Chapter 69 (1)
Master Wu knew that Xia Juhua was thinking about distributing money to the women, so he reminded her of something before she left. He worriedly told Xia Juhua, "This time when you buy more reed stalks, you should wait until the production team has bought all of them before selling them to each household."
Xia Juhua understood immediately that Master Wu was worried that other production teams would find out that Ping'an Village members were buying reed stalks privately and would think of mixing their private mats with the public ones and selling them to the supply and marketing cooperative. If someone complained about it, it would be troublesome again. It would be better for the production teams to buy them all at once and each family could quietly pay for it.
Anyway, the county supply and marketing cooperative has already paid for the 350 seats at the price of RMB 2.70 per seat. The Ping An Village production team now has no shortage of money to buy reed poles!
However, the women who were weaving mats, especially the girls who were helping their mothers weave mats at home, were so eager to get the fruits of their labor immediately that they had already surrounded the production team.
Fortunately, Chen Qiusheng had the experience of dividing the money last time, and he had blocked the door with a table early, so the women didn't rush in. But the women kept chattering, and he counted the money again and again, but he wasn't sure if he had counted it correctly.
"Cui Ping, hasn't the captain come yet?" At this moment, his wife is still reliable. Of course, if the captain comes, he will have a backer, and Chen Qiu Sheng will not be afraid of anyone.
Zhang Cuiping was also jumping around outside the table anxiously: "Why don't you count the money quickly? It's such a small matter and you have to trouble the captain. It's just a small amount of money. How come you, an accountant, can't count it clearly?"
Zhao Xianzhi and the others followed suit, "That's right, it would be better for Qiu Sheng to be the accountant. At least she won't keep us waiting for so long."
"She didn't let you wait so long, but she still paid back all the money she deserved." Xia Juhua squeezed in and teased Zhao Xianzhi for having bad intentions.
When everyone saw Xia Juhua coming, they stopped circling the door and squeezed in to make room for her. Chen Qiusheng shouted as if he had seen a relative: "Captain, you're here, come in quickly."
Xia Juhua said angrily and amusedly, "There's no money of mine here, why would I go in? Are you going to give me some of Cuiping's money?"
In the middle of winter, Chen Qiusheng was so annoyed by the women's quarrel that he was sweating all over his forehead: "If you don't come in, we can't share the money."
How can it be impossible to divide it? It's not like we have to divide all the money. We just need to divide the mat money that has been registered earlier and compiled by each household at night. Xia Juhua glanced at Zhao Xianzhi, and Zhao Xianzhi immediately shouted at everyone: "Line up, line up. We have said so many times that no one can be left out. Why are you still pushing forward?"
"You've squeezed to the front, and you still have the nerve to talk about others." Chang Xiancao retorted to Zhao Xianzhi as usual, but turned back to help shout at everyone to line up quickly. Anyone who didn't line up would have no chance of getting paid.
"Li Daya, five tables, a total of thirteen dollars and cents." Chen Qiu Sheng saw the women fifty finally lined up in a twisting and turning manner, and called Li Daya, who was in the third place in the line, to collect the money.
Neither Zhao Xianzhi, who was at the front of the line, nor Chang Xiancao, who was at the second, thought there was anything wrong with Chen Qiu Sheng calling out to Li Daya instead of them - even if they were allowed to collect the money first, they would continue to stand in the first two positions. They couldn't really let the captain maintain order on his own.
But when they heard that Li Daya had received 13.5 yuan in one go, the two sisters-in-law took a deep breath and said, "So much?"
"Didn't Chen Qiusheng tell you that the supply and marketing cooperative is charging 2.7 yuan per table for the banquet? Daya's family made five banquets in total, so that's about the price."
"It's better to have daughters. Daya has two daughters to help weave mats. We can earn much more money than we do by ourselves."
It was rare that the two sisters-in-law were talking about the same thing, and both eyes were fixed on the money in Li Daya's hand. Li Daya was frightened by their gazes, and she didn't bother to count it again, and put it directly into her pocket.
