Chapter 129
Xia Juhua smiled at her uncle and said, "When we were in Guangzhou, Director Yang and Deputy Director Gu told me that I performed well at the Expo. To reward me, they wanted to provide three-phase electricity to Ping An Village as soon as possible, and we don't have to pay for the wire poles. Then not only can we use the laminator, but I also want to replace the pulping machine with a bigger one, so that it can be directly wound by electric motor instead of manpower."
What do you think? Should I give myself a compliment for participating in an expo and solving the electricity problem for the Ping'an Village Brigade? Xia Juhua was no longer dizzy, and her eyes were bright. She was waiting for Uncle Qi's compliment with anticipation.
Ping An Manor is going to have three-phase electricity? Uncle Qi, who was expected by Xia Juhua, was so angry that he almost died. Xia Juhua slept for most of the car ride. He didn't even report such an important matter to him!
They are too disrespectful to their leaders, too disorganized and undisciplined! Criticism must be made seriously. If this unorganized and undisciplined behavior is easily let off this time, Xia Juhua will be in big trouble next time!
Seeing Uncle Qi's face gradually darkening, Li Changshun's mouth corners became more and more pulled. Xia Juhua realized belatedly that it seemed a little late for her to report it.
Look, Uncle Qi's face is almost frozen, he must be very angry. Xia Juhua had to quietly pull the corner of Li Changshun's clothes to let him smile less obviously - Uncle Qi was on the verge of exploding, you are smiling so happily now, please consider his feelings.
Comrade Qi Mingtang, director of the Pingde County Revolutionary Committee and Qi Weidong's uncle, had mixed feelings at this time. He was happy that the Ping'anzhuang Brigade, under his leadership, was able to have electricity without having to apply to higher authorities in the county or spend any money. But he was also angry that he only found out about this at this time.
His anger was obviously greater than his joy. He asked Xia Juhua unhappily, "Is there anything else you haven't told me?"
There are many things I didn't tell you. Xia Juhua saw that Uncle Qi looked unhappy, and said with a flattering smile: "Well, Director Yang will coordinate with the provincial supply and marketing system to arrange 20 combined harvesters, two of which will be directly allocated to our Ping'an Village Brigade. By the way, they said they will guarantee our oil supply."
Good, very good. Uncle Qi looked at Xia Juhua fiercely and said, "We must get two more combined harvesters. The county has no control over the oil used by your Ping'anzhuang Brigade, and how the other two combined harvesters are distributed has nothing to do with the Ping'anzhuang Brigade."
Xia Juhua's smile froze on her face: "Director Qi, coordinate the combined harvester..."
Uncle Qi sneered and threatened: "Don't forget, even if the higher-ups directly give that thing to your Ping'an Village team, none of you know how to operate it. The people at the Agricultural Machinery Station have to learn how to operate it and then teach you. If the county doesn't get the other two combined harvesters, the comrades at the Agricultural Machinery Station will not have the opportunity to learn how to operate it."
Don't bully people like that! Xia Juhua simply lowered her head and stopped talking. No one could tell whether she was sulking or admitting defeat. A full minute had passed before Uncle Qi spoke again: "Is there anything else?"
Xia Juhua thought that she had no more, but Uncle Qi had already remembered all the rumors he had heard at the welcoming banquet. Could he keep Xia Juhua silent? He did not even ask Xia Juhua for confirmation, but directly gave her an order: "From now on, you will coordinate the production of tires for the regional rubber factory, the tractors of our county's agricultural machinery stations, and the tires for the transport team's cars."
Xia Juhua suddenly raised her head and stared at Uncle Qi. Even though there were only candles lit in the room, one could see that she was furious. "Director Qi, the provincial supply and marketing system has informed me that I can work in the provincial capital and that I will be given a house."
Uncle Qi sneered: "Deputy Director Xue of the regional supply and marketing cooperative has informed me that it is your two sons who will go to the supply and marketing system, not you."
