Chapter 119
Zhao Xianzhi and the others who were sitting stood up immediately: "Captain, you are back. I heard that you went to buy clothes. What did you buy? Let us see."
It was impossible not to look at it. Xia Juhua took out the clothes and was forced to change into them in front of everyone, which stunned everyone. The first person to react was Zhao Xianzhi: "Captain, your clothes are worth buying. How much are they? I will buy one tomorrow."
"How do you know whether it's worth it when you don't even know how much it costs?" Xia Juhua was really impressed by her.
Zhao Xianzhi had a good reason: "No matter how much it costs, it's worth it as long as you look good in it, Captain. My dear, who would have thought that you are almost fifty years old when you wear this."
Can he speak? Xia Juhua, who often forgets her own age, couldn't help but glare at Zhao Xianzhi, and found that she was covering her mouth and blinking her eyes as if begging for mercy.
What else could Xia Juhua do about the editorial team leader she had chosen? She had no choice but to tell her, "Two sets cost thirty-eight in total. Would you like to buy them tomorrow?"
"Two sets cost thirty-eight. We can buy cloth and make four sets ourselves." Zhao Xianzhi figured out the cost immediately and said distressedly, "Captain, you should wait until you come back from the Expo and lend me the clothes as a sample. I will ask my sister-in-law to make one for me."
Everyone was amused by the fickle Zhao Xianzhi and put aside their worries about Xia Juhua going on a long journey.
There is really nothing to worry about - in the eyes of the people in Ping'an Village, Xia Juhua is almost omnipotent. They think that there is nothing that Xia Juhua cannot do. If they are worried about other people going out, how can they be worried about Xia Juhua going out?
This time, Xia Juhua first took a car from the county town to Chengping District, and was picked up by Director Zheng. That day, the two of them took a train to the provincial capital. It was funny to say that Xia Juhua had only seen trains on TV in her previous life, and this was the first time she had ridden one in two lifetimes.
Seeing that she was looking out the window, Director Zheng was afraid that she might get carsick, so he asked, "Captain Xia, are you dizzy?"
Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "No."
"I'm glad you're not motion sick. We still have to take a train for more than two days from the provincial capital to Guangzhou. It would be very painful if we get motion sickness." Director Zheng felt very fortunate: people who have never taken a train before will easily get motion sickness if they look out the window for a long time. Xia Juhua didn't get motion sick even after looking out the window for a long time, so she should be fine after sitting for two more days.
Sometimes people really shouldn't celebrate too early. After the success in Yangcheng, Director Zheng felt the same way when he saw Xia Juhua vomiting all over the place: She didn't feel dizzy when sitting at the beginning, so why did she feel dizzy again later?
Xia Juhua didn't bother to explain to him that she got motion sickness because there were too many people on the train and there was no place to sit down if she stood up, and the air was too turbid. Plus, she was always worried about the money in her pocket, so she didn't sleep much during the two days on the train. It would be strange if she didn't get motion sickness.
Now Xia Juhua felt as if she was about to vomit out all her internal organs. She felt a sour feeling in her throat that made her vomit again and again. Her mind seemed to be not her own, and she felt as if she was still sitting in the car. She was squatting on the ground, but her body felt like it was still shaking.
"Chief Zheng, I think we should send Captain Xia to the hospital." The people who were traveling with him looked at Xia Juhua's pale face and suggested to Director Zheng with some concern. In their hearts, they also felt a little disgusted with Xia Juhua, and couldn't understand why the leader had to let such a rural woman go to the expo.
Look, he exhausted himself to the point of being unable to stand up when he just arrived, and he kept vomiting in front of so many people. If people knew that he was from L Province, wouldn't that bring discredit to the province?
What can we do by letting someone who has brought discredit to the province come to the expo?
After hearing this, Chief Zheng thought that there was a solution, so he asked, "Captain Xia, how about I take you to the hospital?"
Xia Juhua had already vomited all the way, so she stood up and waved her hands: "No, I'm much better now."
If her face wasn't so pale and her body wasn't shaking, Section Chief Zheng would have believed what Xia Juhua said: "No, I see you can't even stand steadily, let's go to the hospital."
Xia Juhua insisted on not going to the hospital. She thought that there was no point in going to the hospital if she was carsick. It would be better to lie down and take a nap.
Section Chief Zheng had experienced her stubbornness when he was the director of the regional supply and marketing cooperative. Now he did not argue with her. He picked up the bag that was obviously used by farmers for her and reached out to help Xia Juhua walk.
Xia Juhua, who had just vomited, felt that she was still holding her breath in her chest and throat. She stood up and took two deep breaths before she felt relieved. Looking at the mess on the ground, she rejected Section Chief Zheng's suggestion to leave immediately. "Section Chief Zheng," Xia Juhua called out like everyone else, "I have to get someone to clean up here, otherwise what if someone steps on it?"
