"Mom, let me do it." Sun Hongmei stepped forward and wanted to take the spoon from Xia Juhua's hand.
Xia Juhua did not let Sun Hongmei succeed and said in a neutral tone, "Go wash yourself." How could she eat the porridge if she was covered in dirt and it splashed into the porridge bowl when she scooped it out?
"Mom, where did we get so many peanuts?" Sun Hongmei came to help again after washing them. This time Xia Juhua did not refuse and let her ask - there were so many peanuts, enough to change the oil for three or four years, so why did they all get fried?
Xia Juhua felt that there was nothing to hide, so she told her that Wang Caixia had sent her peanuts on behalf of the supply and marketing cooperative, and that she would stay at home to fry peanuts for a while. She said it calmly, but Sun Hongmei was thinking about it in a turmoil.
Like Wang Caifeng, Sun Hongmei also thought that learning to fry peanuts was a good skill. The subsidy of 1.5 cents per pound was too easy to make, and she couldn't help but say, "Mom, I'll fry peanuts with you at home this afternoon."
Haha. Xia Juhua really wanted to know why Sun Hongmei only cared about food and not about beatings: "If you fry peanuts with me at home, you won't earn work points from the production team. What will you use for your food next year?"
"That's not..." Sun Hongmei wanted to say that she could earn more from frying peanuts than from working in the fields, but she stopped talking before she finished.
It was not easy to earn work points in the production team, but as long as you went to the fields, you could always record a few. Fried peanuts were different. You could only fry as many as the supply and marketing cooperative sent you. Now that we already had Xia Juhua and Wang Caifeng at home, if we left one more, could we let my mother-in-law fry them on two stoves at the same time?
It was impossible to think about it. The temperature of frying peanuts was very critical. Trying to do two things at once would result in neither pan being fried properly. Besides, the person who sent raw peanuts from the supply and marketing cooperative was Wang Caifeng's cousin. Sun Hongmei couldn't bring herself to ask Wang Caifeng to go to work while she stayed to help her mother-in-law. Wang Caifeng couldn't say this even when she wasn't pregnant, let alone now that she was pregnant and carrying Liu Baoguo.
Sun Hongmei couldn't continue. When Liu Zhiquan and Liu Zhishuang heard the news, they were happy for Xia Juhua. After dinner, they stayed in the main room and talked to Xia Juhua. Liu Zhiquan listened as usual, while Liu Zhishuang kept sighing at Xia Juhua's good luck.
"Mom, if we can fry three or four hundred kilograms of peanuts every day, our family will be rich."
Xia Juhua almost sneered in her heart, and there was a hint of ridicule on her face: "What do you mean our family got rich? I got rich by myself."
Liu Zhishuang said with a shameless smile: "If mom becomes rich, then we will be rich too. Then mom will have to buy me two pounds of meat to stew." He almost drooled like Liu Baoguo when he said that.
Seeing his useless appearance, Xia Juhua couldn't help but recall that her youngest son had also been so shameless in her previous life, but he was not married at that time. After he got married, he became more and more distant from her.
Everything in front of her was so unreal. Xia Juhua was eager to grasp something real, so she asked, "Can I buy the base you mentioned the other day now?"
Liu Zhishuang nodded and said, "This warehouse will be moved tomorrow, so we should be able to buy it. However, the bottom of the warehouse is pure sand, should we really buy it?"
"Buy. Our rations are not big enough to eat. When spring comes, everyone will have to eat dry food to survive in the fields, and there will not be enough food." Xia Juhua's face turned ugly when she thought about the famine that would come next year.
Liu Zhishuang couldn't help but glance at Sun Hongmei, who shrank her neck and dared not say a word. Wang Caifeng didn't understand why her mother-in-law had to buy grain from the treasury, so she asked a practical question: "Does the grain from the treasury need grain coupons? How much is one pound? How much can our family buy?"
Of course, the more the better. Xia Juhua thought that this matter should be handed over to Liu Zhishuang, and told him: "I think we should not need food coupons. People know that we are farmers. Food coupons must be exchanged for good food at the grain station. Why buy food from the warehouse when we have good food? Ask clearly. If you want food coupons, don't buy them. If you don't want them, you can buy as much as you want."
According to Liu Zhishuang, the grain in the warehouse is sold because it is the bottom layer of the warehouse and there is inevitably sand or mold inside. This kind of food should not require food coupons and is sold at a lower price than when the production team handed it over to the grain station.
