Xia Juhua's voice was not loud and she sounded a little trembling, obviously because she had never spoken in front of so many people. As the production team leader, she had to beg the members to give her face. People felt more sympathetic towards Xia Juhua, saying that she would not be late. Some even came forward to persuade Xia Juhua not to worry before leaving. In the end, only the three brothers Liu Erzhuang and Liu Zhiquan stayed.
Liu Erzhuang never thought that he would not be the production team leader, but his sister-in-law would be forced to be the production team leader. He still didn't understand how it turned out. He scratched his head and said, "Sister-in-law, don't worry. If anyone dares to disobey you, I will bring Zhiquan and a few other brothers to help you deal with them."
In the countryside, when things don't make sense, the one with more brothers and stronger fists can really gain the upper hand by brute force. Xia Juhua heard Liu Erzhuang's promise and modestly gratefully: "I used to just listen to orders and work, and I really don't know what the production team leader does. It would be great if you are willing to teach me."
Liu Zhiquan still hasn't recovered from the shock of his mother suddenly becoming the production team leader. He asked, "Mom, do you really want to be the production team leader?"
Xia Juhua now realizes more and more that the reason she ended up like that in her previous life was largely due to her two sons' inaction, so she was not polite to him: "Everyone shouted at me at that time. If I don't take this job, I will be going against everyone in Ping'an Village. It's disrespectful. Will everyone still be able to associate with our family in the future?"
That's true, but can you do it? Liu Zhiquan looked at his mother who was becoming more and more powerful, and kept silent. Xia Juhua didn't let him go, and asked: "How many people are there in total to build the canal together? What is the total workload of our production team? How much have you dug? How much is left?"
Chen Qiu Sheng's eyes lit up, thinking that Xia Juhua's questions had hit the nail on the head: Li Changshun's requirement to Xia Juhua at the members' meeting was to ensure that the canal construction was completed well. There was no point in repairing the canal without understanding the progress.
Liu Erzhuang opened his mouth to answer for Liu Zhiquan, but Xia Juhua stopped him: "Erzhuang, don't worry about him, just let him talk. There are so many things going on in the production team. If he doesn't keep an eye on me, how can I handle it all by myself?"
Liu Zhiquan felt proud of himself for being his mother's eyes, and decided that he could not just work hard in the future, but also take care of the production team for his mother. After all, his mother was already old, and other women of her age usually only worked in the first half of the year, but his mother had to worry about the production of a production team.
Liu Zhishuang also raised his head. Xia Juhua was looking at him and said the same thing: "Don't think that your brother is enough. You have to help mom keep an eye on her, too."
Liu Erzhuang and Chen Qiu Sheng looked at each other in surprise: You just became the production team leader, and you let your son keep an eye on the production team in front of us, is that really a good idea?
Xia Juhua didn't care whether it was good or not. After listening to Liu Zhiquan's grumbling and Liu Zhishuang's supplement, she had an idea of the progress of the canal repair, so she sent them back home: "Fix the chicken coop and clean the toilet. When you're done, turn over the vegetable patch in the backyard."
After the two men left, Xia Juhua glanced at Liu Erzhuang and Chen Qiu Sheng, who had complicated expressions, lowered her head, and stopped talking.
Hearing the tone of her words when she spoke to her son just now, Chen Qiu Sheng could imagine that if the members knew that Xia Xiao made her son plow the soil in the middle of winter, they would definitely regret choosing her as the production team leader.
Liu Erzhuang wondered if he had been too relaxed with his two sons. Now that the family had separated, he had to make them as diligent as Zhiquan and his wife. Not only did his sons have to be diligent, but he also had to work harder. Maybe Zhiquan and his wife learned to be diligent because of his sister-in-law's ability.
If Zhiquan and the other two were as diligent as my sister-in-law, and if in the production team was as diligent as my sister-in-law, then Ping'an Village would get a year's work points... Liu Erzhuang got so excited at the thought that he slapped his thigh hard, destroying the silence in the room.
Xia Juhua and Chen Qiu Sheng looked at Liu Erzhuang together.
