Chapter 59
"How much did you sell the wheat for?" Xia Juhua didn't want to discuss things with Liu Zhishuang. This guy obviously wanted to ask her for help, so why didn't he take the initiative to tell her that he went to the black market?
If he really wanted to do that, he should have discussed it with me before going to the county town - Wang Caifeng didn't say it, but Xia Juhua, who knew her well, would have thought of it. When Liu Zhishuang was leaving with wheat on his back, Wang Caifeng would remind him to tell me.
Liu Zhishuang really couldn't do anything about his own mother, so he approached Xia Juhua carefully and said, "Wheat is 1.5 yuan per pound on the black market, but they don't give me food coupons." After saying that, he looked at Xia Juhua proudly, waiting for his own mother to praise him for his ability.
Xia Juhua, who was uneducated, couldn't describe Liu Zhishuang as a successful villain. She just felt annoyed by his smug look and said, "Okay, you decide on your own food. Just don't regret it in the future."
"What are you regretting? Mom, let me tell you something." Seeing that his mother didn't scold him, Liu Zhishuang bravely sat closer to Xia Juhua and said, "There are all kinds of things sold in the black market, not just food, but also cloth and cakes."
Xia Juhua nodded and watched Liu Zhishuang talk quietly without responding to a single word. Liu Zhishuang spoke a few words, his voice gradually lowered, and finally said helplessly: "They also sell fried peanuts here, but I think they are not as delicious as the ones you make."
"Don't even think about it." Xia Juhua answered decisively. Liu Zhishuang almost cried: "Mom, do you know how much a pound of fried peanuts cost? They are sold for one yuan with the shell, and 1.8 yuan without the shell, and that's without icing."
It was sold at such a high price. Xia Juhua was a little moved, but she could still show her disgust towards Liu Zhishuang on her face.
"One dollar and eight cents, mom. If you're worried about trouble, or if you're afraid that people will find out that you fried it, just don't put the icing on it." Liu Zhishuang knew what his mother was afraid of, so he said the idea he had been thinking of all the way out, staring at her with round eyes.
"Is there any oil change service on the black market?" Xia Juhua asked him.
Liu Zhishuang didn't know why his mother asked this, so he answered honestly: "Yes, we have soybean oil, peanut oil and soybean oil. I haven't thought about changing it, so I haven't asked how to change it."
You are just thinking about frying peanuts. Xia Juhua glanced at Liu Zhishuang and started to think. Before she could finish her plan, someone called Li Changwang from the courtyard gate, and the sound of Liu Zhiquan opening the door and greeting her came in.
Xia Juhua glanced at Liu Zhishuang and found that his eyes were full of hope. She was happy in her heart, but her face was indifferent. She went downstairs and walked to the door, and bumped into Li Changwang's family who came in.
Xia Juhua thought that Li Changwang's family had come to her for help because they had encountered something they couldn't handle, so she asked hurriedly, "What happened so late at night?"
Li Changwang was carrying a small basket in his hand. When Xia Juhua asked him, he showed a rare shyness on his face: "Nothing, I just wanted to sit with you for a while. We haven't had a good chat in these days."
Why doesn't Xia Juhua believe it?
People have entered the house, so even if they don't believe it, they have to give up their seats. Liu Zhishuang was very considerate and poured a glass of water for Li Changwang's family. Because he didn't get a reply from his mother, Liu Zhishuang sat at the end of the kang and refused to go back to the house.
Li Changwang's family first asked Xia Juhua whether the flour in her house had been drained out, and then asked her whether she had prepared New Year's goods. They also asked whether Liu Baoguo was obedient now and how much rice he could eat in one meal.
After talking about this and that for ten minutes, it was unclear what she was here for today. It seemed that she was really here to chat with Xia Juhua. Xia Juhua patiently answered all her questions. Li Changwang's family could not think of a new topic, and the room fell into silence.
There was another knock at the gate, and it sounded like Li Changman's family. Li Changman was stunned: "Why is she here?" Seeing Xia Juhua looking at him, he looked at the basket he had placed on the edge of the kang uncomfortably: "My sister-in-law rarely goes out at night, I didn't expect her to come."
After that, he gritted his teeth, removed the cloth covering the basket, and took out five eggs: "Captain, the New Year is coming soon, and I don't have anything good. You can keep these eggs to nourish your body."
