Chapter 53

Alas, Fifth Master thought angrily, the women in the village now only care about making money by weaving mats, and they are almost praising Xia Juhua, who helps them make money, to the sky. So every word Xia Juhua said was heard by those women in their hearts.

In the past, those old ladies with long hair and short knowledge were the first to think about going to the food station to sell food when they knew that they could make more money from selling surplus food.

Even though he felt a little uncomfortable, Fifth Master knew that it was not the women's fault that they listened to Xia Juhua - she had just been the production team leader for a few days, and everyone in Ping'an Village seemed to be led by her. There was no one gossiping on the street, and those who could move were either working in the fields or weaving mats. They worked their butts off.

If everyone had done the same thing a few years ago, the dividends from Ping An Zhuang would have been...

Others did not think as much as Fifth Master. When the Liu family heard him speak, they all gathered around. The men who had the final say looked at each other. Liu Daxi said to Xia Juhua, "Sister-in-law, do we have to pay everything? We have a large family and we have to buy some expensive grain every year to supplement our income so that we can harvest in autumn. Can we not pay?"

Not only did the Liu family look at Xia Juhua again with a calm face, but others were also waiting for Xia Juhua's answer, especially those from Chen Qiu Sheng's family and Li Changman's family, who were eagerly waiting for Xia Juhua's answer.

There were many people talking, but Xia Juhua gave a standard answer: "The brigade notified us that handing over the remaining grain is completely voluntary."

After saying that, she glanced at Wu Ye, signaling him not to say anything else. Some people can persuade, but some people think a penny is more important than a millstone, and persuading them will not be a good thing. Wu Ye has lived for so many years, what kind of people has he not seen? He immediately understood what Xia Juhua meant, knocked the tobacco pot against the sole of his shoe twice, snorted, and went home with his hands behind his back.

When the Liu family saw the Fifth Master leaving, they followed him. Liu Daxi said to Xia Juhua a little embarrassedly, "Sister-in-law, this is how my grandfather is, not towards you." After saying that, he didn't wait for Xia Juhua to reply, and hurriedly chased after the Fifth Master to help him, but the old man shook his arm and threw him away.

After Liu left, the yard was half empty. Xia Juhua asked Chen Qiu Sheng if he had anything else to do, but Chen Qiu Sheng kept shaking his head. What else could he have? His only job was to get home as soon as possible and find a wife.

Seeing that everyone was fine, Xia Juhua took her two sons home. She was anxious to go home to see how the sweet potato pulp she had ground at noon was doing.

It is winter now, not a good time to grind sweet potato pulp. If you are not careful, not only will your time be wasted, but the sweet potatoes will also be wasted. Now, Xia Juhua is like a miser, unwilling to waste even a little food.

Whether it is staple food or miscellaneous food.

Fortunately, the basin of sweet potato pulp was placed in the kitchen, and the water in it had begun to clear. Xia Juhua nodded in satisfaction. Liu Zhiquan and his brother also leaned over to watch, wondering why their mother was so nervous.

"Mom, if you're worried that we don't have enough food, I'll go to the other villages and collect some quietly." Liu Zhishuang suddenly proposed a method that Xia Juhua had thought about but never put into practice: "If we pay more than the grain station pays for the surplus grain, someone should be willing to sell it."

Of course, some people will sell them. Not only that, but when a natural disaster strikes next year, those sellers will buy them back from them at two or three times the price they paid for them.

But Xia Juhua only thought about this method, but never put it into practice. She couldn't get over the hurdle in her heart.

Now Xia Juhua is working desperately to lead all the people in Ping'an Village to earn money so that everyone can have some savings. When a natural disaster really comes, at least they can have money to buy life-saving food.

Xia Juhua couldn't do anything about buying food from others when she knew it was life-saving food. So she shook her head and said, "The grain station can accept it, but if we accept it, someone will say we are speculating."

