Chapter 105 (1)
Leaders' affairs are often unpredictable, and they may have something more important to do, so they changed their schedule and will not come to Ping'an Village today. Xia Juhua did not mean to blame Uncle Qi at all - he had already considered Ping'an Village enough by letting Qi Weidong come to inform her.
Xia Juhua walked to the Ping'anzhuang production team's construction site, picked up a shovel and started to load soil. Just when she was halfway through, she heard the sound of an engine on the road, and Liu Zhishuang whispered "Mom".
Xia Juhua glared at him and continued loading the soil as if she hadn't heard him. Liu Zhishuang adjusted his expression and followed the loading. Everyone was busy and no one paid attention to the two jeeps that had come on the road and stopped by the roadside.
"Xia Juhua, Comrade Xia Juhua." After Uncle Qi got off the car, he looked around but couldn't figure out who it was, so he had to shout in person.
Xia Juhua straightened up, recognized the person who called her, smiled in surprise, and walked towards them quickly. Halfway through, she remembered something, looked around, and shouted to Li Changshun who was standing not far away with his hands behind his back: "Captain, Deputy Director Qi is here to inspect our brigade."
Li Changshun, who didn't want to step forward, had to come to the leaders with Xia Juhua, with his hands behind his back. He said welcome and took the hand that the county director extended.
Xia Juhua also looked at the leaders eagerly: "Thank you for coming to our Ping'anzhuang Brigade to inspect our work. The leaders care so much about our Ping'anzhuang Brigade. On behalf of all members, I welcome the leaders to criticize and guide our work."
The county director met Xia Juhua twice. She was dressed in a gender-indistinguishable outfit and worked hard with the members. Naturally, he had a very good impression of her and smiled as if it was always on his face: "Captain Xia, you have worked hard. The members of Ping'anzhuang Brigade have all worked hard!"
The county director raised his voice when he said the last sentence. Many people heard it and looked up. They found that their captain's hand was swaying slightly behind his back. So they all smiled shyly at the leaders who looked over and said, "It's not hard, it's not hard."
"Our farmers are as simple as ever." After sighing, the county director asked Xia Juhua: "How many days have you been carrying out this campaign? How many people have participated in the campaign? What are the results? Are there any difficulties?"
Such a considerate leader should understand the real situation. canal between the fourth and fifth teams."
The results were so remarkable that the county director smiled even more. He said "good" twice before calming down and waiting to hear Xia Juhua's next report.
Unfortunately, Xia Juhua looked a little embarrassed, as if she wanted to say something but didn't know where to start. She looked at the members, then at the county director, then at the members, and then at the other leaders following behind the county director.
"Comrade Xia Juhua, if you have any situation, just report it truthfully to the county director. The county director is here today not only to inspect the progress of the canal repair of Ping'anzhuang Brigade, but also to help the Ping'anzhuang Brigade solve the problems." Uncle Qi found Xia Juhua's expression familiar, so he simply went ahead for her.
The smile on the county director's face faded a little, but he still managed to maintain it. He nodded and agreed with Uncle Qi: "Yes, Comrade Xia Juhua, your Ping'an Village Brigade has actively carried out production and self-help. The comrades in the county are very moved by your fearless spirit and are willing to help you solve some problems within their capacity."
You see, the leader's words are very tight. He wants to solve the problem within his ability and wanted to half-block Xia Juhua's mouth from the beginning.
Unfortunately, the county director had little contact with Xia Juhua, and he didn't know that Xia Juhua wanted to say something that no one could stop. She sorted out her thoughts and spoke cautiously: "Since the leader asked, I will say what I want to say. The members of our brigade all want to repair the canal as soon as possible to increase the area of irrigated land and strive for a greater harvest."
So, is the canal built by our Ping'an Village Brigade of great significance? Such a meaningful thing should not be abandoned halfway? Xia Juhua didn't care how the leaders behind the county director looked at each other, and continued to talk to herself:
"But the leaders have seen the bad harvest this year. With the support of the county's Agriculture and Forestry Bureau, our Ping'an Village Brigade dug several deep wells and managed to keep the seeds and harvest a little. The members said that they couldn't have a harvest and see their fellow farmers starving, so we still handed in the public grain."
