Chapter 132
Deputy Director Gu shuddered when Xia Juhua called him. He forced a smile at Xia Juhua and said, "Just tell me what you want. Director Cheng has already told me before I came here. If you have any requests, as long as our supply and marketing system can do it, we will definitely do our best to help you."
When he said the word "you", he spoke it very hard because he wanted to tell Xia Juhua that she could talk about personal matters but nothing else - the two of them had not only talked but also cooperated at the expo, and he and Director Yang had rewarded Xia Juhua together, which made Deputy Director Gu feel that he still understood Xia Juhua: this person would not easily talk about her own affairs to others, and the fact that she called others after he left was most likely about collective matters.
Unfortunately, Xia Juhua was on IV drip and had been slow to respond these days. Or maybe she didn't want to hear what Deputy Director Gu meant, so she just said what she wanted to say: "Deputy Director Gu, when will the rubber we ordered from Roberts be delivered?"
See, he knew it was like this.
Deputy Director Gu shook his head helplessly, not expecting Xia Juhua to understand the hidden meaning in his words, and told her bluntly: "Since the commendation meeting, all regions have known that we bought 10,000 tons of rubber at the expo, and they are all crazy to find leaders to do work. In order to avoid unnecessary fluctuations and conflicts, the provincial leader in charge of industry organized a meeting in all regions the morning before yesterday to allocate the rubber quota."
So you'd better stop thinking about it.
Xia Juhua was not as disappointed as Deputy Director Gu had imagined. Instead, she said with a smile, "It's all distributed. It's quite fast. This way, rubber factories in various regions don't have to worry about not having enough raw materials. They can now start full production, right?"
Can't you just take good care of your health? What does it have to do with you whether they are in full production or not? Deputy Director Gu really couldn't understand why Xia Juhua suddenly cared about whether they were in full production, but he still told the truth: "Not to say they are in full production, but at least the production volume is more than before."
Xia Juhua was even happier: "That's great. I was worried about causing trouble for you, Deputy Director Gu. Now that the rubber products factory is operating at full capacity, I will shamelessly ask Deputy Director Gu for a favor. Can you help us coordinate with Pingde County to replace new tires for the tractors of the agricultural machinery stations and the cars of the transport teams?"
What does "a lion's mouth is wide open" mean? It refers to this rural woman in front of me who seems to be ignorant but has a clear mind!
Deputy Director Gu stopped looking at Xia Juhua and turned his gaze to Uncle Qi: "Director Qi, Comrade Xia Juhua is truly dedicated to the public."
If Xia Juhua only proposed to replace the tires of Pinganzhuang, Deputy Director Gu could believe that she was considering the collective interests. But she said that she was talking about the tires of the whole county, and Uncle Qi didn't know anything about it, so Deputy Director Gu would not believe it even if he was beaten to death.
Uncle Qi nodded with a bachelor's face: "Yes, Comrade Xia Juhua has always been so proactive in thinking about the collective. It's also my fault. She told me that she wanted to replace the tires for the tractor in Ping'an Village. But our county doesn't have the ability to do so, so I told her I had no place to find tires for her. She thought I was perfunctory, and I got angry and told her that she would not be perfunctory, and if she had the ability, she would replace all the tires in the county. Who knew she would be so stubborn... hehe..."
Xia Juhua wanted to tell Deputy Director Gu loudly that Uncle Qi was lying and that he was not threatening her in that way. However, Deputy Director Gu thought that there was indeed no rubber export factory in Pingde County and that the rubber factory in Chengping District was idle for half a year a year, so he actually believed Uncle Qi's lies and really thought that Xia Juhua asked him for help because she was angry with Uncle Qi.
In addition, Xia Juhua even asked for a favor, and Deputy Director Gu couldn't help but think of her performance and ability at the expo, and felt that she was worthy of this favor - as long as Xia Juhua recovered from her illness and placed a few more orders with Roberts, would there be any worry about L Province's lack of rubber? The entire province's rubber was guaranteed, so they didn't care about a few tires in Pingde County.