Li Hongliang and his partner breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Xia Juhua say that she was going to work in the provincial supply and marketing system. It was because of the content and manner of the conversation between Xia Juhua and Uncle Qi that they were shocked - the army believes that subordinates should obey their superiors, and even if they disagree, they must first accept the order and then come down to discuss it.
They had never seen a subordinate who dared to speak to their uncle like Xia Juhua did.
Are the local brigade leaders so powerful? They remember that the brigade leaders are only the most basic cadres. No, in fact, the brigade leaders in the countryside are not organized and are not included in the cadre sequence, while the director of the county revolutionary committee is a department-level cadre.
Isn't Captain Xia afraid that Uncle Qi will be unhappy and will rape her? !
And that veteran comrade, wasn’t he the former captain of Ping’an Village? It’s not quite appropriate for him to just watch the current captain and the director of the county revolutionary committee quarreling without even trying to smooth things over, right?
Could it be that he wanted to be the captain again and let Xia Juhua offend the director of the county revolutionary committee? Thinking of this, Li Hongliang and Lin Junqing, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, could no longer sit still. They called out "Captain Xia" and smiled at Qi Xiaoshu, trying to make the two understand that what they were discussing now was the issue of how to supply Ping'anzhuang's instant hot and sour noodles to the Northwest Military Region.
We need to concentrate on discussing issues. Should we wait until the two of them leave before discussing Pingde County's internal issues?
Uncle Qi was so angry that he didn't know where to vent his anger. He didn't give them face at all. He waved his hand and said to them, "Your business won't fail. I will discuss the relationship between the big group and the small group with Captain Xia first."
Seeing that her uncle was not giving in, Xia Juhua said angrily, "The two comrades have been waiting for several days. If they had finished their research earlier, they would have returned to the northwest to report to the leaders."
"You also know that you have to report things to the leaders, right? Have you ever thought that if you didn't report to me, and I didn't know about the two combined harvesters until they arrived in Pingde County, would all the communes know about it? At that time, we would have to get our heads out to ensure that we could really transfer them to the Red Star Commune?"
"Okay, even if Director Zhang can snatch them, he can guarantee that only your Ping'anzhuang Brigade can use the two combined harvesters?" The commune needs to coordinate internally, so that during the autumn harvest, it will not be the Ping'anzhuang Brigade's turn to use them. That would be a shame.
It seems to be the case. Xia Juhua was a little scared just thinking about the picture her uncle had described: "Deputy Director Gu begged Director Yang for a long time before asking for 18 more seats. I am just a team leader, and Director Yang gave me his phone number out of courtesy. I can't really bother him."
Uncle Qi continued to sneer: "When you wanted to buy a tractor, when you wanted coal bricks, when you wanted to move the reserve food to support the militia, you troubled me a lot."
We are all adults now, isn't it a bit bad to bring up the past? Xia Juhua looked at Li Changshun for help, he was just like her and Uncle Qi, blowing the water in the cup. Xia Juhua wanted to remind him that he had been in the house for such a long time, the water was no longer hot, what were you blowing?
There was no way to ask for help, so Xia Juhua had to admit her mistake: "Once the two comrades in the army have been arranged, I will call Director Yang, okay?"
"And then there's the matter of tires. Can you guarantee that the tires on the tractors and harvesters of your Ping'an Village Brigade will last a lifetime?" Uncle Qi refused to give in. The anger in his heart had long since disappeared, replaced by the joy of a liberated peasant singing.
"Call, call, call. After I finish calling Director Yang, I'll call Deputy Director Xue. If Deputy Director Xue can't handle this, I'll call Deputy Director Gu and ask him to coordinate across the province. Is that okay?" Xia Juhua, who always felt that she had suffered a loss, finally had a way to make up for it:
"Our brigade wants to develop the breeding industry, but we can't do without feed. Can Director Qi also give a heads-up to the noodle factory and furfural factory? The troops need vermicelli, but the ones that come out now are too thick, so we have to order a new pot and learn how to make a colander. Can the county coordinate with us and produce them for us as quickly as possible?"
