Chapter 145
On the third day after the vermicelli factory was opened, the rumbling sound of vehicles broke the silence of the rural road and entered the Ping'anzhuang Brigade. Xia Juhua was delighted when she heard it, thinking that the sweet potatoes coordinated by the troops had arrived. Without being called, she ran to the gate and looked at the dirt road leading to the Ping'anzhuang Brigade.
Dust rose up on the dirt road, and the truck was moving forward like an angry earth dragon. It was hard to see what the big guys behind it looked like. Accountant Chang and Liu Liqun, who also heard the sound, stood behind Xia Juhua and asked, "Are the sweet potatoes being transported here? What are they using this time? The last time a truck was transporting sweet potatoes, there wasn't such a big commotion."
Xia Juhua, looking expectant, turned around and told the two people: "It's not sweet potatoes, it should be the harvester that brought them here."
Don't blame Xia Juhua for being so happy. The Combined Harvester, which has always been talked about by leaders at all levels, has not been seen for two months, which made Xia Juhua wonder if it was a big pie drawn by Director Yang for her. As time went by, the doubts became deeper and deeper. Today, it suddenly appeared on the road, heading towards the Ping'an Village Brigade with a clear goal. It would be strange if Xia Juhua was not happy.
"Combined harvester, why is it so noisy?" Liu Liqun looked at the earth dragon that was getting closer and closer, trying to judge whether the members could manipulate this thing. If there were any minor problems, how would they repair it?
Xia Juhua had seen a harvest combiner in her previous life and knew that it had great power and wide tires. In addition, the current rural roads were difficult to navigate, which was why the soil was thrown into the fields. After returning to Ping'an Village, she could no longer hide her smile on her stern face: "The movement is great, which means it has great power and can harvest crops quickly."
As they were talking, the combined harvesters had already stopped at the entrance of the brigade headquarters and the smoke gradually subsided. Hongling's boyfriend Xiao Zhao jumped off the first harvester and greeted Xia Juhua, "Auntie." Ever since he and Hongling got engaged, he called Xia Juhua the same way Hongling did.
Xia Juhua was very impressed with her future niece-in-law, and her smile became more sincere: "It's you. We heard the noise and wondered what made such a big fuss. It turns out you brought this treasure to us. When did this thing arrive at the commune? Have you learned how to use it?"
Xiao Zhao also smiled at Xia Juhua: "I have learned it. The commune has another combined harvester, and Secretary Zhang has decided that I will be the one to drive it."
Red Star Commune was actually allocated a combined harvester, and Xia Juhua couldn't help but think that she should have contributed a lot. However, she never liked to talk about her own achievements, so she just thought about it and asked Xiao Zhao: "Can you stay in Ping'an Village and bring us two drivers?"
It is not enough to have a harvest combiner alone, the combine harvester must be able to go to the fields and harvest crops to play a role.
Xiao Zhao was able to send this group of people to Ping'an Village because he accepted the mission of the Agricultural Machinery Station and was responsible for training the operators of Ping'an Village. So he told Xia Juhua very happily that he would live in Ping'an Village from today, and he would leave when he had trained the people selected by Ping'an Village.
It can be said that the combined harvesters came at the right time: the wheat in the fields has already turned yellow, and within three to five days, large areas of wheat will enter the mature stage, which is the time for summer harvest. Now a quarter of the male members of Pinganzhuang Brigade have entered the vermicelli factory, and less than half of the people in the Pinganzhuang production team work in the vermicelli factory. The women are all in the mat group. The entire production team can only participate in the summer harvest. There are less than 100 people, and we have to count the elderly over 60 years old who still have some labor capacity.
In order to rush the harvest, Xia Juhua was prepared to temporarily stop the work of the weaving team - she was unwilling to stop the vermicelli factory that had just started operation. Not only could it not stop production, but it had to continue to work overtime - even though the women in the weaving team had not touched the sickle for several years, Xia Juhua believed that as long as they were given some time to adapt, they would be no worse than those men over fifty in harvesting wheat.
Lack of people is Xia Juhua's biggest feeling as the summer harvest is approaching.
