Xia Juhua knew why Wang Caifeng didn't want to give more to her parents' home. It was because they were all poor, and when they had something good, they would first think of their own little home. Although it was a bit selfish, Xia Juhua felt that it was better than moving all the things back to her parents' home even if it meant starving her son.
Feeling satisfied, Xia Juhua said generously: "It's not a whole bunch of noodles. I don't know if your mother will dislike it. Besides, you can't say that you gave it to your mother. You should have been with your father while Zhiquan's father was alive. Otherwise, I wouldn't have married you to Zhiquan. This little thing is my way of thanking them for raising a good daughter-in-law for me."
Wang Caifeng was about to cry. She felt guilty for always thinking about how to be lazy and do some work so that her mother-in-law could support her more. "Mom..."
Before she could say anything sentimental, Xia Juhua said, "Weigh out another ten kilograms, and Zhishuang will give five kilograms to each of your two uncles."
Of course Xia Juhua would not just send gifts to Wang Caifeng's parents' home and forget about her brothers. She first said she would send gifts to Wang Caifeng's parents' home, and she sent them out in her own name. Liu Zhiquan and his wife could still say that now she wants to send some noodles to her two brothers, isn't it wrong for the leader?
When Liu Zhishuang heard that his mother had entrusted him with the important task of delivering gifts to his uncle, he was overwhelmed with joy. He even felt that his mother shouldn't have given the gift to his brother's father-in-law - he didn't have a father-in-law now, but if he had one, his mother would have definitely given it to him.
I trust my mother so much.
Xia Juhua, who didn't know she was so trusted, came to the yard again in the afternoon. She saw that the yard, which was originally exposed in the open space, was surrounded by thick reed curtains on all sides, with a slit left on the side facing the street for the women who made mats to enter and exit.
Xia Juhua first walked around the reed curtain, pushing it from time to time, and found that although the curtain swayed a few times, it was not swaying badly, so she nodded with satisfaction. Just as she was about to go in to take a look, she heard a voice from Li Changwang's house: "Whose kid is this? If you push the curtain again, I will go out and beat you up."
Xia Juhua's face softened at the confident voice - she didn't expect that Li Changwang's family would still stay here in such a cold day.
"Who do you want to hit?" Xia Juhua asked before she even entered. After asking this, the corners of her mouth curled up. Since when did she start to be so willing to joke with Li Changwang's family?
Hearing her voice, Li Changwang's mother cried out and ran out: "Captain, you are here, please talk to them, I won't listen."
Xia Juhua heard her complaining, her tone was even more furious, and she was a little curious: If Li Changwang's family was so angry, they should have quarreled with others. She had just walked around and didn't hear any sound of Li Changwang's family quarreling with others. This was not Li Changwang's character.
But now was not the time to ask this question. Xia Juhua suppressed her doubts and followed Li Changwang's family through the reed curtain. She discovered that almost all the women in Ping'an Village who were able to work in the fields were inside.
"Didn't I tell you before I went to the commune that the weather was too cold, so let everyone register how many reed stalks they had picked up and then go home to weave mats?" Xia Juhua could only ask Li Changwang's family, why were so many people staying in the yard? What was going on?
Li Changwang's family had a lot to say: "I've told them and asked the accountant to help with the registration, but they just wouldn't listen. They said it wasn't cold at all with the reed curtains, and they even drove the accountant away. They're just wasting time here."
This was the task assigned to her by Xia Juhua. In Li Changwang's eyes, it was a manifestation of Xia Juhua's trust in her and a good relationship with her. How could she not want to complete it well?
Who knows why these women are so upset that they refuse to go home no matter what they say and want to stay here and freeze. Li Changwang's family wishes that God would send a heavy snowfall so that these women can have the feeling of having snow poured down their necks.
Things didn't go as planned. The heavy snow didn't fall, but Xia Juhua came. He realized that he hadn't done his job well. Finally, the voices in Li Changwang's house became nervous: "Captain, I really persuaded them. I almost took them home. But I'm alone..."