Because it was not a good food, it was not easy to sell every time - moldy food, even if the mold on the surface was washed clean, still had a bitter taste in the mouth. People who were not really waiting for the food to be cooked would not buy it. In the past, if the grain station could not sell it, it would be distributed to the employees to take home to feed the chickens.
"Mom, are we really going to buy it?" Liu Zhiquan didn't agree with buying the base at first, so he asked again. Xia Juhua's attitude was very firm, that is, we must buy it, and buy as much as we can.
Xia Juhua still has the final say at home, and no one objects when she is firm in her attitude. In front of everyone, Xia Juhua directly took out twenty yuan and gave it to Liu Zhishuang: "Be more discerning when buying, and don't let people put everything into the bag." This matter has to be handed over to Liu Zhishuang, who is smarter than Liu Zhiquan.
Liu Zhishuang agreed and put the money in his pocket, and Xia Juhua asked Liu Zhiquan and his wife to go back first. Sun Hongmei wanted to wait for Liu Zhishuang to go back to the house together, but she didn't dare to ask him to stay after being looked at by her mother-in-law. She looked at Liu Zhishuang with a guilty conscience, and saw that Liu Zhishuang only lowered his head to think about something and didn't look at her, so she had to leave by herself.
Liu Zhishuang was already feeling uneasy about being left alone, and Sun Hongmei's look made him even more nervous - maybe his wife had caused trouble again, otherwise why didn't his mother keep his elder brother but him.
Xia Juhua didn't want to play dumb with him, so she asked directly, "Do you want to live with Sun Hongmei?"
Liu Zhishuang's face turned red: "Mom, she is wrong. I will watch her. But with the situation of the old Sun family, who can she marry if she is really sent back to her parents' home? Her life will be over."
So the younger son is also a soft-hearted person. Xia Juhua was sure that this set of words was the result of Sun Hongmei brainwashing Liu Zhishuang, and waved her hand to stop him from continuing: "It's the same sentence again. You will spend your life with her. It's up to you to keep her or not. I won't interfere. But you have to tell Sun Hongmei not to interfere in my affairs."
"Mom, what did she do again?" Liu Zhishuang asked nervously when he heard it, looking at Xia Juhua intently, afraid that his mother would say something bad about Sun Hongmei again, which would make him look both pitiful and ridiculous.
Xia Juhua slapped her arm and said, "She saw your sister-in-law making fire for me today, and she wanted to skip work in the afternoon. I didn't mention it in front of your brother and sister-in-law to save your face. Don't tell me that they are all my daughters-in-law and I have to treat them equally. I believe in treating people with kindness, but others always give me trouble, so how can I be nice to them?"
Liu Zhishuang felt ashamed and whispered to Xia Juhua, "Mom, she said she would change. I also think that if she stops associating with Sun Guizhi and goes back to her parents' home less often, she should be able to change. I will tell her when I get back to work and not to expect to be wasted."
Perhaps Liu Zhishuang really frightened Sun Hongmei after he returned home. In the next two days, Sun Hongmei worked honestly and never asked to help Xia Juhua. Wang Caifeng was happy and felt that her mother-in-law valued her more. She was very attentive to Xia Juhua, except that she asked too many questions when frying peanuts.
Xia Juhua herself was not a talkative person, and she was very focused when working, and could not answer a single sentence out of ten. Even so, Wang Caifeng did not feel that she was being ignored, and did not let Xia Juhua do anything when cooking. She even said that frying peanuts was too tiring for Xia Juhua's arms, so she wanted to help her wash clothes.
Xia Juhua naturally wouldn't use her, so she just let her take care of her own room. The two of them each had their own way of doing things, and they actually worked together to fry the peanuts.
In fact, Xia Juhua took advantage of Wang Caifeng's visit to Liu Baoguo to take about 20 kilograms of raw peanuts and put them in her own cabinet. In addition to the subsidies from the supply and marketing cooperative, these were also earned by her skills. However, Xia Juhua in this life is no longer like the previous life, showing all her family assets to her son and daughter-in-law.
She needs to make more plans for her future retirement.
Although it is a little early for Xia Juhua to think about retirement at her current age, she still has a feeling of unease in her heart and always wants to hold on to something to feel at ease.
