Chapter 120
The companion looked at Xia Juhua thoughtfully, and asked Chief Zheng worriedly: "In front of so many people, what if Sister Xia can't make up the story or is too slow and they get annoyed?"
Section Chief Zheng said confidently: "Captain Xia's craftsmanship is the best in Pingan Village, there will definitely be no problems."
The colleague felt that his kindness was misunderstood and wanted to have a good talk with Section Chief Zheng, but then he remembered what Deputy Director Gu said last night and had to swallow his words back, thinking to himself: He will talk again when Xia Juhua can no longer make up stories.
Just as I was thinking about it, several people came hurriedly to the L Province booth and started talking to everyone. One person even reached out his hand directly to the rooster on the summer chrysanthemum stand, looked at it carefully for a few seconds, then jumped up, looking very happy.
The people in Province L were stunned. Suddenly, a group of people who were obviously not Chinese came and took things with their own hands. Should they take the things back or let them take them away?
"Xia Tongji, it's Lei." Someone came over breathlessly and was about to talk to the group of foreigners when he recognized Xia Juhua at a glance and greeted her first.
Xia Juhua and the others recognized the reporter who had just got off the train to interview Xia Juhua that day. Section Chief Zheng quickly asked, "Reporter, what's going on with these people?"
The reporter took a look at the excited international friends holding textiles, and said to Xia Juhua and the others helplessly: "These are friends from Country G. As soon as they came to the expo, they mentioned Chinese textiles. They said that they bought them back from the last expo and they were very popular. They hope to see them again this time. And they remembered Province L, so they came directly to your booth." Fortunately, Province L still brought textiles this time, otherwise the international friends would be disappointed.
That's how it was. Section Chief Zheng and Xia Juhua both breathed a sigh of relief - it was good that they weren't here to cause trouble, and it was even better that they liked the woven products of Ping An Village. The other people's eyes on Xia Juhua changed, and the person who knew Cantonese said to Xia Juhua, "Sister Xia, since international friends like your woven products, why don't you introduce them to them?"
Xia Juhua was in a dilemma: "I don't speak their language either. Will they understand if I introduce it in our language?"
The reporter laughed: "Xia Tongji Lei can introduce me, I can be Lei's interpreter."
Come on, you need someone to translate for me, can you understand what I say? The reporter didn't care about that. After asking, he said that these textiles were brought by Xia Juhua and her friends, and then he introduced Xia Juhua to the international friends.
When the international friends heard that the woven products were made by Xia Juhua, they put down what they were holding and applauded. Some even picked up the things they had just put down and handed them to Xia Juhua, asking questions.
After the reporter translated it and her companions explained it to Xia Juhua, Xia Juhua understood that what the international friend was asking was whether the animal in his hand was a dog and why it was placed together with the rooster.
Xia Juhua picked up a mouse from the stand and started by talking about the Chinese zodiac, explaining which twelve animals were included. She then arranged the twelve animals in order and pointed them out to the international friends.
The twelve zodiac animals woven into a yarn by Qi Nai are very cute because of their small size. As Xia Juhua introduced them, the international friends took one by one and finally took all the twelve zodiac animals.
Xia Juhua helplessly asked the reporter to tell international friends that the twelve zodiac signs are a loving family and cannot be sold separately. If you want to buy, you can only buy one set. I don't know if there is a problem with the reporter's translation, but the friends applauded again, and some people wanted to hug Xia Juhua, which scared her and she pushed Chief Zheng out.
It wasn't that Xia Juhua was not kind enough to let Chief Zheng take the blame. It was just that the friend was tall and strong, with dark skin. The reason why Xia Juhua didn't scream because of his white teeth was that she had seen many people like him on TV in her previous life.
The friend who hugged Chief Zheng talked a lot to the reporter, and the person who was with him told Xia Juhua: The friend said that not only the twelve zodiac signs are a loving family, but the people of China and Country G are also a loving family.
Then the friend insisted on shaking hands with Xia Juhua, and there was no way to avoid it, so Xia Juhua had to shake hands with him reluctantly and quickly hid her hands behind her back.
Seeing her reaction, the friend laughed happily and talked to the reporter. The reporter showed a surprised expression on his face and asked the friend a few questions, and then a companion translated it to Xia Juhua: The friend said that if possible, he would like to go to the magical place where these woven products can be produced to see how these things are woven.
Section Chief Zheng whispered to Xia Juhua, "Captain Xia, show them how to do it now, and remember to ask them to place an order."
The reed bark had already been brought, so of course she had to show off her craftsmanship. Xia Juhua asked the reporter to tell her friends that she was one of the people who wove these products. The exclamations of her friends attracted more people to come over. Xia Juhua had already sat on a chair and arranged the reed bark that would be used.
