Xia Juhua's character was evident in these years. She worked diligently and carefully, and never did what others did, such as being lazy or secretly hiding some food to take home. Only with the permission of the production team would she follow others to dig ditches and pick up some rotten seeds that fell on the ground.
So she said that she didn't dare to take away the public property. Sun Zhaodi believed her and said with a smile: "I know, I'm just chatting with you."
Xia Juhua knew that Sun Zhaodi might be just chatting and would sit down to weave mats, but some people were not just chatting. There were many who hated others for what they had and laughed at others for what they had not, and there were many who secretly thought about how many peanuts they had stolen.
Although it was true that some raw peanuts were left, Xia Juhua felt that she earned them with her own skills, so why should anyone talk about it? Just as she was thinking about how to shut up those women, Liu Erzhuang rode past her on his bicycle.
Xia Juhua glanced at Sun Zhaodi and asked, "Didn't you hear the whistle? We are late. Has Erzhuang assigned all the work?" If he hadn't assigned all the work, what was he, the production team leader, doing in such a hurry?
Sun Zhaodi looked at the sun and said affirmatively, "I didn't hear the whistle either. Did the captain go to the brigade union? Liu Sanzhuang will assign us work again today."
Ping'an Village does not have a deputy captain. In the past, when Liu Erzhuang was not there, Liu Sanzhuang assigned the work for his brother. Xia Juhua thought what Sun Zhaodi said made sense and just nodded in response.
Sun Zhaodi was used to Xia Juhua's behavior, and did not feel that she was being ignored for not getting a response to her words. She just quickened her pace and walked towards the production team's yard - maybe the people in the production team would know what Liu Erzhuang was doing in such a hurry.
When they arrived at the production team, they found that there were more people there today than in previous days. Many of them had smiles on their faces and were talking in groups of three or five. They didn't even need to listen to what everyone was saying, because Li Changwang's family had already squeezed over and said, "You two are really patient. You came at this time."
Xia Juhua and Sun Zhaodi usually didn't like to visit each other, so they had no source of information. Therefore, they didn't understand why going to work on time meant they were considered to be patient.
Li Changwang's family knew from their expressions that the two didn't know the good news yet, so they couldn't help but keep it a secret: "Do you know that it's not the captain who assigned us the work today, it's Liu Sanzhuang who assigned us the work."
Xia Juhua looked at Li Changwang's family with some amusement. She never thought that Li Changwang's family had the hobby of keeping things that everyone knew a secret.
If someone responds to the question, it's fun. If no one responds, it's a bit embarrassing. Li Changwang's family is not the kind of person who will embarrass themselves. Seeing that Xia Juhua and Sun Zhaodi didn't intend to ask him why Liu Sanzhuang was assigned to do the job, he directly gave the answer:
"The brigade just sent a message saying that the grain station will be able to settle part of the public grain payment today, and asked all production teams to go quickly to avoid being settled by other brigades, and not knowing how long we have to wait. So our team leader went to the grain station, and we hope that he can settle all the commune money."
No wonder. Most of the production team's income came from the money they received from paying the public rations. But the grain station would not pay the money to the production teams immediately when the public rations were paid each year. Instead, it would wait until the grain station collected all the public rations and reported the amount to the higher authorities before slowly returning the money.
Sometimes, if luck is bad, the public grain money will not be returned during the New Year. The production team that does not receive the public grain money can only distribute dividends to members after the New Year. If any production team encounters this situation, the members will not have a good New Year - farmers rely on dividends all year round. Without dividends, there is no money to buy New Year's things, so how can they celebrate the New Year.
So every time they heard the news of paying the public grain money, not only were the production team cadres happy, but the members also looked forward to it. Even Xia Juhua, who was not too tight on money, smiled a little: "It would be great if Erzhuang could pay back all the public grain money."
Although everyone knew from past experience that it was impossible, many people still agreed with Xia Juhua's opinion. Several women felt that the invisible barrier between them and Xia Juhua was gone, because they had a common expectation, right?
It was obvious that everyone was a little distracted while working. Xia Juhua was not affected at all, and she sat down again to peel the reeds with the same skill. An Baoling sat next to her, and two reeds broke in the middle of peeling, and then she simply stopped peeling, and she concentrated on talking to Xia Juhua:
"Sister-in-law, you said that the grain station has settled the public grain money, so it should be time to settle the grain-carrying team's money too."
