Chapter 121
Deputy Director Gu looked at the silent people in the room and was really angry: Everyone thought that rural women were easy to bully, and they didn't have any temper at all? They were still playing dead dogs, thinking that if he came forward, they would help introduce the products of the region?
He looked at the people from the supply and marketing cooperatives in other regions with a stern expression: How could they have the nerve to say that they had no collective concept when they were complaining to him just now?
Didn't they tell me the day before yesterday that the textiles of the Ping An Zhuang production team should not be displayed in a prominent position? What were they thinking at the time? Did they really think that others would not notice?
The fact is, today, the textile products from Chengping District, specifically Pingan Village, received the most orders in the entire Expo. Are these people ashamed?
When people helped you with the work that day, you thought it was your due. When you saw them changing the booth and needed your help, no one offered a hand. In your mind, you were thinking of making fun of them, right?
You thought that they couldn't do anything to you. Why didn't you talk about the concept of collectivism at that time? Now look, do you understand that they can do something? You didn't help them, and now they won't help you either. You feel better now, right?
Now they are all depressed and humiliated. How did they have the nerve to come forward and speak for them just now? Where is their nerve? !
Although he was angry at these people for being too petty, not being considered and not doing their job well, but as it was related to the province's exhibition results, as the leader of the team, Deputy Director Gu had to humble himself and plead with Xia Juhua on their behalf:
"Comrade Xia Juhua, your performance over the past few days has been seen by me and the comrades in the Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative. When I return to L Province, I will report to the Party Committee of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. I believe that the Party Committee will commend you as an advanced individual."
"But the old people also said that a single flower does not make spring, but a hundred flowers in full bloom make the garden full of spring. You have made progress as an individual, but you must also lead the group to move forward. Our L Province is participating in the Expo, and the products are not just the woven products of your Ping An Village. As a member of the L Province participating in the Expo, you must also actively promote the products of other brother regions to international friends, don't you think?"
Although his tone was inquiring, Deputy Director Gu looked at Section Chief Zheng, meaning that he wanted Section Chief Zheng to join him in persuading Xia Juhua.
Section Chief Zheng was not unhappy about the current situation. He finally understood why Xia Juhua turned a blind eye to the ungrateful behavior of others that day - she had known that her products would be popular, and she had opened up the situation with the products of Chengping area, so she had no time to compete with these people.
To put it bluntly, people don't take these people seriously.
It would be great if I could have the confidence and determination like Xia Juhua.
Although he felt relieved, Section Chief Zheng still felt pressured when he met Deputy Director Gu's gaze. As the saying goes, the other person's rank was higher than Section Chief Zheng's, and the government office he worked for was also bigger than Section Chief Zheng's. Even if Section Chief Zheng lowered his head and didn't look Deputy Director Gu in the eye, he still felt the heavy gaze on his head.
Xia Juhua felt a little sorry for Section Chief Zheng. She thought that she was just a rural woman and didn't have to worry as much as Section Chief Zheng did. She spoke directly: "Deputy Director Gu, I understand what you said. I also want to introduce products for the brother regions. But I am not familiar with the products of the brother regions. Besides, those international friends keep asking me to introduce woven products, and I don't have time to introduce other things."
How do you have time to introduce the products of Chengping District? Deputy Director Gu resisted the urge to ask and looked at the people from other regions: "If you have time, please introduce your products to Comrade Xia Juhua, so that she can introduce them to international friends."
Do you really think that everything will be fine if I come forward? Deputy Director Gu looked at the people from other regions with growing dissatisfaction. Like Section Chief Zheng, those people also felt the pressure of Deputy Director Gu's gaze, and they all lowered their heads and said that they would introduce the products of their region to Xia Juhua after the summary meeting.
At this time, Section Chief Zheng stood up fearlessly and suggested to Deputy Director Gu that when various regions introduced their products to Xia Juhua, they should not rush in at the same time, but should proceed separately - after all, Xia Juhua suffered from motion sickness on the way to Guangzhou, and she had not had a good rest since arriving and had been busy setting up the booth. Today she did not even have time to catch her breath.
He asked Deputy Director Gu to pay attention that Xia Juhua was older than the others, and even he, who was a few years younger than Xia Juhua, could not handle such high-intensity continuous rotation. Xia Juhua was probably just enduring it.
After these words came out, those who just lowered their heads when Deputy Director Gu was talking felt their faces getting hot. When they were setting up the booth, they only thought that Xia Juhua was strong and worked in an orderly manner, but ignored her age.
When Xia Juhua needed help, they also did not notice this problem. Now that Chief Zheng has pointed it out, anyone with a conscience will feel ashamed of their previous behavior.