Both Hongling and her sister came with their mother to collect the money. When they saw their mother putting the money into her pocket, they couldn't tell whether they felt disappointed or thought it was as it should be, and the smiles on their little faces were a little faltering.
"Daya." Xia Juhua, who had been watching Li Daya receiving the money, had to remind her. Li Daya smiled at her and said, "Sister-in-law, I didn’t forget. I'll give them both some money when we get home."
After hearing Li Daya's promise, Hongling and the other girl looked at each other and saw the same excitement in each other's eyes, and they were both happy. The other girl pulled her mother's sleeve, reminding her mother not to forget her promise.
Promises made before seeing the money and fulfilling them after seeing the money are two different concepts. Many mothers felt that they had agreed too quickly and promised too much. Xia Juhua saw their thoughts and said while watching Chen Qiusheng handing out money:
"Don't feel bad about giving some money to the children. If the children weren't there to help you clean the house and cook, would you be able to weave mats in the yard with peace of mind?"
The faces of the women who were worried about the money turned red. Xia Juhua simply explained to them: "If the yard was not so small, I would have asked the girls to go to the yard to weave mats. Think about it for yourselves, is it more cost-effective to let the girls go to the yard to earn work points, or to let them work for you at home and weave mats for cash."
"Captain is right." Xia Juhua's number one supporter Zhao Xianzhi was the first to stand up and say, "If Daya didn't have the help of two girls, Hongling and Hongcui, at home, would she be able to hand in five seats at once?"
Who doesn't have some tricks in mind? They can figure out that it's more cost-effective to let the daughter weave mats at home and get cash. So the women started discussing Xia Juhua's favorite topic in front of her: "Captain, do you think the supply and marketing cooperative can sell cloth to us without cloth coupons?"
Xia Juhua was somewhat sure about this, but she couldn't say for sure. She could only give a warning: "The supply and marketing cooperative may have some processed cloth. Since it is processed, it is possible that there will be some dirt on it, or a small cut or something. If someone brings it, no matter who touches it, you can refuse, but you are not allowed to complain in front of them."
The cloth without coupons was cheaper than the cloth from the previous two days. Anyone who complained was a fool. The women who received the money did not go home. Instead, they gathered together to discuss what kind of jacket they should make for their daughters, preferably one that could be worn all year round.
The girls listened to their mothers' discussion, pursing their lips and blushing with excitement. They were all at a very beautiful age, but it was hard for their families to have enough food to eat, so where did they get the money to make new clothes for them? It's not that they had never made new clothes, but they looked exactly like their mothers', and when they wore them, they looked several years older.
Now that they made money by making their own mats, the captain not only persuaded his mother to give him her share, but also came up with the idea of making new clothes for the girls. Every girl would go to the production team room from time to time to take a look, hoping that the captain would come out and talk to them.
Except for Liu Hongling and Liu Hongcui, the girls were not familiar with Xia Juhua. In the past, they heard most about how Xia Juhua had to do heavy physical work like the men and how her life was too hard. Now, they heard most about how Xia Juhua had ideas and a smart mind, and how she led the women to make money, surpassing the men in the production team.
A woman who outshines all men is something that is impossible for the girls to learn from words and deeds, so they really want to see Xia Juhua up close and see how she is different from their own mother.
If, just if, they learn more from Xia Juhua, will they be able to outsmart men one day? Then after they get married, they won't have to be as careful with everyone in their husband's family as their mother said, but can be the masters of their own house.
Please forgive these innocent girls, the oldest of them is less than 20 years old, and the youngest is only 11 or 12 years old. When they just started to remember things, the movement had already begun. After the resumption of classes, their families never thought about sending them to school. For rural children, a five or six-year-old girl should be able to feed chickens and sweep the yard, and a teen should learn to cook and take care of younger brothers and sisters, so that the adults can go to work with peace of mind.
Since they are needed for household chores, which parent would think of sending them to school? Therefore, their vision is narrow and their thinking is simple. The farthest thing they think about is what kind of family they will marry into in the future.