It turns out that everyone was thinking about this. Xia Juhua could not give an accurate answer, and could only infer based on common sense: "Since it was the brigade that notified them, then all the production teams were notified. If the grain station had received less money, they would not have notified so many production teams." Instead, they relied on the relationship between the production teams and the grain station staff to find out the news and quietly collect the money.
An Baoling looked at Xia Juhua with some admiration: "How come you think so clearly? I didn't think of it. If the grain station has more money, the grain-carrying team can also get some money." After saying that, she slapped her thigh excitedly and said, "That's great. I get one share of the dividends, and the grain-carrying team gets another share. Together, we can have a good New Year."
Are you sure you can have a good New Year? Xia Juhua looked at An Baoling with some disbelief, but did not say anything to break her fantasy: the old Liu family is still headed by the Sun family. Logically, no matter the dividends from Liu Sanzhuang's family or the income from the grain-carrying team, they must first be handed over to the Sun family, and then distributed to each family by the Sun family.
Liu Sizhuang and his wife worked three days fishing and two days drying the nets, but their work points were not enough to exchange for food, so they could not get much money. This time when they went to the grain station to carry food, Liu Sizhuang was unwilling to work hard, so Liu Erzhuang did not dare to let him slack off like he did in the production team, so he was excluded and would not get a share. In other words, all the money in the Liu family was earned by Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang.
But when the money comes into Sun's hands, she will keep a part for herself, and the rest will most likely be divided equally among the three families - this is what Sun did when Xia Juhua had not yet divided the old Liu family. She said it nicely: You are brothers, and I can't favor one over the other, so just give it the same amount, one part and four parts, neither more nor less, and each family gets one part.
At that time, Xia Juhua had her own opinions, but Liu Dazhuang persuaded her that her father had passed away early and it was not easy for Sun to raise five children alone, so she could divide the property however she wanted. How many years could it be divided?
It was indeed only divided for about ten years here at Xia Juhua's place, but Li Daya and An Baoling have continued to use the same method of division. Xia Juhua doesn't believe that Li Daya and An Baoling have no objections.
No one is made of clay. Didn't Li Daya explode a few days ago? An Baoling is not a good-tempered person either. In addition, the children of the two families are getting older and older, and more and more places need money. Xia Juhua feels that they will not endure it forever.
Perhaps it was because Xia Juhua's expression was too obvious, An Baoling could see what she was thinking. She glanced to the side and whispered in Xia Juhua's ear, "I know what you're worried about, but this year I don't have to ask for Second Sister-in-law to agree."
Will it matter if Li Daya disagrees? Sun has been partial to him for so many years. Liu Erzhuang is now the same role as Liu Dazhuang back then. It will be useless if Li Daya disagrees alone.
Xia Juhua looked at An Baoling in disbelief, which made An Baoling laugh: "You don't believe it? Let me tell you, Second Sister-in-law didn't come to work today, she hasn't come to work for several days."
Yes, Xia Juhua scanned the yard and didn't see Li Daya. She imitated An Baoling and asked in a low voice, "She hasn't been to work yet?"
There is no need to ask since when you stopped working. Those who understand will understand.
An Baoling nodded with a schadenfreude and said, "Since the old lady had a quarrel with you that day, she has not been working. She doesn't cook at home, sweep the yard, or feed the chickens. She only washes clothes for the whole family."
You have no opinion on this? Xia Juhua looked at An Baoling suspiciously.
An Baoling didn't feel uncomfortable at all. She leisurely picked up another reed pole, rested the reed knife on the pole head, and pretended to be working. She kept talking: "I think my second sister-in-law has been more tired than me these years. She is tired and tired. It's good for her to take a break. Anyway, I go to work every day, and when I go home, I have to serve Sanzhuang and his uncles. I can't go home and not even have a ready-made meal. I have to earn work points!"
She shook her head with some regret when she said this: "It's just that the fourth daughter-in-law's cooking is really bad. Even the porridge is burnt. Why doesn't she just burn the pot? It would be a good opportunity to split up the family."
