Chapter 172
Xia Juhua heard Chang Chunya joking with her, so she stepped forward and gently slapped her: "Just because you're the factory director, you dare to be so disrespectful to me?"
Chang Chunya pretended to be frightened and shrank his neck, then begged for mercy with a smile: "Captain, please don't say that in front of my father, otherwise he will beat me to death." Everyone who heard it laughed, and said that Chang Chunya was right. Now Accountant Chang was like Zhao Xianzhi of Ping'an Village, and could not bear to hear anyone say a word against Xia Juhua.
After everyone had been chatting and laughing for a while, Chang Chunya remembered something: "Captain, there is a letter for you on the desk. I don't think it's an urgent letter, so I didn't send it to the brigade headquarters."
Although Xia Juhua had a lot of contacts with people, she usually made phone calls and few people wrote to her. When she heard that there was a letter, she immediately thought of Liu Zhiliang who was far away in the northwest. She couldn't help but feel a little puzzled - there was still a month before the Chinese New Year, why did this child's letter come so early this time.
As he thought about this, he returned to the factory director's office that he and Chang Chunya shared. On her desk, a brown paper envelope lay quietly. Such envelopes appeared three or five times a year. They were the same envelopes that Liu Zhiliang, who was serving in the army in the northwest, would use to fill in the letters he gave to Xia Juhua.
In the past, Liu Zhiliang's letters would tell about his performance in the army and ask about family matters. As far as Xia Juhua knew, Liu Zhiliang would send six yuan to Sun Guizhi every month, but rarely wrote to them, so he always asked her about the family situation.
If Liu Zhiliang was Xia Juhua's son, after receiving the first payment, she would write to tell Liu Zhiliang that he didn't need to send any more money home - conscripts only received eight yuan in allowance a month, and if he sent back six yuan, Liu Zhiliang would only have two yuan left, which was just enough to buy some sanitary supplies.
But Liu Zhiliang is the son of Sun Guizhi and Liu Sizhuang.
Her reply did not stop Liu Zhiliang from sending money home. In his next letter, Liu Zhiliang expressed his happiness for the development of Pingan Village, but did not mention that he had used a bar of soap for three months and a toothbrush for almost a year in the army.
But when Liu Zhijun wrote to his family, he would mention that An Baoling not only did not allow Liu Zhijun to send money home, but also asked her to send gifts to her son during the holidays. Liu Zhijun used Liu Zhiliang as an example to prove that he kept all his allowance and it was enough to cover his monthly expenses, so he did not allow his mother to send him anything anymore.
Liu Zhiliang didn't know that he had been "betrayed" by Liu Zhijun. In the next letter, he told Xia Juhua that he would work hard to train and strive to enter the combat class as soon as possible, instead of being satisfied with being a communicator for the leader.
Liu Zhiliang perfectly interpreted the saying that bad bamboo shoots produce good bamboos.
Pulling out the letter paper, Xia Juhua found that Liu Zhiliang's handwriting was much more beautiful than last time. The neat and smooth running script did not look like it was written by someone who had never been to school.
Therefore, the saying that where there is a will there is a way is true in all situations.
Xia Juhua, who was proud of Liu Zhiliang's progress, fell down in her chair when she saw the contents of his letter. Her hands were shaking slightly and she had to use some strength to hold the letter.
The content of the letter seemed no different from before, but Liu Zhiliang's tone of narration was heavier than usual, and there was a sense of confession between the lines.
In the letter, he first solemnly apologized for the harm Sun Guizhi and the Sun family had caused to Xia Juhua, and thanked Xia Juhua for her positive guidance to Liu Hongjuan in the past two years. He asked Xia Juhua to try her best to prevent Sun Guizhi from not allowing Liu Hongjuan to continue to study because of greed for the production team's dividends, which would lead to Liu Hongjuan's resignation.
He also asked Xia Juhua to persuade the second and third grandfathers to take more responsibility for Sun's life without hurting her feelings, because she knew that her own parents would probably not support Sun in her old age.
"…After I arrived at the army, I realized the importance of knowledge. Auntie, you don't know how grateful I and Brother Zhijun are to you. Maybe I will never express this gratitude to you, but please believe that my gratitude to you is no less than that to my parents. No, it is more than that to my parents. Auntie, I really hope that I can have the opportunity to repay you."
If Xia Juhua didn't know that a war would break out between the southwestern border and the White-Eyed Wolf Country more than a month later, she would be happy for Liu Zhiliang's understanding, and even a little proud - all 21 recruits from Ping'an Village could read, and they all performed very well among their batch of recruits.
None of the 21 Ping An Village soldiers returned to Ping An Village after completing their three-year compulsory military service. They trained hard and had strong ideas, so they were kept in the army to continue training and were likely to be selected as volunteers. It can be said that she facilitated all of this.
