Chapter 143
Chen Lusheng knew the grudge between Xia Juhua and Sun very well, but he at least understood it to a certain extent. He had no intention of trying to smooth things over. Even though Sun had been working at the pig farm for several years, his work was still the same as when he first came, and he couldn't help at all. Why would he want him to smooth things over?
All he could do was point to the topic of pig transfer in the pen and say: "We raised a total of fifteen pigs this year. One was raised by the Agricultural Machinery Station, one was raised by the Agricultural Technology Station, and one was raised by the commune. The remaining twelve belong to our production team."
"The commune also asked us to foster the children?" Xia Juhua found that she really didn't know much about the Ping'anzhuang production team.
Chen Lusheng told Xia Juhua that the Pinganzhuang production team had raised more than 200 kilograms of fat pigs for several consecutive years, which attracted the attention of the commune. So the commune found Chen Qiusheng and asked the Pinganzhuang production team to raise a pig for the commune this year to be used as a welfare for the commune staff during the New Year. It was not that Pinganzhuang was asked to raise a pig for free, but it directly reduced the reserve fee for Pinganzhuang.
Raising fifteen pigs a year is not a small amount of work. Xia Juhua asked Chen Lusheng with concern whether his body could handle it. Chen Lusheng smiled and said, "I am an old farmer who works to eat. What's so hard to handle?"
"Although the team doesn't grow many sweet potatoes now, there are enough vines for the pigs to eat. Mix them with the wheat bran and furfural you bought, and they will grow fat quickly without me having to cut grass for them. I only need to cook for the pigs three times a day. The production team will assign someone else to build the pig pens, so I won't be tired."
Xia Juhua was very happy about Chen Lusheng's optimism: "It's better that you think so. But now the number of pigs raised is twice the task, Qiu Sheng should give you two more work points every day."
Don't just listen to the fact that he only got two extra work points a day. These are the work points of the Pinganzhuang production team. One work point is 26 cents, and two work points is 52 cents. In recent years, because Chen Lusheng has raised pigs well, the production team has already recorded his work days according to the cadre standard, and recorded a full 360 days a year. If he gets two more work points a day, he can get more than 100 yuan more.
Chen Lusheng was a little excited but also a little overwhelmed: "No need, last year the team gave me a pig's head alone, which was enough for our family to have a prosperous New Year."
Xia Juhua felt that she couldn't let those who worked honestly and didn't take credit suffer any loss, so she said firmly: "I'll discuss it with Qiu Sheng later and it's settled. You alone have supplied all the meat for the production team during the New Year, so it's only right that you get one more pig head."
Hearing her say this, Chen Lusheng stopped refusing and kept expressing his determination to Xia Juhua, saying that he would raise pigs well and strive to make this year's pigs fatter than last year's so that each member of Ping'an Village could get a few more pounds of meat.
How dare Xia Juhua add two more work points to Chen Lusheng's day in front of her?
Sun believed that as long as Xia Juhua spoke up, Chen Lusheng would definitely get the two jobs - now in the Ping'anzhuang production team or even the entire Ping'anzhuang brigade, is there anything that Xia Juhua can't decide?
She wanted to go up to Xia Juhua and ask how things could be so unfair, but she just stood up and sat down again: now she no longer had the courage to face Xia Juhua alone, and she knew very well in her heart that if she really asked her, she might lose her current five work points per day.
The reason was that when Xia Juhua showed her good intentions, she did not accept it and immediately reported Xia Juhua to the Red Team. Since then, Xia Juhua never looked at her again, let alone spoke a word to her.
Now that the Red Team has been disbanded, Sun, who was labeled a bad element by the Red Team, actually doesn't have to work at the pig farm. It's just that she herself is reluctant to give up the five work points every day.
With these five work points, she could exchange them for food for a year. If she didn't have them, Sun believed that Liu Sizhuang and his wife would not use their work points to exchange food for her. And the old-age rations that Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang gave her every year were added by Liu Sizhuang to his family's food bag.
