Chapter 75
"Five catties of sweet potatoes make one and a half catties, which is six cents if we calculate it at four cents per catty." Master Wu pounded on his tobacco pot and calculated the account clearly: "It should be at least one and a half cents per catty, otherwise I'm afraid no one will be willing to do it."
Chen Qiusheng thought that what he was asking for was a bit too much: "The grain station charges three cents for public grain, how can it be four cents?"
Wu Ye was unwilling to agree: "What do you mean by 3 cents? Zhishuang and his friends in the black market are still asking for 8 cents per pound. Even if the quantity is large, we can get 7 cents, it's still too little for us."
"It's not a question of how much money there is, but whether we can still do the job." Xia Juhua was exhausted.
But the Fifth Master thought that this was not a big deal: "What can't be done? Why should a grown man be afraid of doing a little work?" As long as a job can make cash, it is good as long as it is not too demanding. Why should we worry about no one doing it?
"If it really doesn't work, let Daxi and the others ask their brother-in-law to come over and help."
"Fifth Master," Xia Juhua was frightened by the old man's anger, "Call Daxi's brother-in-law here. Why are you telling people that our production team has been missing flour for such a long time, and every household still has so many old sweet potatoes in their vegetable cellar?"
Xia Juhua wanted to make money but couldn't work herself too hard. She finally turned her attention to Technician Xue: The use over the past few days has proved that the pulping machine is a useful and good thing. If more machines were used and had to wait in line for everyone a shorter time, a lot of time and manpower could be saved.
Technician Xue who was ordered to do the job in a critical moment: Captain Xia, I drove the tractor to Ping'an Village again and again, aren't you afraid that someone will find out that something is wrong?
With Uncle Qi as her backer, Xia Juhua completely forgot her fear of the Red Team - after Liu Zhishuang went to the city to find Qi Weidong that day, even though the New Year's Day was approaching, no one from the Red Team came to notify Ping'an Village to bring the Sun family members back. Isn't this enough to explain the problem?
However, Captain Li Changshun's reappearance in Ping'an Village gave Xia Juhua a headache.
In order to prevent Li Changshun from mentioning the sweet potato again, Xia Juhua said directly to Li Changshun: "Captain, how much reed stalks do the other three production teams have? Our production team can buy another batch, but the price will remain the same, not higher than what we get from others."
Li Changshun laughed: "Why, are you so afraid that I will come to your Ping'an Village, and want to trick me away quickly?"
Xia Juhua naturally shook her head: "The team leader came to guide our production team. We welcome him so much. How can we fool him?"
I don't know if Li Changshun believed it or not, but he just walked around the streets of Pingan Village with his hands behind his back, occasionally looking into the courtyards of each house. Xia Juhua couldn't stop him, and followed him reluctantly.
Suddenly, Li Changshun asked Xia Juhua: "I asked you to figure out the method of wheat bran. Have you figured it out?"
Apart from that time when she mentioned it to Technician Xue, how could Xia Juhua have found the time to think about wheat bran? At this time, she pushed Technician Xue to the front without hesitation: "I asked Technician Xue, but he didn't reply to me."
Li Changshun looked at Xia Juhua with some disbelief and asked, "Where is Technician Xue? I want to ask him in person."
Do you want to ask me questions in person, or do you want to poach me in person? Xia Juhua looked at Li Changshun with distrust. He looked calm, as if he had just greeted Master Wu and asked if he had eaten anything today.
Xia Juhua had to ask Li Changshun in a gentle voice what question he wanted to ask Technician Xue. Li Changshun said nothing, as if he would stay in Ping'an Village until he saw Technician Xue today.
There was no way Xia Juhua could stop the captain from meeting someone, so Fifth Master accompanied Li Changshun in a trivial chat while Xia Juhua went to find Technician Xue in person.
She had to go in person. What if Technician Xue just answered casually that day? Xia Juhua happened to explain Li Changshun's request to Technician Xue in detail along the way.
Technician Xue said with some embarrassment: "I did write to my family, but they haven't replied yet."