After frying the remaining peanuts, they weighed a full 325 kilograms, so Xia Juhua had to deliver them to the supply and marketing cooperative herself. After tasting them, the director still praised Xia Juhua's cooking skills. After finding out that Xia Juhua came here on the production team's ox cart, he let her take the next 200 kilograms of raw peanuts back home.
The director said, "We don't need to fry so much this time, but it would be best if we deliver it tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. We also have to hand in our work to the county."
Xia Juhua smiled and said, "Okay, I'll work hard and try to deliver it tomorrow afternoon."
Hearing her happy agreement, the director was also happy: "I am willing to deal with such a straightforward person like you. By the way, our supply and marketing cooperative has some processed cloth, not too much, it would be inappropriate to give it to anyone or not, see if you mind it, if not, buy it back, it will be enough to make a set of clothes."
Otherwise, why would Xia Juhua be willing to deal with the people in the supply and marketing cooperative? In the past, even if the farmers knew that the supply and marketing cooperative had things to deal with, they could only envy them, but now the things are delivered to their doorstep.
This was not the time to be polite, Xia Juhua nodded and said, "Thank you very much, Director. We rural people only have one foot of cloth coupon per person per year, and the whole family can't even make a set of clothes together. Director, you allow me to buy and process cloth, I can't thank you enough, how can I complain."