She is so pitiful. The captain will not think that he is incapable of doing things, and he will not have to take care of these women in the future. I don't know when Li Changwang's family has positioned themselves in the position of managing women in Ping'an Village.
Xia Juhua could hear the uneasiness in Li Changwang's family and looked at her with sympathy. No wonder she was called captain instead of Mrs. Liu. She must have used herself to pressure the women a lot in the past half day.
Unfortunately it didn't work.
"Isn't it cold for to stay here?"
But are you sure you can make a good mat by squeezing them together?
Since no one wanted to go home, Xia Juhua took the opportunity to say a few words: "I went to the supply and marketing cooperative today and have already discussed with them. Tomorrow we can pick up the woven mats. I have also thought of a new idea. I will start weaving when I return from the canal repair work. If the supply and marketing cooperative thinks it is feasible, we will weave another 200 mats before the New Year. Can everyone finish it?"
"Yes, as long as we can earn work points, we can compile 400 sheets."
"Captain, when are you going to teach me your new tricks? I've been waiting for a long time." Someone started to speak the truth, and Xia Juhua then realized why everyone stayed.
Li Changwang's family was so angry that they started yelling, "If the captain didn't want to teach you, he wouldn't have taught you the new tricks for the first time. You guys are so petty, and everyone you see has their own selfish motives, right?"
Everyone was so dumbfounded by Li Changwang's scolding that they couldn't even lift their heads.
When the leader of Li Changwang's family heard that Xia Juhua still entrusted the task of finding people to him, he happily. But when he heard that he had to teach the newcomers how to start and end the job, he stopped laughing: "Captain..."
"What's the matter?" Xia Juhua was puzzled as to why Li Changwang's family was so embarrassed over just a message. "If you have something to do, just go and do it yourself. I can ask Zhaodi to find someone."
They actually asked Sun Zhaodi to find someone, that was not acceptable. Li Changwang's family gritted their teeth and shook their heads, saying in a low voice: "Captain, we all learned our skills from the elders, are we willing to teach them to outsiders?"
Don't teach? Xia Juhua's face became serious: "Don't tell others, are you willing to teach?"
Li Changwang's family had a difficult choice between preserving their craft and becoming someone Xia Juhua trusted. His face wrinkled before he gritted his teeth and said, "I am willing."
That's all. Xia Juhua continued to tell her seriously: "No matter who says they don't want to teach others, just tell them that I don't want to teach them new tricks either."
Yes, after the captain came up with a new trick, he taught everyone how to do it without any fighting, and he still had to teach other tricks. Why can't these women teach the newcomers?
Li Changwang's wife patted her chest loudly and told Xia Juhua to go back to her own business. She would be in charge of the teaching and would make sure the newcomers learned quickly.
Xia Juhua also told her to find a few careful people to pick out as many dark-colored reed stems as possible, just like last time. That way, those who didn't need to learn or teach in the afternoon could peel the reed skins first. In addition, she had to find someone to check the woven reed mats again and count them, so that when the sales agency came to pick them up tomorrow, they would not find any problems and delay the acceptance.
After Xia Juhua went to find Chen Qiusheng, Li Changwang's family realized that half a day was not enough to complete the tasks Xia Juhua had mentioned! When Liu Erzhuang was the production team leader, everyone made mats according to their own progress. Why was it that when it came to Xia Juhua, it was as if someone was behind her with a whip to urge her?
But she was still willing to be Xia Juhua's whip. Li Changwang's family shouted loudly: "Sun Zhaodi, take the three people who used to weave mats and teach the newcomers how to start and finish. Baoling, you are careful, take a few people..."
Xia Juhua did not go far, she stood under the reed wall and listened for a while before coming to the production team. When Chen Qiusheng saw her coming in, he asked hurriedly: "Captain, how is it, when will the supply and marketing cooperative come to clear the table?"
