Chapter 137
Hu Zhongshan seemed to be hesitating about how to start his conversation. Xia Juhua was not in a hurry and just looked at him and waited for his answer. Hu Zhongshan did not hesitate for long and quickly said to Xia Juhua:
"Captain, you just told me and Li Youguang to be careful about the safety of electricity use. I'm sure you know that if electricity is used improperly, it can cause accidents."
Xia Juhua did not deny this, and as for whether Hu Zhongshan would wonder how she knew it, Xia Juhua was not worried. Don't forget, she had been to Guangzhou to attend the Expo and had seen the world, and knew that it was necessary to pay attention to safety when using electricity. Maybe Hu Zhongshan would think that someone else told her to do so, and she just copied what others said when the electricity was about to be turned on in Ping'an Village.
As expected, Hu Zhongshan did not ask Xia Juhua how she knew this, but lowered his voice and said, "Captain, I think I know the reason why you reminded me before the New Year. Li Youguang and I don't know how to thank you."
Xia Juhua was about to wave her hand and say you're welcome, but Hu Zhongshan said, "But now I know how to express my gratitude to the team leader. Team leader, I joined the production team after graduating from high school, and I know a little about electricity. Do you think it's okay for me to give the members some advice on safe electricity use?"
People who know how to be grateful always make people feel good about them, and Xia Juhua is no exception to Hu Zhongshan. When she first reminded Hu Zhongshan, it was only because Hu Zhongshan and Li Youguang were both sensible people among the educated youth, and it was worth Xia Juhua's help. She never thought that he would give her such a big surprise today.
Xia Juhua nodded gently and said, "You can think of popularizing electricity safety to the members. You really regard Ping'an Village as your own home. You care about your own family affairs. You will always be welcomed."
Hu Zhongshan's original intention was to repay Xia Juhua's reminder, so that he and Li Youguang did not participate in the competition among the educated youth when they were floating around, but instead settled down to read books. Combined with the news they got from home, this undoubtedly allowed them to leave one step earlier than others.
Don't underestimate this step. Sometimes you can answer one more question better than others, get a few more points, and thus change your destiny.
Therefore, Xia Juhua's kind reminder made Hu Zhongshan feel grateful and he kept thinking about how to repay her. He didn't expect Xia Juhua to set such a high standard for him, which made Hu Zhongshan blush: "Captain, I'm really not as conscious as you say..."
"I said you have awareness, and you have awareness." Xia Juhua interrupted Hu Zhongshan sternly, turned around and called the fifth team leader Sun Qinglin over: "Captain Sun, Comrade Xiao Hu knows some common sense about electricity. I want him to talk to the members of each production team. You should gather the people from your production team back first. Let's start with your production team today."
Sun Qinglin glanced at Hu Zhongshan, his distrust clearly written across his face, but he still nodded to Xia Juhua: "Okay, I'll send them back now. Actually, I don't think there's anything to talk about. A family only has a few light bulbs..."
Xia Juhua looked at Sun Qinglin with a more serious look in her eyes: "If there are only a few light bulbs in a family, don't we need to talk about safety? Let me ask you, have the light bulbs ever broken? If they are broken, do you just go up and replace them yourself? If the east room has a light bulb connected, do you want to connect it to the west room as well? Do you just pull a wire and connect it yourself or do you know how to connect it?"
Hu Zhongshan's eyes lit up when he heard this, but Sun Qinglin became dispirited. These seemed very simple things to him, but why did they sound so dangerous when the captain said this?
Hu Zhongshan explained for Xia Juhua: "Captain Sun, our Ping'an Village Brigade is not connected to ordinary residential electricity, but three-phase electricity that can be used for industrial purposes. Relatively speaking, the voltage is higher, which is more dangerous. Especially for families with children, children are curious and like to touch things, so they need to be more careful. The captain wants to let the members understand the safety of electricity use, and it is also for the safety of the members. He does not want to do the wrong thing with good intentions."