Everything will be easy once the letter is written. Xia Juhua confidently brought Technician Xue to Fifth Master's house and found that Fifth Master was poking his pipe in frustration, but Li Changshun's face was beaming as if he had just picked up money.
"Captain, Technician Xue is here." Xia Juhua didn't know what was going on in the room, so she introduced Technician Xue to Li Changshun first.
Wuye and Li Changshun looked up at the same time. Li Changshun looked at Technician Xue, and Wuye looked at Xia Juhua with a guilty look on his face, which made her heart skip a beat: Maybe Wuye promised Li Changshun something after she left. After all, compared with Xia Juhua, Wuye and Li Changshun valued hometown feelings more, and always thought about helping neighbors and helping neighbors, and the poor should help the poor.
Before Xia Juhua understood Wu Ye's expression, Li Changshun had already started asking Technician Xue: "Technician Xue, I heard that you made a machine for making sweet potato pulp. How much does that cost?"
Technician Xue said frankly: "The wooden frame and the iron barrel are easy to deal with, but the cutters have to be custom-made, plus the tracks, each one will cost at least 60 yuan."
"Oh, it costs more than 60 yuan each. How many days will it take to make it?"
"It won't take a few days. The old master who made the knives for me can make two or three sets a day."
Xia Juhua looked at the two people who were asking and answering each other, and her heart slowly lifted up. She looked at Wu Ye again. Wu Ye grinned and waved to Xia Juhua: "Da Zhuang, come out, I have something to tell you."
Her name was not Xia Juhua, but Da Zhuang's. The bad feeling about Xia Juhua became even stronger.
The Fifth Master's words confirmed Xia Juhua's worries: "Li Changshun wants those people from the production team to come to our production team and learn how to make rice noodles from the members. I thought we had taught them before, so I agreed."
Why did Xia Juhua not believe that she came to learn how to make the pulp? Seeing that Xia Juhua didn't say anything, Master Wu said, "He said that the sweet potatoes of each production team are all leaking, and they are afraid that they can't be used to plant."
Everyone is a farmer, and in autumn they save all kinds of seeds for the next spring. Even three-year-old children know this. Otherwise, there wouldn't be the saying: I'd rather starve to death than eat seeds.
Those production teams turned the seeds and grains into powder even though their own mothers would not eat them even if they starved to death. They have really grown up.
Xia Juhua couldn't help it: "Fifth Master, do they take us for fools? I told the team leader last time that if any production team grows more sweet potatoes and doesn't have enough, we can sell them some. But now everyone is asking us for money. It's unacceptable." In Pingan Village alone, nearly 3,000 kilograms of seeds were reserved. How much would five production teams need?!
The fifth master stroked his pipe and said, "I think what Li Changshun said makes sense. Think about it, the people in our team are all relatives, and when other production teams are really in trouble and come to our relatives with bowls in hand, can we still resist and not let them give us money?"
"Instead of asking the members to share their rations with them, the production team should do them a favor and give them some sweet potato seeds. I have already told Li Changshun that the production teams should not think of getting an easy deal this time. They should pay the money they are owed."
Xia Juhua was silent. She understood the reasoning of Wuye and Li Changshun, and she really couldn't stand by and watch someone die. Giving sweet potato seeds to each production team now would give them something to think about, so that they wouldn't do anything to Ping'an Village out of jealousy.
Seeing Xia Juhua silently, Fifth Master gave her a reassurance: "Li Changshun said that as long as we agree to provide sweet potato seeds to each production team, each production team can buy a pulping machine from Technician Xue for us, and he will let each production team manage their own people and not tell others that the sweet potato seeds were provided by us. Even if there is something wrong with the commune, he will take responsibility for us."
The last sentence made Xia Juhua determined. She had not forgotten the scene when she was the director of the commune's revolutionary committee and had to call Li Changshun uncle. She was afraid that if she disagreed now, Li Changshun would lose face and go to the commune. Whether Director Zhang stopped Technician Xue from coming to Ping'an Village or ordered Ping'an Village to produce all the sweet potato seeds of the brigade, Ping'an Village was very passive.
Rather than being passive, it would be better to get a pulping machine for free - a pulping machine costs about 60 yuan, and Ping An Village will not suffer a loss if it only produces sweet potato seeds.