Liu Erzhuang felt embarrassed to be stared at, so he came up with an excuse: "Sister-in-law, I just remembered that although the production team is not sure, we two still have to hand over. Qiu Sheng is here, so he can be a witness for us. What do you think?"
Xia Juhua had been waiting but hadn't gone home, because she didn't know how to bring up the matter with Liu Erzhuang - no matter whether Liu Erzhuang had quit on his own initiative or the brigade had forbidden him to be the production team leader, when the time came to let go, she would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed.
It's just like when you told your sons in your previous life that you agreed to let them build a house and move to a new home, but when the day came for them to actually move, you felt a bad feeling in your heart.
It was the best thing that Liu Erzhuang brought it up himself. Chen Qiu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and took out the production team's run-of-the-mill account and started reading it out to the two of them one by one.
The production team was really poor. The village of 94 households had only 340.85 yuan in surplus. There were no mechanical equipment. Seven cows and several iron plows were the most important production tools. In addition, there were seven pigs. Five of them had to be delivered to the county before the New Year. The remaining two could be slaughtered and distributed to each household.
"That's all?" Xia Juhua looked at the tattered account book in disbelief. "Is this all the money the production team has?"
Liu Erzhuang said with some pride: "It's not a small amount, sister-in-law. It's just that there is a little left in the past two years. After paying the levy on the accounts in the past few years, there was nothing left." Chen Qiu Sheng nodded to testify for him, and Xia Juhua remained silent.
She remembered that she had more money in her last life before she took the medicine. Never mind, let's not talk about the last life. Although this life is a little poor, it's better than the last life.
Of course, it would be better to have money and be comfortable. So Xia Juhua asked: "Can we do something to make money?"
Liu Erzhuang was shocked: "Sister-in-law, don't make a fuss. The production team is different from your family. It's not that the family members just need to be strict. No one can tell the temperament of four or five hundred people. If one lets something slip..."
I was telling the truth, and I was genuinely worried about Xia Juhua, but Xia Juhua was more worried that this little money would not be enough to cope with natural disasters next year: "This little money is not enough to buy fertilizers in the spring."
The seeds were picked and saved by the production team during the autumn harvest, so they didn't have to spend any money. The fertilizer production team couldn't produce it themselves, so they had to buy it from the supply and marketing cooperatives.
After hearing what Xia Juhua said, Liu Erzhuang and Chen Qiu Sheng laughed: "Sister-in-law, no production team buys fertilizers with cash. They all pay the supply and marketing cooperatives back after selling the public grain after the autumn harvest." Otherwise, how could the director of the supply and marketing cooperative be so powerful that he said that fertilizers would be given priority to that production team, and the other production teams didn't even dare to say a word.
You didn't even give them money, so why shouldn't they give you something they like?
Liu Erzhuang was even somewhat glad that Xia Juhua was the next production team leader: "Sister-in-law, you have a lot of dealings with the supply and marketing cooperatives. We can count on fertilizers for our production team next year."
Thinking of the supply and marketing cooperative, Xia Juhua's heart moved. She continued to listen to Liu Erzhuang telling her how to deal with the brigade, the commune, the supply and marketing cooperative and even the grain station. It was time for dinner and the three of them left the production team.
On the way back, more people greeted Xia Juhua than usual. No matter they were familiar with her or not, they all said, "Captain Xia, don't worry. I will definitely work hard with you."
Regardless of whether what she said was sincere or not, Xia Juhua felt that it was much better than having her spine pointed at in her previous life. She put on a smile and nodded as she went into the house.
When Wang Caifeng saw her come in, she grinned happily, "Mom, you really make us women proud."
Liu Zhiquan shouted at her from behind in annoyance: "Go away and make trouble."
Xia Juhua's brows knitted together. Well, it turned out that what she said in the production team just now was in vain. After returning home for a while, she was using it again: "Boss, do you not want your wife to get along well with me, or do you have any objections to me being the production team leader?"