So Deputy Director Gu nodded to Xia Juhua's disappointment: "I can only say that I will try my best to coordinate for you when I go back, but I can only coordinate for one year's usage. As for next year, I'm afraid it depends on whether Roberts' subsequent orders can be received."
Xia Juhua knew how to leave the person alive, so she didn't take Deputy Director Gu's words seriously. She thanked him for his help with a smile and promised that when Liu Zhiquan went to work in the provincial supply and marketing system, she would go with him to visit him.
Finally, Deputy Director Gu happily left the room. Xia Juhua let out a long sigh of relief, and then she heard Lele, who had been silent the whole time, call out, "Honghong."
"What's red?" Wang Caifeng didn't understand what the lady said, so she asked. Xia Juhua subconsciously looked at her hand and found that everyone was just talking and didn't notice that the fluid had been transfused and the blood had returned.
As soon as she grasped the IV tube (at that time, IVs were still delivered with rubber tubes, not the plastic tubes used today), she yelled at the dumbfounded Liu Zhiquan, "Why don't you go call the nurse?"
The nurse pulled out the needle and looked at Liu Zhiquan and his wife with some dissatisfaction. However, the person who just came into the ward was not ordinary, so she couldn't get angry with them. She just coldly told them to be more careful next time they checked the fluid, otherwise the patient would suffer, and then she left.
Xia Juhua's right hand was swollen at this time, but she didn't take it seriously. Instead, she held Lele's little hand and thanked her: "Thanks to our Lele's sharp eyes, otherwise grandma would have lost so much blood."
The little girl was a little scared just now, but now she has recovered after hearing her grandmother's praise. She opened her little mouth and blew on her grandmother's right hand: "Blow it and it won't hurt."
"Well, I blew it, and grandma doesn't feel any pain anymore." Xia Juhua happily carried the little girl to bed, pointed at the nutritional supplements brought by Deputy Director Gu and his team on the bedside table and asked, "Which one does Lele want to eat?"
It's no wonder Xia Juhua loves Lele, the little girl is very tactful - when there are no outsiders in the ward, she never stops talking to Xia Juhua to relieve her boredom. Once there are outsiders, Lele stays quietly by herself, not saying a word, not like some children who go crazy and ask adults to do this and that when there are people around, and can't even talk properly.
Now Lele pointed at a can of oranges with his little finger and said, "Eat canned food."
Xia Juhua naturally signaled Liu Zhiquan to pick up the canned food for Lele. Liu Zhiquan was a little reluctant: "Mom, this is for you."
Xia Juhua didn't think that if someone else gave her something, other people couldn't eat it. Although she strictly prohibited people from Ping An Manor from visiting her, who in Ping An Manor wouldn't miss her when she was lying in bed? As a result, Xia Juhua felt that her words were not as effective as before. Every day, several members would come to take a look, put down their things and run away.
There were a lot of noodles, eggs, and brown sugar in the ward. Today, Deputy Director Gu and his colleagues brought cakes and even milk powder in addition to canned food. It would be a pity if such good things were not eaten and spoiled.
What could Liu Zhiquan do to his own mother? He borrowed a fruit knife from the nurse and pried the cans out bit by bit, muttering to himself as he pried: "Children nowadays have such a good life. When we were kids, we never had to eat canned food."
Xia Juhua became unhappy when she heard this: "It's good that you didn't starve to death when you were kids. Where can I buy canned food for you?" That was during the time of natural disasters.
Liu Zhiquan knew that he had said something wrong, so he quietly opened the can and took a spoon and put it in front of Xia Juhua. Xia Juhua handed the spoon to Lele and asked her to eat with it. She said to Liu Zhiquan, "You also heard what Deputy Director Gu said today. You have to go to the provincial capital even if you don't want to."