Even Deputy Director Gu felt ashamed to force Xia Juhua to promote other regions, and said in an apologetic tone: "Comrade Xia Juhua, you are so capable that I overlook your age. Chief Zheng is right, if you have the energy, you can promote them. If you don't have the energy, just focus on promoting the products in Chengping."
Xia Juhua, who has lived her life over again and has deliberately avoided thinking about her age, said: I always feel that you are saying that I am old, and I have evidence.
With Deputy Director Gu's words, no one disturbed Xia Juhua's rest that night, so she had a good sleep. When she woke up the next day, although she still felt a little sore, Xia Juhua moved around a bit and didn't take it seriously.
On the way to the expo this time, someone offered to help Xia Juhua get the reed skin. Xia Juhua recognized that this person was the one who knew Cantonese. He had helped her translate the reporter's words several times, and now he took the initiative to show his goodwill.
"Sister Xia, I'm from Cheng'an area. My last name is Deng. You can just call me Xiao Deng." Seeing that Xia Juhua was willing to hand over the reed bark to him, Xiao Deng hurriedly introduced himself.
As the saying goes, one should never hit a smiling person. Xia Juhua came to the expo to sell her textiles at a good price, not to offend anyone, so she chatted with Xiao Deng without any grudge on her face.
What they talked about was nothing more than what products were available in Chengping and what were the differences between Cheng'an and Chengping. I have to say that Xiao Deng was quite capable of attending the expo, and he introduced the products of the region in a very clear and logical way, without being offensive or pretentious, and he also made Xia Juhua remember their products.
So after being surrounded by international friends again, Xia Juhua deliberately inquired about what products they needed. If Chengping area did not have them but Cheng'an area did, she would not mind asking Xiao Deng to come over and introduce them, and she also placed a few orders for Cheng'an area.
Of course, the area that receives the most orders is Chengping. Coupled with the restrictions on purchases, international friends find it even more difficult to get hold of Ping An Zhuang's textiles.
Not only Chinese people have the mentality that what is unattainable is the best, but international friends also have this mentality. When they heard that each person could only buy one set of samples, the pen holders and writing mats that had not been popular the day before became popular items, and we received several orders worth thousands of dollars.
Taking into account that there are not many reeds left in Ping'an Village now, and that they will have to wait until the reeds grow up in autumn to harvest, Xia Juhua had to remind Chief Zheng to extend the delivery time as much as possible - even if the provincial supply and marketing cooperative could allocate reeds from other places to Ping'an City, it would still take some time.
It seems that the mat weaving team has to recruit again. Xia Juhua thought of the scene when the mat weaving team filled up all three rows of houses after the vermicelli room was moved to the vermicelli factory, and a smile appeared on her face as she introduced the products.
"Xia, Xia, can I take a photo with you?" Someone asked Xia Juhua in stiff Chinese. Xia Juhua glanced at Section Chief Zheng, and after receiving his affirmative response, she agreed with a smile.
Not wanting to take another photo after taking one, some people even asked Xia Juhua through translation to pose for braiding and then stand behind her for the photo. Xia Juhua thought that posing was useless, so it would be better to just braid directly, which would look more natural.
As a result, after hearing about it yesterday, the international friends who came today saw Xia Juhua weaving a small chili pepper with her fingers so quickly that they applauded, took photos, and some wanted to take photos with Xia Juhua, while those who didn't have a chance to take photos looked at other things at the L Province booth.
Xiao Deng seized the opportunity to introduce the products to friends who were looking at things from the Cheng'an area. He also followed Xia Juhua's example and opened the packaging of an exhibit to invite friends to taste it on the spot.
As a result, the L Province exhibition became more and more lively, and representatives from other regions finally came to their senses and followed Xiao Deng's example to communicate with international friends. Unfortunately, English was not yet popular at that time, and some minority languages were even more out of reach. Without translation, they only relied on gestures, and often spoke incoherently.
"Lin the translator, please come over here." Someone saw Lin the translator always circling around Xia Juhua, and he really didn't understand what the international friends were gesturing, so he had to ask Lin the translator for help.
Lin the translator was in a dilemma - Deputy Director Gu had given him a strict order yesterday that he must ensure Xia Juhua's communication with international friends. Now he had to decide whether to stay or leave. It was really a headache.
Xia Juhua saw Lin the translator's embarrassment and said nonchalantly, "Lin the translator, you go ahead. I'll edit something for everyone to see. I don't think anyone will ask any questions."
After Xia Juhua started weaving things a few times ago, the international friends were indeed very quiet. Lin the translator nodded to Xia Juhua apologetically and walked towards the person who called him. Xia Juhua sat down again and picked up some reed bark.
