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 everyone's intentions, it's just that she and everyone have made more income than in previous years, and they are grateful to her in their 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. A production team would accept at most 2,000 to 3,000 pounds, and the price was 3 cents per pound.
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."
簡單的一句話，把一向比劉志全聰明的劉志雙給繞蒙了：“心疼粉條，那還不是怕不上算嗎？”
劉志全自己都解釋不清，只能沒好氣的說：“反正這事兒得娘做主，你要是敢自己偷着賣了，我就讓娘把你分出去。”
劉志雙：算你狠。
夏菊花不會跟兩個兒子讨論自己能不能狠下心來的問題，她能想到一起商量的人，只有五爺。所以第二天吃過早飯，夏菊花連場院都沒去，就來找五爺。
五爺也已經吃過飯了，正坐在房裏百無聊賴的用細蔑條捅煙袋杆。見夏菊花進屋，頭一句就問：“咋了，出啥事了？”
夏菊花看了送自己進門的劉大喜一眼，五爺直接擺手讓人出去。劉大喜對于自己工具人的地位認識的很清晰，走的那叫一個利索，還體貼的關上了房門。
既然是想跟五爺商量，夏菊花自然把前因後果都說了一遍，就眼巴巴的等着五爺拿主意。
沉默。五爺的眼睛一直盯着地面，手無意識的敲打着煙袋鍋子，夏菊花覺得時間都凝固住了，不知道五爺要想到什麽時候。
“那黑市有沒有賣紅薯的？”五爺問夏菊花：“要是有賣的，一斤多少錢？”
這個劉志雙昨天沒說，夏菊花自然搖頭不知。五爺點了點頭說：“要是志雙沒啥事兒，讓他再跑一趟。就說，就說過幾天我過生日，讓他替我打點酒回來。”
“五爺你哪天過生日？”夏菊花很實在的問。
五爺笑了：“就是小年那一天。以前日子不好過，哪兒有心思過生日。今年我也七十二了，該過了。”七十三八十四，閻王不叫自己去。農村有人忌諱把歲數往前算一歲，也有人往後拖一歲，一到這兩年老人的歲數就成了迷。
可是五爺現在把歲數告訴了夏菊花，還要告訴平安莊所有的人，不知怎麽的，夏菊花聽五爺這麽說，心裏十分不得勁，連忙轉移話題：“要不讓大喜跟志雙一起去吧，志雙毛毛愣愣的，怕他打聽不明白。”
關系到整個平安莊口糧問題，五爺自然願意讓大孫子跟着跑跑，張嘴沖門外頭吆喝一聲，劉大喜馬上推門進來，讓夏菊花十分懷疑他剛才是不是一直站在門外。
要不說是五爺呢，他讓劉大喜打聽的可不止黑市有沒有賣紅薯的，而是要求劉大喜和劉志雙兩個把黑市上所有的糧食價格都打聽一遍。
夏菊花忍不住問：“五爺，你是打算讓人用糧食跟咱們換粉條嗎？”
五爺點了點頭：“你想的沒錯，糧食得捏在咱們自己手裏，比錢劃算。也不用只換紅薯，只要是糧食，咱們回來算計算計，都能換。”
有五爺一錘定音，夏菊花的心安了一大半，不過怎麽跟社員說又是個問題——上次糧站收餘糧，夏菊花和五爺都擺明車馬不願意讓大家把手裏的糧食交出去，現在突然讓大家把粉條都拿出來換了，前後太過矛盾了。
有五爺在，劉姓這邊應該沒什麽問題。唯一的不安定因素孫氏和劉四壯一家人，只剩下一個劉志亮，夏菊花覺得他應該在自己爹娘奶奶身上學乖了，哪怕是知道點兒什麽也不敢去舉報。
而陳姓那邊，還是得找陳秋生商量一下——經過這麽多天的相處，夏菊花發現陳秋生不是一個不知道變通的人。等把人叫來一商量，夏菊花才知道人家不僅會變通，還能查漏補缺。
“最好還是換紅薯。”陳秋生是這麽說的：“畢竟有外村的人不停的往咱們村運紅薯，讓咱們社員幫着漏粉兒。這樣換回紅薯來，不至于引起別人的注意。”
見五爺和夏菊花都帶着點兒不甘心，陳秋生笑了一下：“咱們換回紅薯來，又不是存起來不再漏粉。新漏的粉等到年後慢慢出手，就是雙倍的掙頭。”
他說的雙倍，不是單純指價格，而是指平安莊能掙兩次賣粉的錢。
五爺狠狠的嘬了一口煙：“雜姓那邊兒也不能不管，上回你找誰說的？”問的是夏菊花。
夏菊花說出李常滿家的，五爺又點了點頭：“常滿家的嘴嚴，在雜姓裏頭人緣是不錯。不過這次可是進學習班的事兒，她敢嗎？”
李常滿家的敢，拍着胸脯向夏菊花保證：“隊長，你放心吧，這事兒我給你辦的明明白白的。”剛保證完，臉上就現出難色來：“就是老董叔和趙華山家，都沒漏粉，還通知他們嗎？”
