Chapter 179
When Accountant Chang heard that the district was organizing a deputy county head-level delegation to visit Ping An Village, he became serious and said, "If they come to visit, shouldn't we ask each household to clean up and each production team to clean up the streets so that there won't be animal feces and chicken droppings everywhere?"
Xia Juhua was still struggling with the question of the tour guide: "Where can I find a tour guide for them? Can someone who is not familiar with Ping An Zhuang give a good explanation?" But Xia Juhua couldn't think of a suitable candidate among Ping An Zhuang's own people.
"Our brigade is originally from the countryside. Those leaders should have known this before they came. They won't ask us to do that, right?" Chang Huiji advised Xia Juhua: "If it really doesn't work, you should explain it yourself. Who in Ping'an Village knows the situation better than you?"
Let Xia Juhua explain it herself, that is, Accountant Chang said this, and Xia Juhua would have been angry if it was anyone else. She told Accountant Chang what she remembered the narrator to look like, and Accountant Chang was confused: "Then it's better to find a lady who dresses neatly and speaks more fluently. Why is it so difficult for you? Which of your two nieces can't explain it?"
Hongling and Hongcui? Xia Juhua shook her head without thinking. How could she talk to these nice girls when they were so reserved and kept strangers away? This interruption reminded Xia Juhua of someone, Chang Xiancao's daughter Li Wenlan.
The girl looked like her mother, with delicate features and a slim figure. If she wore a black suit and a one-piece skirt, she would look like a commentator in her previous life. Most importantly, she was a bit proud when she met her, which was similar to the impression Xia Juhua had of her.
Li Wenlan has already graduated from junior high school, but unfortunately she did not get into high school. However, she is considered highly educated in Pingan Village. The school taught Mandarin in junior high school, so at least when she was giving lectures, her accent could not be heard.
Xia Juhua had taken a fancy to the girl and ran to Li Changman's house without even having dinner. Chang Xiancao thought it was strange: "Captain, if you have anything to say, just let someone call me. Why did you come here by yourself?"
Although Xia Juhua was talking to Chang Xiancao when she entered the room, her eyes were on Li Wenlan. This educated child was different from the uneducated ones. Although Wenlan also held two large bowls, Xia Juhua just looked more beautiful than others.
You see, seeing Xia Juhua paying attention to her, Wen Lan felt a little shy. Although she was a little embarrassed, she still put down the bowl, stood up and greeted Xia Juhua generously, then turned around to get a stool for Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua told her not to worry, and sat on the edge of the kang. She said to Chang Xiancao, "Don't just look at me. Eat first, and then I'll discuss something with you."
She sat there and watched. Chang Xiancao didn't bother to chew his food slowly. He finished his meal in a few bites, sat down in front of Xia Juhua, and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Actually, I'm not looking for you. I mainly want to hear Wenlan's opinion. In two days, a visiting group will come to visit our Ping'an Village Brigade. Secretary Qi said that there will be a tour guide who will take the visiting group around our Ping'an Village and introduce it to them if they don't understand anything."
"Captain, how did you know I'm the school's interpreter?" Li Wenlan's shyness disappeared, and she looked at Xia Juhua with some curiosity, thinking that the captain was worthy of being the captain, and he actually knew about her school life - Ping An Village members were influenced by Xia Juhua and attached great importance to their children's studies. Li Wenlan became the school interpreter, and she was afraid that Chang Xiancao would think it was a distraction and affect her studies, so she didn't dare to tell her mother when she got home.
This is what it means to be given a pillow when you are sleepy. Xia Juhua couldn't help but pat her thigh: "So you agree to be a commentator? Don't worry, you won't be commentating in vain. You will get ten work points for your commentary, and I will buy you two new sets of clothes."
Chang Xiancao looked at the lady with a sharp look: "When did you become a commentator at school? Is there anything in your school that is worth explaining?"