But when she knew about the war, she understood the real meaning behind Liu Zhiliang's words "Perhaps I will never express my gratitude to you one day", and tears fell involuntarily.
A line from a song that she had always hummed in her life suddenly came to Xia Juhua's mind: Maybe I'll say goodbye and never come back...
No, this wasn't even a farewell, it was clearly a conscious statement... a suicide note.
Xia Juhua could hardly imagine what kind of mood Liu Zhiliang, who would be 18 years old this year, was in when he wrote this letter. She grabbed the phone and wanted to call Lin Hongliang urgently. She wanted to ask him clearly: Where did Liu Zhiliang get the news? Was it because the unit they were in was about to be pulled up that they asked the child to write such a letter?
The war broke out in the southwest, and Liu Zhiliang and his fellow soldiers served in the northwest!
Soon, Xia Juhua put down the phone helplessly without even dialing the number. She couldn't make this call. Not only could she not make the call, but she also had to pretend that she didn't understand the meaning of the letter and carefully reply to Liu Zhiliang, last Liu Zhiliang be accused of leaking secrets because of her phone call to get to the bottom of things.
"Captain, what's wrong with you?" When Chang Chunya walked in, he saw Xia Juhua hanging up the phone with a bad look on her face and a suspicious moisture in the corner of her eyes. Thinking that she had received a bad call, he asked carefully.
Xia Juhua wiped her eyes and pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "Nothing. Zhiliang wrote back saying that he can't go home for the New Year this year. I wanted to call the leader of his unit to plead for mercy, but I was afraid it would affect his progress, so I gave up."
Are you crying because Liu Zhiliang can't go home for the New Year? Chang Chunya didn't believe it. After all, the relationship between Liu Sizhuang's family and Xia Juhua was no secret in Pingan Village. Even if Liu Zhiliang had resolved the grudge with Xia Juhua before leaving, it couldn't erase the fact that he was only Xia Juhua's nephew, not her biological son.
Chang Chunya believed that even if either Liu Zhiquan or Liu Zhishuang wrote to say that they could not go home for the New Year, Xia Juhua would not shed tears.
However, she was a very sensible person and would not question Xia Juhua's obviously perfunctory answer. She took the opportunity to talk about the problems encountered by the instant noodle factory: "The army's orders have increased a lot, and our stocks of white flour and oil are not enough. I called Comrade Lin the day before yesterday, and he said it would take two days to ship them over. Do you think we should stop one production line and give the workers two days off in shifts?"
Xia Juhua hesitated for a moment and asked, "How much money is left in the factory's account? You can call Secretary Lin of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative and ask him if he can help coordinate. We can buy some ourselves first, just enough to cover the transportation gap between the troops in the past few days."
Chang Chunya thought for a while and said, "If we purchase directly, the price may be different from that coordinated by the troops. What if the troops do not recognize this account?" In the past, all the ingredients, except for the seasonings, were directly coordinated by the troops, and the instant noodle factory did not have to pay for it themselves.
"It's okay." Xia Juhua had her own plans: "The production line cannot stop. If there is a difference, I can explain it to Comrade Lin." As long as the bills are genuine and compliant, Xia Juhua felt that after so many years of cooperation, everyone still had this trust.
Chang Chunya did not raise any objections to Xia Juhua's persistence in production. After Xia Juhua left, she called the team leaders of the two production lines to the office and emphasized production discipline and safety to them, making sure that Xia Juhua would not worry about anything other than inventory.
Xia Juhua didn't know that after she left the instant noodle factory, Chang Chunya had come to the weaving factory to deal with the aftermath. Yes, last spring, the weaving group finally hung up a sign and officially changed its name to Ping'anzhuang Weaving Factory. It still implemented independent financial accounting and paid profits to the production team for dividends at the end of the year.
After the name change, orders continued to come in, but the company produced fewer reed mats and focused more on decorations, daily necessities and newly developed straw hats, which often required the female workers to work overtime to complete.
After entering the factory, Xia Juhua did not go to the office, but went directly to Group 3, where An Baoling was the team leader. She stood outside the newly replaced glass window, observing An Baoling as she knitted and chatted with the people around her. She felt that her expression was very normal, and she was also indescribably happy.
"Captain, you are here to inspect the work, why don't you go in? Are you afraid that these people want you to show off your skills? You haven't done anything for a long time and your hands are rusty, are you embarrassed?" Zhao Xianzhi heard that Xia Juhua was coming, so she came over and found that Xia Juhua was standing outside the window for a long time without going in, so she went up to tease her.
Xia Juhua smiled and said, "That's right. I could make up a few things before, but now there are more and more of you capable people, and the ideas are getting more and more complicated. I dare not go in and show my weakness. I can just watch from outside."