"It's okay, mother. I'll quietly go to my father-in-law's village to collect some money and ask him to find someone reliable and strict-mouthed." Liu Zhiquan didn't want his brother to occupy all of his mother's attention, so he put forward a condition that Liu Zhishuang didn't have.

Liu Zhiquan's father-in-law? Xia Juhua secretly blamed herself for forgetting this matter. She glanced at Liu Zhiquan and said to him, "Come with me."

Why is Big Brother the only one? Liu Zhishuang touched his head and regretted marrying Sun Hongmei even more - if he had married someone else, he would also be a member of his father-in-law's family now.

Liu Zhiquan was also regretting why he mentioned his father-in-law's family. Now his mother actually asked him to secretly persuade his father-in-law's family not to hand over the leftover food, using the same unreliable reason from Chen Qiu Sheng's family.

Aren’t we not allowed to even tell Chen Qiu Sheng’s family? Why are we letting him tell them?

Xia Juhua said seriously, "Just tell them that I heard it, and it's up to them whether to believe it or not. If they don't believe it, if there is a disaster in the future, we can't even take care of ourselves, so I'm afraid we won't be able to help them."

Liu Zhiquan could only nod and couldn't think of any words to refute. The main reason was that his mother's attitude was too serious. Liu Zhiquan had been tortured by his mother's serious expression for many days. Now when he saw his mother's stern face, his first thought was to make his mother calm down quickly. He didn't have the idea of ​​resisting at all.

When she went back to her room to discuss it with Wang Caifeng, Wang Caifeng said without hesitation: "Go if your mother asks you to go. Forget it, you should go to work tomorrow, or I will go back to my parents' home by myself." Could the mother-in-law be wrong? Of course not. My mother asked Liu Zhiquan to send a message to her parents' home, it must be for their own good.

One has to admit that Wang Caifeng has now completely become a fan of Xia Juhua. She believes whatever Xia Juhua says.

The next day, Xia Juhua heard that Wang Caifeng was going back to her parents' home by herself, and asked worriedly, "Can you go back alone?" Her belly was so big, and she had to take Liu Baoguo with her.

Liu Zhishuang suddenly said cleverly: "Mom, let big brother and sister-in-law go together. Our production team's canal is almost finished, and big brother can save a day of work."

Liu Zhiquan reacted quickly: "You are thinking of working one more day than me." However, his brother asked him to go to his father-in-law's house with him, and his mother did not object, which meant that she was willing in her heart. Liu Zhiquan did not dare to say that he had to go to work.

Because Wang Caifeng was going back to her parents' home, Xia Juhua simply asked her to tell her parents how she was going to try to leak the powder, and the specific steps, so that the Wang family's sweet potatoes would not be wasted if they were not properly stored. This made Wang Caifeng's eyes wet again, and she wanted to go up and kiss her mother-in-law.

Xia Juhua made her hair stand on end. When she was about to leave, Liu Liqun appeared at the gate of the courtyard and said, "Captain Xia, the captain has prepared everything. I want to ask if you can leave now."

"Yes, I'm fine now." Xia Juhua decided to leave first, otherwise Wang Caifeng would cry in front of her and she would not try to persuade anyone.

Following Liu Liqun to the brigade headquarters, I saw that Li Changshun had already put on a half-new military uniform with three medals on his chest. I didn't know how he stood, but he stood straight beside the ox cart even though he had a limp, with his hands hanging naturally at his sides, not behind his back as usual.

That posture, as if he could pick up a wooden basket and go to the battlefield. Perhaps for Li Changshun, today was his battlefield. At this moment, Xia Juhua's resentment towards Li Changshun for forcing her to ask Section Chief Chen for a favor to buy wheat bran for other production teams disappeared without a trace.

She was for the Ping'anzhuang production team, and Li Changshun was for the Ping'anzhuang brigade. The starting points of the two were the same, but Xia Juhua cared about smaller things, while Li Changshun cared about larger things.

It’s not for my own little family.

Li Changshun felt a little uncomfortable when Xia Juhua looked at him: "Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and get in the car. Let's try to get it done today."

