Chapter 103
Qixi just ran back from Chen's house. After hearing this, he panted and said, "What are you complaining about? I went to talk to them and they were very happy. They said that even Liuzhu had to come with me to the party and guard the roadside. They were all waiting at home. Zhishuang, I ran errands for you, and you didn't even say you would give me a piece of candy."
Although Qixi is not very old, he is Liu Zhishuang's uncle. Now he asked his nephew for candy, which made everyone in the room laugh. Liu Zhishuang blushed and gave him a handful of candy. Qixi didn't feel embarrassed at all. He stuffed the candy into his pocket and ran out again.
Just as Qixi said, all the people in the Chen family were waiting at home. As soon as Liu Zhishuang opened the gate, Chen Liuzhu jumped over and said, "Hurry, give me two pieces of candy. I have to go to the village entrance with Qixi."
Sun Zhaodi gave her youngest son a slap in the face: "You are everywhere. Fifth Master, I am sorry to make you laugh. This kid is nothing like what I am used to."
The Fifth Master smiled tolerantly and said, "That's right. Qixi just asked his nephew for candy."
Chen Liuzhu retracted his outstretched hand: "Oh, mother, this won't work. If Zhishuang and my sister really get together, I will be a generation younger than Qixi. No, no, no."
This child really has to be punished, so Chen Dongsheng kicked him on the butt and said, "Go and guard the village entrance." This was like kicking Chen Liuzhu away.
After entering the house, Xia Juhua first reflected on herself and apologized to Chen Dongsheng and his wife before getting to the point: "Zhishuang bought three meters of cloth for you two to make some clothes. This fifty yuan is his betrothal gift to Xiaoman, don't think it's too little."
Looking at the cloth spread out in the paper package and the five big wedding gifts pushed to his hand, Chen Dongsheng waved his hands: "No, this money is too much, I can't accept it." Chen Dongsheng refused to accept the betrothal money, on the grounds that everyone's family is not easy nowadays, as long as the two children live well, the betrothal gift is enough to show his appreciation, how can he give so much.
The Fifth Master smiled and said, "Fifty yuan is not a small amount, but the fact that Juhua took it out proves that their family can afford it and that they are worth Xiaoman. If you love the child, then when Xiaoman and his family get married, you can send all the money to the child."
Chen Dongsheng opened his mouth twice, but still didn't say anything because he was afraid that he would be reluctant to give it up. He gritted his teeth and said to himself in his heart that money is good, but if he gets along well with Xia Juhua, he will definitely not lose anything. Now that the Fifth Master has asked for it, he must give all the fifty yuan to Xiaoman as a gift, otherwise he will not be able to hold his head up in Ping'an Manor in the future.
The betrothal gift arrangement went smoothly. Xia Juhua didn't care how Liu Zhishuang and Xiaoman got along in the future - she had taken the opportunity to propose a separation and let them build a new house. Whether they got along well or not was their own business.
As for Xia Juhua herself, she had plenty of things to do.
As soon as Team 3 arrived here and walked through the areas where the canal had not been repaired, they agreed on how to connect Team 3 with the canal in Ping'an Village. Then Wang Caixia delivered the peanuts. Qi Xi found someone to find Team 3 and finally brought Xia Juhua home.
"You're too busy. It's not been long since we last met." Wang Caixia complained as soon as they met.
Xia Juhua smiled apologetically: "I wanted to see you, but first there was the production team and then the team, so I had too much to do."
Wang Caixia looked at Xia Juhua with a teasing expression: "By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet. It's already amazing that you're the first female production team leader in the whole commune, but I didn't expect you to become the team leader. How about it, you feel very happy, right?"
Xia Juhua thought to herself, who knows who is suffering and who is tired. But if she said it out loud, people would think she was taking advantage of others, so she decided not to say it.
So she ignored Wang Caixia's teasing, pulled her back into the house and asked, "Just ask Boss Xia Che to deliver the peanuts, why did you make a trip yourself?" After all, she was the deputy director.
