Chapter 150
When the call was connected, Xia Juhua's tone was a little depressed: "Chief Qi, the army leaders know that our brigade has repaired the road. I think they may call you. I don't want the troops to think that the road was destroyed because of them. I'm worried about the troops..."
Uncle Qi laughed at the other end: "Your call was late. They called me first to verify the situation before calling you. I told the head that you were the one who couldn't stay idle and thought the members had nothing to do during this period, so you called on everyone to build the road together. You didn't tell them about your fundraising."
Just because Lin Hongliang guessed the intention of Pinganzhuang Brigade to build a road based on just a few words and reported it to the leader in time, Xia Juhua could not be as optimistic as Uncle Qi. She also knew that Uncle Qi's optimism was to relieve her from such great psychological pressure, so she only reported the progress of the road construction to him on the phone, and did not say that she was worried that the army leader would give Pinganzhuang some extra care.
This worry is not groundless. Why did the military chief call Ping'anzhuang after calling Uncle Qi? Wasn't it to test the waters of Pingde County and see if the road was funded by the county?
Although Uncle Qi is a cunning man, saying the above words to his superiors is probably his limit. He cannot and dare not lie to the superiors.
He would certainly tell the truth if the county could not afford to build roads.
As long as the army chief knew that the county did not provide funds, he would not need to know too much about where the money for building the road in Ping'an Village came from - even if the money was obtained by Xia Juhua through begging, she still had to do a favor, and the army would not let her owe anyone a favor for no reason.
The troops care so much about Ping An Manor, how should Ping An Manor repay the troops? Xia Juhua on this end of the phone fell into deep thought, and Uncle Qi on the other end did not hear Xia Juhua's response for a long time, and asked curiously:
"What's the matter? Are you worried that the troops will pay Ping An Zhuang extra processing fees? I think even if they do, it's reasonable. After all, Ping An Zhuang only charges one cent for a bag of hot and sour noodles, just to make the troops feel at ease when accepting them." Ping An Zhuang only makes labor costs from it.
Only one cent for the processing fee, wouldn't that give me peace of mind? Xia Juhua answered the phone, "Yes, I understand." She was still thinking along the same lines as before, and answered in a somewhat careless manner.
Uncle Qi thought she was still worried about the compensation from the army, so he didn't ask any further questions and instead hung up the phone.
Xia Juhua was calculating in her mind whether her plan was feasible: the troops needed a large amount of hot and sour noodles, mainly for the convenience of carrying and for having soup and water to keep them hot when eating.
However, the taste of hot and sour noodles is a bit monotonous, and eating it for a long time will inevitably make people feel annoyed. She thought of a substitute for hot and sour noodles - instant noodles. Compared with the monotonous taste of hot and sour noodles, the taste of instant noodles varies a lot. Moreover, after deep-frying instant noodles, sprinkle some seasoning on them, break them apart and eat them dry even without boiling water, which is more suitable for troops to use during operations.
We had never thought of making instant noodles in advance before, because with the little white flour produced by Ping An Zhuang, the members only dared to make dumplings during the Chinese New Year, so we were reluctant to give it a try.
Things were different now. Ping'an Village's summer grain was all wheat. In addition to the rations distributed to the members, each production team's warehouse also stored a lot of wheat in preparation for the public rations. Xia Juhua also had enough white flour in her own warehouse for her to experiment with.
Xia Juhua tried to make it that night. Mixing the dough, letting it rest, and cutting the noodles were not a problem. But the question of how to make the noodles into the kind of square pieces she had seen in her life and ensure that they would not fall apart gave her a headache.
Fortunately, she quickly remembered that the instant noodles she had in her previous life were all curved. Was that the reason they didn't fall apart? Xia Juhua decided to try again, and she succeeded.
The next step was to fry the dough. It took Xia Juhua several nights to figure out how long to fry the dough so that it would be crispy and not mushy. In order to keep the time accurate, she kept a small notebook at hand and wrote down the time each time the dough was put into the pot for future reference.
