Chapter 135
Xia Juhua had made up her mind to be tougher. When she appeared in front of the members of Ping'anzhuang Brigade, she tried to make her face as straight and expressionless as possible. There was a sense of distance in her eyes when she looked at people. She could only say one sentence clearly and would not say a second sentence. This shocked everyone.
The news that the former five captains were taken away by the police spread to everyone in the Ping'an Village Brigade within half a day, and they also knew the reasons why they were taken away.
While everyone was cursing the former five captains for being good-for-nothings, they naturally felt sympathy for Xia Juhua in their hearts and wanted to apologize to her in person. It would be best if they could let Xia Juhua know that they were different from the former five captains and had never thought of reporting Xia Juhua. They didn't want Xia Juhua to think that they were the same kind of people as the former five captains.
Their idea is easy to understand, that is, the current life of Ping'anzhuang Brigade is led by Xia Juhua. If Xia Juhua is hurt by the former five captains and no longer serves as the captain or is not as concerned as before, then who will they follow?
But Xia Juhua was always cold to everyone. No matter who came to complain to her, she would just nod and say, "I understand. Go back and work hard." She didn't say anything else, which made the visitor feel a little embarrassed. He even thought he was being bashful. How could he dare to get close to her and chat and laugh like they usually did when they met?
I didn't dare to approach Xia Juhua, and I felt that I was keeping a distance from her. But everyone knew that Xia Juhua was not to blame for this, and I just hoped that she would be angry for a few days and then go back to her usual gentle way of talking to everyone.
In order to make Xia Juhua calm down sooner, the members subconsciously rushed to do the tasks she arranged for them, and they wanted to do more and better than others, as if this could prove that they were on the same page with Xia Juhua.
Unconsciously, the place where Xia Juhua appeared was the same place where Li Changshun appeared a few years ago. There were obviously quite a few people around, but except for those who greeted her or had something to do, all the members were working hard, so that Xia Juhua would notice that they were the hardest working ones.
Even the former captain of the fifth team who had been detained and released was the same. When he saw Xia Juhua now, he hid behind others and didn't even have the courage to look at her. During those few days in the police station, he got to know the life of the Ping'anzhuang Brigade. It was like heaven, and he couldn't leave such a life.
At first, Xia Juhua was somewhat uncomfortable with it, but gradually she discovered the advantages of doing so - no one talked nonsense in front of her, and no matter who came to her, they only talked about business. People were eager to do the tasks she assigned, and her efficiency increased dramatically.
If efficiency could be improved, the hot and sour noodles could be supplied to the troops one day earlier. After the initial discomfort, Xia Juhua was happy to see it happen.
An unexpected consequence of her getting along with others was that Liu Zhiquan took the initiative to report to the provincial supply and marketing system. Xia Juhua was puzzled: she had brainwashed and tempted her two sons a few days ago, but they still didn't agree. Why did Liu Zhiquan suddenly ask to report now?
When asked about the top, Liu Zhiquan said, "Mom, I know you are disappointed with them. Not only you, but Caifeng and I are disappointed for you. Mom, you have been worried about the brigade's affairs for the past few years, and you have suffered so much. No one knows it better than our family. But they got the benefit, but they want to report you. Are they still human beings?"
"But our ancestors are all in Ping'an Village, so you can't let go for the time being. The superiors and all the members of the brigade will not let you let go. Besides, if you let go, you have to go somewhere, otherwise those people will come to your house every day to bother you. I thought, why don't I go to work in the supply and marketing system in the provincial capital first? The sooner I go, the sooner I can get a foothold. Then I will take you away, and we can stay away from these people, so that we won't be bothered by them."
Is this still her old son who is not very smart? Xia Juhua even suspected that her eldest son was also a person who lived his life again. Fortunately, Liu Zhiquan's next words dispelled Xia Juhua's concerns:
"Mom, don't worry. I will do my best when we get to the provincial capital and won't embarrass you."