"Mom!" Liu Zhiquan's voice was still filled with impatience: "These are two different things. I'm just worried that you won't be able to hold the position for a few days, and the team will choose someone else and won't let you do it. It's a bit embarrassing."
Liu Zhiquan didn't say this alone, but the two brothers came up with it together when they went back to the vegetable garden in the backyard.
Xia Juhua had heard too many words from her two sons in her previous life, and she immediately realized that they were unwilling to let her be the production team leader. Xia Juhua ignored Liu Zhiquan and asked Liu Zhishuang who was following behind: "Second brother, do you think the same as your brother?"
Liu Zhishuang lowered his head and said nothing. As soon as his brother opened his, he knew that what he said was too direct - this might work for a woman who had no ideas, but was his mother that kind of woman without ideas? If that was the mouth case, she would not have taken them two brothers away from the old Liu family.
Regardless of whether they said anything or not, Xia Juhua already knew the attitudes of her two sons and actually smiled: "Okay, I won't embarrass you. Let's split up."
What? Liu Zhiquan didn't expect that his complaint would lead his mother to propose a separation. He immediately forgot that he had just wanted to blame Xia Juhua and turned around in confusion: "Mom, that's not what I meant. I'm not afraid that those people won't listen to you. You're working hard but still not getting any thanks. Don't you know how those old ladies in the village are..."
"Your mother is just an old woman!"
After saying this, he went straight into the main room without washing his hands in anger, and slammed the door shut, leaving his son and daughter-in-law standing in the yard, not knowing what to do.
"Mom said we should split up the family?" Wang Caifeng felt as if the sky was about to fall down: "How could mom just say we should split up the family?"
Liu Zhiquan didn't expect his mother to react so strongly. He became even more annoyed after hearing what his daughter-in-law said: "How should I know? Mother has mentioned the separation several times in the past few days."
As soon as the words came out, the three of them had the same thought in their minds: when their mother said she wanted to divide the family property, she was not trying to scare them, but she really meant it, otherwise she would not have brought it up several times, and her attitude became tougher each time.
But now they are the ones who don't want to split up the family property! Liu Zhiquan said nothing, his wife was pregnant, and Liu Baoguo couldn't get rid of her. If the family property was split up, he would have to work alone for at least three or four years to support four people. Liu Zhishuang was even worse, he didn't have a penny except for 50 kilograms of wheat.
I don’t have a wife yet, and once the family is divided, having food becomes a problem.
Liu Zhiquan strode to the front door of the main room, knocked on it and shouted angrily: "Mom, Mom, please open the door. I was in a hurry and said the wrong thing just now. It's not that I don't want to embarrass you, nor do I want to let you in."
Wang Caifeng also came over and started to complain: "Mom, Zhiquan doesn't dare to blame you, he just doesn't know how to talk. You don't even know what's wrong with your own son." Take out your anger on your son. Isn't the division of the family now going to cost me my life?
Liu Zhishuang just said: "Mom, I won't divide the family, no matter who wants to divide it." If the family is divided, I will starve to death immediately.
There was no movement in the main room, as if no one was in the room.
It's not that Xia Juhua didn't hear what they said, but she was too lazy to pay attention to them. If she didn't subdue them today, she wouldn't know how many complaints she would have to hear in the future. Plus, there were so many things to deal with during the day, and Xia Juhua was only a human being, and she had reached her limit.
Why would she bother to reason with them? She was just an old lady from the countryside, she couldn't reason with them! The job had already been done, they didn't want me to do it, so they stayed away from me.
Xia Juhua did not come out to eat that night, and even skipped washing up, breaking her habit of many years. This made the two brothers even more uneasy. They ran to the main room door again and again and knocked, but it didn't open. Seeing that the main room had no lights on, Wang Caifeng asked Liu Baoguo to knock on the door twice, but it didn't work.
Xia Juhua had no idea when they went to bed or whether they slept well. She didn't know how many times she fell asleep after hearing the knock on the door, but she woke up in the dark.