Because of her concentration, Xia Juhua focused every night to the point of being oblivious to what was happening outside.
"Captain, Captain." Chen Qiu Sheng knocked on the door twice, but no one answered, so he couldn't help but shout at the top of his voice.
Sun Zhaodi poked her head out from the next yard and said, "The captain isn't home, I guess. I haven't seen her since dinner."
Chen Qiusheng shook his head and said, "He should be at home. I didn't see him at the brigade headquarters or the construction site."
Having said that, Sun Zhaodi became a little anxious. Where could Xia Juhua go so late at night?
She walked over while complaining, "You said the team leader just wouldn't listen. The other day Zhishuang came back to move, and I told her to let Xiaoman and the kids leave behind, but she didn't listen. Now she's the only one left living in a big yard, and no one knows anything that happens." After saying that, she ran back to her own yard and asked Chen Dongsheng to set up a ladder, intending to let him jump over the wall to see if Xia Juhua was in trouble.
Everyone in Ping'an Village remembered Xia Juhua's two previous hospitalizations. If she became seriously ill again and no one knew about it, Sun Zhaodi felt that he had to help the sinner of Ping'an Village.
Just when the ladder was set up and Chen Dongsheng had already climbed to the top, Xia Juhua's voice came from the door of the main room: "Chen Dongsheng, you have become more capable, right? You can even climb over the wall."
Chen Dongsheng was also a little anxious: "Are you okay? You scared us. Qiu Sheng called you for a long time but you didn't open the door. We thought something happened to you. If you didn't climb over the wall, could you have come out?"
"What can happen to me?" Xia Juhua found it funny when she heard it. Seeing Chen Dongsheng coming down the ladder, she went to open the gate. Sure enough, Chen Qiusheng and Sun Zhaodi were standing in front of the gate with nervous faces.
"I was doing something in the main room and didn't hear Qiu Sheng knocking on the door." Xia Juhua hurriedly explained to the two of them. Otherwise, if they allowed the two of them to stand in front of the courtyard gate for a while, the whole Ping'an Village would know that she was missing in the middle of the night.
Sun Zhaodi took a closer look and made sure that Xia Juhua was fine before he heaved a sigh of relief: "In the future, hang a light bulb at the door of the main room and turn it off when you go to bed at night. If there is anything wrong, just turn on the light and I will know. Don't scare me like you did today."
In such a short time, Sun Zhaodi actually came up with the idea of asking me to light a lamp to report safety. She must have had a lot of wild thoughts while waiting for me to show up. Xia Juhua couldn't help but hold her hand and said, "Okay, whatever you say is fine. But I'm in good health, nothing can go wrong."
In Sun Zhaodi's mind, the possibility that Xia Juhua might be in trouble and no one knew about it became more and more real, and she insisted that Xia Juhua agree to turn on the light now. Xia Juhua knew that she meant well, so she would never refuse. She agreed to let someone install a light under the eaves of her main house tomorrow, which appeased Sun Zhaodi.
Only then did she have the opportunity to ask Chen Qiu Sheng why he came, which made Sun Zhaodi feel a little embarrassed. She took Chen Dongsheng and walked home so as not to delay Xia Juhua from discussing business with Chen Qiu Sheng.
Chen Qiusheng also found it funny that he had made such a big mistake by knocking on the door, but he still got down to business first: "The army's truck carrying hot and sour noodles arrived today. It went directly to the county warehouse according to the address we gave. But Comrade Lin also came and is now at the construction site."
Xia Juhua had expected Lin Hongliang to come, but she didn't expect him to come so soon, and to come to the construction site so late at night. She asked hurriedly, "Did you tell everyone not to tell Comrade Lin about our fundraising?"
Chen Qiusheng smiled bitterly and said, "Comrade Lin has come this far on his own. When he met me, he had already asked me all the questions he needed to ask."
Xia Juhua also felt that her idea of trying to hide it from the army was a bit naive - she knew how strong the army's reconnaissance capabilities were, and it was too unrealistic to want to hide it now that people were here.