Wang Caixia glared at Xia Juhua and said, "What do you think? I really miss you. I'm delivering peanuts right now. It would be better for me to come here than to let someone else."
As the first friend Xia Juhua made in her life, she also attached great importance to her relationship with Wang Caixia. She smiled brightly after hearing this: "Who said it wasn't true? I was always in a hurry when I went to the commune several times and didn't have time to visit you. But I know that our Zhishuang has caused you a lot of trouble."
Wang Caixia felt that she was able to help Liu Zhishuang, who often asked her to buy meat, and didn't take it to heart at all: "If he doesn't ask me to go again, I won't know what you do all day. Now, as long as Zhishuang comes to me, I know that you are living a good life, and you are doing well."
Xia Juhua heard the boss of Xiache talking to Wang Caifeng outside, so she went up to Wang Caixia and whispered to her, "Let me tell you the truth, the peanuts you sent this time were not fried by me."
"Didn't you cook it?" Wang Caixia asked, but she didn't look very curious. It was obvious that she was prepared.
It's easy to say if you're prepared. Xia Juhua told Wang Caixia that she didn't have time to fry peanuts, and Wang Caifeng had mastered the skill last year. She assured Wang Caixia: "Don't worry, if you don't like the ones I fry when I deliver them, I'll buy them myself without saying anything. How about that?"
"What do you think?" Wang Caixia also whispered like Xia Juhua: "She is my sister from my mother's family. I am naturally happy when she lives a good life."
Even if everyone was happy, Wang Caixia and her husband refused to stay for dinner. In the end, Xia Juhua gave them five kilograms of vermicelli and sent them away. Wang Caifeng discussed with Xia Juhua: "Mom, how about I go and tell Grandma Qi today?"
You see, as long as they can make money, everyone will be very motivated.
That is, to designate the responsibilities of each production team, all the production team leaders must be called together to discuss it. I don't want the five production team leaders to unanimously tell Xia Juhua to decide for herself, and they will do whatever she asks them to do, and no one will say no.
According to the location agreed upon with Li Changshun and Captain Niu, Xia Juhua could not help but ask Chen Qiusheng when returning to Pingan Village: "What's wrong with the three of them? In the past, they would wait for me to say one thing and eight more."
She was a little surprised by the sudden change of attitude.
Chen Qiusheng looked proud and said, "Now, each of their production teams is looking forward to Zhiquan going to collect the vermicelli every day. How dare they disobey you?"
Xia Juhua knew that the members were hoping to make some cash, but's eagerness to sell all the vermicelli made her a little scared: "We don't know what the harvest will be like next year. They can't sell all the vermicelli. What will everyone eat in the future?"
Chen Qiusheng smiled wickedly: "They are all watching Ping An Village. Even though Qi Xi and his men are still guarding the village entrance every day, if anyone is interested, they can see what we do in Ping An Village every day and know how much vermicelli has been leaked and how much is left for each family."
Xia Juhua was still a little worried, so she told Chen Qiu Sheng: "Go back and tell each family not to sell all the vermicelli. If any family does not save food for the next autumn, they will go hungry, and the production team will have no food to provide them."
With Xia Juhua's words, Chen Qiusheng felt more confident. He went back to learn from Wu Ye and asked Zhang Cuiping to talk to the Chen family. The people of Ping'an Village had already sold vermicelli twice. Everyone counted the sweet potatoes in their hands and realized that if they continued to sell, they might really go hungry in the spring of next year. The speed of losing vermicelli suddenly slowed down.
The days passed quickly, and the day of the battle arrived early in the morning. After breakfast, everyone gathered outside the production team, chatting and laughing.
"You guys should work hard. We will bring you water in the afternoon." Zhao Xianzhi and her friends were not in a hurry to make baskets. They stood outside the crowd and shouted, "We can't let other production teams lose to us. That would bring shame to the captain."
