Chapter 140
Hearing that she would be asked to accompany him throughout the process, Xia Juhua became a little anxious: "Impossible. Our Ping'anzhuang vermicelli factory has just been built halfway, and the machines and other things need to be debugged. If there are any problems, they must be corrected immediately, otherwise it will delay the important things. Technician Xue is here to help us, to find someone to coordinate materials and so on, we can't let him run around on his own, right?"
Supplying troops is also a big deal, and Deputy Director Gu knows even more than Xia Juhua. But this visit of foreign guests is also a big deal for L Province. In addition to letting the ministries and commissions see the importance of L Province, the leaders also want to use Xia Juhua and Roberts' friendship to bear more fruit - if Roberts still has rubber in hand and can negotiate a deal, it can completely solve the problem of insufficient production of rubber product factories in the province.
Therefore, Deputy Director Gu had no choice but to accept the order and, taking advantage of Liu Zhiquan's move, invite Xia Juhua to the provincial capital to discuss with her in person about letting her accompany Roberts throughout his visit to L Province.
Now that Xia Juhua had mentioned the supply team issue in person, Deputy Director Gu could not stop talking. He discussed with Xia Juhua, "How about this? The provincial supply and marketing system should coordinate with Pingde County to have them install a telephone for Pinganzhuang Brigade and the vermicelli factory. This way, they can always find you if they have something to do, and you can always call Pingde County if you want to coordinate anything. At the same time, we will also ask Pingde County to cooperate with Pinganzhuang as much as possible. The supply and marketing cooperative will take the lead in providing the people or things that Technician Xue needs. Is that okay?"
The man spoke so sincerely, thinking of everything for her, and delivering her son to someone else - even if Xia Juhua no longer took Liu Zhiquan seriously, she didn't want to see him frowning even once - she had no choice but to nod and agree: "Okay. But if it's really urgent, even if they want to find me, I still have to run to your office to answer the phone. Isn't it too much of a delay for your work?"
Deputy Director Gu smiled and said, "You saw what Zhiquan said. There is definitely not enough room for the five of you. There are rooms upstairs in the guesthouse. Roberts and his friends will also stay here. So from today on, you should stay in the guesthouse."
Thinking about the two beds in Liu Zhiquan's bungalow, there was really no room for five people, so Xia Juhua felt that it was more appropriate to live in a guesthouse. As for the issue of eating, she didn't mind walking a few steps, so she nodded again.
After dinner, Deputy Director Gu said goodbye to Xia Juhua, and the secretary took Xia Juhua and others to the room prepared for her. When saying goodbye, the secretary asked Xia Juhua to come to him if she had anything else and it was inconvenient to bother Deputy Director Gu.
Entering the room, the first thing you see are two large beds covered with clean white fabrics, which are no smaller than the two beds prepared by Liu Zhiquan. The pillows on them are also clean white and look very soft. There is even a tea tray on the desk with two clean white porcelain cups and a tea pot on it.
The two children, who had been holding back their meals for a while, started to have fun: "Grandma's place is so nice."
"Yes, I want to sleep with grandma."
After saying that, they all looked at Xia Juhua eagerly. Liu Zhiquan and Wang Caifeng naturally didn't want the two children to disturb Xia Juhua's rest. Xia Juhua, who had stayed in a guesthouse once, knew that there should be hot water supply here, so she urged the two of them, "Come on, you two go back and get some clothes, then come over to take a bath before going back - I just checked, you can't take a bath in the tube building. The two children, sleep with me tonight."
Wang Caifeng asked curiously, "Mom, can I take a shower in this room?"
Xia Juhua had to take the family to visit the bathroom first, and she also demonstrated how to use the shower, which made the two children scream with excitement. Even Liu Zhiquan and his wife, who were happily going back to the tube building to get clothes, didn't care.