Xia Juhua looked at the five eggs in surprise and quickly pushed them away: "What are you doing? Take them back and feed them to the children." Li Changwang's family was also very careful in their lives. Today, she accepted her eggs, but how could she repay the favor?
Li Changwang took Xia Juhua's hand, which was trying to persuade him, and stood up: "Captain, please put it away quickly, otherwise my sister-in-law will laugh at me again." After that, he slung the basket over his arm, turned around and walked out.
While the two were pushing and shoving, Li Changman's family had already walked to the outer room. When he saw Li Changwang's family suddenly come out of the inner room, he was startled and said, "Changwang's family, why are you here with the captain?"
"Well, I have something to talk to the captain about. I've already finished talking. You can go in quickly." After saying that, Li Changwang's wife was afraid that Xia Juhua would chase her and ask her to take back the eggs. Without waiting for Li Changman's wife's reply, she was about to leave the house. When she reached the door, she remembered something was wrong. She turned around and saw Li Changman's wife carefully leaning sideways to enter the house in order to avoid the basket hitting the door frame. A smile suddenly appeared on the corner of her mouth.
Li Changman's family was the same as Li Changwang's family. After chatting for a while, they heard someone coming at the gate of the courtyard. They took out five eggs from their basket, put them down and ran away with the basket without saying anything.
The next person to come in was Xia Juhua's neighbor, Sun Zhaodi. Unlike the other sisters-in-law of the Li family, she didn't talk about irrelevant things. She just sat with Xia Juhua for a while, carefully took out a bag of brown sugar, and then left.
That night, people came and went in Xia Juhua's house like a revolving lantern. All the visitors were housewives from various families. Without exception, they brought gifts for Xia Juhua. The words they said were basically the same, that is, it was New Year's Day, and they wanted to give Xia Juhua some gifts to replenish her body.
When the last person left, Xia Juhua looked at the things piled on the kang, and her hair almost turned white with worry: she and Liu Zhiquan had just ordered 132 eggs, four packets of brown sugar, and seven handfuls of noodles. The most outrageous thing was that someone sent ten cabbages, each weighing six or seven kilograms.
"Do you remember who sent what?" Xia Juhua asked her two sons weakly.
Liu Zhiquan said sullenly, "At first a few people remembered it, but then they left one after another, so how could I remember it?"
Liu Zhishuang nodded and asked, "Mom, shall we accept all these?"
I don't even remember who sent what, what should I do if I don't accept it? This is what Xia Juhua is worried about. She understands's intentions, it's just that she and everyone have made more income than in previous years, and they are grateful to her in everyone hearts.
Rural people are honest and don't say nice things. They express their gratitude by giving others their best things. It is because everyone gives out what they think is the best thing that Xia Juhua feels that the things on the kang are too hot!
She knew very well what life was like for each family in Pingan Village. Otherwise, she would never become a production team leader if she lived her whole life over again. She became a production team leader so that everyone could survive the natural disaster next year, not to take good things from others.
"Mom, I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work." Seeing that his mother was frowning, Liu Zhishuang spoke uncertainly.
Xia Juhua also tried her best to save the situation: "What do you think?"
Liu Zhishuang looked at his brother, and Xia Juhua slapped him in anger: "He's your biological brother, you still want to hide it from him?" After scolding, she remembered that although the family had not been separated yet, the two sons had already started their own families. Liu Zhishuang wanted to hide the problems from Liu Zhiquan. Although it was selfish, it was something he could do.
Liu Zhishuang was not annoyed. Instead, he smiled at Xia Juhua: "Mom, I don't want to hide it from my brother. If my brother doesn't help, it won't be done. I just want to see if my brother has the courage."
Xia Juhua was confused when she heard this, and immediately thought of what Liu Zhishuang had said to her before the visitor came. She glared at him fiercely and said, "Don't even think about it. These eggs will be fried together after the New Year's Eve when the production team kills pigs and serves as a dish for everyone. You are not allowed to..."
It would be easy to sell eggs on the black market, but the Red Squad is not stupid, and they will keep a close eye on the black market before the New Year. If Liu Zhishuang is really allowed to sell eggs and is caught, will he be able to celebrate the New Year or not?
Liu Zhiquan was confused and asked in confusion: "Mom, what does the second son want to do?"