"This, make up this." The friend who first picked up the rooster suddenly spoke in stiff Chinese. Not only did he speak, he also kept passing the rooster in front of Xia Juhua, fearing that Xia Juhua would not understand what he meant.
It is not difficult to weave a rooster. Xia Juhua asked the reporter to tell her friends that she could do it, but it would take a longer time. Her friends could first take a look at other products in L Province.
When the reporter told Xia Juhua what she said, the friends began to exclaim in amazement again. No one wanted to leave to look at other exhibits. They all wanted to see how Xia Juhua weaved reed barks into a colorful and lively rooster.
As soon as she picked up the reed skin, Xia Juhua lost her reservedness of meeting international friends for the first time, and her whole body radiated confidence. Her movements were very fast, and before others could see clearly how her hands moved, several rooster tail feathers had already taken shape. Soon she changed to yellow reed skin and began to weave the chicken's belly. The connection of several colors was very natural. It was clear that the connection was still a different color in the previous second, and it was connected by yellow reed skin in the next second. No one could see clearly how Xia Juhua did it.
"Wow--" The friends who arrived first applauded again and did not disturb Xia Juhua's progress. It seemed that at this moment, all she had in her eyes were the reed skin and the semi-finished product in her hands, and nothing in the outside world could interfere with her.
In fact, Xia Juhua could hear the applause and feel the eyes on her - when the women of Ping'an Village were weaving in the yard, they would often tell gossip and interesting stories to relieve boredom and never interfere with what they were saying.
But Xia Juhua didn't understand what they said, and she was afraid that they would ask her questions that were difficult to answer, so she just pretended not to hear them and didn't care. She didn't expect that her behavior would be seen as her being single-minded and having great ambitions in the eyes of others.
Xia Juhua, who was packed with a bunch of things, spent nearly three hours to finally weave a rooster, but it was snatched away by the friend who took the rooster first. Xia Juhua had to ask the reporter to tell him that the rooster's wife and children were also here, and they should not be separated either.
Such words were obviously to the friends' taste. After they admired the rooster family again, Xia Juhua told them that not only these two items were made of reed bark, but also the small pendants, small baskets, and pen holders were made of reed bark, which caused another round of exclamations and cheers.
Xia Juhua took the opportunity to say that she brought these textiles to the expo in order to help her friends better understand Chinese culture and recognize the wisdom of the Chinese people, so that they can bring the friendship of the Chinese people back to their own countries.
How to bring it? On behalf of Xia Juhua, Chief Zheng said that if one order could not express the friendship between the people of the two countries, then another one would be enough. After the translator told his friends what he said, they burst into laughter: since they came to China, they had not met anyone who expressed his wishes as directly as Chief Zheng.
Section Chief Zheng finished speaking with beating heart. After he finished speaking, he glanced at Xia Juhua. When he saw her nod and heard the laughter of his friends, he finally felt relieved - Xia Juhua was too timid and actually let him negotiate the order directly with his friends. What if it caused a diplomatic incident?
There is no chance of an accident. L Province also brought a translator this time, but they did not expect that someone would place an order on the first day of the Expo, so the translator did not respond immediately, which is why the reporter from Yangcheng Daily has been doing the translation. When Xia Juhua was editing, the translator had already come to his senses and naturally would not miss this good opportunity to show his skills. The words just now by Section Chief Zheng were translated by L Province's own translator, and the effect was not bad.
When the friends received the orders carrying Chinese friendship with satisfaction, Xia Juhua called the translator, picked up the special products of Chengping area, and smiled at her friends.
Section Chief Zheng looked at Xia Juhua's smile and had a strange feeling in his heart, as if he had seen Grandma Wolf smiling at Little Red Riding Hood. After listening to Xia Juhua's words, this feeling deepened: "Friends from friendly countries, our Chengping area in L Province not only has beautiful textiles, but also other things that are very good..."
