Chapter 131
Zhao Xianzhi's words made Li Hongliang and Lin Junqing, who were already feeling guilty, blush. They kept apologizing to Zhao Xianzhi and others, and repeatedly stated that they just wanted to take care of Xia Juhua instead of forcing her to work on the hospital bed.
Zhao Xianzhi didn't give him any face at all: "We are here, and the captain's two nieces are here, so it's more convenient to serve. You two should go back to the guesthouse and have a rest. When our captain is better, we will discuss it with you, okay?"
Xia Juhua was moved and a little amused: "Xianzhi." She stopped Zhao Xianzhi from saying, "My illness is really none of your business. The doctor said that I will be fine after two days of intravenous infusion. It is not as serious as you said."
Seeing that Zhao Xianzhi wanted to say something, Xia Juhua quickly changed the subject: "These two comrades are the leaders of the place where the volunteers are serving. We were talking about the new recruits in Ping'an Village and forgot the time."
Yes, that's right. Xia Juhua didn't know whether the news would leak out before the instant hot and sour noodles were supplied to the troops, so she found a ready-made excuse for Li Hongliang and the others to appear, and smiled and said to An Baoling:
"Both comrades have met the Volunteers. Why don't you ask them how the Volunteers performed?"
How could An Baoling not want to know how her son performed in the army? Even if Liu Zhijun had written to her family, she was afraid that her child would only report the good news and not the worries. When Xia Juhua told her that Li Hongliang and her husband had met Liu Zhijun, her eyes lit up.
Xia Juhua introduced the two parties, and let An Baoling take Li Hongliang and the other two to ask Liu Zhijun about his situation in the army in great detail. If An Baoling and Zhao Xianzhi joined forces, the two comrades in the army would be no match for them.
Zhao Xianzhi had been dealing with Xia Juhua for such a long time that he naturally realized that Xia Juhua was trying to ease the atmosphere, so he stopped targeting the two soldiers and started asking about Xia Juhua's experience of attending the expo.
This was the first time in two lives that she had traveled far away, and Xia Juhua had a very deep impression of it, and she spoke very clearly about it. Especially when she talked about how popular Ping An Zhuang's textiles were, how many orders they had signed, and how much money they could make, Zhao Xianzhi was so happy that she almost clapped her hands.
When it came to the news that Pingan Village would be electrified and that a combine harvester would be in place before the autumn harvest, the women couldn't help but start talking: "If we have electricity in Pingan Village, won't we be able to turn on the lights like people in the city? I heard that the thing will light up when you pull it, and it's very bright, and it doesn't produce smoke or irritate your eyes."
"There's also a combine harvester. Those men will be delighted when they hear about it. Now we have seed drills for spring ploughing, which saves them a lot of effort. If there's a combine harvester, they can harvest the wheat just by lying at home."
"No, we can't let them get away with it that easily. After harvesting the wheat, we have to let them plant corn. Didn't Technician Lin say that wheat and corn can be interplanted? Let them do it."
"Don't plant corn. We have late sweet potatoes. Let them harvest the wheat and plant sweet potatoes. It's just the right time to harvest the sweet potatoes and then leak the flour." Chang Xiancao was a man of few words. With just a few words, he arranged the men's work for the whole year clearly.
Xia Juhua looked at the women who were discussing the matter heatedly and felt sad for the men in Pingan Village: How had they offended the women so much in the past few years that the women couldn't bear to see them being a little more relaxed?
However, Xia Juhua believed that the men in Pingan Village had endless potential, and intercropping was not impossible as long as it could increase income. However, the most urgent task now was to improve the hot and sour rice noodle quickly.
Li Hongliang and his partner were frightened by Xia Juhua's fainting. Even though Xia Juhua had driven all the people from Ping'an Village back and strictly ordered that no one should visit her anymore, they still refused to discuss the issue of hot and sour noodles with her in front of her bed. In order to prevent Xia Juhua from speaking, they simply hid at Qi Weidong's place and did not show up in the hospital.
Xia Juhua had to receive an IV drip, so she couldn't go to Qi Weidong to arrest anyone. This was a good opportunity for her to tell her two sons and daughter-in-law the good news about going to the supply and marketing cooperative.
