Chapter 76 (1)
When Master Wu was brought here by Qixi, he saw a busy scene in the yard. He was so angry that he shouted at everyone, "What are you all yelling about? Are you dissatisfied with Dazhuang's family's indifference?"
Xia Juhua, who had just been helped out of the door, couldn't help but grin. It seemed that she still had a long way to go to clear her name. The old man started calling Da Zhuang's house in a hurry, and this time it sounded a bit friendly.
Zhao Xianzhi saw Xia Juhua coming out, and regardless of whether Wu Ye was angry or not, he stepped forward to support Xia Juhua and walked slowly toward the tractor, saying, "Captain, please walk slower."
Xia Juhua was now a little more energetic, and she even had time to smile at Zhao Xianzhi and say, "No need to support me."
Zhao Xianzhi pretended not to hear and held Xia Juhua's arm firmly: "Don't worry about home, your daughter-in-law is under your care. I will accompany you to the hospital."
An Baoling next to her was not happy: "What are you going to do? I have to follow my sister-in-law."
Xia Juhua, who was handing her hand to Liu Zhishuang in the car fight, heard An Baoling and Zhao Xianzhi quarreling over who should accompany her to the commune clinic. She did not think it was a quarrel, but was moved. She turned around and said to them gently:
"Neither of you are allowed to go there. You still have to keep an eye on the yard."
Zhao Xianzhi and An Baoling immediately formed a united front and refused to give up accompanying Xia Juhua to see the doctor no matter what - the captain (sister-in-law) was pale and bloodless, and the only daughter-in-law was pregnant and had a two-year-old child. It was obvious that she could not accompany him to the hospital.
If she didn't accompany him, could she count on the two rough men, Liu Zhiquan and his brother? Even if she was his biological mother, it would be inconvenient for her son to do some things when he was grown up.
Liu Hongling and Liu Hongcui suddenly ran to the tractor and without saying a word, they used their hands and feet to climb into the tractor. Li Daya behind them tried to pull one and couldn't hold the other: "You two, get off quickly. Your aunt is going to see a doctor, not to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things. Why are you making trouble?"
"Mom, you all have to stay in the yard to weave mats. Hongcui and I will go and look after Auntie." Liu Hongling looked at her mother seriously, as if she would cry if she didn't agree.
Seeing the two girls looking at her with red eyes and pleading, Xia Juhua's heart softened, and she whispered to Li Daya and others: "I just have a little fever, it's nothing serious, just let the two girls follow me. Everyone should do what they need to do, don't delay the work."
With Xia Juhua's words, the people who followed her to the commune clinic were Liu Zhiquan and Liu Hongling. After the dust settled, Chen Qiusheng shouted to everyone, "Come on, go back to your own homes and work. You women should go and make mats. The team leader is tired and sick, don't let her worry about the team's affairs, or she won't be able to recover."
The Fifth Master said to Liu Daxi and his brother in a very stern voice, "Stay here with three or four of you to shred the sweet potatoes that your sister-in-law's family needs to shred today."
Zhao Dagou carefully rubbed against Liu Daxi and said to Master Wu, "Master Wu, Ergou, Uncle Daxi and I will stay here. No one else is needed."
Unexpectedly, this boy is someone who knows how to be grateful. Fifth Master pretended not to see Zhao Tiedan's gloomy face and said to Liu Daxi: "You guys should be more careful. There are more leftovers than those wrapped twice. Don't waste them." Since the Liu family is not around, they have to do the work more efficiently.
Liu Daxi responded with a shout of joy. On the other side, the two pairs of sisters-in-law, Li Daya, An Baoling, and Zhao Xianzhi, Chang Xiancao, also agreed that Li Daya and Chang Xiancao would stay to take care of Wang Caifeng and her son, and cook and deliver meals to those going to the hospital.
After listening to him, the Fifth Master nodded and said loudly to the crowd that had not yet dispersed: "Why did Da Zhuang fall ill? Everyone should know, right?" Seeing everyone nod, the old man continued: "Even if she was ill, she didn't want adults to take care of her because she was worried that it would delay everyone's work. So let's not let her worry, let her rest assured and recover, and then lead us to live a good life!"