Xia Juhua was frightened by her bold words and laughed: "You better stop talking. If others hear it, they will think that I, the separated daughter-in-law, am instigating you to go against your mother-in-law."
An Baoling stopped talking and just looked at Xia Juhua with a reed pole in one hand and a reed knife in the other.
Xia Juhua didn't hear her answer. She looked up from the reeds she was scraping and asked in confusion, "Why are you looking at me?"
"Sister-in-law, I feel like you've changed completely since you married our young daughter-in-law," An Baoling said solemnly.
Xia Juhua was shocked and said in a somewhat concealed tone, "Why change? Haven't I always been like this?"
"It's different." An Baoling said confidently: "Even if you knew that others would talk about it before, you would not say it to their faces. And no matter how chaotic your family was, you would not say anything in front of outsiders."
Xia Juhua had not expected An Baoling to be so observant. She wanted to argue with her, but she felt she had no way to start - she herself was indeed behaving differently from before, and it was obvious to others even if she didn't deny it.
An Baoling had her own interpretation of Xia Juhua's hesitation to speak: "I think you're doing well this way, really. In the past, you didn't say anything when you were wronged, and those who cared about you didn't know how to help you. Those who felt wronged by you thought you deserved it, and they thought it wasn't wronged when they saw the excitement. Otherwise, why didn't you say anything?"
想想的确是這個道理，夏菊花默不作聲的點了點頭：“以前有啥法子，我一個年輕寡婦，多說幾句別人就得指着脊梁骨說我不安份。讓人說多了，兩個孩子娶媳婦都費勁。現在我兒子都娶媳婦了，我還怕啥。”
