Chapter 113
Hearing Director Zhang teasing her, Xia Juhua said, "If you want to deduct my salary, I won't be the team leader anymore." After saying that, she felt that it was not good to be so disrespectful to Director Zhang in front of Director Qi, so she smiled and said, "Even if I don't receive the work points and subsidies of the team leader, I still have to do my job."
Director Zhang couldn't do anything with her, so he had to let her take him and Director Qi to the vermicelli room of the Ping'anzhuang production team: the vermicelli factory of the Ping'anzhuang brigade has not yet taken shape, and they have to first see how the division of labor and cooperation that Xia Juhua mentioned works.
However, they did not go directly to the powder leaking room. Along the way, they passed by the mat weaving group and the pigpen. The two leaders inspected them and encouraged the women in the mat weaving group.
In the pig pen, they happened to meet the fifth master who supervised Liu Sizhuang and his wife. Both leaders took the initiative to shake hands with the old man and asked him about his family situation. The fifth master was naturally not stumped by the question, and he only spoke well of Xia Juhua:
"The old people in our brigade said that they never thought they could live such a good life now. Every production team gave five kilograms of white flour to the elderly over 65 years old. No matter how disrespectful the children and grandchildren were, they dared not touch the five kilograms of white flour, otherwise the brigade would punish them. Our old brothers and sisters really ate the white flour."
"In the past two years, our brigade has modernized its farming methods. We use tractors to plow the soil and sow seeds. I told our brigade leader that if we also use tractors to harvest wheat, those young people will have nothing to do."
"If we can find something else for them to do, instead of focusing on those few work points all day, their lives will definitely be better than they are now." The Fifth Master was very worried about the possibility of a surplus of labor in Ping'an Village in the future.
Xia Juhua faced the two leaders' questioning looks very calmly. She dared to assure the old men that these words were all thought out by Fifth Master himself and she had never taught him a word.
As for the fat pigs in the pig pen that were obviously more than the stipulated number, Fifth Master was dazzled by them and explained clearly: "Our team leader is too soft-hearted. He can't stand others being nice to him, so he always wants to repay them. Whether it was the commune's agricultural machinery station or the agricultural technology station, they bought piglets themselves and asked our team leader to raise them for them. Our team leader agreed without even being scolded, and even cut grass for the pigs every day."
Director Zhang, who was stunned by Director Qi's words, doubted whether the person that Fifth Master was talking about was Xia Juhua, whom they did not know very well.
When Liu Sizhuang and his wife learned that the big leader was coming, they had quietly come over, but then quietly retreated - even after a few years, Sun Guizhi still recognized that Uncle Qi was one of the two big leaders who sent her and Liu Sizhuang to the county red team that year, so now they dared not come forward.
Xia Juhua and Wu Ye both saw the shadows of two people out of the corner of their eyes.
Director Qi and Director Zhang have been in officialdom for many years, so they were able to keep a peaceful smile when saying goodbye to Master Wu. They also assured him that Pingan Manor would have better and better days and that there would be no situation where young people had nothing to do.
After receiving this guarantee, Master Wu smiled so hard that his eyes could not be seen. He waved his hands to the two leaders and even took the initiative to invite them to come to Ping'an Village to eat the slaughtered pig dishes.
Since the two leaders were silent as soon as they left the pig pen, Xia Juhua had to speak up herself: "Fifth Master is a man who can't sit still and likes to walk around. But he has a high reputation in the village. No matter what he tells the members, everyone believes him."
"He is an old man who can speak." Director Qi said.
Director Zhang also nodded: "What you said makes me believe that Captain Xia is a good comrade with a soft heart."
Comrade Xia Juhua, who was soft-hearted, quickly shut her mouth: Anyway, they were almost at the powder leaking room, and the leaders would definitely want to observe more on their own, so there was no need for her to make unnecessary introductions.