Now that she had the combine harvester, her anxiety about not having enough manpower was relieved, and she became more talkative: "Okay, I'll select a few people for you to take care of later, and you can take a good look at who is suitable. Then you can hire whoever you want. Come to our house for dinner tonight, and I'll ask your granddaughter to kill a chicken for you."
The reason why she gave such instructions was because Sun Shi was in the old courtyard. Before the New Year, when Xiao Zhao came to give her a New Year gift, she had the nerve to hold him and cry and complain, which made Li Daya so angry that she pulled Liu Erzhuang and asked him to build a house immediately, otherwise she would have to live alone with Hongling and her brother and sister.
The commotion was so bad that Hongling took Xiao Zhao to hide at Xia Juhua's house. Sun Shi had no one to cry to, and the old courtyard finally calmed down. However, that incident also left a psychological shadow on Xiao Zhao.
Xiao Zhao was really happy when he heard Xia Juhua's arrangement, and asked with a smile: "Auntie, do you have anything else to do? If not, I will go home first."
Xia Juhua pointed at the other driver behind him with a look of confusion: "You can't go home alone, take this comrade home with you. You also have to go to the production team to find Hong Ling, tell her that I'm busy at the brigade headquarters, and ask her to go home and help your Aunt Chen cook."
"Okay." Xiao Zhao almost jumped up and hurriedly pulled his partner to the Ping'anzhuang production team. Xia Juhua wanted to ask him to ride his own bicycle back, but it was too late.
Accountant Chang and Liu Liqun were circling a combine harvester. Xia Juhua saw them touching it here and there, looking like they couldn't let it go. She asked jokingly, "Why don't you learn from Xiao Zhao tomorrow? Once you learn how to drive one each, the summer harvest of the entire brigade will belong to you two. What do you think?"
Accountant Chang felt that he was not young, so he stopped and said he did not want to learn. Liu Liqun was a little eager to try: "I don't know whether it is easy to learn or not."
Xia Juhua was also not clear about this. However, these two harvesters were responsible for harvesting the entire brigade's 2,000 acres of land, and it was also the harvest season, which required a lot of physical strength from the driver. Xia Juhua didn't think Liu Liqun could handle it.
Liu Liqun was a little skeptical after hearing her reasoning: "Since I have to be responsible for the harvesting of all production teams, I must get up early and work late. Even young people can't do it for a whole day, so a harvester must be equipped with at least two drivers. I will learn first, and whether I can learn or not, I won't delay others."
Think about the household contract responsibility system a few years later. In addition to the brigade leader, accountant and women's director, there are almost no other cadres in the brigade. Liu Liqun, the militia leader, will also leave the brigade and return to the ranks of ordinary farmers. If he had mastered the technology of the combine harvester in advance, it would definitely help his future life.
Xia Juhua smiled and said to him, "You can learn if you want to, but we have agreed that you have to look after your age and not compete with the young guys. Just do as much as you can."
Even though Xia Juhua mentioned age, Liu Liqun didn't take it seriously, but asked Xia Juhua how she was going to choose a driver. Xia Juhua felt that in addition to calling Li Changshun to discuss this matter, she also had to call other production team leaders.
Hearing about such a good thing, everyone came quickly. Li Changshun, who lived in the small village, was not eager to come. Before the production team leaders came, Xia Juhua had already discussed a tone with him:
Each production team selected a hard-working and literate young member to learn how to operate a combine harvester from Xiao Zhao. Liu Liqun was the first candidate, and all the selected young people were responsible for helping Xiao Zhao manage the harvesters.
Who will be selected in the end depends on the learning results, and it is still Xiao Zhao who decides whether everyone stays or leaves.
The production team leaders had no objection to this. They just wanted to go back and instruct their own production teams to be smarter and have more foresight, and get closer to Xiao Zhao so that they could fully master the technology of the combined harvester. Among the five production teams of Ping'anzhuang Brigade, the driver had a lot of decision-making power as to who would use the harvest first and who would use it later.
