Chapter 174
Xia Juhua had not expected that the military families in Ping'an Village had such a high level of self-awareness. The brigade took the initiative to offer them work opportunities, where they could earn cash every month, but they all refused. This made her more determined to take good care of the lives of the military families. Such good soldiers and such good military families should not be taken for granted that they are made of steel and can handle all difficulties on their own just because they have high levels of awareness.
Xia Juhua visited each family one by one, explaining that the three factories were currently receiving too many orders and were looking to recruit more people. The awareness of the military families was obvious to all, so the brigade gave priority to selecting people from the families of military families. This decision was also made so that the children would not have to worry about the future and could concentrate on their training in the army.
Whether their family members go to work in the factory is actually related to whether their children can train in the army with peace of mind. The military families agreed involuntarily - the soldiers in Ping'an Village have completed their three years of compulsory military service and are all kept in the army for training, indicating that they are likely to be selected as volunteers.
Volunteers and conscripts are two different things. Even after retiring, the state will arrange jobs for them, and they will become city dwellers. Although the work points of Pingan Village are now no less than the wages of city workers, people still think that having the opportunity to become a city dweller and having a stable job in the state is much better than being a farmer who depends on the weather for food.
I just don't know, among the 21 warriors who came out of Ping An Village, whose children will actually be selected as volunteers, and how many of them will have to return to the land of Ping An Village to live again.
Arranging positions for military dependents in the factory was the first step. Xia Juhua and the brigade cadres were discussing the second step: in the first two years, the mother of each soldier could have her work points reduced by half. of a long-term plan.
So her opinion was that the profits of the two factories (the weaving factory was the property of the Ping'anzhuang production team and was not considered a factory of the brigade) would increase year by year, so it would be better to directly give each military dependent a cash subsidy of 100 yuan each year in the future to avoid the situation where the work points of several production teams were different, with some military dependents getting more and some getting less.
If everyone's life gets better in the future, the amount can be adjusted along with the rise in living standards, and the military families must not be left at a disadvantage. This money will be paid directly by the brigade, and the production teams do not have to bear the cost.
No one had any objection to this: firstly, the brigade paid directly, which indirectly saved the production team's expenses, and it was easier for the production team leaders to explain to the members. Secondly, who knew whether there would be another recruitment in Pingde County next year. If their children or those of their relatives became soldiers, they could also receive subsidies after this discussion and decision.
Only Li Changshun looked at Xia Juhua after the discussion. After the meeting, he stopped her and asked, "Do you think..."
Xia Juhua didn't remember exactly when the war started, but she remembered that February and March were the most intense periods of the war. It was already late February, and it was estimated that reports would soon reach Ping An Manor. Television was not popular in that era, and information was still mainly disseminated through newspapers and radio. she got it back, and it had been sitting on the top of the cabinet, gathering dust.
She shook her head at Li Changshun. Even with the memories of her previous life and all the clues from this life, she couldn't let this news out.
Li Changshun limped on the ground and turned around twice, looking at Xia Juhua and asked: "Our children..."
Xia Juhua's eyes were red, but she still shook her head at Li Changshun. The old man patted the table beside him, his eyes almost popping out of his sockets: "The American devils can't stand us getting better every day, and we didn't beat them into submission last time! Damn it, I wish I could fight them again."
Maybe he had some misunderstandings about the war, and Xia Juhua did not say anything to correct him. In her heart, she knew that all the scolding was wrong, but the Americans were still determined to destroy us and would not scold us wrongly.
"You don't have to worry about anything else, just keep an eye on the vermicelli factory and the instant noodle factory. How many bags of instant noodles can the factory produce in a day now? Can they supply the troops?" After cursing, Li Changshun quickly adjusted his state and asked about the output of the instant noodle factory.
Xia Juhua was also happy that he stopped dwelling on this topic. She told him about the output of the instant noodle factory and that Chang Chunya had become a qualified leader after more than a year of training, so she didn't have to worry much about the instant noodle factory.
However, Li Changshun felt that only if Xia Juhua looked after the two factories could the members of Ping'an Village work steadily, and he reiterated his suggestion that she should not worry about other things.
Xia Juhua was naturally concerned about the two factories. After all, the production of hot and sour noodles needed to be adjusted, and the demand for instant noodles increased a lot. However, she understood that the two factories now had their own factory managers and team leaders, so she only needed to check for omissions and fill in the gaps, and could not interfere in everything, lest the two factory managers lose their prestige.
Chen Qiusheng and Chang Chunya did not disappoint Xia Juhua and arranged the work in the factory in an orderly manner. Even after the New Year, 21 workers were suddenly recruited, with 10 workers divided between the two factories, and they were arranged without leaving any trace.
Only Liu Sizhuang was not very popular with both factory managers. In the end, Chen Qiu was afraid that Chang Chunya was too young and could not control Liu Sizhuang, so he arranged him to work in the hot and sour noodle factory.
