Chapter 146
The words that Liu Zhishuang said just now while walking were still echoing in Liu Erzhuang's ears, making him want to go home and ask his mother if she regretted it now. Liu Erzhuang himself didn't understand why he asked this question, he thought he would know after asking.
Before he had time to think further, the voices of Liu Zhishuang and Xiao Zhao talking and laughing came from outside the courtyard gate. Li Daya sat up straighter and looked towards the door nervously.
Soon, Liu Zhishuang came in with a smile on his face, and Xiao Zhao, who also had a smile on his face, came in and apologized to Li Daya directly: "Auntie, it was because Hongling and I didn't explain the matter clearly to our family, and we made you and my uncle worry. It's my fault."
As soon as he entered the room, he apologized, which shocked everyone present. Hongling's mother, Li Daya, couldn't help but ask, "Have you discussed the marriage with Hongling?"
Xiao Zhao nodded and said, "Yes, I discussed marriage with Hongling. She thought it was good to be an accountant in the production team, and she didn't want to get married so early, and wanted to work for two more years. I also thought that we were not too old, she had her own things to do, and could take care of the family, so I agreed."
"This damn girl, how could she be so stubborn." Li Daya didn't expect that what she had been worrying about for so long would turn out to be such a result. She couldn't help but scold Hongling who was not present: "She is already 22 and still not married. What can people say about her?" Besides, Xiao Zhao is three years older than Hongling. She is already 25. Others of his age have children who can already make soy sauce.
Xia Juhua was concerned about whether Xiao Zhao's family had any opinions about this. Although Xiao Zhao worked at the Agricultural Machinery Station, his family was from the Red Flag Brigade near the commune, and the people's ideas and concepts were probably similar to those of the Ping'anzhuang Brigade. If they had any opinions about Hong Ling, it would not be good for her after marriage.
Xiao Zhao explained to Xia Juhua and others that he had convinced his parents, the reason being that the work points of the Pinganzhuang production team were higher than that of his own team, so Hongling wanted to save more money for the dowry. Although Xiao Zhao's parents were a little uncomfortable, they did not object too much.
Xia Juhua and the others didn't know what to say about this, especially An Baoling, who felt that it was because she talked too much that Li Daya was worrying about her. She said to her a little embarrassedly, "Second sister-in-law, don't be angry with Hongling. It's all because of my talking too much..."
"You are doing this for her own good. A grown-up girl who hasn't been out for two years after getting engaged should think about who to put her in. I think you should set the date earlier. Hongling doesn't have to pay for the dowry herself. Her father and I are there for her."
Xiao Zhao waved his hands and said, "Auntie, I don't really want Hongling to bring a lot of dowry. I just told my family so. The main thing is that Hongling..."
Needless to say, Hongling must be reluctant to give up her job as an accountant. This is also easy to understand. Now Hongling records the work points for the members every day, and then records the accounts of the production team, and she can get ten work points. If she marries into Xiao Zhao's family, the production team already has an accountant, and it is impossible for Hongling to replace him. If she works in the fields, she can't record ten work points a day.
Even if Hongling was as capable as Xia Juhua and could earn ten work points every day, the work points of the production team where Xiao Zhao's family worked could not be compared with those of Ping'an Village, so Hongling did not want to get married too early.
"Xiao Zhao, if Hongling stays in the Ping'anzhuang production team after she gets married, is that okay?" Xia Juhua also felt that Hongling had worked hard to learn accounting, and had worked for several years without making a single mistake, and had received unanimous praise from the entire production team. It would be a pity for her to give up just because she got married.
The main reason was that she wanted to find someone from the Ping'anzhuang production team who was no worse than Hong Ling. Xia Juhua couldn't find one for the time being, so she asked this question.
Xiao Zhao was a little embarrassed: "We are married, so she has to transfer her household registration to our production team and come to Ping'an Village to work. Is that okay?"
Chen Qiu Sheng's mind is now mostly on the vermicelli factory. Hong Ling, the accountant, has quite some weight in the production team, so Xia Juhua thinks it is no problem for her to stay and work in Ping'anzhuang.
