Chapter 116
In the view of Accountant Chang, who had been working in the brigade headquarters, the educated youth were all trying to cause trouble for the brigade from time to time. Now that Chen Kaiwu suddenly wanted to exchange the vermicelli, he might want to leave evidence that the Ping'anzhuang Brigade had exchanged vermicelli privately and report to the commune.
By then, all the witnesses and evidence will be there, and Xia Juhua will not be able to explain herself even if she has a hundred mouths.
Xia Juhua figured out why Accountant Chang called her. She glanced at Chen Kaiwu, smiled nonchalantly, and said to Accountant Chang, "It's okay. Just take Xiao Chen to Team 4 and let him bring his own sweet potatoes. He can exchange as many as he has. I'm sure Xiao Chen will understand that we members can't exchange more for him."
Did you hear me? If we say exchange, we will exchange it with sweet potatoes, six pounds for one pound. Don't even think about buying it with money. When someone asked about it, Xia Juhua had just explained that because the educated youth were also considered members of the Ping'anzhuang Brigade, the members would rather suffer a little more and consider it as helping them to leak the powder.
Chen Kaiwu's face turned red and blue, and after a long while he said, "Captain, Accountant Chang, don't worry. There are people with bad intentions among the educated youth, but I am not one of them. I am grateful to you for exchanging vermicelli for me, and I will not do the kind of thing that says nice things to your face but stabs you in the back."
At this point he obviously hesitated for a moment before saying to Xia Juhua, "Captain, I heard that the members of the commune compensated the grain station for leaking vermicelli, and they gave me one pound of vermicelli for every seven pounds of vermicelli. Just give it to me according to this ratio."
Accountant Chang couldn't help but glance at Xia Juhua. He could tell that Chen Kaiwu obviously knew that someone among the educated youth was up to something, so he used the excuse of wanting to change the vermicelli to remind Xia Juhua.
I was just being mean-spirited. But I often regret it. Under the leadership of Xia Juhua, the entire Pingan Village Brigade now mainly eats wheat. How could they have dared to dream of such a good life before? Now that he is right beside me, I must remind Xia Juhua.
Let him be a villain, as long as everyone can live a good life, he will accept the title of villain.
Xia Juhua was still very touched by Accountant Chang's reminder, and smiled very easily: "Okay, Accountant Chang, then you can take Xiao Chen with you, and we can exchange the money according to the ratio he agrees to."
Watching the two people leave, Xia Juhua checked the people among the educated youth and figured out who might be trying to do something. The smile on her lips turned into a sneer: first he wanted to learn how to leak vermicelli from the members, and then he wanted to find out the bottom line of Ping'an Village's exchange of vermicelli. Deng Chunlin's little brain is quite useful.
It's a pity that it was not used in the right place. Xia Juhua figured it out and didn't take it to heart. Even if Deng Chunlin got hold of something against the Ping'anzhuang Brigade, the only places he could complain to were the commune or the county. Was she familiar with either of these two places?
It was obviously a futile effort, so it was strange that Xia Juhua took him seriously. I heard that Chen Kaiwu also used seven kilograms of sweet potatoes to exchange for one kilogram of vermicelli. Did any of the educated youths in the entire educated youth site exchange vermicelli with the members of Ping'an Village?
Their food supply is not even as much as that of the other members. Sweet potatoes still account for one-third of their food supply. If they replace all of it with vermicelli, they will be hungry in the early spring!
What the educated youth didn't know was that on the day Chen Kaiwu and Dong Jinbu returned home, they happened to meet Liu Zhishuang driving a tractor to deliver goods on their way to the county town. Not only did he take the initiative to invite the two to ride on the tractor, but he also gave each of them a pound of vermicelli when they left, saying that it was a rare opportunity for them to get along so well, and asked them to take some to their families to try.
Among the vermicelli that Chen Kaiwu exchanged, there was one for Dong Jinbu, which was packed in the luggage of the two people. How could he take Liu Zhishuang's vermicelli? But Liu Zhishuang was stronger than them, and he sent the two people to the bus station and ran away. The two were afraid of missing the bus, so they had to accept this gift.