"There's no need for you to deliver water. Team Three said there's enough hot water." Someone who wasn't afraid of death could clearly tell that it was Zhao Xianzhi who was shouting, and he replied.
"Okay, you guys can drink the water from Team 3, and it's best if you can eat in Team 3, too." How could Zhao Xianzhi be afraid of this? She threatened the person who was answering the call, "Today I will not allow your wife to come home to cook until she finishes weaving baskets, and you will have to eat cold cakes at noon."
"Sister Xianzhi, you have to see clearly who said it. Don't attack everyone at once." Someone immediately admitted his guilt and insisted on helping Zhao Xianzhi find the person who dared to say something to her, which made everyone laugh.
The Pinganzhuang production team was bustling, and the brigade headquarters was also bustling. Several brigade cadres had arrived early, and were going to ride in the brigade's horse-drawn carriage to go to the third team. Li Changshun always felt that something was missing, and after thinking about it, he slapped his forehead and asked accountant Chang: "I remember when we were organizing the battle, did we have to hang a banner?"
Accountant Chang nodded and said, "I still have that banner. How about I go find it?"
Li Changshun urged him: "Why don't you go find it quickly? What are you waiting for?" Accountant Chang stumbled and trotted to search the storeroom. When he found the things, the director of poverty alleviation, Sun Qinglin, helped Accountant Chang open the box and took a look:
Ping'an Village learns from the Dazhai Commando!
"Captain, isn't this a bit weird?" Xia Juhua felt that it would be better not to say these words.
Li Changshun waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Take them with you, and take those colorful flags with you, too. When the wind blows, they will flutter in the air and no one will care what is written on them."
Yes, it would cost money to make another banner, and the brigade didn't have much money in its account. Xia Juhua went to the warehouse with Accountant Chang again, one of them carried the flag face, and the other carried a few flagpoles, finally satisfying Li Changshun.
When their carriage arrived at the third team's site, all the people from the five production teams were standing in their designated positions, waiting for the order to start digging.
In her previous life, Xia Juhua had participated in water conservancy construction campaigns, but at that time she was the one waiting for orders from others. This time, she became the organizer. Seeing everyone rubbing their hands in anticipation, she couldn't help but feel excited.
"Chrysanthemum, please say something." Li Changshun was ready to bring Xia Juhua to the front at any time and make sure she had the consciousness of being the captain.
Xia Juhua was a little scared: "Captain, you should speak first."
"What did I say? You are the captain now. From now on, you are not allowed to call me captain. Call me Uncle Li." Li Changshun put on an impatient look and insisted on letting Xia Juhua speak.
With so many people waiting, Xia Juhua couldn't keep refusing. She took the loud speaker that Accountant Chang passed to her, raised it to cover half of her face, and shouted:
"Comrades, the Ping'an Village Brigade's winter canal repair campaign will begin today. I hope everyone will roll up their sleeves and work hard to connect the canal of Team 3 with the canal of Ping'an Village as soon as possible. Then we will go to repair the canals of Teams 4 and 5. Once the canals of the entire brigade are connected, all the land in our brigade will become irrigated land, and everyone will have hope of eating white flour steamed buns every day."
With a burst of laughter, all the members started talking about it. They didn't ask to eat white flour steamed buns every day, as long as the whole family had enough to eat during the festivals.
Few people really took Xia Juhua's words seriously. When the commune or county organized to build a reservoir a few years ago, the leaders also said so, but didn't everyone still pay the public grain for the wheat they grew? Everyone just listened to her and said that as long as the canal was built, it would be fine.
However, the whole brigade has become irrigated land, so there are more wheat crops, and each family will definitely get more than they do now. The members are already quite satisfied. In addition, Xia Juhua explained the order of canal repair clearly, so that others can do their best when repairing their own production team's canal in the future, and no one wants to slack off when working for other production teams.
What's more, people from several production teams are not far away. Let alone any production competition, there are just as many people working on the project. If you dig slower than others, how will others view you?
