Chapter 167
The news that Secretary Tang was recalled to the regional supply and marketing cooperative was told to Xia Juhua by Uncle Qi and Secretary Zhang in person at Ping'an Village.
Anyone who truly understands the situation in Ping'an Village knows that even though Ping'an Village now has electricity to every household, roads have been repaired, the weaving team is making money, the vermicelli factory has solved the problem of increasing income for many members, and the instant noodle factory is about to be built, which is another big piece of cake, they would think that whoever becomes the captain of Ping'an Village will be able to gain both fame and fortune smoothly.
If Xia Juhua really tries to do this, except for the electricity and roads, the other three profitable projects will be back to square one in less than two years. The instant hot and sour noodles look fresh, but they are only supplied to the army now. If they are really sold abroad, they will be copied by others in a short time. Not to mention the instant noodle factory, no one knows how it is made except Xia Juhua, and the most important seasoning formula is in Xia Juhua's mind.
As for the weaving team, the leaders did not think that Zhao Xianzhi's statement that she would not do it if Xia Juhua stopped was just an remark. Not only Zhao Xianzhi, but the backbone of the weaving factory are now the women of the Ping'anzhuang production team. They worked together with Xia Juhua to build the angry weaving team to its current scale. If Xia Juhua was forced to leave, they would be heartbroken.
The backbone is gone, and it is Xia Juhua who has been dealing with orders from international friends. Even if the weaving group still exists, it will be extremely difficult to earn foreign exchange.
Now, the weaving group and vermicelli factory of Ping'anzhuang are the face of Red Star Commune and Pingde County. They are always the focus of praise at every meeting with higher authorities. Uncle Qi and Secretary Zhang will not leave Ping'anzhuang without appeasing Xia Juhua.
Of course, given the relationship between Uncle Qi and Xia Juhua, the so-called comfort was more like a joke. After a few words, Uncle Qi severely criticized Xia Juhua: "You knew he had bad intentions, so you should have called Secretary Zhang and me in advance. Don't you even have time to call?"
"You confronted Tang directly. Don't you believe that the organization can coordinate the relationship between the supply and marketing cooperative and Ping'an Village? Fortunately, the members of Ping'an Village listen to you. If you say not to move, they will really not move. But what if there is really a fool who is not afraid of trouble and hurts Tang?"
Xia Juhua lowered her head and said nothing. Uncle Qi slammed the table angrily, "Now Ping'an Village has become famous in the regional supply and marketing system. Everyone will soon know that a small captain of Ping'an Village directly took down the secretary of the county supply and marketing cooperative. You are really capable. Will the supply and marketing system dare to deal with you in the future? Don't forget that you still have a son in the regional supply and marketing cooperative."
After hearing him mention Liu Zhishuang, Xia Juhua raised her head and said, "If I don't do this, what else can I do? They are clearly asking for half of the profits of the weaving factory. Am I going to just watch them take away our hard work? This time it's the weaving group. Will it be the vermicelli factory and instant noodle factory next time? I'm going to give it to anyone who asks for it?"
Uncle Qi was very disappointed: "Didn't I tell you that Secretary Zhang and I are involved? If you tell us, we will naturally contact the regional supply and marketing association."
"How do you negotiate?"
These few words left Uncle Qi speechless.
Xia Juhua was right. As a leader, when there are different opinions, even if you are gritting your teeth in your heart, you must maintain basic courtesy and politeness when you meet. The supply and marketing system is a directly managed unit. When the local government faces issues such as material distribution, it still needs the support of the supply and marketing cooperatives at the next level.
If Uncle Qi really came forward to coordinate Secretary Tang's affairs, he would have to first report the situation to the director and gradually bring up the issue. It's not like today, when Secretary Tang caused a serious situation and Uncle Qi could justifiably ask the regional supply and marketing cooperative for an explanation.
But Secretary Tang would definitely not wait for things to develop in a direction that was unfavorable to him, but would find all kinds of excuses to shirk responsibility. The longer time passed, the more reasons Secretary Tang could find to justify himself. In addition, there was someone backing him up. In the end, it was hard to say whether Ping An Manor would survive this disaster or let the supply and marketing cooperative have a share.