The international friends had already been astounded by Xia Juhua's amazing knitting skills. When they heard what she had to say, they stretched their necks to try to understand. Those who knew a few words of Chinese heard a little bit, while those who didn't understand had their own translators, the reporter from Yangcheng Daily, and the translator from L Province help, quickly translating Xia Juhua's words into a language they could understand, which was:
承平地區不光編織品好，別的特産也好。吃的東西口感好、功效好，用的東西結實抗造，穿的東西樣式、算了樣式可以忽略，可它的花色卻有華國特色，正是各個友好國家向國民展示兩國友好的不二選擇。
國際友人們聽到翻譯的介紹，再一次沸騰了，紛紛拿起夏菊花指出的産品看了又看——他們來參加博覽會，自然是要采購的，說實話此時華國各省的展臺區別不大，吃、喝、穿幾樣涵蓋了展會的大部分內容，機器産品只有寥寥的幾件。
既然區別不大，那采購哪個展位的不是采購，何不采購得到他們認可的、夏菊花介紹的産品呢？于是鄭科長更忙了，L省的翻譯幾乎變成了鄭科長一人的專屬翻譯。
別的地區參展人員，也想趁機介紹一下自己地區的産品——雖然來參加博覽會，對訂單沒有硬性要求，可真的一單都沒有的話，也是一件很丢臉的事。
“夏大姐，”趁着夏菊花好不容易停下喝口水的空當，有人上來跟她套近乎：“你看一會兒能不能幫着介紹一下我們地區的産品？”
夏菊花把嘴裏的水咽下去，有些為難的看了看被遞到眼前的布料，為難的說：“可是我對你們的産品一點兒也不熟悉，不知道該從哪兒介紹起呀。”
遞布料的人一噎，又找不出夏菊花的毛病，只好默默退了下去。另外幾個也想請夏菊花介紹一下本地區産品的人，見狀不得不離夏菊花他們遠一點——不離遠就擋住友人們跟夏菊花交流的道兒了，他們剛才已經被急性子的友人推了好幾把。
顧副主任已經得到了L省展位火爆的消息，悄無聲息的過來看情況，發現夏菊花雖然看起來還有些緊張，可是說出的話條理清楚，介紹起承平地區的産品來滔滔不絕，不由暗暗點了點頭。
由于展位一直人來人往，夏菊花中午飯都是抽空解決的，等晚上回到招待所，更是覺得自己嗓子都冒煙了：這一天話說的太多了。
“夏菊花同志，這邊坐。”一進食堂，顧副主任就向夏菊花招手，示意她坐到自己身邊的位置。夏菊花看了鄭科長一眼，兩人一起來到顧副主任一桌。
“主任，有啥指示？”鄭科長并不馬上落坐，而是等着顧副主任的進一步指示。
顧副主任一笑，指着夏菊花旁邊的位置說：“你也坐，咱們邊吃邊說。”
鄭科長忐忑的坐了下來，拿起筷子後微微擡手，卻不挾菜——L省參加博覽會一共二十多個人，各地區供銷社每桌十人，顧副主任這一桌都是省供銷社的。雖然有的人可能級別還沒有鄭科長高，可人家在省供銷社，衙門口可比地區供銷社大，鄭科長還得低調一點兒。
那邊顧副主任正向夏菊花介紹呢：“這個魚片跟咱們L省的做法不一樣，羊城人吃的清淡，你嘗嘗合口不？”
夏菊花吃了一口，覺得顧副主任說的沒錯，與習慣濃油醬赤的L省做法相比，清蒸魚片确實讓夏菊花覺得有些寡淡。
不過一個地方一個風味，夏菊花覺得自己沒有評價的資格，把筷子伸向另一道看起來用清水煮出來的雞。顧副主任又介紹說：“這是白斬雞，咱們L省很少吃，得蘸點料才有味道。”
他一口一個咱們L省，夏菊花不能不謹慎起來，只吃自己認識的幾道菜，不再開發新領域。顧副主任的介紹卻沒由就此停止，每介紹一道菜都會說出與L省做法上的區別。
這頓飯吃的就有些心累了，夏菊花扒拉完一碗米飯之後，就放下了碗——要不是顧副主任一直介紹，她還想再添一碗飯來着，畢竟平安莊現在小麥産的不少，可大米一年到頭還真吃不上幾回。
一見夏菊花摞筷兒，顧副主任也跟着把筷子放下了，鄭科長等人不管吃沒吃飽，同樣放下了筷子，讓夏菊花嘆為觀止。
好在顧副主任只是放下筷子跟夏菊花說一天的見聞，并沒有離開食堂，否則夏菊花有理由相信，另外兩桌L省的參展人員都得餓肚子。
在這個年代，有不花錢的飯菜竟然要餓肚子，罪過不罪過？！
“鄭科長，你們承平地區今天簽了多少份訂單呀？”顧副主任叫鄭科長同桌，不可能不問他自己最關心的問題。
鄭科長一聽這個問題就滿臉放光：“平安莊的編織品簽的訂單最多，一共十二筆，累計金額十三萬七千元。其他産品簽訂單九筆，累計金額十一萬二千元。”