Liu Zhishuang looked at Xia Juhua eagerly: "Mom, I'm not talking about these eggs, I'm talking about the vermicelli in our village."
Vermicelli? Xia Juhua looked at Liu Zhishuang in confusion, which gave Liu Zhishuang the opportunity to speak out his sudden idea: "Mom, I saw someone selling vermicelli there today. It seemed to be 40 or 50 cents per pound."
40-50 cents per pound? Xia Juhua had never expected this figure. Sweet potatoes were not a staple food, and the production volume was not low. When it came time to hand over the public grain, the grain station would not accept much.
Five kilograms of sweet potatoes can produce one kilogram of sweet potato starch, and one kilogram of sweet potato starch can basically produce one kilogram of vermicelli. In other words, if the labor cost is not counted, the cost of making one kilogram of vermicelli is only 1.56 cents.
Even if it's only 40 cents per pound, it's double the profit!
But Xia Juhua still hesitated. She taught everyone to make vermicelli so as not to waste sweet potatoes that were difficult to store and to resist natural disasters next year. If the people of Ping'an Village sold all the vermicelli, wouldn't they still have nothing to eat when a natural disaster came?
"Mom, think about it, every family in our production team has missed a hundred pounds of vermicelli. If this... it would be almost as much as half a year's dividend." Seeing that his mother was slow to give him a clear answer, Liu Zhishuang persuaded Xia Juhua anxiously.
Xia Juhua finally shook her head: "This matter is too big and too dangerous. I need to think about it again."
Liu Zhishuang helplessly left the main room with Liu Zhiquan, and in the yard he quietly explained to his brother what Liu Zhiquan had not understood just now, and asked in a low voice: "Brother, do you think it counts?"
Liu Zhiquan was silent for a long time before he said, "I think my mother is not afraid of losing money by selling vermicelli, but she feels sorry for the vermicelli."
This simple sentence confused Liu Zhishuang, who was always smarter than Liu Zhiquan: "Feeling sorry for the noodles, doesn't that mean you're afraid it won't work?"
Liu Zhiquan himself couldn't explain it clearly, so he could only say unhappily: "Anyway, it's up to mom to decide on this matter. If you dare to sell it secretly, I'll let mom divide you out."
Liu Zhishuang: You are so cruel.
Xia Juhua would not discuss with her two sons whether she could be ruthless. The only person she could think of to discuss it with was Master Wu. So after breakfast the next day, Xia Juhua did not even go to the yard, but went to see Master Wu.
The fifth master had already finished his meal and was sitting in his room, poking his pipe with a stick of bamboo, feeling bored. When he saw Xia Juhua come in, the first thing he asked was, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Xia Juhua glanced at Liu Daxi who had escorted her in, and Wuye waved his hand to let him out. Liu Daxi was very aware of his status as a tool, so he left very quickly and even closed the door considerately.
Since she wanted to discuss it with Fifth Master, Xia Juhua naturally explained the whole story and waited eagerly for Fifth Master to make a decision.
Silence. Master Wu's eyes were fixed on the ground, his hands tapping the tobacco pot unconsciously. Xia Juhua felt as if time had stood still, wondering what Master Wu would think of next.
"Is there anyone selling sweet potatoes on the black market?" Fifth Master asked Xia Juhua, "If there is, how much is one pound?"
Liu Zhishuang didn't mention this yesterday, so Xia Juhua naturally shook her head. The Fifth Master nodded and said, "If Zhishuang doesn't have anything to do, let him go again. Just tell him that it's my birthday in a few days, and ask him to bring some wine back for me."
"Fifth Master, when is your birthday?" Xia Juhua asked very sincerely.
The fifth master smiled and said, "It's the day of the Little New Year. Life was not easy before, so I didn't have the energy to celebrate my birthday. This year I am also 72 years old, it's time to celebrate it." Seventy-three or eighty-four, King Yan didn't ask me to go. Some people in the countryside are afraid to count their age forward one year, while others push it back one year. When it comes to these two years, the age of the elderly becomes a mystery.
But Master Wu had just told Xia Juhua his age, and he was going to tell everyone in Ping An Manor. Somehow, Xia Juhua felt very uncomfortable when Master Wu said that, so she quickly changed the subject: "Why don't we let Da Xi go with Zhi Shuang? Zhi Shuang is confused, and I'm afraid he won't understand."
