Chapter 133
Li Hongliang wanted to refuse, but Xia Juhua's face turned serious: "Comrade Li, you have been in Ping'an Village for quite some time. Although I know you have called the troops to report, but you have been dragging your feet. Is this not your original idea?"
Since the troops had sent someone here specifically, they naturally wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible so as to test the results. Li Hongliang couldn't deny this, so he nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll report the recent situation to Captain Xia."
No matter how others called her Captain Xia, Xia Juhua still couldn't get used to it. She said to Li Hongliang, "If you don't mind that I'm a rural woman, you can just call me Auntie Xia. Calling me Captain Xia sounds too strange. We still have a long time to interact with each other in the future."
Li Hongliang grinned, "Okay, then we can call you Auntie. Auntie, we have indeed reported the situation of Ping'an Village and you to the army chief. After the army chief knew about some of the needs of Ping'an Village, he came forward to coordinate with the Chengping District. Now the power line has been connected to Hongxing Commune, and it will be connected to Ping'an Village in three to five days."
"Also, we have found the laminator you mentioned, but we don't know how many Ping An Village will need."
Hearing that the laminator had been found, Xia Juhua was naturally delighted: "That's good. How much is one?"
Li Hongliang and the other man looked at each other and said, "The commander said that if it weren't for the production of hot and sour noodles for the troops, you wouldn't have to buy a laminator, so the money for the laminator should be paid by the troops."
Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "Ping An Zhuang should buy the equipment by itself. You don't have to persuade me." Seeing that Li Hongliang wanted to say something, Xia Juhua stopped him directly. "This is what I think. If you don't come to me, Ping An Zhuang will also build its own vermicelli factory and buy equipment. It's just that it may not need a plastic sealing machine for the time being. But Ping An Zhuang's vermicelli factory needs to develop, and plastic sealing machines will have to be purchased in the future. You found it for us now, which is a big help. If the army gives us money again, we will not feel at ease using it. I have to think, after the hot and sour vermicelli is processed, will you take the equipment away or not?"
This is indeed a problem. The army's funds have always been tight, and they have to spend a lot of energy to coordinate sweet potatoes everywhere. Not to mention that they have to spend extra energy and money. Li Hongliang has made it clear that the army will not let Ping'an Village work in vain, so Xia Juhua, as the captain of Ping'an Village, cannot add extra burden to the army.
Li Hongliang stood up and saluted Xia Juhua.
In order to get Li Hongliang to agree to this price, Xia Juhua took a lot of effort to persuade him: the processing fee of one cent per bag sounds not high, but the raw materials are all provided by the troops, and Ping'anzhuang's costs are only labor and electricity.
Nowadays, one kilowatt-hour of electricity used for lighting costs only two cents, and industrial electricity may be a little higher at four cents. If it is spread out on each bag of hot and sour noodles, it is less than four cents.
The remaining 6 cents is labor cost. Xia Juhua believes that as long as the production volume increases, at least the wages of production staff can be guaranteed to reach the work points of the Ping'anzhuang production team last year.
Last year, the work points of the Ping'anzhuang production team were worth 2.6 yuan, which means 10 work points a day is 2.6 yuan. The monthly income is more than 70 to nearly 80 yuan, which is close to the salary of Li Hongliang, a company-level cadre.
"So don't feel bad. As long as we have sweet potatoes all year round, our Ping'anzhuang Brigade will not suffer any loss." This is what Xia Juhua advised Li Hongliang.
Li Hongliang finally proposed that the troops help coordinate the coal used for burning bricks in Pinganzhuang Vermicelli Factory. Xia Juhua thought about it and agreed. The comrades in the troops were uneasy about the processing fee of one cent. find coal by herself, she might not find so much.
After seeing Li Hongliang off, Xia Juhua went to the brigade headquarters. Li Changshun was indeed there. When he saw Xia Juhua coming, he asked hurriedly, "Why don't you stay at home and rest for a few days? What are you doing here? If you have anything to say, please let Zhishuang come and tell me. I'll come find you."