And then that was it. There was no further news about how to do it properly or what the result would be. Xia Juhua was relieved instead: this was still her eldest son.
So Xia Juhua quickly asked Liu Zhishuang to buy meat and Wang Caifeng to kill a chicken, so that the whole family could have a meal to celebrate Liu Zhiquan's enlightenment. Although Liu Zhiquan's family didn't think there was anything to celebrate, they were willing to do it to make Xia Juhua happy.
For fear that Liu Zhiquan would go back on his word, Xia Juhua didn't tell anyone the next day and asked Liu Zhishuang to drive the tractor to take Liu Zhiquan to the county town early to catch a bus to report to the provincial capital.
Wang Caifeng had to stay and pack things. She didn't feel anything in the first two days, but when all the things in the house were slowly put into the boxes to be taken away, she began to cry while packing. Finally, she couldn't pack any more and simply went back to her parents' home.
As soon as she entered her mother's yard, Wang Caifeng burst into tears, which scared her mother: "What's going on? Where are Zhiquan, Baoguo and Lele? What wronged you?"
Wang Caifeng cried so hard that she couldn't speak. Her mother had to ask someone to call her father and brothers back from the fields. While they were waiting, Wang Caifeng's crying finally quieted down a little. Her mother asked again, "Did Zhiquan bully you, or did your mother-in-law make you angry?"
"If you ask me, even if Zhiquan said something unpleasant, and your mother-in-law scolded you a few times, you shouldn't take it to heart. Look at our production team, among the girls of your age who are married, whose mother-in-law lives as well as yours? Not to mention anything else, the things you brought back on the second day of the Chinese New Year, weren't they all arranged by your mother-in-law? You said it yourself, you put a lot of things back, otherwise we wouldn't have to buy anything for visiting relatives."
It would have been fine if she hadn't mentioned this, but once she did, Wang Caifeng couldn't help but burst into tears: "I also know that my mother-in-law treats me well."
"You know your mother-in-law treats you well, so why are you still complaining to her?" Wang Caifeng's father came in from outside, along with her three brothers and two of their wives.
Her father said with a frown, "What daughter-in-law doesn't get scolded by her mother-in-law? You are the only one who can't stand it? I think your mother-in-law got used to you. When your mother was young, your grandmother got angry and hit her a few times, but she didn't go back to your grandmother's house to complain."
"I, I didn't come back to complain." Wang Caifeng said to her father with sobs, "I just can't bear to leave my mother-in-law."
The whole family was stunned. Why was she reluctant to leave her mother-in-law? Didn't she always live with her mother-in-law? Her mother asked, "Is your mother-in-law trying to make you move out again? I think your mother-in-law is doing this for your own good. You two are young and can make money now, and you don't have to worry about not being able to raise a child. But it's better to move out and be the master of your own house than to live with your mother-in-law."
Wang Caifeng's father thought that his daughter was being unreasonable: "Your mother has taken care of your grandmother for more than 20 years. She can't even straighten her back and dare not breathe. Your mother-in-law wants you to be the head of the family so early. Do you think she is trying to trick you?"
Wang Caifeng's mother was so angry that she rolled her eyes at him: "You also know that I couldn't even straighten my back all those years, why don't you say something to your mother for me? I don't expect you to be like Zhiquan, fetching water or feeding chickens and sweeping the yard when you get home, and sometimes even cooking porridge for Caifeng, so you don't have to say a word to defend me."
After hearing what she said, the three daughters-in-law all curled their lips - the mother-in-law always spoke in a series of ways about the father-in-law, but why did she give a cold shoulder to her sons when they just helped them serve dishes?
Now is not the time to think about this, we need to hear why the sister-in-law returned to her parents' home. Could it be that as they thought, the Liu family looked down on this sister-in-law and sent her back to her parents' home - didn't the sister-in-law's previous sister-in-law divorce her brother-in-law?