Children love playing in the water, and in this weather, they don't have to worry about catching a cold. Xia Juhua left the bathroom, closed her eyes, and lay on the bed with her back straight. After a while, she felt someone approaching her, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that it was Baoguo, so Xia Juhua asked, "Have you had enough fun?"
Baoguo neither shook his head nor nodded, and said softly: "Grandma, when I grow up, I will make a lot of money and build a big house in the provincial capital, as big as our home, and install a shower like this. Then you can live with us, right?"
Xia Juhua looked at Liu Baoguo's careful confirmation and felt a little sad. She sat up and pulled Liu Baoguo to sit next to her on the bed. Then she said, "Grandma has a lot of things to do in Ping'an Village and can't live with you for the time being. It's not because your current place is too small or because there is no shower. Do you understand?"
Liu Baoguo just nodded slightly, and it seemed that he was not convinced by this reason. Xia Juhua continued: "When you grow up, you will see more things and meet more people, and then you will know that except your wife, no one can accompany you for the rest of your life. Grandma is too old to be with you."
Liu Baoguo was a little confused: "Why can't grandma be with me all my life? I still have my parents and Lele."
Xia Juhua couldn't help but smile: "When you grow up, you have to go to college, have your own job, and have your own friends. Then grandma and your parents won't be able to accompany you. As for Lele, she also has to go to college, and after graduating from college, she will have to work. She may be close to you, or she may be far away from you. How can she accompany you?"
This seems to be the truth, and Liu Baoguo didn't know how to refute his grandmother. But he still felt that something was wrong: "What if I don't go to college, can I always follow my grandmother?"
Only a child can say such innocent words. Xia Juhua stroked Liu Baoguo's hair and said, "Look at Hu Zhongshan. He can talk to everyone in each production team about electricity safety because he has learned how to use electricity in books. If you don't study and don't even know how to use electricity, can you guarantee grandma's safety when you take her out in the future? If grandma wants to go far away, she can't go out with you without worry."
Liu Baoguo was deeply attracted by going out with his grandmother to see far away places. He forgot his original intention of looking for Xia Juhua and instead asked her where she wanted to go and why she wanted to go so far away.
As the mother and daughter were talking, Liu Zhiquan and his wife came back with some clean clothes. Liu Zhiquan took Liu Baoguo to wash them first, and after they were done, Wang Caifeng and Lele's mother took over.
After washing himself clean, Liu Baoguo came over and said to his grandmother, "Grandma, I think you are right. We should look around. We use a big basin to take a bath at home, but the shower here pours water from the top of your head, which is more comfortable than taking a bath in a big basin."
Children's focus is always different from that of adults. Xia Juhua did not correct him, but only focused on what she had to do.
As Roberts would arrive in the provincial capital in a few days, Xia Juhua had been following Wang Caifeng to clean up the tube-shaped building. As the partitions, coat cabinets and round tables were put in place, and the honeycomb coal stove and small kitchen cabinets that Xia Juhua and Wang Caifeng had purchased were placed in the corridor, the tube-shaped building gradually had a homely atmosphere, and Liu Baoguo and Lele gradually felt a sense of belonging to their new home.
However, their good days did not last for more than two days, as Liu Zhiquan completed the school admission procedures for them. Those who were supposed to go to the first grade went to the first grade, and those who were supposed to go to kindergarten went to kindergarten. They were tied up again.
Comrade Li, who came every day to watch the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law's progress, asked Wang Caifeng in confusion: "Caifeng, why do you let Lele go to kindergarten now? It costs a lot of money a month. Besides, it's too early for Baoguo to go to elementary school. He is only six years old."
Wang Caifeng could only smile and say, "It's not too early. He's already in school at home. If he comes to the provincial capital and starts over again from the first grade, then all his previous studies would have been in vain."
Comrade Li curled his lips and said, "What about Lele? Three yuan a month can buy several kilograms of meat. You can just watch over her at home."