"Qian Bu, when we come back from vacation, don't tell them that Liu Zhishuang asked us to be his hitchhiker." Chen Kaiwu instructed his companions.
Dong Jinbu was no fool: "I know, the captain must have asked Liu Zhishuang to escort us so that we wouldn't suffer any loss. I just don't understand, Deng Chunlin has been struggling every day, but he hasn't come up with anything, why doesn't he give up?"
It's a good thing that someone can understand your intention, but Xia Juhua doesn't care. She has already soaked the reed skin for braiding eggplants, and has also figured out how to braid the corn realistically, and she is busy at home.
As for Xiaoman's Hongcui, the person who was called to help light the fire was Xia Hu's wife Zhang Fengling - Xia Long's wife Xu Hongcui had to cook for everyone at home. In addition, Xia Mancang had already found a partner and decided to get married in early February (lunar calendar), so he was busy preparing things for the wedding at home and did not come.
The progress on Grandma Qi's side was also going smoothly. Her lifetime of experience in knitting things came in handy. She knitted a nest of chicks that were so lifelike that Lele took one in his hand and wouldn't let it go.
Wang Caifeng was very embarrassed and wanted to snatch the chicken from Lele's hand, but Lele, who was always very obedient, refused to let go. Grandma Qi hurriedly told Wang Caifeng not to snatch it: "It's not a big deal. Let the child play with it. I will go back and make another one."
Xia Juhua didn't get involved in this topic at all. She had looked at it carefully and found that the reed bark that Qi Nai used to weave the chicken was the same as the one she used to weave the peppers. Both were re-split and much narrower than ordinary reed bark.
"Seventh Aunt, do we need to ask the people who broke the reed skin to break some of the reed skin used to weave these little things?" Xia Juhua asked.
Grandma Qi was looking at a bunch of chili peppers that Xia Juhua had already strung together. She smiled and said, "You have to break them a little, or you'll waste your time breaking the skin all over again."
Now, not only is the division of labor and cooperation clear in the powder leaking room, but the breaking of reed skins, weaving of things, and dyeing of colors in the mat weaving group are also separated. Each step has a clear division of labor, which saves a lot of time.
After the six series of things were compiled, Xia Juhua asked Liu Zhishuang to take her to the county supply and marketing cooperative on a tractor so that Director Zheng could check it. Director Zheng was very happy when he saw Xia Juhua - this speed was too fast. He originally thought that it would take another six or seven days for Ping An Zhuang to be ready.
Then we could see that Xia Juhua had filled the conference room with things. The calligraphy mats took up three tables, the pen holders and small baskets took up one table, and the animals woven by Grandma Qi were a family of chickens on one table, the twelve zodiac animals on another table, and the hanging ornaments woven by Xia Juhua took up another table.
The colorful woven fabrics put together created a huge visual impact. Director Zheng clapped his hands excitedly, "Captain Xia, you Ping'an Village people are really smart. Once these things are sent to the region, I guarantee that there will be no problems in other counties."
Director Zheng sighed like this because other county supply and marketing cooperatives saw that Pingde Supply and Marketing Cooperative had become popular with its weaving products, so they went back and organized local members to start weaving. As the saying goes, if people with skills study it for a while, Pinganzhuang's original products are still easy to be imitated.
That's why Director Zheng reminded Xia Juhua last time to pay more attention to varieties in order to prevent others from imitating her quickly.
After hearing the whole story, Xia Juhua was angry but could do nothing - such things had been shown on TV all her life, and even high-end things like VCDs and DVDs were imitated by people, not to mention Ping An Zhuang's textile products that had no technical content.
She could only keep this incident in mind, reminding herself all the time that no matter what new tricks Ping An Zhuang came up with, she had to make up enough money before releasing it.
Now she could only ask Director Zheng: "When are you going to deliver it to the region?"