"Comrade Xia Juhua, no matter what, the Ping'an Village members who gathered today and did not let Secretary Tang leave are not right. To put it mildly, it is a serious case of localism, and to put it more seriously, it is a mass incident." Secretary Zhang seriously answered Xia Juhua's question on behalf of Uncle Qi.
Xia Juhua disagreed with this characterization: "We members didn't touch him at all."
Secretary Zhang smiled and said, "Even if you didn't touch Secretary Tang, it's true that you surrounded people and didn't let them leave Pingan Village. It's also true that you insulted them. So you have to make a profound self-examination to the regional supply and marketing cooperative and eliminate the impact."
Well, Xia Juhua knew the purpose of these two people returning to Pingan Village. Wasn't it just to let her put some eye drops on the leaders of the regional supply and marketing cooperative? She looked at Uncle Qi with some doubts and asked tentatively: "Should I write a self-criticism or make a phone call first?"
Uncle Qi was once again disappointed that they could not make it: "Of course you should express your attitude as soon as possible." If it was a real written self-criticism, the man surnamed Tang would have returned to the regional supply and marketing cooperative long ago. Face-to-face conversations are much more flexible than cold letters. No matter how eloquently Xia Juhua wrote her self-criticism, what would it be of any use? !
Xia Juhua could not learn the art of speaking of the leader. She shed tears of regret (grievance) to the director of the regional supply and marketing cooperative on the other end of the phone, and apologized very much for not stopping the members' impulsive behavior earlier. She felt very ashamed of not staying in the weaving group to wait for Secretary Tang's inspection because she did not receive a notice from the county supply and marketing cooperative.
She expressed her full admiration for Secretary Tang's personal guidance of Ping'an Village's work and his ability to offer guidance and rectification directions. She believed that even if Secretary Tang did not understand the situation and some of his opinions were extreme, she should fully accept them.
So she pleaded with the leaders of the regional supply and marketing cooperative to allow Secretary Tang to come to Ping'an Village again to give her a chance to correct her mistakes. This time, she must have waited for Secretary Tang and his party early. At the same time, she also considered that she was too old and was indeed not suitable for managing the Ping'an Village Brigade as Secretary Tang said. The next time Secretary Tang came, he could directly supervise the election of a new captain for the Ping'an Village Brigade.
The Ping'anzhuang Brigade will use this action to express its sincere apology for the unpleasant experience that Secretary Tang and his party had in Ping'anzhuang.
The director on the other end of the phone couldn't see what expression Xia Juhua had when she heard her self-criticism, but Uncle Qi and Secretary Zhang, who were on the phone, gave her a thumbs-up, which Xia Juhua could see clearly. In order to avoid Uncle Qi and Secretary Zhang giving her a thumbs-up, Xia Juhua continued to speak louder and louder, and also called Deputy Director Gu.
There is only one central idea, which is to ask Deputy Director Gu to take care of her two sons, because she may no longer serve as the captain of Ping'an Village, and then she will need to live with her two sons in her old age. If Deputy Director Gu takes care of Liu Zhiquan, it is equivalent to taking care of her.
Deputy Director Gu was of course shocked when he heard this, but unfortunately he couldn't find out why Xia Juhua was no longer the captain of Ping'an Village, so he had to call the regional supply and marketing cooperative to find out the situation.
The deputy director of the provincial supply and marketing system called the regional supply and marketing department, and naturally did not call the deputy's office. The person who answered the phone was the director of the regional supply and marketing cooperative who had just hung up the phone with Xia Juhua.
After listening to the director of the regional supply and marketing cooperative's introduction, Deputy Director Gu directly characterized Secretary Tang's behavior as nonsense, and told the director very seriously that Xia Juhua's current work in Ping'an Village cannot be replaced by anyone. Her job is not just to sign a rubber order for Province L. The vermicelli factory under her leadership and the instant noodle factory that is about to be built both provide supplies for the troops!
"That Secretary Tang is so careless and has such a long hand. Didn't you conduct any investigation when you promoted him? Who recommended him and who gave him the power to dare to interfere in the management of the personnel of the local government's subordinate brigade?"