The leaders who were listening looked at each other. They all knew that the Ping'anzhuang Brigade did not take the relief rations but instead handed over the public rations. They just wanted to hear what Xia Juhua wanted to say next after she had laid out so much, so no one interrupted Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua was not one to keep the leaders waiting. Her voice was not clear, let alone pleasant. She just spoke the truth: "After paying the public grain, we considered that other class brothers were in more difficult situations than our Ping'an Village Brigade. We did not ask for relief grain from the collective. We thought that everyone would suffer for a few months, and we would be able to survive until the summer harvest next year."
"It was also because I was too greedy. Inspired by those deep wells, I thought that if all the land in our Ping'an Village Brigade could be turned into irrigated land, then when a drought strikes, it would not only be a matter of preserving seeds, but also a matter of obtaining a bumper harvest. So I called on fellow members to join the canal construction campaign together."
"Our members are highly conscious."
At the end, Xia Juhua was so moved by the spirit of her fellow members that she shed tears.
If a person keeps crying and complaining everywhere, his tears will become worthless, and others will at most say a few words of sympathy or concern in order to get rid of him quickly.
But when a person who has always been strong suddenly bursts into tears, the shock is too strong. Other leaders have never dealt with Xia Juhua and do not understand her character. But the county director and Uncle Qi are both people who have dealt with Xia Juhua. The last time Sun Guizhi framed Xia Juhua in front of the county director, she just treated it as a joke and was not frightened at all.
This strong person shed tears today, but she was not crying for herself, she was crying because she felt sorry for the members.
Although Xia Juhua quickly wiped away the tears and forced a smile to try to cover up her gaffe, the leaders had seen it, and the members who worked close to the leaders had also seen it.
As luck would have it, the members of Team 3 were the ones working close to the leaders.
"Captain, we don't blame you. If you hadn't led the whole team to help us repair the canal, next year our production team's canal wouldn't be connected to Ping'an Village's, and we would have to carry water one bucket at a time to irrigate the fields."
"As long as we have something to eat and are not starving, we can follow you, Captain."
"In a year like this, it's good to have steamed sweet potatoes. You want us to eat white flour buns next year, so you led us to repair the canal. If someone blames you for this, tell me, I want to see how his mother gave birth to him."
As the members became more and more excited, Xia Juhua quickly turned around and waved to them: "Everyone, dig the canal well. The leaders are here to understand the situation and help us solve the problem. I am just telling the truth."
Leaders who come to solve the problem: Is it too late for us to leave now?
It was impossible to leave. The Ping'an Village Brigade had prepared for such a long time, how could the leaders just leave after arriving? Not only could they not leave, but they had to approach the members and chat with them cordially, to understand how many people were in their families, how much grain each person received during the autumn harvest, and whether they could still have food to eat at home...
Careful leaders found that the members of Pingan Village Brigade were quite interesting. Some were very shy and felt awkward when facing the leaders, unable to even speak a complete sentence. However, a few were very talkative, not only answering the leaders' questions clearly, but also complaining in a roundabout way. Moreover, they were well matched, with talkative people beside the shy ones, so that the leaders would not be left alone.
In short, the leaders learned that although the Ping'an Village Brigade had some harvest, after paying the public grain, if everyone did not do any work and ate sparingly on the kang, they could still eat until the summer harvest. Now that they had to do such heavy physical work as repairing the canal, they could not save any more food, and they would probably have to rely on sweet potato leaves to fill their stomachs next spring.
Under such difficult conditions, no member complained about the canal being repaired, which shows that Xia Juhua's prestige among the members is real.
"The canal must be repaired. If necessary, the Red Star Commune can find a way to mobilize members from other brigades..." A leader raised an idea, but Uncle Qi immediately rejected it: "It's hard to say whether the relief rations received by members of other brigades can last until the beginning of spring. If they come to help Ping'anzhuang Brigade repair the canal, how will their work points be calculated and what will happen to their rations?"
Several leaders started arguing, while the county director observed Xia Juhua who had been accompanying him on the inspection.
Xia Juhua looked very calm, as if the leaders were not arguing about the Ping'an Village Brigade. She even found time to watch the progress of the canal digging, and from a distance she gave instructions to the team leader of a production team to measure the width of the canal to see if it had become narrower, and told them not to change the width of the canal and to build all the canals in the brigade to the same standard.
"Comrade Xia Juhua, you know the situation of Ping'anzhuang Brigade best. What do you think?" After the county director raised this question, all the leaders stopped arguing and looked at Xia Juhua together.