Liu Zhiquan was about to speak when his mother interrupted him: "Listen to me. I let you two join the supply and marketing cooperative not only to give you children a good future, but also to let you learn more from others. If there is an opportunity in the future, we can find more ways for ourselves."
Xia Juhua didn't say what the connection was, but Liu Zhiquan and Wang Caifeng both understood: Don't forget, Wang Caifeng helped Qi Weidong fry peanuts a lot.
Liu Zhiquan asked with shining eyes: "Mom, is it possible?"
Why not? In less than three to five years, the term "individual business" will appear on this land, and those are the first to get rich. Xia Juhua began to tempt her eldest son: "What does the supply and marketing cooperative do? It is to manage the allocation of materials. Apart from other things, don't you know how much processed cloth Caixia has sold to us in these years? Caixia is still only in the supply and marketing cooperative of the commune, but you are going to the supply and marketing system of the provincial capital."
Wang Caifeng was equally excited - in the past two years, she had two children at home, and if it weren't for the fried peanuts to supplement their diet, Xia Juhua would have to provide food and work points for just one of the children, so she knew all too well the profits involved.
She asked carefully: "Mom, Zhiquan is an honest man, I'm just afraid..."
Xia Juhua said nonchalantly, "I'm not asking him to steal things from the supply and marketing cooperative, nor am I asking him to do anything illegal. I just thought that the provincial capital is well-informed, and it would be much more convenient to find out which place needs what and which place produces this thing than in Ping'an Village."
"Why don't you just pull the strings or team up with Xiao Qi?"
My dear mother, is it really okay for you to talk about speculation so lightly? Both the son and the daughter-in-law looked shocked. Xia Juhua sneered: It's not like they haven't done it before, why are they pretending not to know? She is old, and pretending to be honest is just a way for young people to be bold.