There was still a while before dawn, and Xia Juhua once again seriously thought about the possibility of splitting up the family, but she still came to the conclusion that now was not the right time: apart from other things, the housing problem would become a problem. If they split up and still lived in the same courtyard, they would not see each other when they looked down, and she could not guarantee that she would really stand by and watch when her son needed her - as a mother, she could never be cruel to her son. Maybe only a weirdo like Sun was an exception, Xia Juhua sighed, still could not be as cruel as Sun.
If the family division fails, then think about the production team. Xia Juhua is just like that. She always wants to do her best in everything she promises. She agreed to be the production team leader in order to remind everyone to prepare for famine earlier, but how to remind them is another problem.
Thinking that it was already dawn and she still hadn't figured it out, Xia Juhua's bones ached from lying down, so she got up and went out. When she opened the door, Liu Zhishuang was squatting at the door, staring at it eagerly.
As soon as he saw Xia Juhua leaving the house, he stood up suddenly, which frightened Xia Juhua who was completely unprepared. Perhaps because he had squatted for too long, Liu Zhiquan's legs were numb and he stopped where he was after taking a step, forcing out an ugly smile and calling his mother.
That face was really unbearable to look at. Xia Juhua asked unhappily, "Who are you trying to scare by squatting here so early in the morning?"
Liu Zhiquan was so aggrieved. He was afraid that his mother really wanted to split up the family, so he came up with such a stupid idea to stop her. He hoped that his mother could hear his apology as soon as possible. Who knew that his mother thought he was trying to scare her, and spoke to him with an indescribable tone of disgust.
"Mom, how dare I scare you." Liu Zhiquan moved his legs and feet while speaking weakly, "Mom, I really didn't blame you yesterday, I was just a little worried about you. Don't be angry with me, we really can't separate."
Xia Juhua glanced at him calmly and said, "Why can't it be divided? I think it's better for this family to be divided as soon as possible, so as to avoid being like your grandmother in the old courtyard, making all the sons like enemies."
Liu Zhishuang, who had been listening to the noise, also came out with his clothes on. He just happened to hear the second half of Xia Juhua's words. He stretched out his sleeves and said, "Mother, how can you be the same as my grandmother? My grandmother is extremely partial, but you always treat everyone equally."
Xia Juhua laughed in her heart. What I wanted to hear the most in my life was that you would say I was fair. But in the end, everyone said that they were partial to one person. Now you tell me that you are fair?
She really sneered out loud: "Don't flatter me. I will only serve my own purpose from now on. It's none of your business whether it's fair or not." After saying that, she turned and went to the backyard.
The toilet was in the backyard, and Xia Juhua's purpose in going to the backyard was obvious. Liu Zhiquan and Liu Zhishuang naturally couldn't chase her to ask for forgiveness, so they had to wait at the door of the main house. As soon as they waited, Wang Caifeng came out of the house yawning, and was shocked to see the two of them standing there.
When asked, she was told that they were waiting for her mother. Wang Caifeng was convinced: "Mom has been gone for such a long time. Why didn't you call me so that I could go and see her? If something happened to her, wouldn't we be delayed?" There are elderly people in the village who have no time to go to the toilet.
Of course, my mother is not old, but there is always room for error.
Wang Caifeng was worried and hurried to the backyard with her big belly. She bumped into Xia Juhua who was checking the results of the two brothers' work yesterday. Xia Juhua asked in confusion: "Why are you in such a hurry? What if we bump into each other?"
"Hey, didn't I hear from Zhiquan that mom hasn't returned to the front yard for a long time? I was worried about mom." Wang Caifeng saw that her mother-in-law was relieved, and the smile on her face was exactly the same as Liu Zhiquan's, trying to please her: "Mom, you are not angry with Zhiquan anymore, right?"
"Why should I be angry? A grown-up son is no longer under the control of his mother. Now that he has a son, he has his own ideas and looks down on me as a mother. It's normal." Xia Juhua's voice was calm.
"Zhiquan wouldn't dare." Wang Caifeng patted her chest to assure the man: "If he dares to think so, I will be the first to not live with him. Mother, please forgive him this time for Baoguo's sake. If he dares not listen to me next time, I will separate from him together with you."