The lively working scene is very contagious. If it is mixed with people's joyful banter and the sounds of people shouting as they work together, it will make the listeners' blood boil.
"How many people came in total? It looks like a lot." Director Qi got confused while counting and decided to just ask Xia Juhua directly.
"The male workers in the production team were divided into two groups, each with more than 100 people, working 24 hours a day without stopping." Xia Juhua told the two leaders: "When we say we are working overtime, we are really working overtime. We don't rest even when we are working."
Director Zhang couldn't help but ask, "Is it the same for the other four production teams?"
Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "That's why I thought of opening a vermicelli factory. The four production teams still distributed the sweet potatoes to each family to make vermicelli. Firstly, although the thickness and length were specified, it was difficult to standardize the length of time for drying. Secondly, each family had limited manpower, and people were not machines, so they had to take a break, so the progress of making vermicelli could not catch up with Ping An Village."
The two leaders nodded, but Director Qi had another question: "If the brigade is to set up a vermicelli factory, what should we do with the vermicelli room in Ping'an Village that is leaking?" Such a large place was only built two or three years ago, and it still has a brick and tile structure. It would be a shame to leave it alone.
Xia Juhua had her own plan in mind: "Qiu Sheng and Fifth Master have discussed it and want to move the mat weaving team over. The two leaders don't know that the mat weaving team has a lot of orders now, so they have to recruit another 20 people from other production teams. The space is a bit insufficient."
When the powder room was first built, for convenience, there were no partitions in the room, and only the drying room had a fire wall. That was not a big obstacle. According to Xia Juhua and her team's idea, if they really moved the mat weaving team over, they would also build fire walls in the slurry room and the powder room to prevent their hands from getting frozen while weaving mats in winter.
After hearing that they had made plans, the two leaders asked some more questions, and Xia Juhua answered them one by one. However, she also had some questions that she wanted to see if the leaders could help solve: "It's still the problem of sweet potato storage. If our brigade opens a vermicelli factory, we will definitely have to buy a lot of sweet potatoes, and how to store them will really become a problem. I heard that some places have cold storage, I don't know..."
"Forget it," Director Qi rudely broke Xia Juhua's dream, "There is only one small cold storage in the entire Chengping area, and it's not for us." He didn't explain why it wasn't for them, so Xia Juhua didn't ask any more. She said dejectedly, "In a few years, when we have money, we will have to build a cold storage ourselves. Then the members can leak powder every day."
Both leaders thought Xia Juhua was daydreaming, but neither of them said anything to break her dream.
Without dreams, life would be hopeless.
For example, if Xia Juhua takes out the result of her dream - the simple version of instant hot and sour noodles, and demonstrates to the two leaders how to make it, won't the two leaders feel that it was a wise decision not to attack Xia Juhua?
"What are you thinking?" Director Zhang was really convinced. This person must have a grudge against vermicelli. Why does she spend so much time thinking about vermicelli every day? She has figured out all kinds of things about vermicelli.
Xia Juhua still said the same thing to Qi Weidong and Liu Zhishuang, that is, to let the Pinganzhuang boys who were away from home as new soldiers have a taste of their hometown: "It is winter now, I think the seasoning can be kept for 20 days or a month. Even if the northwest is far away from us, it can be sent to the children after such a long time."
Director Zhang ate the hot and sour noodles and laughed at Xia Juhua for being so soft-hearted. Director Qi looked thoughtful and asked, "Is it hard to make this?"
Xia Juhua nodded and said, "I've let them try to make vermicelli balls directly. It's not a big deal. But the seasoning and the plastic bag are hard to handle, so I didn't dare to make more. I'll prepare for the children to write back. I'll make it and send it to them as soon as I know the specific address."
Director Qi nodded: "They should be writing back soon, so you might as well start preparing now. Plastic bags are not easy to get, don't you ask Qi Weidong?" Do you really think he doesn't know that the boy comes to Ping'an Village as if it's his own home?