Director Zheng was in a conflicted mood - if he sent it too early, he was afraid that others would learn from him; if he sent it too late, he was afraid that the regional supply and marketing cooperative would not be interested in it, and he would not even have time to think about new varieties. So he asked Xia Juhua: "Captain Xia, do you have any good ideas?"
Xia Juhua thought for a moment and said, "How about Zheng Yuren, when you send the samples to the district supply and marketing cooperative, you sign a confidentiality agreement with them. Whoever leaks our new tricks will pay compensation to Ping An Manor?"
Director Zheng found this very unbelievable: "Providing local specialties to the district supply and marketing cooperative is our county supply and marketing cooperative's obligation. How can we let the district supply and marketing cooperative sign a confidentiality agreement with us?"
Xia Juhua was a little speechless to Director Zheng: "Director, you said that other counties have also imitated our Pinganzhuang products. If we don't sign a confidentiality agreement this time, what if someone from a county supply and marketing cooperative has a good relationship with someone in the regional supply and marketing cooperative and shows our products to others, and they learn and make up their own version, wouldn't our efforts be in vain?"
Director Zheng was speechless after being asked this question. After a while, he said, "But Captain Xia, the regional supply and marketing cooperative is the superior unit of our county supply and marketing cooperative. They are the only ones who give us tasks. We have never..."
Since Director Zheng didn't have the guts to ask the regional supply and marketing cooperative to sign a confidentiality agreement, Xia Juhua simply said, "Then we'll wait until the last minute to send it. If they like it, we'll give them all the edited copies. If they don't like it, we'll find a way to sell it to someone else. What do you think?"
