Chapter 187

Xia Juhua stopped and looked at Liu Zhiliang with intentional dignity.

As the team leader for several years, Xia Juhua had to arrange the production of the team, resolve conflicts and disputes, and coordinate and communicate with the outside world. When she was silent, except for the old members of the Ping'anzhuang production team, the people from other production teams were still a little scared when they saw her.

Even the young people in Ping An Village were a little scared and were willing to report anything to Chen Qiusheng, Hong Ling and others.

Liu Zhiliang, who was also young, stood straight in front of Xia Juhua and let her look at him. His eyes met Xia Juhua's, and there was hope and determination in them, but no trepidation or fear.

"Come in." Xia Juhua pushed open the gate by herself, but did not go into the house. Instead, she sat on the small stool under the grape trellis. Liu Zhiliang sat down next to her without her letting him in. "Auntie, I have been back for more than two years. You know what kind of person I am. I made a great decision to ask you. Just tell me if I can do it, don't scare me with a stern face."

Brat.

Xia Juhua smiled slightly and asked, "How do you know I was just trying to scare you and not because I was angry at you for trying to take my power?"

Liu Zhiliang laughed along, "Auntie, in my heart, you are sometimes more reliable than my mother. You love me and Zhijun as much as our mother does. I couldn't see it after all these years."

Xia Juhua looked at the young man in front of her. He had been back home for more than two years, and his skin had turned bronze from wind and sun training in the army. It had not changed back at all, but his eyes were still as firm as when he had just come off the battlefield, making him look so powerful and so reliable.

The young man with such a tough appearance was saying such lame words. Xia Juhua didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "How dare you compare your mother with me? Am I only more reliable than her sometimes?" He has always been more reliable than her, okay?

Liu Zhiliang did not refute it and continued to ask: "Just say I want to run for election, okay?"

Sure, why not? Xia Juhua is now looking forward to seeing people from every village group in Pingan Village sign up to run for election. But she still asked, "Since you mentioned your mother just now, you know what kind of temper she and your father have. If you become the village chief, what will you do if they show off in the village under your name?"

It's not that Xia Juhua has a deep prejudice against Liu Sizhuang and his wife. It's really that what the couple did after Liu Zhiliang retired from the army was too infuriating:

Before he went to the battlefield, Liu Zhiliang was already a volunteer soldier, and the state would be able to arrange a job for him if he retired. When he came back from the battlefield, Liu Zhiliang won a second-class merit, which was enough for him to be promoted directly, but this guy insisted on retiring as a conscript like his cousin.

Xia Juhua felt sorry for the child who had left the village and wanted to come back to build his hometown. However, she also respected the child's opinion. However, Sun Guizhi, the mother, learned that Liu Zhiliang's return was not a return of wealth as she had imagined, but a conscript's discharge from the army. She made a scene in front of the whole village.

She rolled on the ground, crying and asking Liu Zhiliang if he had made a mistake in the army, otherwise why did he get discharged from the army when everyone else was asking him to? He must have made an unforgivable mistake, so the army didn't want him anymore. She actually asked Liu Zhiliang to get out of Ping An Manor and not bring shame to her as a mother.

Xia Juhua really couldn't stand it anymore, so she asked the Fifth Master to calm Sun Guizhi down, and Zhao Xianzhi and others came forward to explain to everyone on behalf of Liu Zhiliang, so that the good child would not have his mother's reputation ruined as soon as he returned home - if the mother thinks that the child has made a mistake, how will others feel, and how can the child stay in the village?

In fact, before Liu Zhiliang came back, he had already told Xia Juhua that the reason he chose to return home instead of staying in the army was because after leaving Ping'an Village, the two brothers had been helping each other to grow in the army, and they had also agreed that if they left the army, they would leave together.

If Xia Juhua came out to explain when Sun Guizhi was crying, Zhijun would inevitably be dragged into it, and An Baoling, who had no contact with Liu Sizhuang's family for a long time, would also be angry. It would be better for the Fifth Master to come forward.

I thought Sun Guizhi, who was suppressed by the Fifth Master, would be quiet, but she didn't expect that when she saw Liu Zhiliang had something to do, she ran to discuss it with Xia Juhua. She thought that it was because she had embarrassed her son when he just returned home, and he was alienated from her, so she wanted to find a wife for Liu Zhiliang as soon as possible to repair the mother-son relationship.

Nowadays, the young men in Ping'an Village have no trouble finding wives, and the girls from other production teams are proud to marry into Ping'an Village. But that doesn't mean the family doesn't have to make any preparations at all - the girls marry here to live a good life, not to suffer hardship.

But Liu Sizhuang and his wife had lived a mediocre life in the past few years. Although they built a brick house, the things inside were inferior to those of other families in Pingan Village. Sun Guizhi thought that if she wanted to repair the relationship with her son, she had to arrange a grand marriage for him. Since she didn't have much money, she actually set her sights on Liu Hongjuan.

She came up with the idea of ​​using Liu Hongjuan's betrothal gift to help Liu Zhiliang get married, and she even decided on it without telling her family, until the man's family came to Ping'an Village with drums and gongs to pick up the bride, and only then did everyone know what was going on!