"Yes, we can't let the captain worry."
"Let's go, go home and work quickly. The sooner the powder is out, the sooner the goods can be delivered. Then the captain can rest and recuperate."
Chen Qiu Sheng found that Zhang Cuiping neither arranged to go to the health hospital to accompany Xia Juhua nor asked to stay to take care of Wang Caifeng and her son. He approached his wife in some surprise and asked in a low voice: "Why are you so obedient today?" Didn't she get anxious when she heard that the captain had something wrong?
Zhang Cuihua rolled her eyes at him. "If we all follow the captain to the commune, who will watch over the yard? And I have to check the words the girls learned yesterday before they can continue to weave mats today. How can I leave? If I stay, the captain can focus on recuperating and not worry about weaving mats. Wouldn't he get better faster?"
Well, his wife could actually be so thoughtful. Chen Qiu Sheng had no other way to express his gratitude except giving her a thumbs up.
Xia Juhua and others had not returned from the clinic all morning. Li Daya could not sit still at home, so she put the prepared meal into a basket and had Liu Erzhuang take it to the commune clinic on a bicycle.
"You are here to see Captain Xia, too, right?" The nurse from the health center knew that Li Daya and her husband were genuine country folk when she saw their attire. She smiled and led them to the infusion room while saying:
"Captain Xia is just tired and caught a cold. He has a bad cold and a fever. He is listless. After the IV, his fever has gone down. He can go home and rest in the afternoon."
For rural people at that time, being sick to the point of having to receive an IV drip was already a serious illness. Li Daya asked nervously, "Can I go home in the afternoon after receiving an IV drip? Doctor, why don't you check my sister-in-law carefully? If our health center can't check her, can we go to the county or a large regional hospital for a checkup?"
Liu Erzhuang pulled Li Daya and told her to stop talking loudly in the health center. Liu Zhiquan had already heard the voice of his aunt and came out from the infusion room: "Uncle, Aunt, you are here."
Liu Erzhuang nodded, and Li Daya asked anxiously, "How is your mother?"
Liu Zhiquan smiled a little: "The doctor said it's okay, and my mother also said that after the infusion, she feels much better."
"It's good that you're okay, it's good that you're okay." Li Daya finally felt relieved and let Liu Zhiquan take the basket from her hand. She told him, "Go in and have a bite with your mother. I heard there are a lot of people in there. Are there so many people getting IV drips?"
Liu Zhiquan said proudly: "It was the team leader and several other team leaders who heard that my mother was ill and came to see her."
"The production team leaders are here?" Liu Erzhuang was a little bit unconvinced. What kind of people are those production team leaders? He has been dealing with them for several years, how could he not know them?
Liu Zhiquan nodded and said, "Not only are they here, but Caifeng's cousin is here too."
Li Daya knew that Wang Caifeng's cousin was Wang Caixia, the deputy director of the supply and marketing cooperative. She smiled and said, "She has a good relationship with your mother. If she knew that your mother was ill, she would definitely come to see her."
As he spoke, Li Changshun had already led four production team leaders out. Liu Zhishuang, who had just brought the basket into the infusion room, followed behind to see them off. Li Changshun saw Liu Erzhuang and his wife there, nodded at Liu Erzhuang and said, "Your sister-in-law has been very tired recently. Let her take a good rest for a few days, and you can also care take of the production team's affairs for her. Don't just think about..."
Liu Erzhuang knew what Li Changshun wanted to say before he said the following. It would be a lie to say that he had not thought about bringing Sun home for the New Year. However, when people are busy, they are too tired to even think about things. Liu Erzhuang did not speak to Li Changshun or Xia Juhua.
As more and more sweet potatoes were delivered, the process of leaking rice flour became more and more tiring, and Liu Erzhuang's mind changed: if his mother was still at home, would he and his third son have to help Liu Sizhuang leak rice flour first before leaking our own rice flour? Or maybe Liu Sizhuang didn't have to leak rice flour at all, and Sun Shi could just come forward and take the rice flour gradually that their two families had leaked for themselves.
