Chapter 155
Qi Weidong was delighted when he heard the train conductor's question: "Don't worry, I didn't misunderstand. I definitely didn't misunderstand. Comrade train conductor, I understand what you mean. You just want to take my aunt's noodle making method for free, don't you?"
The conductor blushed a little when asked this question, and said stubbornly: "We are also trying to improve the quality of the food on the train, to better serve the passengers, so that they can enjoy their journey..."
"Sure." Qi Weidong suddenly interrupted the conductor: "My aunt can give the recipe of noodles to our railway department for free. But you have to promise my aunt that in the future, you will not charge passengers who eat noodles on the train."
"Comrade, why are you making such a fuss? Our train serves passengers and it costs money. How can we let people eat noodles for free?" The train conductor angrily accused Qi Weidong.
Qi Weidong was not easily frightened. He stood up and looked down at the conductor: "You know you are paying the price, but why don't you think that my aunt is also spending time and energy to figure out how to make noodles? Do you know how much noodles, oil, and seasonings are wasted at home?"
The conductor was speechless, but he didn't want to give up the instant noodles in front of him - just kidding, this thing is hot and fragrant, just looking at it, it's suitable for long-distance travel. Combined with the reaction of the people in this car told by the train attendant, the conductor believed that if it was sold in the dining car, at least the people in the sleeping car would pay for it.
The ticket prices at that time were very cheap. It was a public welfare and all the ticket revenues went to the Ministry of Railways. The money earned from the dining car was used to provide benefits to train staff. Unfortunately, although the items sold in the dining car could be sold without tickets, the prices were not affordable for ordinary people. Therefore, not many people went to the dining car to eat. Most passengers still brought their own dry food, which led to the low benefits for train staff.
If instant noodles were available, even if they were not processed and cooked in the dining car, but only sold in bags at a small price and left for passengers to make themselves, the train conductor could imagine the rush to buy them.
So he pursed his lips and asked Qi Weidong: "Then how much do you think is appropriate for me to pay for your aunt's noodles?"
The carriage suddenly became quiet again. Everyone must be waiting for Xia Juhua's answer. The man dressed as an official, who had advised Xia Juhua to report the facts to the country the day before, had slowly walked to the front of Xia Juhua's compartment.
Qi Weidong looked at Xia Juhua in surprise - he swears to God, he said that he wanted the train conductor to pay for the production method just to make the train conductor give up, not to really make the decision for Xia Juhua and sell the recipe to the train conductor.
Xia Juhua was somewhat helpless about Qi Weidong's reaction: How could this normally smart guy be so confused at the critical moment? He was so interested in instant noodles, and he even gave him the opportunity to ask for the price. He was embarrassed, wasn't he?
Since Qi Weidong was the one she brought up, Xia Juhua couldn't let him be left hanging. She finally looked at the conductor and smiled, "Comrade conductor, you are determined to add new food varieties for the passengers. I admire your spirit of serving the people wholeheartedly."
No matter how wrong it is, flattery is always right. Xia Juhua first praised the train conductor, and then gave her own answer: "But we came to Guangzhou for important things. There will be people waiting for us when we get off the train. I don't have time to teach you dining car staff how to make noodles. I'm so sorry."
The compliment was given, and the reason was given. Logically, the train conductor should have stopped while he was ahead. But although the compliment was useful, it was not enough compared to the actual benefits. The train conductor did not give up his idea just because Xia Juhua was nice and her words were pleasant to the ear: "Sister, your nephew asked me to buy your business, and I agreed. You said you would not sell it without giving a price. Isn't this a waste of my time? Isn't this inappropriate?"
Seeing that he was getting tangled up in a mess, Xia Juhua became a little impatient: "I don't think it's inappropriate. Buying and selling are both voluntary. You want to buy but I don't want to sell. Do you still want to force me to buy and sell?"
When the train conductor heard that Xia Juhua had been disagreeing with the idea of selling instant noodles, his face turned gloomy: "Comrade, you guys keep talking about buying and selling, and it turns out you want to speculate on the train. Do you think that because you are so mobile on the train, no one can control you and let you destroy national construction?"
He stood up and walked out of the compartment, blocking the way of Xia Juhua and the others, and shouted to the train attendant in the carriage: "Go quickly, call the train police, there are speculators here, tell them to come and arrest them quickly, don't let the bad guys get away."
Xia Juhua, who had suddenly turned into a profiteer, held down Qi Weidong, who was about to stand up to argue, and glanced at the panicked Liu Xi soothingly, her face still as stern as ever: "Conductor, you said I was a profiteer, do you have any evidence?"