原來是因為這個。安寶玲高興的看着夏菊花說：“你早該這麽想。再說你那個小兒媳婦一看就跟孫桂芝是親姑侄，你平時不壓着點兒，她還不得反了天。”
說完想起上回自己勸夏菊花的話來，問：“上回我跟你說的，你記着呢吧。志全他們哥兩扛糧食包的錢，還有分紅錢，可不能都給他們自己收着，要不你小兒媳婦，得把志雙那份都拿回娘家去。”
夏菊花被安寶玲逗笑了：“你剛才不是還生氣老太太把你們分紅的錢都收上去嗎，咋到我這就勸我收着了？”
“你能跟老太太一樣？”安寶玲看傻子一樣看着夏菊花：“你自己掙的工分不比志全他們哥兩少，志全兩兄弟下地一樣吃得下辛苦，掙的工分一樣多，咋分也沒人吃虧。”
夏菊花剛想點頭同意安寶玲的話，就聽到有人在場院外頭喊了一聲：“隊長回來了。”
劉二壯回來了，拿沒拿回錢來呢？所有編葦席的婦女都放下手裏的活計，眼睛望向生産隊的方向，好象如果能看到劉二壯，一張張票子就能分到自己手裏一樣。
沒一會，生産隊那院就傳來了哨聲，随後會計就高聲大嚷的叫：“一家來一個主事的到生産隊，聽着呀，是主事的，不相幹的人別來湊熱鬧。”
夏菊花放下葦刀站了起來，被滿場院的婦女們羨慕不已，都笑着催她：“快去吧，記得回來跟我們說說，一個工分算多少錢。”聲音是前所未有的親近。
生産隊屋裏已經擠不下人了，夏菊花直接站在人群外頭，沒試圖擠進屋裏。這些年她都是這樣，從來沒跟別人一樣，非得把會計記好的工從頭查到尾，生怕給自己漏記一個工。
有劉二壯這個生産隊長在，夏菊花不操這個心，再說夏菊花這時候也不認字——上輩子夏菊花是劉保國上學以後，跟着學了幾個字，數也學會算加減，就這她也不覺得自己比會計的水平更高。
“行了行了，你認字嗎還老看？”果不其然，會計不耐煩的聲音已經傳出來了，劉二壯也往出攆人：“都出去都出去，喊到誰的名字誰再進來。出去——再不出去今天就不分紅了，聽到沒？！”
連威脅帶恐吓，大家不情願的出了屋，都圍在窗戶下頭想聽聽別人家記了多少工，能分多少錢。聽到誰家上工的人多、一年分了快四百塊錢，會響起一片羨慕的感嘆，要是誰家上工的人少，工分除了換了糧食只分不到一百塊錢，也會有人當面嘲笑。
夏菊花已經聽明白了，今年生産隊一個工能分一毛一分錢，比去年少了一分。好在婦女們還在編的葦席，多少還多些盼望，沒人對一毛一的工分不滿意，最關心的還是自家現在能分多少錢。
拿到手的才是自己的，農民自有自己的智慧。所以不管是受羨慕的人還是被嘲笑的人，數着自己手裏為數不多的票子，臉上都有一絲笑容。
夏菊花一邊聽着會計大聲誰家該領多少分紅，一邊看着拿到分紅的人笑着出門，心裏跟着高興起來：不管明年是不是跟上輩子一樣鬧災，至少現在日子比前兩年好過不少，不能因為擔心明年就不過現在的日子。再說手裏有點兒錢，對搞災難也多了點底氣不是。
“夏菊花，夏菊花來了沒？”會計的聲音傳出來，站在門口的跟着回頭大聲叫夏菊花的名字。夏菊花應了一聲，大家給她讓出一條縫，她三擠兩擠進了屋。
“夏菊花上工三百零五天，記三千零五十個工，換糧用去兩千個工，該分紅一百一十五塊五毛錢。”會計念完了問夏菊花：“對吧？”
夏菊花點了點頭：“對。”
這麽痛快的人不多見，會計更滿意了，接着往下念：“劉志全上工二百九十天，記二千九百個工……”
前頭會計念什麽夏菊花不在意，她只記家裏每個人最後分的錢數，劉志全是九十九塊錢，王彩鳳分五十八塊九毛六分，劉志雙比劉志全多了一塊一，是一百零一毛。全家算下來，足足從會計手裏接過了三百七十三塊五毛錢。
一年的收入呀。
夏菊花接過來都覺得沉甸甸的，不客氣的當着會計的面數了起來。因為夏菊花沒跟別人似的先從工分查起，會計很寬容的等着她在屋裏把錢數好，才叫下一個人。
在等下個人進來的空兒，會計還跟夏菊花開了個玩笑：“嫂子，你們家今年分的可不少，該買點肉炖炖了吧？”
夏菊花往手指頭上吐了點吐沫，接着數錢沒搭理他，會計也不惱，看了盯着桌上錢的劉二壯說：“隊長，你們家的錢，是等老太太來領，還是你帶回去？”