There was not much processed cloth, less than ten feet, because the two sides were not woven well, and there were small dots on the cloth that was more than an inch wide, so it was processed. If you buy cloth normally, no one would want such cloth. But Xia Juhua still felt that she had got a great bargain. After all, this cloth not only did not require a cloth coupon, but it was only 20 cents per foot, which was 12 cents cheaper than good cloth.
現在夏菊花來錢的路少，恨不得一分錢掰成兩瓣花，她不放過任何省錢的方法。農村人不都是這麽過日子嗎，省一分就相當于賺一分。
不光夏菊花這麽想，王彩鳳和孫紅梅都是這麽想，她們見夏菊花去了一回供銷社，不光又帶回來新花生，還帶回好大一塊面料，四只眼睛一直往包布的紙包上瞟。
夏菊花當沒看到兩人的目光，拿出另外一個紙包遞給王彩鳳：“上回不是想給保國做床褥子，正好碰着供銷社有棉花，特意找了人家主任才買到的。”
棉花是好棉花，可是棉花做出來的褥子鋪不到自己身下，也拿不到街上顯擺，王彩鳳接到後高興裏帶着點遺憾。
因為這份遺憾，王彩鳳試探着問：“娘，你這麽早就買過年的布了，準備做件啥樣式的褂子？”那麽大一塊布，一件褂子肯定用不了，那剩下的布，婆婆會給誰呢？
夏菊花誰也不想給！
布是她買回來的，買布的錢是她自己掙的，給自己做身衣裳，還是用處理布做，已經很委屈自己了好不好？
王彩鳳遲遲沒得到夏菊花的回答，臉上慢慢寫滿了失望，讓孫紅梅看了暗暗解氣——雖然她也希望婆婆能看在她是新媳婦的份上，把剩下的布給自己，可眼見着婆婆沒有這個意思，當然不希望婆婆把布給王彩鳳。
同樣是兒媳婦，自己沒有王彩鳳也沒有，那才公平。
可王彩鳳手裏還有一個紙包，包裏是新棉花！孫紅梅眼睛裏恨不得長出一雙手來，把王彩鳳手裏的紙包抓到自己面前。王彩鳳感覺到她眼神的炙熱，後知後覺的想到自己還是有收獲的，心裏的不滿無影無蹤，重新高興起來。
現在婆婆不喜歡孫紅梅，上供銷社給保國買了東西沒有二房的份，可見婆婆還是更看重大房。唉，要是自己肚子裏的這個已經出生就好了，說不定婆婆就不是只買這麽點棉花，而是給肚子裏的也買一份。
“飯做好了沒，下午得把這些花生炒出來，人家供銷社急着要呢。”夏菊花無視兩個兒媳婦眼神裏的刀光劍影，說起自己的安排。
王彩鳳連忙說：“做好了做好了，娘咱們現在吃嗎？”
做好了當然要吃，夏菊花讓兩個兒媳婦出去收拾桌子，自己把剩下的錢掏出來，數了數，放到炕櫃最底下的小包袱裏。想了想，她又把小包袱重新打開，把這兩次她掙的錢重新拿了出來。
做被子掙了八塊，買包子花了一塊還剩下七塊。今天掙了四塊八，買布花了一塊八，買棉花又花了一塊，只剩下兩塊。加到一起剩下九塊錢，不能跟家裏的錢混到一起。
夏菊花把這九塊錢單獨放好，又數了數家裏的共同財産，六十二塊五毛。比起上輩子見過的錢，六十多塊錢不算多，可對于這個時候的農村家庭來說，有六十多塊錢的存款，已經不少了。
這時農村人最大的開銷就是娶媳婦蓋房子。夏菊花兩個兒媳婦都娶進了門，院子也已經收拾的十分四至，不用重新蓋。如果家裏沒人生病的話，這六十二塊錢可以一直存下去。等年底再分一次紅，還能再增加一些。
如果不是夏菊花能幹會過日子，孤兒寡母這些年，別說存下六十二塊錢，說不定得四下裏欠帳——村裏為了娶兒媳婦或是蓋房子，拉下臉跟人說好話借錢的可不少。
這都是自己的血汗錢呀。夏菊花摸着那幾張紙幣，想起自己上輩子把它們分給兩個兒媳婦，卻引來偏心議論的情形，決定眼不見心不煩，直接把錢塞進炕櫃裏。
剛把錢重新放好，孫紅梅已經在門外喊夏菊花吃飯。夏菊花出門時看着眼睛一直盯着門縫的孫紅梅，笑了一聲。這聲笑來的突兀收的急促，跟孫紅梅匆匆收回的目光有一拼，孫紅梅的臉慢慢變紅了。
直到重新拿着鋤頭出了門，孫紅梅才暗暗捏緊拳頭：婆婆在她過門幾天裝的挺和氣，現在拿她當賊防着呢。還有那個王彩鳳，也跟婆婆一個鼻孔出氣。她們等着，等她找到機會，一定給她們好看。
夏菊花找到了掙錢的門路，一點兒也不怕別人給她好看——剛跟老劉家分家的時候那麽難，她都挺過來了，大不了再分一次家好了。
想是這麽想，現在家還沒分，就還得跟這些人攪和在一起。所以劉志全和劉志雙兩個各背着一袋子庫底子回來，夏菊花還要打開看一下。