Seeing that Xia Juhua agreed, Fifth Master finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Don't blame me for acting on my own and agreeing to Li Changshun behind your back. We have been friends for a lifetime, and it's hard for me to see him in trouble."
What could Xia Juhua say? No matter what, Li Changshun had tacitly approved Ping An Manor's money-making, and it would be good to repay this favor with sweet potatoes. As for how many sweet potato seeds each production team needed, Li Changshun would have to ask each production team before he could determine it. I think the sweet potatoes left over from Ping An Manor twice, plus the seeds left in autumn, should be enough.
When Li Changshun entered the room, he had already agreed with Technician Xue to work on the four more mincers as soon as possible. Xia Juhua suddenly remembered that the mincers she had seen in her previous life were all electric, and she wondered if Technician Xue could improve them.
After hearing Xia Juhua's question, Technician Xue's eyes lit up, but then dimmed again: "It's not that the electricity can't be modified, it's just a matter of adding a motor. But your Pingan Village still doesn't have electricity, so it won't work even if you modify it."
Well, Ping'an Village is now as backward as all the villages in the northern plains. No matter how good Xia Juhua's ideas are, they can only exist in the mind of Technician Xue and can only be implemented when conditions are ripe.
The next question Xia Juhua, Wu Ye and Chen Qiusheng had to face was whether to discuss with the male members of Ping An Zhuang and whether they would still want to make money by selling powder. This time, only the male members were called to the meeting, and the women stayed at home to make their own mats.
"Make cash." Liu Daxi got the Fifth Master's hint and was the first to speak out: "Making cash is a good thing. No one can use vermicelli as a gift or dowry when marrying a daughter-in-law. Even if you build a house and provide meals for the helpers, you can't just eat vermicelli, right?"
"I also think I can work for a few more days." Liu Erzhuang, who was short of money, agreed with Liu Daxixi's words without the Fifth Master's inspection. He thought Xia Juhua called everyone to the meeting because she was afraid that everyone was too tired and unwilling to work, so he took the initiative to step forward and set the tone.
There are those who are willing to do it, and there are those who want to do it. Liu Lizhu asked: "When we were making sweet potatoes, the flour that we owed was all leaked by everyone. If we make cash, then don't count us."
Uncle Dong and the only female participant, Auntie Qi, nodded and said that everyone helped them miss two powders, and they would be embarrassed to ask for help from everyone again in the future.
Zhao Tiedan got anxious when he heard this, and he jumped up and said, "Whether you leak the powder or not is your business, don't say you owe us money, our family still wants to leak the powder."
Those who were not satisfied with Zhao Tiedan naturally wanted to complain to him. Xia Juhua knocked on the table twice to silence their voices: "Haven't we made it clear just now? After this batch of powder is leaked, the next batch will be voluntary. We have an agreement in advance. People trust us, Ping An Zhuang, so they let us help. Those who agree to continue leaking powder cannot give up halfway."
Except for the six debtors who stopped leaking powder, the other members were all willing to continue leaking powder as Wu Ye thought. Xia Juhua and Wu Ye had nothing to say except to ask everyone to keep it secret as before. They just made Chen Qiusheng busy:
He had to record how many sweet potatoes each family had left, how much vermicelli was left, and how much vermicelli each family should give to Qi Weidong in order to close the account. No one could figure out whether they had made a profit or a loss, and he had to help calculate how many sweet potatoes the production team had distributed in the fall, and how much vermicelli and sweet potatoes each family had left.
After calculating the amount, of course no one would lose. Everyone was happy to find that they had made a profit, and a lot of it. Everyone was more confident in continuing to leak fans. Even the six debtors wanted to leak a few more fans to make some cash.
Both Master Wu and Xia Juhua were more tolerant of the debtors - these six families were different from Zhao Tiedan's family. They all had real difficulties that made their lives worse and worse. They were not lazy and unwilling to work.