Hearing him worrying about her, Xia Juhua looked at Li Changshun's legs with some sadness - since Li Changshun became the captain of Ping'an Village after retiring from the army, he has never rested for a day because of his leg injury.
She didn't want to talk about her own health anymore, so she asked, "Captain, I didn't agree with you that day about processing hot and sour noodles for the troops without processing fees. Are you angry?"
Li Changshun smiled: "Why should I be angry? Later I figured it out. We promised not to charge processing fees, but the members have to eat and drink, and they have to support their families. It's okay to work for free for one or two days, but if we work for a long time, we will definitely be resentful towards the troops."
"That's it." Xia Juhua was very happy that Li Changshun could figure it out on his own, and asked with confidence: "How are the bricks being made by each production team? If they are almost ready, start firing them in the kiln."
Xiawo Brigade had only one kiln, and the bricks needed to build the vermicelli factory were estimated to be around 400,000 to 500,000. They could only be fired slowly. One day earlier could produce one more kiln of bricks.
Li Changshun calculated in his mind and said, "I estimate that the production teams have already dried more than 100,000 adobe bricks, and there are about 200,000 bricks drying now."
"That's still a few hundred thousand bricks short, and we need to lay the tiles, too." Xia Juhua was not worried about not having enough adobe bricks, but she was worried about not laying the tiles in time - building a house with just four walls is definitely not enough, you need tiles to cover the roof.
Li Changshun was worried about coal. He was very happy to hear that the army could coordinate. He was not happy to take advantage of the army, but the army's coordination of coal could prove to the members that the army was doing its best to help Ping'an Village develop production and did not take advantage of Ping'an Village.
As a veteran, Li Changshun would not allow any gossip that would tarnish the reputation of the unit to be spread.
However, he would not completely sacrifice the interests of the members, and asked with some concern: "Only one cent per bag, no compensation?"
Xia Juhua smiled and said, "I have been lying in bed these days and have nothing to do. I calculated the labor and other costs. As long as we produce enough, we won't lose money. You forgot that we have electricity now, so we can save a lot of manpower."
"Won't that mean there will be fewer people to use?" Li Changshun had a new worry.
Xia Juhua was sure about this: "Of course, we will need more people. The production this time is large, so it will take a lot of people to pick and wash the sweet potatoes, and it will also take a lot of people to make the vermicelli balls and prepare the seasonings."
Li Changshun was still worried: "You came up with the seasoning yourself. If someone else learns it, you..." Aren't you worried that the apprentice will starve himself to death?
Are you worried? Of course you are, but Xia Juhua has a plan to deal with it: "You can only guarantee that you will not lose money if you produce it in large quantities. If you just make it on a small scale at home, you won't even consider the labor costs. People who know how to calculate the cost won't do that. But I'm also afraid that someone will take the seasoning formula and give it to someone else to start a factory, so at the beginning, I still do the last step of the preparation myself. After a long time, I can pick a few reliable people to teach me."
Li Changshun was relieved. The two discussed that the vermicelli that should be delivered to the grain station had already been delivered, so the remaining vermicelli in Ping'an Village, except for the ones that Qi Weidong had already ordered, would not be sold anymore, but sold to the members at cost price - everyone had missed out on the vermicelli for half a year, and they couldn't go without a bite.
The entire Ping'anzhuang Brigade was mobilized all at once. Since there were not many sweet potatoes in the powder room, not so many people were needed, so those who were free went to make tiles: with the model from the Xia'ou Brigade, it would be easy to find carpenters to copy it.
In addition to the tile laying workers, there were also people who helped the power supply bureau to erect poles and pull cables. It was not until the poles reached the entrance of Team 5 that everyone felt that Pingan Village was really going to have electricity.
Now everyone was even more motivated - in the surrounding area, apart from the commune, which other brigade had electricity? Only Ping'an Village had electricity! When people heard about this, they couldn't help but puff out their chests.