這時夏菊花已經數完了錢，向劉二壯和會計點了點頭就開始往外擠，聽到劉二壯說：“我們今年各領各的吧。”
夏菊花的步子停了一下，接着往出擠。說到底老劉家怎麽領錢，在夏菊花這兒都是別人家的事，雖然安寶玲把前因跟她講了，她也不會再等着聽後果——自己家很快要面臨同樣的問題，她沒閑心理別人家的事。
中午吃飯的時候，桌上出現了久違的餅子，大家心照不宣的沒有問原因，也沒有人矯情的說不吃。等吃完了，夏菊花對劉志雙說：“下午你別上工了，去公社看看能買到肉不，買二斤回來。”
劉志雙樂了：“娘請客？”
“憑啥是我請客？”夏菊花對小兒子的二皮臉有了新認知，不客氣的說：“你自己不下地還是掙不來工分，非得讓你娘請客。”
劉志雙笑的更歡了：“咱們家的錢不都在娘這兒放着呢嗎，當然得娘請客。”
“行了，知道你惦記着分紅呢，等吃完肉了再說。”夏菊花給所有人吃了一顆定心丸，王彩鳳和孫紅梅的眼睛都亮了。
劉志全有些不高興的看了劉志雙一眼，說：“哪兒那麽多廢話，要不我去。”
劉志雙連忙擺手：“我去我去，咋也得讓你明年跟我掙的一邊多才行。”
夏菊花笑了，心裏明鏡似的知道劉志全為啥不高興：自從劉志雙下地掙全工分以來，兄弟兩個掙的都一邊多，今年劉志全比劉志雙少一塊錢，他覺得當哥的權威受到了挑戰。
王彩鳳則看了一言不發的孫紅梅一眼，裏頭帶着不滿。夏菊花也知道為什麽，還不是因為孫紅梅嫁過來的時候已經秋收完了，她不僅沒帶過口糧來，連工分也都留在了孫家莊。不用問，孫家也不會把今年的分紅給孫紅梅，等于一直到明年秋收，孫紅梅都是白吃飯。
不過夏菊花早不管兩個兒媳婦之間的小動作，下午該去編葦席還去編，對別人開玩笑的說她要是真跟着婦女們一起幹活，明年分不到今年這麽些錢也不在乎。
多掙工分多分紅固然讓人高興，夏菊花卻知道付出的是自己健康的代價。這輩子她不會那麽傻了，除了多掙錢以外，她最想做的就是讓自己有個好身體，免得跟上輩子一樣，不等入冬就連咳帶腿疼還沒人心疼。
終于聽到下工的哨聲，場院裏好幾個婦女早早放下了手裏的活計，連跑帶颠的往家裏跑。孫招弟還是跟夏菊花一起往回走，問她：“今天晚上你們家吃啥？”
夏菊花笑了一下反問她：“你們家就沒人去公社買肉？”
孫招弟看夏菊花一眼搖了搖頭：“沒去。我們家那兩兒媳婦幹活不行，還不如你們家大兒媳婦帶個孩子分的多。小妮剛開始下地，一天掙的工分剛夠糊她自己的嘴，還想吃肉，過年能吃上肉就不錯。”
夏菊花勸她說：“好歹都幹了一年活兒了，分紅也得見點肉不是。”
孫招弟還是搖頭：“還有個小三沒說媳婦呢，哪兒能光顧着吃。”
這下夏菊花沒法再勸了。各家過日子有各家的難，孫招弟比自己多一個兒子，就得多出一份彩禮，還得琢磨三兒子娶媳婦住在哪兒，花錢的地方的确多。
兩人一走近家，就聞到了一股濃郁的肉香，孫招弟有些羨慕的碰了碰夏菊花的胳膊說：“你可算是熬出來了，進家就吃現成的。”
又是熬。
夏菊花有些無奈的說：“你們家的飯也該做好了，你也有現成飯吃。”
飯和飯能一樣嗎？哪怕桌子上只擺了一個大海碗，可劉家所有人的臉上都挂着藏不住的笑容，就連孫紅梅都不得不承認，幸虧自己前兩天沒因為面子回娘家，要不哪兒能見着這麽大塊的炖肉。
她娘家過年也吃點我兒肉，可那肉都是她娘分到每個人碗裏的，分給她的肉渣夾都夾不起來。
可王彩鳳就那麽把劉志雙買回來的二斤肉切成紅棗大小，直接炖到軟爛後又放進幾個大土豆，連肉上的肥膘都沒剔下來煉油！
她咋那麽不會過呀！孫紅梅忍不住提醒王彩鳳，應該去場院問問婆婆是不是留點肉下頓吃。
王彩鳳是怎麽回答的來着，她說每年分紅後，家裏都這麽吃一回，還讓她吃的時候別不好意思，下回再想吃就得等到過年了。
孫紅梅這時候由衷的感謝自己的姑姑，覺得她是真心為自己好才給自己說了這麽好的婆家，要不自己一輩子也沒有大口吃肉的機會。
“奶，奶！”比孫紅梅顯得更激動的是劉保國，他一直圍着桌轉圈子，一伸手就被親娘罵一句或是打下手背，還是不屈不撓的繼續伸手。發現親娘一直盯着自己，轉而向剛進屋的夏菊花求助。
“小孩子都嘴饞，你給他夾一塊先占住嘴。”夏菊花一個沒忍住，用上輩子說慣了的口吻吩咐王彩鳳。