Xia Juhua took out the money that had been in her pocket and said, "Someone will come to invite us tomorrow, and they have already paid."
"So straightforward?" Chen Qiu Sheng took the money and asked doubtfully. His men counted quickly, and the more they counted, the more his smile twitched: "Now, if the villagers have any problems, they will not be afraid to borrow money from the production team."
Those who needed to borrow money from the production team because of problems were those who could not borrow money from other families, and they often owed money. The so-called debt owed money means that the family had many people but few laborers, and the work points earned were not enough to exchange for food for the whole family.
These families are often the ones most likely to get into trouble - there are no serious illnesses in the family, or there are a few lazy and indolent people. The farmers who are willing to go to the fields and work with the team, although it is hard work, can always earn their own food.
At the time of the handover, Chen Qiu Sheng had already explained the situation to Xia Juhua. Although there were only 94 households in Ping'an Village, seven of them were in debt, and they owed the production team a total of more than 630 yuan.
Not only can this money not be repaid in the near future, but the production team may have to borrow money again - winter and spring are the seasons when chronic diseases flare up, and if the illness is serious, it must be treated, and treatment costs money.
Xia Juhua was overwhelmed: "Among the seven families, I know that Uncle Dong, Uncle Bachelor and Grandma Qi will definitely need relief. Zhao Huashan, Liu Lizhu and Chen Lusheng all have patients. As for Zhao Tiedan's family, there are three grown men in the family, how come none of them are willing to do their job?"
It would be so nice to be a member who just listens to orders, but now as a production team leader, I have to worry about why others don't work in the fields. Xia Juhua regretted that she had given it a try.
Chen Qiusheng was more optimistic than her: "Why should we be afraid? The production team knows all about their families' affairs. Our production team applies for relief for them every year. There will be relief rations next spring. Other families will not want to compete with them."
The problem is that there may be no relief rations next spring. Although the production team will distribute rations to those in arrears, they cannot really do the same as those who have work points. The rations distributed to the seven families are based on the standard of not starving to death, so the rations of these seven families will last for a shorter time than others.
We can only hope for the wheat bran from the noodle factory. The more Xia Juhua thought about it, the more time was running out. She hurried to the canal to take a look and saw Liu Erzhuang leading everyone to work hard. She started pushing the soil without saying a word.
"Sister-in-law, why are you pushing the dirt again?" Liu Erzhuang saw Xia Juhua pushing the dirt as soon as she came, and stepped forward to stop her. Xia Juhua tried to give way but didn't, and handed the cart to Liu Erzhuang, asking: "Did I deliver ginger soup to you this morning?" Just now, he was only thinking about handing the money to Chen Qiusheng, and forgot to ask Li Changwang's family.
Liu Erzhuang said cheerfully: "Yes, I heard that today's ginger was contributed by various families."
Xia Juhua nodded. The little ginger she had at home really couldn't last for many times. It would be better if someone was willing to help. She asked, "How many days will it take to finish this?"
"It will probably take another ten days." Liu Erzhuang watched everyone making white marks while digging, and postponed the construction period by a few days.
"It's just right. Once the canal construction is finished, it will be time to slaughter the old pigs. I hope the pigs can perform better and grow a few more pounds of meat in the next few days. I can give each family an extra 2 taels of meat to help everyone." Xia Juhua encouraged the members.
Upon hearing about slaughtering the New Year pig, Liu Erzhuang nodded happily, but he had a more concerning question: "Sister-in-law, you delivered food to Sizhuang today. Did the Red Team really say they would lock him up for twenty days?" If he is released, it will be the end of the New Year. Will Liu Sizhuang's family have time to prepare things for the New Year?
Liu Erzhuang doesn't think that just because the family has been divided and Liu Sizhuang's family has no New Year items, his mother will let him off.
When they came back, Liu Daxi had already told Xia Juhua about Liu Sizhuang's situation, so she didn't hide it: "If Liu Sizhuang and his wife are still not honest in there, they may have to stay in the study class for the New Year."
