Chapter 80
After hearing Xia Juhua's question, Director Zheng smiled helplessly and said, "If his brother admits it, can Team Leader Lin still hide at home?"
To be honest, Xia Juhua felt that she should go and see Team Leader Lin - both in her personal life and in Ping An Village, she had received a lot of help from Director Lin. She couldn't pretend that she didn't know Director Lin just because he had been reported.
When Director Zheng was told this, he looked at Xia Juhua with some surprise and then said, "Although Team Leader Lin is not at work now, his home might have been watched by people from the Red Squad the other day. Why did you still go to see him?" Aren't you afraid of being mistaken for Director Lin's accomplice by the Red Squad?
Xia Juhua said frankly: "I'm not looking for Team Leader Lin to make a profit. I just came to the county to see someone I know. The Red Team has evidence that Team Leader Lin brought things for his brothers. I'll go and see what he's afraid of." Director Zheng had just said that if there was evidence, Team Leader Lin would just not be able to go to work, but would have to go to a study class.
Director Zheng nodded, then nodded again, and then said, "Okay, I'll have someone take you to their alley, but it's not convenient for people from our supply and marketing cooperative to go to Director Lin's house right now."
Xia Juhua knew without explanation that the people in the supply and marketing cooperative would have to avoid suspicion now, so she was very grateful to Director Zheng for having someone take her to the alley where Team Leader Lin lived. After thanking him, she followed the person to the entrance of the alley where Team Leader Lin's home was.
"The third door is Team Leader Lin's home." The man pointed to Xia Juhua and said with an embarrassed look on his face, "Our director can't help it either. Please go in and take Team Leader Lin home for us."
Xia Juhua politely smiled and thanked him, and then she pushed the car into the alley. At the entrance of the alley stood three or four young men wearing red armbands, staring at everyone who came in and out with a look of hostility. Xia Juhua pretended that she didn't know why they were standing there, and after parking the car, she went to knock on the door, and those young men with red armbands stared at Xia Juhua.
After a while, someone at the door asked, "Who is it?"
"I'm from the Ping'anzhuang production team. Is this Team Leader Lin's home?" Xia Juhua heard a female voice and asked hurriedly for fear of scaring the person behind the door.
The door opened from the inside, and a 30-something female comrade looked Xia Juhua up and down. Although she was dressed in rural clothes, her clothes were brand new without a single patch on them. There was a bicycle parked behind her. Unable to figure out where she came from, she asked again, "What do you want to do with him?"
Xia Juhua glanced at the red armband who had already started to walk towards this side, and quickly explained her purpose: "We have prepared the mats for Ping An Village. I came to ask when Team Leader Lin will go to our production team to prepare the mats."
The red armband stopped, and the female comrade made way for Xia Juhua to push the bicycle into the yard. As soon as she entered the yard, Director Lin was standing in the middle of the field. He looked at Xia Juhua with a little surprise and said, "Captain Xia, it's really you. Why are you in the county?"
After asking, I realized that what I asked was nonsense. Xia Juhua had already told me the purpose of her visit. As I let Xia Juhua into the house, I said, "I have been so busy at home these past few days that I forgot that I should go to your production team to help."
Xia Juhua didn't come here for this. Even after entering the house, she kept her voice low: "I heard what Director Zheng said. I just wanted to ask you what your brother is selling and whether it has anything to do with you."
Director Lin looked at Xia Juhua in confusion, but he still explained to her, "I only knew he went to the black market after I heard he was caught by the Red Team. I had no idea what he was selling. I didn't even know what he was selling, so what did that have to do with me."
After many dealings, Xia Juhua's neighbor, Director Lin, was not a liar, so she said what Director Zheng and others had asked her to say and was about to leave. Director Lin said a little embarrassedly: "I should have invited you to have dinner, but now the situation at home is such that even when you go out to buy food, someone follows you, so I won't invite you to stay."
The most important thing now is to allow Director Lin to go to work normally. Xia Juhua would never pick on him for a meal, so she said with a smile: "Come on, you owe me this meal. Next time I come to the county, you have to treat me to a meal." Director Lin's wife also laughed.
After leaving the Lin family, the woman with the red armband was still watching at the entrance of the alley. After Xia Juhua said goodbye to Director Lin and his wife calmly, she got on her bicycle with one leg, rang the bell twice to alert the people at the entrance of the alley, and rode away quickly.
After closing the gate, Director Lin sighed, "I didn't expect Captain Xia to come all the way to see me."
His wife also nodded and said, "When you came back and told me how capable Captain Xia was, I thought you had never seen a female comrade as a production captain before. After meeting her today, I believe that such a person can definitely do anything well."
Director Lin wanted to laugh: "If you come to see me, I can do anything. If you don't come to see me, I will be nothing."