"Captain, you get on first." Xia Juhua didn't dare to get on the cart before Li Changshun. Besides the fact that he was the captain, his age and physical condition were enough for Li Changshun to sit on the ox cart safely and early instead of standing there waiting for Xia Juhua.

"You sit down first, you're the only woman here," Li Changshun was a little impatient with such politeness: "You sit in the front, there are quite a few of us. Don't waste time with me, hurry up, or walk to the commune by yourselves." Li Changshun suddenly shouted at the brigade headquarters.

Four big bosses came out of the brigade headquarters at once, and Li Daniu from Xiaozhuangtou was among them. Needless to say, the remaining three were also production team leaders. Xia Juhua looked at the brigade accountant inquiringly, and he nodded to her.

Li Daniu was the one driving the ox cart. None of the other production team leaders were willing to get on the cart first. They all waited until Li Changshun was seated before squeezing to the back of the cart. Xia Juhua saw two people holding red paper rolls in their hands and asked in a low voice, "Captain, where is the commendation letter?"

Li Changshun raised his chin towards the person holding the red paper roll and said, "Isn't that it?"

It's true. Xia Juhua looked at the two people holding the red paper rolls in silence. She wanted to send the commendation letter in a lively manner to give Director Lin some face, but she never thought that Li Changshun would make such a big fuss.

Is this a letter of praise to Director Lin, or is this a moral kidnapping? If Director Lin is disgusted, I'm afraid he won't even accept guests from Ping An Zhuang anymore.

After a tangled journey, the ox cart finally arrived at the gate of the supply and marketing cooperative at a moderate pace. The three production team leaders at the rear of the cart had already jumped off, and the one who did not hold the red paper roll reached out to help Li Changshun.

Li Changshun impatiently opened the hand that was supporting him, saying, "I can get down by myself." One leg had already touched the ground. Perhaps he was in a hurry to get off the car, so the injured leg touched the ground first, and he lost his balance and almost fell down.

The one whose hands were opened was the production team leader of Team 3. He reacted quickly and immediately reached out to support Li Changshun, helping him to stand firmly before letting go. Xia Juhua held back her laughter, jumped off the ox cart, and asked, "Team leader, shall we go in now?"

李長順不滿的看了她一眼：“就這麽進去，咱們還來這麽些人幹啥。”

是你要帶這麽些人來的好不好？夏菊花心裏嘀咕一句，想着自己是不是悄悄進去先給林主任打個招呼，免得人家連她都怪上了。

李長順跟知道夏菊花想什麽一樣，看了她一眼，把人給定在當地，才對李大牛說：“快把牛車趕一邊兒去，礙事。”又對三隊的生産隊長喊：“去公社請張主任來，就說我在這兒等着他呢。”

把兩個生産隊長都吼的手忙腳亂，李長順才拍了拍半新的軍裝，摸了摸領口的搭勾，檢查了一下所有的鈕扣确實全扣好了，才擡着下巴命令夏菊花：“去請林主任吧。”

你到底想幹啥，能不能多少給個準信呀？夏菊花沒動。

李長順就有些不耐煩：“快點兒，一會兒公社革委會張主任來了，林主任還沒出來的話，你的表揚信送給誰？”

行吧，誰讓你是大隊長呢。夏菊花無奈的慢慢往供銷社走，期待李長順能在最後一刻叫住她，告訴她該怎麽讓林主任明白他們真是來送表揚信，而不是要讓供銷社為難。

哪怕供銷社一直是全公社最熱鬧的地方，可是好幾大男人站在供銷社門口卻不進，還是引起了售貨員們的注意。夏菊花一進來，王彩霞頭一個發問：“你們這是要買啥，那幾個人咋都不進來呢？”

夏菊花搖頭說：“林主任呢？我們大隊長想見見林主任。”