Director Zheng was a little afraid that his limelight would be stolen by others because he couldn't report the good news to the regional supply and marketing cooperative as soon as possible, so he hesitated and couldn't make up his mind. Xia Juhua didn't have time to waste with him: "Director Zheng, you have seen the samples, so just tell me what you think of our products."
Seeing that Xia Juhua was no longer as easy-going as before, Director Zheng also realized that his performance just now was a little poor, so he tried to make amends and said, "Of course it's good. Didn't I just say that if it is taken to the district, no one else will have anything to do with it."
Xia Juhua nodded: "Then Zheng Yu, you can set a price for these things. If we want our Pingan Village's weaving products to participate in the expo, we have to weave 100 pieces of each product. Do you think we should pay the deposit first?"
于是便進入了定價環節，除了筆筒和字席以往有價格之外，夏菊花和鄭主任真是一樣一樣掰扯——後編的幾樣太費工夫，加之平安莊工分值的提高，編織品價格不上去，回去沒法給婦女們記工分。
最終講好的價格是雞家族每組八塊錢，十二屬相每組十五塊錢，而夏菊花編的挂飾每挂六塊錢。鄭主任很為難的跟夏菊花商量：“夏大隊長，要不每樣你們只編五十個吧，這個價格實在太高了，就算拿到博覽會上去，恐怕也……”
夏菊花想想同意了：這時候大家都還在為解決溫飽奮鬥呢，剛才談價格的編織品，最終的銷路肯定是面向友好國家。這個時候的友好國家才幾個，賣不出去砸到自己手裏還不如少編點兒。
“行，那這幾樣我們就都編五十個，字席和筆筒還按一百個編吧。”
鄭主任見夏菊花如此理解自己，心裏有些不好意思，咬着牙讓會計馬上給平安莊付了一半的定金，張羅着讓人把東西放進庫房。
夏菊花對他搖頭說：“鄭主任，這東西還是拉回我們平安莊吧，要不出點啥事咱們說不清楚。”
鄭主任想想點頭同意，眼睜睜看着夏菊花和劉志雙把東西重新裝上拖拉機，不停的讓他們小心點兒，別把東西給壓壞了。
“娘，咱們編的東西不行呀？”劉志雙直到拖拉機離開縣供銷社，才問出口。
夏菊花搖頭說：“行，鄭主任覺得咱們編的東西，拿到地區都是頭一份，不過怕有人把樣子學去，先拉回平安莊放着。哎，先不回村呢，咱們先去郵局把東西給志/軍他們郵去。”
原來來縣城的時候，已經把要給新兵們的方便酸辣粉都裝上拖拉機了，免得還要特意跑一趟。寄的不多，一百零五袋。她在寫給劉志/軍和劉志亮的信裏寫的很清楚，讓他們給新兵們每人分上五袋，就當是跟家裏人一起過年了——按夏菊花算的時間，東西郵到的孩子們當兵的地方，也該是過年的時候了。
誰讓這個時候根本沒有快遞一說，交通太不方便了。
回家後自然要把趙仙枝等人再叫到家裏，将情況跟她們都說明白，再把四千多塊錢定金交給陳秋生和劉紅玲，讓她們當面點清。
趙仙枝見有這麽些定金，十分遺憾的說：“這要是一樣都編一百個的話，咱們不是得掙上萬塊。”
在人均工次二三十塊錢的年月，上萬塊錢是啥概念，就算是平安莊所有人一起分，一人都能分到二十塊！
夏菊花不得不提醒她：“錢是不少，可是得先選出人來學會編新花樣，得把需要的葦皮按顏色泡出來，以前的訂單還得完成，你的事兒不少。”
趙仙枝知道自己肩膀上的擔子比任何時候都重，不過還是向夏菊花保證：“隊長，你放心吧。那天安排人的時候，我就把新招來的人都安排編席去了，籃子也還是讓姑娘們編，筆筒也不費啥事兒。”
聽她心裏有了計較，夏菊花也就放心了，不過挂飾得她親自教，七奶也得教人編動物，夏菊花幹脆帶着挑出來的人，每天都到七奶家裏一起編了起來。
這天正編着呢，常會計一臉笑容的過來找人了：“大隊長，縣供銷社的鄭主任來了。”
夏菊花還奇怪呢：“又不是沒來過，你咋這麽高興呢？”
常會計還是笑呵呵的：“他可不是一個人來的，是坐着吉普車來的，我也沾光從大隊部坐到了平安莊。”
這個常會計，咋就抓不住重點呢，夏菊花一下子站了起來：“那人現在在哪兒呢?”
“都去編織組了，我見趙仙枝把人招呼進去了，才過來找你。好象趙仙枝已經讓人去叫陳隊長了。”常會計還沒從坐吉普車的興奮裏緩過來呢，帶着笑總算把事兒說明白了。
“七奶，那你們先編着，我過去看看。”夏菊花一邊跟七奶說着，一邊急忙往出走。
不把樣品先送到地區供銷社是不送，可人家都來平安莊了，她這個大隊長說啥也得表現的熱情點兒。
“夏大隊長，你來了。來，我給你介紹一下，這是地區供銷社的薛副主任。”鄭主任一見夏菊花，就向她介紹起來。