"There are cleaners in the station." The person who first suggested that Section Chief Zheng take Xia Juhua to the hospital said somewhat dissatisfiedly, "That's what they do. They'll clean up when they see it."
Xia Juhua glanced at the man and said nothing, her eyes already roaming around looking for a broom. When she finally borrowed a broom from an old lady who was cleaning the toilet, she found that everyone who came with her, except Section Chief Zheng, stood far away with a look of disgust on their faces, and kept fanning themselves with their hands, as if they were afraid of being choked by the smoke.
This is human nature. Xia Juhua felt that the other person had done nothing wrong, so she walked over, bowed her head and said sorry to everyone. Without caring about the expressions on their faces after hearing her apology, she poured half a dustpan of soil that she had just brought with her on the vomit, and then swept the matter into the dustpan with a broom.
The old lady who lent Xia Juhua the broom had been following her. When she saw her cleaning up the vomit by herself, she said a lot of things to Xia Juhua. Unfortunately, Xia Juhua didn't understand a word. When she borrowed the broom just now, the two of them talked and gestured for a long time before they understood each other. Now that the old lady spoke Cantonese, Xia Juhua was confused again.
"She told you to just leave it to her and sweep it." Someone who knew Cantonese hesitated for a moment and then began to translate for Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua smiled gratefully at the man, and then gave the old lady an even bigger smile: "I made it dirty, so I should clean it up." The person traveling with her translated her words to the old lady.
The old lady spoke to Xia Juhua with gestures and gave her a thumbs up, but Xia Juhua didn't take it seriously and insisted on cleaning up the vomit before returning the broom and dustpan to her.
Not to mention, after this interruption, Xia Juhua felt less dizzy and had some strength, so she wanted to take the bag from Section Chief Zheng and carry it herself. Section Chief Zheng did not let her, thinking that as a grown man and younger than Xia Juhua, it was his duty to carry her bag when they were out.
As the two were pushing each other, a strange voice interrupted: "Excuse me, Lei Hou, I am Ji De from Yangcheng Daily..."
There were a few words in it that Xia Juhua could understand, thanks to watching the Spring Festival Gala in her previous life. In some years, singers from Hong Kong participated in the show, and the host spoke this kind of half-baked Mandarin when interviewing them.
But that was only limited to a few words. If there were more words put together, Xia Juhua really couldn't understand much. She looked at the person in front of her with a confused look on her face as his mouth opened and closed.
Fortunately, the colleague who knew Cantonese was shocked and stepped forward to help Xia Juhua translate again: "Captain Xia, this person said he was a reporter from Yangcheng Daily. He just saw you clean up the floor after vomiting. He wanted to interview you why you did that."
The reporter is just sitting around doing nothing, right? Xia Juhua had this thought in her mind, but she still put on a smile: "Isn't it normal for you to clean up the place you made yourself? What's there to interview about?"
It took Xia Juhua a lot of effort to listen to the reporter, but the reporter could understand what Xia Juhua said - the accents in northern provinces are mostly close to Mandarin, so it doesn't take much effort to listen to them.
This time the reporter did not speak to Xia Juhua, but to the companion who could understand Cantonese. The companion said, "The reporter asked, do you know that there are cleaning staff at the station? It is their responsibility to clean the station. Besides, you did not dirty the floor on purpose, so why did you clean it yourself? He also asked why we came to Guangzhou now."
Okay, reporters always have a unique perspective. Xia Juhua put away the smile on her face and said to the reporter seriously: "There is no right or wrong in anyone's work. I vomited on the floor and caused trouble for the staff. I should be the one to solve the problem myself, not increase their workload."
"We are here to attend the expo in Guangzhou, which is a beautiful city. I don't want this beautiful city to become dirty because of my behavior."
Xia Juhua admitted that she had somewhat hit the mark, but if she didn't say so, she was afraid that she would not be able to get rid of the reporter with strange ideas in front of her.
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the reporter gave Xia Juhua a thumbs up, praised her for her good words, and said that it was no wonder that she was able to attend the Expo, and that this awareness was enough. After that, he insisted that Xia Juhua pick up the broom and dustpan again and take a photo of her.
"Because of the Expo, we are carrying out a national hygiene campaign in Guangzhou. However, the station area has too many people, and some people are not aware of it and litter everywhere. So our newspaper, according to the leadership's request, wants to expose those litterers, but I didn't expect to see you take the initiative to clean up. I think your behavior will be more inspiring if it is reported."
The reporter saw that Xia Juhua was reluctant to cooperate, so he asked the person traveling with him to translate the situation to Xia Juhua. Only then did Xia Juhua understand that she had become a positive example by running thousands of miles.
