshun as before: "We agreed at the time that Ping'an Village would keep one tractor."
"Why does Ping'an Village only have one machine left for each production team?" The members of Team 5 were the closest to the brigade headquarters and arrived the fastest, so they followed Xia Juhua closely. Just as they heard her words, someone muttered in a low voice.
Li Changshun glared at the person who spoke - he had been the team leader for decades, and his prestige among the members could not be wiped out just by not being the team leader. The man immediately shut up and retracted his neck, wishing he could squat down and let the person in front of him block him.
Li Changshun was satisfied, but he still looked at the members of the fifth team and said, "These two tractors were allocated to our Ping'anzhuang team on a priority basis because Captain Xia led the people of Ping'anzhuang to work hard on a trial basis. Otherwise, why didn't the county give them to other teams but only to Ping'anzhuang?" So if the Ping'anzhuang production team wanted to keep one, there was nothing wrong with that.
"Captain Xia is now the captain of the entire Ping'an Village team." A fearless person from Team Five said this, and refused to back down even if Li Changshun glared at him.
Just kidding, they have seen how much effort Pingan Village saved in farming this year. Now that the team finally has a tractor, if they have two, they can share them and it will be their turn in a few days. But if Pingan Village keeps one, it will become a tractor shared by four other production teams. When will it be their turn to use it?
So Xia Juhua had to understand that she was no longer the production captain of Ping'an Village, but the captain of all of them. She not only had to take charge of Ping'an Village, but also their five teams.
Director Zhang smiled at the angry Li Changshun and the calm Xia Juhua, stroking the tractor that was still running. Well, the tractor head was quite warm in the winter, just right for warming hands.
He didn't say anything. Li Changshun wanted to say something, but Xia Juhua pulled him aside and said, "Captain, we have to discuss the rules for using the tractor. We have to decide on the tractor operator today. Our Zhishuang is one, who do you think is suitable for the other one?"
Li Changshun had just glared at the members of Team 5 because he was afraid that they would piss off Xia Juhua. Now that he saw that Xia Juhua didn't take it seriously, he naturally didn't dwell on what the members of Team 5 said. He frowned, thought for a while, and said:
"In the past, if a production team wanted to use a tractor, the brigade would help apply to the commune's agricultural machinery station, and the station would send both the tractor and the tractor operator. The members of the commune were afraid to even touch it, so where could they find a tractor operator now?"
Xia Juhua said, "The tractor operator cannot be too old, as he sometimes has to help with the lifting and rigging. He also has to be able to read. After all, he has never touched this baby before, so he will learn quickly if he can read."
She said something and Li Changshun nodded. She said something again and Li Changshun nodded again. "Okay, tell me who you have chosen. If any production team is troublesome, I will punish them."
The old man is still so majestic. Xia Juhua looked at Li Changshun with admiration, and returned to Director Zhang with him: "Director, thank you for sending us the tractor. It's really troublesome for you, and it has delayed your work."
Isn't it a little late for you to say this now? Shouldn't you have said this when you first met? Director Zhang looked at Xia Juhua, who smiled sincerely, and always felt that there was something else behind her smile.
Sure enough, Xia Juhua did not invite the leader into the brigade headquarters to drink water, but let him stand outside the brigade headquarters, watching the members of each production team, led by their respective team leaders, hurriedly running towards the brigade headquarters.
"Director Zhang, look how enthusiastic everyone is about embracing agricultural modernization." Xia Juhua exclaimed to Director Zhang.
Director Zhang felt even more strange, and looked at the crowd approaching without saying anything. Li Changshun also heard something was wrong, and looked at Xia Juhua, who said calmly, "It's a pity that there are too few tractors, which has hindered the enthusiasm of the members to modernize agriculture."
"Comrade Xia Juhua," Director Zhang came to his senses, "With your level of ideological awareness and theoretical knowledge, it's a bit unfair for you to be just a team leader. How about I suggest to the county revolutionary committee that you come to work in the commune?"
"Haha," Xia Juhua laughed awkwardly but politely, "I still feel that I am not up to the task of the Ping'an Village Brigade. As for the work of the commune, you should take care of it, Director."
Li Changshun couldn't listen any more. Director Zhang said he wanted you to work in the commune. Did he want you to be the director of the commune's revolutionary committee? He did not want to listen to Xia Juhua's nonsense anymore. He waved to the captains who were looking at the tractors curiously and asked them to come and see Director Zhang:
"Come on, everyone, come and thank Director Zhang for delivering ..." Li Changshun forgot the two words he had just heard, but the fifth team leader remembered them clearly and continued, "They delivered agricultural modernization machinery and equipment."
"Yes, it brought us agricultural modernization." Li Changshun only remembered one word and showed it out generously.