Everyone knows that with the Ping'anzhuang production team, or Xia Juhua, around, their production team will definitely not be the first to harvest, but if they are second, they can still think about it.
The quota for the Ping'an Village production team went to Liu Xi. This kid was usually quiet and no one knew when he finished studying the junior high school textbooks with Liu Lizhu and won the first place in Xiao Zhao's entrance examination.
Even Xia Juhua had not expected that Liuxi would be so willing to study, and secretly asked him if he wanted to try to take the entrance exam for a high school in the county. Although Liuxi is already nineteen years old this year, which is a bit old according to his school age in his previous life, everyone starts school later now, and the age limit for the college entrance exam is not strict. With Liuxi's ability to study, he may have a chance.
However, Liu Xi rejected Xia Juhua's suggestion. He felt that he was already an adult, and it would be too uncomfortable for him to go back to school and sit with a group of children who were two or three years younger than him. It would be better for him to drive a combine harvester and have the production teams run to harvest the crops.
Xia Juhua did not force him to do so, but only told him not to put down his books and to ask Xiao Zhao if he did not understand something. Qi Xi was inspired and stopped running around with the other boys in the village every day. Instead, he started to read seriously in Wu Ye's yard.
In response to this, the Fifth Master initially scolded Qi Xi for not working properly in the fields, but when he saw that Qi Xi was really concentrating on his work, he ignored him.
Because the summer harvest has arrived.
Six drivers selected after Xiao Zhao's emergency training sat in tall combine harvesters and rushed to the wheat fields of Ping'an Village. Countless people followed behind to watch the excitement, regardless of the dust raised.
After Chen Qiu Sheng started working at the vermicelli factory, he was still nominally the production team leader of Ping'an Village, but the work in the fields was arranged by Liu Sanzhuang. The place where the harvesting started today was where he commanded the combined harvester, which was in a field not far from the vermicelli leaking room.
As most of the equipment in the vermicelli room was moved to the vermicelli factory, the mat weaving team had also moved there. When the women heard the rumbling of the machines, they were as nervous as grass. Zhao Xianzhi simply asked everyone to go out and take a look at the excitement before coming back to weave the mats - those who were not sure about their minds might be unpredictable, and now they were weaving for foreign orders, so there could be no mistakes.
Let everyone understand what is going on, and then you can feel at ease when you come back to edit the mats.
The scene became even more lively. Seeing Liu Sanzhuang commanding the harvester to enter the field, Zhao Xianzhi nudged An Baoling with her elbow and said jokingly, "I never knew your Liu Sanzhuang had these two tricks. I always thought he couldn't even do a single fart."
"They are all like you. They fart loudly even when no one is kicking them." An Baoling didn't give in at all, but the look she gave Liu Sanzhuang was brighter than ever before.
Who wants their man to be unable to stand up straight all his life? In the past, with Liu Erzhuang as a comparison, Liu Sanzhuang did not say a word except working. Now the production team has given him this opportunity, and he is doing no worse than others.
She also has a promising son named Zhijun. He wrote to her a while ago saying that when he was assigned to a company, he was directly left behind by the regiment to learn how to drive. Now he can drive a car. That is a car, not a tractor used by the production team. An Baoling thought with some pride that her son who can drive a car might be able to use a combined harvester when he comes back, and he doesn't need to learn from Xiao Zhaodan at all.
Thinking of Xiao Zhao, An Baoling couldn't help but think of Hong Ling. She glanced into the crowd and saw Hong Ling standing on the ridge closest to the end of the field. Who else could be standing next to her but Xiao Zhao?
As an aunt, she naturally wants to see her niece's relationship be smooth, but An Baoling feels that she should still give her second sister-in-law a few words of warning, so she goes looking for Li Daya in the crowd again.
But Zhao Xianzhi had just been scolded by her, so she was not willing to let it go easily. She pulled An Baoling to argue with her, and An Baoling whispered to her: "I have something to do with my second sister-in-law. I will settle the score with you later."
Hearing that she was going to settle accounts with him, Zhao Xianzhi wanted to embarrass An Baoling, but seeing that her face was very serious, he could not help but let go of her hand and asked: "What's the matter, is your old lady going to make trouble again?"