The problem is that she can't stay at home for a few days. Wang Caifeng was a little speechless about this enthusiastic neighbor, and she said something she didn't want to say: "I have to go to the kindergarten in two days, and there will be no one to take care of Lele at home."
"What? You want to work in a kindergarten?" Comrade Li shouted in surprise, "How can you work in a kindergarten?"
"I was a kindergarten teacher in the production team. Why can't I go to work in the kindergarten after moving to the city?" Wang Caifeng's voice was not raised, but everyone could hear the dissatisfaction in it.
Comrade Li realized that she had said something wrong and looked at Xia Juhua awkwardly. Xia Juhua pretended not to see her look of help and concentrated on sewing the tablecloth. Comrade Li could not stay any longer and slowly moved to the door and went home.
"Mom, did I say something too harsh?" The first person Wang Caifeng met when she came to the provincial capital was Comrade Li. When she saw Xia Juhua leaving, she asked him with some trepidation.
Xia Juhua disagreed: "Behind the scenes, everyone lives their own life, but she insists on asking about other people's affairs. You are right." If you don't calm down Comrade Li at the beginning and let her comment on her own affairs, she will dare to interfere in everything about your family next time.
As long as her mother-in-law said she did nothing wrong, Wang Caifeng didn't care about other people's reactions. Comrade Li, however, told her husband about this matter at night: "You said I was kind enough to remind her, but she said she was also a kindergarten teacher in the production team. How can the kindergarten in the production team be the same as the kindergarten in the supply and marketing system? Who is she showing off to?"
Her husband's eyes widened: "If you have the time to meddle in other people's affairs, can't you clean up the house? Besides, Liu Zhiquan joined the purchasing department as soon as he entered the supply and marketing system, and was able to bring his family's household registration to the provincial capital and directly allocate a house. When his mother came, Deputy Director Gu invited her to dinner and directly arranged for her to live in the guesthouse!"