Hearing him mention Qi Weidong, Xia Juhua did not hide the fact that she was familiar with Qi Weidong, and gossipingly asked: "Director Qi, you said that Xiao Qi is not young anymore, aren't the adults in your family worried about him?"
Parents have several things in common that they worry about their children. Besides work, marriage is at the top of the list, and it takes turns to top the list according to the age of the child.
Xia Juhua is not gossiping, but Qi Weidong is actually a little older than Liu Zhishuang. Liu Zhishuang is almost going to be a father, but he has not made any movement yet. Xia Juhua really thinks he should get married.
"He doesn't even talk about finding a formal job. Which good girl is willing to marry him?" Director Qi felt a little annoyed when talking about this. Is this something that they, as adults, should be anxious about? It's just that the brat is too opinionated.
Director Zhang was only responsible for eating his own food. He had to admit that the taste was definitely worse than the freshly made food. He commented bluntly, "It was just filling, without any oil or water. If it wasn't for the sour and spicy oil, who would want to eat it next time?"
Xia Juhua thought his comment was fair: "I thought about putting a little bit of soy sauce in it, but I haven't had time to try it yet. It's because the leaders came too suddenly."
"It would be even better if there were some vegetables." Director Zhang panted rudely when he was told that he was fat.
Director Qi put aside his dissatisfaction with Qi Weidong and also put forward two suggestions of his own. For example, the current vermicelli was too thick, and if it was thinner, it would be easier to soak, etc. Xia Juhua kept them all in mind, but did not take to heart Director Qi's words before he left, asking her to make more vermicelli.
It is still in the trial stage. Even if she is the team leader, she cannot let people always take vermicelli home. It is not worth it if people misunderstand her.
People couldn't help but keep talking about it. Just two days after the two directors left, the new recruits started sending letters home one after another. Liu Zhijun and Liu Zhiliang also wrote letters back, but the difference was that Liu Zhijun only wrote one letter to his parents, while Liu Zhiliang, in addition to the letter to his parents, also wrote another letter with the envelope addressed to Xia Juhua.
They told their families that they were serving in the army at the border of Gansu and Ningxia provinces, and that they had to take a train for more than two days to reach the provincial capital, and then take a car for most of the day to finally reach their training place. However, although it was far from home, the food in the army was very good, and they could eat a full meal every day, and they could have a meal of meat every three days. They asked their families not to worry, and asked the elders to take good care of themselves.
In the letter, Liu Zhijun also instructed Liu Zhiguo to be more sensible and help more with housework, and to learn more about culture from Liu Lizhu when he has nothing to do - not going out really shows the importance of knowing how to read.
At the end of the letter, Liu Zhiliang asked Xia Juhua to keep a close eye on Liu Hongjuan, so that Sun Guizhi would not be affected after her return, which made Xia Juhua laugh and cry.
As for Liu Hongjuan, even though she had once gossiped with Sun and got reported, Xia Juhua really didn't take her seriously: she was just a little kid, not her own, so whether she was good or bad had nothing to do with her.
He is not a kid like Liu Zhiliang who works hard to improve himself.
However, since Liu Zhiliang had mentioned that she should keep an eye on her, Xia Juhua still asked about Liu Hongjuan's current situation when Hongcui came to help the next day. Hongcui was a little confused: "Auntie, what has Hongjuan done wrong again?"
Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "No, Zhiliang wrote to me asking me to keep an eye on her and stop her mother from being so sharp-tongued. I just wanted to ask."
Hongcui was relieved and said, "Since Zhiliang left, Hongjuan has ignored everyone. She follows Uncle Lizhu and the others to and from school every day, but she follows them from a distance by herself and doesn't play with other girls."
"Was it like this before?" Xia Juhua couldn't help but say, "She was just that old, what was she thinking?"