Now Xia Juhua has shown them a different style from what they were taught before. Although they cannot say it out loud, they all feel that being a woman like Xia Juhua is more exciting for girls than just thinking about marrying into a family with good conditions.
It seemed that the team leader really wanted everyone to learn to read, so the production team gave Liu Lizhu special work points so that he could teach the children to read.
The innocent girls were not without thoughts, they also knew how to please others. So when all the women received their money and went back to weaving mats in the yard, Xia Juhua, who was finally able to leave, was stopped by the girls headed by Liu Hongling.
"Auntie." When Liu Hongling was learning to weave mats from Xia Juhua, she didn't think the auntie was difficult to approach. But now that she was instigated by the girls to call Xia Juhua, she felt inexplicably nervous.
Fortunately, Xia Juhua had a good impression of her two hardworking and capable nieces. When she heard Liu Hongling calling her, she stopped and looked at her nieces with a smile, waiting for her to tell the reason why she was stopping her.
Several girls behind her poked Liu Hongling in the back, asking her to hurry up and speak out their request. However, Liu Hongling felt that what she was about to say might cause trouble for the old lady, and she didn't know how to open her mouth.
Xia Juhua saw her embarrassment and looked at Liu Hongling quietly. Her gaze had a soothing power, and Liu Hongling finally spoke: "Auntie, can we also learn to read with Uncle Lizhu?"
That's a good thing. Xia Juhua nodded confidently: "Of course, why not? It's OK for any child to learn to read. You can just go and listen to your uncle Li Zhu's class in the evening."
Liu Hongling lowered her head slowly: "Auntie, can you please tell my mother that Hongcui and I will weave mats well during the day, and let us learn to read from Uncle Lizhu at night."
Xia Juhua looked at the girls who were all looking at her with hope, and she understood in her heart. It was all about money. Now the supply and marketing cooperative has increased the price of each mat by 20 cents, which will make the women weave mats even more crazily. In addition to weaving by themselves, the girls who have learned to weave mats have become the main force for each family to make cash.
Although at Xia Juhua's request, the women promised to give the girls the money for a mat this time, in order to sell more mats next time, they would ask the girls at home to seize every minute to weave the mats.
In this way, not to mention following Liu Lizhu to learn to read at night, I am afraid that the girls' pitiful rest time will be squeezed out.
"Do you all know how to weave a double-happiness banquet?" Xia Juhua suddenly asked Liu Hongling.
Liu Hongling nodded: "Well, although you only taught me how to weave the "Fu" character mat, the characters for the "Double Happiness" mat are different from those for the "Fu" character mat. I can weave it if I read it a few more times."
"Captain, I can weave a double-happiness banquet." Sun Zhaodi's daughter Chen Xiaoman whispered, "I can teach Hongling how to weave a double-happiness banquet."
Chen Xiaoman has the same personality as her mother, a little timid. She doesn't talk much in front of people and has little sense of presence even at home. As a neighbor, Xia Juhua has only heard her voice a few times through the courtyard wall.
Xia Juhua was quite surprised to see Xiaoman taking the initiative to teach Liu Hongling how to weave the double happiness mat. "It's Xiaoman. When our house was just built, you had just learned to walk, but now you can help your mother weave mats."
Chen Xiaoman didn't expect Xia Juhua to talk so much to her. She straightened her waist involuntarily, but did not respond to her. She smiled at her and lowered her flushed face.
Xia Juhua said nothing more, holding Liu Hongling's hand and walking towards the courtyard. The girls followed for a few steps without knowing what was going on, and then gradually stopped when they understood Xia Juhua's direction.
Hearing the footsteps behind her stop, Xia Juhua turned around and waved to the girls: "Follow us, follow us, why did you stop?"
Liu Hongling also waved to Hongcui and several girls who were on good terms with her, and whispered to them that whatever her aunt wanted to do would be accomplished, and asked them to just follow Xia Juhua without worry.
The girls wanted to learn from Xia Juhua, so they hesitated for a moment before following her to the yard. Hearing the women's quarrels from afar, Xia Juhua had to admit that it was right not to let the girls come to the yard to weave mats:
When these women are happy, they lose control of their mouths and say whatever they want. Many of their words are really not suitable for girls to hear.