“薛副主任，歡迎你來平安莊指導工作。”
“夏大隊長你好。”薛副主任幾乎跟夏菊花同時開口，還向夏菊花伸出了手，夏菊花沖他笑了一下，沒有去握，薛副主任十分淡定的收回手，不見一絲尴尬。
這讓夏菊花心裏對他的好感提升了不少，介紹起現在平安莊編席組來也詳細多了。介紹的差不多了，鄭主任笑着對夏菊花說：“夏大隊長，薛副主任這次來，主要是要看看你們那幾個系列産品的，現在是不是帶薛副主任去看一看？”
夏菊花看了趙仙枝一眼，見她微微點頭，便笑着說：“好，薛副主任、鄭主任咱們往這邊走。”說着帶人出了場院。
鄭主任有些不解的問：“夏大隊長，樣品沒放在編織組嗎？”
“沒有。”夏菊花很肯定的告訴他：“上一次我不就跟鄭主任你說過了嘛，我們平安莊人想出一個新花樣來也不容易，被人學去了我們太心疼。現在東西地區供銷社還沒說能用不能用，我們就放到生産隊了。”
平安莊的保密工作做的足足的，再被人學去了那就不是我們的問題了。
薛副主任微微一笑：“夏大隊長保密意識很強啊。我個人覺得吧，如果學會的人多了，編的人多了的話，供銷社收上來的産品能增加不少，更多的生産隊同樣可以增加副業收入，這是兩全齊美的好事吧。”
兩全其美個……夏菊花忍住自己心裏的沖動，把自己剛才給薛副主任的印象分劃掉，重新打了一個分數後，才說：“薛副主任說的有道理，不過我覺得，不管哪個生産隊或是大隊，想搞好自己的副業，都應該自己動腦筋想辦法，不是把別人想好的點子自己照抄過來。”
“哦？”薛副主任還在微笑：“夏大隊長是這麽想的？”
夏菊花也學着他微笑一下：“可能因為我是個農村婦女，心眼小愛斤斤計較，所以沒有那麽大公無私。我只知道如果編這些小東西的人多了，葦杆就不好收得漲價，編東西的人還能掙到錢？編的人只看沒人教，編出來的東西大小、規格、顏色也不一樣，到時候人家外頭的人并不見得願意買。供銷社收上去不是得壓到手裏？”
薛副主任聽完想了一會兒，微笑着說：“嗯，夏大隊長說的也有道理。”
說話間，已經到了生産隊，陳秋生就在門口等着呢。夏菊花簡單的介紹了一下後，陳秋生就帶着幾個人來到最東邊的一間屋前，掏出鑰匙打開門，請他們進去。
夏菊花自然是頭一個進的，眼睛迅速的看下擺放情況，滿意的點了點頭：雖然生産隊條件簡陋，可陳秋生不知啥時候帶人擺進來好幾張桌子，按照夏菊花在縣供銷社的那種擺法，把樣品擺的滿滿當當。
“薛副主任，這次字席我們又增加了……”夏菊花輕聲給薛副主任介紹了起來。跟剛才在場院裏介紹不一樣，對着實物，夏菊花一樣樣拿起來，用途呀寓意呀，都說了一些，聽的薛副主任和鄭主任不住的點頭。
“夏大隊長，你那天在縣供銷社要是這麽給我介紹，我咋也不能讓你們每樣只做五十件。”鄭主任帶着些埋怨的口吻，向夏菊花抱怨。
夏菊花笑了：“鄭主任，咱們都打多少次交道了。我們編的這些東西，都是咱們農村人見慣了的，我尋思着你也該聽煩了，就沒說。”
薛副主任拿起一樣看看，放下，再拿起一樣看看，又放下。每一樣都足足看上一兩分鐘，最後放下的是夏菊花編的辣椒挂飾：“夏大隊長，你們這些東西編的好，你剛才說的也挺好。”
夏菊花謙虛的搖頭又擺手：“我就是順嘴瞎說的，怕兩位主任看煩了沒意思。”
“那這些東西，你自己都會編嗎？”薛副主任微笑着問，似乎對夏菊花的手藝沒啥信心。
鄭主任在一旁替夏菊花解釋：“夏大隊長的編織技術，在他們生産隊是最好的，這些挂飾就是夏大隊長編的，最初的字席也是夏大隊長想出來的。”
“那另外的幾樣呢？”薛副主任不管鄭主任咋解釋，一定要問個明白。
夏菊花覺得，一定是自己剛才路上沒同意他的話，薛副主任想借此打擊一下她，不由心裏那股子不服輸的勁頭又上來了：“另外幾樣的話，我也都能編。”她十分輕松的回答完，兩眼與薛副主任對視。
"That's good." Deputy Director Xue looked at Xia Juhua for less than two seconds before he turned his gaze away and asked another question: "If we increase the workload for Ping An Village now, can it be completed before the Expo?"
Since everyone had a bad impression of each other anyway, Xia Juhua simply said, "If it's within 300 pieces, there's no problem. But for the things we edit at Ping An Zhuang, we have to pay a deposit first."
Deputy Director Xue glanced at Director Zheng and asked, "Director Zheng, do you think this order is from the regional supply and marketing cooperative or the Pingde County supply and marketing cooperative?"