Five production team leaders surrounded Director Zhang and thanked him together. Director Zhang called out "Uncle Li" somewhat helplessly, which finally suppressed his enthusiasm. But the members could not hear him. Like the production team leaders, they looked at the two tractors with curiosity and talked about what changes these two machines could bring to the agricultural production of Ping'an Village Brigade.
"Okay," Li Changshun looked at Director Zhang, who looked helpless, and finally raised his voice to the members who had gathered around him, "Director Zhang has brought us the warmth of the county leaders and a new look in the agricultural production of Ping'anzhuang Brigade. Comrades, should we thank Director Zhang, the leaders of the county revolutionary committee, and the great collective?"
"should--"
"Thank you Director Zhang, thank you the leaders of the county revolutionary committee, thank you the great collective--" Sun Qinglin, the poverty alleviation director of the brigade, waved his arms and shouted slogans.
The members raised their arms one by one and shouted: "Thank you Director Zhang, thank you the leaders of the county revolutionary committee, thank you for the great collective——"
People who had experienced the baptism of the crazy era were not unfamiliar with shouting slogans. Everyone's voices were neat and loud. Xia Juhua actually felt something familiar when she heard them. She waved her arms and shouted loudly with a happy smile on her face.
Director Zhang raised his hands several times and pressed down hard to suppress the overwhelming slogans: "Comrades, I believe everyone has seen that our collective situation is very good, and agricultural production is also making progress step by step. We have some difficulties at the moment, but I believe that the difficulties are temporary. With the addition of these two machines, the agricultural production of Ping'anzhuang Brigade will get better and better."
Although the new term is a bit difficult to pronounce, Director Zhang still thinks it is really powerful and does not mind calling the two tractors the same way as the people from the Ping'anzhuang Brigade.
The members had gotten enough tractors, and the cadres of each production team took them back to dig stubble and plow the soil. The team leaders surrounded Director Zhang and came to the brigade headquarters.
"Captain Xia, I have also delivered the tractor you requested. Please tell me about the next production arrangements for the Ping'anzhuang Brigade." Director Zhang put away the smile he showed in front of the members and sternly asked Xia Juhua to report her work to him.
"This is what I think," Xia Juhua said logically, "Seeing that the ground is about to freeze, each production team must hurry up to finish digging up the stubble and level the ground. Now that we have tractors, everyone can save some energy when turning the soil, and the ground can be plowed..." She spoke very convincingly, and even mentioned the two tractors that had just been delivered.
Listening to her talking about what each production team should do one by one, except for Chen Qiu Sheng, the other four production team leaders had incredible expressions on their faces: Xia Juhua only went to her production team once, so how come she was so familiar with what the production team should do next?
Li Changshun was thinking, Xia Juhua deserves to be called Xia Xiaohuo. Look how clearly she explains things in the fields and how detailed her arrangements are. If each production team does what she says, the work now will not be too tiring and the spring ploughing next year will not be too rushed.
Director Zhang was listening and writing down what he had just said in the notebook he had just taken out. After Xia Juhua finished speaking, he asked, "Do you production team leaders have anything to add?"
Several production team leaders shook their heads. Even though what Xia Juhua said just now conflicted with their own arrangements, they knew that Xia Juhua's arrangements were more reasonable. So why didn't they do as Xia Juhua said? !
"Since no one has anything to add, I will say a few words." Director Zhang's expression became more serious: "There was little rain this year, the harvest was poor, and everyone was not very motivated. This is an objective fact, so I won't emphasize it."
"But I want to emphasize one thing. That is, the county has equipped the Ping'anzhuang Brigade with tractors, so we must make sure they play a real role in production. The two points Captain Xia just raised are very good. First, when the production teams take turns using the tractors, they must pay attention to the tractor drivers' rest time. They can't let the tractor drivers get tired just to complete production tasks." Where did Xia Juhua hear so many words? They were too difficult to pronounce. Director Zhang looked at Xia Juhua with some resentment.
Xia Juhua, who was being stared at, looked back blankly, wanting to remind Director Zhang that he hadn't said anything yet.
Director Zhang adjusted his mood quickly and continued: "Another point is that the canal needs to be repaired, not only repaired but also repaired well. This is not only a production task, but also a glorious political task. Whichever production team fails to repair the canal, the entire Pinganzhuang brigade will have to rework it."
Isn't this a bit unreasonable? Xia Juhua looked at Director Zhang with a changed look in her eyes. Director Zhang looked at Xia Juhua without any guilt and said, "Other brigades can repair the canal without tractors. Ping'anzhuang Brigade has modern equipment, so it can only repair it better than other brigades to reflect the advantages of modernization..."
All right, you've got enough to say. Seeing that Li Changshun had raised his hand, Xia Juhua immediately took the lead in clapping, and lifted Director Zhang, who hadn't finished speaking, into the air, unable to get up or down.