The booth, which had been a bit noisy at first, suddenly became much quieter. Friends outside who didn't understand what was going on were reminded by people close to Xia Juhua not to disturb her weaving.
The truth is that Xia Juhua's image of never looking up or answering questions once she starts knitting is so deeply rooted in people's minds that her friends think she really needs quiet time to knit.
It was quiet here, but Lin the translator's conversation over there seemed a little abrupt. Several people turned around and looked at the three of them with dissatisfaction. Lin the translator had to take them away a little.
Unfortunately, until Xia Juhua finished weaving, the order there was not yet concluded, because the international friends kept looking at Xia Juhua from time to time with a completely absent-minded attitude, so it was unlikely that the order could be concluded.
Is the person who talked to his friends angry? Of course he is. Could he blame Xia Juhua? He himself knows that he can't blame her, so he still wants to build a good relationship with Xia Juhua. If she introduces him or helps to deliver the products, it will be valued by his friends.
Xiao Deng from Cheng'an is a good example. He has already signed several orders today, which is really enviable.
People tend to follow the crowd. The booth of Province L was constantly crowded with people and applause from time to time, which soon attracted the attention of the leaders of the Expo. Upon asking, we learned that such a lively scene was caused by a rural woman weaving handicrafts on the spot.
The leader asked someone to find Deputy Director Gu to find out where L Province found this capable person. Only then did he know that Ping'an Village's textile products had been exhibited at the previous expo, and this year they brought more products. In order to better showcase them to international friends, L Province boldly made the decision to let Xia Juhua accompany the exhibition.
"Let's go and have a look." The leader was very excited and took Deputy Director Gu, followed by the secretary and others, to the booth of Province L. During the visit, Deputy Director Gu took the opportunity to report to the leader the achievements of Ping An Zhuang's textile products yesterday.
"The orders for one day have reached 137,000 yuan?" The leader was also surprised to hear this number: "Their products are all made of reeds, the kind that grow along the river ditches?"
Deputy Director Gu nodded. "Yes, it is the reeds that are commonly seen by the rivers in the countryside. But I am worried about them. There are not many rivers in our L Province, and the production of reeds is also small. Xia Juhua and his team are happy to receive the order now, but if they don't have enough raw materials when they return, they will be affected. And I have seen Xia Juhua weaving things, and each one takes time. I wonder if their production team has enough staff."
"It's already great to be able to increase sideline income with small reeds. Our country is vast and rich in resources, so why worry that we can't supply reeds for Ping An Zhuang?" The leader announced to Deputy Director Gu in a very imposing manner that he didn't need to worry about this problem at all. The manpower problem that Deputy Director Gu was worried about was the Ping An Zhuang production team's own business, and the leader couldn't help.
Deputy Director Gu breathed a sigh of relief: With the power of L Province, Ping An Village's current raw material problem can naturally be solved. But people's hearts are not so easy to satisfy, who doesn't want to be better? If the leaders can really remember Ping An Village and help transfer reeds from neighboring provinces, Ping An Village's woven products will definitely increase. That's a good thing, and he won't refuse it.
The leader thought further: "It seems that we can adjust our product categories appropriately at the next expo. Through the success of Pinganzhuang textiles, we can see that international friends prefer to see things with our national characteristics, rather than being limited to food and drinks."
Deputy Director Gu has also been thinking about this issue these days. When discussing it with the leader, they felt a great sense of mutual understanding, and before they knew it, they walked to the booth of Province L.
The booth was still crowded with people. Some people who were idle in other areas saw Deputy Director Gu and were about to say hello, but he raised his hand to stop them - they came to see how Xia Juhua treated international friends, not to pretend to accept courtesy from their subordinates.
"The one who is knitting things must be Xia Juhua." The leader saw Xia Juhua, who was still knitting peppers wholeheartedly, through the gaps in the crowd and smiled: "Very good, you can tell from the things she knits that she is indeed from the countryside. She is very down-to-earth and has rural characteristics. It reminded him of the time when he was sent to the countryside in the early days of the movement."
At this time, Xia Juhua had already woven ten peppers in a row. After finishing the last one, she picked up a red rope and strung the peppers together in a few strokes. Then she stood up and held up the string of peppers.
The individual small peppers only look similar, but a bunch of red peppers squeezed together are very visually impactful. The leader motioned to his entourage to take a photo of Xia Juhua smiling and holding up the peppers through the crowd, and then said to Deputy Director Gu: "Comrades like this should be well promoted."
After hearing this, Deputy Director Gu introduced to the leader that Xia Juhua had been in the newspaper and the reason why she was in the newspaper. The leader then remembered a report in Yangcheng Daily two days ago and asked, "Is this Xia Juhua the unknown comrade who took the initiative to clean up for the staff at the train station?"
