Chapter 74
Qi Weidong seemed to be preoccupied along the way. He brought Xia Juhua to his home in silence. After entering the house, he looked around before asking Xia Juhua to sit down.
After everyone sat down, they had to say what needed to be said. Qi Weidong told Xia Juhua in detail how he was buried in the pit by his uncle:
Qi Weidong's youngest uncle was a college student at the Agricultural College in the 1950s. He was assigned to work in Pingde County. Before the movement, he was gradually promoted to deputy county governor in charge of agriculture. Now he is called deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee.
Before becoming deputy county chief, Uncle Qi had been working in the agricultural department. He was a little affected when he was making the leap because he was reluctant to boast about production. However, three years after the disaster, he was reassigned to his job and became deputy county chief. After the movement, he was still the deputy director in charge of agricultural production in the county.
Because of his uncle's experience, Qi Weidong was not interested in the Red Team and never thought of joining. He did not want to be bound by constraints, and he would not stay in the formal job that everyone expected at that time for long. His biggest wish was to make more money, eat better and dress better.
His standards for eating well and dressing well are different from Xia Juhua's, and his goal of making money is also different. Because of his uncle's experience, his family does not have high expectations for Qi Weidong, as long as he does not cause trouble.
If Qi Weidong had been engaging in minor trouble in the black market in Pingde County, there would be nothing that Uncle Qi could not help solve - as order was gradually restored, even if he was only the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee in charge of agriculture, his words still carried weight in a large agricultural county.
Qi Weidong was too optimistic about the vermicelli from Pingan Village and came up with the idea of transporting it to other regions for sale, but problems arose during transportation. When Qi Weidong reported the name of Uncle Qi, both the person and the goods were fine, but Uncle Qi discovered that he was reselling vermicelli.
In the past, Uncle Qi turned a blind eye to Qi Weidong's black market reselling of things, but this time he set his eyes on vermicelli.
He is the deputy director in charge of agriculture. He knows very well that sweet potatoes are not easy to store. He also knows that sweet potatoes can last farmers half a year. He also knows that in order to support the disaster-stricken areas in the south, most of the remaining grain in the grain warehouses of Pingde County are sweet potatoes.
The problem is that Uncle Qi has been in charge of agriculture for so many years and is very experienced in weather. Like Xia Juhua and others, he does not have much hope for agricultural production after the spring.
Therefore, the importance of sweet potatoes in the granary to Pingde County is self-evident. Now that they know there is a production team that can produce vermicelli in large quantities, it would be a joke for Uncle Qi to let Qi Weidong go.
Uncle Qi had thought about using administrative orders to have the people in Ping'an Village process vermicelli for all the grain stations in the county, but Qi Weidong's words dispelled this idea.
Qi Weidong said: "Uncle, I know you want to leave some life-saving food for the people in the county, but do other leaders of the Revolutionary Committee think the same as you do?"
After hearing this, Xia Juhua's resentment towards Qi Weidong disappeared. It must be said that Qi Weidong's idea of leaving the food in Pingde or Chengping moved Xia Juhua.
According to what she knew in her previous life, the entire Chengping area would suffer from drought after the spring (please forgive Xia Juhua, no matter in her previous life or this life, she was just a rural woman, and she only thought and cared about the places she could access), and the year before, this region used all the grain that could be transported after the harvest to support the disaster-stricken south.
All that was left in the granary were sweet potatoes, which were inconvenient to transport and store. Once other leaders of the county revolutionary committee knew that Ping'an Village could make a large number of sweet potatoes into vermicelli that was easy to store, no one could guarantee that someone would ship the vermicelli to the disaster area for their own political achievements or to curry the favor of their superiors.
It's not that Xia Juhua is selfish and unwilling to support the disaster area. If you ask a person who knows that he will soon run out of food to take out the life-saving food in his mouth and give it to others, I believe that few people can do it. It's not about selfishness, it's just for survival.