Unable to hide it, Xia Juhua had to meet Lin Hongliang as soon as possible, so she pushed her bicycle out and went to find Lin Hongliang with Chen Qiusheng. As soon as they met, Lin Hongliang extended his hand to Xia Juhua, shook it tightly, and said only two words: "Thank you."
What was he thanking for? Lin Hongliang didn't say anything and Xia Juhua didn't ask. Everyone smiled and looked at the progress of the road construction before returning to the brigade. Lin Hongliang took the cup that Chen Qiusheng handed to him and slowly put it on the table. He organized his words in his mind before speaking:
"Captain Xia, this is it. I was entrusted by the head of the army to discuss the double-hugging work with Pingde County. We are going to do a pilot project in Ping'anzhuang Brigade. It just so happens that you are building a road, so the first double-hugging will be on this road."
He spoke lightly, without even mentioning why Pingan Village was building a road. Instead, he defined the upcoming help from the troops as being on Shuanghui, so that it would be more logical for the troops to provide help to Pingan Village.
Xia Juhua's mind quickly recalled when the word "double-hold" appeared, and found that it seemed that this word had always been rooted in her mind and had never gone away.
In other words, this work has always existed, but after only ten years of movement, this term faded from people's minds and became the term "student army".
Xia Juhua and Chen Qiusheng knew in their hearts that the army's re-mention of the dual possession was just a reason, hoping that Ping An Manor would not feel that it had taken advantage of the army. How could Xia Juhua and Chen Qiusheng not be moved by such tactful consideration of Ping An Manor's feelings?
They also cannot refuse.
So Xia Juhua said to Lin Hongliang openly: "So, Ping'an Village is taking advantage of the troops again. Thank you so much to the leaders and comrades of the troops for your concern for Ping'an Village. But Comrade Lin, the materials for road construction in Ping'an Village are almost ready, so the troops don't have to worry too much."