In order to avoid embarrassing the girls, Xia Juhua called out from a distance: "Zhao Xianzhi."
The quarrel in the yard disappeared instantly, and then there was a burst of laughter. Then Zhao Xianzhi ran out from the reed wall in a hurry, asking as he ran: "Captain, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Xia Juhua motioned her to look at the girls behind her, and then said, "The children know that you are weaving mats in the yard in the freezing cold, which is much harder than weaving mats in the house, so they wanted to come and take a look. Is there any room inside?"
Zhao Xianzhi glanced at the girls and squeezed her eyes at Xia Juhua: "Yes, the children coming won't take up much space." Then she stepped aside to let Xia Juhua and the others in.
The two men were talking loudly, and the women all looked up and waited. When they saw their daughters inside, they asked, "Why are you here? It's so cold here. Just take a look. Go home and cook dinner soon, okay?"
Seeing their own mother sitting on a mat in the middle of winter, with the sky above her head and the cold wind blowing down from above, and feeling the coldness in the yard, several girls' eyes turned red: "Mom, I'd better come to the yard to weave the mats, and you can just weave at home."
The woman who was called did not expect that the girl was so considerate of her. She was touched and a little guilty. She kept asking the girl to go home quickly, saying that there was a quota for weaving mats in the yard and it was not something they could complete.
Seeing several mother-daughter pairs talking to each other in a loving way, An Baoling approached Xia Juhua and gave her a thumbs up: "Sister-in-law, your trick is amazing."
Xia Juhua said softly, "What's so great about it? They don't want the girls to know how hard it is for their mothers to earn a few cents, and they don't want their mothers to know that the girls are their intimate little cotton-padded jackets. For a few banquet fees, the mothers and their wives left their hearts. That's what we call losing the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds."
"That's why I said you're amazing, sister-in-law." An Baoling looked at Li Daya, who was hugged by two daughters, with some envy and said, "The most blessed one is the second sister-in-law. Although the second brother is a little stubborn, he has two daughters who know how to care for him."
Xia Juhua teased her for once: "It's not too late for you to have a daughter now."
An Baoling blushed, lowered her head to weave mats and ignored Xia Juhua. Xia Juhua smiled, stood up straight, and asked the women: "Have you had enough affection with the ladies? If so, I have something to tell you."
"Captain, just speak. We will listen to whatever you say." Zhang Cuiping expressed her opinion before Zhao Xianzhi could speak. Zhao Xianzhi was so angry that she glared at her, and everyone who saw her laughed.
Where have the girls seen such sisters-in-law and aunts? They all pursed their lips. They thought of what Xia Juhua would say next and looked at her nervously. The mother noticed the girls' nervousness and advised them: "It's okay, our captain has a stern face when talking about serious matters, but he is the best. In the future, if you meet the captain on the street, you should take the initiative to greet him and call him aunt, understand?"
Xia Juhua continued, "I just ran into the ladies, and I know that many of them are helping you make mats at home. It just so happens that the supply and marketing cooperative needs a lot of mats this time, and it's urgent. So I thought, we should make the mats with the word "Fu" in the yard, and let the ladies make the mats with the word "Shuangxi" at home. What do you think?"
Everyone knew that the supply and marketing cooperative needed 200 double-happiness mats, but they were good at making mats with the word "Fu", so everyone in the yard was still making mats with the word "Fu". When they heard that Xia Juhua wanted the girls to make double-happiness mats at home, the women who didn't have maids to help asked, "Captain, then will we still accept the mats we made at home tonight?"
"Of course we will. Even if the county supply and marketing cooperative doesn't want it, our commune supply and marketing cooperative would love for you to enroll more."
Hearing that it would not delay the acceptance of the extra seats, naturally no one objected. Xia Juhua then continued to talk about her plan:
"But we can't keep the girls at home weaving mats every day. Girls of this age are about to go out, so they have to learn a few words. Let the girls learn to read with Liu Lizhu at night. Cuiping, you go too. Write down what Liu Lizhu taught you the day before, and ask them the next day to find out which girls haven't learned it, and then they won't have to weave mats anymore."