Why did she have to side with the youngest son, Liu Sizhuang, and offend the rest of her sons and their wives? Now, Liu Sizhuang and his wife are just like her, doing the dirtiest and most tiring work, but they only get basic work points, and can't get much money except for food - the couple also have to pay Liu Hongjuan's food work points.
If the Ping'anzhuang production team had not had a higher work point value in the past two years and their food had not been changed to wheat, Sun felt that she would not be able to eat more than two meals of white flour steamed buns throughout the year.
But the families of Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang, who lived in the same courtyard, could always have a meal of meat every ten days or half a month. The aroma penetrated into people's noses through the cracks in the door, making Sun feel that the white flour steamed buns in her hand were no longer fragrant.
Could she continue to scold Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang for being unfilial as before, and ignore the fact that her own mother secretly ate meat? No, even if she scolded herself until her voice was hoarse, the two families would not come out to look at her, and no one would gather at the gate to watch the excitement.
What else does scolding people like that do other than making yourself so angry that you can't eat?
What Sun knew better was that both Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang's families had already applied for homesteads from the brigade, and had already prepared the adobe bricks and tiles. It was just that they didn't have time now. When they had time, the two families would build new houses and move out of the old courtyard without hesitation.
Only she and Liu Sizhuang's family will be left in the old house.
In the past, Sun wished that only she and Liu Sizhuang's family would live in peace in the yard, but now she dared not think about how dilapidated the yard would be with only the four of them left - now the yard is cleaned up by Liu Erzhuang's family from time to time, and it is still a little crowded in front of the main house. When they move out, the yard will be so crowded that there will be no room to move anywhere.
Sun was lost in thought and didn't know when Xia Juhua left the pig farm. Xia Juhua really didn't think it was necessary to say hello to Sun - some people are not to be beaten or scolded to vent your anger, and living a better life than her and leaving her far behind is a better way to vent your anger.
Xia Juhua couldn't even think of venting her anger towards Sun at this moment. There were too many things that needed her attention. If Sun didn't appear in front of her, she would not even remember this person.
Now she was going to visit all the production teams in Pinganzhuang to see how the chickens were being raised. The situation in the other production teams was not as good as that in Pinganzhuang. The three teams were still doing well, with more than 20 chicks running around pecking at the leaves in each chicken pen, and some hens were nesting. It would not take long for each family to have 30 chickens.
The situation in the small villages was not so good. Every family had their own hens and chicks in their nests. They only raised a few chicks at a time. Li Daniu's family raised thirty chicks, while the rest of the families had less than twenty at most.
Teams 4 and 5 were even worse, with only about 15 or 16 adult chickens, including those in previous years.
The other three production team leaders except Captain Niu were all feeling unhappy: others had pointed out the way to them, and their own production teams failed to implement it, so they could no longer blame others for not giving them a hand.
However, the members of the cooperative have their own concerns. They are afraid that if they raise too many pigs, they will be labeled as capitalist, and they cannot force others to raise pigs.
Captain Niu said to Xia Juhua very calmly: "Once Master Wu's batch of chicks are hatched, we will have enough chickens in our production team. Then we won't have to worry about eggs or stewed chicken. I will definitely send the fattest chicken in our family to the captain."
Xia Juhua was always tolerant of Captain Niu, and upon hearing this, she quickly told him, "That won't work. County Magistrate Qi has said that we must hand over all the chickens to the purchasing station by the end of the year, and they won't lower our prices. So we can't eat any of them ourselves, and you all have to remember this."
After hearing this, Li Daniu asked, "Does County Chief Qi also know that our Ping'anzhuang Brigade raises chickens?" Does that mean that the county will not criticize the Ping'anzhuang Brigade for this, or else it will not allow the purchasing station to purchase the chickens from the Ping'anzhuang Brigade.
Seeing that he understood, Xia Juhua just nodded and said nothing else - it was a little too late to understand now. Even if you hatch and raise chicks until the end of the year, they will still be half-grown. Not to mention laying eggs, even if you hand them over to the collection station, no one may want them.
The three production team leaders were also very angry and wanted to open the heads of their team members to see what was inside. When they were told to raise more chickens, they all cheered for it, but now they have to back out.