林宏亮就笑了：“的确不用我們太操心。我聽說你們的石料、石灰都已經備好了，就還差點瀝青，倒省了我的事兒了。你放心，瀝青就交給部隊來解決，你可別跟我提平安莊出錢的事。”
見夏菊花張嘴要拒絕，林宏亮連連向她擺手，帶着些讨饒的口氣說：“好我的夏大隊長，你就別拒絕了。為平安莊修路的事兒，我都做過檢讨了，要是你還不接受瀝青的話，我就得當場脫了軍裝，被趕來平安莊挖路基了。”
平安莊修個路，竟然讓林宏亮做了檢讨，夏菊花心裏十分不安，也替林宏亮覺得委屈：“咋還用你做檢讨呢，首長有點不講理了吧。我們修路也沒提前跟你商量，你也是事後才知道的不是？”
林宏亮見她有替自己報不平之意，忙笑着說：“首長批評我的原因，是我在組織運輸的過程中，沒有考慮到平安莊鄉路的承受能力，破壞了路面也沒有及時發現。這的确是我工作的疏忽，做這個檢讨心甘情願。”
盡管林宏亮說自己做檢讨心甘情願，夏菊花還是有些不落忍，第二天便把自己試驗得差不多的方便面拿為給林宏亮品嘗，目的自然是希望林宏亮帶新産品回部隊，好讓他“戴罪立功”。
已經吃酸辣粉吃夠了的林宏亮，再吃方便面就很驚豔了：“這是用白面做的，咋這麽香呢。”
夏菊花笑了：“用油炸過能不香嘛，土疙瘩使油炸炸也香。”
“那不一樣。”林宏亮一本正經的反駁夏菊花的說笑：“這可是白面做的，還用油炸過，幹吃也行呀。”
可不就是圖它幹吃也行嘛。夏菊花覺得林宏亮不愧是部隊出來的，看問題直接抓重點的能力不一般：“的确，它不光可以幹吃，而且口味上也比酸辣粉更豐富。如果有不愛吃酸吃辣的人，換成不同的調料包就行。”
林宏亮聽了眼睛亮了起來：“能大量生産嗎？”
生産倒是能生産，不過夏菊花沒打包票：“現在生産酸辣粉的機器不大合适産方便面，我想到挂面廠學習一下後，看看咋把機器改造一下。”
要去挂面廠學習的想法，是夏菊花這兩天才興起的：如果要大批量生産方便面，就不能指望着手工切面條，那樣速度根本上不來不說，平安莊也調不出那麽些人力來。挂面廠大量生産挂面，如何制面成型烘幹，一定有它的成熟方法。
雖然最終成形不一樣，方便面還要增加油炸的工序，前期能借鑒的地方應該不少。
林宏亮這頭聽出量産問題不大，開心的笑了起來：“那我能不能回部隊就向首長彙報，再看咱們如何合作。不過如果平安莊也能供應方便面的話，酸辣粉的需求量恐怕……”
對此夏菊花不只不擔心，還很歡迎——平安莊供應部隊酸辣粉幾乎不賺錢，如果部隊需求減少的話，他們就可以将一部分對外出售了。
所以夏菊花讓林宏亮放心：“這個你不用擔心，我跟地區和省供銷系統都挺熟的，可以通過他們把酸辣粉銷出去。就是如果方便面想大量生産，造機器、修廠房、協調白面和油都需要些時間，一時半會兒怕是不行。你回去向首長彙報的時候，務必說清楚，給我們平安莊半年左右的時間。還有酸辣粉的需求，也不用考慮會不會滞銷，就不好意思讓我們降低供應量。”
林宏亮聽了更覺得夏菊花太為部隊考慮，對她說：“行，我肯定如實向首長彙報。不過這一次你得答應我，協調有問題的話，及時通知我們，大家一起想辦法。”
大家合作這麽長時間，相互都替對方着想，夏菊花也就不客氣的點頭。林宏亮同樣沒跟她客氣，帶走了夏菊花制好的幾十包不同口味的方便面，準備拿回去讓首長們确定哪種口味應該大量生産。
送走林宏亮後，平安莊的大隊、生産隊幹部們再次開會，夏菊花向他們通報了部隊要給平安莊大隊解決瀝青的情況之後，說出了自己今後一段時間的工作重點：全力研究方便面以及機器的改進。
說自己改進機器，夏菊花并不覺得臉紅：最終改進機器的是薛技術員又咋樣，能跟薛技術員聯系上，還讓他心甘情願幫着改進機器的不是她是誰？
四舍五入說是自己改進機器，夏菊花覺得沒問題。
而她去挂面廠考察學習的事兒，根本不成其為問題，都不用齊小叔出面，張書記一個電話打過去，挂面廠廠長就親自接待了夏菊花，還笑呵呵的向夏菊花說：
“夏大隊長，等你們的路修通了，我們挂面廠也能跟着沾光，我早就想去平安莊感謝你呢。你說你要來挂面廠視察，咋還讓張書記跟我們聯系呢，你自己來我們也歡迎着呢。”
夏菊花連連搖頭：“廠長，我真是來向咱們挂面廠學習的，可談不上視察。”領導才是視察呢，自己以前到挂面廠，都是求人買麥麸，這次來就說視察，誰信呢。
人家廠長臉上的笑可沒下去：“我說是視察就是視察，你可是咱們平德縣所有工廠的大恩人。要是沒有你出面，我們那幾輛車的輪胎，還不知道啥時候才能換新的呢。不瞞你說，以前司機一出車我在家裏就坐不住，生怕跑到啥時候爆胎了。現在好了，縣裏給我們開過會了，說以後所有車輛的輪胎都有保障了，讓我們放心大膽的跑就是。”
原來廠長對夏菊花如對上級領導，還有這麽一個原因，倒讓夏菊花有一種無心插柳柳成蔭的感覺。謙虛了一下後，夏菊花提出了自己來的目的，那就是想近距離看看挂面廠的生産線，最好能有一個技術好的修理師傅，給自己随時講解一下機器的用法和功能。
對此廠長一口答應，還想自己陪着夏菊花一起去，被夏菊花拒絕了，畢竟自己要問的一些問題，廠長還是不聽為好，免得他以為平安莊要搶挂面廠的生意。
雖然方便面在以後會擠壓挂面廠的市場，可現在方便面很可能主供部隊，跟挂面廠不産生沖突，沒必要讓廠長心裏有疙瘩。
夏菊花是知道自己幾斤幾兩的，這一次并不是自己一個人過來，而是叫上了胡中山給自己做助手。當時胡中山還覺得有些不可思議：身為知青，他太知道知青與平安莊社員之間的關系，真沒想到夏菊花到挂面廠參觀，還叫上了自己。