Not to mention that the three families have already separated. Liu Erzhuang knows his mother too well, and knows that if she wants to make trouble, she won't care whether the family is separated or not. Thinking about it this way, it is not a bad thing for Sun to stay in the study class temporarily. At least the whole family can do their own work peacefully without worrying that the fruits of their labor will become others.
Therefore, Liu Erzhuang did not feel that Li Changshun had exposed his shortcomings at all, and he readily agreed: "Everyone in the production team has been assigned their own tasks, and Daya and the others are taking care of the family, so there is nothing for my sister-in-law to worry about."
Li Daniu passed Li Changshun and approached Liu Zhiquan, saying in a buzzing voice, "Zhiquan, I was embarrassed to tell your mother in the room just now. Go in and tell her later that I was not good at speaking before, so that she won't take it to heart."
Not to mention Liu Zhiquan, even Liu Erzhuang, who had been dealing with Li Daniu for half his life, opened his mouth in surprise: Is this still the Li Daniu he knew, nicknamed Li Laojue? How could Liu Erzhuang hear words of submission from Li Daniu?
Starting with Li Daniu, except for the captain of Team 3, the captains of the other two production teams also expressed similar opinions to Li Daniu, and then left quickly amid the shocked gazes of the family.
Li Changshun couldn't walk fast, and he didn't want to run away like those four losers. He cleared his throat and said to Liu Zhiquan, "Tell your mother that they apologized because they wanted to make amends to your mother a long time ago, and I didn't pressure them to say so. Your mother did the job, and they should be convinced."
Xia Juhua, who was lying in the room receiving an IV drip, also heard Li Changshun's evaluation of herself. She didn't know whether to cry or laugh: after living a new life, she had begun to not care about how others evaluated her, and as a result, the evaluations she received were getting better and better.
The lunch was not prepared by Li Daya, but big meat buns and millet porridge bought by Wang Caixia from the state-owned hotel. Xia Juhua was so scared that she rushed home as soon as the infusion was finished: looking at Wang Caixia's attitude, it seemed that she would treat everyone to a few meals while Xia Juhua was on the infusion for a few days. They were all living people, how could Xia Juhua have the nerve to let her keep spending money.
After asking the doctor at the health center, he prescribed two days of fluids and took them back to Ping'an Village to see the barefoot doctor for transfusion. Then, Technician Xue took Xia Juhua back to Ping'an Village on a tractor. After Liu Zhishuang and others took Xia Juhua to the kang, Technician Xue wiped his face and said:
"Captain Xia, you are so popular. How did you get to know all these people?" There were even people from the county town who went to the health hospital specifically to see Xia Juhua.
The so-called person from the county town is Qi Weidong. Today, he received an order from his uncle Qi and came to Ping'an Manor to discuss something with Xia Juhua. However, he heard the news that the person had been admitted to the hospital. He then chased to the hospital and got the reply that the person was not seriously injured. Then he returned to the county town in a bad mood.
The first thing she did when she returned to the county was to find Uncle Qi's office and tell him that Xia Juhua was sick from overwork. Uncle Qi was stunned when he heard this: "She's sick from overwork now."
My dear uncle, you are so easy to talk without any pain in your waist. Qi Weidong looked at his uncle with some complaints and said, "Uncle, Aunt Xia said last time that the people in Ping'an Village have been missing powder for almost three months in a row, and they still have to make reed mats for the supply and marketing cooperative. Even a strong man will be exhausted."
Uncle Qi was just sighing, not questioning Xia Juhua. He was a little angry when his nephew complained: "She is the production captain, at most she can give orders, but she doesn't have to do the work herself."
"Uncle." Qi Weidong felt that he couldn't make sense with his uncle. "Auntie Xia was able to become the production team leader because she is more capable than other women and is not worse than the male members. That's why everyone trusts her and recommends her to be the production team leader. The various ways of making the reed mat in their production team were all thought up by Auntie Xia, and Auntie Xia also taught the members how to leak powder. Tell me, can she do something that requires others to do the work while she just talks?"
This was the first time that his own nephew praised someone so highly. Uncle Qi thought about what he had learned about Xia Juhua and nodded in agreement: "Captain Xia is really different from ordinary rural women. By the way, she is sick, didn't you buy something to take a look?"