The conductor turned around and looked at her with disdain: "You talk about buying and selling all the time. You must be used to speculation and profiteering. How can you speak so fluently? What evidence do you need? Judging from your clothes, you are a country girl. What qualifications do you have to sit in the sleeper? We also need to investigate whether the ticket is stolen. I advise you three to cooperate with our train police in a while."
In a few words, I was accused of stealing a train ticket. Xia Juhua was so angry that she snorted, "Okay, I am very willing to cooperate with the train conductor until he investigates my crimes of speculation and stealing train tickets."
Liu Xi couldn't help but yelled to the train conductor: "We bought our tickets ourselves, who told you they were stolen?"
The conductor saw that Liu Xi had not said anything and thought that he was just a rural youth who had never seen the world. He did not take him seriously at all and said contemptuously: "Of course you do not admit that the tickets were stolen. We can only reach a conclusion after investigation."
"Are you a reasonable person?" Liu Xi had never seen such a person before. He took out a letter of introduction from his pocket and shook it to the conductor, "We are from Ping'anzhuang Brigade in Pingde County. My sister-in-law is the brigade leader. We are here in Yangcheng..."
Xia Juhua turned around and stopped Liu Xi from continuing: "Liu Xi, don't say it. Even if you say it, he will think you made it up, or think that our letter of introduction is fake."
She turned to look at the conductor who had just spoken and asked, "Comrade conductor, am I right? You have already determined that as long as I don't sell you the recipe, you are a speculator or a thief. Only when I hand over the recipe of noodles can we clear the accusation against us."
The conductor was in a dilemma because he had seen Liu Xi take out the big red seal on the letter of introduction. At that time, seals were rarely forged, so the letter of introduction in Liu Xi's hand was most likely authentic.
Just now, Xia Juhua clearly pointed out that the train conductor might have concluded that the letter of introduction was fake without asking any questions. Now if he really said that the letter of introduction was fake, wouldn't it prove that Xia Juhua was correct?
Xia Juhua was right. She said that she did not engage in profiteering. So how could he detain people on the train and ask them about how noodles were made?
Seeing that the conductor had not responded to Xia Juhua's question, the officer finally stepped forward to persuade the conductor: "Comrade conductor, you are dedicated to maintaining the safety of the passengers on the train, and we are all very grateful. But this female comrade, after getting on the train, except for going to the toilet, she stayed in her own berth and did not sell anything to anyone, so I don't think they are speculators."
"Of course, the conductor is very alert. When he heard someone talking about buying and selling, he wanted to investigate. Everyone can understand that. Now the situation is very clear, and the train is about to arrive at the station. Has the misunderstanding been resolved?"
Xia Juhua and the other two did not expect him to stand up and speak for them. They were surprised and expressed their gratitude to him with their eyes. The man just nodded slightly, keeping his eyes on the train conductor.
Someone came forward to smooth things over, and the conductor, who was in a dilemma, breathed a sigh of relief. However, he looked at the man dressed as an officer and asked, "Did they really not sell anything to anyone after they got on the train?"
The man shook his head quickly: "Definitely not. If you don't believe me, just ask the people in this carriage. They can all prove it." Even if it was selling something on the black market, someone could not be convicted of stealing and taking the property, let alone on a train?
The conductor gritted his teeth, looked at Xia Juhua and the other two unwillingly, and snorted. At this time, the train police called by the train attendant arrived and quickly controlled both sides of the carriage. Then someone came to report to the conductor: "Conductor, the carriage has been controlled. Where are the speculators?"
Who knows where the profiteers are? !
The train conductor angrily said to the police officer who reported the incident, "I have investigated it clearly. It was just a misunderstanding. You can go back. The train will stop soon. Please check each carriage again. Don't let any bad guys go."
If she were a few years younger, Xia Juhua would have wanted to roll her eyes to the sky. If they were really that tough, why did they let the three of them go? Wouldn't it have been better to just detain them on the train?
Xia Juhua was confident that the conductor would detain them on the train because she had called Director Yang before boarding the train and told him which train she would take to Guangzhou. That was why Xia Juhua told the conductor that someone would be waiting for her when she got off the train.
If the train conductor still didn't know what was right, Xia Juhua didn't mind letting Director Yang from Beijing see the train conductor's face. But the man who initially thought that Xia Juhua should leave the matter to the state officials actually took the initiative to stand up and help them out, which made it difficult for Xia Juhua to hold on to him.
