Chapter 141
Hearing Roberts mention the price, Xia Juhua smiled and said, "Roberts, have you forgotten our conversation at the expo so quickly?"
Roberts certainly remembered what Xia Juhua said at the time, that it would be impossible to buy rubber at the price of 265 yuan in the future. But he was a businessman, and he was pursuing profits. Besides, it was only a few days before the end of the Expo, and he didn't think there was room for price reduction: "Xia, you know, it costs 10 yuan to transport each ton of rubber from Country G to China."
Xia Juhua really didn't know the price of the freight, so she looked at the accompanying personnel from the ministry. The man nodded to Xia Juhua, and Xia Juhua looked at Roberts calmly: "It turns out that it only costs ten yuan per ton. When I was at the Expo, I thought that Country G was so far away from China that it would cost twenty or thirty yuan."
Roberts then showed his hand to Xia Juhua with some pride: "My partner is very good at bargaining. Only he can get such a low transportation price. Because he promised to pay for your transportation, my business partner came forward to negotiate this price."
Xia Juhua agreed with Roberts's statement: "Your partner is really amazing." Roberts laughed proudly, and then he heard Xia Juhua asked softly: "In other words, all your rubber has indeed been paid for and loaded on the ship, right?"
Silence. An unprecedented silence fell on the meeting scene.
After a long while, Roberts shook his head to Xia Juhua: "Xia, I thought we were friends."
"I also thought we were friends. When I heard that you were coming to L Province, I dropped all my work and ran to the provincial capital to meet you. But who knew that you had forgotten everything I said at the expo." Xia Juhua also shook her head at Roberts, looking very disappointed in him.
Roberts, who had dealt with Xia Juhua once and helped her cheat several people with the same skin color as him, understood what Xia Juhua wanted. This time he didn't want to speak for himself, but asked Xia Juhua: "So, how much are you willing to pay per ton for my rubber?"
It would have been great if this attitude had been in place earlier. We wouldn't have to waste so much time recalling what happened at the expo. Xia Juhua smiled again and said to Roberts, "Don't worry, since we are friends, I will definitely make you money. Although our country has really started planting rubber, we can start tapping soon."
Roberts did not answer, his eyes, which were the same color as his skin, were fixed on Xia Juhua's face, as if he wanted to read her true meaning from her face. However, the leaders who attended the meeting, including the accompanying personnel from the ministries, looked at Xia Juhua with changing eyes again and again.
In their eyes, this rural woman was just as Director Yang said when it came to pricing, always surprising people.
In the end, they were not disappointed. The price agreed upon by Xia Juhua and Roberts was 245 yuan per ton.
As for the price being reduced by another 20 yuan compared to the expo, Xia Juhua gave the reason that the shipping cost from Country G to China had already saved Roberts and his team 10 yuan, so of course that 10 yuan should be deducted from the price.
This time, Roberts loaded the rubber onto the ship without even asking Xia Juhua whether she wanted it or not. If it weren't for their friendship, Xia Juhua would have thought that apart from unloading the 10,000 tons that were under the contract, Roberts would have to ship the remaining 30,000 tons back the same way and there was no other way.
So he should pay the price of another ten yuan per ton instead of letting Xia Juhua pay for his carelessness.
After signing the contract and paying the deposit, Roberts once again asked Xia Juhua to deliver the woven products in advance: "Xia, I don't make any money from rubber, so the woven products must be delivered in advance so that I can make some money."
Although she knew that Roberts could not fail to make money and pointed this out to him, Xia Juhua, who had already received a hint from Deputy Director Gu, agreed very readily this time: "Okay, I can deliver the goods to you in advance. But only this time, we still have to follow the contract next time. By the way, do we need to re-sign the contract?"
Roberts probably had a psychological trauma after hearing the word "contract", and he insisted that he believed in Xia Juhua and there was no need to sign a new contract.
Xia Juhua kept her promise and called the Ping'anzhuang Brigade in front of Roberts and the accompanying personnel, asking Zhao Xianzhi to come to the brigade headquarters to answer the phone. Zhao Xianzhi rode her bicycle to the brigade headquarters by herself. When she answered the phone, her hands were shaking, but her voice was loud: "Captain, it's really you, Captain, how come you can hear it so clearly."
Xia Juhua turned her body to the side, keeping the receiver as far away from the person who was staring at her while she was on the phone, and said to the person on the other end of the phone, "Xianzhi, please put the orders from Country G in the front row. Roberts really needs this batch of goods."
"That won't do, Captain," Zhao Xianzhi's voice rose twice on the other end of the phone. "There are two other countries ahead of him in the order. I've seen the contract. They offered a higher price than Country G. When you signed it, you put the date ahead of Country G. If we can't deliver the goods to those two countries on time, we'll have to pay them money."