If the man in front of him wasn't his own uncle, Qi Weidong would have slapped him in the face: "I don't understand this little bit of human relations. Uncle, I came here to tell you that you shouldn't urge Aunt Xia too much about leaking powder. She didn't even dare to let an adult accompany her when she was receiving the infusion. It was all her two nieces who took care of her, for fear that leaking powder would be delayed."
"You don't understand." Uncle Qi was also very moved by Xia Juhua's sense of responsibility, and felt that he had found the right person: "Captain Xia is just like me. He doesn't want to see good sweet potatoes rot and waste, so he rushed to let the members of Ping An Village leak the powder."
Xia Juhua really couldn't do the thing of pretending nothing happened when she knew that food was being wasted. Even when she got home and heard that the production team's work on leaking rice flour was not delayed, she still discussed with Fifth Master and Chen Qiu Sheng how to leak more rice flour faster.
Pingan Village now has six pulping machines, so every household that wants to make pulp can use it without queuing up several people. Qi Weidong also sent hundreds of large pulping basins, and no one knows where he got them from.
But this is far from enough for the endless supply of sweet potatoes.
Time waits for no one.
Uncle Qi hopes that the Ping'anzhuang production team will sift through the sweet potatoes from all the commune grain stations in Pingde County. According to Xia Juhua's calculations, they have only sift through sweet potatoes from two grain stations at most so far.
Pingde County has seven communes under its jurisdiction!
Even if we only count the sweet potatoes shipped from the two grain stations that have already missed the mark, there are still nearly 500,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes that need to pass through the hands of Ping'anzhuang members and be ground into powder bit by bit!
It's an impossible task no matter how you look at it.
Xia Juhua leaned against the pile of quilts and said to Master Wu with a wry smile: "Master Wu, we knew there were so many sweet potatoes that were going to rot, but we couldn't finish them all. Isn't this a sin?"
Looking at Xia Juhua with an IV needle still hanging on her hand, Fifth Master opened his mouth but could not say anything - Xia Juhua and all the people in Ping'an Village had tried their best without realizing it, but the burden was too heavy, could they be blamed for not being able to carry it?
No matter who said something bad about Xia Juhua in front of Master Wu, Master Wu would swing his pipe at that person. But since the person who was speaking was Xia Juhua herself, he could not swing the pipe.
"Auntie Xia, are you home?" Qi Weidong's voice came from the yard. The Fifth Master did not move, but Chen Qiusheng had already gone out to greet him. Qi Weidong introduced Chen Qiusheng, "This is my uncle. This is Chen Qiusheng, the accountant of the Ping An Village Production Team."
Xia Juhua quickly whispered to Fifth Master the identity of the visitor, sat up straight, and tried to make herself look more energetic.
Qi Weidong and his men had already come in. In addition to Uncle Qi, Director Zhang of the Commune Revolutionary Committee and Team Leader Li Changshun had also come along. That's right, Uncle Qi was the deputy director in charge of agriculture in Pingde County, so it was normal for Director Zhang of the Commune to accompany him. Given the relationship between Director Zhang and Li Changshun, he would definitely not fail to notify him.
"Captain Xia, thank you for your hard work. I heard that you were sick, so I came to see you." As soon as Uncle Qi came in, he gently explained his purpose to Xia Juhua and signaled Qi Weidong to put the nutritional supplements he brought for Xia Juhua on the top of the cabinet.
Xia Juhua was still receiving an IV drip, so she couldn't get up and refused. She said to Qi Weidong anxiously, "Why didn't you persuade Director Qi? I just have a cold, which is not a serious illness. I'm making Director Qi spend money. Director Qi, Director Zhang, please sit down. The house is too messy. I don't even have a place to stay. I'm making a fool of myself."
The Fifth Master finally came to his senses from the shock of hearing about the identity of Uncle Qi, and stood on the ground at a loss, not knowing whether he should leave or stay. Li Changshun pulled him aside to give the place to the leaders, and whispered in his ear: "Old man, when the leaders are talking later, don't interrupt."