At first, when they heard that they could go to the supply and marketing cooperative to eat commercial grain, Liu Zhiquan and Liu Zhishuang's eyes lit up, which made Xia Juhua very relieved: Happy is good, happy they can move to the provincial capital and the region as soon as possible, care whos where they go, it is a good thing for these two people to leave her.
Unexpectedly, Liu Zhishuang's eyes lit up for a moment, but then he said a refusal: "Mom, let big brother go. I will stay in Pingan Village. You can't be alone."
Liu Zhiquan's face darkened: "What are you talking about? You should go. I'm the eldest, and it's my responsibility to take care of mom in her old age."
"I am also my mother's son, and I should also take care of her. Big brother, think about Baoguo and Lele. Whether they go to the provincial capital or the district, both children have city hukou and can go to school there. Isn't it better than going to primary school in Pingan Village?"
"Isn't Xiaoman going to give birth too?" Liu Zhiquan thought Liu Zhishuang was just making excuses: "No matter whether Xiaoman gives birth to a boy or a girl, she still has to go to school in the city."
"Then the child has to wait until he is six or seven years old to go to school?" Liu Zhishuang said with all his heart: "My child can wait for six or seven years, but Baoguo can't. Lele will have to go to primary school in just over two years."
Xia Juhua was annoyed by their quarrels: "One of you two is worth it. I don't need you to support me in my old age. I can still make ends meet. As I said before, I can still move and take care of myself."
Wang Caifeng was fed up: "Mom, do you know how scary it was the night before last? If no one was around, no one would know where you fell, and you would have been frozen stiff the next day."
Xia Juhua looked at Wang Caifeng strangely: "Caifeng, do you have the same idea as Zhiquan?" The one who most wanted to move to the city in her previous life was Wang Caifeng.
Wang Caifeng silently repeatedly: "Mom, I'm going to tell you something from the bottom of my heart. Even if Zhiquan goes to the provincial capital or the region, I have to stay with you. Not only me, but Lele can't leave grandma either."
Xiaoman nodded and said, "I won't go either. I can't leave my mother. Let Zhishuang go by himself."
Xia Juhua looked at this one, who didn't seem to be lying, and then looked at that one, who looked sincere. She couldn't help but sighed to herself: "What nonsense are you talking about? The child's household registration is with the mother. If you two don't go, what will happen to the children's household registration?" (The household registration policy at the time was that the child's household registration followed the mother, unlike now, where the child's household registration can follow the father, mother, or grandparents)
Don't look at the years after 2000. Urban hukou has lost its appeal, and rural hukou can no longer tie farmers to the land. But Xia Juhua clearly remembers that until the early 1990s, there were still many farmers who were willing to spend thousands of yuan to help their family members get urban hukou.
If for no other reason, many local companies require local city household registration when recruiting workers.
Now that Wang Caifeng and Xiaoman both say they don't want to go to the provincial capital or the region, doesn't that mean that Liu Baoguo and his siblings have lost a lot of opportunities in the past twenty years?
Therefore, Xia Juhua's attitude was tough, that is, whether they were willing or not, the Liu Zhiquan brothers had to solve the issue of urban household registration with their family.
The solutions are right in front of us. All we have to do is agree to go to the supply and marketing cooperative and we can start working on it right away.
Liu Zhishuang said unhappily: "Mom, do you think this will separate us?"
Xia Juhua felt that she had underestimated her son, and her face became serious: "What good will it do me to separate you? Isn't it because I want you to take root in the city while I am still useful, so that they won't have to work hard in the future? No matter what, urban residents can buy commercial food every month, but farmers can only wait for relief food when disaster strikes."
"Besides, Baoguo and Lele are both good at studying, and Xiaoman will be good children for you two. If we don't provide such good children with a good environment, they will be delayed. Mother can only go this far for you, and she asked for it with a thick face. If you all say you don't want to go, then isn't mother's face wasted?"
Now Liu Zhiquan and the others were silent. Only Lele grinned at Xia Juhua with her little white teeth when she heard her grandma say her name.