哪怕王彩霞一直跟夏菊花關系很好，聽了這話也想撇嘴。大隊長在農民眼裏是不小的幹部，可是到了公社就不那麽顯眼了。在供銷社主任的眼裏，真不怎麽夠看。

畢竟現在各大隊的生産物資，很大一部分都要通過供銷社才能買到，先給哪個大隊後給哪個大隊，供銷社主任說了就算。所以不管哪個大隊的大隊長，見到林主任都得露個笑臉，哪能跟夏菊花說的似的，還得讓林主任出去見他們大隊長。

把自己的臉看的有點兒大了。

王彩霞好心的小聲提醒夏菊花：“還是讓你們大隊長他們進來吧，林主任倒是在呢，可誰知道現在忙不忙，別耽誤了他工作。”

夏菊花自己也覺得讓李長順進來見林主任比較好，可是她說得動那個老頭子嗎？沒見人把自己的軍功章都別到胸前了。

所以她只能不好意思的沖王彩霞賠上一個笑臉：“沒辦法，我們大隊長跟別的大隊長有點兒不一樣。你也知道他是老革命，就連公社都得給他點兒面子。對了，他已經讓人去請革委會的張主任去了。”

王彩霞真被吓了一跳，平安莊大隊的大隊長這麽牛的嗎？不管能不能請得動張主人，敢請那就是心裏覺得自己能請得動。

說什麽也得告訴林主任一聲了。

王彩霞拉着夏菊花就往林主任的辦公室走，林主任一見夏菊花還挺高興的打招呼，就被李長順的操作炸的坐不住了：“他說要請張主任來？”

別看供銷社在公社的面子挺大，可是面子是人給的，兩邊很多工作都要相互配合，所以林主任跟公社革委會一直是友好關系。

跟王彩霞想的一樣，林主任也覺得不管張主任會不會來，他都得出去見一見平安莊大隊的大隊長。出門的時候，他甚至還整理了一下自己的衣裳，用手指頭把頭發又扒拉了兩下。

王彩霞小聲跟夏菊花說：“我們主任還頭一次這麽……”

結果林主任正要回頭跟夏菊花說話，王彩霞的話生生咽回去了。

夏菊花又得給人家林主任賠笑臉：“主任，我們大隊長是老革命，他覺得供銷社這麽大力支持我們生産，應該鄭重的給供銷社送一封表揚信。”

林主任笑笑表示自己不在意，反問夏菊花：“你們的席編的怎麽樣了？我跟你說，你那新席我拿到縣供銷社去了，縣供銷社想直接從你們生産隊再訂四百張，要送到地區供銷社去。”

四百張，一千塊錢！夏菊花被這個數目驚着了，可是她沒被沖昏頭腦，有些為難的說：“主任，我們生産隊的葦杆，都是秋天割的，等把你們的任務完成，就用得差不多了。”

時間人手什麽的夏菊花覺得沒問題——平安莊的婦女們，要是聽說可以一直編席，怕是年都可以不過——可是葦杆問題卻是大問題。

林主任眉頭就皺了起來，做為常年缺貨的供銷社主任，他太明白巧婦難為無米之炊的痛苦了。因為想着葦杆的事兒，林主任就這麽皺着眉頭出了供銷社的大門。

“咋地老林，人家平安莊大隊是來給你送表揚信，又不是向你要緊俏物資，你還不願意呀。要是真不願意，那表揚信我們革委會可收着了。”有人一見林主任皺着眉頭，就開口打趣似的說了一句。

夏菊花飛快的打量一眼，說話的人穿一身半舊的藍色中山裝，國字臉，梳了個三七分頭，正站在李長順身邊，帶着笑跟林主任打招呼。

“張主任，”林主任快走了兩步，笑咪咪的伸出右手：“我聽夏隊長說李大隊長來了，就趕緊出來迎接，沒想到還讓你給搶了先。”

跟張主任握了手，林主任又向李長順伸出手，握住上下搖晃兩下：“李大隊長，你真是太客氣了。我們供銷社就是為農民兄弟服務的，可擔不起你這老革命特意跑一回。”