Xia Juhua was the one who was embarrassed. She turned around and smiled at the stunned Roberts, but her words into the microphone were very stern: "No matter how high the prices offered by those two countries are, put Roberts' orders first for me. This is for the friendship between me and Roberts. It is also for better cooperation with Roberts in the future. You must do everything you can to ship to Roberts first."
Zhao Xianzhi, who had never heard Xia Juhua speak to her so seriously, was silent for only a second and then responded readily: "Yes, captain, don't worry, I will adjust it when I get back." Zhao Xianzhi also learned the word "adjust" from Xia Juhua, and she felt that saying it into the microphone now sounded particularly formal.
Everyone who heard the conversation between the two breathed a sigh of relief. After Xia Juhua put down the phone, Roberts even went forward to hug her. After being fixed by Xia Juhua's cold eyes, he smiled awkwardly: "Xia, I'm so happy."
Even if you are happy, you can't act like a hooligan, understand? Xia Juhua made an awkward expression to Deputy Director Gu: "Deputy Director Gu, we may have to ask the provincial supply and marketing system for help to coordinate some more reeds for Ping An Village." If you don't take advantage of it now, what will happen when Roberts leaves?
"No problem. We have as many Weigan Ping'an Village as you want." Deputy Director Gu agreed readily.
After Deputy Director Gu agreed, the accompanying comrade from the ministry also spoke up: "If there are difficulties in coordination within L Province, the ministry can also help." Thirty thousand tons of rubber, the price per ton is only 240 yuan. As long as this news is reported to the ministry, he believes that the ministry will be willing to give it to Ping'anzhuang for coordination even if it is given for free.
The comrades in L Province were not stupid. They immediately asked the department not to worry about a small production team in Ping'an Village. L Province only supplied reed poles to a weaving group in Ping'an Village, but they could still coordinate.
Naturally, L Province hosted a banquet that night to entertain Roberts and his party. Xia Juhua didn't want to attend, but Director Cheng of the Supply and Marketing System, accompanied by the Vice Governor in charge of industry, personally went to Xia Juhua's room to invite her.
Since the banquet was still early, the two started talking to Xia Juhua. In addition to verbally praising Xia Juhua for her contributions to the industrial construction of L Province, Director Cheng asked her directly if there were any problems that needed to be solved.
Xia Juhua remembered that Uncle Qi would get the news soon, so she tried to ask the two leaders if they could guarantee the tires for all the vehicles in Pingde County—not just for one year, but for all the tires in Pingde County from now on.
The vice governor laughed and said to Director Cheng, "It seems that what you said is right. Comrade Xia Juhua is really a good comrade who is dedicated to the public. As for Pingde County, I guarantee that there will be no problem with the tires. As for other industrial and agricultural production data, I think your supply and marketing system can also consider leaning towards Pingde County."
Director Cheng also laughed: "Yes, Comrade Xia Juhua's selfless spirit is indeed worthy of our learning. As for industrial and agricultural production data, as long as Pingde County has requirements, our supply and marketing cooperative can coordinate, but the vice governor..."
"What? You, the supply and marketing cooperative, want to back out?" The vice governor looked at Director Cheng with dissatisfaction and said, "If you have difficulties, then the province can consider transferring Comrade Xia Juhua to another job." The supply and marketing cooperative had such considerations when transferring a team leader, but the provincial government did not.
Xia Juhua didn't even have a chance to refuse, and she heard Director Cheng explaining the misunderstanding to the vice governor: "That's not what I meant, vice governor. I heard that Pingde County seems to have some opinions about Ping'an Village Brigade getting two combined harvesters. I think the province could consider allocating two more harvesters to Pingde County when distributing the 18 harvesters."
Although the vice governor felt that Pingde County, a county-level unit, had already taken the lead by getting two of the 20 combined harvesters (even though the two harvesters had been designated for Pingan Village, they still belonged to Pingde County), he still nodded and said, "Okay, I'll tell the Industry Bureau. As for the oil, there's no need to let Pingde County apply for it. Let's be generous so that Comrade Xia Juhua can focus more on completing Roberts' order as soon as possible."
Xia Juhua no longer had any interest in distinguishing. Was she now telling the vice governor that the number of combine harvesters obtained by Pingde County was not four as he thought but six?
Xia Juhua believed that if she dared to tell the vice governor the truth now, Uncle Qi would dare to ask her to find a way to get four more machines back after returning to Pingde. She didn't think that she and Director Yang were so familiar with each other that she could call him at any time to ask for a harvester.