“都是高粱呀。”老實說夏菊花有點兒失望。高粱的産量不高，口感也不太好，唯一的好處也就剩下頂餓一條。
劉志雙擦了擦自己背糧食流下的汗，有些無奈的說：“人家庫裏剩下什麽我買什麽，也不知道怎麽了，連高粱都運走了，現在縣糧站只剩下兩倉庫的糧食，聽說還得再運一個庫房的糧食呢。”
多扛糧食包多掙錢，劉志雙卻覺得這麽搬下去心裏沒底。多年四處找東西填飽肚子的經歷，讓劉志雙本能的體會到了什麽叫手裏有糧，心裏不慌。
縣裏的糧站眼看着要搬空了，雖然不是搬的自家糧食，劉志雙心裏還是莫明其妙的跟着沒底氣——如果說劉家正房夏菊花掌握鑰匙的倉房，是劉家的底氣，縣糧站的倉庫，就是全縣人民的底氣。
都說大河有水小河才能有魚，縣糧站被搬空了，要是來年年景不好的話，救濟糧從哪兒出呢？
夏菊花跟劉志雙想的是同一個問題，劉志雙還僅僅是憑表象覺得不安，夏菊花就是憑着上輩子的經歷，知道來年真不是什麽好年景，各公社向縣裏求助的時候，縣糧站真拿不出一點糧食來發給饑餓的農民。
好在這一次的災害持續的時間沒有六十年代初期那麽長，最後大家都能熬過去。否則夏菊花想不出什麽辦法，提醒身邊的人，讓他們趕緊存點糧食或是從現在開始就省着點吃。
最主要的是夏菊花沒有提醒的理由，她就是一個地地道道的農村婦女，跟誰說明年的年景不好，大家從現在少吃一口，誰也不會信。
“唉——”夏菊花不是個只要自己日子過好了，不管別人死活的人，這件事情上她卻無能為力，只能毫無用處的嘆息。
劉志全見娘看着糧食袋子嘆氣，以為她對買來的庫底子不滿意，直撅撅的說：“娘，那下回咱們不買了。”
明知道自己大兒子說話就是這個腔調，夏菊花還是擡頭看了他一眼才說：“為啥不買？”不多買點後年上半年怎麽過。
劉志全覺得娘誤會了自己，想解釋一下自己并不是質疑娘的決定，可娘連糧站都沒去過，不知道糧站的庫房裏存裝了什麽糧食很正常呀：“娘，這糧食不幹淨，還是高粱。”
高粱餅子發粘，蒸飯的話一涼吃進肚子裏直返酸，娘應該知道吧。
“不幹淨就好好挑。高粱咋啦，高粱不是糧食？”夏菊花已經抓起一把高粱，慢慢往出挑裏頭的沙子。劉志全只好看了劉志雙一眼，他知道自己嘴笨說出來的話不中聽，這種情況還得兄弟來。
劉志雙接收了大哥的暗示，故意帶着點兒炫耀的說：“娘，你別看這糧食不大幹淨，還有碎的，可是便宜呀。本來說是二毛一斤，可是碎的太多，只花一毛五就買下來了。別人沒帶糧食袋子，正好讓咱們家占了便宜，足足一百斤呢。”
從裝糧食的袋子和大小，就能看出裝多少糧食，夏菊花早估摸出了個大概。劉志雙也知道他娘能看出背回來的糧食有多少，這麽說就是想讓氣氛別這麽沉重。
這幾天家裏事兒一件跟着一件，雖然有好事，可是糟心的事似乎更多，氣氛一直不好，夏菊花對兒子兒媳婦也是帶答不理的，劉志雙太想讓家裏重新回到以前的樣子。
那時娘雖然也不怎麽說話，可看着沒這麽心事重，連帶着家裏人說話都得小心翼翼。怪誰呢，還不是自己那個不省心的媳婦。
劉志雙不滿的看了孫紅梅一眼，恰好孫紅梅也在看他，把不滿接收個正着，人就愣了。
昨天回屋之後，兩個人先還是不說話，可睡到炕上之後，孫紅梅還是讓劉志雙接受自己不回娘家的事實。哪怕早起劉志雙故意繃着，孫紅梅也知道他心軟了。
怎麽扛了一天糧食包回來，對自己又不滿了？孫紅梅回憶自己一天幹的事，她想當着劉志雙對天發誓，自己真的連話都沒說幾句，也沒再跟姑姑有什麽聯系。
可惜劉志雙就看了她那麽一眼，就轉頭跟夏菊花說話去了。夏菊花還是那付表情，說話也不冷不熱的，看不出情緒來。就是這麽看不出情緒來，才讓人更覺得她情緒不對。
一頓飯吃的分外沉默，除了劉保國啊啊呀呀的指東指西，大人都不開口。夏菊花自己有心事，吃完了才發現自己還有話沒問：“老二，剩下的錢呢？”
“啊？”劉志雙反應過來後笑了：“我還當娘把剩下的錢給我當跑腿費了呢。”
“美的你。你大哥跟你一起把糧食扛回來的，憑啥都給你當跑腿費？”
夏菊花給了劉志雙二十塊錢，一百斤高粱花了十五塊，剩下的足足有五塊錢，她炒了兩天花生還沒掙這麽多呢。
雖然得把錢從兜裏掏出來，劉志雙還是挺高興的——娘終于不那麽心事重重的悶着不開口了，往出拿錢就往出拿錢。再說這錢本來就是娘給的，他從來也沒想把剩下的錢留下。
孫紅梅卻覺得肉疼，男人買東西剩下的錢，婆婆咋好意思往回要呢，沒見她男人背糧食回來，累的順脖子流汗。背回來的糧食又不是她男人一個人吃，難道婆婆不該把剩下的錢補償給自己男人？