But when it comes to getting married and changing her household registration, Xia Juhua is a little embarrassed: Xiao Zhao has such worries, and it is not certain whether Xiao Zhao's family is willing to marry their daughter-in-law and let her go back to her parents' production team to work. What if someone thinks that the Liu family looks down on the Zhao family, or thinks that Hongling's parents have an easy life and let her ask for unlimited subsidies from her parents' family to support her husband's family? What should we do?
"Auntie, I want to stay in Ping'an Village to work." Hong Ling's voice suddenly came from the gate. It turned out that she found Liu Zhishuang looking for Xiao Zhao and said something behind her back. She was a little worried, so she followed him and heard everything they said.
When Xiao Zhao saw her come in, he was a little confused and said, "I'm discussing it with Auntie and the others."
Hong Ling shook her head: "This is my own business. I don't need to discuss it with Auntie, or even my parents."
Li Daya stood up in anger, her hands shaking as she pointed at the lady. Xia Juhua was afraid that she would be too excited and do something radical, so she pulled her to sit down and said to Hongling, "Then tell me what you think."
Hong Ling always listened to Xia Juhua's words, so she said, "The work points of the Pinganzhuang production team are higher than those of Xiao Zhao and his team. If I stay in Pinganzhuang to work, I can earn more than twice as much as Xiao Zhao and his team. It will be good for our little family in the future, so I want to stay."
"But we're married now, and you can't always live in your parents' home." Xiao Zhao looked at Hong Ling with some embarrassment. He originally thought that his partner was confident and radiant, but now he felt that this confidence was a bit dazzling.
Hongling smiled: "It's not that far from the commune to Ping'an Village. It only takes an hour to walk there. If I buy a bicycle, it won't take me more than 20 minutes to ride there and back. I can have lunch at home and take a nap."
It turned out that this girl had already thought about it, and only then did she dare to say that she would stay in Ping'an Village. But Xia Juhua wanted to remind her: "If you marry Xiao Zhao, you will live with his family. You should share some of the housework for a large family, not to mention that you have to do it all by yourself. Can you bear running back and forth to work like this?"
"What's so unbearable?" Hongling didn't take it seriously. She remembered that when she was in her teens, her mother had to go to work every day, and she had to do all the housework at home - not only did she have to do the housework, but she also had to clean the whole yard and wash Sun's clothes. For her, getting up earlier and going to bed later and doing some housework was not a big deal.
Seeing Hong Ling becoming so opinionated, Xia Juhua didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. After all, marriage was a matter between Hong Ling and Xiao Zhao. As elders, they only had the right to make suggestions but not the right to make decisions, so they had to let Xiao Zhao and the others discuss it themselves.
Watching the two of them walk out of the yard together, Li Daya sighed: "Sister-in-law, why is this girl so troublesome?"
"You were worried that they wouldn't get married, but now it seems that they don't want to get married, so why are you still sighing?" Xia Juhua had no choice but to persuade her: "You really care about your daughter, so when you build the new house, leave a room for her so that she has a place to live when it rains or shines."
What else can we do? Now we have to wait for the Zhao family's opinion.
Xia Juhua was a little worried when she saw that Xiao Zhao was still running around with the harvester every day for the next few days. Seeing that the summer harvest was almost over and he had not returned home, she saw that Xiao Zhao was a little worried. Unexpectedly, the troops transported a part of the early sweet potatoes coordinated from the south, and also transported the third batch of hot and sour noodles when they left. Xia Juhua's mind turned to the frying of the seasoning for the vermicelli factory, and she could not spare the energy to think about the two of them.
Since tens of thousands of bags of hot and sour noodles were produced every day, it became impossible for one person to stir-fry the seasoning. After consulting with several people from Zhao Xianzhi, Xia Juhua called Li Zhaodi (wife of Liu Erxi), Ma Xiaoqin (wife of Liu Lizhu), and Li Wenjing (daughter of Zhao Xianzhi) to the vermicelli factory and taught them how to stir-fry the seasoning with her.