"Then what did your uncle say?" Xia Juhua asked Qi Weidong weakly.
Qi Weidong said in a low voice: "The second batch of sweet potatoes were from a commune grain station that my uncle got through his connections. He wanted Ping'an Village to turn all the sweet potatoes from all the commune grain stations in Pingde County into vermicelli."
"Aren't you afraid that other county leaders will find out?"
"Those people are thinking about how to achieve political achievements every day, and no one cares about the grain station. They will only hold a meeting at the grain station when they need grain. Normally, except for my uncle, no one goes to the grain station to check whether the stored grain is safe." Qi Weidong felt sorry for his uncle when he talked about this, and his expression was as angry as Xia Juhua's.
"Xiao Qi, has your uncle ever thought about this? When there is a shortage of food in the spring, some members' homes will soon be out of food. At that time, will the grain station have to take out relief food? If the grain station takes out vermicelli instead of sweet potatoes, can this matter be kept secret?" Xia Juhua didn't dare to think about what would happen when people found out that the sweet potatoes in the grain station had turned into vermicelli.
Qi Weidong sneered: "Auntie, do you really think those people... Don't you know that every year after the granary harvests the sweet potatoes, less than half can be sent to the winery. Of the rest, less than half is distributed to the citizens, and a large number of them rot every spring. Last year, because the granary could not be empty, they did not even distribute the sweet potatoes that should be given to the citizens. Otherwise, how could there be sweet potatoes for sale on the black market?"
"They can't just give everyone a pile of rotten sweet potatoes as relief food, right? So as long as they can give everyone something to eat, they don't care what they give everyone to eat."
Haha, for the first time in her life, Xia Juhua hoped that the spring breeze would come soon and that the household contract responsibility system would be implemented soon, so that the grain that the farmers had worked so hard to grow for a year would not be wasted in a place she didn't know about.
But the production capacity of the Pingan Village production team is too limited. Let alone another 100,000 or 200,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes, even if it is only another 50,000, I am afraid that some people will give up.
So although Xia Juhua admired Uncle Qi's courage and responsibility, she had to say, "Xiao Qi, the people in Ping An Manor are really useless."
Everyone was too tired. If Xia Juhua hadn't known this, why would she have taken the women to visit the county town? It was just to let everyone relax their tense nerves - she herself didn't have anything urgent to buy.
"Captain Xia, right?" Xia Juhua had just finished speaking when a middle-aged man about her age suddenly walked out from the inner room. He was wearing a neat Mao suit, had a 3:7 hairstyle, and had bright eyes on his square face. He looked very much like a skit actor that Xia Juhua had seen on TV in her previous life.
Such a person has a positive image at first glance, and Xia Juhua guessed his identity at the first time. However, she did not take the initiative to greet him, but looked at Qi Weidong.
Qi Weidong's head was almost down to his chest. When he heard someone coughing, he raised his head and whispered to Xia Juhua, "Captain Xia, this is my uncle, Deputy Director Qi of our County Revolutionary Committee."
"You don't have to tell me about my duties," Uncle Qi said to Qi Weidong impatiently, his eyes fixed on Xia Juhua. "Captain Xia, your production team has solved the problem of sweet potato storage and opened up new ideas for the county's grain stations. Thank you."
The leader's words were very high-level. Xia Juhua waved her hands repeatedly: "Director Qi, we were forced to do this. Who wouldn't want to rest for a few more days in the middle of winter?"
Uncle Qi did not show any displeasure because Xia Juhua was not polite: "No matter what, at least the sweet potatoes of your Pinganzhuang production team can be preserved, and the members have more food to eat, which helps the county solve the burden of a production team. So I still want to thank you."
More food? Xia Juhua realized that the leader was much harder to fool than Qi Weidong, so she simply stopped trying to be clever and waited quietly for the leader's next words.