Wang Caifeng's sisters-in-law and brothers' wives were more or less gloating over misfortunes. Since Ping'an Village had a mat-weaving group, her life had gotten better and better. Every time she went back to her parents' home, she would wear new clothes and bring more things to her parents' home.
There were some things in there that they had only heard of but never seen before. It was said that her mother-in-law asked her to bring them back. When the girl gave birth to a daughter, she even brought her mother-in-law to Ping'an Manor to take care of her for a full month. It was said that the mother-in-law ate □□ chickens during the confinement period and she didn't even want to eat eggs!
When they were in confinement after childbirth, they only ate one chicken and a dozen eggs in total!
How much they envied the nun at that time, how much they despised her now - how could such a good life be brought back by someone? She must have been humiliated in the past, and the things she brought back were brought back without her mother-in-law's knowledge. In order to flatter herself, she said that it was her mother-in-law who made her bring them.
This time her mother-in-law must have found out and couldn't stand it anymore! The three daughters-in-law looked at each other quietly, and none of them took their eyes off Wang Caifeng's face, but no one stepped forward to persuade Wang Caifeng.
Wang Caifeng heard her father and mother quarreling over her deceased grandmother, so she wiped away her tears and said, "Dad, Mom, my mother-in-law didn't scold me, and Zhiquan didn't bully me. It was me who couldn't bear to leave my mother-in-law."
Her father got even angrier when he heard this: "I've already said that your mother-in-law asked you to move out for your own good. I think she wanted to take advantage of the bricks being fired in Ping'an Village by building a tiled house for you. You're the first one in ten or eight villages to have a tiled house, so why should you be dissatisfied?"