Now, the chickens of Ping An Zhuang have grown for a month, but their chicks are still nowhere to be seen. When the chicken purchasing station collects chickens at the end of the year, the income will be much less than that of Ping An Zhuang, and those people will have to complain again.
Then let them call.
The three production team leaders have made up their minds and feel that they should make it clear to the members that none of the paths pointed out by Xia Juhua are deceiving them. If they don't follow her, they will only be able to watch the people of Ping'an Village live a good life.
Xia Juhua didn't want to know what they were thinking. After she got a grasp of the chicken farming situation, she focused on packaging the hot and sour noodles. The troops had coordinated a full range of materials, so it was not difficult to mix the seasoning. The difficult part was operating the plastic sealing machine to automatically package the seasoning.
Fortunately, Technician Xue was there, and the laminator was able to work normally after just a few tries. After the power was connected, the spices were automatically divided into small bags, and several hundred bags were packed in less than an hour. Xia Juhua was very happy: "This is too convenient. In the past, I sealed the bags by hand, and it took several nights to seal only 100 bags."
Technician Xue just smiled at Xia Juhua. He didn't believe that Xia Juhua didn't understand the convenience of machine production. Otherwise, she wouldn't have set goals for herself and modified machines one after another.
However, he soon discovered a problem: "Auntie, the things that other people produce have a product name, a trademark, etc., which indicates the place of production or the manufacturer. Now that the vermicelli factory is going to invest in large-scale production, don't you have to consider this issue as well?"
Yes, Xia Juhua looked at the sealed hot and sour noodles with some annoyance, and comforted herself while saying to Technician Xue: "These are for the troops, and we don't need them for the time being. But in the future, we really need to print trademarks on the bags, so that others don't know who produced them when they buy them."
How to set a trademark for Ping An Zhuang's hot and sour noodles? Xia Juhua kept thinking about it while preparing the seasoning, but she had no idea at all. Instead, the trademark of the hot and sour noodles made her think about whether the editing team also needed a trademark. In a few years, after the market economy began, counterfeit products emerged in an endless stream. If there was a trademark, it would be possible to protect the rights, but without a trademark, even the rights could not be protected.
No matter whether the rights protection is successful or not, at least you can show your attitude to shock those fake people.
Xia Juhua couldn't figure it out by herself, so she called a meeting after the first batch of hot and sour noodles was shipped out to discuss the trademark issue. Not only the cadres of the brigade and the production teams attended the meeting, but also the backbone of Zhao Xianzhi's group.
For farmers who have been farming all their lives and have only started producing reed mats and vermicelli in the past two years, the concept of trademarks is completely confusing. Technician Xue, who was strongly requested by Xia Juhua to attend the meeting, had to explain to everyone: "Everyone has eaten Dazhe Rabbit Milk Candy, right? You can tell it is White Rabbit and not other candies just by looking at the packaging. The three words White Rabbit and the long-eared rabbit on it are its product name and trademark."
The people from the Ping'anzhuang production team who came to the meeting were better off, as they had all eaten the White Rabbit tea that Xia Juhua brought back. But the others were still confused, making it impossible for Technician Xue to explain.
Xia Juhua thought of something that everyone knows: "When you buy a bicycle, you have to choose between Hongqi and Feiduo. Hongqi and Feiduo are the product names, and the red flag and bird under the handlebars are the trademarks."
I see. Buying a bicycle of your own is the dream of everyone in this era. With this example, everyone understands what is going on. So Zhao Xianzhi said, "Our mats are called Ping'an Village, so that everyone knows that the mats are made by the women of Ping'an Village."
Chen Qiusheng shook his head and disagreed: "There are many places called Ping An Zhuang in the country. Who knows which province or region your Ping An Zhuang is in?"
Zhao Xianzhi was a little unconvinced, and Li Changshun said to her: "If you ask me, your banquet might as well be called 'Half the Sky'. Don't you say every day that women hold up half the sky? If you call it 'Half the Sky', people will know that it was made up by women."