Li Hongliang and his friend, who thought that the conversation between Xia Juhua and Uncle Qi had just gone beyond cognition, found that the topic had unconsciously shifted back to hot and sour noodles. They were a little confused about Xia Juhua's train of thought: How did she switch back?
Uncle Qi did not respond to Xia Juhua's words, but looked at Li Hongliang and the others: "Comrade Li, Comrade Lin, the resources that can be mobilized in our county are limited. I'm afraid that some supplies will have to be solved by the troops themselves."
Li Hongliang just nodded and hadn't spoken yet, but Li Changshun had already put down the cool cup he had been blowing for a long time and said, "Director Qi, we are soldiers and civilians, and the troops are all focused on training. There are some things that they can't coordinate as conveniently as we can."
Although Uncle Qi had no psychological burden when squeezing Xia Juhua, he still respected Li Changshun from the bottom of his heart and spoke politely: "Captain Li, if it was the iron pot and colander that Xia Juhua mentioned just now, I can definitely coordinate. Even if Ping'an Village wants to rebuild the powder room, I can also coordinate the bricks for you. Anyway, you just pay the price."
"But the main source of leakage is sweet potatoes. Didn't Xia Juhua just say that spring ploughing is just around the corner and the weather is getting warmer. Firstly, we don't have much sweet potato in stock, and secondly, storing it is also a problem. If the troops can coordinate these, it's better for them to do it."
Regarding the supply of troops, Xia Juhua still agreed with Uncle Qi's concerns, and looked at Li Hongliang and the others: "If the troops can guarantee the supply of sweet potatoes, our Ping'anzhuang Brigade will fully support the construction of the troops even if we don't want the processing fee."