It can be said that among everyone in the room, including Liu Baoguo who was absent due to school, Xia Juhua was the most tolerant towards Lele. When she saw Lele smiling, she couldn't keep a straight face and waved to the little girl directly.
When Lele came to see Xia Juhua the first day, she cried because she was lying in bed receiving an IV. These past two days, when she saw Xia Juhua getting an IV in her hand, she stopped crying, but she was still moving very carefully.
Seeing Xia Juhua waving at her, the little girl ran over, carefully touched her grandmother's finger where the IV was being administered, and said, "It hurts, don't touch it."
Xia Juhua asked her, "Le Le, do you want to live with your parents in the city, where you can turn on the lights and watch movies every day?"
Lele had no idea what the movie was about, but she had turned off the light in the ward countless times in the past few days. She happily pointed at the light bulb above her head with her tender fingers and said, "Turn on the light, turn on the light every day."
"You see, it's different for children if they have experienced it or not. Although they can pass the exams if they study hard in the future, they will have more confidence when they go out if they have experienced it in advance." Xia Juhua never forgets to brainwash her son and daughter-in-law.
Liu Zhishuang said gloomily, "Mom, you always say to take the exam, but who would still want to take the college entrance exam now?"
Silly son, you will know whether you can enter university in October this year. Xia Juhua looked at Liu Zhishuang with dissatisfaction: "I attended the Expo this time and met people from many countries. I couldn't understand a word they said. But I could understand them through translation. I asked and found out that they learned translation in college."
"Think about technicians Xue and Lin, and Hongling's boyfriend, Xiao Zhao. Haven't they all been to school? Aren't they faster than you at operating machinery? And they can grow more food than you do."
"As our country's exchanges with foreign countries grow, won't the need for translators increase? If you don't even go to college, do you expect the few translators you have now to be enough?"
"So just wait, the university will have to recruit new people, and then our Lele will learn a foreign language, and when grandma goes to the expo again, let our Lele do the translation."
Liu Zhiquan and his friends were stunned by the long speech. Even the people who had just walked to the door to visit Xia Juhua nodded repeatedly: "Comrade Xia Juhua, you have great confidence in the development of our country."
Everyone looked at the door and saw that the person who was speaking was Deputy Director Gu of the Provincial Supply and Marketing System. Deputy Director Xue of the Regional Supply and Marketing Cooperative was obviously accompanying him. In addition to Uncle Qi, Director Lin also came with them from Pingde County.
"Deputy Director Gu, are you here for research at Pingde? You are so busy at work, why did you come to see me? It really delays your work." Xia Juhua wanted to get up, but Deputy Director Gu stopped her: "You are still receiving an IV, don't get up, don't get up."
After saying that, he looked at the Liu Zhi brothers and asked Xia Juhua: "These are your two sons. Not bad, you can tell at a glance that they are capable. So, have you decided which son you want to send to the provincial capital?"
Xia Juhua first stared at Liu Zhiquan and his brother to prevent them from saying in front of Deputy Director Gu that they did not want to go to the supply and marketing system - they were asked to go to the supply and marketing system, but they did not agree, but they agreed to let Liu Zhiquan and his brother work there without holding a grudge. If these two said they would not go again, it would be a real disrespect.
In the future, Ping'anzhuang's textile products will have to receive orders through the supply and marketing system. Is it okay to leave such an impression on people?
After glaring at her son, she gave Deputy Director Gu a smiling face and said, "I've thought about it. The older ones will go with you to the provincial supply and marketing system, and the younger ones will go to the regional supply and marketing cooperatives. But they all have families with them, so they will need two days to pack before they can report." She made the decision on her own, so what.
Deputy Director Gu also smiled and said, "Don't worry. If you don't recover, we won't accept them even if they come to report. Yesterday, Deputy Director Xue reported that you fell ill as soon as you returned to Ping'an Village, so Director Cheng immediately sent me to visit you."
"Director Cheng said that you fell ill this time because you were tired because of the people of the province attending the Expo. He asked me to convey his wishes to you. Please take good care of yourself. Your son's supply and marketing system will definitely make arrangements."