Being stared at by her mother, Li Wenlan's voice suddenly dropped eight degrees: "It's to explain our school's history museum. Actually, we don't explain it every day, but only once, when an old alumnus came back to school."
Xia Juhua was afraid that Li Wenlan would be frightened by Chang Xiancao, so she patted her hands and said, "Our team is in urgent need of a tour guide now, and there will be many visitors in the future. Wouldn't it be better if Wenlan has a basic knowledge? You don't know how much trouble I have to find this tour guide. If Wenlan is not good enough, I will have to choose between you and Xianzhi."
"Xianzhi and I can't do it." Chang Xiancao was successfully led astray by Xia Juhua, and went from denouncing the lady for being a commentator without reporting, to analyzing the reasons why she and Zhao Xiancao were not suitable to be commentators.
Wenlan looked at Xia Juhua with admiration, and when her mother breathed a sigh of relief that she finally didn't have to be a commentator, she quickly gave Xia Juhua a thumbs up.
After the selection was made, the content of the explanation had to be familiarized. The explanation script was given to Liu Liqun, who wrote the explanation script for each factory, and Li Wenlan recited the explanation for each factory. When she felt that she had memorized it well, she went to the weaving factory to find her mother and let her listen to her speech to see if her pronunciation was correct and her accent was round.
Others listened with great interest, but Chang Xiancao was annoyed and said, "If the captain hadn't supported you, you wouldn't have been able to stop me from using my shoe soles."
Zhao Xianzhi pulled Wenlan over and put her behind him and said, "Why should we care? Our child speaks so well, this little voice sounds like a female announcer in a loudspeaker. Aren't you afraid that your child will surpass you in the future because he speaks better than you?"
Do you know that if you don't analyze it well, you will have to explain it? Chang Xiancao looked at Zhao Xianzhi with a righteous face and was so angry that he couldn't speak. He hated himself for talking too much that night. He might as well persuade Xia Juhua to let Zhao Xianzhi explain it directly.
She didn't know that even if she praised Zhao Xianzhi to the utmost, Xia Juhua would not let Zhao Xianzhi be the commentator. Now she was optimistic about Li Wenlan.
Secretary Qi also thought that Li Wenlan’s explanation was good - the visiting group would arrive tomorrow, and the county had sent the director of the Propaganda Department to lead the team, who would go to Ping’an Village in advance to provide guidance. Secretary Qi would also be there in person to provide guidance, and naturally they would first take a tour according to Ping’an Village’s own arrangements before offering their opinions.
"What the commentator said was quite good." Uncle Qi thought Xia Juhua was not honest with the organization: "When you complained on the phone that day, I thought you were going to come on stage and commentate in person."
"This is Team Leader Chang's daughter. She will graduate from junior high school in the first half of this year. I think she is the right person for the job." Xia Juhua looked at Li Wenlan with admiration. She felt that her mental outlook was different from that of Hongling and Hongcui.
Probably because of her young age, not long after Wenlan began to remember, the people of Pingan Village no longer worried about having enough food, and everyone's life became better and better. Li Wenlan was one of the children who followed Liu Liqun from literacy class to primary school, and then from primary school to junior high school.
Hongling and Hongcui were only six or seven years older than Wenlan, and they were so sensible and steady that it seemed as if they had never had a childhood. Wenlan, on the other hand, looked cheerful and bright, and her voice was full of confidence. Even though she was a little nervous when she first started explaining, her voice trembled, but she soon calmed down in her familiar environment.
Xia Juhua hopes that all the children in Pingan Village will be as confident as Wenlan.
Uncle Qi nodded after hearing this and asked, "Is it Team Leader Chang who is the sister-in-law of Deputy Director Zhao?"
Xia Juhua nodded: "Yes, who would have thought that the fairy grass would teach a young lady to be so encouraging."