Xia Juhua was a little confused when she was suddenly called out: "What, me, what do I think? My idea is that if the members can have enough food, the progress of canal repair can be accelerated. Maybe this winter the canal in Xiaozhuangtou can be connected to the whole brigade, so it won't take up time for spring ploughing next year."
This was sheer nonsense. Just as one of the leaders was about to reprimand Xia Juhua, the county director asked again, "Then how can we ensure that the members have enough to eat? Do you have any ideas?"
When asked this question, Xia Juhua started to look at the members and leaders and not set her sights on specific goals. After a while, she spoke carefully: "My idea is a little immature and may be misunderstood. I still ask the leaders to think of a solution for Ping An Village. If you can share some relief food with us, it can also solve our problems."
Uncle Qi, who was standing in the crowd, tried to cover up his smile with a cough. He thought, if the county director could still provide relief rations, would he still be afraid to work in his office every day and hide from the commune directors?
The smile on the county director's face had long since disappeared: "Forget about the relief rations from the county."
Xia Juhua looked at the county director with great disappointment: "There is no relief food, but the brigade's reserve food cannot be touched casually. I really have no choice."
"Cough cough..." Uncle Qi started coughing again.
The county director and several other leaders all frowned, looking thoughtful. Xia Juhua looked at the leaders' worries without any psychological burden, and turned around to look at the women from Ping'an Village who were delivering meals in the distance.
"It's already noon. Even though we don't have anything delicious to eat, the leaders have come to Ping'anzhuang Brigade with great difficulty, so they must try what we farmers eat." Xia Juhua and other women approached and invited the leaders to have lunch, with a sense of urgency as if they were trying to rescue the leaders from their predicament.
As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of a tractor was heard from afar. When she looked up, it turned out to be Director Zhang from the commune riding the tractor.
As soon as he got off the tractor, he shook the county director's hand and said, "Director, why didn't you inform me when you came to inspect the Ping'anzhuang Brigade? If I hadn't wanted to report to you about the canal repair situation of the Ping'anzhuang Brigade, I wouldn't have known you were here."
The county director smiled and shook hands with Director Zhang. He looked at him and said, "You came at the right time. Comrade Xia Juhua wants us to recall the bitter past and think of the sweet present. But we all know that the farmers are short of food. We are embarrassed to take food from them."
"Of course we can't take food from the peasants." Director Zhang said righteously, "Let's go to the commune. I'll treat the leaders to a meal and report to the director on the work of the Red Star Commune."
"Director Zhang," Xia Juhua called out weakly, "Look, I've already notified the women in the Ping'anzhuang production team, and they've prepared the food. It's not anything fancy, just a bowl of hot and sour noodles for everyone..."
Hearing that Pingan Village prepared hot and sour rice noodles for the leaders, Director Zhang completely forgot that he had just invited the county director to the commune to report to him on work, and instead introduced him to hot and sour rice noodles: "... Director, you will know after you try it. Don't think that it is just soaked noodles. It can be seasoned and easy to chew and digest."
Uncle Qi looked at Xia Juhua in confusion and found that she was staring at the county director, waiting for his decision. Uncle Qi turned his head and heard someone blowing a whistle. The members nearby had put down their tools, brushed off the dirt on their bodies, and found places to sit down in groups of three or five.
"Captain, we are all ready. Would you like to eat now or wait a while?" The woman from Ping'an Village who took the lead in delivering the food shouted to Xia Juhua from a distance.
Xia Juhua, with a flattering smile, invited the county director again: "Director, you can try our hot and sour noodles with the leaders. If it doesn't suit your taste, can you go to the commune with Director Zhang to eat it?"
With such hospitality and such carefulness, no one could refuse. However, the county director had his own solution: "You can give it a try. But Comrade Xia Juhua, we have a daily ration, and the organization has regulations. No matter where we eat, we must get our own ration tickets and money. You can't let us make mistakes later."
Xia Juhua looked embarrassed: "Director, you care about us so much. You came all the way here to inspect the land covered in mud and dirt. How can we accept your grain coupons?"
Uncle Qi said with a smile, "Don't refuse to accept the director's food coupons, or he will be worried. You want the director to agree to let you borrow the reserve food first. Director, let's go to the Red Star Commune with Director Zhang. The hot and sour noodles in Ping'anzhuang Brigade are too expensive. We can't afford it."
Director Zhang looked at Uncle Qi with a smile, and neither extended an invitation to the county director nor persuaded him to stay in Ping'an Village for dinner. He only said, "In fact, Captain Xia has proposed to me that he wants to borrow some of the reserve grain to increase the rations of the members who are repairing the canal."