With this resentment, Director Zhang decided to follow Li Changshun's arrangement and take two tractor operators with him to have lunch at Xia Juhua's home in Ping'an Village - everyone said that Xia Juhua's cooking skills were good, and how would he know it was not exaggerated without trying it.
In the past, people said that Xia Juhua was taciturn, didn't like to stand out and didn't cause trouble. Now look, is there anyone who is so taciturn and doesn't cause trouble? !
They went to Ping'anzhuang in a tractor because Li Changshun said that Xia Juhua had promised to leave a tractor in Ping'anzhuang, so the team could not go back on their word and simply drove the tractor directly to Ping'anzhuang.
"Brother Li, Brother Zhao, you're here." Liu Zhishuang greeted the man driving the tractor with a smile, which made Li Changshun angry and he slapped him: "You bastard, no wonder your mother said you always make her angry, you have no sense. Didn't you see Director Zhang? Why don't you say hello to Director Zhang?"
Liu Zhishuang rubbed his hands and called out embarrassedly, "Director Zhang." He then said, "Director, you have worked hard. Please come in and sit down. I'll go get you some water." By the end of his words, his voice had become steady and his hand holding the hot water bottle was steady without a drop of water.
"Captain Xia, your son is good." Director Zhang took the cup handed to him by Liu Zhishuang with a smile and praised him.
Xia Juhua glanced at Liu Zhishuang, whose face was beaming, smiled and said nothing. Over there, Liu Zhishuang had already delivered the water to the people he had just called Brother Li and Brother Zhao, and was whispering something to them.
It seemed that what he said about knowing the people at the agricultural machinery station was true. Xia Juhua felt a little relieved to let him be a tractor operator.
Director Zhang also saw this and asked, "Xiao Zhao, do you know Xiao Liu?"
Xiao Zhao nodded: "He and Xiao Xue have been to the agricultural machinery station several times before. He is eager to learn. He can fix even the simplest problems of the tractor."
Oh, this little Zhao and Liu Zhishuang have a really good relationship. It seems that they can build a relationship by eating and drinking together at any time. Xia Juhua glanced at Liu Zhishuang with a half-smile. Director Zhang had already said, "Captain Xia, since your son can operate a tractor, it would be great to let him be a tractor operator."
Xia Juhua nodded and said, "Originally, I was planning to let him be a tractor operator. When Technician Xue was here, he helped Technician Xue a lot. He knows how to use not only tractors but also plows and how to use tractors to water the land. But it's hard to choose another person. There are four production teams, and each production team has to choose someone from their own team."
Li Changshun's eyes lit up: "You make your own choice. Don't listen to their nonsense. Whoever you choose is whoever you choose."
Old comrade, your attitude these days is so nice that it's a little hard for people to accept, you know? Xia Juhua looked at Director Zhang in embarrassment. Li Changshun thought she was afraid that Director Zhang would be disgusted, so he explained to Director Zhang on her behalf:
"Director Zhang, a tractor is such a valuable thing, it needs a good person to take care of it. That person is not like Zhishuang, who already knows how to manipulate it. Shouldn't we learn from Zhishuang? So we have to let Captain Xia decide on the candidate, so that there won't be any awkward conversation between the two of them."
Seeing Li Changshun talking to Director Zhang, Xia Juhua went to the kitchen to see how to make this meal. Director Zhang said from behind: "I heard that your hot and sour noodles are delicious. We will have hot and sour noodles for lunch today. We won't eat anything else."
That being said, although they are both called hot and sour rice noodles, the soup bases are very different. Director Zhang sent two tractors to the Ping'an Village Brigade, so Xia Juhua would be embarrassed to make hot and sour rice noodles with boiling water, right?
At this time, the tractor came into play. Liu Zhishuang was arranged by Xia Juhua to go to the commune to buy meat. He started the tractor with a few cranks, sat in the driver's seat, and saw Xiaoman standing at the door of his house looking at him. He waved to Xiaoman and said, "Xiaoman, let's go. I'll take you to the commune."
"I'm going too. I'm going too." Liu Baoguo had been following Liu Zhishuang since he left the house. When he heard that he was going to the commune, he immediately grabbed Liu Zhishuang's trousers with his eyes shining: "Second Uncle, I'm going too."
Liu Zhishuang waved to Xiaoman even more proudly: "Come, help me hold Baoguo."
Xiaoman's face was red all the way to her ears. She didn't want to go forward, but she was a little reluctant to give up this opportunity. Hongling was standing behind her and pushed Xiaoman: "Go quickly." After pushing Xiaoman, she asked loudly: "Second brother, can I go too?"
Knowing that Xiaoman was shy, Liu Zhishuang generously gestured to Hongling to get on the tractor: "I've already told you, I'll come back after I've bought the things. If you wander around, I'll throw you to the commune and you'll have to walk back by yourself."
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