What? The women looked at each other, not understanding what the connection was between a lady's ability to read and making a banquet. Xia Juhua explained to everyone with a reason she had thought of long ago: "Just now I asked Hongling if she knew how to make a double happiness banquet, and Xiaoman from Zhaodi's family knew how to make one. It shows that young people's brains are smarter than ours, and they can learn anything quickly."
"I thought of letting the girls learn a few more words. Maybe they can come up with new tricks next time, so we don't have to keep making up these three tricks. There will always be times when the supply and marketing cooperative doesn't want to accept them."
It seems to be true. Zhang Cuiping looked at Xia Juhua and always felt that something was wrong. Others did not think as much as Zhang Cuiping did. They were all tempted by the big cake drawn by Xia Juhua: if their daughter could come up with new ideas like the captain, and everyone had to learn to weave mats around them, that scene...
"Captain, I will let Xiaoman learn to read from Lizhu today."
"That's right. There's nothing wrong with learning to read. If the girl finds a husband who lives far away, she can write a letter home."
"Yes, I heard that when people in the city recruit workers, they have to be literate. They won't hire anyone who can't read."
Gradually, the topic was diverted again. The girls couldn't believe that the captain had solved the problem they had been racking their brains for. They asked in disbelief, "Captain, can we really come up with something new?"
Xia Juhua encouraged the girls: "When you get used to it, you will know that the patterns are all your own. When you recognize more characters, you will be able to distinguish which characters look good when woven. But don't rush now, you have to weave 200 double happiness banquets for me first."
Xia Juhua said the last words deliberately with a fierce face, and the girls groaned and then laughed softly. Hongling even let go of Li Daya's arm and hugged Xia Juhua: "Auntie, don't worry, we promise to complete the task."
Naughty girl. Xia Juhua patted Hong Ling's hand with satisfaction, and said to the women with a smile: "You all heard it, the ladies promised to complete the task, how about you, can you complete the task on time?"
"Yes!" The women's voices were much louder than Hong Ling's alone, and they frightened Chen Qiusheng and Liu Daxi, who were walking outside the reed wall, and asked, "What did the captain say to those women again?"
Liu Daxi couldn't help but smile: "No matter what it is, it's a good thing anyway."
Aren't they all good things? The next day, Director Lin showed up at Pingan Village again with the supply and marketing cooperative's horse-drawn carriage, bringing ten hot pots, ten washbasins, and about a hundred feet of colorful cloth.
The kettle and wash basin were all brand new, and were snapped up by several families who wanted to marry a daughter-in-law. The outside of the floral cloth was a little dirty to varying degrees, but it was guaranteed to be washed out the next time. The women of Ping'an Village did not pick and choose, and no matter who got the items, they all happily paid and left.
Director Lin said to Xia Juhua in surprise: "Captain Xia, the women comrades in Ping'an Village are very conscious." If it were another production team, they would probably haggle over the price for such a small amount of dirt, and argue about why they should sell it to themselves and not to others.
Xia Juhua also felt very proud: "Well, the members of our production team are all aware of the overall situation."
This was a little hard to respond to. After all, the patterns and colors of the cloth Director Lin brought were the most popular at the time, and they were five cents cheaper than what the supply and marketing cooperative usually sold them at.
Fortunately, Director Lin had been dealing with Xia Juhua for a long time, and the two of them were old acquaintances. Director Lin didn't mind making a joke with her: "I think the one who is most aware of the overall situation in Ping An Village is Captain Xia. By the way, why don't you pick some cloth?"
Xia Juhua couldn't say that she had already prepared all the cloth for everyone in her family to wear new clothes, so she just said, "Let the members choose first. If I want to buy some cloth, I can just look for Caixia."
I really have forgotten about Wang Caixia. Director Lin smiled and changed the subject, asking: "Is Deputy Director Wang not yet seen the new mat you have compiled? Aren't you afraid that she will blame you?"