省供銷系統的同志暗暗吸了一口氣，夏菊花想的卻是，鄭科長是啥時候把數給算出來的，明明他一直跟自己一起接待國際友人們。所以人不可貌相這句話，放在哪裏都适用呀。
顧副主任聽了十分高興：“這些訂單的完成時間，你注意了沒有，完成起來沒問題吧？咱們可不能簽訂單的時候高興，結果回去完成起來困難重重，最後還得給人家付賠償金呀。”
對此鄭科長在簽的時候已經注意到了，所以向領導保證交貨的時間已經錯開，不會出現交貨不及時被罰款的問題。
顧副主任就更滿意了：“好，博覽會剛開第一天，承平地區就得了個開門紅，這是承平地區的光榮，也是咱們L省的光榮呀。”
要不說人家是領導，這思想覺悟就不是鄭科長和夏菊花能比的，兩個人都羞愧的低下了頭。
顧副主任已經站了起來：“大家回屋稍微休息一下，半個小時咱們進行一下簡單的小結，也調整一下明天的工作重點。”
不出夏菊花所料，随着顧副主任起身，L省另外兩桌就餐人員也都站了起來，一齊離開食堂等着半小時之後的小結。
雖然吃的不算太飽，夏菊花也沒回房間，而是跟鄭科長兩人圍着招待所大樓轉了一圈。主要是鄭科長心裏有點忐忑：“夏大隊長，你說一會兒小結的時候，那些人會不會向顧副主任告狀？”
夏菊花覺得他的擔心有點兒多餘：“他們告啥狀？咱們又沒不讓他們說話，那麽老些人圍着，他們不自己主動給人介紹，還能怨到咱們頭上？”
鄭科長暗想，他們倒是想介紹，也得那些友人肯聽，人家一個個都盯着你手裏的東西呢。
夏菊花見鄭科長還是一臉沉重，覺得與其讓他擔心這個，還不如擔心別的：“你要是擔心也得擔心咱們的編織品，今天一下子每樣都賣出去了七八十套，剩下的幾天怕是沒東西可賣了。”
夏菊花所以如此擔心，是因為博覽會上國際友人們的樣品不是白拿的，而是要付錢的，價格比起鄭科長當初跟平安莊足足高出了一半，難怪每個地區都想把自己的産品賣給國際友人們呢。
可也不是沒有弊端，那就是剛才夏菊花說的，平安莊的編織品太受歡迎，按今天賣出的速度，最多能再支持個四五天。而博覽會的展期卻是七天，後面的三兩天就沒東西拿出來了，沒有展品人家看不到實物，能下訂單？
鄭科長一聽也頭疼：“這可咋辦，也不能不讓人買呀。”
夏菊花心裏一動：“要不明天咱們就跟人說，一個人只能買一套。”
鄭科長雖然想把東西盡快賣出去，免得地區供銷社賠錢，卻更擔心沒有展品，導致後幾天接不到訂單，損失更大，也就同意了夏菊花的提議。
虧得兩人商量好了，在小結會上顧副主任提出這個問題的時候，鄭科長才能馬上把主意說出來，并且補充了一條，那就是在博覽會最後一天裏，可以取消這個限制，免得最後編織品反而剩下，還得再帶回去。
不過顧副主任還是提醒了鄭科長和夏菊花，讓他們在簽訂單的時候注意一下平安莊的生産力，尤其是原料的供應問題——雖然顧副主任不知道編織品具體是咋編出來的，卻知道葦子只在近水的地方才能生長，而流經L省的河流并不是很多。
對于這個問題，夏菊花自己不是沒考慮過，不過得回平安莊試過之後才能最後确認，只能含混過去。她想含混，顧副主任卻不打算放過她：
“夏菊花同志，今天一天承平地區接到的訂單，比其他地區的加起來都多，這裏頭你功不可沒啊。”
夏菊花趕緊擺手，謙虛的說：“我也沒幹啥，在村裏咋編東西在這兒還咋編，人家國際友人是看着這些東西新鮮，才給我們下的訂單。別的東西，都是鄭科長跟人家談的。”所以不用把功勞都堆到我頭上。
Deputy Director Gu smiled knowingly: "Section Chief Zheng has certainly done his job, but not as much as you have. Comrade Xia Juhua, our L Province is participating in the Expo as a whole. It is the responsibility of every participant to show all our L Province exhibits to international friends and gain their recognition. Don't you agree?"
Xia Juhua looked confused, but nodded frequently as Deputy Director Gu spoke. Deputy Director Gu had reason to believe that the more she nodded now, the more effort she would spare in introducing the products of the Chengping region tomorrow. As for the products of other regions, she would not mention them at all because she was not familiar with them.