Ping'an Village is able to rely on the fact that it can now not only use tractors to plow the soil, but also has seed drills for sowing seeds, which greatly saves the manpower needed to go to the fields. Otherwise, no matter how proud they are, the crops in the fields will be wasted.
The production captains of each team have now transformed into Zhou Baopi, and every day before dawn they shout at the members to get up and go to the fields, dozers, and remove damaged bricks. Xia Juhua doesn't have to worry about anything - Li Changshun has told them that whether it is electricity or the future combine harvesters, they are all what Xia Juhua fought hard for everyone at the expo.
Xia Juhua is exhausted outside. Would I still be a human being if I made her worry about me when I come back?
If Xia Juhua was exhausted again, would they be able to accomplish something bigger for the Ping'an Village Brigade than turning on the electricity or bringing in the harvesters? They couldn't, but Xia Juhua might very well be able to do it.
If we want Xia Juhua to continue to do big things for Ping An Village, then we have to make sure that Xia Juhua doesn't worry too much about these little things - if you can't do big things, and you can't even handle small things, what are you production team leaders for? !
Although Li Changshun hoped that Xia Juhua would worry less, it was impossible for her to not think about anything at all. Now she was thinking about the storage of sweet potatoes: she was still thinking about the cold storage.
Since Ping'an Village has electricity, it should not be a problem to build a cold storage. On the contrary, if it is not built, it will affect the supply of hot and sour noodles to the troops. Xia Juhua had already mentioned this issue when negotiating with Li Hongliang.
In the end, it was Technician Xue who was far away in Beijing who helped Xia Juhua solve the problem. Xia Juhua took the opportunity to call Director Yang in Uncle Qi's office, hoping to get two more combined harvesters for Pingde County, and at the same time she called Technician Xue.
Perhaps it was because Director Yang agreed to coordinate two more combined harvesters for Pingde County as a festive bonus. When Technician Xue heard that Ping'an Village wanted to produce a large amount of hot and sour noodles for the troops, he only hesitated for a moment and agreed to find drawings for Xia Juhua on how to build a cold storage, and asked Xia Juhua to build the warehouse first.
As a result, the members of Pingan Village had to remove more adobe bricks, but no one complained: Ever since Pingan Village started leaking flour, the rotting of sweet potatoes in the spring was an inevitable problem. Now, when they heard that a cold storage would be built to keep the sweet potatoes from spoiling all year round, everyone was very happy - we are all farmers, who would want to see the things we worked so hard to grow rot in vain? Even if we didn't grow them ourselves, if they didn't rot, we could still make money.
As a result, not long after the Ping'an Village Brigade was electrified and the adobe bricks for the cold storage had not yet been fired, Technician Xue showed up at the gate of the Liu family compound with drawings, which startled Xia Juhua: "Why are you here? Why didn't you say hello in advance?"
Technician Xue didn't think Xia Juhua didn't welcome him: "I heard from my uncle that you are now a great contributor to L Province. If I don't come again, I'm afraid you won't recognize me next time."
"I have to recognize you, no matter who I am." Xia Juhua smiled and let him in. She made him a cup of malted milk before asking, "Are you going to help us build the cold storage before you leave?"
Technician Xue nodded and said, "Not only the cold storage, but also the pulping machine, setting machine, and drying machine. I have some ideas and brought some drawings. We will improve what can be improved and test what can be tested. We will try to make you realize semi-automatic production."
Semi-automatic production is very exciting. Xia Juhua said happily, "That's great. It will be more convenient to make sweet potato noodles."
However, there was a downside, which was that the factory division that Xia Juhua and her team had figured out before had to be torn down and rebuilt. The first thing that Technician Xue had to build was the cold storage that Xia Juhua was most concerned about: the sweet potatoes coordinated by the troops would be delivered soon, and if there was no cold storage, the sweet potatoes would start to rot within a few days.
If the sweet potatoes are rotten and there is no raw material, no matter how good the factory is built or how many machines are tested, it will all be a joke.