Of course, one would not interrupt when the leader is speaking. The Fifth Master glanced at Li Changshun with a bit of dissatisfaction and found that Li Changshun's expression showed a bit of excitement and expectation?
Wu Ye had heard that Li Changshun and Director Zhang had a close relationship, so there was no need to be so excited, right? Or was Director Zhang going to say something that Li Changshun was looking forward to, so he gave himself a shot in advance?
Li Changshun noticed that Fifth Master was looking at him all the time, and he turned his head away a little uncomfortably, pretending to listen carefully to what Director Qi and Xia Juhua were saying. Fifth Master couldn't keep talking to him, so he had to listen along.
"Captain Xia, it's because I didn't consider things comprehensively that you got sick from exhaustion. To be honest, I feel very guilty. You're such a practical comrade, I shouldn't have put so much pressure on you." Director Qi was sincerely apologizing to Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua waved the hand that was not receiving the IV like a windmill: "Director Qi, please don't say that. Just now, several people in our production team were discussing how to complete the task assigned to us by the leader. But..."
Director Zhang took over the conversation and said, "Captain Xia, you don't have to feel any psychological burden about this matter. Ping'an Village is sharing the pressure for the commune and the county, but it is not enough for Ping'an Village alone to bear such a heavy responsibility."
Hmm? Xia Juhua and Wu Ye looked at each other and shut up at the same time. The leader must have some plans now. The people in Ping An Manor are just doing their jobs, so they should stop talking.
Director Qi saw that the conversation had become dull, glanced at Director Zhang, and when he turned to Xia Juhua, his frowning brows were no longer furrowed, and he said in a friendly and negotiating manner: "Of course, the production teams with greater capabilities will also have to bear greater responsibilities. The members of Ping'an Village have skills, and they have taught them to the members of other production teams without reservation. Such selfless behavior is worthy of encouragement and praise."
Qi Weidong quickly glanced at his uncle, then turned to look at Xia Juhua who seemed to be thinking about something. If Director Qi had said this to Xia Juhua when they first met, Xia Juhua would have been disgusted.
Now her mentality has changed unconsciously. She is influenced by what Li Changshun said to Fifth Master, that relatives of Ping'an Village members would bring bowls to Ping'an Village to ask for food. She is also influenced by leaders like Director Qi, who have a fixed amount of food every month but are still worried that the farming members will have no food to eat.
No matter what era it is, there are always some people who care about more than just themselves. Such people are undoubtedly worthy of admiration. Xia Juhua knows that she can't do that, but it doesn't prevent her from respecting such people.
This respect was enough to make Xia Juhua listen calmly.
Director Qi did not keep her in suspense and said to Xia Juhua sincerely, "Captain Xia, I believe you have some understanding of the current situation. We are now racing against time. It seems that it is difficult for the members of the Ping'an Village Production Team to complete the task alone, so I discussed it with your Director Zhang and came up with some ideas. I would like to seek your opinion."
After Xia Juhua exchanged glances with Master Wu again, she nodded to Director Qi, indicating that she understood what her leader meant and wanted to hear his specific thoughts.
Actually, it's not complicated, because Pingan Village has already leaked its experience, so Director Qi hopes that they can teach their skills to everyone in the Pingan Village team who is willing to learn the skills.
In this way, more people will come together and more people will participate in leaking the sweet potatoes, which will speed up the process. This will solve the problem of insufficient manpower in Ping An Village and there will be no need to worry about the sweet potatoes not being leaked out before the weather warms up, becoming poisonous or rotten after sprouting, causing unnecessary waste.
"Director Qi, there is no problem with teaching technology, but if too many people are involved in the powder leakage, the confidentiality..." Xia Juhua was very worried that people would spread rumors and eventually everyone in Pingde County would know about the powder leakage of the Ping'anzhuang Brigade.
Director Zhang smiled and said, "We will assign the next work to Ping'an Village Brigade as a commune task, and then Captain Li will organize it. Captain Xia, you are in poor health, so you only need to provide technical guidance. The commune will hire you as a technician and give you some subsidies according to the salary of a technician at the agricultural technology station."