Xia Juhua was really angry that time. Not only did she call the police directly, but before the police arrived, she also took the initiative to lock up the man's family and Sun Guizhi in the production team's yard.

The man's family felt aggrieved. They paid the betrothal gift and invited relatives and friends to the banquet, but they couldn't take the new bride back home and even locked her up and didn't let her go out. You live a wealthy life in Ping'an Village, so you shouldn't bully others like that, right?

Xia Juhua asked them, "Do you know that people now advocate freedom of love and freedom of marriage? When you and Sun Guizhi got engaged, had you ever met Liu Hongjuan, or had the boy who wanted to marry Liu Hongjuan been in love with her?"

What era is this? You and Xia Juhua agreed that the bride price would be from your family. Are you dreaming? Are you marrying a wife or trading a person? Since your family doesn't think it's abnormal, then you can marry whoever you agreed on!

The man's family scolded Xia Juhua for being unreasonable, but Xia Juhua didn't care at all: "Whether I am unreasonable or you think you can take advantage of me, you know it in your heart, and we in Pingan Village also know it very well. Don't make me explain it clearly, or you will have no way to live in your own production team in the future!"

The man's family was suddenly dispirited. They really decided on this marriage with the intention of taking advantage: it became a custom for the girls from Ping'anzhuang to stay in the factory to work after getting married. Not only did they stay, but if the partner was hardworking and down-to-earth, they would be given priority when there were job vacancies. Now, who wouldn't want to marry a girl from Ping'anzhuang?

The man's family, whose little trick was seen through and whose face and money were lost, had to agree to take back the betrothal gift and cancel the marriage. But everyone in Ping'an Village knew that Sun Guizhi must have secretly given money to the man's family, otherwise they would lose all their face and who knows what would happen.

What even Xia Juhua didn't know was that Liu Zhiliang had threatened Sun Guizhi that if she dared to mess with his marriage again, he would remain a bachelor for the rest of her life. This made Sun Guizhi behave herself for another two years.

Today he also would not tell Xia Juhua, but told her firmly: "Auntie, don't worry, if I really win the election for village chief, I will tell everyone in the village on the day of the election. I am me, and my family members are my family members. No one can make decisions for me, and I will not recognize anyone who agrees to do something for others."

That's cruel enough. But Xia Juhua liked this attitude, and couldn't help but smile: "I see your transport team driving trucks and transporting goods every day, making a lot of money, and you don't have to worry about anything. Why are you suddenly running for village chief this time?"

Liu Zhiliang glanced at her, lowered his head, and said nothing. Just when Xia Juhua thought he would not say anything, he spoke again: "Auntie, you are already over fifty this year."

"Yes." Xia Juhua nodded. She didn't think there was anything wrong with Liu Zhiliang paying attention to his age - she was a few years older than Liu Sizhuang, and she could figure out his age with just a little calculation.

"You've had a lot more white hair in the past few years." Liu Zhiliang's voice was a little muffled. "You don't walk as fast as you did a few years ago, and you don't talk as vigorously as you did a few years ago."

Xia Juhua looked at the young man in front of her seriously, and her heart was filled with sadness and warmth. The brat had really grown up and knew how to care for his aunt. After a long while, Xia Juhua patted Liu Zhiliang on the shoulder and said, "Since you want to run for election, you should run well. Don't expect to form cliques in the group. Even if we want to be village chief, we should do it in an upright manner."

"Yes." Liu Zhiliang heard that Xia Juhua agreed to his participation in the election, and immediately raised his head and looked at Xia Juhua with sparkling eyes: "Auntie, don't worry, if I become the village chief, I will definitely build Ping'an Village better, make more people rich, and make the people in Ping'an Village live better than those in the city."

Having ambition is a good thing, but being able to put it into practice is a real skill. Liu Zhiliang said at the election meeting: "... on the basis of existing construction, we will strengthen the management and construction of the village appearance, increase subsidies for primary schools, increase the nursing capacity of nursing homes, and provide elderly care services, so that our children can receive education at the same level as urban schools, and the elderly will no longer be a concern for the family."

"In addition, I am willing to give 10% of my transport team's shares to the village for the above construction, to prove that I am not just talking big or empty words!"

Xia Juhua was the first to applaud, and the other three veterans who had signed up for the election also applauded, shouting, "Zhiliang, if you can do what you say, I will withdraw from the election."

"Not only am I dropping out of the race, I'll even run errands for you if you need me to."

"That's right. We were not afraid of the battlefield, and we can't be afraid of the construction. The four of us are young and strong, so are we afraid that we can't replace the captain? It's time to let the captain take a rest and enjoy his life."

After hearing their powerful declarations, the three parents who had originally thought that their sons were ungrateful and scolded them every day were shocked: it turned out that their sons had not forgotten how the captain took care of the military families, but hoped to use their young arms to exchange for the captain's peace. They looked at each other with relief and smiled.

The fifth master, who was helped to watch the election, smiled with relief.

Li Changshun, who was also carried here, looked at Xia Juhua, who was a little surprised on the stage, and smiled with relief.

The villagers of Ping'an Village looked at the young faces on the stage and started laughing. In fact, they all knew in their hearts that no matter how unwilling they were to admit it, there would be a day when Xia Juhua would step down.

Now, it is time to let new forces lead the people of Ping An Village forward.