Xia Juhua was not just boasting. She was thinking: It was already 1977. In less than two years, the ungrateful country would treacherously launch a war. In her previous life, Xia Juhua had watched a program on the Laoshan front on TV. In the program, the soldiers had trouble keeping up with supplies in order to defend the country.
頭上是呼嘯的子/彈，肚子餓得咕咕叫還不能後退半步，是個啥滋味？上輩子夏菊花只能看着電視幹着急，這輩子自己想的東西，能派上用場，夏菊花實心實意的覺得自己該幫忙。
部隊裏頭，也有平安莊走出去的二十一個孩子。還有千千萬萬，跟那二十一個孩子歲數都差不多，以夏菊花看來，他們穿上軍裝保家衛國了，并不是刀槍不入，還得吃飽了才有勁殺白眼狼。
所以雖然來的是西北軍區幹部，夏菊花還是願意為戰士們出這份力。她的想法是利用一年左右的時間，把方便酸辣粉技術進一步成熟，讓它口感再好點兒、泡開的時間再短點兒、調料再營養點兒，到時候一個戰士背包裏塞上幾包，還用擔心餓肚子？
李宏亮和林俊青聽了大受感動：“夏大隊長，部隊絕不拿群衆一針一線，也不會讓老百姓犧牲自己的利益。所以你放心，明天你辛苦一下，把制酸辣粉的原料、工具給我們列一列，後天我們就向部隊首長彙報。”
夏菊花點了點頭，李長順還要勸李宏亮，卻被李宏亮先把話說明白了：“李大隊長，你知道我們做為軍區後勤部采購的話，就不是供應一個連隊或是一個營的事兒。”
“所以很可能平安莊的社員，一年裏大部分時間都要用來漏粉兒。我們這兩天已經了解過了，社員們就指望着每年的收成呢。可給部隊漏粉兒，大家顧不上種地，要是再不收錢的話，社員們吃啥？總不能支援了部隊建設，讓社員們餓肚子。那我們保衛祖國有啥意義呢？”
李長順難受的低下了頭：“唉，社員守家在地的，總能想出辦法來。可部隊的戰士離家那麽老遠，訓練那麽苦，一點子粉條還收你們的錢，我這心裏……”
齊小叔适時的開口了：“李大隊長，民擁軍，軍也愛民，人民軍隊不拿群衆一針一線，咱們都是知道的。我想只要平安莊大隊盡快生産出部隊需要的酸辣粉，保證質量，就是咱們擁軍的最好體現。”
說完他把頭轉向兩位部隊同志：“李同志、林同志，請你們在向首長彙報的時候，把我們縣的決心帶到。那就是不管平安莊大隊漏粉的過程中，遇到什麽困難，我們平德縣都會盡全力替他們解決。”
“一旦地區電力局開始為平安莊接電，不管路過哪個公社、哪個大隊，我們都會提供足夠的人力，幫助埋線杆拉電纜，不會出現阻礙施工的現象。”
李宏亮激動的握住齊小叔的手說：“齊主任，有你這話我們就更放心把生産酸辣粉的任務，交給平安莊大隊了。”
夏菊花跟着點頭，雖然沒表态，臉上的神情分明是再贊同不過的。齊小叔心裏嗤笑一聲，決定以後再找夏菊花算帳，現在先讓她回家休息吧，沒見這人一看就是強打精神，身子已經快坐不住了——就在他說話的過程中，夏菊花已經換了好幾個坐姿。
“那好，李同志、林同志，咱們今天就先說到這兒。你們考察了一天辛苦，夏菊花同志匆匆從地區趕回來，也挺不容易，咱們明天再碰頭？”齊小叔自己先站起來結束這場談話。
李宏亮和林俊青有些不好意思的站了起來，嘴裏不住的檢讨自己，說不應該一見夏菊花就拉着她讨論，沒有注意夏菊花同志的身體吃不吃得消。
夏菊花嘴上謙虛的說不礙事兒，心裏還是很感激齊小叔的，暗暗決定明天如果有時間的話，就給楊司長打電話問問，一定請他把平德縣的兩臺聯合收割機協調下來。
擡手看看剛戴了兩天的手表，已經是晚上十點半多，夏菊花覺得自己真的有些撐不住了，連謙虛的話都說不出來了，直接問齊小叔：“齊主任，要不你在這裏跟兩位同志再聊聊，讓司機送我回平安莊行不行？”
那一百五十斤海米，除了送給顧副主任的秘書和另一個人一斤外，可還有一百四十九斤呢，加上三十九斤腰果和夏菊花的包袱，是近二百斤的份量。夏菊花不覺得現在的自己，還有力氣在這漆黑的夜晚扛回家去。
這點兒便利，齊小叔還是不會為難人的。他一口應下來，告訴夏菊花，讓她明天上午好好想想需要的物資，想細想全列明白，下午他會讓司機過來接夏菊花和兩位部隊同志一起到縣城——他辦公室裏有電話，不管是李、林兩人給部隊打，還是夏菊花給楊司長打，都保密又方便。
還能給自己半天的休息時間，夏菊花覺得是意外之喜，自然沒有啥意見，昏頭昏腦的坐上車後，才想起李長順來，從車窗裏探出頭來喊：“大隊長，你也一起坐車回去吧，大晚上的你看不清路咋整。”
李長順本想留下來陪齊小叔，被人推進車裏：“我跟兩位同志說說話，你放心回去歇着吧。”
李長順六十多歲的人了，往常這個點早睡好幾覺了，也覺得有些熬不住，順水推舟的坐好，車子就發動起來。