When Xia Juhua heard what Deputy Director Gu said, it was similar to what Uncle Qi said the other day that she was defeated by illness. But Deputy Director Gu was the leader of the provincial supply and marketing system, which meant they had worked together before during the expo, so they were not very familiar with each other. Xia Juhua could not just say what she said to Uncle Qi, so she could only smile bitterly to calm herself down.
Uncle Qi also remembered the conversation between the two that day, and smiled and said to Deputy Director Gu: "Don't worry, Director. Comrade Xia Juhua's cold will be cured soon, so we didn't let her leave the hospital because we wanted to take this opportunity to take care of her body. She was too weak when she was young, and if she doesn't start to take care of herself now, she will be defeated by another cold."
Xia Juhua wanted to roll her eyes, but she managed to hold it back and said, "I said that in addition to the IV, I also drank bitter medicine soup yesterday."
Deputy Director Xue said, "Good medicine tastes bitter. If you want to regulate your body, you still need Chinese medicine. But Director Qi, are the doctors in your county good enough? If not, I will take Comrade Xia Juhua to the district and ask an old Chinese doctor to prescribe a prescription for her."
When Uncle Qi heard that this was an attempt to steal someone, he was delighted and said, "The doctor Gao who treated Comrade Xia Juhua was his father. During the Anti-Japanese War, he took his family back to Pingde County from the capital and opened a pharmacy in the county. At that time, even people from the area came to see Mr. Gao in horse-drawn carriages.
"The situation was always turbulent, so Mr. Gao and his family stayed in Pingde County instead of returning to Beijing, which was a blessing for the people of Pingde County. But at the beginning of the movement, his father was attacked and died of anger, so he vowed never to treat patients again."
"But I don't trust other people's ability, so I visited Doctor Gao myself. He agreed to help Xia Juhua after hearing that he was treating her." Uncle Qi looked at Xia Juhua with some pride: "But if I hadn't visited him in person, he wouldn't have given me this honor."
Deputy Director Gu was far away in the provincial capital, but Deputy Director Xue had been working in the region and had heard of Mr. Gao and his son. He asked, "Didn't you hear that after Mr. Gao was sent down, no one knew where he was? How did you find him?"
Uncle Qi said with some pride: "We all knew that Mr. Gao had saved countless lives, but those people went crazy and smashed his shop, stole his expensive medicine, and labeled him a reactionary authority. Even if the old man died, they would not let Mr. Gao go."
"At that time, I was still a young man, so I helped Doctor Gao and put him in my hometown village. The villagers were united, and even though all my family members were released, Doctor Gao didn't suffer much in these years."
He said it lightly, but those who heard it were still shocked: at a time when everyone was going crazy, someone dared to save a person who was hated by everyone, and the person who did it was still working in the department. Once discovered, it would not be something a fool could explain.
No wonder Dr. Gao, who had sworn not to treat patients, agreed as soon as he showed up. But Deputy Director Xue was still a little surprised: "It's enough to have your face. Why did you say that it was Comrade Xia Juhua that made Dr. Gao agree to help?"
Uncle Qi looked at Xia Juhua and smiled: "Two years ago, when we had a drought, Xia Juhua taught the vermicelli making technique to anyone who wanted to learn it without reservation. How many families' sweet potatoes were saved? At that time, a handful of vermicelli could keep a person alive. Doctor Gao himself was also a beneficiary."
"He said Xia Juhua is a person with a big heart. People like her need to have a good body so that they can have more time and energy to do good things for everyone. Otherwise, it is said that Dr. Gao is a kind-hearted doctor. He cares about people who are not related to him at all."
Hearing that he didn't forget to belittle her at the end, Xia Juhua didn't want to look at her uncle straight in the eye. But she was not without doubts: "I haven't seen anyone take my pulse before, so he dared to prescribe medicine for me?"
Wang Caifeng finally remembered: "Mom, on the second night of your hospitalization, someone came to take your pulse. At that time, you suddenly had a fever, and I thought he was here for fever, and he was wearing a white hospital coat, so I didn't tell you."
Deputy Director Gu felt like he was listening to a legend. After a moment of hesitation, he asked Uncle Qi, "Since Doctor Gao treated Comrade Xia Juhua, will he continue to see patients in the future?"