Xia Juhua whispered to Director Lin: "I asked someone to weave fifty sheets for the commune, but it's not finished yet. When she came to settle the score with me, I just put the mat in front of her. She still had the nerve to complain to me."
Seeing that Xia Juhua had a solution, Director Lin smiled and said, "No matter what, I also came from the Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Of course, I hope that the Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative will get better and better."
"By the way, how do you solve the raw material problem of your production team? Do you need the county supply and marketing cooperative to help?" Although Director Lin hoped that the Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative would do well, he was still concerned about whether the mats in Ping'an Village could be finished on time and was very concerned about the raw material issue.
Xia Juhua was confident: "Don't worry, there shouldn't be any problem."
There really was no problem. Under the arrangement of the Fifth Master, Liu Daxi and his companions visited several brigades in the surrounding area. As soon as they revealed that Ping'an Village wanted to collect the reeds, they were stopped by someone, fearing that they would look down on the reeds of their production team.
Even the other four production captains of the Ping An Brigade went to Li Changshun after hearing the news, and wanted to sell their production team's reeds to Ping An Village. Li Changshun wanted to slap a few people out of the brigade headquarters and scolded them:
"How dare you ask me to go find Xia Juhua! You forgot what you said last time after selling the reeds to someone else? Even if you forgot, others still remember it. I don't have the nerve to plead with you again."
Li Daniu said unconvincedly: "We didn't say anything, why is Xia Juhua so stingy? Otherwise, she said that old women can't accomplish anything great."
"Xia Juhua will never achieve anything great." Li Changshun was amused by Li Daniu's remarks: "She can't achieve anything great, but she can choose not to buy the reeds from your production team. If you can achieve something great, then find a way to use the reeds from the production team yourself, instead of just piling them up there to annoy people."
Li Daniu suddenly became depressed. The captain of the third team was a little unwilling to accept it: "Captain, at that time, everyone was just a little unhappy, but no one said anything too extreme."
"They solved your reed problem and paid you cash. You don't say good things. You can't say nonsense like you're eating meat and drinking soup. Did Ping'an Village eat your meat?" Li Changshun glanced at the captain of the third team and said, "I know you didn't say anything that day. Xia Juhua knows it in her heart. Go find Xia Juhua yourself. She's not the kind of person who would kill anyone with one blow."
The captain of the third team listened thoughtfully, and the other three kept pestering Li Changshun, hoping that he would find a solution for them like last time. Li Changshun had been rejected by Xia Juhua once, and he refused to come forward again no matter what.
He made it very clear that if they wanted to continue selling the reeds to Ping An Manor, they should apologize to Xia Juhua and be more polite to them in the future. How could the masters put their faces aside?
Li Changshun doesn't care whether they can put down their face or not. Oh, your face is a face, but his face is not a face, right? !
Xia Juhua was busy checking the quality of the reed stems delivered by each production team with Chen Qiu Sheng, and she really didn't know about the lawsuit in the brigade headquarters. Until the captain of the third team suddenly appeared in front of her, she thought she had seen it wrong.
"Captain Chen, I have something to talk to you about."
A visitor is a guest, so Xia Juhua would not embarrass the captain of the third team as soon as they met. Moreover, the captain of the third team spoke a fair word for Ping An Zhuang last time, so Xia Juhua was very polite to him.
The captain of the third team said awkwardly, "Captain Xia is quite busy, how about we wait until you are done?"
Xia Juhua already understood the third captain's purpose and asked directly, "Captain Chen is here for the reed pole matter, right?"
The third team leader simply gritted his teeth and admitted, "Yes, Captain Xia, you know that our production team cut a lot of reed stalks in the fall, but now the supply and marketing cooperative has not collected much, so all the reed stalks are piled up there in vain. The members have put so much effort into it, and I feel bad for them. I heard that your production team has been harvesting reed stalks again, so I wanted to come and see if you can send some more reed stalks from our production team."
Xia Juhua said with some embarrassment: "Captain Chen, it stands to reason that our production team should collect the reeds from our brigade first. But you heard last time that we paid for it but didn't get any good results. It would be fine if I was the only one who heard it, but many members heard it and they all have opinions."