“這趟累的不輕吧？”
夏菊花搖着昏沉的頭說：“還行，就是訂單簽的有點兒多，恐怕編席組那頭要忙不過來。還得再招些人到編席組。”
聽說編席組又要招人，李長順心裏高興，想問夏菊花要招多少，卻聽出她聲音有氣無力。唉，這又是通電又是聯合收割機的，聽起來是好事兒，夏菊花在外頭不見得咋拼命幹活，人家領導才給這麽大獎勵呢。還是讓她好好歇歇，等部隊的同志走後再問吧。
如此一路沉默，到小莊頭下車前，李長順沒忍住說了一句：“你回去也早點兒歇着，再急還能差那一半天的？”
夏菊花強打精神笑了一下，指點着司機把車開到自家門口，又昏昏沉沉的下了車，自己搖晃着拍門。她邊拍，竟然還有精神想着，生産隊還是窮呀，大家連條狗都舍不得養。要是養了狗的話，晚上聽到車子這麽大動靜，狗能叫成一片，睡多死的人都能聽見，自己就不用費勁拍門了。
“誰呀？”劉志全的聲音從門裏傳了出來，夏菊花虛弱的應了一聲：“是我。”
“娘？”劉志全隔着院門有點兒沒聽真，不過開門的速度可不慢，一見真是夏菊花站在門口，嘴一下子咧的老大：“娘，真是你回來啦。你咋不給我拍封電報，我好去接你。”
夏菊花不耐煩的擺了擺手，直接打斷劉志全的廢話：“把東西拿進來，請司機進來喝口水再走。”說完自己腳步虛浮的往正房走。
走到一半被王彩鳳攙住了：“娘，你累壞了吧，看走道都走不穩了。”
夏菊花只來得及向她笑笑，眼前一黑就啥事都不知道了。
“娘，這是咋啦？”剛穿完衣裳出來的劉志雙，正好看到親娘倒在院子裏，大嫂努力往起扶她的情景，一下子眼睛就紅了，上前跟王彩鳳兩人擡着夏菊花就要往正房去。
還是司機聽到動靜，覺得擡屋裏沒啥用，提醒兩人說：“還是把夏大隊長送醫院看看吧。”
“好，好。”把麻袋扔到地上的劉志全，六神無主的喃喃着：“送醫院，快點把娘送醫院。”
說完腦子清醒了一點兒，上前從王彩鳳手裏接過夏菊花，催她：“你快去拿錢。”
王彩鳳轉身就往屋裏跑，沒兩分鐘人就出來了：“給，都在這兒呢。”厚厚的兩沓大團結被塞進劉志全的兜裏，看的司機一激靈。
劉家也太有錢了，兒媳婦就能拿出兩千塊錢來。
這時大着肚子的小滿也在往劉志雙兜裏塞錢：“別讓大哥一個人掏錢。”
劉志雙為難的看看她的肚子，邊跟大哥一起往車上擡親娘邊說：“娘可能就是累着了，你別擔心，也別跟着去醫院。”
王彩鳳聽了也勸：“小滿呀，你就在家等着吧，我跟着就行。樂樂和保國明天早晨給口飯吃就行。”
正說着，陳冬生和孫招弟兩口子聽到動靜過來了，劉志雙覺得心裏有了點兒底：“爹、娘，家裏你們多操心。”
“哎，你們也給你娘拿床被子蓋蓋。”孫招弟含着眼淚支使閨女，說完一看她的肚子，也顧不得姑爺的屋子她一個丈母娘不好進，三步兩步拿出一床被子，給夏菊花蓋到身上：“你們去吧，明天早晨我讓你爹給你們送飯。”
“嬸子，那家裏就指望你了。”王彩鳳身子緊緊擠在車門上，把夏菊花的頭抱在懷裏，好讓她躺舒服點，嘴裏還跟孫招弟客氣着。
劉志雙坐到了副駕駛位上，劉志全則擠在夏菊花腳邊。看他們坐好了，司機馬上發動車子，向着大隊部開了過去。
On the way, the driver agreed with Liu Zhiquan and others that he had to go to the brigade headquarters to report to Uncle Qi first, otherwise the leader would be thrown to the Ping'anzhuang Brigade. He ran to the hospital without saying a word, and he would not have to do his job as a driver.
Uncle Qi and Li Hongliang were talking happily, and they were laughing when they heard the movement of the car: "Xia Juhua was quite quick this time, she must have returned the car as soon as she arrived at Ping'an Village."
Unexpectedly, the sound of the car engine did not stop, and the driver ran in to say that Xia Juhua had fainted when she got home. The three of them looked at each other, too shocked to speak for a moment.