This was not the first time that she had been in the newspaper, so Xia Juhua cooperated with the reporter to take a photo. She thanked the old lady who had borrowed her broom again, and then went to the guesthouse arranged by the expo with Director Zheng and others.
因為L省此次參加博覽會的，只有夏菊花一名女同志，所以她被安排了個單間。說是單間，也擺了兩張單人床，一張小桌子正對着門，還有一把椅子靠着桌子。
“夏大隊長，你自己先休息一會兒。”鄭科長把夏菊花送到門口，就讓她先休息。夏菊花也覺得自己迫切的需要睡上一覺，沒跟他客氣，自己關上門就倒到了床上。
一覺睡的天昏地暗，起來之後夏菊花頗有些不知身在何處的感覺，醒了醒盹才想起來，自己此時身處遠離平安莊幾千裏之外的羊城。
春風還沒開始吹的羊城，不知道有沒有後世那些稀罕東西？
夏菊花沒急着起床洗漱，而是把自己從家裏帶來的錢點了一下：這一次出門算是出差，一路上沒用她自己花錢，五百塊錢還好好的躺在兜裏。
沒錯，夏菊花出門前想着目的地是羊城，就毫不猶豫的多帶了些錢，想着萬一羊城已經開始有那些稀罕東西，自己不至于光看着買不了。
剛數好錢房門就被人敲響了，鄭科長的聲音跟着傳來：“夏大隊長，你醒了嗎，咱們去吃點兒東西吧？”中午的時候他來叫過一次，愣是沒把人叫醒，這一次敲門的聲音就大了點兒，想着咋也得把人叫起來。
帶隊的領導晚上還要給大家開會，布置明天擺展臺的任務，夏菊花不參加的話，人家領導就該有意見了。再說坐火車的最後一天，夏菊花就沒咋吃東西，中午又沒吃，再不起來吃點兒的話，鐵打的人也頂不住。
好在這一次夏菊花應聲了：“鄭科長，你等一下我去找你。”
鄭科長答應一聲，回自己房間等着去了。也沒等多長時間，夏菊花就洗漱好了，兩人一起來到食堂時，L省參加博覽會的人已經都到了。
“咋樣夏大隊長，身體好點兒了吧？”先于他們來到羊城的帶隊領導、省供銷社顧副主任很親切的問夏菊花，把她問的有點兒不好意思：
“報告領導，我已經歇好了。”
“那就好，你們平安莊的展臺，還得你看着布置呢。”顧副主任笑着點點頭，招呼夏菊花兩人快點兒吃飯。
時間緊任務重，大家吃的都很快，沒人細細品嘗羊城的風味與家鄉有啥不一樣。夏菊花想着剛才顧副主任說平安莊的展臺，吃的也有些心不在焉，匆匆吃完跟着大家一起到顧副主任的房間，聽他詳細的分配任務。
別看這次L省足足來了二十多個人，真正能進會場的不過十七人，要布置足足六個展臺，任務量還是挺大的。好在夏菊花擺自己的産品很有心得，不到三個小時就已經幹完了，還能不時幫着別人搭把手。原本對她跟着參加博覽會還有些微詞的人，已經一口一個夏大姐，叫的十分親熱了。
“我覺得平安莊的展臺，可以往前挪一挪。”顧副主任在大家布置好了之後，過來驗收了一下，發現本省的展品，還是以土特産居多。品種是不少，可看上去有些灰突突的，都不如平安莊五顏六色的編織品亮眼，于是提出這麽一個意見。
可很多人都有不同意見，他們認為跟別的展品相比，平安莊的東西不當吃不當喝。那裏頭的葦席還有些用處，另外的東西能做啥用呢？給他們一個單獨的展臺已經擠占了別的土特産位置，還要擺到最顯眼的位置，會讓人覺得L嘩衆取寵。
夏菊花沒有說話，別人讓她把東西擺在哪兒，她就擺在哪兒。剛才她已經悄悄看過隔壁省的展臺，的确都是些吃的、喝的東西，平安莊特意編來裝飾用的編織品跟那些相比，看上去的确有些另類。
只能說時代的不同，造成了現在的人更看重于實用性而忽視了精神層面的需求——在大部分人還在為填飽肚子掙紮的時候，注意到優化、美化的又有幾個人呢？
不過夏菊花心裏對他們的意見是不贊同的，不止有上輩子聽說的、小小草帽賣出國門的新聞打底兒，更有上次博覽會後，小籃子和公雞訂單大增帶來的底氣。
她相信，只要平安莊的編織品能擺進博覽會，總會有人看到。在一衆吃喝當道的展品面前，顏色鮮豔、造型可愛的編織品，必然會有它的買家——同行的人都忘了，來參加博覽會的大部分是友好國家的人，他們會願意把帶有華國特色的編織品，帶回去當成紀念品的。