In fact, they were worrying too much. Liu Sizhuang had been bullied by the members of Ping'an Village over the years and had lost all his temper and was not lazy enough to steal. The person in charge of the farm work in the Ping'an Village production team now was Liu Sanzhuang. How could he be polite to Liu Sizhuang, who had once broken his head?
Every time there was a job assigned, Liu Sizhuang was always assigned the heaviest and most tiring one. Was he being lazy? Liu Sanzhuang had already divided everyone's tasks in detail, who would dig which ridge, who would harvest which field, and how long it would take to finish, all of which were average for everyone. If you, Liu Sizhuang, can't finish the work, then you can arrange for someone else to help you finish it, but you should only record 10 work points a day. If someone else helps you, then you can credit them according to how much they helped you.
Liu Si also argued twice at the beginning, and Liu Sanzhuang told him directly: It's okay if you feel tired or feel it's unfair, you can choose the work yourself and also say when you can finish it. But there is one thing, it's not okay to be below the average level of everyone, and it's not okay to delay the farming season.
Liu Sizhuang spent a long time picking the crops himself, and then he realized that there weren't many jobs in Pingan Village that would make people exhausted. For wheat, corn, and sorghum, which were large crops, seed drills and harvesters were used, so how could people be so tired? Sweet potatoes had to be harvested manually, which took a few days.
Since he couldn't pick out easier work, he had to complete his own quota: Liu Sizhuang, who had always been lazy, had been recording his work points on other people, and he felt the pain: Ever since Sun Guizhi deducted half of his work points from his food rations, she felt that she earned more than Liu Sizhuang, and she kept scolding him in new ways. He didn't want to be scolded every day, and he urgently hoped to surpass Sun Guizhi in making money again.
Unfortunately, it was not enough to just complete the quantity. Liu Sanzhuang also had to look at the quality. If the seedlings were crooked when the workers were weeding the land, they would be punished. If too much grain fell when the workers were harvesting the land, they would be punished.
Later, he discovered that all the members of Ping'an Village who worked in the fields were keeping a close eye on him, hoping that he would make a mistake. Liu Sanzhuang had said that if they found that Liu Sizhuang did not do his job well and reached the standard for deducting wages, the wages deducted from him would be charged to the person who exposed him.
After several years of hardship, even the lazy ones learned to work carefully and try not to let others find fault with them so as to keep their work points. Therefore, after entering the vermicelli factory, Liu Sizhuang really didn't dare to be lazy, let alone disobey orders - he and Sun Guizhi had a fierce fight at home because of who got to work in the factory, and he narrowly won.
After being squeezed out by Sun Guizhi for two or three years, Liu Sizhuang finally had the chance to surpass her, and he felt that he had to seize it. Even though Chen Qiusheng assigned him to the most tiring moving group, he dared not complain or be lazy, for fear that if he complained or was lazy, the factory would fire him directly, and Sun Guizhi would laugh at him when he returned home.
That's right, the couple now dare not express any dissatisfaction in front of the public of Ping'an Village. They can only rely on despising each other at home to retain a little joy in life.
As long as Liu Sizhuang did not cause trouble in the factory, Xia Juhua and the others did not care about what happened between him and Sun Guizhi. Because the news of the start of the war had spread to every corner of Ping An Village through newspapers and radio.
It was not until the exact report came that Xia Juhua called Lin Hongliang to ask if the soldiers from Pingan Village had gone to the front line. The answer she got was no, Xia Juhua took a long breath and turned to look at the military dependents who surrounded the room.
The military families all had thankful expressions on their faces; they had already figured out the reason behind Xia Juhua's recent series of actions to take care of the military families, thinking that their own children had been dragged to the battlefield.
Now, hearing that the children are still doing well in the training in the northwest, everyone, like Xia Juhua, breathed a sigh of relief. But Xia Juhua knew that they were relieved a little too early. Although the most intense fighting was in February and March of this year, small-scale local conflicts existed until 1989, and many soldiers across the country participated in the rotation of war.
Unless the soldiers of Ping An Village retire this year, they may still have the possibility to go to the battlefield. She also understands the gratitude of the military families and does not look down on them for showing such expressions:
As a parent, who doesn't hope that their child is safe and sound? Who wants to send off a young child? The battlefield is a harvester of lives, and no one can guarantee the trajectory of every stray bullet.
Up to now, none of the military families in Ping'an Village have cried or complained, and no one has asked her or the troops to go visit their relatives or the soldiers. Even less, no one has asked her to let their children retire. Xia Juhua feels that they are already very strong.
Now that there was news of the war, the vermicelli factory and the instant noodle factory implemented a double shift, and the workers had no complaints. They all believed what Xia Juhua said, that the hot and sour vermicelli or instant noodles they produced could be sent to the battlefield to fill the soldiers' stomachs and give them the strength to defend their homeland. This was a glorious mission, so why worry about a little hardship?