Nowadays, there are dedicated people in charge of seasoning packaging. Once the seasoning is fried here, they can just turn on the plastic sealing machine and the seasoning can be packaged. This makes Li Zhaodi and his friends very excited. They are very eager to learn how to fry the seasoning and are looking forward to the moment when they can pour the seasoning they have fried into the feed inlet.
Seeing the seasoning gradually decrease at the feed inlet and bags of seasoning packages of the same specifications appear at the outlet, they feel a sense of accomplishment every time.
Xia Juhua no longer has the same feeling as them. She only feels that the sweet potatoes in the cold storage are always getting more and more, and the seasonings are never finished. Sometimes she wants to take a break, but when she sees the truck waiting to transport the hot and sour noodles, she quickly gives up the idea:
The troops' feedback came again, and this time it was all good reviews. Along with the good reviews came truckloads of sweet potatoes. I really don't know how the troops got the information and where they coordinated so many sweet potatoes. Every time a truck transported sweet potatoes, it would take away a batch of hot and sour noodles, and at the same time pay the vermicelli factory a processing fee for the batch of hot and sour noodles that were taken away. The timely and full payment brought rich rewards to the members working in the vermicelli factory. It also made Xia Juhua feel more and more clearly that something was getting closer and closer.
The processing fee was paid on time, and in order to motivate the workers, the vermicelli factory also issued wages two days in advance: a total of more than 4,000 yuan was paid. Even the most ordinary workers received 6 yuan in overtime pay in addition to the fixed salary of 24 yuan, which shocked everyone in the Ping'anzhuang Brigade.
Thirty yuan a month, this is all a formal worker in the city who has worked for two or three years earns.
The overtime pay for team leaders was ten yuan, that for deputy factory manager Chen Qiu Sheng was fifteen yuan, and that for factory manager Xia Juhua exceeded the ordinary workers' wage of twenty-four yuan by reaching twenty-five yuan.