Hong Cuixin agreed and said, "That's right. Sometimes when we say hello to her, she just looks at us and doesn't say a word. She only talks to my grandma, not to my fourth uncle or aunt. My aunt scolds her every day."
Speaking of Sun Guizhi, Hongcui was also very angry: "Why is my fourth aunt so restless? She doesn't dare to say anything to anyone she meets outside, but when she comes home, she scolds Hongjuan loudly."
What else could Xia Juhua say except shaking her head? Sometimes, the most ruthless bullies are often those who are also considered weak by others. Because they are bullied by others, they can only use more despicable means to bully those who are weaker than them to vent their dissatisfaction.
Sun Guizhi was frightened whenever she went out, and after returning home she was no match for Sun and Liu Sizhuang. The only one left was Liu Hongjuan, her cousin, who could show off her majesty as a mother.
Seeing Xia Juhua shaking her head, Hong Cui said, "Auntie, sometimes I feel sorry for Hong Juan. She was a little better when Zhiliang was at home, she didn't talk much but she would smile from time to time. Since Zhiliang left, she has never smiled."
"Oh." Xia Juhua sighed, and asked Hongcui to find the letter written by Liu Zhiliang, and asked her to secretly show it to Liu Hongjuan when she returned home, so that she would know that her brother still cared about her and had not abandoned her.
Xia Juhua could only do this much; she had more important things to do.
First, I had to prepare the instant spicy and sour noodle seasoning that I wanted to send to Liu Zhijun and the others, and then, based on the suggestions made by Uncle Qi and the others that day, I had to dry a new batch of vermicelli. It took more than ten minutes to soak the vermicelli that day until it was half soft. Xia Juhua also felt that the vermicelli was too thick, and it would be a lot better if it were thinner.
This task can be given to Liu Zhiquan, but Xia Juhua herself will have to step in to order the pulping machine, flat screen, large pot for cooking noodles, containers for pulp, etc. for the brigade's vermicelli factory.
Who helped her gain experience in dealing with people at the Agricultural Machinery Station? She also has a good relationship with the county supply and marketing cooperative.
As for the fact that the commune had not yet approved Ping'anzhuang Brigade to set up a vermicelli factory, Xia Juhua felt that it was not a big deal - if the two leaders really didn't want them to do it, they would definitely not even taste her hot and sour vermicelli, let alone give her so many suggestions.
If this doesn't mean you agree to let them set up a vermicelli factory, then what does that mean?
Just when Xia Juhua was busy running between the county town and Ping'anzhuang every day, Deng Chunlin suddenly jumped out and wanted to report his thoughts to Xia Juhua. After being sent by Xia Juhua to report to Li Changshun, he said that the educated youth also wanted to contribute to the Ping'anzhuang Brigade and wanted to work with the other members to help the grain station leak flour.
"Comrade Deng Chunlin, if you have any requests for the brigade or the members, you can directly raise them. However, if you want to help Loufener, please don't ask. The members are so busy now to complete the tasks of the grain station. What can you do to help them except to light a fire for them?"
Xia Juhua was really annoyed by Deng Chunlin's repeated pettiness, and the words he said were very rude.
Deng Chunlin's thoughts were exposed, his face turned red and white, and he whispered: "Captain, there is nothing else, but there are a lot of sweet potatoes in the rations of us educated youth. I thought that if everyone is on vacation, the sweet potatoes will be consumed less and will go bad if left for a long time, so I want to learn how to make vermicelli and make our own vermicelli."
"Then you'll have to wait for a while. Right now the production teams really don't have anyone to teach you. Besides, you've been in the countryside for so many years, so you'll probably be able to learn rural work by just looking at it. Why don't you go to someone's house and learn by yourself?"
"Captain, you know, we educated youth have never had much contact with the other members of the commune. Can the team ..." Deng Chunlin finished speaking with gritted teeth. He could already imagine what tone and words Xia Juhua would use to answer him.