Since it concerns the food problem of the entire Ping'an Manor, the fifth master is naturally willing to let his eldest grandson run around. He opened his mouth and shouted outside the door, and Liu Daxi immediately pushed the door open, making Xia Juhua very suspicious whether he had been standing outside the door all the time.
Or rather, it was the Fifth Master who asked Liu Daxi to find out not only whether there were any sweet potatoes for sale on the black market, but he also asked Liu Daxi and Liu Zhishuang to find out the prices of all the grains on the black market.
Xia Juhua couldn't help asking, "Fifth Master, are you planning to have people exchange food for vermicelli from us?"
The Fifth Master nodded and said, "You are right. We have to hold the food in our own hands and make a calculation based on money. We don't have to exchange only sweet potatoes. As long as it is food, we can exchange it after we come back and do some calculations."
With Wu Ye's final word, Xia Juhua felt much more at ease. However, how to tell the members was another problem. Last time when the grain station collected surplus grain, Xia Juhua and Wu Ye had made it clear that they were unwilling to let everyone hand over the grain in their hands. Now, suddenly everyone was asked to give up their vermicelli in exchange. It was too contradictory.
With the Fifth Master around, there shouldn't be any problems with the Liu family. The only unstable factor was the Sun family and Liu Sizhuang's family, with only Liu Zhiliang left. Xia Juhua thought he should have learned his lesson from his parents and grandmother, and would not dare to report anything even if he knew something.
As for Chen, she still had to consult with Chen Qiusheng. After spending so many days together, Xia Juhua found that Chen Qiusheng was not someone who didn't know how to adapt. After calling him over for a discussion, Xia Juhua realized that he was not only flexible, but also able to find and fill in the gaps.
"It's better to exchange for sweet potatoes." Chen Qiusheng said, "After all, people from other villages keep bringing sweet potatoes to our village, asking our members to help with the leakage. This way, exchanging for sweet potatoes won't attract other people's attention."
Seeing that Wu Ye and Xia Juhua were both a little unwilling, Chen Qiu Sheng smiled and said, "We exchanged them for sweet potatoes. It's not like we can save them and stop leaking flour. We can sell the newly leaked flour slowly after the New Year, and we will get double the profit."
When he said double, he didn't just mean the price, but that Ping An Zhuang could make twice the money from selling powder.
The Fifth Master took a deep puff of his cigarette and said, "We can't just ignore the people with those surnames. Who did you talk to last time?" He was asking Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua mentioned Li Changman's family, and the Fifth Master nodded again: "Changman's family is tight-lipped, and they are popular among the mixed surnames. But this time it's about entering a study class, will she dare?"
Li Changman's family was very brave, and he patted his chest to assure Xia Juhua: "Captain, don't worry, I will handle this matter clearly for you." As soon as he finished assuring, he showed a dilemma: "Even Uncle Dong and Zhao Huashan's family didn't leak any fans, so why notify them?"
Xia Juhua thought for a moment and said, "I should still let them know. Even if we use the sweet potatoes we got back to replenish them, we can still have more sweet potatoes in our hands."
"Okay, I'll go tell everyone right away. Don't worry, Captain, we're not heartless people. When I told them, I made them swear. If anyone goes out and spreads nonsense, he won't be allowed to stay in Ping'an Village anymore."
Xia Juhua was most worried that someone would brag to other villagers without knowing the seriousness of the matter. Although she could not guarantee anything, she was still very moved by what Li Changman said: "This is the way to survive for the entire Pingan Village. Please tell everyone."
Although Li Changman's family felt that what Xia Juhua said was a bit serious, they thought that if someone really found out, Xia Juhua would be the first to be affected, so they felt that there was nothing wrong with what she said.
By the afternoon, news had trickled back to Xia Juhua: the six debtors had agreed to have their sweet potatoes pulverized into powder, and the fifth master had already made the Liu family aware of the secret, but he had only told the men in charge, not the women. The Chen family was the exact opposite, with the women agreeing the most.
Xia Juhua could understand that Liu only let the man in charge know about this. After all, the ones who leaked the powder were men, and their homes were in Ping'an Village. Unlike women, they always had to go back to their parents' homes, so it was easy for them to let it slip if they didn't keep their mouths shut.