深覺自己沒有那個能力的夏菊花，默默算了一下這次買到橡膠得到的好處，不說話了。不過副省長和程主任都覺得，夏菊花一心為公是好的，可是個人有點兒太吃虧。
但是劉志全兄弟都已經招進供銷系統了，省城這邊房子也給分了，再額外照顧就太顯眼，反而不利于劉志全在單位工作，因此領導們決定回頭開會研究一下，咋也得給夏菊花個人一些獎勵。
直到吃完宴席，顧副主任再次出現在夏菊花的房間裏，才向她透露，副省長與程主任的意見，還是要給夏菊花一部分現金獎勵，不過這份獎勵，夏菊花一定不要跟任何人提起。
對此夏菊花自然高興，沒有裝模作樣的推辭，只是婉轉的問了一下顧副主任，那就是部委同志一直參與談判（雖然沒說一句話，還被夏菊花瞪了一眼，并不防礙他知道談判的最終結果），可能會把三萬噸橡膠購買成功的消息，向部委彙報。
如果部裏得到消息，省裏可能會保不住橡膠，會不會影響她的獎勵呢？
顧副主任向夏菊花笑了一下：“在簽合同的時候，我們就知道這三萬噸橡膠不可能保得住。你想想，L省一年的産值才多少錢，能自己支配的資金更少。先頭那一萬噸橡膠都是計劃外，這三萬噸除了定金之外，剩下的錢都得部委想辦法。”
沒錢還敢讓自己跟羅伯斯簽合同？看來自己向副省長和程主任替平德縣要的好處，是不能兌現了。夏菊花有些焦慮了，等着顧副主任給她一個答案。
顧副主任覺得夏菊花做為談判的主角，有權知道橡膠的最後歸屬，也不瞞她，告訴她這三萬噸橡膠L省只能留下五千噸，彌補産能不足。剩下的兩萬五千噸，會直接由部裏再分配。
而羅伯斯也已經承諾，回國後會繼續組織貨源，還按這一次的價格供應給華國。最讓華國滿意的便是羅伯斯後面的這個承諾，而羅伯斯本人也同樣滿意：
這一次的價格雖然看似低于他的預期，跟平安莊酸辣粉走量同樣的原理相同，只要能繼續給華國供貨，羅伯斯只是少賺而不用擔心賠錢或是血本無歸。
“你與羅伯斯說的，華國全體人民是一個整體，不存在惡意競争的話，對大家的震撼都很大，我們聽了之後反思了很多。你說的沒錯，如果把橡膠都留在L省，的确可以彌補L省的生産缺口，讓L省的橡膠制造業上一個大臺階。”
顧副主任的話變得鄭重起來：“可是跟全國的需要相比，L省一省的需要更要服從于大局。夏菊花同志，感謝你及時提醒了我們，沒讓我們犯本位主義的錯誤。”
如此高的評價，讓一直還算平靜的夏菊花，覺得有些惶恐：“顧副主任，我當時就是不想讓羅伯斯覺得，華國人會為了他那點橡膠自己亂了陣腳，真沒你說的那麽好。”
“不，夏菊花同志，”顧副主任打斷了夏菊花的話：“你可能沒想那麽深遠，可是你實際做的比你自己以為的更讓人震撼。領導同志已經知道，你與羅伯斯談判時說的每一句話，他對你也提出了表揚。”
夏菊花知道，顧副主任提到的領導同志，就是兩人在博覽會期間拜訪過的那位領導：“領導同志也知道了？”
“是呀，如果不是領導同志親口對你提出了表揚，你以為副省長會對平德縣開那麽大的綠燈嗎？”顧副主任跟夏菊花小小的開了一個玩笑。
夏菊花覺得僅這一點，就足以做為自己回平德縣，向齊小叔邀功的資本，直接笑納了。
接下來笑納的，還有部委陪同同志，悄悄發給夏菊花的三千元獎金，以及程主任代表省供銷系統，發給夏菊花的兩千元獎金。
別看夏菊花接過兩筆獎金的時候，表現的面不變色，可送獎金的人走後，她馬上把每沓錢都數了一遍，确認每沓都是一百張，一張也不少後，才小心的放進自己的包袱裏。
來一趟省城就有這麽大的收獲，夏菊花真盼着多來幾次。可惜羅伯斯學壞了，竟然已經直接與部委達成了意向，以後都不會再與夏菊花談判了，讓夏菊花有些後悔，自己這一次是不是壓價壓得太低了。
好在這些只是夏菊花內心的想法，外人看來夏菊花還是一心為集體謀利益的好同志。所以夏菊花回平安莊，是由省供銷系統特意派了一輛小轎車送回來的，一路上竟還派劉志全照顧親娘，要把夏菊花平安送回平安莊後，再跟車返回省城。
當然兩個人是天不亮就悄悄出發的，否則兩個孩子肯定得鬧着一起回平安莊。不過夏菊花幾天來，一直給兩孩子打預防針，還告訴過兩孩子，以後想自己了可以打電話——雖然不能太明顯的照顧劉志全，可做為采購人員，給劉志全住的筒子樓裏安一部電話，還是可以說得過去的。
有了這部電話，夏菊花想孩子或是孩子們想奶奶，可以直接打到平安莊大隊或是粉條廠去。
“隊長，你可算是回來了。”頭一個上前拉着不放的，不出意外的是趙仙枝：“咋樣，這回你沒暈車吧？”
夏菊花自己也覺得奇怪，明明頭一次暈得那麽厲害，都把自己暈醫院裏去了，這一次到省城，不管是去時坐卡車還是回來坐小轎車，自己竟然沒暈。
“沒有，可能是坐得多了，就不暈了。”夏菊花覺得只有這麽一個解釋能說得通。
趙仙枝只要聽她說不暈就夠了，由着劉志全幫夏菊花拿包袱，自己拉着夏菊花就是一通說：她并沒有按夏菊花的要求直接調整那兩個國家的訂單，而是跟陳秋生和編席組的幾個骨幹商量了一下，再次向全大隊招工了。