"What? Are they still not behaving well in class?" Liu Erzhuang was also impressed by Liu Sizhuang and his wife's ability to commit suicide.
Xia Juhua couldn't understand why Liu Sizhuang, who had been hiding behind Sun Shi for so many years and taking advantage of her, should have been a man of good sense. But when he arrived at the study class, he couldn't figure out who he was:
"Sun Guizhi reported me for speculation, and the supply and marketing cooperative gave me proof. But after we left, they said the supply and marketing cooperative gave me proof because they had received favors from me, and that the Red Team protected me and treated me unfairly. So the people in the Red Team are very angry, and I don't know when they will be released."
"Fuck——" Liu Erzhuang couldn't help but swear, then he realized it was inappropriate to say this in front of his sister-in-law, his face suddenly turned red: "Sister-in-law, I am too angry."
Who wouldn't be angry after hearing this? Director Lin is the only one who has a big temper. When Xia Juhua met him today, she didn't even mention it, and she even ordered new seats from Ping An Zhuang. Try changing to someone with a smaller temper. It would be strange if he is willing to deal with Xia Juhua in the future.
"It's enough for you to know it yourself. You have some idea about the old lady's opinion." Xia Juhua really sympathized with Liu Erzhuang, but there was no better way to prevent Sun from making trouble.
Liu Erzhuang gritted his teeth and said, "We have separated. I am the elder brother and I cannot control him for the rest of his life."
Xia Juhua nodded. If Liu Erzhuang could hold on, Sun Shi would be able to calm down. She had a lot of things to do, so she asked Liu Erzhuang to continue to supervise the canal repair and return to the yard.
The women in the yard were busy, several of them gathered together, learning how to weave mats. An Baoling and the others had already found a bunch of golden reed stalks, which they carefully placed aside. Every time they found a bunch, they laughed happily.
There were still a few people concentrating on breaking the reed skins, so Xia Juhua found a place to sit next to the broken reed skins, picked up a few reed skins and started working.
At first, the people who were just weaving reeds noticed Xia Juhua's arrival and saw her start weaving mats. They didn't say anything, but just watched her weaving. When they found that Xia Juhua had made a good start quickly, they all showed admiration on their faces: others would first measure the reeds left and right to calculate the length and direction.
Xia Juhua started by picking up the reed skins. There was no planning at all, but the start she made was tight and solid. The reed skins seemed to know where they should go. They pressed each other and soon formed a short "7". Each one was of uniform size and neat shape, and looked very loving.
"Who can help me break off some yellow reed skins?" Xia Juhua saw that her head was almost raised, then she looked up at the person who had broken off the reed skins and asked with a smile.
Two or three people stood up and walked towards An Baoling and the others, fearing that they would be late and let others get there first. When Li Changwang heard that Xia Juhua wanted yellow reed bark, she immediately understood that she was going to start making new patterns, and shouted without caring: "Sister Liu, don't just teach them and not teach us." All of a sudden, all the women in the yard stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of Xia Juhua.
Well, when I need to make connections, I become Mrs. Liu again. Xia Juhua shook her head and said to Li Changwang's family, "This is my first time making a story, and I don't know if I can do it. I will teach you when I succeed."
You said that when you were weaving for the first time, could you keep your eyes on the mat in your hands and could your hands not move so fast? That would be more convincing.
Li Changwang's family squeezed in next to Xia Juhua without caring. She didn't care even though the woman with the ragged skin glared at her for several times. "I think you can weave it right the first time, Sister Liu. I'm smart and I can learn it almost by watching it once. When I learn it, I'll help you teach others."
Li Changman's family couldn't stand it any longer: "You are the only one who can do this. If you are so capable, why don't you come up with some tricks and teach us?"
"Sister Li, why are you here? Did I start the weaving correctly? Why is the mat crooked?" The person who had just followed Li Changwang's family to learn weaving also came over. While talking about Li Changwang's family, he kept glancing at the mat that Xia Juhua was weaving.