“都是奶奶慣的你。”王彩鳳一點兒也不走心的埋怨了一句，高興的拿筷子挑了一塊半肥不瘦的肉塞到兒子嘴裏，她就知道，婆婆最疼保國，不會一直讓保國饞的留口水。
“娘，你咋不讓我也先吃一塊。”劉志雙做出吃侄子醋的樣子，說：“你知道我搶這塊肉多不容易嗎，人家都說不賣了，我好說歹說才買到手。”
雖然沒看到劉志雙買回來的肉是什麽樣，精于做飯的夏菊花從炖好的肉不難看出來，這塊肉真不孬。肉上有不少大肥膘，王彩鳳炖的時候一定放了大醬，肥肉也帶着暗褐色，冒着熱氣擺在那裏，讓人不自覺的想咽口水。
這麽好的肉，夏菊花不相信僅憑劉志雙幾句好話就能買到手，直接拆穿他：“真是你自己說說好話，人家就賣給你了？”
劉志雙沒想到娘的問題這麽犀利，有點不好意思的看了王彩鳳一眼，說：“那個，我去的時候看到嫂子的堂姐了，人家彩霞姐熱心腸，主動問我有啥事，我就……”
這小子撒謊都不打草稿。夏菊花看着他接着問：“我咋記着供銷社不賣肉呢，你那麽巧就碰着彩霞了？”
劉志雙哪想到親娘看事看的這麽準，頭不由的低下，嘴裏嘟嚷着：“我不也是沒辦法嗎，副食店裏的肉，什麽時候都給熟人留着。去年咱們買的時候，只買到兩根肉剔得幹幹淨淨的骨頭。”
“這段時間娘你一直打不起精神來，我想着得買點好肉讓你高興高興，這才去找了彩霞姐。”
王彩鳳被小叔子的不要臉吓着了：“你咋認識我姐的？”
劉志雙有些不好意思的看了嫂子一眼，說：“我是不認識彩霞姐，可我會打聽呀。到供銷社一問，別人就指給我看了，再一說咱們家跟彩霞姐的關系，彩霞姐就領着我去買肉了。”
真有想法呀。夏菊花打量着自己的小兒子，不得不承認劉志雙一直留在村裏種地太屈才了。這要是讓他出去做生意，他還不得……
慢慢的，夏菊花心裏有了一個想法，不過現在還不是提的時候，又看了一眼劉志雙，就讓大家一起吃飯。
能吃上炖肉，還是大塊大塊的炖肉，沒有人不高興。當然夏菊花沒讓劉保國小朋友多吃——小孩子腸胃本來就弱，又長時間沒什麽油水，一次吃多了容易傷了腸胃。
王彩鳳心裏不是不替兒子遺憾，可也知道婆婆完全是為了兒子好，要不也不會讓她單獨留出一小碗炖肉來，在接下來的幾天給劉保國吃點小竈。
此時大家的心思，一半放在吃肉上，還有一半放在吃完飯後的家庭會議上，大家都想聽聽夏菊花對分紅的錢怎麽安排。
夏菊花沒讓大家多等，看着孫紅梅把碗筷都收拾下去，王彩鳳麻利的擦好桌子，她就把今天分紅的錢掏出來放到桌子上。
領分紅的時候有生産隊的錢對比着，沒顯出自家的錢多。現在擺到桌子上，大小不一的票子摞在一起，人人看着都覺得今年一年沒白幹。
見孫紅梅也坐到劉志雙身邊，夏菊花開口了：“今年你們三個都下力氣了，分紅錢我也拿回來了。不過現在你們都成家了，這錢由誰拿着，以後家裏日子怎麽過，得有個章程。”
劉志全想說都由娘管着，後襟被人拉了一下，不用回頭也知道是自己媳婦。劉志全張開的嘴就又閉上了，夏菊花說完就一直看着兩個兒子兒媳婦的反應，把劉志全和王彩鳳的小動作看個正着，目光只停留了一下就重新盯着桌子上的錢。
屋裏的人目光也都看着桌上的錢，誰也沒有孫紅梅的目光熱切。如果可以，孫紅梅多想上前一步把所有的錢都拿到手裏，然後快點回西廂房，找一個連劉志雙都不知道的地方放起來。
然後她可以用這錢做身新衣裳，再用這錢上供銷社買點心買酒帶回娘家，那時候娘的臉就不會拉的那麽長，也不會張口就罵自己白吃飽賠錢貨，而是對她笑臉相迎。孫家莊的人都會知道自己嫁的好，過了門在婆家說了算……
殘存的理智讓孫紅梅穩穩的坐在原地，她不能那麽幹。自從那天她說出要回娘家又留下，搭上孫氏被孫桂芝挑唆來家裏鬧過一次之後，孫紅梅在家裏已經沒什麽地位了。每天如果不是劉志雙還跟她說幾句話，她在家裏連個說話的人都沒有。
同樣是兒媳婦身份，王彩鳳的日子比她過得自在多了。不是因為王彩鳳先進門，又是嫂子，而是王彩鳳沒犯過她同樣的錯誤。連王彩鳳現在都得老實的坐在劉志全身後不出聲，孫紅梅除了熱切的看着桌子上的錢以外，哪敢有別的動作。