Wang Caifeng interrupted again: "This time they are not asking us to move out. Even if we move out, we can still stay in Pingan Village and see my mother every day whenever we want. This time they are asking us to go to the provincial capital."
"What?" Her parents thought they didn't understand, and her brothers and sisters-in-law also thought they didn't hear clearly.
王彩鳳這才想起近段日子她一直忙，沒回娘家說過劉志全要被招工的事兒，難怪爹娘沒聽明白，便把事情說了一遍：“……本來人家要招我婆婆，可是我婆婆說，保國和樂樂上學，去省城比在平安莊強，非得讓志全去，人家省城的供銷社也答應了。”
“那，那，那你小叔子沒意見？”王彩鳳的爹震驚之後，最先想到的就是這個問題，問完還看看自己的三個兒子。他一輩子沒啥能耐，只能土裏刨食吃，別說讓兒子去省城供銷社，就連給兒子們每人單起間房子都做不到。
所以他想讓王彩鳳說出，劉家兩兄弟相互謙讓，有了好事先緊着頭大的，才讓劉志全被招工。而身為兄弟的劉志雙，深明大義不跟哥争搶，願意在家裏給夏菊花養老。
得讓家裏這仨沒出息的聽聽，別天天彩鳳帶回點啥來，他們一個個恨不得都扒拉到自己屋裏。
結果王彩鳳說的是：“志雙是去地區供銷社，現在小滿快生了，他一時脫離不開。再說他不想去，怕我娘身邊沒人。”
“娘，”王彩鳳掉着淚叫自己的親娘：“你說我娘咋就那麽剛強，身邊一個人也不留？我都說了讓志全一個人帶兩孩子去省城，我留在平安莊跟她過。我娘死活不同意，說是年紀輕輕的兩口子，不能長時間不在一塊。”
王彩鳳的爹娘：眼前這個不是我閨女。
王彩鳳的兄弟：我咋沒攤上這麽能幹的娘？
王彩鳳的兄弟媳婦們：好想撓花姑子的臉，不知道撓了她婆婆會不會找上門來？
男人的接受能力總強些，所以最先開口的是王彩鳳的爹：“不是說招工都只招一個人嘛，志全自己去就行了，咋是你們一家子都跟着去？”
王彩鳳問過夏菊花原因，所以能回答這個問題：“人家說我婆婆貢獻大，所以雖然招工的是志全一個人，可是我們娘三個人的戶口也能帶過去。”
王彩鳳的娘高興的哈哈笑：“那敢情好，我閨女以後就是省城人了，保國和樂樂兩個也是城裏人了。”
“是呀姑子，”王彩鳳的大嫂子順着婆婆的話說：“以後你們一家子都是城裏人，可別忘了咱們這些村裏的親戚。”
這話說的實在欠高明，王彩鳳只向大嫂點了點頭，又跟親娘訴委屈：“我也願意讓保國和樂樂兩個去省城上學，聽說人家省城裏頭的學生，學的樣數都比咱們這兒小學的多。可是我就是心疼我娘，她一個人留在家裏，連個說話的人都沒有。”
呵呵，王彩鳳的親娘都忍不住想冷笑兩聲了：“你婆婆一天忙着大隊的事兒，多少人想跟她說話還說不上呢。”
“那倒是，”王彩鳳一提起婆婆來滿臉放光，語氣全是有與榮焉：“娘，你都不知道我娘一天有多忙，吃着飯也有人找到家裏來問事兒，沒她發話，那活他們都不知道該咋幹。就說……”
“不用說了。”王彩鳳的爹聽不下去了，你婆婆這麽忙，你還擔心沒人跟她說話？他只說：“那你自己就把東西好好收拾收拾，別讓你婆婆再操心你們搬家的事兒。”
王彩鳳蔫蔫的應了一聲，她爹只有這一個閨女，每次回娘家又大包小包帶東西給他長臉，他也多少有些心疼這個閨女：“你要是忙不過來，就讓你娘跟你去收拾兩天。”
王彩鳳聽了感動不已：“爹，還是你對我好。”
“我對你好也不如你婆婆。”她爹說了一句氣話，把王彩鳳給逗樂了，眼睛自然也就幹了。
于是等夏菊花中午回家吃飯的時候，發現做飯的竟然是親家母，有些吃驚的說：“親家來啦，咋一來就忙活，彩鳳也不知道心疼你娘。”
王彩鳳的娘樂呵呵的說：“就做個飯也不累，誰做不一樣。要不是彩鳳今天回家說，我都不知道你們家有這麽大的喜事兒。你說說你嘴咋這麽緊呢，早該告訴我，大家一起高興高興。”
夏菊花對親家自是不能板着臉，也笑着說：“我還當彩鳳已經告訴你了呢。”
“這個死丫頭，也不知道咋想的，這麽大的喜事也沒說跟我們說一聲。還是今天自己收拾東西，又舍不得你，回家跟我哭了一場，我才知道。你說要是不知道也就算了，知道她要搬到省城，我是又替她高興又替她着急，這不就跟過來，看看能幫上啥忙不。”
親家的話說得入情入理，還間接替自己閨女賣了好，夏菊花算是知道為啥王彩鳳平時不說話是不說，一說就說到點兒上了。