Uncle Qi laughed, knowing that if Xia Juhua didn't have a good relationship with Chang Xiancao, she wouldn't say such things in front of the girl. But he had a suggestion: "Comrade Xiao Li's explanation is generally good, and he introduced all aspects. But he could speak slower and more naturally, otherwise it would feel like he was reciting a book."
"Secretary Qi must have a good ear. Didn't our child memorize it in just one and a half days?" Xia Juhua nodded twice to prove that what she said was true: "It's only been one and a half days. Aren't the leaders too anxious to come?"
The leaders cannot help but be anxious. Now the 19 handprints of the small village in Province A have been placed on the table. The discussion on whether the collective economy can exert its positive role or the individual economy can mobilize its subjective initiative has already begun on a small scale.
Ping'an Village came into the leadership's field of vision at the right time. They split into two groups, one to visit the small village in Province A, and the other to go to Ping'an Village first to understand the situation.
It was the first time for the members of Ping'an Village to see a procession of eight jeeps driving in one after another. They pointed at the jeeps and talked about who were the people inside and how they could ride in jeeps. In the past, when people from the county came to inspect work, only leaders could ride in jeeps, and the commune cadres had to ride bicycles and follow behind.
The people in the car were also talking about the old people sitting at the entrance of Team 5: "The clothes don't look too new, they shouldn't be newly made, right?"
"Who can make new clothes every day? Don't you see that those people are old? Maybe the clothes they wear have been at the bottom of the box for years." Clothes like that are only worn once when visiting relatives or attending banquets. They are not that old.
"No way, the clothes at the bottom of the box wouldn't have two marks from being pressed. I see their clothes are all quite smooth."