But Chen actually let the women know, and the decision was made with the women's approval, which made Xia Juhua confused. Chen Qiusheng listened to Xia Juhua's doubts and said with a wry smile: "Captain, wait, I will go home and deal with my unlucky wife."
Xia Juhua asked in disbelief: "Did your wife tell others that she can read it?"
Chen Qiusheng felt ashamed to face the captain, and squatted on the ground with his head in his hands: "Captain, I really didn't mean for her to hear it. By the time she found out she heard it, that wicked woman had already persuaded the Chen family's wife, and they swore an oath together, saying that whoever returned to her parents' home on the second day of the Chinese New Year would give birth to a child without any sexual intercourse."
How cruel.
Xia Juhua couldn't tell what she thought of Chen Qiusheng's wife. After thinking for a long time, she asked, "If they don't go back to their parents' home, they must ask why. What if they have opinions about you, the aunts?"
"They have all agreed that we men will go back to their parents' homes on their behalf and bring the necessary things. They will say that our production team has a heavy workload and no one can ask for leave."
Why does it sound like she has something else to do? Xia Juhua didn't come to her senses for a moment, and only understood when Fifth Master reminded her: the women in Ping'an Village couldn't even take leave to go back to their parents' home on the second day of the Chinese New Year, and the only one who couldn't approve the leave was her, the production team leader!
Forget it, as long as there is no worry that the news will be leaked, I will be scolded by the Chen women's families. Xia Juhua can only comfort herself in this way.
Prepared to be scolded, Xia Juhua and Wu Ye waited for Liu Zhishuang and Liu Daxixi to return - no matter how united the people of Ping'an Village were, whether they could exchange sweet potato vermicelli for sweet potatoes would depend on the results of Liu Zhishuang and his friends' inquiries.
The two men came back with a thoughtful look on their faces. Seeing Xia Juhua and Wu Ye waiting, they wanted to speak immediately, but Xia Juhua asked them to drink some water and rest their legs first.
Liu Zhishuang had reason to believe that his mother gave him the buffer time because Liu Daxi had been running with him for a whole day. However, Xia Juhua, a pessimist, had already automatically thought that this was a dead end after seeing the expressions of Liu Zhishuang and the others, and wanted to hear the bad news later.
"Mom," Liu Zhishuang, still young, blew on the water and drank it, then wanted to tell his mother what he had heard: "There are people selling sweet potatoes there, but not many, eight cents per pound."
Compared with the purchase price of the commune, it was more than double the price, which was not low. Xia Juhua calculated silently in her heart that according to the price of sweet potatoes on the black market, it would not be a loss to sell vermicelli at 40 cents per pound.
But the people at Ping An Zhuang work so hard and have to bear the risk of being reported at any time, just to avoid loss?
Her face looked very bad. Liu Zhishuang looked at her worriedly, not knowing whether he should say the next words. Xia Juhua looked at the Fifth Master, who had a very calm expression. He asked, "And then?"
Liu Zhishuang looked at his mother again. His mother knitted her brows together, causing Liu Zhishuang's voice to lower a few cents: "We also sell vermicelli. The asking price is 55 cents. If you negotiate, you can buy it for 50 cents."
"I asked a few sweet potato vendors with Uncle Daxi, and they would sell it at 70% if the quantity is large."
Xia Juhua's eyes lit up, and she quickly glanced at Wuye, but Wuye's expression didn't change at all, and he kept looking at Liu Zhishuang who was talking. Liu Zhishuang seemed to be encouraged and said, "Those vermicelli sellers don't have much in their hands, the most they have is 20 to 30 kilograms."
It could also be because they were worried about the Red Squad raiding the black market, so they didn't dare to carry all the goods with them.
"The one with the most vermicelli saw that Uncle Daxi and I were asking about the prices of sweet potatoes and vermicelli, and asked me if I could leak the vermicelli myself. If so, he could provide us with sweet potatoes. We could charge him for his labor, or exchange the sweet potatoes for vermicelli."
"He said he could exchange six and a half kilograms of sweet potatoes for one kilogram of vermicelli. Mother, I saw that he was wearing leather shoes, so I thought he must be a city dweller, so I ignored him. How many kilograms of sweet potatoes can a city dweller have?" After Liu Zhishuang finished speaking, he looked at Fifth Master and Xia Juhua with some trepidation.
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