Even though he spoke fairly at the time, Captain Three still felt embarrassed: a few big bosses were gossiping about people behind their backs, and no matter what they said, it was not fair.
Seeing the disappointment on the Third Captain's face, Xia Juhua felt a little sorry for him because he was a rare understanding person. She called Chen Qiusheng over and whispered a few words to him before saying to the Third Captain:
"Captain Chen, how about this? We have almost harvested all the reeds, and we can only take another 5,000 kilograms from your production team at most. But you have to let Qiu Sheng go with you to check the quality of the reeds from your production team. If they don't meet the requirements, we can't take them."
Although the reed poles of Team 3 weighed more than 5,000 jin, the captain of Team 3 still nodded gratefully: "Okay, you want the reed poles to make mats, so you have to check whether they are up to standard."
Chen Qiusheng looked at the growing pile of reeds and asked, "How about I go to your production team tomorrow?"
The third captain said anxiously, "I'll have someone drive a bullock cart to pick you up tomorrow."
Chen Qiusheng was amused: "Our two production teams are so far away from each other, why do you need to send a bullock cart to pick me up?"
Seeing that the captain of the third team was more energetic than when he came, Chen Qiusheng asked in confusion: "Captain, didn't you say that we wouldn't collect the reed poles from our team? Why did you agree to collect the reed poles from the third team?"
Xia Juhua shook her head and said, "Team Leader Three is a reasonable person. We can't offend everyone in our production team. In the future, when the team has to hold a meeting or something, we can't have no one to help speak up."
Chen Qiusheng nodded in admiration: "Really? I never thought that if there was anything happening in the brigade in the future, several production teams would have to come together to discuss it."
It's no wonder that Chen Qiu Sheng couldn't think of this. In fact, in the past two days, he had been faced with smiling faces and compliments from people who sent him reeds. It was inevitable that people would think that Ping An Zhuang's future would be smooth sailing from now on, without any more bumps and setbacks.
From the daily life at home to the production team, there is no such thing as a smooth road. We all move forward with bumps and bruises. At least now, the life in Ping An Village is really enviable.
The women in the yard wished they had four hands so they could quickly finish their tasks at the supply and marketing cooperative and learn new tricks from Xia Juhua. The girls were not idle at home either, each looking for a partner they could get along with and working together to weave a double wedding feast.
The men who used to stand by the wall with their hands tucked into their sleeves and brag during their free time in the winter are now nowhere to be seen. All of them are in their kitchens, spilling flour until they feel like vomiting, but no one is willing to leave the stove.
After working desperately for six or seven days, the second batch of vermicelli was finally hung up to dry. The people of Ping'an Village breathed a collective sigh of relief - fortunately, they did not delay the preparation of additional dishes for the New Year.
With only two or three days until the Chinese New Year, Ping An Village had almost no festive atmosphere compared to previous years. Now the men breathed a sigh of relief and naturally thought about buying some things for the Chinese New Year - they still had a difficult task, which was to represent their wives to return to their father-in-law's house on the second day of the Chinese New Year.
Liu Zhishuang finally found a chance to talk to his mother: "Mom, should we buy some meat for the New Year?"
When the production team slaughtered the pigs, the Liu family was given a total of one and a half kilograms of meat, just enough to make dumplings. The family had made money in many ways this year, and Liu Zhishuang thought he could ask for two more meals of meat.
After such a tiring time, Xia Juhua also felt that her family should have a good New Year, but she was a little worried: "Can we buy meat now?"
Liu Zhishuang had his own plan: "I want to go to the black market to look for Brother Qi. If others can't buy it, he will definitely be able to buy it."
Thinking about the new powder that had leaked out of Ping An Zhuang, Xia Juhua felt that Liu Zhishuang could go find Qi Weidong - that guy hadn't shown up since he delivered the cloth, and Xia Juhua always felt that something was wrong.
So Xia Juhua nodded in agreement: "You can quietly ask your second aunt and fifth master if they want meat. If they do, bring some back for them."