I really don't know how powerful the supply and marketing cooperative is. To put it bluntly, the supply and marketing system still serves the local government. Do you really think that you can interfere with their management just because you control the materials? It's one thing for them to save face and not argue with you, but if they really argue, they will directly file a lawsuit with the provincial government, saying that the supply and marketing cooperative is in the wrong!
Deputy Director Gu ordered Director Zheng to investigate the matter thoroughly to find out whether Secretary Tang's actions in Ping'an Village were his own decision or whether there were bad elements within the regional supply and marketing cooperative who attempted to undermine the supply of materials to the troops by undermining the leadership of Ping'an Village.
The matter involved the supply of troops, so it was not something that the regional supply and marketing cooperative could cover up. In fact, from the moment Xia Juhua called Deputy Director Gu, the matter could no longer be covered up. As soon as Secretary Tang returned to the regional supply and marketing cooperative, what awaited him was a strict review by the organization department.
The final review result, of course, showed that there were no hostile elements. However, not only could Secretary Tang no longer return to Pingde County, but even the deputy secretary who recommended him was transferred to the Cheng'an District Supply and Marketing Cooperative to become the last-ranked deputy director.
When the news was fed back to Pingan Village, Xia Juhua breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't care how Secretary Tang was dealt with. What she wanted most was the evaluation of her by the regional supply and marketing cooperative that came with the news.
According to what Liu Zhishuang told her over the phone, the regional supply and marketing cooperatives are now saying that although Ping'an Village is only a small brigade, the brigade leader is a tough guy with even stronger connections. Secretary Tang, a regular cadre at the section level, was actually sent to the most remote county in Chengping area to be the director because of Ping'an Village. It can be said that he has fallen into a tangle.
Therefore, if you encounter the matter of Ping An Zhuang again in the future, it is best not to have any ulterior motives. It does not matter whether you help or not. Don't think that you can ensure your safety by setting traps for others.
Because Liu Zhishuang often dealt with other units, he heard much more information than what Uncle Qi reported to Xia Juhua. According to him, the news was now spread beyond the supply and marketing system. Units in many regions knew the name of the Ping'anzhuang Brigade and had included it in their list of key focus areas.
Xia Juhua didn't take it seriously. She wanted to let people know through this incident that the affairs of Ping'an Zhuang were not so easy to interfere. This was the fundamental reason why she dared to relax a little.
Ping'anzhuang was not the only one that got the news. Not long after, Chen Xiaoman, deputy director of the commune's supply and marketing cooperative, personally brought people to Ping'anzhuang and took the initiative to mention to Xia Juhua the fact that the purchase price of eggs had been suppressed some time ago.
According to Chen Xiaoman, she did that because Secretary Tang gave her a task and she had no choice but to do it. Therefore, Xia Juhua must not bear a grudge against her because of this matter. After all, they had helped each other in difficult times.
If Chen Xiaoman didn't put all the blame on Secretary Tang, Xia Juhua would have found a reason for her, saying that she was too ambitious and had no experience in dealing with things. But Chen Xiaoman pushed the blame on Secretary Tang, and Xia Juhua could only smile and say that she didn't mind, after all, she had never been to the supply and marketing company to sell eggs.
Chen Xiaoman's face turned pale and she pulled Xia Juhua to recall the friendship they had established through Section Chief Chen, and she hoped that this friendship would continue. Xia Juhua let her young daughter reminisce about the past, and she smiled from time to time as a response.
Finally, Chen Xiaoman could no longer recall and had to reveal her real purpose: winter had already arrived and too few chickens were laying eggs in each village. Only Ping'an Village was able to get some harvest because of the large number of chickens it raised.
Because of the price cuts some time ago, the members of Pingan Village would rather deliver their eggs to the Red Flag Supply and Marketing Cooperative when Liu Zhifu and his team drove the tractor than to the Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative, which made it difficult for her to complete her task. So she hoped that Xia Juhua could call on the members to give up the long way around and deliver the eggs to the Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
"Farmers are very careful about their lives." Xia Juhua waited until Chen Xiaoman ran out of words before she said, "Everyone treats a penny as a bigger deal than a millstone. The price of an egg dropped by a penny, and farmers' chickens only lay a few eggs a day. Once the supply and marketing cooperative lowered the price, everyone's enthusiasm was directly reduced. Many people don't want to raise chickens for the team next year. We are also worried."