Is this still the quiet daughter-in-law from her previous life? Xia Juhua looked at Wang Caifeng seriously, and Wang Caifeng almost raised her hand to swear to the sky. Xia Juhua then said, "What's the point of you getting anxious and angry? I don't get angry either."
She didn't even eat dinner because she was angry, and she was hiding from her son? Wang Caifeng muttered in her heart, and the smile on her face disappeared: "I am not as tolerant as my mother, otherwise I would rather separate from Zhiquan and live with my mother."
Xia Juhua was so upset that she quickly returned to the front yard. Wang Caifeng followed with a bulging belly, constantly reassuring Liu Zhiquan. Xia Juhua pretended not to hear and ignored Liu Zhiquan and his two brothers. However, she smiled at Liu Baoguo at the dinner table, which gave the three of them hope.
This was Xia Juhua's first day as a production team leader. After finishing her meal, she pushed her bowl aside and walked out. Wang Caifeng ignored Liu Baoguo, who had drunk all the porridge, and followed him to the gate of the yard, carefully asking, "Mom, what do you want to eat for lunch?"
Xia Juhua still didn't say anything. Wang Caifeng looked at her mother-in-law's receding back, then turned around and gave his two brothers a bitter smile: "Mom is really angry this time."
Liu Zhishuang quickly cleaned up the porridge, stood up and ran after her. He caught up with Xia Juhua when he was almost at the gate of the production team. He found that his mother had been looking at the yard not far away.
"Mom, what are you looking at?" The biggest difference between Liu Zhishuang and Liu Zhiquan is that he will not keep apologizing to Xia Juhua, but will use practical actions to tell his mother that he knows he is wrong.
As a result, when asked about the main business, Xia Juhua, who had never looked at her son straight in the eye since the beginning, also spoke up: "There is not even a place sheltered from the wind in the yard. It is too troublesome to weave mats." Now the production team is counting on making some cash from weaving mats.
"Aren't the new mats ordered by the supply and marketing cooperative almost ready?" Liu Zhishuang looked at the tall piles of reeds with worry. Cutting reeds is not an easy job. It's hard to cut them in the fall, and the women haven't used half of them yet. It would be a pity if they don't weave them anymore.
The mother and daughter were so absorbed in the reed stacks that when workers came one after another, they all stood behind them and watched the reed stacks together. It was not until Chen Qiusheng blew a whistle that Xia Juhua turned around and realized that the women weaving mats were standing behind her. She asked Li Changwang's wife with amusement, "Why didn't you call me today?"
Li Changwangjia's eyes also did not leave Weiduo: "Captain, do you think we can still arrange our seats after the supply and marketing cooperative's order is completed?"
Xia Juhua nodded affirmatively: "Weaving, why not." The new patterns of mats are no longer accepted, and the old patterns of mats are also worth money.
When the work was assigned, Li Changwang's family finally understood why Xia Juhua was so sure: the men who were supposed to repair the canals should go to the fields with Xia Juhua first, and those who were not supposed to repair the canals should transport farm manure to the fields.
Regardless of whether the women knew how to weave mats or not, they all followed the mat weavers to weave reed curtains first. Reed curtains are made by tying reed poles of equal thickness together. Apart from tying them tightly, there is no technical content. The work points for weaving reed curtains are low, and only four points are recorded a day.
"Whoever doesn't weave reed curtains this time, don't tell me next time that you want to learn to weave mats." Xia Juhua's words stopped several women who wanted to go home and lie down because of the cold weather and low work points.
Seeing that her words were effective, Xia Juhua continued to assign tasks to others. The remaining tasks were all small jobs, such as feeding cows, cleaning the cowshed, feeding pigs, etc. The original people in charge could continue to do them.
After hearing Xia Juhua's arrangement, the members actually breathed a sigh of relief: it was a good thing that the new production team leader was not completely in the dark, and it was even better that he did not reject all the arrangements made by the original production team leader. So everyone was neat and tidy, walking quickly, and looked much more energetic than usual.
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