Fortunately, the first batch of bricks had already been fired, and the strong laborers of Ping'an Village, regardless of the production team, worked together to lay the foundation in less than three days. They built the walls according to the drawings of Technician Xue and were waiting to put up the beams.
"Captain, when can the beams be brought in?" Li Daniu looked at the cold storage wall that was twice as big as the original powder room in Ping An Zhuang, and said with some concern: "One beam may not be enough."
"Zhishuang and his team have already gone to pull the beams. The district supply and marketing cooperative has coordinated thirty beams for us, and the county transport team has gone to load two trucks. With these thirty beams, we will have enough to build the factory." Xia Juhua was also calculating the time herself, and she was sure that all the beams would be pulled back today.
Li Daniu and the others looked at Xia Juhua with admiration in their eyes. They felt that Li Changshun was right. Without Xia Juhua, they really couldn't do such a big thing:
Xia Juhua had contacted Technician Xue who came to help build the cold storage. The county transport team sent the car because of Xia Juhua's favor. The regional supply and marketing cooperative was even more difficult for them to contact on a regular basis, let alone help coordinate the beams and purlins with just a phone call...
Every detail proves only one thing, that is, only by following Xia Juhua can you live a good life.
Xia Juhua's calculations were correct. The beams and purlins were delivered that evening, along with tens of thousands of tiles. This is also why Xia Juhua asked the regional supply and marketing cooperative for help: although the Ping'anzhuang brigade had made some tiles, they had not been dried yet, and it was unknown when they could be burned out, but the cold storage could not wait.
Technician Xue was also on the phone with Xia Juhua. Later, he wanted to talk to Deputy Director Xue alone. Xia Juhua went out of the room and waited for a while. Technician Xue told Xia Juhua that Deputy Director Xue agreed to coordinate and would be transported here with the beam today.
The next day, when the members saw that everything was ready, they began to put up the beams and lay the tiles. But Accountant Chang found Xia Juhua and said, "Captain, we don't have much money left in our account."
"Spend it so quickly?" Xia Juhua never thought that money was spent so carelessly.
Accountant Chang smiled bitterly and said, "Of the money agreed upon by the production teams, except for the 500 yuan from Ping An Village, which was handed over to the brigade, the remaining 200 yuan from the other four production cities has not been paid."
"I have 700 yuan from the brigade and 500 yuan from Ping An Village. I have used it to buy coal and beams, and paid for the pots and pulping machines. I only have 93 yuan left. What do you think we will pay them for the laminating machine if the troops bring it here?"
Xia Juhua got a little anxious when she heard this: "Before I left, didn't they tell me to hand the money over to the brigade? You didn't ask me to hand it over when I didn't?"
Accountant Chang smiled bitterly and said, "I urged them twice, but they always told me to wait until you come back. Who knew you would be hospitalized as soon as you came back? I couldn't let this matter keep you from resting and recuperating."
"Call them over. Also, call Captain Li, Captain Liu, and Chairman Sun to the brigade headquarters for a meeting." Accountant Chang was worried about his own health, and Xia Juhua couldn't say that he was wrong to worry, so she just asked him to find someone to come to the meeting.
Why hold a meeting? Xia Juhua was not going to start a conspiracy, but she discovered that some things could be discussed privately, but important things had to be made clear at the meeting.
Different occasions have different psychological factors. Even if it is a meeting between two people, if you sit upright and take a serious attitude, the participants will take it seriously even if they don’t take it seriously.
Sure enough, seeing Xia Juhua sitting at the table with a gloomy face, the people who came in were all shocked, and no one dared to speak. Li Changshun, Liu Liqun and the other two were better off, but the four production team leaders were all thinking about whether they had done anything wrong in the past few days.
In addition to Accountant Chang, another person who was uneasy was Chen Qiu Sheng. He also looked thoughtful, thinking about whether he should mention the editing team's matters to Xia Juhua after she was almost done with her work.