劉志雙沒有身後眼，看不到孫紅梅眼裏貪婪的神色，見大哥沒說話，他開口了：“娘，咱家的錢不一直都是你管着嗎，也沒少了我們吃穿。要我說還是跟往年一樣，都由娘管着就行了。”
夏菊花拿他的話當空氣，已經把桌子上的錢分成了四份：“這是咱們四個今年各人的分紅。志全今年為張羅你兄弟的親事，少上了一天工，比他少了一塊錢。你別心裏不好受，也別怨你兄弟，誰讓你是當大哥的呢。前兩天我給保國買了新棉花，就是替志雙補償你們的。”
王彩鳳從劉志全身後探出頭來說：“娘，你可別這麽說。別說志雙是志全的兄弟，他娶媳婦當哥哥的不張羅誰張羅。就是隔壁鄰居家有事兒，咱們不也得幫忙嘛。保國那床棉花錢，我們自己出。”
夏菊花贊同的看了王彩鳳一眼，把王彩鳳看的胸脯挺了起來，身子板板正正的跟劉志全差不多高。劉志全終于說了一句：“彩鳳說的對。娘我下年好好幹，明年分紅肯定不會比志雙少。”
“哥。”劉志雙故做不滿的叫了一聲，大家都樂了，夏菊花就接着往下說：“不算就不算，你們能這麽想我還當啥惡人。”
“我是這麽想的，我掙的工分我自己拿着，咱們現在還沒分家，遇到大事小情的還得一起出錢，你們掙的工分我就拿一半，剩下的你們自己留着。畢竟将來孩子越來越多，肯定住不下，你們平時少花點，想着點出去蓋房子的事。”
“娘你說啥呢。”劉志全這回不幹了：“村裏誰家有咱們家住的寬敞，用不着出去蓋房子。再說我們蓋了房子，留娘你一個人住着，有個頭疼腦熱的都沒人知道，我不放心。”
你放心的時候長着呢。夏菊花頭一次跟兩個兒子提讓他們出去蓋房子的事兒，也沒想着馬上就說通，為的是讓他們心裏有個印象，下次提分開的時候不至于太讓人反感。
劉志雙接着他哥的話說：“反正我們還沒孩子呢，西廂房又是新起的，不用出去蓋新房子。”
你們兩個是打算賴上我了是吧？夏菊花有些無奈的看了看兩個兒子，把他們上輩子對自己說的理由重複出來：“老大，你們不光有保國，眼看着彩鳳三月又得坐月子，就是兩個孩子。等孩子大了不得跟你們分房睡，到時東廂房睡不下。”
“老二你們住的是西廂房，夏天西曬日頭毒，冬天西北風吹着冷，可不是什麽好住處。娘不想讓人說娘偏心，今天把話給你們說到這兒，啥時候你們手裏錢夠了，啥時候你們就給我出去蓋房子去。你們搬走了，我還能過兩天清靜日子。”
劉志全的劉志雙聽到夏菊花說到清靜兩個字，都想起那晚上夏菊花順着下巴掉下的淚，一時沒法說別的。劉志雙更是回頭看了孫紅梅一眼，眼中的埋怨十分明顯。
Sun Hongmei moved her body a little, with a smile on her face, and called out to Xia Juhua, "Mom, people say that you have a house full of children and grandchildren, why do you still think we are not quiet?"
Xia Juhua continued to fiddle with the bills on the table. She ignored Sun Hongmei and started to divide the money. She pocketed her own dividend first, then Liu Zhiquan and Wang Caifeng's. "I just said that you two should take care of half. Is that okay?"
Wang Caifeng was silent again, but Sun Hongmei became anxious. Even if she could make her mother-in-law more dissatisfied with her, she had to say, "Mom, how can you only manage half of it?"