"It's not much, just half a pound of subsidy per person per day. I think if the area of their irrigated land increases, they can make up for it next year, and replace the reserve grain with new grain. But this matter is too big for our commune to make the decision. I wanted to report it to the director today. Director, you should personally help the Ping'an Village Brigade solve their difficulties."
Uncle Qi simply pulled the county director: "Director, let's go, let's not even go to the Red Star Commune, we can just go back to the county. Director Zhang is not inviting you to dinner, he obviously wants to invite the entire Ping'anzhuang Brigade to dinner."
The county director's body swayed a few times as his uncle pulled him, but his feet were rooted to the ground and he didn't move. He looked at Xia Juhua and asked her the same question: "Comrade Xia Juhua, can you guarantee that the Ping'anzhuang Brigade will have all its reserve grains replenished by next summer's harvest?"
His expression was more serious than ever, his eyes were more sharp than ever, and after he finished speaking, the corners of his mouth were pursed into a straight line, tightly protecting his teeth. No one could expect to see a trace of looseness on his face.
Xia Juhua seemed to be looking at the county director, and seemed to see something else through the county director. She said, "Director, I can guarantee it. I don't believe that this drought can continue, and I don't believe that the water in the Xihe River will always be half dry. As long as there is water in the Xihe River and we have repaired the canal, why should we worry about not being able to increase production? Not to mention replenishing the reserve grain, even if we replace all the reserve grain with new grain, our Ping'an Village Brigade can do it!"
"Let's go and try the delicious hot and sour rice noodles from Ping'anzhuang Brigade." The county director opened his pursed lips and spoke about the problem of how to solve the lunch problem.
Uncle Qi and Director Zhang exchanged a glance, and both saw joy in each other's eyes. They were both patient people, and were afraid that Xia Juhua would lose her temper and ask the director whether she could use the reserve grain. They watched Xia Juhua let the director go to the rest area of the Ping'an Village production team members.
Before I even got close, the smell of the hot and sour seasoning stirred by boiling water hit my nose. In the cold weather, the white steam was accompanied by a sour and spicy smell and a little bit of oil fragrance, which made people sniff again and want to smell it again.
"It smells good." Compared to the calm county director, the deputy, Uncle Qi, was not so calm. He immediately praised, "Captain Xia, if you eat this every day, it's no worse than eating white flour."
Zhao Xianzhi was not a coward, and when he heard Uncle Qi's words, he instinctively said, "How can it not be worse than white flour? This thing is just eaten warm, and if you want to relieve hunger, white flour is the best."
Several leaders laughed. It was rare to see Deputy Director Qi being speechless by a rural woman. If they didn't laugh now, who knew if there would be a next time.
Uncle Qi took the bowl from Zhao Xianzhi awkwardly and asked, "Is this sweet potato vermicelli?"
Zhao Xianzhi said quickly, "It's just sweet potato flour. Thanks to our team leader, he invited a forest technician from the agricultural technology station in the spring to help us plant a lot of sweet potatoes. Otherwise, we wouldn't know what would happen to our families."
The county director took a sip of the soup and felt a rush of hot air rushing into his nose. His body, which had just been chilled by the cold wind, now felt its pores dilate and warm up.
He couldn't help but say "good", and then followed up Uncle Qi's question and Zhao Xianzhi's answer and asked, "The sweet potatoes in each of your households have all turned into sweet potato flour. Are they not damaged? Is sweet potato flour not as good as sweet potatoes in satisfying hunger?"
Zhao Xianzhi didn't know what loss was, so he automatically ignored the word and only answered what he could: "How can it be worse than sweet potatoes? Leader, you don't know that steamed sweet potatoes can only satisfy your hunger when you eat them, but in terms of satisfying hunger, they are really not as good as sweet potato noodles. Don't think that it takes several kilograms of sweet potatoes to make one kilogram of vermicelli, but when you eat it with soup, it is warm and filling."
After saying this, he looked at Xia Juhua, who was holding a bowl of hot and sour rice noodles, with admiration and said, "Otherwise, why would the people in our production team obey our team leader? Normally, if someone has a skill, they would hide it for fear that others would learn it. But our team leader not only taught us how to make rice noodles, but also taught us how to eat it properly. Otherwise, when we ate rice noodles before, we would just eat a handful when stewing vegetables, and we always felt that it was not delicious without meat. But how many times a year can farmers eat meat? Now it's so good..."