Director Lin’s wife shook her head and said, “It’s not that those who come to see you are good people, but now there are so many people who live far away from our home, and some even come to our house just to make fun of us. But I don’t think Captain Xia is here to make fun of us, and I saw she wasn’t that scared of those Red Teams just now.” Ordinary rural women would have been so scared that they would have stayed away when they saw the Red Team.
Xia Juhua was not as Director Lin's wife appeared to be. She was not really afraid of the Red Team. Instead, she was worried about Qi Weidong, fearing that he would be captured by the Red Team like Director Lin's brothers, so she turned a blind eye to those people from the Red Team.
Fortunately, at the entrance of Qi Weidong's alley, there were no red armbands standing in public like in the alley where Director Lin lived. Even though Xia Juhua deliberately rode slower and looked around desperately, she only saw pedestrians hurrying by, and occasionally there was a person wearing a red armband who rode his bicycle faster than Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua parked her bike and knocked on the door tentatively, but no one answered. She knocked twice more, but still no one answered. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous: Could it be that Qi Weidong was also captured by the Red Team, so there was no one at home?
Just as he was wondering whether to knock on the door again or go to the county revolutionary committee to ask Uncle Qi, Qi Weidong's voice came from behind him: "Auntie Xia, why are you here?"
When he turned around, he saw Qi Weidong standing behind him in high spirits, looking at him with a smile on his face.
"You kid, I knocked on the door and no one answered, I was so scared." Xia Juhua complained, making Qi Weidong's mouth grin even wider: "I didn't know you were coming, if I knew, why didn't I wait for you at home?"
As he said this, he pushed the door and it opened.
Xia Juhua asked in surprise: "Why didn't you lock the door when you went out?"
Qi Weidong said nonchalantly, "I don't know when Xie Hongbing and Li Lin came to sleep these past two days. I was too lazy to open the door for them, so I just left it unlocked."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Hongbing came out of the house with messy hair, yawning and asking, "Brother Qi, you're back. How's it going? Did the bastard give you the stuff?"
After asking, I found that it was not Qi Weidong who was standing alone in the yard. I looked closely and saw that it was Xia Juhua, who was grinning like Qi Weidong: "I said that I heard someone knocking on the door just now, and I was wondering who was so polite. It must be you, my auntie, who knocked."
"Listen to your aunt knocking on the door and open it quickly. She's almost gone." Qi Weidong stepped forward and gave Xie Hongbing a light kick, kicking him away to make way for Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua went into the house and saw that nothing had changed. She was relieved and asked Qi Weidong, "What happened? Did the Red Team take away your things?"
Qi Weidong looked at Xia Juhua strangely and said, "Auntie, you are well-informed. How do you know about the Red Team's investigation of the black market?"
Xia Juhua told Qi Weidong that Director Lin's brother had been captured by the Red Team and that she was worried about him so she came to check on him.
After hearing this, Qi Weidong stroked his neatly parted hair and asked Xie Hongbing, who was brushing his teeth, "Is there a Lin in the black market? I don't remember him."
Xie Hongbing spat out a mouthful of toothpaste foam and said vaguely, "You forgot, there is a boy who has been carrying food on his back to sell these days. I asked around and it seems his last name is Lin. But he is quite sensible. Every time he listens to the price we ask for, he follows us and never lowers the price himself."
"Does he carry a lot of food every day?" Xia Juhua asked immediately, as it was related to whether Director Lin could go back to work.
Qi Weidong shook his head and said, "It was only 20 to 30 kilograms, so I didn't take it seriously. If I were really caught by the Red Team, I would definitely not want to throw away the food and not run away."
You think everyone is as rich as you, and you can throw away 20 to 30 kilograms of food. Xia Juhua, an outsider, felt distressed when she heard it. Moreover, Director Lin's family looked like an ordinary citizen family. These 20 to 30 kilograms of food might be bought with all the money his brother had.
Seeing Xia Juhua frown, Qi Weidong turned around on the ground and explained to her: "If we just arrested him, it would be easy. We can just say that he went to the black market to buy things, and the Red Squad will just scold him and kick him and then let him go. But he was arrested with the things, so it's troublesome."
Xia Juhua knew that being caught by the Red Team would be troublesome, not to mention that Director Lin's brother was "captured", so she frowned unconsciously just now. Now she was explaining to Qi Weidong: "Director Lin is a good person. He has never taken advantage of Ping An Manor and has helped Ping An Manor a lot. Now he is in trouble, and I can't help him. I feel a little frustrated."