夏菊花想了一想說：“還是通知一聲吧，哪怕用換回來的紅薯給他們補上呢，手裏也能多得點兒紅薯不是。”
“行，我這就去跟大夥說。隊長你放心，大家夥都不是沒良心的人，我跟他們說的時候都讓他們起個誓，誰要是出去亂說，就別再平安莊呆着了。”
夏菊花最擔心的就是有人不知輕重的跟別村人炫耀，有李常滿家的這一句話，雖然不能保證什麽，仍然很感動：“這是咱們整個平安莊的活路，你好好跟大家說。”
李常滿家的雖然覺得夏菊花說的有些嚴重，可是想到如果真被人發現了，首當其沖的就是夏菊花，又覺得她這麽說沒毛病。
等到下午，消息就陸續傳回夏菊花這裏：六戶欠帳戶都同意把自己家的紅薯馬上漏成粉，劉姓這邊已經秘密被五爺說通了，還是只說給了當家的男人們，沒讓家裏的女人知道。而陳姓那邊恰恰相反，最贊同的就是婦女們。
劉姓這邊只讓當家男人知道，夏菊花是能理解的。畢竟現在漏粉的都是男人，他們的家就在平安莊，不象婦女們總有回娘家的時候，一旦嘴不嚴的話很容易說漏。
可是陳姓那邊竟然讓婦女們知道，還是由婦女們贊同才決定下來的，就讓夏菊花的些摸不着頭腦了。陳秋生聽了夏菊花的疑問，苦笑着說：“隊長，你等着，我回家就收拾我那個倒黴媳婦去。”
夏菊花不敢相信的問：“你媳婦又跟人說是會看的說的？”
陳秋生覺得自己沒臉見隊長了，抱着頭蹲在地上：“隊長，我真不是有意讓她聽見的。等發現她聽到了，那個倒黴娘們已經把陳姓的媳婦都說動了，還一起立了個誓，說過年初二的時候，誰回娘家誰生孩子沒□□。”
真狠呀。
夏菊花心裏說不清對陳秋生媳婦是個什麽想法了，想了半天才問：“她們不回娘家，娘家不得問問為啥，要是對你們這些當姑爺的有意見呢？”
“她們都商量好了，到時讓我們男人替她們回娘家，該帶的東西帶，就說咱們生産隊編席的任務重，誰請假都不行。”
怎麽聽起來還有自己的事兒似的？夏菊花一時沒回過味來，等到五爺提醒才明白：平安莊的婦女們連初二回娘家都請不下假來，不批假的只能是她這個生産隊長！
算了，只要消息沒有洩露出去的隐憂，被陳姓婦女們的娘家一起罵幾句就罵幾句吧。夏菊花只能這麽安慰自己。
做好了被罵的準備，夏菊花就跟五爺一起等着劉志雙和劉大喜回來——平安莊的人再齊心，用紅薯粉條換紅薯能不能成，都得看劉志雙他們打聽的結果才行。
那兩人是帶着一臉的若有所思回來的，見夏菊花和五爺在等着，本想馬上開口，夏菊花卻讓他們先喝口水歇歇腳再說。
劉志雙有理由相信，親娘給出的緩沖時間，完全是看在劉大喜跟他跑了一天的面子上。卻不知夏菊花這個悲觀主義者，見到劉志雙兩人的臉色之後，已經自動認為此路不通，想晚一點兒聽到壞消息。
“娘，”劉志雙還是年輕，吹着氣喝下一口水後，就想把自己打聽到的消息給親娘說一說：“那邊有賣紅薯的，不過不多，一斤賣八分錢。”
跟公社收購的價格相比，足足高出一倍還拐彎，不低了。夏菊花心裏默默算了一下，按照黑市紅薯的價格，粉條賣四毛錢一斤才不虧。
可他們平安莊的人勞心勞力，還得擔着随時被人舉報的風險，就為了個不虧嗎？
她的臉色已經很不好看了，劉志雙擔心的看了一眼，不知道自己接下來的話該不該說。夏菊花看了五爺一眼，五爺面色倒是一直很平靜，問：“然後呢？”
劉志雙又看親娘一眼，他親娘的眉頭擰到了一起，導致劉志雙的聲音又低了幾分：“粉條也有賣的，叫價是五毛五，講講價五毛能買下來。”
“我跟大喜叔問了幾家賣紅薯的，要的量大的話，人家能七分賣。”
夏菊花眼睛一亮，飛快的看了五爺一眼，五爺的面色一點兒變化也沒有，眼睛一直看着說話的劉志雙。劉志雙仿佛受到鼓勵一樣，說：“那些賣粉條的手裏東西都不多，最多的能有二三十斤。”
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. Xia Juhua had heard in her previous life that speculators all had backgrounds and protection in the county, so as long as the Red Squad didn't arrest them and the goods directly, they would just throw the goods away during the raid, and the Red Squad wouldn't chase them even if they ran away.
"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.