There is overtime pay for overtime work, which is both honorable and profitable, and the workers are very happy.
Everyone thought that it would not be long before they heard the news that the war in the southwest was easing, but Xia Juhua knew that the truly brutal confrontation had just begun.
With the news of the easing of the war, the orders placed by the troops were directly reduced by half. Lin Hongliang made a special trip to Ping'an Village to tell Xia Juhua and others that the remaining half of the instant noodles produced could be supplied to the general public like hot and sour noodles, and the troops could still help coordinate wheat, oil and sweet potatoes.
Xia Juhua rejected this kind of compensatory coordination. She felt that the troops should not focus on the trivial matters of Pingan Village, but should focus on what they should focus on.
Lin Hongliang smiled and said, "Captain Xia, you don't have to be so polite. After all, your products are still supplied to the troops. Coordination is half coordination, and full coordination is not a big deal."
Hearing his earnest words, Xia Juhua had to nod in agreement, but she still told him that the troops didn't need to worry about the sweet potatoes. As soon as the sweet potatoes grown in Chengping area were harvested, they wanted to send them to Ping'anzhuang Brigade. What they purchased themselves was enough for production.
Lin Hongliang nodded after hearing this: "That's great, I can coordinate the unit just like there are fewer people taking over."
Xia Juhua felt nervous when she heard this: "You are not working in logistics anymore?"
Lin Hongliang nodded to her and said, "I'm still working in logistics, but my unit is going to be transferred. The leaders think that my ability to coordinate various materials in the past few years is good, so they want to transfer me to another position."
"Where are you going?" Xia Juhua asked him nervously.
Lin Hongliang silently pointed to the south, and Xia Juhua's eyes suddenly turned red. She asked Lin Hongliang to wait for a while at the brigade headquarters, and she went home to get a few pairs of insoles and stuffed them into Lin Hongliang's hands, which startled Lin Hongliang. He immediately came to his senses and tightly grasped the insoles that were still a little cold.
He tried to smile at Xia Juhua and said, "Captain Xia, I forgot to tell you that you didn't take the insoles. The parcels your Ping'anzhuang Brigade sent to the troops this year are really famous."
Seeing that he was changing the subject, Xia Juhua also tried to smile and said, "You're all joking. The things we sent are too worthless, right?"
"How could that be possible?" Lin Hongliang shook his head in denial. "Not only did no one laugh at us, but everyone envied us. When the soldiers from Ping An Village got the insoles, their tails almost flew up to the sky, and they walked with the wind."
"It's good that the children can use it." Xia Juhua sighed softly.
Although her voice was not loud, Lin Hongliang heard it clearly. He smiled and his eyes were a little wet: "I was envious when I heard it. You know our rubber shoes are sturdy, but a little stuffy. There is an insole inside, which is very good at absorbing sweat and keeping out moisture."
Listening to his pretending to be relaxed tone, Xia Juhua's heart became heavier. Even if Lin Hongliang was just a logistics officer, how could he be so clear on the battlefield? The army's custom has always been that on the battlefield, the commander sacrifices the next level and rushes up to replace the commander, and so on, until the battle...
"As long as it's useful to you, it's fine. If you've finished making insoles, call me and I'll make more for you. Even if your comrades need insoles, you can tell me. Although Ping'an Village doesn't have many people available, we can probably make as many pairs as possible." That was all Xia Juhua could say and do.
Lin Hongliang did not think that Xia Juhua had done little. As far as he knew, the army transferred him, a logistics cadre from the northwest, to the front because he was the one who discovered hot and sour rice noodles and instant noodles for the army. He also kept in touch with Ping'an Village. If there was a real need, he could contact Xia Juhua, which would reduce the number of communication links compared to others.
Having made so many summer chrysanthemums, she still felt that she had not done enough. This made Lin Hongliang respect her even more, and he spoke with less politeness than before: "If you could really make some insoles for everyone, we would be so happy. You know, sometimes it's not a question of whether a pair of insoles is comfortable or not, but a question of whether the soldiers know that someone is caring about them and boosting their morale."
Xia Juhua nodded and told Lin Hongliang that he should provide her with the land in time after arriving in the south. She would organize more people to make insoles and mail them directly to him.
As they were saying goodbye for this time and didn't know when they would meet again, Xia Juhua prepared a very sumptuous dinner at her home. Li Changshun, Fifth Master, Chen Qiu Sheng and others accompanied them as they said goodbye to Lin Hongliang.
Although no wine was served, everyone felt a little smokey by the end of the meal. Lin Hongliang also knew that the bag of yellow soil that the Ping An Village warriors treasured was prepared by Fifth Master for them. He gave the old man a thumbs up and said, "You are very thoughtful. I heard that several Ping An Village warriors shed tears after receiving it, and several of them submitted their letters of enlistment the next day."