"Auntie, I'm back." Speak of the devil, and he will appear. Before Liu Zhiquan and his wife could digest their mother's words, Qi Weidong pushed the door open and came in. He didn't pay any attention to the expressions of Liu Zhiquan and his wife, and excitedly shouted to Xia Juhua: "Auntie, do you know that thing..."
"Shut up." Xia Juhua had no choice but to yell at Qi Weidong. Only then did Qi Weidong wake up from his excitement. He chuckled at Xia Juhua twice and turned around to close the door.
一關上門，齊衛東整個都蹦了起來，跳着到夏菊花的面前，把自己背着的軍用挎包往病床上一拍：“嬸子，你看看這是啥！”
夏菊花微微一笑：“不就是錢嗎，有啥好看的。”
齊衛東的嘴張得老大：“嬸子，你咋知道的？”
你進屋都表現的這麽興奮了，再猜不出來不就是傻子？夏菊花用看傻子一樣的目光看齊衛東：“你幹啥去了我知道，回來一點兒東西沒拿我也看到了。除了你在省城把東西都處理了，我想不出別的原因。”
齊衛東默默向夏菊花豎起了大拇指：“嬸子，你太厲害了。你是不知道，省城的人都快搶瘋了。”
劉志全上前拿起挎包，打開一看趕緊把包合上：“這麽多？”
齊衛東用力點了點頭：“就是這麽多。”
夏菊花伸手接過挎包，敞開包蓋看到裏頭躺着得有十來捆大團結，不由也有些吃驚：“你賣多少錢一斤？”
齊衛東向夏菊花伸出一個巴掌：“五塊！”
瘋了吧？夏菊花看齊衛東的眼神都不對了：“熟花生才多少錢一斤，腰果你就敢賣五塊錢，誰花五塊錢買這玩意？”
齊衛東得意的一笑：“嬸子，你小看我了不是？從那天你讓我去省城取貨，我就聯系了兩個以前在省城認識的人。他們雖然沒見過、可是聽京城的人說過腰果，那玩意可是非洲貨。”
“非洲呀，離咱們這兒得多老遠，能把東西運過來多不容易。以前省城根本沒有見過這東西，也不對，可能有人見過，不過一般老百姓肯定沒見過。”
“他們聽說我有，開口就給我三塊錢一斤。我記得你跟我說過，那玩意是一塊錢一斤買下來的，能賣到三塊也不少了。不過咱得講講價不是，我就要四塊，最後他們還到了三塊五。”
“不過那兩小子一開始沒敢多要，一人只要了一百斤，說是先賣着。誰想到東西一到手，真有人識貨，把其中一個小子手裏的一百斤都買走了。那小子就又來找我拿貨。”
說到這兒齊衛東得意的看了夏菊花一眼：“我尋思着他不到一天就來找我拿貨，肯定是賣的好呀，所以我就提了下價，他竟然還真買了。”
夏菊花有些不相信，覺得現在工資才多少錢一個月，哪有人花十來天的工資，就買那麽點兒腰果？不過錢擺在面前，想不相信也找不出理由。看來不管啥年代，都不缺手裏有錢的人，上輩子她只覺得七十年代日子不好過，是因為自己一直在平安莊，根本接觸不到外面的世界。
齊衛東見她看着挎包裏的錢不說話，有點心虛的說：“後來我才打聽出來，那東西省供銷系統定了不少，為了盡早撥貨款，給省領導和銀行的人品嘗過，省領導誇好吃，銀行的人也說不錯，不知道咋被外頭的人知道了，市場上就搶瘋了。”
夏菊花聽的心裏一沉：全省參加博覽會的人不少，大量買腰果的人卻只有她一個人。結果剛開完博覽會，省城供銷社才擺上樣品，黑市裏就出現了腰果，是誰賣的還用問嗎？
“嬸子，我是不是辦錯了？”齊衛東一看夏菊花沉臉，心裏有些忐忑的問。
夏菊花搖了搖頭，努力讓自己鎮定下來，她是參加完博覽會，回到平安莊就病倒在床的，這一點齊小叔和醫院裏的人都能證明，剛才省供銷系統顧副主任還來探望了她，從正常思維上講，她沒有賣腰果的時間。
既然沒有時間，誰問她就可以來個一問三不知。夏菊花想明白了，臉色也就轉過來了，不過還是提醒齊衛東：“最近一段時間你不能再去省城了，那兩個人也不能再聯系了。”
齊衛東不明所以，還是聽話的點了點頭：“行，我都聽嬸子的。”