Uncle Qi shook his head and said, "In fact, when we were in our village, we had a doctor named Gao who would see anyone with a headache or fever. But he always said that he was not treating illnesses, but helping people get rid of evil spirits, which made him sound mysterious. It was because there were no bad people in our village, otherwise he would have been accepted into the class just by saying that he could get rid of evil spirits. No one could tell whether he still saw patients or under what name."
You want to find someone to treat your illness, and they say they can help you get rid of your evil spirits. Would you still dare to see the doctor?
Xia Juhua was amused and sighed after hearing this. Deputy Director Gu had remembered that he was not here to listen to stories but to visit Xia Juhua, so he smiled and said, "Since Doctor Gao is taking care of Comrade Xia Juhua's body, we don't have to worry. Comrade Xia Juhua, you must listen carefully to Doctor Gao's instructions and drink the medicine even if it is bitter. Only with a good body can you do a better job in revolutionary work, right?"
Xia Juhua was naturally grateful for the leader's concern, but she thought that since the leader was here, there were some things she could talk about: "Deputy Director Gu, I wonder how the provincial supply and marketing system is coordinating the electricity issue for us. You don't know that we in Ping'an Village are in great need of electricity right now."
Deputy Director Gu looked at Uncle Qi, but Uncle Qi was studying the nutritional supplements he brought for Xia Juhua and didn't notice his "affectionate" gaze. Deputy Director Gu thought he knew why Xia Juhua had so many ideas: like leaders, like subordinates.
"Don't worry. Tomorrow your regional power supply bureau will start connecting electricity from Pingde County to Ping'an Village. I heard that the materials and manpower were specially approved by the provincial power supply bureau. I don't know why it was so easy this time."
Xia Juhua was also a little confused, but Uncle Qi spoke up to clear up the confusion for everyone: "Did the army come forward to coordinate? Li Hongliang called my office that day and seemed to have mentioned that Ping'an Village had electricity."
Deputy Directors Gu and Xue didn't know how Ping'an Village got in touch with the army again. After listening to Uncle Qi's introduction, they realized that Xia Juhua rushed back from the region just to meet with comrades in the army, and Ping'an Village's products would soon be supplied to the army.
The two directors looked at Xia Juhua in astonishment. They had not expected that she would do something big again without saying a word. Supply Corps, what a great honor. Even if they did not make money, with the title of supply corps, would they still be afraid that no one would buy Ping An Zhuang's products in the future?
Deputy Director Gu reacted quickly and immediately said to Xia Juhua: "Comrade Xia Juhua, if the troops cannot take over all your products, the provincial supply and marketing system can be responsible for sales."
Deputy Director Xue and Director Lin, who had no chance to speak, looked at Deputy Director Gu with sharp eyes. This was only possible if he was a leader from a higher-level unit, otherwise they would have to ask: Do you have the shame to poach people in front of their local supply and marketing cooperative? !
Before Xia Juhua could answer, Uncle Qi spoke for her: "Deputy Director Gu, I'm afraid this won't work. The Ping'an Village Brigade has limited production capacity and limited raw materials. I'm afraid their products are not enough to supply the troops."
Deputy Director Gu was naturally disappointed, but no one would compete with the troops for something, so he said with some regret: "Comrade Xia Juhua told me during a chat that the fields in Pingan Village are all irrigated now, so it's a pity to grow sweet potatoes. If flour can be as convenient as hot and sour noodles, the raw material problem will be easy to solve, right?"
It is so convenient to make hot and sour noodles with flour, so it is OK. Xia Juhua originally wanted to make hot and sour noodles because she wanted to launch hot and sour noodles before instant noodles. Now that hot and sour noodles are available, instant noodles can also be considered.
However, in her previous life, Xia Juhua didn't know how instant noodles were made, and she didn't know how many attempts it would take to succeed. She wouldn't make a big fuss and let everyone know about it before she accomplished something.
Seeing that Xia Juhua didn't say anything for a while, everyone thought she was tired, so Deputy Director Gu and Deputy Director Xue stood up and wanted to say goodbye to her. Xia Juhua then remembered that she still had something to ask Deputy Director Gu, so she hurriedly said:
"Deputy Director Gu, there is one more thing I need to trouble you with."
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