Hearing that they wanted to make some cash, Xia Juhua asked Chen Qiusheng to work with them to calculate how much powder they could leak out in a day based on their abilities. As for Qi Nai, Xia Juhua simply asked her to partner with her family and help Liu Zhiquan and Liu Zhishuang, and then give her some money.
Having made up her mind, when Qi Weidong arrived the next morning, Xia Juhua not only treated him to another bowl of hot and sour rice noodles, but also told him the processing fee that she had agreed with Fifth Master Chen Qiusheng:
"We calculated that we need to charge 1.5 cents for processing one pound of sweet potatoes. Go back and ask your uncle if it's okay."
When Qi Weidong heard that Xia Juhua agreed to help with the leaking of powder, he was already beaming with joy: "Why not? Actually, auntie, you don't know that my uncle is afraid that you will still want the sweet potatoes without the processing fee."
Why were they afraid that Ping'an Village would continue to demand sweet potatoes? Xia Juhua could understand why they were afraid that the sweet potatoes in the grain station would not be able to be accounted for in the future. It was easy to negotiate a result that both parties were willing to reach. In the evening, Qi Weidong did not come alone, but brought a large tractor loaded with a full load of sweet potatoes.
He not only brought sweet potatoes, but also Uncle Qi's promise: the processing fee of 0.15 cents per kilogram of sweet potatoes is no problem, and the Red Star Agricultural Machinery Station can help Ping'an Village with spring ploughing after the spring. Even if there are any questions about sweet potato planting, the Red Star Agricultural Technology Station can send someone to guide.
The fifth master who was waiting for Qi Weidong grinned when he heard this: "We have been growing sweet potatoes all our lives, do we still need guidance from others?"
Xia Juhua and Wu Ye thought differently. Although they were both engaged in farming, many of the planting techniques passed down from generation to generation in Ping An Village were much more advanced. The people in the agricultural technology station were all engaged in scientific farming, and they also taught those techniques to the farmers.
Therefore, Xia Juhua believes that with the guidance of the staff of the Agricultural Technology Station, even if there is drought during the spring farming season this year, it will still be able to play a big role in the future.
"Xiao Qi, unload these sweet potatoes to one side, don't mix them up with the ones from last time." Xia Juhua told Qi Weidong a little worriedly - half a pound of the sweet potatoes from last time were Qi Weidong's, but the ones from this time might not be the same. If they were mixed up, Qi Weidong would have suffered in vain.
Qi Weidong also understood what Xia Juhua didn't say, and smiled at her gratefully: "Auntie, I know what's going on."
That night, Qi Weidong made three trips with the tractor, and members of Ping'an Village followed him to load and unload the trucks. Xia Juhua estimated that these three trucks might have more than 100,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes.
"Xiao Qi, you can't pull any more." When it came to the last car, Xia Juhua decisively stopped Qi Weidong and made a request to him: "Nowadays, each family has limited supplies. Even if the sweet potato pulp is produced quickly, it will be useless without the supplies. Tomorrow, see if you can help buy some more large basins or something that can hold the sweet potato pulp."
Such a small request was nothing to Qi Weidong. When he was about to get on the tractor and leave, he took out a small piece of paper two fingers wide from his pocket and gave it to Xia Juhua: "Auntie, this is the bicycle ticket I found for you."
Qi Weidong emphasized that he found the job himself out of selfish motives, as he didn't want Xia Juhua to misunderstand that the credit went to his uncle Qi.
Xia Juhua didn't expect that Qi Weidong got the bicycle ticket the next day after she mentioned it casually. It seems that this kid relies on more than just Uncle Qi.
"This thing is not cheap, is it? How much did you spend? I'll give it to you." Xia Juhua increasingly didn't want to take advantage of Qi Weidong, so she said it clearly.
Qi Weidong quickly jumped onto the tractor and said, "It doesn't matter what the money is. Auntie, if you keep saying that, I won't come to your Ping An Village next time."
Xia Juhua laughed and said, "It would be better if you didn't come. I would have kept all the sweet potato powder for myself."
Qi Weidong also knew that he had said something stupid. He waved his hand at Xia Juhua, and the tractor ran away under the cover of the night.