When she heard that she would be subsidized, Xia Juhua said quickly, "When members of the production teams come to learn skills, they will be taught by members of our production teams. I will not be needed, and there is no need to subsidize me."
Director Qi shook his head repeatedly: "Captain Xia, this is what you deserve. You taught the skills to the members of Ping An Village early on, so you deserve this subsidy."
Director Qi said this sincerely. After all, not everyone would selflessly teach their skills to others, teach a whole production team, and lead the members of the production team to use their skills to earn food. Apart from the earnings of her two sons and the work points that should be recorded as a production team leader, Xia Juhua did not take a single cent more.
Xia Juhua has great respect for Director Qi. Director Qi never fails to feel that Xia Juhua, a rural woman, has many admirable qualities.
After listening to what was said, Wu Ye found that the leaders did not mention the next arrangements for the members of the Pinganzhuang production team. He forgot Li Changshun's instructions not to interrupt and asked, "Leader, will our production team continue to leak powder? If we continue to leak powder, will we still pay the processing fee? How will we calculate the time wasted by teaching others to leak powder?"
It is indeed most appropriate for Fifth Master to ask such a question, and Xia Juhua is also waiting for Director Qi's answer.
Apparently, before coming to see Xia Juhua, Director Qi and others had also discussed the possibility that Ping An Village might ask such a question, so it was Director Zhang who answered:
"Old man, please rest assured about this. The contributions of the Pinganzhuang members to the commune and even the entire Pingde County will not be forgotten. The commune has decided that the sweet potatoes that have been transported to Pinganzhuang will continue to be processed by the members of Pinganzhuang, and the processing fee will still be paid according to the agreed rate of 1.5 cents per pound. As for what to do with the time wasted by the members of other production teams who leaked the flour, Captain Li, how about you give us a talk?"
Li Changshun cleared his throat and said to the Fifth Master, "Old man, you really don't want to take any loss. Don't worry, your production team will teach other production team members for one day. The production team that teaches the members will be credited with ten work points, and the work points will be calculated according to the work points of your Ping'an Village at the end of this year. How about that?"
Very good.
When Fifth Master heard that he could teach other production teams skills and record work points for the members, and calculate the work points according to Ping An Village, he nodded with satisfaction. Teaching others skills seems difficult, but in fact, while you are working, you can just talk about why you do it and what you need to pay attention to, and it doesn’t waste much time.
People who study technology cannot just stand there and listen without trying their hand. This is equivalent to bringing a lot of free help to Ping An Zhuang.
Seeing that Fifth Master clearly agreed, Xia Juhua nodded as well: It should be made clear in advance which production team's work points should be used to calculate the work points. After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Ping An Village's work points this year are definitely much higher than those of the other four production teams.
Everything had been discussed clearly, and Director Qi and others discussed with Xia Juhua and others that in order not to cause unnecessary discussion among other production teams, the sweet potatoes should be transported to Ping'an Village first, and then transported back by each production team for storage.
As for Ping An Zhuang, after it has drained all the existing sweet potatoes, if there is still some spare capacity, it can also calculate how much it can drain, and then the sweet potatoes will be allocated to Ping An Zhuang first.
For Xia Juhua, whether the people in Ping'an Village will continue to leak powder is a decision made by the members themselves. She does not advocate it but will not stop it either, as long as it does not delay spring ploughing.
It is said that illness comes like a mountain falling, and goes like a thread being pulled out. This saying is very appropriate for Xia Juhua, who has worked hard all year round and rarely gets sick. Although she only had a severe cold, she had to lie on the kang for five days before getting out of bed. When she got out of bed, her legs were weak, and she felt like she was walking on a cotton field without any roots.
Taking such rootless steps, Xia Juhua arrived at the yard as soon as she got there. She found that all the women were busy weaving mats, and no one was missing. Naturally, she nodded secretly with satisfaction in her heart.
Zhao Xianzhi finally saw Xia Juhua again - during her illness, Xia Juhua insisted on sending Zhao Xianzhi and her two sisters-in-law back to the yard to weave mats, and did not allow them to take care of herself and Wang Caifeng and her son - she happily broke off a reed bark, which made Chang Xiancao so angry that she kept glaring at her.