Xia Juhua had no choice but to put down the bowl and called out, "Xianzhi, quickly prepare the rice noodles for the leaders." I asked you to deliver the meal, not to take credit for me.
Hearing that Xia Juhua didn't want him to praise her, Zhao Xianzhi complained to the county director in a low voice: "Our captain is like this. She doesn't want anyone to talk about what she did. You said she obviously did good things, so what's wrong with that?"
The county director saw that Xia Juhua was glaring at Zhao Xianzhi, and said to Zhao Xianzhi with a smile: "It's okay, just talk, we are here, your captain won't say anything to you."
Zhao Xianzhi glanced at Xia Juhua and sighed to the county director: "I also know that our captain was forced to do so, so he had to think of ways to make everyone eat more palatable. If there was white flour, who would want to eat vermicelli every day? It's because sweet potatoes don't keep well, and people are afraid that they will rot and have nothing to eat in the spring, so they repair the canal during the day and have to go home to leak vermicelli at night."
"Do you still eat hot and sour rice noodles every day at home?" the county director asked Zhao Xianzhi.
Zhao Xianzhi smiled and said, "How can we eat it every day? How many sweet potatoes are each person in our production team given? How can we afford to eat it every day? We just mix a little bit of various grains to make our stomachs full, and sometimes we even have to mix in some bran."
The county director had also heard about the Ping'anzhuang brigade buying wheat bran, and then asked: "Then your brigade needs to buy more wheat bran."
Zhao Xianzhi shook his head regretfully and said, "We can't buy it. Everyone knows that wheat bran is a good thing. How can it be our Ping'an Village team's turn to buy it? The director of the noodle factory thought our captain bought too much last time and said he would not sell it to us. If we could buy wheat bran, why would our captain be so worried?"
Now it was Director Zhang's turn to cough. He didn't know whether Zhao Xianzhi was intentionally arranged by Xia Juhua. Judging from the look on his face, he was afraid that the director of the noodle factory would be criticized again.
The county director stopped asking questions. He had to digest the information he had received. It seemed that Xia Juhua was really desperate. The county newspaper had already reported the canal repair campaign, so she must not give up halfway. But the members were hungry, and they could not rely on their spirits to support them for a few days. They could have used wheat bran to help them out, but wheat bran was no longer available...
There were so many difficulties that the county director was worried about Xia Juhua.
As a leader, you need to solve problems for your subordinates in a timely manner so that they can work without worries. The director and other leaders finished drinking the hot and sour rice noodles and said with a smile: "We can't just drink the hot and sour rice noodles of the Ping'anzhuang Brigade. It's a good opportunity to discuss how to solve their urgent need for food. Director Zhang, please listen and take notes when you return to the commune."
Director Zhang nodded obediently, took out a small notebook from his pocket, and pretended to take notes. Xia Juhua took Zhao Xianzhi and a few others far away, so that the leaders would not think that she was trying to eavesdrop on the meeting.
In fact, by the time the meeting came, the leader had already had a general idea in mind, and just needed to unify everyone's thoughts. All the team members were there, and within five minutes Xia Juhua was called back. The county director had a serious talk with her and conveyed the spirit of the meeting:
"Comrade Xia Juhua, after unanimous discussion by the members of the county's revolutionary committee, it has been decided that Ping'anzhuang Brigade can temporarily borrow the reserve grain to supplement the food rations of the members in the canal repair campaign. However, it is not free of charge. After the summer harvest next year, Ping'anzhuang Brigade must fully replenish the grain used. Can you do it?"
Yes, of course. This year, the Pinganzhuang production team was able to produce 400 kilograms of grain. Xia Juhua believed that as long as the water supply was sufficient, it would not be a problem to produce 500 kilograms next year.
However, there was no excessive surprise on her face, and her voice was a little nervous: "Director, can we supplement it in summer and autumn? You can see that the powder we leak is no worse than regular food. Can we..."
The county director turned around and whispered something to Uncle Qi and the others, and finally agreed that the Ping'an Village Brigade could replenish its reserve rations in summer and autumn, but he disagreed with using sweet potato flour to replenish them.
This is not bad. The only thing that can be harvested in the summer is wheat, but in the autumn we can harvest corn and sorghum.