Listen, isn't it clear what a wise person says? Xia Juhua looked at Hu Zhongshan with satisfaction and told Sun Qinglin: "Start with your team five. When you finish speaking, you send Xiao Hu to team four. When team four finishes speaking, have the team leader send him to team three."
Hu Zhongshan thought it was unnecessary, but Xia Juhua insisted that it must be done. As the saying goes, □□ is sometimes annoying, but sometimes it is a necessary measure - the educated youth left a bad impression on the members, and if the handover between the two teams was not so serious, the members would not listen carefully from the beginning, so it would be useless even if Hu Zhongshan spoke until he was dry-mouthed.
Fortunately, the electric lights in each household have newly installed wires and bulbs, so there will be no problems for the time being. Now, letting Hu Zhongshan and the production teams talk about it is truly taking preventive measures.
Xia Juhua had already gotten the answer that she would definitely have electricity at night. After riding her bicycle back to Ping'an Village, she did not go back to her own home directly. Instead, she knocked on the gate of Fifth Master's courtyard again: "Fifth Master, it's me."
The courtyard gate was actually opened, and the one who opened it was Fifth Master's eldest grandson's wife, Chang Guihua: "Sister-in-law, you're here. Just now my grandfather said that he wanted to talk to you about the little chicken. We persuaded him so much that he agreed to shave his head and then come back to you."
Xia Juhua was a little puzzled: "If Master Wu wants to see me, why does he need to shave his head?"
Chang Guihua smiled, and after pulling Xia Juhua into the yard, she whispered to her, "You don't know, the chickens have been hatching for almost a month, and my grandfather hasn't taken a bath or changed his clothes. He has been lying on the kang with the eggs every day. These days, he has only allowed Daxi and his brothers to accompany him, and he won't let us, his grandson's wives, come in. None of us thought that Daxi and his brothers would just let the old man do what he wants. You say, they should at least let the old man change his clothes."
Thinking about the smell of not bathing or changing clothes for a month, Xia Juhua felt that Chang Guihua's statement that Master Wu was getting a haircut was a little euphemistic, so she naturally couldn't ask about the underlying cause, so she asked the question that concerned her: "Qi Xi told me the day before yesterday that the chicks should have hatched today. Have they finished hatching yet?"
Chang Guihua took her to the main room of the Fifth Master and said, "Look, they are all hatched. My master hatched a total of 300 eggs this time. Only 23 of them were bad eggs and no chicks were hatched. The rest were all hatched and they are all cute and cuddly."
As they were talking, the two of them had already entered the main room. Chang Guihua took out two white coats, handed one to Xia Juhua, and put on the other herself: "My grandfather said that you must wear a white coat when you enter the west room."
It seems that the fact that Wu Ye has a high success rate in hatching chicks has made everyone in the family more convinced of him. Even when he is not around, Chang Guihua strictly follows his requirements.
Xia Juhua naturally had no objection to following the rules. She put on her white coat and followed Chang Guihua, who was drawing the curtain, into the west room. As soon as she entered the room, she could hear the chirping of chickens. The whole kang was covered with yellow, fluffy chickens. Some of them were standing very steadily, pecking at the soaked millet on the mat, while others were still unsteady, stumbling with every move, but stubbornly poking their heads in front of the millet...
"So much." Xia Juhua really admired Fifth Master. How did he get through the past twenty days?
Chang Guihua was also very proud: "Yes, my grandfather has shocked the whole team this time. An old hen can only produce fifteen or sixteen chicks at most, but my grandfather hatched more than two hundred and seventy chicks at once."
Sister, do you know that what you say can easily cause misunderstanding?
Xia Juhua didn't dare to think any further, fearing that she would laugh out loud and ruin the dignity she had finally established. She forced herself to hold back her laughter and asked, "Did Master Wu say how the chickens would be divided this time?"
"Look over there," Chang Guihua pointed to the chicks that were hidden by the straw curtains at the end of the kang and showed them to Xia Juhua, "Thirty of them were hatched the day before and have been raised for two days. My grandfather told you about them. If we divide the rest among our families, we will have enough."