Li Changshun listened to Xia Juhua finish her words in just a few sentences, put down the loudspeaker, and was speechless: I asked you to speak, not to report work to the members, but you have nothing to say to encourage them except eating white flour steamed buns.
"What are you still looking at? Start working." Li Changshun yelled at the production team leaders who were still looking over. Xia Juhua then realized that she had forgotten to say start. She smiled awkwardly at Li Changshun and walked to the Ping'anzhuang production team.
Xia Juhua took the iron shovel that Chen Qiusheng had brought for her, thrust it hard into the ground, and pushed hard on the edge of the shovel. With a push of her hands, a large piece of soil was dug out. With a flip of her wrists, the soil, which weighed three or four pounds, was thrown to the side.
Everyone who had been paying attention to Xia Juhua was stunned. Is she still a woman? No wonder her nickname is Xia Xiaohuo. They thought that the people of Ping'an Village were exaggerating, but now it seems that they were not exaggerating at all. Even a strong middle-aged man would be no more than this.
Xia Juhua was not just pretending, she dug the soil one shovel after another, and soon a deep pit appeared under her feet. The members of Pingan Village were no longer surprised, and they lined up on both sides of Xia Juhua and followed her to dig.
Li Daniu shouted to the people in the small village: "Dig." The people in the small village started to move. Their land was next to the land in charge of Ping'an Village. Even if they could not catch up with the speed of Ping'an Village, they could not fall too far behind.
After the people from Ping An Village started, the three teams also started digging. As they dug, they whispered, "The captain is really capable."
"That's right. I thought the captain was just a brainiac, but I didn't expect he was also a good hand at work."
"If she hadn't always been so capable, would the people in Ping An Village have nominated her to be the production team leader? Even if they did, they wouldn't have listened to her all the time."
In the production team, everyone still respects those who can do the work and know how to do it.
The people in Team Four and Team Five were also busy. They were so excited that they didn't even bother to drink the water that the women from Team Three came to bring them, for fear that if they stopped, they would be left behind by the people from Ping An Village.
As everyone dug more soil, Liu Zhishuang and another selected tractor operator drove two tractors to start loading soil to prevent the soil from piling up too much and making it difficult to move it down the canal.
"The team leader said this is agricultural modernization. One truck of ours can handle ten of them." Some members looked at the tractor with envy.
Others said, "It's not just about pushing ten trucks. You have to exert effort when you push the trucks, but tractors can load and unload trucks by themselves. It saves effort."
"Ping An Village used a tractor to plow the soil this spring, and we can use it next year, too. Thanks to the captain for bringing us such a good thing."
Xia Juhua, who was concentrating on digging, could not hear what everyone was saying, but Li Changshun heard all these words. It was impossible to say that he did not feel a little bit sad, but after the sadness, he was more relieved: You also think that Xia Juhua is right to be the team leader, right? It was Li Changshun who first thought that she should be the team leader.
"Captain Xia, is Captain Xia here?" Someone was looking for Xia Juhua on the side of the road.
Xia Juhua, who was sweating from digging, looked up and found that three bicycles had been parked on the side of the road at some point. Several people in Zhongshan suits were standing next to the bicycles. One of them had a camera hanging on his chest and was shouting at the crowd on the ground.
"Captain, it looks like they are from the county. You go ahead." Chen Qiu Sheng was digging a canal not far from Xia Juhua. Seeing that Xia Juhua had no intention of moving, he hurriedly urged her to go over quickly - if it was someone from the county, they could not neglect them. If they felt they were neglected, what would they do if they asked for the tractor back?
I have to say that until now the entire Ping'anzhuang Brigade still feels that the two tractors are too unreal, and they are afraid that someone from the county will come to take them back at any time.
Xia Juhua brushed off the dirt on her body and found that Li Changshun was looking at her. She hurried over to him and pulled him along the road while saying, "Captain, have you seen these people before?"