"Captain, you finally went to the fields. If you don't, I will go to cook for you even if I get angry." Zhao Xianzhi didn't care whether her sister-in-law glared at her or not, and told Xia Juhua directly about her plan.
Xia Juhua smiled and said, "Just tell me how many mats you have woven in the past few days and whether they are up to standard. Don't think that I will not consider the quality of your mats just because you say a few nice words to me."
These words broke the silence that had lasted for several days in the yard. Everyone became happy and showed Xia Juhua the mats they were weaving, wishing she could praise them to everyone.
Although she lay on the kang these days, she did not allow the members of the production team to visit her. She might be able to stop others, but not Liu Hongling and Liu Hongcui. Not only did they come home early every day to sweep the yard and feed the chickens for Wang Caifeng, they also told Xia Juhua the gossip in the village from time to time.
What was talked about most was what Li Daya learned after returning home, and what happened in the yard. With Liu Hongling as her trumpeter, Xia Juhua knew that during her convalescence, Zhao Xianzhi, Chang Xiancao, Zhang Cuiping, and An Baoling worked together happily, did not delay their own work, dared to check the quality seriously, counted carefully, and distributed the reeds responsibly.
So Xia Juhua praised these four people in front of everyone, which frightened Zhao Xianzhi so much that he asked timidly after she finished speaking for a while: "Captain, don't you think we are interfering too much?"
Xia Juhua smiled and shook her head: "I think you don't care enough. I thought about it and realized that after the spring ploughing starts, I will come to the yard less and less, but we have a lot of work to do in weaving mats."
"So our mat-making team will be headed by Zhao Xianzhi, with Chang Xiancao, Zhang Cuiping and An Baoling as deputy team leaders. The team leader will record nine work days a day, and the deputy team leader will record eight work days a day. What do you think?"
"Okay." The women saw how hard the four people had worked these days, and no one thought that they shouldn't be given high work points.
"No, no." Those who declined were the four people who had just been announced as team leaders and deputy team leaders. In Zhao Xianzhi's words, they volunteered to help Xia Juhua because they had a good relationship with her, and there was no need to give them high work points.
Xia Juhua advised them: "We let you be the team leader or deputy team leader. Don't do it just to give you high work points. In the future, whether it is to contact the county supply and marketing cooperative to make mats, or to collect reeds and check the quality of the mats, none of you can run away. Anyone can shirk their responsibilities, but you four can't do it either."
At this point, Zhao Xianzhi and the other three could no longer refuse, and they assured Xia Juhua and all the women in person that they would lead everyone in weaving mats. They also told Xia Juhua not to worry about the yard affairs and to go home and rest as soon as possible.
Xia Juhua teased them: "Look, you just said you didn't want to be a team leader, but now you think I'm a nuisance and want to kick me out." The yard was filled with laughter.
After the fun, Xia Juhua really left the yard and walked along the street. The gates of the houses were not closed and she could see busy figures inside. Many of them were unfamiliar. They should be people from other production teams who came to learn how to leak powder.
I don't know if the processing fee charged by other production teams is the same as that charged by Pingan Village. With this question in mind, Xia Juhua walked into the yard of Master Wu.
Now the Fifth Master's yard can be said to be a rare quiet place in Pingan Village. Because the Fifth Master is old and can no longer make rice flour, his children and grandchildren are afraid of disturbing him, so except for sending sweet potato paste to his west floor kang to dry every day, they make rice flour in other courtyards.
"Why are you going to the fields today?" Fifth Master asked as soon as he saw Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua heard too many questions like this along the way. When she heard Fifth Master caring about her, she felt a little embarrassed: "Fifth Master, I'm fine now."
"Don't you know how your body has been these years?" Fifth Master said with a look of complaint: "You just held on with all your strength, and now it's coming back for you, right? When you reach my age, you will know the pain of not paying attention when you were young."
"Then Fifth Master, why don't you quit smoking?" Xia Juhua said casually, but Fifth Master glared at her and she quickly changed the subject: "I see that everyone in the family has learned to smoke, but no one in our family has learned it."