顧副主任在傾聽大家不同意見的同時，也在觀察着夏菊花的反應，發現夏菊花就跟沒聽到別人貶低平安莊的編織品一樣，心裏點了點頭，沒有改變自己的決定：“鄭科長，你跟夏同志搭搭手，把平安莊的展臺擺到前頭來。”
正說得起勁的幾個人，看向夏菊花和鄭科長的眼神變了，默默退到一邊，一個幫忙的人都沒有。等兩人終于把展臺搬到顧副主任指定的位置，鄭科長帶着些氣說：“夏大隊長，你明天一定好好介紹這些編織品。”
他不能不生氣，平安莊的編織品，是承平地區供銷社力推的參展品，夏菊花也是他帶着來參加博覽會的。那些人一開始瞧不起夏菊花，他只覺得他們眼皮子淺，沒當一回事兒。
可人家夏菊花給他們幫忙的時候，他們就一口一個夏大姐叫得親熱，啥累活都讓夏菊花幫着做。等夏菊花需要幫助的時候，他們又站在一邊看起熱鬧來，還不是怕平安莊的編織品訂單多，把他們地區的展品比下去？
跟一個地區所屬縣供銷社相互有競争一樣，地區與地區供銷社之間，那也是競争關系。別當鄭科長看不出來，這些人想讓夏菊花丢臉，那就是想讓承平地區供銷社丢臉呢！
對于剛調到地區供銷社，頭一個任務就是帶着夏菊花一起參加博覽會的鄭秒長來說，有這個想法的人都是他的對手。
打敗對手是擡高自己的最好辦法！別跟他說啥大家都是一個省的，只要承平地區的産品訂單多，博覽會之後這些人會認識到這一點的。
夏菊花倒沒有鄭科長這麽氣憤，平靜的對他說：“放心吧，我都準備好了。”
一聲準備好了，讓鄭科長奇異的鎮定下來，覺得自己剛才那麽氣憤有些好笑：他都參加工作這麽長時間，也從縣供銷社調到地區供銷社了，啥大風大浪沒見過，咋為了別人幾個眼神就氣成那樣？
歸根結底，還是因為自己太看重這一次博覽會了，想讓平安莊的編織品取得更好的成績——不客氣的說，鄭科長算得上平安莊的編織品的伯樂，他自然不想別人質疑他的眼光。
可看看人家夏菊花，受累的是她，好心幫了白眼狼的是她，卻還是平靜的面對着一切，只說自己準備好了，這是對自己的産品心裏有底，不把那些人看在眼裏呢。
只有自己強的人，才有底氣對幾只小小的蒼蠅哼哼充耳不聞吧？鄭科長想通了，語氣裏氣鼓鼓的聲調也跟着消失了：“準備好了就行，明天我幫着你把葦皮帶過來，當場編給那些國際友人看。”
雖然不知道鄭科長前後語氣為啥變化這麽大，夏菊花還是點了點頭。她不氣，真的不氣。上輩子白眼狼見得還少嗎，不搭理也就是了。這輩子她自己日子過得好，你看還有沒有白眼兒郎？！
都圍着她轉巴不得得些好處，敢呲牙試試。
眼前這些人也一樣，他們還沒見到自己的本事，心裏自然不服氣，等他們想服氣的時候，自己願意不願意接受，那就得看夏菊花的心情了。
顧副主任其實并沒走遠——他得觀察一下別的省的展品，比較一下L省的優劣勢都在哪兒。正因為沒走遠，所以把本省展位發生的情況都看在眼裏。
當天晚上再開會的時候，顧副主任就不輕不重的點了一下：“這幾天大家布置展位都很辛苦，能夠相互幫助完成布置任務。比如說夏菊花同志，不僅自己的展位布置了兩次，還幫助了其他同志，體現了團隊協作精神。她的這種精神值得我們所有人學習，等回到省城之後，省供銷社會做出具體的表彰。”
領導說話總是很藝術，表揚就是提倡，表揚同行就是批評別人。所以聽到顧副主任的話，很有幾個人面紅耳赤，不得不反省一下自己的行為是不是有不妥之處。更多的，則是擔心自己在領導心裏留下的印象好壞，希望能夠及時彌補。
可直到博覽會的開幕，都沒有給大家彌補的機會，就連吃飯的時候想跟夏菊花多說兩句話，也總是被鄭科長有意無意的岔開。
“夏大姐，你咋還帶了這些葦皮過來？”那個會粵語的同行人，終于找到機會跟夏菊花搭上話，帶着些不解的看着夏菊花手裏花花綠綠的葦皮。
"I think some people should be interested in how Ping'an Village's woven products are made. I'm not good at explaining it, so it's more convenient for me to weave it for them to see." Xia Juhua answered nonchalantly, sat on a chair that Section Chief Zheng brought for her, and slowly began to tidy up the reed skins.