Uncle Qi did not let Xia Juhua wait any longer. His frowning brows gradually tightened, and the smile just now was replaced by a serious look: "Comrade Xia Juhua, you can take the initiative to take over as the production team leader of Ping'an Village, and lead the members to quickly develop agricultural and sideline production. This is enough to prove that you are a good comrade with a big picture in mind."
"It has been proven that you are not only capable of solving the production and living problems of the Pingan Village members, but also capable of helping more people solve their food problems. Could you bear to watch the people who, like the Pingan Village members, work hard in the fields, go hungry in the spring and even in the fall because of improper storage of sweet potatoes?"
"Director Qi, I..."
"Comrade Xia Juhua, I told Wei Dong that I would report to the Red Team. I was just trying to scare him. I hope you don't feel any psychological burden. But I am really worried about the vast number of comrades in Pingde County. They are different from the citizens in the county town. They don't have a ration every month."
"The sweet potatoes in the grain station are their last hope. Are you going to watch the members of Pingde County, except for the Pinganzhuang production team, see their last hope rot in the grain warehouse?"
Leader, you are so eloquent, how come you are only the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee? Xia Juhua looked at Uncle Qi steadily and found that his worries were genuine. Unconsciously, she recalled the scene of people fighting over a piece of wild vegetable during a natural disaster in the previous life.
If possible, who would want to see such a scene? If it wasn't to avoid such a scene from happening again, why didn't Xia Juhua just be a rural woman and quietly make some mats, flour and peanuts to earn enough money to support her family?