An Baoling didn't care whether Sun Shi was acting like a demon or not. She was really worried about Hong Ling. She shook off Zhao Xianzhi's hand and pulled Li Daya behind the crowd: "Second sister-in-law, Hong Ling has been engaged for two years, right?"
Suddenly being pulled out of the crowd by An Baoling and asked such a question without any reason, Li Daya was a little confused: "Yes, they get along well." After saying that, Li Daya became more sober and asked anxiously: "What's the matter, who said what did you hear?"
An Baoling felt a little sorry for making her second sister-in-law so nervous with just one question, so she pulled her away from the crowd and said, "Don't worry, you didn't hear what others said. I just saw that Hongling and Xiao Zhao get along well, so I wanted to ask you, you have been engaged for such a long time, why haven't you arranged to get married yet?"
Li Daya couldn't help but get angry when this was mentioned: "What else was I saying? Didn't you see that Xiao Zhao doesn't come home if he can avoid it? It's all because of the old lady. Xiao Zhao must think that our family is a little..."
An Baoling also knew what was going on, and asked worriedly, "Will he have any opinion about Hongling?"
Li Daya herself was unsure: "It doesn't look like that. They have been together for the past two days."
"Let's ask my sister-in-law what to do." An Baoling felt that she didn't have the ability to handle this problem, and neither did Li Daya. The best candidate was her sister-in-law, Xia Juhua.
The combine harvester had already started moving, and rows of wheat were swallowed up wherever it passed. Soon, wheat stalks appeared behind the machine and fell to the ground, while wheat grains were continuously spit out into the tractor that followed.
Li Daya and An Baoling watched this scene together, and their worries did not decrease, but increased: Xiao Zhao could even operate such an advanced harvester and was a master to all the young people in the brigade. In comparison, Hong Ling seemed a little ordinary.
This made Li Daya a little absent-minded all day. After a quick dinner, she called Liu Erzhuang out. Liu Erzhuang didn't know why. Li Daya just said that she had something to do with Xia Juhua, and Liu Erzhuang followed behind.
When they arrived in the yard, they found that Liu Sanzhuang and An Baoling had also come out. It seemed that they were going with them to find the eldest sister-in-law. Liu Erzhuang couldn't help but glance at the main house.
The door to the main room was not closed, and someone could be vaguely seen looking out from inside. When Liu Erzhuang wanted to take a closer look, he felt a pain in his arm. He turned around and found Li Daya looking at him angrily.
The four of them walked out of the courtyard in silence, and when they arrived at Xia Juhua's house, they found that they had just finished their meal. The dishes had been cleared away, and Xiaoman was probably taking care of the children in the house, while Xiaozhao was talking to Xia Juhua and Liu Zhishuang in the yard.
As soon as they saw the four people coming, everyone at the table stood up. Xiao Zhao even took two steps forward, calling them uncle and aunt, but his eyes were looking behind the four people. He found that Hongling did not follow him, and he was a little disappointed.
Xia Juhua was a little surprised that the four of them came together. She asked Liu Zhishuang to get a stool and pour some water, "What happened at home? Why did the four of you come together?"
The other three people, except Liu Erzhuang, all looked at Xiao Zhao. Finally, Li Daya said, "Nothing special. I just found the harvester quite new today, so I came to talk to my sister-in-law about it."
As if no one had seen the harvester, this statement sounded fake. Xia Juhua smiled and said to Xiao Zhao: "The summer harvest task is heavy, and each production team is now counting on the harvester. It is still busy in the fields. I don't know if the person on duty can handle it."
Little Zhao nodded with interest: "Then I'll go take a look and come back when they are ripe."
Seeing Xiao Zhao disappear without a trace, Xia Juhua asked Li Daya, "Are you worried about Xiao Zhao and Hong Ling?"
Li Daya nodded and said, "I wouldn't have noticed it if Baoling hadn't mentioned it. Hongling and him have been engaged for two years, but now she hasn't mentioned when they're going to get married. I'm a little worried."