He ran away, but Xia Juhua couldn't run away, and neither could the members of Ping'an Village. The sweet potatoes were weighed as they were pulled in, and now Chen Qiusheng had counted them, and it was another 100,000 kilograms.
The weather is still cold now, and everyone has to brave the cold wind and distribute the sweet potatoes overnight according to the quantity reported by each household. As for how each household transports the sweet potatoes to the vegetable cellar, Xia Juhua really can't control it.
She was more tired than anyone else that day. She lay down on the kang and didn't want to move at all. She fell asleep. The next day, Wang Caifeng worriedly called her twice outside. Xia Juhua finally got up. She felt dizzy and couldn't stand up. She fell headfirst onto the kang again.
Wang Caifeng was outside when she heard her mother-in-law getting up. After a while, she didn't see the door open. She kept knocking on the door anxiously, "Mom, are you up?"
Xia Juhua replied weakly, "I'll sleep a little longer. You guys eat first."
Liu Zhiquan saw that Wang Caifeng looked unhappy, so he came over and asked, "Mom wants to take a break, why are you yelling?"
Wang Caifeng's face changed: "I heard that my mother's voice was not right." I have never heard my mother-in-law look so listless in all these years.
Liu Zhiquan knocked on the door and asked, "Mom, what's wrong with you?"
I don't feel well at all. Xia Juhua held her breath, forced herself to get up and opened the door, not paying any attention to the two people standing stupidly at the door, and went back to lying on the kang.
Without asking, everyone could tell that Xia Juhua was ill. Wang Caifeng went out to get some hot water, Liu Zhiquan went out to find a cart, and Liu Zhishuang couldn't find any work to do, so he jumped around anxiously: "Mom, what's wrong with you? Do you want to eat something now?"
If you stop jumping around here, I'll be comfortable. Xia Juhua knew it in her heart, but she was too lazy to say anything. She closed her eyes and pretended that she didn't have a son like Liu Zhishuang who was causing trouble. Wang Caifeng came in with a basin of warm water. Seeing Xia Juhua frowning, she quickly said to Liu Zhishuang, "Second brother, be quiet for a while. I'll wipe my face so that I can take her to the commune clinic."
Liu Zhishuang finally shut up after hearing this. He watched Wang Caifeng wiping Xia Juhua's face, then belatedly asked, "Sister-in-law, where is Baoguo?"
Yes, where is Liu Baoguo? Wang Caifeng put down the wash basin and looked at the door blankly, feeling a little bit at a loss. Liu Zhishuang said, "Sister-in-law, go find Baoguo, I'll wipe my mother's face."
Wang Caifeng looked at her mother-in-law again and saw Xia Juhua nodding as well. She put down her towel and went to look for Liu Baoguo. She found the boy standing at the gate of the courtyard looking at the street. Wang Caifeng took two quick steps holding her belly and grabbed Liu Baoguo: "Didn't I tell you to stay in the house? Why are you here?"
Liu Baoguo kept his head facing the street, pointed at the door with his little hand and said, "Dad is gone."
Wang Caifeng pulled him towards the main room, saying as they walked: "Grandma is sick, Dad, go find a car to take Grandma to see a doctor."
As they were talking, the sound of a tractor came from the street. Soon, Technician Xue jumped off the tractor and walked into the yard while asking, "Why is Captain Xia sick? Let her get on the tractor quickly."
It turned out that Technician Xue had brought another finished pulping machine today and happened to meet Liu Zhiquan who was in a hurry to find a trolley. Upon asking, he found out that Xia Juhua was sick and he didn't even have time to unload the pulping machine, so he drove the tractor to take Xia Juhua to see a doctor.
Liu Zhiquan's search for a trolley was a big deal. Everyone in Ping'an Village knew that Xia Juhua was sick from exhaustion, and soon the Liu family's yard was full of people, who were just in time to help Technician Xue unload the pulper and the trolley directly into the Liu family's yard.
Everyone was talking at once and giving advice to the Liu family. Some told the Liu brothers to quickly get the mattress and put it on the tractor. Some people jumped into the tractor to clean it up. Some people told the Liu family to quickly get the quilt to cover Xia Juhua for a while...
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