Xia Juhua's original idea was not to be a leader for Fei Jin Bali. Now, Uncle Qi told her that this would allow a wider range of members to no longer repeat the fate of starving in their previous lives, and Xia Juhua's heart was shaken.
“可是齊主任，我們生産隊的社員已經漏了快三個月的粉兒，連過年都沒休息一天，大家真的幹不動了。”殘存的理智，讓夏菊花企圖說服齊小叔，更是在說服自己。
齊主任點了點頭：“是呀，平安莊的社員太累了。他們不僅要漏粉，還替縣供銷社打響了葦席招牌，的确分不出更多的人漏粉兒了。”
夏菊花拼命點頭，還告訴齊主任，他們平安莊的社員并不保守，不管是誰想跟他們學習漏粉兒，他們都會盡心盡力的教。
可齊主任并沒有如夏菊花所願：“別的生産隊或是大隊，都沒有平安莊的人心齊。把糧站的紅薯全漏成粉條的消息一旦被人知道，恐怕還會給平安莊帶來麻煩。”
“小叔，你看這樣行不行？”齊衛東現在最聽不得的，就是平安莊因為漏粉兒惹出麻煩，确切的說是怕給夏菊花帶來麻煩：“供銷社不是拿現錢收平安莊的葦席嗎，各個糧站能不能跟供銷社一樣，給平安莊社員加工費，請他們幫助漏粉兒？”這樣就算是半官方行動，平安莊對外多少能有點兒說辭。
齊小叔沒有回答齊衛東的話，兩條卧蠶眉不再緊鎖，似笑非笑的看着夏菊花。
自己想多攥點兒紅薯的想法，這麽明顯嗎？夏菊花的腦袋裏飛快的計算着平安莊社員兩次漏粉兒後，除了應該給齊衛東的粉條外，每戶人家剩下的紅薯有多少，一時沒有對齊衛東的話做出反應。
做為最早跟夏菊花打交道的人，齊衛東看懂了自己小叔的表情，有點兒擔心的看向夏菊花。此時夏菊花心裏已經算出來了，平安莊每戶人家手裏，至少掙出了四百多到五百斤的紅薯。
這可是不算生産隊扣下來的半斤紅薯，和社員用生産隊原本分的紅薯漏的粉條，純掙的！
純掙的紅薯同樣可以漏成粉條，有了這些粉條，加上平安莊年前沒什麽人賣餘糧，足夠大家撐到來年夏收了吧！
那麽接下來再漏粉兒，平安莊的社員的确可以只掙錢不要紅薯，這樣大家就可以根據自己的體力，選擇是不是繼續漏粉和漏多少粉兒了。
算明白了的夏菊花，擡頭正好和齊小叔的眼神碰了個正着，索性也不扭捏的說：
“齊主任，這事兒太大了，我還得跟社員們商量一下。至于社員們是不是想掙加工費，都由他們自己說了算。不過我們生産隊的春耕，是真不能耽誤。”
齊小叔和齊衛東齊齊點頭，人齊小叔還向夏菊花打包票，他可以幫助平安莊聯系紅星公社農機站，讓他們派出拖拉機幫助平安莊搞春耕。
“聽說拖拉機都喝柴油，一天得好幾塊錢。”夏菊花的摳門勁又上來了。
齊小叔被她逗笑了：“農機站幫助生産隊進行農業生産，是他們的本職工作。再說縣裏也會給他們一些補貼，正好聽說紅星公社農機站制做了一種适合咱們當地的犁，你們平安莊可以幫助他們試驗一下嘛。”
真不愧是抓農業生産的副主任，對一個公社農機站，制做了哪些農具都了解的這麽清楚。夏菊花對齊主任的好感升到了十二分，真誠的邀請他有時間去平安莊考察。
齊小叔沒有拒絕，不過希望夏菊花盡快給齊衛東答複，畢竟天氣一天比一天見暖，人等得紅薯也等不得。
事兒說完了，齊衛東就想做東請夏菊花吃中飯——要說夏菊花和齊小叔談得攏，最高興的就是齊衛東——他總算不用即擔心小叔啥時翻臉，又擔心夏菊花什麽時候發現真相再也不和他合作。
沒錯，現在擔心不能長期合作的不是夏菊花，而是齊衛東：從夏菊花手裏流出來的炒花生也好，粉條也好（雖然後一批粉條明顯不是他的了），都讓齊衛東賺了不少，他是傻了才不跟夏菊花長期合作呢。
夏菊花的心早飛回平安莊了，哪兒有心情跟齊衛東一起吃飯。何況她也惦記着跟她一起進城的婦女們，不知道趙仙枝等不到她，有沒有想到自己去找一下林主任，帶着婦女們買點兒“處理品”什麽的。
見夏菊花真的着急，齊衛東推出自行車要送夏菊花去供銷社。夏菊花猛想起劉志雙的提議，問齊衛東：“現在自行車票好找嗎？”
早會聽話聽音的齊衛東一樂：“嬸子，別人想找自行車票得排隊，你要的話剛才咋不跟我小叔說？”
夏菊花連忙搖頭：“我就是問問，你小叔那麽大的領導，咋能為這麽點兒小事麻煩他。”
她看似随口一問，有心想繼續合作的齊衛東可記在心裏了，想着自己得盡快給夏菊花找張自行車票，最好在她給自己回信的時候就能送到夏菊花手裏。
不管平安莊有多少社員同意漏粉兒掙加工費，齊衛東都決定自行車票自己得找，還得親手送到夏菊花手裏。