After hearing this, Liu Zhiquan hurriedly said, "Mom, Zhishuang may not be able to carry much by himself, so I will go with him."
Xia Juhua glanced at him and nodded in agreement. After all, Liu Zhiquan was going to visit his father-in-law's house on the second day of the Chinese New Year, so he had to bring something presentable. Xia Juhua was extremely glad that she had let her two sons keep part of the dividends. Otherwise, if she didn't buy things for Liu Zhiquan's father-in-law's house, Liu Zhishuang, who no longer had a father-in-law, would definitely have some thoughts in his mind.
When Liu Zhiquan and his brother, along with the dusty Qi Weidong, appeared in front of Xia Juhua, Xia Juhua did not care about the feelings of her two sons and asked Qi Weidong repeatedly:
"What's wrong with you? It seems like you haven't slept for several days?"
Qi Weidong said angrily: "It's just that I haven't slept for a few days." As for why he didn't sleep for a few days, he didn't say.
Xia Juhua was not the type to ask questions, so after asking Qi Weidong if he hadn't eaten yet, she went to the kitchen and made a large bowl of hot and sour noodles, and also brought the cakes that the family had prepared in the evening so that the three of them could fill their stomachs first.
While eating, Liu Zhishuang showed Xia Juhua what he had brought back: 25 pounds of pork, 5 pounds of hindquarters and 5 pounds of pork belly were for the Liu family, and the other two elbows and 5 pounds of pork belly were for Master Wu and Li Daya. The other two elbows were for Liu Zhiquan to take to his father-in-law's house as a New Year gift.
In addition, Liu Zhiquan bought a ready-made jacket for Xia Juhua, and Liu Zhishuang bought a pair of black trousers for his mother.
Two white-striped chickens and ten kilograms of apples were the New Year gifts Qi Weidong gave to Xia Juhua. Xia Juhua wanted to refuse, but Qi Weidong had already raised the big bowl in his hand and said, "Auntie, dear auntie, your nephew has something to ask of you, so please accept it."
Qi Weidong wanted to ask her for help? Xia Juhua was a little unconvinced: "You are a big businessman, what can you ask your aunt for help?"
"Don't mention it." Qi Weidong finished his hot and sour rice noodle in two or three mouthfuls, looked at Xia Juhua with a face full of resentment and said, "It's all because of the vermicelli. Didn't I ask my aunt to change the vermicelli for me? I thought we couldn't sell that much in the county, so I shipped some to the region."
You are really brave. No wonder there was a saying when the business was first opened: the brave will die of their courage and the timid will die of their hunger. The fact that Qi Weidong was able to make such a big business in the end has a lot to do with his boundless courage.
"You transported such a large amount of vermicelli to other places, and no one checked you on the road?" Xia Juhua was a little worried. If someone checked Qi Weidong, there was no guarantee that they would not find Ping'anzhuang.
Qi Weidong smiled: "We have... don't worry, auntie, no one is checking me. It's just that when the vermicelli was delivered to the district, there was not enough to share, and many people blocked me from returning to the county town, otherwise I would have come to see auntie earlier."
"It was just a coincidence that Zhishuang came here. If he had come to see me yesterday, I would not have returned from the district yet."
That was really a coincidence. Xia Juhua still felt that she and Qi Weidong had already settled their financial affairs, so she couldn't accept such a large New Year gift from him: "Even if you made money from selling vermicelli, that's your ability. I can't accept this New Year gift."
"No, auntie, if you don't accept it, I will be embarrassed to ask for it later." Qi Weidong insisted on asking Xia Juhua to accept the gift, and then he glanced at the Liu brothers who were still eating hot and sour noodles.
He had dealt with Liu Zhishuang several times, but this was the first time he had met Liu Zhiquan. Xia Juhua did not explain to him and waited quietly for his next words.
Qi Weidong seemed eager to make money. Seeing that Xia Juhua had no intention of avoiding her two sons, he asked directly, "Auntie, how many vermicelli can you get?"
Summer Chrysanthemum
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