"It's just too flat. Don't you think that those people only look to be in their sixties? If people of that age in the countryside can still move, even if the ground is not flat, they can at least pick up some shit. Do they have time to sit at the entrance of the village and chat?"
Although they did not believe that life in Ping An Village was so good that members who were just over 60 years old did not have to work in the winter and could just idle around, the scenery around the jeep showed that they had arrived in the countryside, but the road under the car was extremely flat, without the potholes of ordinary rural roads.
夏菊花等一衆大隊幹部，早在縣宣傳部林副部長帶領下，站在大隊部前迎接參觀團的到來。李文蘭站在夏菊花身後一點，見車子駛近，緊張的從後頭拉住了夏菊花的衣襟。
夏菊花不便跟她多說啥，回手握住小丫頭的手，稍稍用了些力氣搖了兩搖，給她鼓勁。李文蘭被她如此一握，心跳得慢了些，自己深吸了兩口氣，眨巴兩下眼睛，随着大家一起走向停住的車子。
齊小叔陪地區代副部長下了頭一輛車，代副部長自己先笑着向夏菊花伸出了手：“夏大隊長，我們又見面了。上一次平安莊給我的觸動太大了，所以這一次帶着同志們來，是參觀學習平安莊的先進經驗來了。”
夏菊花輕輕與他握了下手，謙虛的說：“部長你對平安莊的評價太高了，我們受之有愧呀。歡迎各位領導來平安莊檢查指導工作，請大家多提寶貴意見。”
說話間，代副部長向夏菊花等平安莊同志介紹了參觀團成員，也說了他們來的主要目的，那就是不聽報告，不聽經驗，一切眼見為實，以參觀走訪為主。
夏菊花點了點頭，側臉給李文蘭使了個眼色。小姑娘嗓子眼緊了一下，提高聲音，用标準的普通話說：“各位領導，請先随我到平安莊大隊部。”
剛才還說不聽報告不聽經驗的代副部長，突然聽到如此标準和普通話，小小的吃驚了一下。夏菊花沖人歉意一笑：“這是我們大隊的解說員，今天領導們的活動，都由她安排。”
這就開始了？參觀團的成員都有些好奇，這平安莊大隊是聽代副部長的話，還是不準備聽他的話？要是聽話的，應該直接帶着他們直接去參觀，咋還往大隊部帶呢？
再說，這麽些大隊幹部在，咋由着一個十幾歲的小姑娘安排他們參觀行程，平安莊這要唱哪出？
大家的好奇心一下子被吸引到了李文蘭身上，紛紛猜測她是平安莊從哪兒請來的：這姑娘身上的衣裳，一看就是新的，樣式雖然是常見的小翻領，腰身卻微微收過，整個人看上去十分苗條。
下身的黑筒褲褲線筆直，走起路來褲角微微甩動，顯得十分有活力。美中不足的是，她腳上的絨布棉鞋，竟然是農村常見的千層底，難道這姑娘是平安莊大隊社員？
所有人的目光都落在年輕姑娘一人身上，她卻筆挺的走在代副部長與齊小叔身前半步，身子向兩人微側，右手手肘輕擡，潔白的小手與小臂成一條直線，不垂不彎，做着請的姿勢：
“大家前面看到的，就是我們平安莊大隊大隊部，它建于一九四八年秋季，陪伴着平安莊所有社員，經歷了打土豪分田地、合作生産……我們平安莊近年來建立隊辦廠的決定，也是在大隊部做出的。”
李文蘭話音一落，參觀團成員的目光，不由打量起眼前平平無奇的土坯建成的院落來。難怪看起來很舊，竟然是東北剛解放時就建成了，這麽些年能一直使用，平安莊大隊應該一直進行着維護。不過聽說平安莊很有錢，咋不說把大隊部重新修一下呢？
齊小叔湊到夏菊花身邊，小聲說：“就這麽把大家帶到大隊部，你是咋想出來的。”
“我們也是怕領導一本正經的沒個通融，沒想到真猜着了。人家大老遠來平安城，還能真一口水都不給喝？”
夏菊花剛說完，那頭李文蘭的聲音就傳來了：“請大家随我到大隊部會議室，這裏是平安莊研究大隊生産、安排社員生産的場所。大隊幾代幹部，就是在這裏帶領社員同志們，發展生産，安居樂業的。”說完，自己側了一下身，請代副部長先進，她一個一個禮貌的請參觀團成員進入。
屋子建得很寬敞，讓參觀團的成員們不由浮想起剛剛解放時，一屋子翻身做主的農民聚在這裏，商議着如何分配土地、如何打倒地主壓迫的情景。
“桌子上的水杯裏，代表了平安莊不同時期的生活情況，由剛解放後大家生活發生翻天覆地變化的糖水，也有困難時期的白水，還有努力生産自救、改善生活之後的茶水，請領導同志們品嘗。”李文蘭微笑着，把兩排長桌上的水杯，遞給一個個參觀的領導們。