夏菊花便把其中的利害講給齊衛東聽：“……你的價賣的有點高了，那兩人再往出賣也得掙錢，能買得起的肯定都不是一般人。你想想，那樣的人想查的話，很容易查到你頭上。”
齊衛東被生生吓出了冷汗，剛進屋時的興奮勁全沒了：“嬸子，是我太心急了。主要是部隊兩人住在我那兒，我尋思着把東西帶回來，他們看了不好解釋，不如在省城處理了省心。”
“沒啥事兒，反正這東西也不多。再說參加博覽會的人多着呢，說不定就是別的地方流過來的。”夏菊花從來沒見齊衛東這麽蔫巴，不由開口安慰他。
齊衛東還在心裏責怪自己，聽了夏菊花的話，蔫蔫的從挎包裏把錢都掏出來，不容分說的塞到夏菊花枕頭底下：“嬸子，是我太心急了。你放心，要是有事兒的話，我擔着。”
“你擔着什麽你擔着。”夏菊花回身想把錢拿出來還給齊衛東，卻被他一把按住了，倔強的說：“是我的錯就是我的錯。要是我真出了事兒，嬸子你多照顧下李林他們兩個就行。那兩小子跟了我幾年，也就混了個肚子飽。”
夏菊花氣樂了：“那你更應該把這錢給他們分點兒。”
齊衛東卻搖頭：“這回我是自己去的省城，沒讓他們兩個知道，所以我才說出了事我自己擔着。到時候我就說，我是趁着你沒防備，偷了你的提貨單，才沒敢把東西帶回平德縣，直接在省城處理了。”
夏菊花掙出一只手來，給了齊衛東後背來了一下子：“說啥喪氣話呢，出不了事兒。你不知道，我買這東西的時候，省供銷系統的顧副主任是知道的，他都沒問我買那麽多腰果幹啥。”
聽說省供銷系統顧副主任知道，齊衛東稍微放松了一點兒：“他真沒問？”
“沒問。”夏菊花說着，已經把枕頭下的錢都掏了出來，數了一下，竟有一萬零兩百塊錢。她直接甩給齊衛東五沓：“那兩百我自己留下了。”
齊衛東不幹：“嬸子，你本錢還沒刨出來呢。”說啥也要再給夏菊花兩千塊錢。夏菊花只收下一沓，告訴齊衛東賣東西的是他，那一千就是他的辛苦錢。
說實在的，齊衛東這些年黑市闖下來，并不覺得一千塊錢是多大的數目，可是夏菊花給這一千意義不一樣——他都把夏菊花暴露在省供銷系統的視線之下了，夏菊花不光沒有多責怪他，還要與他風險共擔，齊衛東不能不感動。
他暗下決心，如果将來真出了事兒，那他就按自己想好的，把所有的責任都攬到自己頭上。
夏菊花卻不只是給齊衛東解心寬，而是覺得現在政策越來越松動，黑市裏的物資流動也越來品種越多，真不一定有人會注意到齊衛東掀起的這點小波浪。
不是夏菊花抱僥幸心理，而是她想到了顧副主任探病的時間和态度：顧副主任是今天才到平德縣的，最晚昨天到的地區，可大前天齊衛東的頭一批腰果已經流進了黑市，供銷系統該知道早就知道了，能想到也早想到了。
可顧副主任來探病的時候，态度是親切和藹的，與自己說話的神情是平靜的，所以夏菊花才覺得追究的可能性不大。
提着心又在醫院喝了兩天苦藥湯子，沒聽到啥不好的消息，夏菊花說啥也躺不住了。大夫又給她開了幾大包藥，囑咐她回家一定要堅持服用，才肯放人。
送夏菊花回平安莊的，還是齊小叔的司機，一見夏菊花就眉開眼笑：“嬸子，你總算好利索了。”
夏菊花也笑：“那天晚上可多虧你了，今天又麻煩你一趟。”
司機不當一回事兒的說：“看嬸子說的，我除了齊主任下鄉，天天就在車隊裏閑着。跑趟車送送嬸子，還能得點兒補助呢。”
話說得如此實在，夏菊花覺得再客氣下去有些虛僞了，便不再多說，只請司機今天一定得在她家裏吃中午飯。
司機馬上答應下來，笑嘻嘻的說：“早聽說嬸子家的酸辣粉兒好吃，我今天可有口福了。”
不光司機有口福，聽說夏菊花今天出院，早早等在劉家的李宏亮林俊青兩人同樣有口福。為了慶祝夏菊花出院，小滿和頭一天就帶着樂樂回來的王彩鳳，足足準備了六道菜：
炖的雞湯，炒的鹹肉、雞蛋、拆骨肉，拌的三絲，還有一盤子糖霜花生。
李長順一看這桌菜，笑着對夏菊花說：“你可得多吃點兒，要不孩子們一片心意白瞎了。正好把身子再好好養養。”
夏菊花自然笑着應下，又問王彩鳳：“咋沒見五爺呢？”
李長順已經笑着向李宏亮兩人讓菜，順口答音的說：“那天不是告訴你了，他孵小雞呢。”
王彩鳳也向婆婆點頭：“志全早去請過了，可是五爺讓七喜告訴他，現在正是最上緊的時候，不能離了人，讓娘你好好招待部隊的同志就行了。”
Since the Fifth Master couldn't come, Xia Juhua didn't force him. After the table of people finished their meal, the driver drove away. Li Hongliang and his partner wanted to follow, but Xia Juhua stopped them: "Comrade Li, do you want to take a break at noon? If not, let's talk about the hot and sour noodles."