這些事李同志早跟筒子樓裏的主婦們八卦了好幾回，只不過沒八卦明白劉志全是個啥來路。現在男人又說一次，李同志便知道，自己以後在家裏不能再說隔壁人家的不好，最好巴結着人家點兒。
男人的話她中懂了，那就是劉志全一家子只能交好不能得罪。這個認知氣得她哼了一聲，翻過身去閉眼不理男人了。
夏菊花卻沒有這個好命現在就入睡，她正在跟薛技術員通話：“……真的，絞漿機能用電了，是你後改的那個大絞漿機嗎？”
得到薛技術員肯定的答案，夏菊花多想馬上看看比原來大上一倍的絞漿機，通電後不用半個小時，就能把幾百斤紅薯絞成漿的場面。
“那團粉條的機器，你有啥想法了沒有？”夏菊花跟薛技術員說：“現在最費工的就是團粉，要是這道工序也能有機器就好了，最少也能省一半的人力。”
那頭的薛技術員笑了：“嬸子，你有點兒不知足了啊。現在絞漿、烘幹都有機器了，下一步我還要試試能不能把漏粉也用上機器，沒等我把那個想明白呢，你又給我出個團粉的難題。”
夏菊花也覺得自己要求有些過了，不過她跟薛技術員不見外，說：“嬸子這不也是為你好嘛。這些東西你都在平安莊試驗成了，以後也申請個專利啥的，誰想再用這些機器，都得給你錢，多好。”
“專利？”薛技術員倒不是頭一次聽這個詞，可那都是外國人才講的東西。在此時的華國，講究的是集體勞動與集體成果，不突出個人主義。
可是夏菊花說讓他自己早請專利，仍讓薛技術員動心不已，決定回京之後找明白人問一問，自己符不符合申請專利的條件。
也因想早請專利，薛技術員對夏菊花提出的團粉機器更加上心——如果把團粉機器也制做出來的話，加上漏粉機器，粉條生産就不止是半自動，而是與全自動生産無限接近。
鼓起薛技術員幹勁的夏菊花，在四天後終于見到了羅伯斯一行。此前為了更好的迎接羅伯斯，省供銷系統不光給夏菊花做了新衣裳，還請翻譯專門教她學說幾句G國話應付場面。
可惜人家羅伯斯華語的進步，不是四十多歲的夏菊花可比的，他見面是張口就來：“神奇的夏，我們又見面了。”羅伯斯咧開嘴，露出與膚色對比鮮明的白牙：“我期待這次見面，你能給我不一樣的驚喜。”
自己能給羅伯斯啥驚喜，夏菊花心裏沒數，笑容有些僵硬的握住羅伯斯伸過來的手：“很高興又一次見到你。”
“不，不，不，夏，我這一次是特意要見你的。”羅伯斯十分坦率的表明自己的來意：“我希望這一次除了把腰果交給你之外，能把在你這裏定的編織品都帶回G國，沒問題吧？”
原來他想要的驚喜是這個，當然有問題：“羅伯斯，我們是簽訂過合同的，交貨時間還沒有到，我沒法把貨物全部交付給你。”夏菊花并沒有被羅伯斯的熱情打動。
開玩笑，平安莊在博覽會上得到的訂單又不止羅伯斯一份，把他的訂單先交了，其他的訂單就得往後排。而訂單不能按時交貨，平安莊可是要付違約金的。
顧副主任清咳一聲，提醒夏菊花注意，陪同羅伯斯一起來到省城的部委同志，臉色已經不好看了。
偏偏羅伯斯還表現的一臉委屈：“夏，你不能這樣對我，跟你簽合同的人裏只有我，特意飛到中國，看你，看貨物。”
夏菊花不是沒聽到顧副主任那一聲咳嗽，不過該堅持的原則必須堅持，總不能因為有的人不高興，就讓平安莊所有人白白付出。
可能是此時國際友人來華國太少的緣故，對于到訪的友人，相關部門幾乎都是有求必應，給出的産品也都是最頂級的。
對于給出高質量的産品，夏菊花沒啥意見，畢竟她上輩子看電視知道，現在國家最需要的是外彙。考慮到國內的标準與國外标準不一樣，為了防止出現退貨造成的損失，出口時的标準定的比國內高些，以便盡早掙一些外彙，無可厚非。
可平安莊的編織品，質量是經過博覽會檢驗、也經過兩三年國外訂單認可的，夏菊花不認為僅因為羅伯斯親自來華國一趟，就足以讓平安莊蒙受超過他訂單總額賠償金的代價。
朋友不是不可以交，總得在平等的前提下才能稱之為朋友，否則一方一味奉獻，而另一方只知索取，那就不叫朋友而叫吸血鬼。
于是夏菊花的面色嚴肅了起來：“羅伯斯，你是認真的嗎？如果你是認真的，那麽平安莊可以優先完成你的訂單。”
一句話讓全場的氣氛有所松馳，羅伯斯更是笑的大牙全都露了出來，不想夏菊花還有話說：“只不過請你先把其它排在你前面訂單的違約金支付一下。”
羅伯斯的笑容就有些尴尬，剛才面色不好的部委同志比他更尴尬——當他聽到違約金三個字的時候，才意識到平安莊優先完成羅伯斯的訂單，可能會付出的代價。
“啊，夏，你還是那麽愛開玩笑。”能擠進G國代表團的羅伯斯，很明白自己什麽時候該堅持，什麽時候表現得象開玩笑，他重新向夏菊花伸出手：“夏，我這一次有重要的消息，要跟你分享。”
随着夏菊花與羅伯斯的手再次握到一起，會見場面氣氛再次松馳，顧副主任笑眯眯上前跟羅伯斯打招呼。羅伯斯自然還記得顧副主任，畢竟上一次給他支票的就是此人。