Zhao Xianzhi didn't like to hear this: "With your craft, let alone now, even if you don't weave for another ten or eight years, you will be much better than others. Come on, let's go in. Baoling just received a letter from the Volunteers today and is very happy. Let's ask her to make us something delicious in the evening." After saying that, he pulled Xia Juhua into the house.
Everyone was very happy to see the two of them come in together. They chatted for a while before continuing to work. An Baoling, the team leader, did not have a fixed quota, but she was always very competitive and worked with her team members to weave endlessly every day.
Now that Xia Juhua is here, I don't want to argue about the progress at this moment. Together with Zhao Xianzhi, I pulled Xia Juhua to a corner where they wouldn't affect other people's work and whispered to her: "Sister-in-law, Zhijun is a naughty kid. He suddenly became sensible. This time he wrote to me and told me to stop arguing with Sanzhuang. He also told me to watch Zhiguo study hard and said that he must get into college, even if it means going to a technical secondary school."
Xia Juhua's tears were hanging in the air, she lowered her head and calmed down before saying, "You're not happy that your child has grown up. But how did that boy know that you and Sanzhuang had a quarrel? I thought Sanzhuang was obedient enough in these years."
"That's right." Zhao Xianzhi didn't think it was unusual for Xia Juhua to talk without looking up, and teased An Baoling: "Since Sanzhuang moved, he has been feeding chickens or sweeping the yard every day. All the housework has become his. He has much more work to do than our Li Changwang."
An Baoling felt a little embarrassed by their teasing: "It's not as good as you say. You haven't seen him being stubborn..."
Xia Juhua walked out of the weaving factory and visited three other military families in Pingan Village. She found that the children of these three families had not written back. She had a guess in her mind that the troops in the northwest had not issued a notice to join the war, but Liu Zhiliang's correspondent got some news from the leader and only told Liu Zhiliang, so the two brothers wrote back together.
Others didn't know the news, but Xia Juhua understood more clearly that the war was approaching. Thinking that the 21 children of Ping An Village might face the ungrateful wolf country, her heart was in knots.
Xia Juhua believes that regardless of whether the children know the news or not, they should express their families’ thoughts about them, so that they can get more care from their families before going to the battlefield, and also make them feel more concerned.
It's not about dividing the children's hearts, but when people have something to worry about, they will have a stronger desire to survive. Even if they are injured or bruised, the children will hold on and return home alive because of their family's care and concern.
As long as they can return to Ping'an Village, Xia Juhua will find a way to make them have a normal life, or even a better life than others.
Without making a sound, Xia Juhua visited 20 military dependents one by one, telling them that it was not easy for the children to be away from home, and that the brigade wanted to express its love for the children as the New Year was approaching. If the military dependents also wanted to express their love, they could send it to the troops together with the brigade's.
Since the children went to the army, Ping'an Village Brigade would mail them hot and sour noodles every New Year, which had become a habit. So the military families did not think Xia Juhua's visit was too abrupt, and instead asked her what her family should send to the children.
Xia Juhua had thought about it long ago, and she told every family the same thing: "The children train every day, and rubber shoes are so stuffy. I think it's better to make a few more pairs of insoles for them than to mail them something."
"That thing is practical and easy to carry. When the children put it on, it feels just like walking on the dirt road in Ping An Village. The army distributes all kinds of clothes, but not insoles. Sending something that the army doesn't distribute is better than sending anything at all."
Although everyone joked with Xia Juhua, saying that no production team in Ping'anzhuang could find the dirt road, most families still accepted Xia Juhua's suggestion and decided to make a few more pairs of insoles and mail them to the children in the troops.
After everyone else had reached their destination, Xia Juhua finally arrived at the Liu family's old courtyard.
Compared with previous years, the Liu family's old courtyard is more dilapidated. Also, because Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang moved away one after another, its popularity has declined a lot. No sound can be heard from the outside in the entire courtyard, giving people a gloomy feeling.
When I pushed open the door and entered the yard, it was quite lively inside. Firewood sticks, buckets, shovels and hoes were thrown everywhere, and there was chicken feces everywhere. There was no place to stand.
"Who's here? Why didn't you even knock on the door?" Sun asked as she came out of the main room. She was stunned when she saw Xia Juhua standing at the gate of the courtyard.
She rarely saw Xia Juhua in the village, and when she did, she avoided her. Except for the one time she met in the pigpen of the production team that year, the two of them had not met face to face for several years.
At this moment, I was quite speechless.
Sun knew that Xia Juhua would not come to her house unless there was something important, and Xia Juhua was surprised at how quickly Sun aged: compared with her previous life, Sun, who was in her sixties, had a completely bent waist, her hair had turned completely white, her eyes were cloudy, and when she spoke, it was obvious that she had few teeth left. Xia Juhua would believe it if she said she was eighty years old.