"I'm calling you all to this meeting for no other reason than to ask you four production teams, are you still going to participate in this vermicelli factory?" Seeing that everyone was gathered, Xia Juhua didn't beat around the bush and asked the four production team leaders directly.
The four people were all confused by the question. If they didn't join them, who were like crazy these days, making people remove the molds and build cold storages, what was the point?
But with past experience, everyone knew that Xia Juhua was not someone who would say such things for no reason, so she didn't even show up, but only looked at Li Changshun for help. Li Changshun was also a little confused: "What didn't they understand?" Why did she ask if they would not participate?
Xia Juhua's anger was half relieved by Li Changshun's question: Old comrade, building the vermicelli factory is the business of the entire Ping'anzhuang Brigade. It's not a matter of who messes with her, okay?
So Xia Juhua's words were calmer: "They didn't make me angry, but I felt that the four production team leaders didn't want to be involved in the vermicelli factory anymore."
"Well, Qiu Sheng, think about it. Go back and ask the members of Ping'an Village to see if you can lend some money to the production team first. Collect the 800 yuan that the four production teams are unwilling to pay, and the Ping'an Village production team will build the vermicelli factory by themselves. In the past few days, the work points of the four production teams who have been removing the dough and building the cold storage are recorded, and they will be paid according to the work points of the Ping'an Village production team."
Li Changshun got anxious when he heard this, and slammed the table and asked Li Daniu and the others, "Why haven't you paid the money you promised to pay to the brigade yet?"
Li Daniu and the others lowered their heads at once. Captain Niu, who had been following Ping An Zhuang, felt even more ashamed to see Xia Juhua, and his head almost dropped under the table. Li Changshun asked Accountant Chang again, and Accountant Chang urged them himself, but the production team leaders repeated what they had been saying all along.
Li Changshun was about to vomit blood: "What did I tell you? Don't let Xia Juhua worry about trivial matters. You think this is not a trivial matter, right? If you don't do what you promised, why would I bring you along?"
Seeing that Li Changshun was really angry, Xia Juhua didn't say much, just waiting for Chen Qiusheng's answer. Why wouldn't Chen Qiusheng agree? With the series of machines promised by Technician Xue, it would definitely be much easier to leak powder than before. He felt that the members of the Pinganzhuang production team could handle it.
So he nodded to Xia Juhua and said, "No problem. If I go back to Ping'anzhuang and tell them, the money can be raised in less than half an hour. If the money is not enough, our production team can raise a little more." Last year, their family's dividends plus Zhang Cuiping's piecework wages totaled two thousand yuan, so he could come up with the eight hundred yuan himself.
Li Daniu's face was almost bleeding. "Captain, at first I thought it was just bricklaying and digging the foundation, so it wouldn't cost much, so I didn't pay. I forgot about the work these days. I'll go back this afternoon and give the money to Accountant Chang."
Captain Niu stood up and bowed to Xia Juhua: "Captain, no matter what, it's my fault. If you say that Team Three doesn't need to get involved in the vermicelli factory, I won't say no."
Xia Juhua frowned slightly. This was not like Captain Niu's usual style. In the past, he was the one who followed Ping'anzhuang closely. Why didn't he want to make amends this time after admitting his mistake?
The words had already been said, so Xia Juhua naturally wouldn't ask Captain Niu why now. She was just thinking about asking him what was going on later.
The fourth and fifth team leaders saw that Xiaozhuangtou and the third team had expressed two different attitudes, and they looked at each other without saying anything. Li Changshun was so angry that he wanted to kick him, and he slammed the table and asked, "What do you two production teams think?"
The fourth captain was unable to explain. The fifth captain also hesitated for a while. Seeing that Li Changshun was staring at him like a knife, he moved his butt uncomfortably and whispered, "I'll go back and get the money later."
Hearing his attitude, the fourth team leader also said he wanted to go back to get the money. Xia Juhua laughed: "So your two production teams have money, but they just don't want to pay it, right?"
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