那可是五塊錢，她從小到大從來沒經手過這麽大的票子。也不對，過彩禮的時候她經過手五十塊錢，可那錢只在她眼前晃了一圈，就被她娘給收起來了，出門子的時候連一塊錢私房都沒給她。
要是婆婆把錢留給男人，最後那五塊錢就該由她保管了吧。可現在婆婆竟然就那麽把錢裝進自己兜裏，她怎麽好意思！
孫紅梅知道不應該，可眼睛就是落在婆婆拿錢的手上撥不出來。夏菊花全當自己沒感覺到那道視線，她還有別的安排。
“這些高粱得快點篩出來，那些碎米正好磨成面，以後跟玉米面摻着做餅子，中午家裏就能吃點幹的。”
孫紅梅快忍不住了，兩眼終于從夏菊花放錢的口袋上移開，看向王彩鳳——家裏中午只喝粥，可就是王彩鳳起的頭。
王彩鳳聽了臉上也有點不自在，馬上殷勤的接話：“我明天就開始篩。”
夏菊花明天又得上供銷社交炒好的花生，篩米的活的确由留在家裏不上工的王彩鳳做最合适，于是點了點頭：“嗯，篩的時候仔細點，能挑的沙子先挑着，不怕慢，就怕挑不幹淨。”
事都定下來了，大家都低下頭跟夏菊花一起挑起沙子來，一晚上的時間竟然也挑出來小半口袋。
“這高粱米裏頭咋還有蓖麻子呢。”劉志全有些氣憤的看着自己手裏明顯比高粱米大了一倍不止的蓖麻子：“收糧的時候糧站的人也不看着點兒。”
夏菊花往劉志全的手裏一看，還真是兩顆蓖麻子。紅星公社沒有生産隊種植蓖麻，應該是地頭野生的收割時被混在高粱裏。
她理解劉志全氣憤所在：蓖麻子雖然能榨油，可有些毒素，以前有過小孩不懂事吃了蓖麻子後被藥死的傳聞。現在高粱裏混進了蓖麻，要是量少還好，量大的話被誤食了容易藥着人。身為一個本份種地的農民，劉志全看不得地裏長出來的東西，最終害人。
不過在夏菊花眼裏，蓖麻仍然不失為一個好東西。她清楚的記得一個偏方，用蓖麻根煎水，可以治風濕性關節炎。夏龍上輩子就得了風濕性關節炎，一到陰天下雨就渾身疼。現在有了蓖麻子，她就可以種出來給夏龍試試。
于是夏菊花從劉志全手裏拿過那兩個蓖麻子，還告訴大家再挑到了都給她。劉志全有些不解：“娘，這東西不能吃，要是讓保國摸着了怎麽辦。”
“沒事，我單放着。等來年開春種到自留地四周，上秋的時候漚了好搓點麻繩。”夏菊花把蓖麻子小心的放好，給出了自己的理由。
農村用到麻繩的地方不少，聽她這麽一說劉志雙就翹起大拇指：“娘你可真能算計，蓖麻子也能拿到糧站換油。就是到時候得看好點兒，別讓孩子淘氣吃出事來。”
夏菊花搖了搖頭說：“沒事。這東西就算嫩的時候也有一股子孬味，孩子們吃一口就不吃了。”只吃一顆半顆的，最多惡心一下，藥不壞人。
王彩鳳覺得婆婆說的有道理，她早就發現婆婆有變廢為寶的本事，不管是生産隊秋收後地裏的癟籽，還是春天的野菜，到了婆婆手裏都能做的比別人好吃。
興許是婆婆帶着男人兄弟兩個，缺吃少喝那些年練出來的本事。王彩鳳看了一臉平靜的婆婆一眼，心裏佩服不已，低頭挑糧食更認真了。
接下來的幾天，夏菊花晚上都帶着兒子兒媳婦一起挑糧食——劉志全他們扛糧隊的工作已經結束了，跟夏菊花記憶中一樣，他們帶回了縣糧站只剩下一倉庫糧食的消息。
夏菊花面上平靜，心裏在算計着家裏餘下的糧食：她過日子仔細，秋收分糧前家裏還有上一年餘光的一百多斤玉米，二十來斤高粱。秋收分糧沒劉保國和孫紅梅的份，四個大人分了不到一千五百斤糧。
聽上去分的不少，可裏頭紅薯就有快五百斤了，這東西得快點吃，放不好就得爛，可惜了的。能存得住的糧食加起來不到一千三百斤，要糊住五大一小一年半的嘴，想想就是不可能完成的任務。
幸虧這段日子劉志全兄弟兩個中午不在家裏吃，省下點糧食，但願冬天生産隊一直沒有重活，要不中午咋也得讓幹活的人吃上餅子。
因為夏菊花不可能在手裏糧食看起來不少的時候，跟兒子們說，明年會有災，咱們現在就開始喝稀粥吧，要不到後年春天之後得天天灌涼水。別說說出來兒子們信不信，孫紅梅都能上大隊舉報她。
自己當時怎麽就沒頂住賴皮的劉志雙，同意孫紅梅進門了呢？夏菊花不無埋怨的看了劉志雙一眼。正是吃飯的時候，消息還是劉志雙說出來的，他正揚頭等着夏菊花的回應呢，就被親娘看了個正着。
劉志雙的頭一個反應就是看孫紅梅，看她有沒有心虛的表情，好判斷白天自己不在家的時候，孫紅梅是不是又惹娘不高興了。
這樣的日子真不是人過的。劉志雙心裏嘆了一口氣，臉上還得擠出笑來問：“娘，咋啦？”
“沒事。我就是算着從秋收之後就沒下過雨，按說往年這個時候都咋也該下場雪了，也沒下。這天是不是太旱了。”