Li Changwang's family said without even turning their heads: "When I finish learning, I will teach you all the new tricks as well."
"Sister-in-law, do you think these reed stems are okay?" An Baoling heard that Xia Juhua wanted to use yellow reed stems, so she personally brought over a dozen of them for Xia Juhua to choose. Xia Juhua just wanted to use different colors of reed stems to show them, and when she saw that the stems An Baoling brought were thick and strong, she nodded and said, "Okay, you can break them for me."
Those who went to ask for the yellow reed stalks were a little unhappy, but since it was Xia Juhua who said it, the reed stalks were still in An Baoling's hands, and they couldn't just snatch them away from An Baoling's hands. They could only watch An Baoling sit down next to Xia Juhua with peace of mind, tearing the reed skins while watching Xia Juhua weaving mats from a close distance.
Xia Juhua even had time to chat with An Baoling about her parents: "How is the third child these days? Is it okay for him to stay at home alone?"
When it comes to An Baoling, she can't stay calm: "No, what can I do? I can't stay with him every day. The three of us have to eat. Sister-in-law, if you ask me, you are the one who can save me the trouble. Just take the child and leave. No one can say anything to you."
"You're talking nonsense again." Xia Juhua hurriedly stopped An Baoling from talking any further. If Sun knew about this, she would definitely say that An Baoling was hoping for Liu Sanzhuang to die. An Baoling smiled bitterly, "Sister-in-law, don't you know how sad I feel when I see Sanzhuang eating whatever he's given and not even realizing he's hungry when he's not given anything?"
The women looked at An Baoling with sympathy. They had all been bullied by their mothers-in-law to some extent, and they all agreed with what An Baoling said. They all spoke in unison to comfort her. Xia Juhua also advised her:
"At least you still have someone to serve you. When Zhijun and Zhiguo come into the house and call me dad, the family is complete. Besides, this is much better than when I just came back. At that time, let alone feeding him, I think he couldn't even hear me when I talked to him."
"Our captain is getting better and better at speaking." Li Changwang's family was unwilling to be lonely, and whenever they found a chance, they wanted to praise Xia Juhua: "People say that one part of the hand is one part of the mouth. I didn't know what it meant before, but now look at our captain, he is just one part of the hand and one part of the mouth."
Xia Juhua looked at Li Changwang's house with a headache and asked, "You have been watching for so long, have you learned it?"
What? Li Changwang lowered his head and realized that he had just been listening to An Baoling and Xia Juhua talking, and then looking for an opportunity to praise Xia Juhua, but he didn't realize that Xia Juhua had already woven the word "Fu" on the two corners without realizing it.
"Mrs. Liu, how did you get such a smart head and such skillful hands? The directions of these two words are different. How did you make them up?" Li Changwang's family tried to cover up the embarrassment of not having learned it by exclaiming.
Xia Juhua was helpless: "Go and teach them how to start. If anyone doesn't learn how to start today or starts poorly, I won't teach you tomorrow."
Everyone could tell that Xia Juhua was joking with Li Changwang's family, and the women followed suit, talking and making a noise. Li Changwang's family was not angry, and even had the nerve to say to Xia Juhua, "If Sister Liu doesn't teach me, someone else has to teach me. Otherwise, when you're not around, who will keep an eye on these women and prevent them from slacking off?"
The women all shouted and quit, and together they started to criticize Li Changwang's family. If they were to ask who had done the least amount of work that day, it would definitely be Li Changwang's family - else was in charge of their own tasks, but she had to run around everyone to make arrangements first and then check the progress, so she really didn't do enough work.
Li Changwang was a little anxious, afraid that Xia Juhua would misunderstand her, and she defended herself loudly: "Captain, I really didn't slack off. You have to believe me. You arranged all the work for me."
The answer to Li Changwang's family was another round of laughter from everyone.
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