沒有一個人說夏菊花不該拿這麽多加班費，因為所有人都知道，沒有夏菊花，就不可能有粉條廠。哪怕說粉條廠沒有夏菊花也能建起來，紅薯的供應肯定不會銜接得這麽順暢——大夏天的，本地可沒有這麽多紅薯供粉條廠兩班倒着加工。
哪怕大家都已經發現，粉條廠的活計不比下地輕松，還是很羨慕那些在粉條廠上班的工人——幹一個月拿一個月的現錢，足夠買一年吃的糧食，誰不希望自己也能進廠上班？！
可惜粉條廠的崗位已經滿了，大家不得不繼續耕耘着土地，希望它的收獲能多一些，不要跟粉條廠工人的收入差得太多。
現在各生産隊的夏糧收成已經統計出來了，全大隊平均畝産達到五百一十三斤，無疑是一個豐收年。留夠公糧，分到大家手裏的麥子同樣是歷年來最高的二百八十斤，哪怕秋收不增産，只要能稍微貼補一點兒，一年的口糧就不愁了。
正因為一年的口糧不愁，所以夏菊花等大隊幹部采納了當時趙仙枝等人的玩笑話，安排社員們把剛剛整理好的土地上，都種了晚紅薯——自己大隊建了粉條廠，還老從外面運紅薯過來，所有平安莊的社員都有些意難平。
漏粉，還是用自己種出來的紅薯更得勁。
各生産隊在春耕的時候為了交公糧，都種了早紅薯，有了種晚紅薯的打算後，便不舍得再把藤蔓喂豬，而是修剪到合适的長短，按林技術員的辦法種進地裏。
這下子養豬場的豬們便面臨了口糧危機，好在有粉條廠絞漿後的紅薯渣頂了一陣。有了薛技術員改進後的絞漿機，紅薯渣出的并不多，仍不夠五個生産隊養豬廠用的。
夏菊花不得不打電話向齊小叔求助。齊小叔放下夏菊花的電話，再一個電話打出去，夏菊花便帶着劉志福兩個開上拖拉機，到糠醛廠拉糟。
齊小叔給人打電話說聯系人是平安莊大隊長夏菊花，因此夏菊花再忙，也得跑這一趟。至于換成劉志福開拖拉機，則是因為劉志雙幾天前已經自己去地區報到，相信過不了幾天也會回來接小滿娘兩個。
雖然與齊小叔聯系費了些工夫，不過買糟進行的很順利，哪怕糟味不大好聞，聞時間長了，夏菊花也覺得可以忍受：拖拉機行駛在傍晚的鄉道上，坐在副駕駛上涼風習習，把一天的熱氣都吹走了，連糟味也不知被刮到哪兒去了。
正美着，劉志福扶着車把的手就是一歪，拖拉機颠簸了兩下，無可奈何的停了下來，跟在後頭的拖拉機猛地剎車，坐在前車的夏菊花聽到發動機不滿的突突聲。
夏菊花吓一跳：“咋啦，是不是拖拉機壞了？”算下來拖拉機到平安莊大隊也有三年了，幾乎每天都要耕地或是運東西，一點閑的時間都沒有。出點毛病也正常。
劉志福也吓了一跳，連忙跳下去查看是咋回事。繞到車頭的時候發現，鄉路被前兩天的雨水泡軟了，來回跑的車一多，便刷出了大大小小的坑。天色已經漸暗，劉志福一個沒看清，把前輪陷到大坑裏了。
“大娘，”劉志福頭一次跟大娘出門，就碰上這種事兒，臉上了陣陣發熱：“我得墊點土才能把拖拉機開出來，你坐車上等一會兒。”說着跑到車鬥處拿鐵鍬。
夏菊花知道不是拖拉機壞了，而是陷在坑裏，便不在意的說：“你慢慢填不着急。”孩子正在自責，她自然不會再給他百上加斤。
後頭的牛衛國也拿着鐵鍬過來，一邊幫着墊土一邊說：“往年下雨也沒見路上坑這麽多，都是今年卡車走的多，把路給壓壞了。”
牛衛國并不是空口說白話，今年平安莊一直有紅薯運進來，又有酸辣粉拉出去，鄉路上三天兩頭跑着卡車，只用黃土修平壓實的鄉道，确實負荷不了。
可不運紅薯或是不把酸辣粉運出去，都不現實。夏菊花不得不擔心三伏天雨水再大些的話，這路還能不能用。粉條廠還好說，運來一次紅薯總能用個十天半月，可供應部隊的酸辣粉運不出去，怕是要耽誤事兒。而編席組那邊的訂單，更需要按時運出去，否則就可能付賠償金。
難怪上輩子電視上老是宣傳，要想富先修路，沒有一條好路，平安莊有再好的産品，運不出去也是白搭。可路要咋修，夏菊花心裏沒啥底。
好不容易墊好土，拖拉機再行駛起來，劉志福便加了十二分的小心，剩下的路雖然還是颠簸的厲害，倒再沒陷到坑裏。
到了大隊部，他抹抹汗，沖夏菊花笑了一下：“可算是到了。虧得今天運的是糟，這要是運雞蛋，非得都晃破了不可。”
是呀，現在的路運不怕磕碰的東西，最多也就是路上耽誤一點兒時間，可一旦要運怕磕碰的東西呢？
別忘了，平安莊大隊現在家家戶戶養的雞不少，将來的雞蛋也會随之增加。社員們就算自己吃一部分，更多的還是要送到供銷社換錢。
帶着雞蛋走現在的路，磕破幾個在所難免，指望着雞蛋增加收入的社員，還不得心疼死？
越想，夏菊花越覺得修路上一件迫在眉睫的事兒，當晚便到五爺家裏商量：“等三伏下兩場大雨，現在的路更走不了了。要想長期走卡車，就得刨開好好墊路基，還得把路面硬化了。”
五爺吧嗒着煙袋鍋子說：“修路當然是好事兒，可現在的天不是修路的時候。再說按你想的那麽修路，可是燒錢的事兒，大隊能拿出這麽些錢嗎？”
夏菊花愁的也是這個。別看粉條廠一個月工資就發出去四千多，可廠子剩下的真沒有多少——一袋酸辣粉才一分錢的加工費，一個月下來将将夠工人工資，集體就掙出個電錢。
夏菊花想修的路，是上輩子見過的硬化路面，不是把土道墊點新土平整平整就行——黃土壓實修出的路，走自行車時間長了都能出坑，更別提走卡車。
偏偏平安莊現在運進運出，用的都是卡車。