Li Changshun shook his head, not wanting to step forward. Now he was no longer the team leader, so he had been following to handle the team's affairs, but he was afraid that Xia Juhua would get impatient if there were too many things to do, and no one else could handle the pile of tasks. The people in front of him were obviously from the county or higher level, so they should not be bad things, so Xia Juhua should go to meet them herself.
But how could Xia Juhua let him go so easily? She would not leave unless Li Changshun came forward. It would depend on who could outlast the other.
The people on the roadside were getting impatient waiting: "Captain Xia, we are from the county newspaper, and we are here to report the glorious deeds of the Ping'anzhuang Brigade."
What? Xia Juhua, who had never dealt with newspapers in her two lifetimes, was a little confused and didn't want to go forward: "Captain, hurry over, they are looking for you."
This is not the way to lie with your eyes open. They clearly called me Captain Xia, so why did they say they were looking for me? Li Changshun looked at Xia Juhua unhappily and said angrily, "Let's go together. How can they still eat people?"
You can't eat people, but a pen knife can sometimes kill people.
Three comrades from the county newspaper introduced themselves. It turned out that they had heard that the women of the Ping'an Village production team were actively developing sideline production and selling their products to friendly countries, so they wanted to report on it.
Unexpectedly, after arriving at the commune, I heard Director Zhang introduce that in the year of severe drought, Ping'anzhuang Brigade actually took the initiative to carry out a canal repair campaign. I felt that this was more interesting than developing side businesses, so I decisively changed the purpose of the interview and wanted to report on the campaign first.
This is a bit of a coincidence. Xia Juhua of course politely introduced Li Changshun to the three people first, and the oldest reporter extended his hand to Li Changshun: "Hello, Captain Li, we have heard about your deeds from the commune. We heard that you are a retired veteran who has led the members to fight on the agricultural front for more than 20 years. You also recommended Captain Xia to the organization as the leader of agricultural production. Is that right?"
Li Changshun didn't expect that the reporter was not being polite to him, but really understood his situation very well. His face lit up: "I am old, and I am not able to do the work of the brigade. Comrade Xia Juhua is not only young and capable, but also smart. I feel relieved to let her lead us. By the way, this canal repair campaign was the idea of Comrade Xia Juhua, and it has also won the general support of the members."
"Really?" The reporter did not take the initiative to shake hands with Xia Juhua, but only asked her a question: "Comrade Xia Juhua, you have been the production team leader for a year, and now you have taken over the work of the team leader. Do you feel any pressure?"
"How did you come up with the idea of launching a canal construction campaign? We learned that the Ping'an Village production team has drilled a total of seven wells this year, which can be used together with the production team's canals to ensure the Ping'an Village production team's needs for watering the land. How did you come up with the idea of continuing to build canals?"
Questions came one after another, and Xia Juhua only picked out the answers she was most confident in: "It is precisely because of the bad harvest this year that I realized that if the water channels of the entire brigade are not connected, the production teams far from the river will not be able to irrigate the crops in time, and the yield will be affected. Crops are the lives of farmers. If the crops cannot be harvested, the farmers' hard work for a year will be wasted. So I thought that everyone in the brigade should work together to connect the water channels as soon as possible."
"Captain Xia, you said it very well." The old reporter said excitedly: "Although you don't say anything grandiose, you can tell that you are a real farmer."
Is this nonsense? Isn't Xia Juhua a farmer or a cadre? Who pays her salary? Xia Juhua kept a polite smile and wanted to invite the reporter to sit in the third team for a while. But the reporters were all practical people. They wanted to interview the members on the spot to understand their true thoughts on the battle.
The two young reporters took out their notebooks and went to where the teams were crowded. The old reporter stayed where he was and asked Xia Juhua and Li Changshun how many members were mobilized for the battle, how everyone's work points were recorded, and how the problem of food was solved in addition to work points.
After asking, he looked at Xia Juhua intently, wanting to hear her answer.
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