齊衛東明顯知道夏菊花的想法，聽到列車長最後一句往回找補面子的話，不厚道的笑了一聲，在人家回頭的時候從六喜手裏拿過介紹信，慢慢的折起來，放到自己的口袋裏，仔細把兜蓋上的扣子扣好，才對六喜說：
“這東西可得拿好了，誰知道一會兒是不是楊司長接站。要是他安排別人來接，人家又不認識咱們，就得給人家看介紹信，免得別人也當咱們的車票是偷來的。”
一句語氣平靜的話，沒把列車長吓一個跟頭，連那位剛才出頭替夏菊花幾人說話的幹部，也仔細看了齊衛東一眼。
似乎不知道自己一句話，會對別人造成啥樣的沖擊，齊衛東為衆人加深印象：“嬸子你說你也是，人家楊司長讓咱們坐飛機，你非得要坐火車。挨累不說，還讓人當成了壞分子，等下見到楊司長，我得跟他說說，回去的時候千萬不能坐火車了。”
你咋不坐火箭呢？夏菊花自己都被齊衛東天馬行空的描述給驚了一下，六喜卻當了真：“咱們回去真坐飛機？我還沒坐過飛機呢。”連卧鋪、确切的說是火車他都是頭一次坐。
列車長的臉色，随着齊衛東與六喜的話變幻着顏色，最終定格在夏菊花的臉上，發現夏菊花即沒制止齊衛東的胡說八道，也沒否定回程坐飛機的提議，列車長的汗可就下來了。
司長呀，他只聽過職務、卻從來沒見過的幹部，竟然要來接眼前這個農村婦女？
那個總是不懷好意樂的小子只是吓唬自己還好，如果這個農村婦女真由一位司長接站，自己剛才想……列車長不敢再往下想，看向夏菊花三人的目光裏，出現一絲忐忑，心裏帶着些僥幸。
他檢查旅客是不是不投機倒把，是職責所在，就算這次對夏菊花态度惡劣了一些，因為那位幹部的勸說，并沒真讓乘警把人扣下，更沒造成多嚴重的後果。所以，他不能心虛、不用害怕，他是在盡自己的職責，對，他就是一位認真負責兢兢業業的老黃牛。
火車在列車長的自我安慰中越來越慢，咣嘡聲拉得越來越遠，終于一個剎車，讓車上的人全體向前一傾，徹底不動了。
列車長一直站在夏菊花他們隔間前，沒有動，那位幹部也慢慢收拾着自己的行李，把先下車的機會讓給其他人，哪怕跟他一起的人都已經走到了車廂連接處，回頭叫他，他還在不緊不慢的收拾着自己的東西。
齊衛東當然發現了那位幹部的動作，不過裝成不在意，眼睛四下裏打量着，發現車窗外有人一直往車廂裏張望，看到他們幾個人後露出笑臉，忙問夏菊花：“嬸子，你看那是不是來接咱們的人？”
夏菊花順着齊衛東指的方向一看，也向車窗外的人笑了一下，對齊衛東說：“嗯，是楊司長的秘書來接咱們了。我還以為是司機來接咱們呢，沒想到竟讓人家秘書跑一趟。”
列車長和那位幹部把兩個人的對話聽得十分清楚，幹部收拾行李的速度一下子加快了，很快追上自己的同伴彙合，一起下了車，立刻消失在了人海之中。
列車長卻避無可避，想跟夏菊花消除一下誤會，剛才自己的話說得太滿了，那位幹部走得太快，他連個中間人都找不到。不向夏菊花解釋，他又不甘心，就怕夏菊花見到她口內的那位司長，回頭自己挨了收拾，想找人說情都不知道找誰。
為難間，齊衛東已經問到列車長頭上了：“列車長同志，我們可以下車了吧，還是先到車站派出所重新說明一下情況？”
列車長的臉紅一陣白一陣，向夏菊花強擠出一個笑容來：“這位大姐，我剛才也是職責所在，才不得不警惕性高一點，今天有啥讓你不愉快的……”
這話齊衛東是不會讓夏菊花接的：“別，別，列車長你都說了剛才想要我嬸子面條的做法，是你的職責所在。你警惕性高，更是你對工作的認真負責，我們哪能有不愉快呢，就算是不愉快，也是你不愉快不是。”
如果目光能殺人，齊衛東早被列車長五馬分屍了。自己想讓夏菊花理解的雖然也是這個意思，從這個小子嘴裏說出來，咋就這麽難聽呢。
兩個人的目光碰撞在一起，最終還是列車長先移開。目光移開了，人還站在夏菊花面前沒動，分明是想讓夏菊花給句準話，別追究今天的事兒。
楊司長的秘書見夏菊花幾人遲遲沒有下車，還有一位鐵路工作人員一直站在他們身邊，以為夏菊花她們遇到了什麽麻煩，趕緊走進車廂，揚聲問：“夏大隊長，出了什麽問題嗎？”