夏菊花咬咬牙：“我還是覺得要把路給修好了。不行明天我上公社和縣裏，跟張書記和齊縣長商量商量，請他們給咱們想想辦法。”
見她打定了主意，五爺便替她查漏補缺：“你也不能光跟我商量，還得跟李長順說道說道。張書記那兒，他出面比你說話好使。”
“你跟人齊縣長說的時候，可以把咱們粉條廠給部隊供應酸辣粉，時間上耽誤不得說說。還得告訴人家，咱們有得是人，只要有材料，讓咱們平安莊大隊自己出人修路都行。”
夏菊花聽了連連點頭，哪怕有些事情她自己已經想到了，還是願意聽五爺絮叨着講該注意的細節。
第二天跟李長順一說，李長順便提出他跟夏菊花一起去公社。夏菊花覺得這樣的路還讓他跑一趟，有些不落忍，卻扭不過一心想幫着夏菊花把事兒辦成的李長順，只好再讓牛衛國開着拖拉跑一趟——昨天劉志福覺得自己把拖拉機陷到坑裏不好意思，主動攬下了往各生産隊送糟的活，忙到半夜才回家，現在叫他出車，夏菊花說不出口。
到了公社跟張書記一彙報，張書記直嘬牙花子：“你們想修路當然是好事兒，可公社一年到頭就那麽點經費，跟撒胡椒面似的哪哪都不夠用，怕是幫不上你們的忙。最多就是修路時經過哪個大隊，讓他們跟你們一起出工。”
盡管早想到這種結果，夏菊花還是有些失望，留下牛衛國開拖拉機把李長順送回去，她自己從車鬥裏搬下自行車，騎着到了縣城。
再一次來到縣城，夏菊花明顯覺出路上的行人多了，臉上也沒有原來那麽嚴肅了，甚至還有人背着不大不小的包袱或挎着籃子，不時湊到路過的人說話。
一旦兩人搭好話，便會一前一後走向附近的胡同。
夏菊花清楚的看到，一個人手裏的籃子挎到了另一個人的胳膊上，而得到籃子的人，遞給原主人幾張錢。
看來縣城裏的人膽子還是要大一些，交易場所已經不限于黑市。這麽一來，不知道齊衛東的黑市買賣，受沒受到影響。
想到此夏菊花看了看表，發現還不到十點兒，便想着去找找齊衛東，順便跟他打聽一下修路需要的材料，有沒有門路可以搞到。
夏菊花已經想好了，如果縣裏也不能給予幫助的話，平安莊自己也要把路修起來，大不了就象上輩子一樣，向社員們集資。
與上輩子一些地方集資有去無回不同，夏菊花相信，只要有粉條廠在，不怕還不了社員的集資款——供應部隊不會一直供應下去，等過個一兩年，部隊适應了戰場需求，對平安莊酸辣粉的需要就會減少，那時便是平安莊賺錢的時候。
"Auntie, why are you here? Do you want to buy something?" When Qi Weidong saw Xia Juhua, his first thought was that Xia Juhua needed to buy something important, and she didn't want others to know, so she came to him in person.
Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "I don't have anything to buy right now. I just saw someone quietly selling things on the street, so I wanted to ask if your business is going well since there are so many people like this."
Qi Weidong was of course happy to hear that she cared so much about him: "It's okay, those people move from one place to another and dare not show up often. If people want to buy something they need urgently, they have to find us in the market - we have been selling for several years, and everything is still available at any time."
Xia Juhua had a lifetime of experience and knew that the market would only become more and more open and would soon transition to an era where everyone could do business. So she reminded Qi Weidong: "Then don't hoard too many things. Today I saw several people secretly trading, and I'm afraid there will be more and more in the future. If you hoard too many things, it will be difficult to deal with them if you get stuck."