劉志全點了點頭：“是比往年旱，聽三叔說要去渠呢。要是渠修好了，來年咱們村的水澆地能多出幾十畝，秋天能多分點麥子。”
修渠管什麽用，河裏的水都沒了，修好的堤能抽出水來？夏菊花能想到的就是：“要是你們兩個都去修堤的話，一天得帶斤半餅子才夠吃。”
劉志全聽了有些納悶的問：“娘，咋是我們兩個去修堤呢，你不去？”修堤在農村來說也是重體力活，給的工分高，往年這樣的活計，娘總會沖到前頭。
看着這個有口無心的大兒子，夏菊花連擺手或是搖頭都省了：“娘老了，幹不動了。以後就不跟着男人一起幹活，生産隊跟我這麽大歲數的婦女幹什麽，我跟着幹點就行了。”
啥？劉志全和劉志雙一起看向娘，這可不象娘能說出來的話，娘什麽時候認過熊服過軟，怎麽就說老了呢？在他們的印象裏，娘一直都是能幹的，不管多苦多重的活計，娘都低着頭幹完，從來不說一聲累。
借着昏黃的油燈，兩個人發現娘的臉上不知道什麽時候有了皺紋，眼角和嘴角都有點向下聳拉，坐在燈下的身影也沒有印象中的挺直，兩肩向前、後背拱起一塊，好象人故意縮起來一樣。
劉志全和劉志雙知道，娘不是故意示弱的人，那就是她的确露出老态。從什麽時候開始的呢？劉志全和劉志雙沒法給出答案，因為他們不知道從什麽時候起，目光已經不再局限于娘，有了更讓他們關注的對象。
劉志雙心裏激靈一下，笑着說：“娘不去就不去，現在我都娶媳婦了，娘是不該幹那麽重的活了。娘你放心，以後兒子掙工分養你。”
劉志全說不出這麽漂亮的話，嘴張了幾張才說：“娘，等彩鳳坐完月子，你就在家帶孩子，別去上工了。”
夏菊花心說，王彩鳳坐完月子就該輪到孫紅梅了，一個接一個的我也得能上得了工。不過她不會真的說出來，面上帶着欣慰笑着說：“娘知道你們心疼我，現在我還能幹得動呢，等真幹不動了再說吧。”
不知道劉志全和劉志雙回屋和各自的媳婦說了什麽，等第二天夏菊花起來的時候，發現兩個兒媳婦都已經起來了，掃地的掃地做飯的做飯，連後院的雞都喂過了，還給她打了洗臉水。
夏菊花再一次體會到，不管自己做了什麽事，都得說了出來讓人知道，要不自己累死了，別人還嫌自己死的不是時候呢。
She would not be like she was in her previous life, feeling extremely terrified just because her two daughters-in-law did some work for her - in her previous life, when Xia Juhua served them, both of them felt at ease. As a mother-in-law, Xia Juhua had nothing to feel guilty about being taken care of by her daughters-in-law.
After dinner, Xia Juhua ran into Sun Zhaodi again on her way to work. The two of them walked together to the production team. Sun Zhaodi jokingly said, "You fried peanuts every day a few days ago, and my grandson cried. You didn't fry them these past two days, and he's standing by the wall every day waiting to smell the aroma."
Xia Juhua said a little embarrassedly: "If these were our own peanuts, I would have given a handful to my child. The ones sent by the supply and marketing cooperative are all in limited quantities. They are public goods, and we dare not miss a single one."