Wu Ye didn't light his tobacco pipe after all: "Qiu Sheng and I didn't let anyone go to your house. First of all, your family doesn't need those few work points, and secondly, you are still recovering from your illness. Can you recover well if someone comes and makes a fuss?"
Xia Juhua was too lazy to say that she had recovered from her illness long ago, so she asked directly: "Fifth Master, how are our sweet potatoes leaking?"
Speaking of this, Wu Ye was a little worried: "With the pulping machine, we are much more relaxed than before. But the sweet potato pulp needs to be clarified, the starch needs to be washed and dried. The main thing is that the drying process takes too much time, and we haven't even missed half of it."
Pingan Village didn't miss even half of them, so you can imagine what happened to other production teams. Xia Juhua couldn't help but ask worriedly, "How many pulping machines did other production teams order from Technician Xue?"
Speaking of this, Master Wu was even more worried: "That bunch of short-sighted people, after hearing that a pulping machine costs more than 60 yuan, they set their sights on our Ping An Manor, and they want to borrow it when we don't need it anymore."
"Isn't this just a waste of time? Captain, why don't you say something to them?"
Wu Ye reached for his pipe again, and finally threw it aside in resignation, muttering, "I've been smoking all my life. The team leader scolded me, but each production team only ordered two machines. Didn't you see that Technician Xue didn't come to Ping'an Village these few days? He was just testing the machines in the various production teams."
According to Ping An Village's experience, each production team must have at least four pulping machines to ensure that each household can pulp sweet potatoes without wasting time. If there are only two machines, disputes may arise.
But that was the business of other production teams, each with its own production team leader to deal with. Xia Juhua was worried about the drying problem. Although the weather was almost 69 degrees, the cold was still raging in the northern plains, and everyone had to continue to give up the kang where people lived so that the wet starch could be dried as quickly as possible.
"It would be great if there were a few more rooms available." Xia Juhua sighed unconsciously, which made Master Wu's eyes light up: "Let each family figure it out on their own. If you want to make more money, you have to be willing to endure hardships and sufferings."
For thousands of years, the old farmers have survived and multiplied just like the weeds in the cracks by relying on these two rules. Xia Juhua realized a truth from the women's own quantitative issues, that is, it's not that people don't know how to find a solution, but that they are used to obeying.
If they are given a chance, they will burst out with creativity beyond imagination. Therefore, Xia Juhua nodded to the Fifth Master's request to let her family figure it out, "Okay, I'll let Zhishuang live in my west room later, vacate the west wing where he lives, and dry both kangs with starch."
Liu Zhishuang had no objection. Now, as long as his mother could get out of bed, he would be willing to do it even if she scolded him. During the few days when his mother was lying on the kang, the Liu brothers seemed to have lost their backbone. They wanted to go to the main room to ask their mother's opinion on everything they did.
Seeing Liu Zhishuang agreed so readily, Xia Juhua remembered something she had forgotten so much that she called her son and daughter-in-law over and said, "Qi Weidong gave me a bicycle ticket. How do you think it would be best to buy it?"
Liu Zhiquan exchanged glances with Wang Caifeng and said carefully, "Mom, whoever you tell to buy it will buy it."
Liu Zhishuang was more direct: "Mom, why don't you buy it? It will be more convenient for you to ride it when you go to the brigade and commune meetings in the future."
"I can go to the commune a few times." Xia Juhua thought for a moment and said, "If you want me to buy it, that's fine. Let's make it clear that when we have a big purchase in the future, whoever pays for it gets it, so don't argue with me when we divide the family property."
Why did my mother bring up the idea of splitting up the family again? The Liu brothers and even Wang Caifeng were frightened, thinking that the answer they had just given did not satisfy their mother, and they were very eager to change their words.
Unfortunately, Xia Juhua didn't give them a chance to change their words. She took out the bicycle ticket and 170 yuan and handed them to Liu Zhishuang: "This time you still have to run errands for me. I checked last time. A Forever bicycle is 168 yuan."
Well, the Liu brothers gave up the idea of changing their words completely - none of them had 170 yuan.
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