Xia Juhua finally showed emotion on her face. She bowed to all the leaders with some excitement and said, "Thank you so much, leaders. You have helped our Ping'an Village Brigade solve a big problem. After knowing this, the members will definitely work harder to open the water channel for the entire brigade as soon as possible."
She was not only excited, but also turned around and shouted to the members working nearby: "Comrades, the county leaders have taken into account the difficulties of our Ping'an Village Brigade and agreed that each of us can use half a catty of reserve grain every day. This is because the leaders care about everyone's health. Everyone should thank the leaders for their care, roll up their sleeves and work hard to open our water channels as soon as possible and return the reserve grain as soon as possible. Don't make things difficult for the leaders. Don't you agree?"
"Thank you for your care, leadership." Members nearby heard Xia Juhua's shout and followed her.
Members far away heard the shouting of people nearby, and under the leadership of their respective team leaders, they also waved their arms and shouted the second wave: "Thank you for your care, leaders." The same as the echo.
It was time for the director of the poverty alleviation project, Sun Qinglin, to speak. He raised his megaphone, swung his arms around and said, "Work hard and open the canal as soon as possible."
Now all the members near and far could hear clearly, and everyone's voice finally converged: "Work hard and open the canal as soon as possible."
Xia Juhua shouted slogans with everyone else, her face flushed after a few words. Uncle Qi pulled her, and she winked at Sun Qinglin, who came over quickly and handed the loud speaker to the county director.
The county director did not refuse. He raised his loudspeaker and said to everyone, "Comrades, you have worked hard. Seeing that you are still actively building water conservancy projects in the year of great disaster, on behalf of the county revolutionary committee, I express my highest respect for your revolutionary spirit."
Xia Juhua and several production team leaders tacitly led the members to applaud. After the long applause stopped, the county director continued to talk about the outstanding deeds of Ping'anzhuang Brigade in fighting drought in the past year, the fruitful results achieved, and the bright prospects after this major water conservancy overhaul. He solemnly promised the members that if Ping'anzhuang Brigade still had any difficulties, the county revolutionary committee would actively help Ping'anzhuang Brigade solve them after knowing about them.
The leader's speech level elevated Xia Juhua's thinking. She took the lead in raising her arms and shouted: "Don't be afraid of difficulties, and strive for greater victory."
The members all agreed: "Don't be afraid of difficulties, and strive for greater victory."
Even after the leaders' jeep disappeared from view, Xia Juhua could still hear the slogans echoing in her ears. She asked Chen Qiusheng, "Did my throat get sore when I shouted the last slogan?"
Chen Qiusheng brought her a bowl of water with a smile, and while watching her drink, he said, "It's good. I see the leaders are very happy. They all said that they will come to visit us when our canal is repaired."
"The canal has been repaired, why are they here?" Xia Juhua said as she walked towards the digging site in Ping'an Village.
Chen Qiu Sheng: If the leaders knew their role in the Ping'an Village Brigade, and simply decided to allow them to borrow the reserve rations, what would they be thinking?
For the members of Pinganzhuang Brigade, it really didn't matter what the leaders thought. What they knew was that they could get half a pound of real food every day, and they didn't have to work so hard that they would feel weak and want to rest somewhere.
With food in their stomachs, everyone was more motivated to dig the canal. Before the beginning of the twelfth month, they had already moved to the area that had not been connected between the fourth and fifth teams, marked the positions of each production team, and continued digging the canal.
When Chen Qiusheng reminded Xia Juhua that it was time to ask the purchasing station whether to hand over the task pigs, Xia Juhua looked at the canals that Team 4 and Team 5 were about to open and asked, "Isn't it time for Master Wu to have his birthday?"
Chen Qiusheng smiled helplessly, "Fifth Master's birthday is on the 23rd day of the lunar month, which is still seven or eight days away. I think the canal between Team 4 and Team 5 can be opened before the Little New Year. Captain, do you think we should withdraw a few people? It's time to get busy with our production team's affairs."
Xia Juhua waved her hand at him quickly, "Don't withdraw now. If our production team withdraws, the few people who are producing will have no interest in working. I also want everyone to work harder and try to repair half of the canal in Xiaozhuangtou by the end of the year."
Chen Qiusheng put his hands in his sleeves and breathed out continuously, "It's so cold today. Every time I dig, I find a white spot. I want to repair the canal in Xiaozhuangtou. It's not as hard as what's left of Team 4 and Team 5 now."