既然王彩鳳的娘是來替閨女收拾東西的，那就不是住一天的事兒。如此大忙的時候還有心住閨女家，臉上還總是笑呵呵的，一看就不是跟家裏人生氣才到閨女家來的，平安莊的人見了便跟她打聽。
好事沒有瞞的必要，王彩鳳的娘一五一十的把自己知道的都跟人說了，平安莊的社員才知道，幾天沒到生産隊上工的劉志全，竟然已經到省城報到，要帶着一家子搬省城去了。
羨慕的同時，平安莊的人更多的是慶幸，好在夏菊花心疼兒子，把這麽好的機會讓給了劉志全。要是夏菊花去省供銷社上班，平安莊的社員想都不願意想。
孫招弟就住在夏菊花隔壁，早聽小滿說了兩兄弟都能去供銷社上班，只不過是去的地方不同。她不是個好宣揚的人，見劉家自己人都不往出說，也就裝不知道——她閨女眼看着沒幾天就生了，還是在平安莊坐月子，她親自照顧更放心。
現在王彩鳳的娘把消息傳出來了，別人再問孫招弟的時候，不乏有想看熱鬧的：“咋就把名額給了志全呢，志雙不也是大隊長的兒子嘛。這要是為了一個名額，就讓兩兄弟打架生氣的，多不好。”
孫招弟看了一眼跟她說話的婦女，是從五隊招來的，便笑了：“咱們隊長幹事你還不知道，最公平最明白的就是她，還能辦出讓兩兄弟生氣的事兒？志雙也得去供銷社上班，不過是去地區。這不是小滿快生了，隊長讓他等孩子生了再走，省得小滿生的時候害怕。”
說話的人臉騰地就紅了，讪讪的說：“可不是，我就說隊長不是那樣的人。”
孫招弟聲音可沒小：“隊長自然不是那樣的人，別說是兩個兒子，就是咱們這些人，隊長也都是按着早就定好的規章辦事兒，沒因為誰親誰遠，就不把規章當回事兒。”
趙仙枝已經慢慢走了過來，看了看兩人手裏編的東西，質量并沒有因為說閑話降低，也就跟孫招弟說起話來：“你說得對，有了規章就按規章辦，這是隊長早就跟咱們說好的。對了，你們家小滿哪天的月子，到時候你是不是得請假了？”
孫招弟笑的很燦爛：“我當然得請假伺候月子去。隊長那麽忙，哪有工夫伺候月婆子？樂樂那時候不是彩鳳娘來伺候的，我早跟隊長說好了，小滿歸我伺候，她只管大隊的事兒就行。”
“你這親家算是找着了。”趙仙枝向孫招弟豎大拇指，還說：“你說你當初咋沒說多生一個閨女呢，要是多生一個我就給我小兒子定下。有你這樣的親家，當婆婆的多省心。”
別說孫招弟聽着笑，周圍聽到的人就沒有不笑的。孫招弟笑過說：“都是人心換人心的事兒，隊長對我們家啥樣你也不是沒見過，她忙不過來我還能不伸把手？”
趙仙枝點頭說：“那也得是你有良心，受了隊長的好能記在心裏。不象有的人，得了隊長的好，還巴不得看隊長的笑話，那心可就長歪了。”
剛才跟孫招弟說話的婦女，剛緩過一點的臉，騰地一下又紅到了脖子根，想擡頭解釋兩句又沒啥能解釋的，只好裝聽不見，一時下手就有些不知所措起來。
趙仙枝只當沒看出她的尴尬，又跟孫招弟說了幾句話才慢慢離開。安寶玲等了一會兒才找到趙仙枝說：“你這張嘴呀，啥時候也不肯吃虧。”
“憑啥吃虧。我跟你說，那女人要不是頭一批招來的，編起東西手還算快，我明天就不讓她來上工你信不信？掙着平安莊的錢，還想看隊長的笑話，美不死她。”
安寶玲拉着她又走遠一點兒：“你小點兒聲。現在咱們不是訂單太趕嘛，後招來的人還沒成手，正缺人的時候。要是不缺人，不用你出面我也讓她在這兒呆不下去。”
趙仙枝哼一聲：“算你有良心。要不是不想讓隊長上火，我早把那幾個舌頭長的給攆回去了。”
安寶玲很知道趙仙枝如果把那幾個人攆回去，各生産隊的隊長勢必會請夏菊花評理，到時候她們就不得不把那幾個人說過的話學給夏菊花聽，很可能讓病剛好的夏菊花又着急上火。
"Forget it. With what you said just now, they dare not gossip anymore. Let's go talk to my sister-in-law tonight and hire more girls to make mats. There are many orders, and the girls are young and learn things quickly. They will gradually replace those people."
Zhao Xianzhi didn't want to see Xia Juhua right now: "What do you think I should say when I see the captain? She will definitely ask what the current situation is. I will just tell her that the reeds are about to be gone and the mat weaving team has to stop working?"