接下來羅伯斯的确說了一個讓在場的人都大吃一驚的消息，那就是他回國之後，已經迅速的再次組織了三萬噸橡膠的貨源，出于對夏菊花的友誼，他特意申請加入G國代表團，好把橡膠訂單親自送到夏菊花手中。
“夏，”羅伯斯很自得的向夏菊花表功：“你看我是不是很守信用，這個消息我在你們的京城都沒有透露，只告訴了你一個人。”
參與會見的L省領導與省供銷系統領導，恨不得上前把羅伯斯的嘴捂住——你說只告訴夏菊花一個人，咋當着部委陪同人的面就說出來了？
身側的咳嗽聲響成一片，夏菊花十分無奈的看到顧副主任不顧羅伯斯是否看出來，向自己做着“快答應他”的口型。
“謝謝你，羅伯斯。不過我們剛剛買的一萬噸橡膠還沒有到貨，又來三萬噸……”
顧副主任很想拉一下夏菊花的袖子，可惜部委的陪同人員虎視眈眈，他敢想不敢做。
羅伯斯是一個合格的商人，聽到那一片咳嗽聲也想到了什麽，很有底氣的對夏菊花說：“如果你覺得太多的話，那麽我可以……”
部委的同志便要說話，夏菊花的目光正嚴厲的盯着他，竟讓他覺得仿佛不是被一個農村婦女注視，而是部委領導就在自己面前，不由失聲。
“當然，那是你的橡膠，你有權決定把它賣給誰。”夏菊花一臉不在意的對着羅伯斯微笑：“不過羅伯斯，我想知道你來華國之前，這三萬噸橡膠的款項都支付完了嗎？儲存的倉庫租好了嗎，運送的船只定下來了嗎，費用交付了嗎？”上輩子有一個電視劇裏，做外貿的女主角好象就是問出相似的問題後，才把價格談下來的。那位女演員氣場全開的樣子，讓夏菊花羨慕了許久，連帶着對她說的話都記憶深刻。
夏菊花只希望自己的記憶沒有出錯，而羅伯斯也如電視裏演的那樣，為了搶占先機已經把橡膠裝船了。
一連串的問題，可把羅伯斯給問住了：博覽會上一萬噸橡膠出手的太順利，得到的利益遠超過他賣給其他國家所得。歸國之後，他與生意夥伴共同做出判斷，華國部委采購了五萬噸橡膠之後，L省自己仍出面采購一萬噸橡膠，足以證明市場十分巨大，所以他們應該迅速填補這項缺口，而不是讓別人搶在他們前面。
于是兩人才迅速組織貨源，在羅伯斯想法擠進代表團的同時，他的生意夥伴則與運輸公司簽訂好了運輸合同，目的地正是華國。
愣了一下的羅伯斯，看懂了剛才部委陪同人員的臉色，選擇相信自己與生意夥伴的判斷：現在的華國仍是賣方市場。
所以還是很有把握的對夏菊花說：“這些我都會處理，夏。我們是老朋友，所以我選擇第一個把橡膠的消息告訴你。如果你不想要的話……”
"Then no one in China will buy your rubber anymore." Xia Juhua said to Roberts confidently, "You should know that the Chinese people are a whole, and we Chinese will not engage in malicious competition. Whether I buy your rubber or someone else buys it, the price we offer is the same. At the same time, as long as the rubber is bought by the Chinese, it will eventually be used in a unified and coordinated manner by the state."
After saying that, Xia Juhua glanced at the accompanying personnel from the ministries and commissions, and they all bowed their heads and acquiesced to Xia Juhua's words. How could they not acquiesce? Not acquiescing would mean malicious competition and undermining the unity of the entire Chinese people!
Fortunately, Xia Juhua said that no matter who bought it, it would ultimately be used under the unified coordination of the state, so he would be able to report back to the ministry.
Roberts, who had been observing the accompanying personnel from the ministry, asked Xia Juhua disappointedly: "Then, should we still make the deal at the expo price?"