An Baoling felt that simply calling the name "Half the Sky" was not enough to fully reflect the character of Ping An Manor, so she suggested calling it "Ping An Manor Half the Sky", but everyone rejected her idea - a name that was too long would be difficult for people to remember.
Xia Juhua thought for a moment and said, "I also think the name Half the Sky is a good one."
As soon as she said that, An Baoling and the others immediately stopped objecting, which made the cadres from the brigade and production team laugh so hard that they said, "Since this is your attitude, why do you still come to participate in the discussion? Why don't you just let Xia Juhua come alone?"
The name of the textile product was decided, and the next step was to decide on the trademark for the hot and sour rice noodle. The cadres of the brigade and the production team had an idea, but no one spoke up and all looked at Xia Juhua.
She was frightened by the stares: "Why are you all looking at me? The textile is called 'half the sky', and the hot and sour rice noodle can't be called 'the whole sky', right?" That was not just giving a name to the hot and sour rice noodle, it was the Ping'anzhuang team collectively seeking their own death.
Li Daniu said: "Weaving mats can be said to be done by the women of Ping An Village, so it is appropriate to call it Ban Tian Tian. But whether it is leaking noodles or making hot and sour noodles, they are all your ideas, and you taught everyone. The trademark should be brought out by you."
Xia Juhua waved her hands repeatedly: "That won't work. How can you use a person's name on a trademark?"
"Of course not." Li Changshun felt that Li Daniu had hit the nail on the head today, and nodded repeatedly: "In the early years, many stinky tofu, liquor, and snacks were named after people. For example, it was called Xia Juhua Hot and Sour Noodles."
"No, no." Xia Juhua said in a very resistant tone: "Who knows who will buy hot and sour noodles in the future, and they will all call me by my name. I feel awkward just thinking about it. I won't do it."
Zhao Xianzhi and the others all joined in the fun. Everyone thought that Li Changshun was right. They didn't care even if the analogy was a little unsatisfactory. They insisted that if the hot and sour noodles were not called Xia Juhua, then someone was trying to take credit for Xia Juhua's work.
At this time, Xia Juhua's thoughts finally came into sync with those of the cadres of the brigade and production team. That is, Zhao Xianzhi and others should not be allowed to participate in the discussion. If they kept chattering, no one would listen to her voice of opposition.
Seeing that Xia Juhua was indeed very opposed to being called Xia Juhua, Liu Liqun coughed and said, "How about calling her Xia Xiaohuo? Anyway, only the people in Ping An Village know that it is your nickname, and people outside don't know. If people call you Xia Xiaohuo, they will think you are talking about a certain young man."
Comrade, you are the militia captain of the brigade. Are you serious about what you said? Aren't you afraid of being harassed in the future?
Unexpectedly, Zhao Xianzhi and a few others started chattering that this name was good, as it would allow people who knew the inside story to remember that it was Xia Juhua who came up with the idea for the hot and sour noodles, without putting too much psychological pressure on Xia Juhua.
The most important thing is that now almost no one calls Xia Juhua by her nickname anymore, and everyone feels quite friendly when they mention her.
As the saying goes, the minority obeys the majority. Even though Xia Juhua said that calling him Xia Xiaohuo would put her under a lot of psychological pressure, there was no ripple at all and the name Xia Xiaohuo was decided.
She even suggested that the trademark of the hot and sour noodles should be a picture of a middle-aged rural woman. This would create a contrast between the trademark and the product name, and perhaps it would attract people to buy the product.
Unexpectedly, everyone applauded, and no one paid any attention to Xia Juhua when she wanted to regret it. After a discussion, they agreed that Chen Qiu Sheng would find Liu Lizhu and ask him to draw a portrait.
Liu Lizhu was also a man who worked quickly. He finished the portrait in less than a day. When Xia Juhua handed it in, she thought it still had her own shadow. However, Liu Lizhu insisted that when he was drawing it, he never thought about what Xia Juhua looked like.
Xia Juhua herself couldn't paint, so she could only use it reluctantly.
The outer packaging bags that the troops provided for the coordination were beige and looked very clean. Xia Juhua followed her memory of the packaging of instant bread and asked Liu Lizhu to write the words "Xia Xiaohuo Hot and Sour Noodles" diagonally on the front, and put a portrait in the middle of the top, which felt quite presentable.