Who says it isn’t? There was a light snowfall a few days ago. Although it wasn’t heavy, it gave everyone hope. The members began to relax a little bit - if it had just rained, why would they have gone to the trouble of repairing the canal?
But Xia Juhua was thinking about the household contract responsibility system in a few years, the endless conflicts over whose land the canal would occupy, and the canal that was finally shelved halfway. She gritted her teeth and said, "It has to be repaired no matter how hard it tries. Once their canal is open, the whole brigade will be connected, and we still have to reserve grain for next year."
Seeing Li Changshun slowly approaching, Chen Qiu Sheng said no more and led the members of Ping An Zhuang to fight desperately.
Li Changshun saw Chen Qiusheng ran away when he came, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Qiusheng has become cunning now. Why did he run away when he saw me? Did he say something behind my back?"
Xia Juhua said quickly: "What can he say? He just asked me whether we should celebrate Fifth Master's birthday like last year. Captain, this is what I think. We have been tired for almost a month. Let's give everyone a day off on the day of the Little New Year."
Li Changshun said with some envy: "You don't want to give everyone a holiday, but you want all of you to come together as a production team to celebrate Master Wu's birthday."
You see through it but don't say it, old comrade, how could you have forgotten it? Xia Juhua looked at Li Changshun accusingly, but said nothing.
This winter, the members of Ping'anzhuang Brigade worked much harder than in previous years. In the past, after the winter, everyone did odd jobs in the production team, not like now, digging hard frozen soil every day. Fortunately, everyone saw the results, and there was a food subsidy every day. Generally speaking, everyone was satisfied, and Xia Juhua's prestige was established.
Delivering the assigned pigs was not the responsibility of just one production team in Ping'an Village. Xia Juhua and Li Changshun gathered all five production team leaders at the local area and held a brief meeting.
Now the brigade has its own tractors. If one truck cannot fit two tractors, they can run two trips. This is a much easier job than lifting by hand. Captain Niu admired Xia Juhua and gave her a thumbs up: "Captain, you are the one who got these two tractors."
Li Daniu and a few others looked at Captain Niu with contempt, but no one stood up to refute him - the two people driving the tractor were Xia Juhua's biological son and a member of Team 3. If they dared to say a bad word about them, the production team's pigs would definitely have to be carried to the collection station.
On the day when the pigs were delivered, although they did not need to be carried to the purchasing station, each production team still had to carry the pigs from the production team to the brigade headquarters. When the five pigs from each production team were gathered together, it was immediately possible to tell which production team's pigs looked like.
Needless to say, the fattest pigs were from Ping An Village. Each pig must weigh 230 to 240 kilograms. Li Dan kicked the pigs from his own production team in a proud manner and said, "What a shame! How can it weigh 180 kilograms?"
Compared with the pigs in Pingan Village, the pigs in their production team are malnourished.
Pingan Village earns much more money than their production team just by delivering the task pigs! No wonder Niu Laobie always wants the young man from their production team to marry the daughter of Pingan Village. If they really marry her, maybe she will bring the craftsmanship of Pingan Village to their production team.
Li Daniu looked at the members of Ping'an Village who came to deliver pigs with shining eyes, and silently calculated in his heart which of these people had a daughter of the right age to form a pair with which young man from their small village.
The people in Ping An Village were frightened by Li Daniu's eyes. They stood far away from him unconsciously and whispered, "Is Li Daniu crazy? Why does he look at people like that?"
"Who knows? Our production team was going to deliver pigs. I saw him staring at us as if we were a piece of fat meat."
"Speaking of fat meat, it's still more satisfying when we eat the dishes after slaughtering the pig. I heard that we're celebrating Fifth Master's birthday together this year." The person who spoke had no idea that he was being ridiculous: "Didn't our production team keep three pigs this year? How much meat should each person get? I think the three pigs we kept are fatter than the ones we handed in. They should be as fat as five fingers."
From talking about Li Daniu's eyes to imagining how much pork each person would get this year, the topic changed smoothly. Xia Juhua listened and began to look forward to the Little New Year's Day.
Days passed quickly when there was hope. On the day of the Little New Year, Xia Juhua did not even go to the brigade headquarters, but went directly to the yard of the Fifth Master to pick up the old man and go to watch the pig slaughter.
Fifth Master was wearing a brand new coat and a pair of new cotton shoes. Xia Juhua couldn't help but smiled and said, "Fifth Master, you look so energetic. You look ten years younger."
Five Masters Habits
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