為此鄧春林又陰陽怪氣的說酸話，胡中山根本沒放在心上，偏下定決心跟夏菊花把活幹好——上一次自己聽了夏菊花的提醒，想要報恩，主動給平安莊大隊社員講解用電安全知識，現在社員們已經把自己與其他知青區另對待了。
胡中山又不傻，才不會因為鄧春林幾句酸話，就放棄贏得夏菊花進一步信任的機會。所以他聽得多、記得多、問的也多，好些夏菊花自己都不明白的地方，他都及時問到記了下來，讓夏菊花在給薛技術員打電話的時候，更加有的放矢。
夏菊花對胡中山的行為看在眼裏，記在心上，暫時沒表示什麽，不代表她真的啥都不做。在給薛技術員打電話的最後，便請薛技術員留意一下，有沒有啥高考複習資料之類的收集一下，給她郵過來。
薛技術員那頭想的，全是夏菊花提出的幾樣機器改進，本沒放在心上，架不住夏菊花每次電話都提醒，真的不管有用沒用找了一大堆書，打包給郵寄過來。
現在書還在路上走着，大喇叭裏已經播報了國家要恢複高考的正式通知，一下子不只知青點沸騰了，平安莊大隊也跟着議論紛紛。
與知青點的知青議論的重點不同，社員們更關心的是知青們現在種的莊稼，還有心思伺候嗎，如果這那麽摞荒了太可惜——現在已經是九月，知青們種的玉米、高粱眼看着要到收獲的時候，任由它們留在地裏，老農民心疼呀。
夏菊花不得不再次出現在知青點，發現知青點空了一大半，一問才知道，聽到廣播後的知青，連假都顧不上請，就跑到縣城去找複習資料了。
“鄧春林也不在？”夏菊花問的還是胡中山——這小子和李有光兩個很沉得住氣，沒随大流一起跑去縣城。
胡中山手裏同樣捧着一本書，回答的卻很平靜：“嗯，他們沒吃中午飯就去了，估計得到天黑才能回來。大隊長你找他有事兒？”
夏菊花對胡中山不便說啥，只讓他給鄧春林捎個話，等他回來了去大隊部找自己一趟，走前囑咐胡中山：“雖然說臨陣磨木倉，不快也光，不過也要注意自己的身體，不能把人給熬壞了。”
Hu Zhongshan was grateful for Xia Juhua's concern: "Thank you, captain, I will remind them." As for whether the educated youth listened or not, it was not something he could control.
Hu Zhongshan and Li Youguang were different from the other educated youth who were only interested in reading for three minutes. After returning from the Spring Festival holiday, they did read a lot of books. But when the news came late, they soon returned to their old ways and threw the books away. They never put down their textbooks, but there were too few books to refer to, and they were afraid that they would not meet the requirements of the college entrance examination.
Hu Zhongshan and his companions had thought about going to the county seat today, but when they saw that the educated youth site was quickly emptied, they gave up the idea. There were so many people looking for books in the Ping'anzhuang Brigade educated youth site, how many people were there in the whole Pingde County? The county seat was so small, and there were only so many books. If everyone went together to look for books, they might not even find a corner of the paper. It would be better to write a letter home and let their family think of a solution.
When Xia Juhua saw that Hu Zhongshan had agreed, she nodded to him and went back to the brigade headquarters to wait for Deng Chunlin.