The two stood there without saying anything. Sun Guizhi, who had also heard the noise, walked out of the east room. Seeing that it was Xia Juhua, her eyes shrank for a moment, and she asked in a low and nervous voice, "What are you doing here?"
She couldn't help but feel uneasy. The psychological shadow that Xia Juhua had left on her would probably never be eliminated in her lifetime. Now she no longer had the heart to go against Xia Juhua. Like Sun, she felt that the farther away from Xia Juhua, the safer she would be.
Xia Juhua couldn't explain what she felt in her heart, so she simply stopped thinking and said, "In a few days, the brigade will send things to the children who are serving in the army. If you have anything to send to Zhiliang, you can send it along with them."
Sun Guizhi turned around and was about to go back to the house, muttering quietly: "There is nothing at home, how can we send him anything? He has food and drink and clothes to wear every day in the army, so he doesn't need anything from home."
Is this something a mother could say? Xia Juhua wanted to slap her - she had visited twenty houses, and every mother who mentioned her son who was a soldier would burst into tears and would want to stuff the insoles into Xia Juhua's hands immediately, thinking that the sooner her son could use them, the sooner she would feel at ease as a mother.
I didn't expect Sun Guizhi to not even ask what others were sending. Isn't she afraid that others will receive the things at home? Doesn't Liu Zhiliang feel sad? !
Sun looked at Sun Guizhi and said angrily, "A gift of goose feathers from a thousand miles away is a token of friendship. Even if you send a piece of cloth, it is something from your family. Zhiliang gets eight yuan a month in allowance, and the mail is six yuan. Can't it be exchanged for a piece of cloth from you?"
Xia Juhua looked at Sun with a more complicated look. She couldn't have imagined that Sun would say such words - in her impression, this old lady had always only cared about herself.
Sun Guizhi also snorted, "You talk nicely, but why don't you make something for him to mail? I have to cook every day after work, so I don't have the time to make anything for him."
Sun looked old, and when he talked to Sun Guizhi, he was as sharp-tongued as before: "How dare you talk about working to cook? Don't you know how you got that job? Others get four or five hundred yuan in dividends a year, and you two together can't even get that, and now you keep talking about working. Besides, are you cooking for me? That's for you two to eat. I cooked for Hongjuan and me!"
There was a lot of information in her words, and Xia Juhua needed a while to process it. It turned out that Sun and Liu Sizhuang were not eating together now, which seemed to indicate that they were incompatible.
Just as they figured it out, Sun Guizhi started to complain: "Why do we get less dividends? Isn't it because you and Hongjuan took all the food and work points away from us?"
"Bullshit! Hongjuan's rations are deducted from Zhiliang's allowance. I eat the 100 kilograms of wheat each year from your second and third brothers, and the 50 kilograms given by the brigade. When did you two share the rations?" For some unknown purpose, Sun settled the accounts between her and Sun Guizhi clearly in front of Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua heard it but pretended not to hear it. Knowing that Sun Guizhi could not be relied on, she said to Sun, "I have visited all the families, and they all said they want to make some insoles for their children and mail them. I came to your house today to ask you. If you are going to make them for Zhiliang, you can send them to the brigade headquarters in three days." After that, she turned around and walked out of the yard, heading home without looking back.
She had made up her mind that no matter whether Sun or Sun Guizhi made it for Liu Zhiliang or not, she would make a few pairs of mail for the child - it would be better if those two people delivered it, but if they didn't, Zhiliang would not be disappointed after receiving the mail package.
During the three days, Xia Juhua carried a cloth jacket in her hands wherever she went, and sewed whenever she had time. Finally, she made ten pairs of insoles.
On the day of packing, a large group of military families with children in the army came, and each family had a small bag. Xia Juhua looked through them one by one and found that in addition to the agreed insoles, some people added handmade vests, some added cloth shoes, and even added coarse cloth shorts. She asked Chen Qiusheng to mark each one and tell who the bag belonged to and who should take it.
Sun came alone. Without saying a word, she handed the bag in her hand to Chen Qiu Sheng, turned around and left the team headquarters, still without saying a word to Xia Juhua.
Chen Qiusheng treated the bundle as he would any other family. He took a look inside and found six pairs of insoles, a coarse cloth vest and a pair of shorts. He couldn't help but say to Xia Juhua, "Zhiliang lived with his grandmother and Hongjuan for those two years. It seems that they are more thoughtful than Liu Sizhuang and his wife."
After hearing what was said, Xia Juhua took a look at the things inside and realized that the vest was probably not made by Sun - the stitches on it were long and short, and it was obvious that it was the work of a beginner.
"How is Hongjuan doing with her studies now?" Xia Juhua asked since she didn't see Liu Hongjuan that day.
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