"My grandfather said to give the remaining seven to Seventh Grandma. It's not easy for Seventh Grandma to live alone, so it would be nice to let her raise a few chickens to relieve her boredom." Chang Guihua looked at the chicks running around on the kang with some regret, wishing they could all stay at home.
The weather is just right for the growth of chicks. They will grow feathers in a month and lay eggs in the fall. If even half of these chicks are hens, how many eggs can they lay in a day and how much money can they be sold for!
However, Chang Guihua knew very well that being able to raise 30 chickens per household was already a way for Xia Juhua to skirt the rules of collective ownership and foster care by members. Raising more would only cause trouble for Xia Juhua, so no matter how distressed she was, she followed Fifth Master's plan and made the distribution plan clear.
"Juhua is here." Fifth Master also came into the room wearing a white coat, greeting Xia Juhua, his eyes fixed on the little chicken. Liu Daxi followed behind him, only nodding to Xia Juhua, his eyes fixed on Fifth Master's back.
Xia Juhua looked at Master Wu seriously:
The thin Fifth Master's face was sagging, and his body seemed to be more hunched than before she left. His head had just been shaved, revealing his snow-white stubble, which made Xia Juhua's eyes ache: "Fifth Master, you are so old, why are you still angry with those people? Even if you are angry with them, you shouldn't ruin your body like this..."
Master Wu finally took his eyes off the chickens and turned to look at Xia Juhua. He noticed that her eyes were red. He knew that she felt sorry for him, so he waved his hand nonchalantly, "I'm not mad at those people. Well, I was a little mad at them, but not completely. At that time, I thought that even if all the old hens in every household were nesting, each nest would not produce more than 30 chicks, so your idea would be in vain. You came up with this idea, so Master Wu must make it come true. Otherwise, what will you do if people don't believe you when you speak in the future?"