"What a promising young man! Why are you crying over a handful of dirt?" The Fifth Master turned his head and wiped his face. When he turned back, he said with a bit of disdain, "Those little brats, haven't you seen enough dirt at home? Why are you crying over a handful of dirt?"
As to whether it was true or not, everyone at the table knew it clearly, but no one said it out loud. The next day, they all smiled and happily saw Lin Hongliang off.
After learning that instant noodles could also be sold to the public, Qi Weidong was the first to come and place an order. Not to mention that he was now considered half a member of Ping An Village, even ordinary people who came to the door would be welcomed with a smile as long as they had a letter of introduction.
Now, when you walk into an instant noodle factory to place an order, you don’t just have to pay the processing fee, but real money in RMB. You are the God of Wealth in Ping An Village. If you don’t greet him with a smile, aren’t you chasing the God of Wealth away?
Pinganzhuang does not have the condescending mentality of state-owned noodle factories. They respect everyone who pays to place an order. Respect is respect, but the price still needs to be negotiated. Drawing on the experience of selling hot and sour noodles to the outside world, the selling price of instant noodles to the outside world is set at three levels:
If you place an order of more than 10,000 boxes at one time, the price is 15 yuan per box, which is equivalent to 0.3 yuan per bag.
If the order is more than 5,000 boxes but less than 10,000 boxes at a time, the selling price is 16 yuan per box, which is 0.32 cents per bag.
For cartons between 1,000 and 5,000, each carton is sold for 17 yuan, or 0.34 yuan per bag.
There is no further division for boxes below 1,000, all at 19 yuan per box, which is still 2 cents less than a bag of hot and sour noodles.
The reason for this pricing is that instant noodles are introduced to the public for the first time and they need to be sold through the channels of hot and sour rice noodles. When the sales volume increases and people have more choices for instant noodles, it will not be too late to lower the price of hot and sour rice noodles - hot and sour rice noodles are still semi-automatically produced, and the seasoning packets are more labor-intensive than instant noodles, and the labor cost is higher than that of instant noodles.
Qi Weidong was satisfied with this pricing. Don't forget that he had invested in the instant noodle factory. The more the instant noodle factory earned, the more dividends he could get. He would be a fool not to want instant noodles to sell better than hot and sour rice noodles.
All the companies that had placed orders for hot and sour noodles received instant noodle samples from Ping An Zhuang, and were asked to try them and make their own decisions. The sales of instant noodles were booming, and the company made a profit of nearly 10,000 yuan that month.
Chang Chunya looked at the numbers on the account and thought he had read them wrong. He counted them one by one with his fingers and read them again. Only then did he realize that he had read them right. He looked at his father and asked him a question that left him helpless: "Dad, did you count correctly?"
The daughter, who had calmed down a lot in the past year, actually questioned him, an accountant with more than 30 years of experience. Accountant Chang was angry and helpless: "Your father has been calculating accounts for all these years and he has never made a mistake."
Chang Chunya smiled softly, and couldn't get enough of the balance in the account book. He kept staring at it without moving his eyes. However, he still knew to explain to his father: "It's not that I don't believe in Dad, I just wonder how can the profit be so high in one month. This is only half of the production. If..."
"Don't even think about it." Accountant Chang looked at his daughter seriously and said, "As the factory director, you know what the other half of the output is for. If you dare to take that half of the output, the captain will not let you off."
Chang Chunya shrank his neck towards his father and said in a funny way: "I just said that, how could you not know?"
It's good to know. Accountant Chang knows how much Xia Juhua values the supply of troops. Besides, he is the accountant of the brigade, and he knows clearly where the raw materials of the two factories come from. Without the help of the troops to coordinate, where can the instant noodle factory get the flour and oil?
Without the raw materials, no matter how delicious your food is, it will just be a picture cake to fill the stomach and no one will buy it.
Even if the vermicelli factory and the instant noodle factory only sell half of their output, the harvest at the end of the year still makes all the brigade cadres nervous: there is profit this year, the interest on the funds raised must be paid to the members, and the dividends from the members who used the funds raised to invest in the instant noodle factory will also be cashed out.
Xia Juhua, who raised the most money, received a total of 430 yuan, including interest and dividends. Qi Nai, who raised the least money, also received 4.30 yuan. The members of Ping An Zhuang received nearly 8,000 yuan in interest and dividends!
Ha, the fund-raising back then was equivalent to letting everyone raise a golden hen that lays eggs.
Everyone's income is not just the dividends from the two factories. There is also the income from the factory workers, the income from the crops in the fields, the income from raising chickens, and the income from raising pigs by each production team... All in all, the income of most families exceeds two thousand yuan!
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