Deputy Director Gu was startled, but soon realized why the leader asked this question. He nodded and said, "Comrade Xia Juhua is a very simple working woman. She has deep feelings for the working people."
The leader nodded and said, "Yes, our farmers are all simple, and the way they express themselves is also simple. What a pity..." It's a pity that in China today, there are still tens of thousands of farmers as simple as Xia Juhua who are worrying about three meals a day.
This also shows how valuable Xia Juhua is. The things she led the women in the village to weave were made of reed stalks that were rejected by livestock, but they could be exchanged for precious foreign exchange, which was like turning stone into gold.
If farmers all over the country could be like Xia Juhua and exchange almost disposable things for foreign exchange, how much food could the country buy with these foreign exchange? Would farmers still have to worry about three meals a day?
The leader asked Deputy Director Gu another question: "How many work points does Xia Juhua and her team earn? How many of them are earned from weaving products? And how are they distributed in what proportion?"
This really stumped Deputy Director Gu. He only knew that the work points value of Ping'an Village was 2.6 cents last year, but he had no idea what proportion of it was made up of woven products and how to distribute it between woven products and agricultural products.
"Tonight, bring Comrade Xia Juhua to my place. I want to ask her about the situation of Ping'an Village in detail. Deputy Director Gu, I think Ping'an Village is very unique, and Xia Juhua, the leader, is also very thoughtful."
Deputy Director Gu agreed that Xia Juhua had a lot of ideas - he didn't understand Xia Juhua's behavior in the past, but he saw and remembered Xia Juhua's words and deeds during the expo in the past few days.
So he said the following to the leader: "Comrade Xia Juhua does have her own ideas, her own way of uniting comrades, and her own standards of right and wrong."
After hearing the words "right or wrong", the leader nodded slightly and told Deputy Director Gu that there was no need to alarm too many people by bringing Xia Juhua to his place, and he would also inform the staff around him.
Xia Juhua, who was following behind Deputy Director Gu, asked in confusion, "Deputy Director Gu, where are we going? I don't know anyone in Yangcheng, why would someone come to see me?"
Deputy Director Gu smiled, thinking that there were so many people who wanted to see you but couldn't. But he said, "You'll know when you see me. Comrade Xia Juhua, I only want to remind you of one thing, that is, no matter what questions the person who sees you asks you, you must answer them truthfully."
As she was about to leave, Xia Juhua, who was still immersed in the joy of the order figures summarized by Section Chief Zheng, suddenly stopped and said, "Deputy Director Gu, I had never been out of the house before I came to Guangzhou. Section Chief Zheng also followed me along the way, and I had no contact with people from outside our L Province. I also followed the people from L Province to participate in the Expo. I really did not do anything to let the country down."
Deputy Director Gu was stunned by what she said, and it took him a while to realize where Xia Juhua had misunderstood: his last sentence, which asked Xia Juhua to answer realistically, was too much like the ultimatum given by the protagonist to the villain in a movie, and successfully made Xia Juhua believe that the organization suspected that she had done something that was harmful to the national interest.
"What are you thinking about?" Deputy Director Gu had to tell Xia Juhua in a low voice that it was the leading comrade who wanted to know the actual situation of Ping'an Village from her. He was afraid that before Xia Juhua left, the commune and the county revolutionary committee would tell her that she could only report good news and not worries, so he asked her to speak truthfully.
Xia Juhua had just broken out in a cold sweat. After listening to Deputy Director Gu's explanation, she patted her chest and said, "The leaders of our commune and the county revolutionary committee all know that I am a gourd with a sawed mouth and can't say anything, so they didn't let me report good news but not worries."
You talk to international friends all day long, and you are a gourd with a sawed mouth? Deputy Director Gu thought that the leaders of Xia Juhua's commune and the county revolutionary committee might have some misunderstanding about her.
Director Zhang and Director Qi from Pingde County: Yes, we never thought so.
Deputy Director Gu had already seen the secretary beside the leader coming over, and he coughed lightly to signal Xia Juhua to cheer up. Xia Juhua subconsciously tugged at her collar, and was about to brush off the dust on her body, but then she remembered that this was in Yangcheng, and in a guesthouse, not in Pinganzhuang, so there wouldn't be any dust on her body.
"Hello, Deputy Director Gu. Hello, Comrade Xia Juhua." The secretary greeted the two with a smile, and said as he led them, "The leader is waiting. Please come in." As soon as the words fell, the three of them arrived at the door. The door was gently pushed open by the secretary, and he reported to Li Hui, "Leader, Deputy Director Gu and Comrade Xia Juhua are here."
"Please come in." The leader's voice was cheerful and carried a hint of smile, which made Xia Juhua's tense heart relax a little.
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