大家都微笑着接過水杯，不管杯子裏裝的是白水還是茶水，喝下去都覺得有一股甘甜，緩解了他們一路奔波的精神，不由對平安莊的奇思妙想贊嘆起來。
代副部長同樣對夏菊花伸出大拇指：“夏大隊長，你們安排的很好。”
夏菊花自要謙虛：“這才剛剛開始參觀，部長可不能馬上給我們下結論。”
齊小叔則跟代副部長開起了玩笑：“部長喝到的是糖水吧？”
代副部長舉了一下自己的水杯，一本正經的說：“還真是，我覺得平安莊的水就是甜。”
領導都說甜了，本來已經覺得甘甜的成員們，自然更是對平安莊的水贊不絕口。夏菊花看向退身到門邊的文蘭，向她點頭以示鼓勵：小丫頭今天超常發揮了，不愧是喝平安莊水長大的姑娘。
得到鼓勵的李文蘭，小臉微微泛紅，眼睛卻只跟夏菊花對視了不到兩秒，便又把注意力集中到了各位領導身上。見大部分都放下水杯，便說：“請各位領導跟我來，我們下一個參觀的是平安莊粉條廠。”
由于酸辣粉與方便面現在都已經對外出售，參觀團成員大部分都知道一袋賣出兩斤面粉錢的方便食品，是由平安莊生産的。他們巴不得早些見識一下，那兩樣賣得脫銷的食品，是如何生産出來的。
大隊部到酸辣粉廠還有一段距離，李文蘭利用這點時間，把粉條廠建立的初衷與建設中遇到的困難，以及是如何克服困難、提高産量，向參觀團介紹了一遍。
“小同志，我記得酸辣粉可不叫平安莊酸辣粉，而是叫夏小夥酸辣粉，有啥區別嗎？”一位參觀團成員，問出早存在心裏的疑問。
李文蘭知道品牌的原因，可夏菊花就在眼前，她覺得自己說不出口，眼神不由望向夏菊花。
夏菊花沒覺得自己外號有多丢人，自己開口了：“說起來跟個笑話似的。我以前有個外號就叫夏小夥，社員們為了報複我，就非得把酸辣粉的名字叫夏小夥，這是巴不得我讓人活吃了呢。”
聽的人都哈哈大笑，笑過之後無不尋思，一個婦女被人叫小夥，得有多能幹？！而社員們堅持用她的外號做品牌名字，一定不是因為恨她巴不得她被人生吃活嚼，而是紀念她為大家找到了一條致富路。
好幾個副縣長都在心裏感嘆，他們自己領導下的大隊，咋沒出現這麽一位被社員“恨”得如此深沉的人物。
代副部長自己笑過後更說：“要我說社員同志們的心意，是對你最大的認可。也說明你們之間的感情是深厚的，是堅不可摧的。”
此時已經到了粉條廠，夏菊花對看門人說了一句，大門緩緩打開方便參觀團進入：因為需求上升，粉條廠已經經過了一輪改造，現在院子裏的廠房，由原來的三排變成五排，冷庫也由最初的一座變成了兩座，看上去更加氣派了。
眼見着幹淨整潔的生産車間、有條不紊生産的工人，參觀團成員都有一種錯覺，他們來到的不是隊辦廠，而是國營大廠的生産車間。
在這裏，他們還品嘗了現泡的酸辣粉，不得不說，豐富了口味的油包，加大量的辣包，配上老醋包後調出的酸辣粉，一下子征服了參觀團的成員。他們不急着散開參觀生産線，而是把陳秋生團團圍住，希望可以下訂單購買。
結果聽說酸辣粉的訂單已經排到了年後三月份，還要随時供應部隊，成員們都震驚了：随着報道的增多，更多的人注意到了南方與白眼狼國的戰争，都知道前線戰士們做戰環境艱苦，哪好意思從戰士口內奪食？
于是大家退而求其次，希望陳秋生可以把他們的訂單，優先排到三月的訂單之後，甚至有人提出可以用自己縣生産的紅薯，跟粉條廠換酸辣粉，咋換由粉條廠定。
然而到了方便面廠，品嘗了各種口味的方便面後，領導們有些後悔自己在粉條廠的訂單下早了：酸辣粉好吃，可口味不如方便面豐富，他們很想也在方便面廠下訂單呀。
看着一個個變成采購員的縣級領導，代副部長有些無奈的對夏菊花解釋：“主要是你們這兩樣食品，市面上太少了，大家都想嘗個新鮮。”真不是他的下屬同志們，沒有見識。
夏菊花不光理解領導們的心情，更對他們下訂單的願望喜聞樂見，叫過常仙草來說：“領導們今天不管下的訂單有多少，都統一按一萬箱以上的價格出貨。”
The acting deputy minister was puzzled and naturally wanted to ask the reason. Xia Juhua then explained to him the different prices of instant noodles of different grades. The acting deputy minister quickly waved Li Wenlan over and asked her to explain the situation to the members of the visiting group, so that Ping An Village would not make sacrifices and people would still think that the instant noodles were too expensive.
Sometimes it is necessary to make it clear who is being taken advantage of and who is being cheated.