Although the old man said it lightly, Xia Juhua was still moved: "Three hundred eggs, how much effort do you have to spend to find them?"
“瞎操心。”五爺看着夏菊花笑了：“我們家別的不多，就是人多，一人找上十個種蛋，也能湊二百個。”
夏菊花能聽不出來五爺故意不讓她操心嗎，聽出來了。正因為聽出來了，心裏的感動就更深了。不過她知道老人家想聽的不是她的感謝：“那敢情好，你這一孵小雞，可省了我的事兒了。我聽桂花說你已經給我留出來了，那我可就不客氣都拿回家去了。”
“拿把，快點拿走。本來我還想給你送一趟，你拿走了省得我跑一趟。”五爺指揮着常桂花找來一個大籃子，在籃子底兒墊上點草，一只一只把小雞撿到籃子裏。
趁這個空，五爺問：“我聽七喜說前幾天你病啦，那時候正是當緊的時候，我也沒去看你，現在好利索了吧？”
夏菊花點頭說自己好多了，又把自己去羊城幹了啥，簽了多少紡織品訂單，以及除了兩千塊錢現金獎勵外、得了啥獎勵，因為那些貢獻給平安莊通了電、白得兩臺聯合收割機等等成績，都跟五爺說一遍。順道也把粉條廠還沒建好，已經确定了供應部隊的情況，也說了。
別人學給五爺的，總不如夏菊花這個當事人親口說出來，更讓五爺高興：“好，你讓志全和志雙兩個去供銷社上班就對了。當爹娘的，可不就是過孩子。他們過好了，你也就放心了。”
對于五爺的誤解，夏菊花沒有糾正。反正做為親娘，她現在做的在誰眼裏，都是替兩個兒子鋪就通天大路了，以後哪怕她不再跟他們往來，人家罵的也只能是劉志全和劉志雙。
“更何況，有他們兩個在地區和省城，咱們的消息都能比別人靈通一點兒，想買點緊俏貨也能容易些。”五爺又補充了一句，倒把夏菊花說愣了。
還得說五爺最了解夏菊花的心思，雖然這輩子她仍要紮根平安莊，卻知道日後社會要飛速發展，只有快人一步掌握信息，才能走在別人前頭。
所以夏菊花點了點頭：“我也是這麽想的。現在平安莊的攤子鋪的不小，要是沒點信息來源，誰知道哪天就讓人家把咱們給替代了。讓他們兄弟兩個出去看着點兒，哪怕有人要頂替咱們的産品，咱們也能早一步想好應對的辦法，或是提前想好該換啥樣的産品。”
“各家各戶注意了啊，各家各戶注意了啊。”門外的大喇叭突然響了起來，夏菊花聽出是常會計的聲音：“變壓器已經合閘了，變壓器已經合閘了。各家拉一下自家的電燈，看看亮不亮。拉一下自家的電燈，看看亮不亮。”
真的通電了？屋裏的人對視一下，一齊向門口走——拉電的時候西屋在孵小雞，五爺怕人來人往耽誤孵蛋，沒敢安燈泡，可是東屋已經把燈泡裝好了。
五爺一馬當先到了東屋，看看從頂棚垂下來的燈泡，又看看西牆靠門處的燈繩。他站在那裏，別人都進不去屋，卻也沒有一個人催五爺。
老人慢慢擡起手抓住燈繩，又看了燈泡一眼，輕輕拉了一下，沒拉動。仍然沒有人提醒五爺應該加一點力氣，大家都靜靜的等着。
五爺遲疑了一下，擡眼再看燈泡一下，手上微微用了點力氣，就聽吧嗒一聲，燈泡突然射出強烈的光芒，夏菊花覺得比她在羊城、省城或是地區見過的所有燈泡都亮堂。
雖然現在還是半下午，這閃亮到人心裏的光芒，連陽光都襯得暗了幾分。
“亮了，真亮了。”五爺喃喃。
“是亮堂啊，哪哪都能照着，耗子窟窿都看得清楚。”劉大喜聲音裏帶着喜悅。
“嫂子，你說咱們連電燈都點上了，是不是也成城裏人了？”常桂花一臉喜氣，問了夏菊花這麽一個問題。
夏菊花笑着點頭：“将來咱們的日子，一定比城裏人過得還好。”
“那是，城裏人不就是樓上樓下、電燈電話嘛。現在咱們平安莊通電了，大隊部肯定得接電話，電燈電話不就全了。至于樓上樓下，等咱們訂單都完成了，讓大喜多脫些土坯燒燒，咱們也蓋樓，想蓋多大蓋多大，比城裏人住的還寬敞呢。”
劉大喜：為啥幹活的總是我？
五爺看了長孫媳婦一眼：“你見哪個莊戶人家蓋樓房了，咱們平安莊大隊連瓦房還沒一家蓋呢。”
常桂花還在看着燈泡：“以前咱們還沒想過通電呢，現在不是連電燈都點上了。爺，你等着吧，等我跟大喜蓋了樓房，單給你留兩間孵小雞，那地方肯定比西屋寬敞。”