On the back, the product's production time, shelf life, and ingredients are all marked, trying to make it look as similar to the instant bread packaging of her previous life - these are the instant bread packaging she remembers, and she probably hasn't seen them yet, so no one will sue her for copyright infringement.
The design was ready, but how to print it on the plastic bag became a problem. Finally, Xia Juhua, under the reminder of technician Xue, had to ask for help from deputy director Xue of the district, who helped her contact a printing factory.
During the printing of packaging bags, the vermicelli factory in Pinganzhuang was still under construction in an orderly manner. The beams had been dried by wind, and as long as the tiles were baked, they could be laid directly on the beams.
Feedback on the first batch of hot and sour noodles supplied to the troops was also sent back to Ping'an Village. The vast majority of the feedback was positive, but there were also some voices of suggestions: many of the comrades who tasted the noodles requested that the seasoning be a little saltier for easier storage, and some requested more chili peppers.
These are not difficult tasks for Xia Juhua, she only needs to slightly adjust the recipe: when she first made the seasoning, Xia Juhua was influenced by the health programs she saw in her previous life and consciously reduced the proportion of salt. However, she forgot that people at that time had fewer supplementary foods and most of them had a heavier taste.
So the second batch of hot and sour rice noodles sent to the troops had a different flavor and packaging. When the army chief saw it at first, he thought it was not produced in Ping An Zhuang and almost sent Lin Hongliang to Ping An Zhuang to verify the situation.
Fortunately, some careful comrades looked at the back of the package and saw that the food’s ingredients, components, production date and shelf life were clearly marked on it. The manufacturer was also clearly stated to be the Ping An Zhuang Vermicelli Factory. They were all very surprised: food is still in short supply now, and Ping An Zhuang’s hot and sour vermicelli actually has a shelf life marked on it. Do they really have to throw away such good things if they don’t have food to eat someday?
The call was immediately made to the Ping'an Village Brigade. Xia Juhua was speechless when she heard the question and explained to the other end of the phone, "Vermicelli can be stored for a long time. It's wrapped in a plastic bag, so it's fine to keep it for a year or so. The main problem is the seasoning, oil, and chili oil packets inside. If they are kept for a long time, they will go bad and spoil people's food."
The person on the other end of the phone was obviously relieved: "Comrade Xia Juhua, thank you for your strictness. We feel relieved now that you say that."
Xia Juhua's heart moved, and she assured the person on the other end of the phone: "The vermicelli can really be stored for a while longer. Without seasoning, the taste will be a little worse, but it's still good for filling your stomach."
After a moment of silence, the man thanked Xia Juhua and asked when the next batch of hot and sour noodles would be produced. Xia Juhua told him that in about ten days, the Ping'anzhuang Vermicelli Factory would be able to start production and the production of hot and sour noodles could be doubled.
"Are the sweet potatoes in Ping'an Village enough now? And how much did you spend on printing the packaging bags? Next time the hot and sour noodles are delivered, you can pay for them and take them back." The other party asked another question.
Xia Juhua thought for a moment and said, "If we expand production, we can probably produce for another ten days or so. But the sweet potatoes will be ready soon. I'll send people out to harvest them now, and we should be able to continue production."
"Okay, we got it. I'll let Comrade Lin Hongliang tell you the specific issues." After the other party spoke to Lin Hongliang for a few words, the voice came back to Lin Hongliang. In the end, Lin Hongliang's opinion was that Xia Juhua should focus on the production of hot and sour noodles, and the sweet potatoes would still be coordinated by the troops.
Xia Juhua suddenly felt that time was running out. Every day, she urged the vermicelli factory and the printing factory, and also urged Technician Xue to find a way to solve the problem of dehydrating cooked meat and vegetables. Technician Xue was so worried that he wanted to run back to Beijing overnight.
Master Wu didn't need Xia Juhua to urge him. After the chicks were hatched, he came to her and told her proudly, "A total of 292 chicks were hatched this time."
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