這一次招工人數，比夏菊花剛拿回訂單後招的三十人還多，一次性就招了五十個人。也就是說，現在平安莊編席組加起來，已經有一百九十多人。
如此大手筆，夏菊花都有些震驚：“原來編東西的成手，各自都得完成量，還有時間帶新人嗎？”現在編席組一天的定量可不低。
趙仙枝就有些得意：“自從咱們頭一次從各生産隊招工之後，那四個生産隊的婦女，自己在家，也找關系好的學編席，就等着咱們再招工呢。所以第二次招工後，比頭一次學的都快多了。這回招的人，也都是在家有點兒基礎的，至少現在破葦皮或是麥稭杆沒啥問題。”
編東西時破皮占的時間不少，有專人處理葦皮或麥稭的話，效率的确要快得多。不過夏菊花還是有些擔心：“光讓她們破葦皮、麥稭的話，工資是咋定的，可別最後編來編去，大家一個月到手的錢，還不如訂單沒增加的時候。”
趙仙枝笑的跟偷到雞的狐貍一樣，小聲向夏菊花說：“外生産隊的，當然不能跟咱們平安莊的人比，後頭招的也不能跟頭一批招的人比。咱們平安莊的人，現在哪個不帶兩個徒弟？她們得一邊自己編東西，一邊教別人，所以每月都加了帶徒弟的錢。”
“頭一次招的不是跟咱們的人一起走定量嗎，她們也能帶一帶後招的，不過她們帶的人少，帶徒弟的錢不如咱們的人多。我們規定了，徒弟的定量完成情況，跟師傅的工資也挂鈎。”
聽起來規定的很細致，夏菊花現在卻顧不上詳細聽趙仙枝的話，她還得到粉條廠看一看，最好能以現粉條廠缺啥少啥，好讓劉志全回去後，向供銷社的領導順便反應一下。
到粉條廠之前，自然得把劉志全和司機的住處與飯安排好。住的好說，東廂房的炕燒把火烘烘潮氣就行，飯只能麻煩孫招弟。
對此孫招弟一點兒意見都沒有：前兩天聽說平安莊大隊通了電話，地區供銷社的薛副主任很快親自打電話給劉志雙，告訴他随時可以到地區供銷社報到，同樣可以把老婆孩子的戶口帶着。而且地區供銷社，已經給劉志雙分了一套兩居室的單元房。
如果不是夏菊花，孫招弟不認為自己閨女能變成城裏人，還住上城裏人都羨慕的單元房——劉志全一家四口，在省城分的才是筒子樓。
所以現在她除了幫夏菊花照顧好小滿的月子，還有啥能回報的嗎？不過是給劉志全和司機做頓飯，再做十頓孫招弟都樂意。
夏菊花就在孫招弟殷切的保證之下離開家門，司機還問用不用送她一趟，被她給拒絕了：現在的路況不好，哪怕是省道也不好走。從省城到平安莊，專車也走了一小天兒，最累的就是司機，還是讓人好好歇歇——明天司機還得跟劉志全一起回省城呢。
However, the first place Xia Juhua went to was not the vermicelli factory at the brigade headquarters, but the vermicelli leakage room of the Ping'anzhuang production team. The vermicelli factory had not been built yet, and hot and sour vermicelli could only be produced in the vermicelli leakage room. What she was most worried about was the production here.
Also, because the powder leakage room is always in use, the weaving group is still in the yard. Taking advantage of the warm weather, some people can be diverted outside the wall. Otherwise, people will be crowded together in the room, and it will be difficult to weave things properly, and there may even be friction.
So when Xia Juhua went to the vermicelli room, in addition to checking out their production situation, she also wanted to see if some of it could be moved to the vermicelli factory to make some space for the weaving group.