齊衛東剛想開口，夏菊花這次先于他開口了：“沒什麽大問題，不過是列車長覺得我做的方便面比較好，想跟我學一下制做方法。”并不說列車長想讓她白教方法、不教就想讓乘警按投機倒把抓自己三人。
這已經足以讓楊司長的秘書變了臉色：“那可不行。楊司長說了，你那個方便面，将來也要供應部隊，暫時不能擴大範圍。列車長同志，你不了解情況就提出要別人的制做方法，欠考慮了。”
久跟在領導身邊的秘書，離開領導之後自己身上也有一些官威，雖然這官威不如正主濃厚，對于列車長來說已經足夠了。
就見列車長的臉都白了，汗順着腮幫子直淌，嘴裏不停的向夏菊花三人致歉，那态度可比秘書沒上車前誠懇得太多，甚至都不再說一定要讓夏菊花原諒的話。
秘書深深的看了列車長一眼，把目光轉向夏菊花。只見夏菊花已經拎起自己的包袱，準備往出走，忙上前接過來說：“夏大隊長，我來吧。”語氣裏的尊重毫不遮掩。
夏菊花跟他客氣了一下，便随着秘書往車下走，齊衛東和六喜默默跟在後頭，誰也沒再說話。至于列車長，早在秘書去接夏菊花的包袱時，已經大步走向車廂連接處，一個大步就跨下臺階，此時已經把手伸得高高的，要扶夏菊花下車。
不管是夏菊花還是楊司長的秘書，都沒有理會列車長高舉的手，由着他自己尴尬的收回。夏菊花腳踩到地面上之後，才回頭對列車長說：“列車長同志，你剛才說想要我面條的做法，是職責所在，我希望你以後這種職責，還是少盡一點好。”
“是，是，是，”列車長記得剛才秘書稱呼夏菊花為夏大隊長，現學現賣的稱呼着：“夏大隊長批評的對，以後我一定改正，一定改正。”
這種人改或是不改，對夏菊花的影響都不大，她只希望列車長能記下今天的教訓，以後再碰到相同的情況，能把自己的貪婪之心收上一收——不是每一個跟她一樣有一技之長的人，都有一位司長的秘書等着接站。
坐上秘書帶來的汽車後，齊衛東才有些憤憤不平的對夏菊花說：“嬸子，咋就這麽放過那個家夥了，看到好東西就想摟到自己懷裏，這樣的人不給他一下狠的，他長不了教訓。”
齊衛東的想法，夏菊花當然理解，畢竟在平德縣，只有齊衛東看中別人東西的份，他應該沒有過自己東西被人惦記的經歷。夏菊花很想告訴他，随着以後經濟發展越來越快，如列車長這樣的人會越來越多，自己可以給一個人教訓，卻沒法給那些人教訓。
能辦到的，或許得是楊司長那個層次的人才行。要教訓的也不是列車長一個人，而是所有跟列車長一樣心懷鬼胎的人。
秘書倒覺得夏菊花的處置有理有節：“夏大隊長做得沒錯，畢竟那個列車長沒真的把你們怎麽樣。只要他工作上沒有出現其他錯誤，就不能因為今天的事兒處理他。”就算是想收拾列車長，也得在他的工作上找到漏洞再說。
齊衛東聽到秘書開口，馬上閉嘴不再提不愉快的事——盡管他沒有進正式單位上班，可是基本的眼力見還是有的，剛才看似抱怨夏菊花，實際上也是給秘書提個醒，最好別輕易放過那個列車長。
人家秘書都說了，得列車長工作上有其他錯誤才能收拾，他還瞎操啥心？
咋知道列車長工作上有沒有其他錯誤，明顯不是他一個天天在平德縣黑市混的人能查得到的，還得由人家秘書出面。
至于楊司長，人知道或是不知道今天的事兒，都在兩可之間，有秘書出馬就足夠了。
安靜下來的齊衛東，跟六喜一樣盯上了羊城的市容，覺得處處都比承平地區來得氣派。還沒看夠呢，車子已經停下，楊司長為夏菊花他們安排的招待所到了。
這一次的招待所，比起博覽會時條件更好，與夏菊花在L省城住過的差不多。她還是自己一個房間，齊衛東與六喜一個房間。
After the secretary escorted the group to the door, he told Xia Juhua about the follow-up arrangements: "Captain Xia, friends from Country A will arrive in Guangzhou tomorrow. Director Yang wants to meet with you during dinner. What do you think of these two comrades?"