供銷社門口站着好幾個農村打扮的婦女，夏菊花遠遠的就認出來，正是跟她一起從平安莊來的人。等齊衛東把自行車停住，趙仙枝已經沖過來上下打量着夏菊花問：“隊長，你咋去了這麽長時間，沒事兒吧？”
齊衛東嘴角抽了一下，夏菊花則笑着表示自己沒事兒，問：“你們咋都站在這兒呢，東西都買齊了，買的啥？”自己再有心事兒，都把人帶出平安莊了，總不能讓大家白跑一趟。
張翠萍湊過來說：“仙枝嬸子說你被人叫走了，我們哪兒還有心思買東西，想着到門口來等等你，萬一你……”
夏菊花趕緊讓張翠萍打住，有些含糊的給大家介紹了一下：“這是小齊，你們各家的男人都認識他。”
得了，已經被鍛煉出來的平安莊婦女同志們，馬上明白了齊衛東的身份，對他熱情起來，還問他什麽時候再去平安莊，要是去的話別忘了到自己家裏坐一坐。
前後态度變化明顯的，夏菊花都不好意思承認這些人是自己帶出來的。齊衛東倒覺得平安莊的婦女們，跟夏菊花同樣值得結識，笑着問大家現在餓不餓，他要請大家到飯店吃一頓。
在所有人的拒絕之下，齊衛東從自己兜裏掏出一把糧票，說啥都讓夏菊花收下，言明不是自己不想請客，而是怕有他在場，婦女同志們吃的不自在，所以這是夏菊花給他幫忙替他請客，不收糧票就是不相信他請婦女同志們的誠意。
這讓夏菊花推辭的話有點說不出口了，又想着正好可以借吃飯的時候，探一探婦女們的口風，順水推舟的答應下來。光答應齊衛東并不算完成任務，夏菊花還得帶着婦女們去找林主任。
不想林主任今天家裏有事兒，沒來供銷社，好在鄭主任恰巧碰到了夏菊花，知道她帶婦女們來逛縣城，大手一揮讓保管員帶着大家一起到了堆“處理品”的倉庫。
如此豪邁的舉動，真把平安莊的婦女們給驚着了，大家算計着自己手裏的錢，仔細挑選出需要平時又舍不得買的東西。
最後夏菊花一看，買的最多的還是布。沒辦法，哪有不愛美的女人，誰不想把自己打扮的漂亮一點兒。以前沒有條件也就算了，新衣裳要先緊着男人孩子，現在終于有了機會，好些婦女們的頭一個選擇可不就是給自己做件新衣裳嗎？
也不是所有人都選擇了布，還有人買了平時舍不得買的紅糖、頭巾。夏菊花則給家裏每個人買了雙雨靴，買的時候自己都有點兒想笑：
明知道開春後沒啥雨，還買雨靴，真是占便宜沒夠——雨靴因為不當季，也堆在了“處理品”倉庫裏，價格比平時每雙便宜五毛錢，還不要票。這東西放個一年不會壞，下次還不知道啥時候能碰着這麽便宜的，夏菊花自然要買。
她一挑雨靴，平安莊的婦女們人人都覺得雨靴就是必備品，都想挑一雙，最後愣把倉庫裏的雨靴包圓了，把供銷社的保管員都吓着了：說是一雙便宜五毛錢，可一雙雨靴也要兩塊七毛錢，什麽時候農村婦女這麽有錢了？
本想借吃飯的時候探一下婦女們口風的夏菊花，最終還是沒有說出口：今天足足來了二十幾個婦女，國營飯店一張小桌子根本坐不下，足足坐滿了四張桌子，還怎麽說？
說不成正事兒，那就吃吧。都是過日子的人，誰也不肯讓夏菊花一個人掏錢，最後是夏菊花把齊衛東給的糧票都花了，錢由大家自己掏。
也沒吃什麽好的，每人一碗蛋花湯，再來上兩個肉包子，已經足夠讓婦女們感嘆好吃，跟來的姑娘們回家想好了向小姐妹們炫耀的詞語。
看着如此容易滿足的婦女們，夏菊花恨不得自己能天天帶着她們來縣城裏閑逛，天天吃上肉包子喝上蛋花湯。
可是得有錢，還得有糧票。
So everyone found that the captain was silent on the way back to Ping'an Village. Her silence led the women who were comparing their purchases to silence as well. Technician Xue looked sideways at Xia Juhua who was sitting in the co-pilot seat from time to time, wondering if he was late in picking up the person and made Xia Juhua unhappy.
Xia Juhua was thinking, if the men in Ping'an Village were really allowed to earn processing fees by selling their sweet potatoes, how much would Guanqi's uncle-in-law be asked for per pound of sweet potatoes?