But what could he do? Ever since Xia Juhua revealed in front of all the educated youth that he had submitted an application to join the party, he had been isolated invisibly. In the past, there were activists among the educated youth, but Deng Chunlin was afraid that they would overshadow him, so he spread rumors among the educated youth that he was "fakely activist," "fawning," and "selling out the educated youth to please the brigade."
Because the activists worked hard, the people who worked with them had to work hard too, and they were all very resentful of them, so Deng Chunlin's words were very popular. The educated youths all spoke ill of the activists until they were beaten so hard that they dared not to show up again.
Thus, among the educated youth, a bad trend of actively attacking others was formed. Now the educated youth found that Deng Chunlin, who took the lead in creating this trend, was actually trying to be an activist himself, and naturally formed a rebellious mentality of being betrayed.
As a result, no one in the educated youth center pays attention to Deng Chunlin now. How can Deng Chunlin, who has always regarded himself as a leader of the educated youth, accept this?
He had to do something beneficial to the educated youth, letting them know that even if he was being an activist, it was to make life better for all the educated youth and restore the situation of being able to command the support of everyone in the past.
Unexpectedly, Xia Juhua, a rural woman, asked them to go to the members' homes to study. Could they enter the members' homes?
In recent years, the educated youths have not been able to get along with the members of the commune, and they also look down on each other. In addition, the educated youths have always lived in the educated youth camps, and they do their own work and have no interaction with each other. Why should they learn skills?
Xia Juhua really thought the same as Deng Chunlin, with an expression that was half-smiley but half-smiley, and her words were like a knife stabbing into people's hearts: "Now the brigade is preparing to set up a factory, and I really don't have time to greet people. Besides, you are one of the first educated youth to come to our brigade, and you should be familiar with the members, so you can go by yourself. The slogan when you went to the countryside was to integrate with the poor and lower-middle peasants, and I believe you can do it, Xiao Deng."
After saying that, Xia Juhua rode her bicycle back to the county town, completely ignoring how distorted the expression on Deng Chunlin's iron-face was.
If you are not afraid of cramps, just twist it off yourself. In the past, he relied on his youth and strength, and thought that the members were old and young, and he would take advantage of them, so he refused to work with the members. Now he wants to take advantage of the members. Xia Juhua is not used to him.
"Captain Xia, you're here just in time." As soon as Xia Juhua arrived at the county supply and marketing cooperative, the enthusiastic Director Zheng invited her to the office: "If you didn't come, I would have to go to Ping'an Village to find you."
"Have the iron barrels you bought for us arrived?" Xia Juhua felt that Director Zheng was really quick.
Director Zheng was amused: "What are you thinking? You can't buy it so quickly. The iron barrel you want is too big, and we have to find someone to make it. It's good enough if it can arrive after the New Year. I'm looking for you for another matter."
Xia Juhua was not interested in the iron bucket that she was not concerned about. Director Zheng was not annoyed by this and said with a smile: "When the regional supply and marketing cooperative delivered the goods to us, some of the cloth was soaked by snow water, and the amount was not small. I think you should be interested."
In the past two years, Ping'anzhuang Brigade has bought a lot of processed products from the supply and marketing cooperatives, the most of which is cloth. In the eyes of Ping'anzhuang members, the minor defects of the processed products are far outweighed by the fact that they do not require cloth coupons.
Now, not to mention the Ping'anzhuang production team, even the members of the other four production teams have more money on hand. The cloth processed products of the county supply and marketing cooperative do not need to be distributed to the supply and marketing cooperatives in various communes, and they can all be consumed.
Look, isn't Xia Juhua asking with shining eyes: "How many are there? What colors are they? Have they all been soaked? There must be some that haven't been soaked. There are several couples in our team who are getting married. If there are any that haven't been soaked, give them first."
Director Zheng was even happier when he heard this: "Don't worry, I'll take you to see the cloth in a while. But there's something I want to discuss with you, you see..."
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