李長順的手随着林主任的手一起搖晃：“不來一趟，我這心裏不安生呀。大、夏隊長都跟我說了，咱們供銷社一直很支持平安莊生産隊的生産，也就是支持我們大隊的生産嘛。謝謝，太謝謝供銷社的同志們了。”

說完，李長順松開林主任的手，回頭看了拿着紅紙卷的二隊、四隊生産隊長一眼。那兩個輕輕把大紅紙展開，二隊長手裏的紅紙頂頭，濃墨寫着“感謝信”三個大字。

張主任自己鼓起掌來，夏菊花和供銷社跟出來的售貨員們也跟着拍起巴掌，李大牛反應慢了半拍，被李長順瞪了一眼後把巴掌拍的山響。

路上的行人都被這架勢吸引的停下來，看到革委會主任和供銷社主任都在，售貨員們還跟着拍巴掌，一個個也跟着拍了起來。

夏菊花覺得自己的腦袋有些不夠用。場面是很熱鬧，也太熱鬧點了吧？她想不明白，李長順既然能把公社革委會主任請過來，應該是跟他關系很好，那麽讓革委會主任跟挂面廠開個口，買點麥麸不是太簡單了嗎？

幹嘛還費這麽大的事，走林主任這個不知道能不能走得通的門路？

不等她想明白，林主任已經滿面紅光的接過感謝信，轉身交給陳小蔓拿好，回頭又握着李長順的手，激動的搖晃着不松開。

等林主任平靜下來，開口請張主任等人進供銷社的時候，張主任搖頭拒絕了：“不了，我那兒還有個會兒，得趕回去。既然李大隊長是來感謝你的，你們好好說話就行了。”

說完，沖着李長順笑了一下：“李叔，林主任是能人更是熱心人，一直致力廣大社員服務。你們生産上有什麽困難，林主任一定會盡最大努力幫你們解決的。你今天中午一定不能走，我在公社等着。”

李叔？夏菊花本來就不夠用的腦袋，更蒙了。公社主任要管李長順叫叔，難怪他說讓人去請就把人請來了。

林主任顯然也被張主任對李長順的稱呼驚的不輕，回辦公室坐好之後，頭一句就問：“李大隊長跟張主任是親戚？”

李長順搖了搖頭：“不是，就是一個老戰友家的孩子。”

在場所有人都吃驚不小，李大牛更是忘了在什麽地方：“大隊長，這事兒你咋不早說呢，要是早知道……”

李長順瞪了他一眼：“早知道怎麽了，早知道就早給人家添麻煩？人家張主任念舊，我也不能倚老賣老。”

夏菊花低下了頭，心想你不倚老賣老，咋特意把人叫過來撐場子？不想給人家添麻煩，一會兒好給林主任添麻煩？那話你怎麽好意思說出口呢。

事實證明，李長順能義正辭嚴的教訓李大牛，就能一本正經的拜托林主任：“……林主任你也知道，各生産隊養豬任務重，豬都吃着人的口糧呢。我們聽說挂面廠自己磨面，裏頭的麥麸白堆着，就想能不能買上一點兒回去喂豬。”

林主任有些不明所以的看向自己唯一熟悉的夏菊花，可惜夏菊花同志正在低頭不知道想什麽，就是不跟他對眼神。

“這樣呀。”林主任打了個哈哈：“養豬支援城市人民，确實是重要的任務。”

李長嚴肅的點頭：“所以為了完成好這項任務，還得請林主任幫個忙。”

林主任靈機一動：“說起來我們供銷社和各大隊、生産隊都是相互幫助，比如我們要收購各生産隊編的席……”

Xia Juhua had to look up, and happened to meet Director Lin's smiling eyes. She heard him say to Li Changshun: "But we have a heavy purchase task now, and we need a lot of reed stalks for weaving mats."

Xia Juhua's eyes widened. Director Lin actually asked Li Changshun for reed poles on her behalf!