Only then did Liu Erzhuang understand why Li Daya insisted on asking him to come here. He felt that his wife was making a fuss over nothing: his sister-in-law was busy with the production team and then the brigade's affairs all day, and she also received calls every day about things outside the brigade, so why bother her with such a small matter?
Xia Juhua could understand Li Daya's feelings: Hongling was only two years younger than Liu Zhishuang, and she was already twenty-two years old. In the countryside, if a girl of this age was not engaged, mean people would call her an old maid.
Fortunately, she and Xiao Zhao were engaged two years ago, and the people in Pingan Village didn't have time to gossip, so no one talked about it. But as Hongling's mother, it was inevitable that Li Daya was worried about problems between her daughter and Xiao Zhao.
So Xia Juhua looked at Liu Zhishuang, and he stood up and walked towards the gate while pretending to be a good girl: "Look, you need someone by your side, otherwise you won't even have someone to run errands for you if something happens, let alone help you find out the inside story."
Xia Juhua pretended she couldn't hear and chatted with Li Daya and An Baoling. Li Daya knew that Liu Zhishuang was always smart and would definitely be able to find out what Xiao Zhao really thought. She relaxed a little and said to Xia Juhua, "After the autumn harvest, I have to build my own house and move out. If I don't move out, even Zhifu and Zhigui's wives will be in trouble."
An Baoling also nodded: "That's right. Before the old lady started to act up, Xiao Zhao had this attitude. Once she started to act up, she wouldn't even come in the door. We're also building a house in the fall, so I'll have to take a leave when that happens."
Liu Sanzhuang nodded after hearing this, which made Liu Erzhuang, who had not responded to Li Daya's words just now, a little embarrassed. He thought for a moment and said, "It's not like you can just build a house whenever you want."
"The housing plot has been applied for, and Xiaoqi has also helped to purchase the beams and rafters. What else do you think is missing?" Li Daya, who was already full of anger, spoke more aggressively than ever before.
Liu Erzhuang was even more embarrassed, and quickly explained: "Building a house requires people? Who wouldn't want to be split into two people so that they can have time to help us build a house?"
At that time, there were no professional construction teams in the countryside. No matter who built a house, they would find a few people with whom they had good connections to help dig the foundation and build the walls. Only when they installed doors and windows and beams would they hire a master. So what Liu Erzhuang said was also true, and Li Daya really had nothing to refute.
However, An Baoling was determined to build a house this year. She turned to Xia Juhua and asked, "Sister-in-law, do you think I can hire someone if I pay them some money in exchange for work?"
There was nothing that could not be hired. If the Pinganzhuang production team could not hire people, there were people from other production teams. If the other production teams could not hire people, there were people from other brigades. In short, as long as they did not lose money, there were plenty of people who wanted to work.
Liu Sanzhuang asked: "That would be exploitation, what if someone complains?"
An Baoling was not happy: "How can it be considered exploitation? I am exchanging work with them, not letting them work for free. Besides, my exchange of work is calculated based on the work points of Ping An Village, so they are taking advantage."
Liu Sanzhuang thought about it and felt sorry for the money: "Why not find a few people to help?"
"Everyone is busy, who will take time off to help?" An Baoling disagreed with Liu Sanzhuang's idea: "By then, everyone will have to go to work in the vermicelli factory. Won't they earn more than the few work points you earn?"
Xia Juhua watched the two people quarreling quietly, without any intention of mediation. She thought it was good that An Baoling could reason with Liu Sanzhuang now. Who said that only men can make decisions in family affairs?
Li Daya was still thinking about the conversation between Liu Zhishuang and Xiao Zhao, and didn't care about the quarrel between An Baoling and her husband. But Liu Erzhuang felt uncomfortable: Li Daya and An Baoling helped each other in everything now, and if the third family exchanged labor with others to build a house, their family must also exchange.
He wanted to pull Li Daya to discuss it, but he found that Li Daya looked at the gate, so Liu Erzhuang gave up the idea. The words of his wife and the third wife had made it very clear, so the current situation was still because of his mother's mischief. It would be better to build a house and move far away from his mother.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