夏菊花看着常桂花，想不明白她咋就敢想蓋樓房的。常桂花總算把目光依依不舍的從燈泡上收回來，正碰到夏菊花探究的眼神，不由問：“嫂子，你咋這麽看着我？”
“我就想知道，一般人都是想蓋瓦房，你咋一下子就想到蓋樓房了？”
常桂花撇下嘴：“還不是過年的時候我領着孩子進城買布，孩子頭一回進百貨大樓，覺得新鮮多上下兩趟，好幾個城裏人都笑話孩子們沒見識，上個樓梯樂半天。當時我就想着，我再起房子就起樓房，我孩子想咋上樓梯咋上樓梯，想上幾趟上幾趟。”
誰也沒想到常桂花還有這樣的經歷，夏菊花不由說：“放心，你們家肯定能蓋起樓房來。”
劉大喜也點頭：“明天我就開始脫土坯，等夏窪大隊的磚窯閑下來就燒磚。”
蓋樓房自然不是只有磚那麽簡單，不過夏菊花不會在這個時候掃興，相反，她覺得劉大喜和常桂花有這個心氣挺好：憑啥農村人就不能蓋樓房，上輩子最後幾年，平安莊幾乎家家都起了二層小樓，這輩子提前蓋起來不是更好？
帶回家的一籃子小雞，受到了保國和樂樂兩個孩子的熱烈歡迎，超過了他們對電燈的興趣：夏菊花住院的時候，兩個孩子都見過醫院的電燈了，家裏的電燈跟醫院的沒啥區別，當然是毛茸茸會跑會叫的小雞更讓他們歡樂。
“娘，難怪你說孩子們得長見識。”王彩鳳對此樂見其成，對于搬到省城也沒有那麽抵觸了。
夏菊花笑了：“這才哪兒到哪兒，等進了省城，你也領着他們上上公園，去動物園看看，裏頭的東西比村裏見的多多了。”
“奶，動物園裏都有啥？”保國聽了果然感興趣，纏着夏菊花讓她說動物園裏是不是也有馬和牛。聽說那裏沒有馬牛還很不屑，認為那樣的動物園沒啥用：“老虎能拉車嗎，獅子能犁地嗎？”
看着孫子明明一臉渴望，卻強撐着說村裏的動物比動物園的東西好的樣子，夏菊花心裏有些不是滋味：這小子到底比樂樂大了幾歲，已經明白搬家就要離開平安莊，所以想出種種理由，以證明他不需要去城裏長見識，想留下來呢。
上輩子的事兒這輩子終究沒有發生，幾年下來夏菊花哪能只記着上輩子的事兒——有那個記仇的工夫，不如把日子過得比上輩子好，不讓上輩子的悲劇重演來得實在。
于是她對保國說：“城裏的小朋友們也沒見過牛拉犁、馬拉車，所以你去了新學校，不用覺得自己是農村去的，不如別人，知道嗎？”
保國剛才看小雞的興奮勁都沒了，悶悶的說：“知道了，他們肯定也沒見過剛孵出來的小雞。”
“對，他們沒見過。不管是誰都有見過的沒見過的。沒見過的咱們找機會見一見，是不是下次就知道是咋回事兒了？”
保國用力點點頭：“嗯，我去見過了，回來都告訴奶奶，奶奶也都知道是咋回事了。奶，我們搬家是不是就是你給我找的機會？”
這麽說也不是不行，夏菊花輕輕摩挲摩挲保國的頭發：“是，你有要會多出去見一見，奶盼着你跟樂樂兩個走的遠點，再遠點，見得多一點，再多一點。”
王彩鳳的娘聽的一愣一愣的，眼見着外孫子由興奮到沮喪又到興奮無縫轉換，向夏菊花豎起大拇指：“親家，你可真會教孩子。”
不會教能咋辦，也不能把孩子給扔了。夏菊花看着跟劉保國一起玩兒的樂樂，心裏更明确這輩子與上輩子是不一樣的：上輩子樂樂在娘肚子裏沒養好，這麽大的時候剛學會走路，話也不會說幾句，可不跟現在似的小嘴一刻也不停。
不光自己家與上輩子不一樣，平安莊也與上輩子大不相同，電都提前通了五六年，夏菊花不能不替自己驕傲一下。
“隊長，外頭來了三輛汽車，說是給你送葦杆的。”趙仙枝的大嗓門打斷了夏菊花的回憶，她猛地站了起來：“今天就送來了。”
“可不是。”趙仙枝笑的開了花：“你說說你辦事這利索勁，剛跟我說完葦杆這兩天就到，結果現在就送過來了。”
"Hey, where did you get all these chicks?" Zhao Xianzhi was attracted by the chirping chicks halfway through her words: "I was just saying that the hen in our house is raising this nest and I'll let you raise it first."
"This is what Master Wu hatched." Xia Juhua had to pull Zhao Xianzhi, who was watching the chicks, and said, "Didn't they say the reeds have been delivered? Why don't you hurry up and watch them unload the car?"