Xia Juhua stated the facts calmly, but Chen Xiaoman could not remain calm. She came to Ping'an Manor in a hurry to complete her mission, and she wanted to find out whether Xia Juhua had any opinion of her because of Wang Caixia's matter.
When her uncle heard about the stupid thing she had done, he called her over and scolded her, and also told her not to expect him to help if Xia Juhua targeted her.
Chen Xiaoman cried and begged, and her uncle gave her an idea. That is, Chen Xiaoman had to lower her posture and stop treating Xia Juhua as the rural woman who thought she got a huge bargain by buying a few kilograms of noodles. Instead, she should take the initiative to go to Ping'anzhuang to apologize. Even if she did not get forgiveness, she should not continue to have a hostile relationship with her.
Although Chen Xiaoman was reluctant, she was frightened by what her uncle had said about the fate of Secretary Tang and a deputy director of the regional supply and marketing cooperative - she was still a worker, and even if she was called a deputy director she was just working in lieu of work - so she had to show weakness to Xia Juhua right from the start.
But her uncle ultimately underestimated his niece's cleverness. After a few contacts, Section Chief Chen knew that Xia Juhua was a person who would give her a respect she would never give him. Chen Xiaoman was still young, so she apologized sincerely and admitted that she was too eager for quick success. Even if Xia Juhua could say a few words, she would not argue with her.
Xia Juhua didn't want Chen Xiaoman to directly put the blame on Secretary Tang, and her impression of her became worse. She refused to accept the olive branch that Chen Xiaoman offered. Even though Chen Xiaoman promised to increase the price by 5 cents per egg if Ping'an Zhuang members went to the supply and marketing company to buy eggs again to make up for the losses of Ping'an Zhuang members some time ago, Xia Juhua only said that she would notify the members, and she had no control over whether they would go or not.
Chen Xiaoman's remaining rationality prevented her from threatening Xia Juhua with the fact that Secretary Tang was blocked in the house by Ping An Zhuang members and dared not come out, and she left the Ping An Zhuang team awkwardly. Accountant Chang waited for her to leave and said, "If you had known this earlier, why did you do it then?"
Xia Juhua glanced at Accountant Chang and asked, "Have you counted all the chickens that everyone wants to hand in?"
Accountant Chang nodded and told Xia Juhua that not only had the statistics been taken care of, but also which production team would send who to mate the chickens and which day to mate them had been arranged. He told her to just focus on the construction of the instant noodle factory.
That's right, the construction of the instant noodle factory has reached the final moment, and as the college entrance examination scores are about to come out, the educated youth are becoming more nervous and irritable, and conflicts will arise over the slightest disagreement, which makes Xia Juhua regret having included the educated youth site in the instant noodle factory.
They beat each other to a pulp but Xia Juhua didn't take it seriously, which delayed the construction of the instant noodle factory. She really knows how to beat people up.
Fortunately, the concerted efforts of the members of Pingan Village not only shocked Secretary Tang and the people of the supply and marketing cooperative, but also made the educated youth understand that the members of Pingan Village had always let them do whatever they wanted over the years, which was really a special favor to them. Otherwise, if they really got serious, would they dare to go to the brigade to ask for justice because of the vacation issue?
So their conflicts were all internal, and the Pingan Village members were not dragged into it. Xia Juhua's requirements for them were also very simple, as long as they did not delay the construction of the instant noodle factory, did not cause trouble for Pingan Village, and did not hurt each other, then let them do what they wanted.
For example, Hu Zhongshan and Li Youguang took the initiative to help on the construction site after the college entrance examination. After Liu Liqun, who was in charge of the construction site, told Xia Juhua about it, she did not object. She also instructed Liu Liqun to record one day's work points for them, and settle the accounts for them at the end of the year.
On the day when Xiaozhuangtou went to the purchasing station to deliver chickens, he brought back not only the money from selling chickens, but also the news of the college entrance examination results. Hu Zhongshan and his partner were too tired to work, so they asked Liu Liqun for leave.
Liu Liqun of course agreed, because the two guys worked very hard, which changed their impression of them a lot. He even took the initiative to ask them how to get to the county town and whether they needed Liu Zhifu to drive a tractor to give them a ride.
Hearing that the brigade could use tractors, all the people at the educated youth site came out, except for two educated youth who did not enter the examination room halfway through the exam. All of them climbed onto the tractor and started working. No one cared that the tractor had just finished transporting live chickens and the work area had not been cleaned yet.
Liu Zhifu accepted the extra task assigned to him by Liu Liqun with a smile - his mother had warned him long ago that he was still young and had to find work to do, otherwise people would not say anything bad about him, but would say that his mother had a poor judgment of people, which would make her lose her prestige.
Liu Zhifu was not afraid of his parents, but of his aunt, with whom he had rarely spoken, and he was afraid that he would bring shame to her. So no matter who assigned him a task, he would accept it first and then report to his aunt.
This time he said the same thing to Xia Juhua, and Xia Juhua instructed him, "Count the number of people before you drive away, and tell them clearly before they get off the car, and where to wait at what time, and don't wait for them after the time has passed. Make sure everyone agrees before letting them get off the car. Tell them that if they don't agree, you will not be responsible for anything that happens, do you understand?" After saying that, she took off the watch on her wrist and let Liu Zhifu wear it to check the time.
Liu Zhifu nodded repeatedly, took the watch and carefully put it in his pocket, then drove the educated youth to the county town. Along the way, they also met other educated youths walking to the county town. Some waved to get a ride, but Liu Zhifu just pretended not to see them. Even when someone in the car said that he knew the person waving, he did not stop the tractor.
Some educated youth grumbled in dissatisfaction, thinking that Liu Zhiquan was unkind. When there were no more people on the road, Liu Zhifu slowly stopped the tractor, turned around and said to the educated youth in the car fight: "In our brigade, no matter who uses the tractor, he has to pay for the gas himself. Have you heard of this?"
Don't think that I sent them here because I really think there are college students among them. Liu Liqun sent them here for the sake of Hu Zhongshan and Hu Zhongshan, not because he owed them money. Liu Zhifu had already thought about it. If these people continued to talk nonsense, he would just kick them off the tractor and let them walk to the county town by themselves like those people.
The educated youth understood what Liu Zhifu meant and fell silent. Only Hu Zhongshan urged them quietly, "I know. Those who say they don't know are just pretending to be ignorant. Don't pay any attention to them. Drive faster. When we get to the county town soon, people will be off work."
Indeed, if the educated youth just said so, how much time would Liu Zhifu have wasted on the journey if he had waved his hand and pulled each person he saw? Besides, if he had pulled people away when he left, would he have been able to pull them back when he came back?
Seeing that the educated youth had behaved themselves, Liu Zhifu quickly explained what Xia Juhua had just said, stating that he would send them to the gate of the Education Commission and would only wait for an hour and a half. If they were not out by then and could not catch the tractor, they would be sorry and would be asked to walk back to Ping'an Village as they had waved just now.
After being reminded by Hu Zhongshan, the educated youth all knew that the sooner they arrived, the sooner they would know the result. Even if they knew that there was little hope, they were willing to give up a minute earlier, as it was better than feeling anxious now.
The tractor quickly drove to the county education commission. When it stopped, we could hear a lot of noise in the yard of the commission. Some people were shouting excitedly, and some were crying bitterly. We couldn't tell whether they were crying with excitement because of their high test scores, or crying with sadness because of their low test scores.
No matter what they heard, it was very irritating to the educated youths. They looked at each other and climbed down the tractor in a hurry. Hu Zhongshan and Li Youguang did not go into the yard to check the scores without looking back after getting off the tractor like the other educated youths. Instead, they took the time to thank Liu Zhifu and calmed down before walking towards the yard.
Their footsteps were not light. Standing in front of the tractor and looking at their backs, Liu Zhifu suddenly understood why Hu Zhongshan and Li Youguang walked so slowly and with such heavy steps.
Even though they were seven or eight years older than Liu Zhifu, Liu Zhifu still believed that he understood how they felt - their fate was about to be revealed, so they could not take it easy.
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