心裏十分認可夏菊花的齊衛東，聽到夏菊花說心裏不得勁，自己也渾身不自在：“嬸子你也別着急。那些人不是說林主任他兄弟的貨，都是林主任幫着張羅的嘛。現在知道他兄弟賣的是糧食，至少可以說明不是林主任張羅的——林主任要是真幫着他兄弟，他兄弟也不至于每次只帶二三十金糧食——紅小隊就找不到林主任頭上了不是。”
理兒倒是這個理兒，可林主任真要是老不上班兒的話，不知道對他以後的工作會不會有影響。夏菊花不由有些責怪的說：“他兄弟咋這麽不讓人省心呢，你們城裏人月月都有供應糧，他還倒賣糧食幹啥。”
齊衛東和謝紅兵都聽樂了，已經洗漱完的謝紅兵用手把頭上的毛扒拉順了，笑嘻嘻的說：“嬸子，那你說我和齊哥咋也跑黑市呢？”
他跟夏菊花解釋：“都是有手有腳的大小夥子，誰好意思天天讓爹娘養着。可不就得自己想點兒來錢的道。工廠和別的單位，一年退休的人才有幾個，都給自己家孩子留着呢。不想下鄉就得想來錢的路。現在除了上班，也就是黑市能掙着錢。”
夏菊花也知道自己抱怨的沒道理，沉默了一會兒說：“可惜林主任那麽好的人，怕是得讓他兄弟給連累了。好不容易調回縣城，跟媳婦一起好好過日子了，說不定又得讓人打發回公社去。”
謝紅兵沖齊衛東擠擠眼睛：“齊哥，你說要是那小子說，那糧食是他在黑市撿來的，覺得自己占了便宜，才一直跟紅小隊糧食說是他自己的，行不行？”
夏菊花覺得這個主意簡單是跟紅小隊開玩笑，結果齊衛東卻拍了一下桌子說：“還是你小子有主意。”話裏大是贊同的意思。
不是吧，就算你有齊小叔做靠山，可也不能這麽不把紅小隊當回事兒吧。要是人沒抓進紅小隊還能如此分辨一下，現在都人贓并獲了，你跟紅小隊說這個，平德縣紅小隊混得這麽慘了嗎？
齊衛東看出夏菊花的不贊同，嘴角帶上慣常不在意的笑容說：“夏嬸子，我去就是給紅小隊一個說得通的理由。再說二三十斤糧食，紅小隊也沒當回事兒。他們這次突然檢查黑市，是為了……”
說到這兒齊衛東閉了嘴，夏菊花也沒有打聽的心思——知道那麽多幹啥，能讓老天下雨還是湙河的水大起來。
見夏菊花不打聽，齊衛東略微松了口氣，讓謝紅兵陪着夏菊花說話，自己馬上就要去紅小隊一趟。謝紅兵還很惦記平安莊的粉條，問夏菊花他們生産隊最後漏了多少粉，才跟她抱怨說：“嬸子，要不是你最後那十萬斤紅薯，分給了齊哥半斤的利，我們就白忙活半個月。”
白忙活也是齊小叔定的。夏菊花不可能說他的不是，只好笑笑沒說話——不讓齊衛東吃虧是夏菊花自己的原則，她還想着春風吹來時，借一下齊衛東的風呢。
就這麽說着閑話，不到一個小時的工夫，齊衛東又推門進來了，一個高大的青年跟在他身後，嘴裏不停的感謝着齊衛東。
齊衛東有點兒不耐煩的說：“你不用謝我，要謝就謝夏嬸子。要不是夏嬸子覺得你哥是個好人，求到我這兒了，我認識你是誰呀。”
這才應該是齊衛東日常跟人打交道時的模樣，夏菊花心想，看來這小子對自己一直客氣着呢。那個青年聽齊衛東說完，向屋裏唯一能稱為嬸子的夏菊花連連鞠躬：“嬸子，太給你添麻煩了。要不是嬸子，我得折在紅小隊裏頭。”
“得了，嬸子是老實人，你嘴裏別說嬸子聽不懂的話。”齊衛東可以看不起林主任的兄弟，夏菊花卻不能看不起，笑着向他點了點頭說：“光知道你是林主任的兄弟，還不知道你叫啥呢，今年多大了，咋沒下鄉呢？”
那青年聽夏菊花說話和氣，她說話的時候齊衛東和謝紅兵兩個都不插話，心裏對夏菊花的定位提升了好幾檔，說話也帶着恭敬：
“嬸子，我哥叫林樹亮，我順着他排叫林樹明。這不是去年剛高中畢業，年底的時候沒報名下鄉，想着自己在縣裏看能不能混口飯吃嘛。”
夏菊花可不是想查人戶口，不過是覺得既然齊衛東都把人從紅小隊救出來了，何必還冷着一張臉讓人覺得不自在。見林樹亮說話倒比林主任還油滑，對他笑了一下說：“你還沒回家吧，快回家去看看吧，省得你哥他們擔心。”
林樹亮聽了沖夏菊花笑了一下，眼睛溜瞅着往齊衛東那邊看。齊衛東人精似的，馬上明白了夏菊花意思，沖他一咧嘴：“夏嬸子說的對，你以後小心點兒別再讓人給抓住了，我這臉舍一回好使，多了人家也不尿我。”
等林樹亮走後，夏菊花歉意的對齊衛東說：“小齊，今天嬸子難為你了，對不起啊。”
齊衛東還是一副不在意的樣子說：“這點兒小事算個啥，謝紅兵去一次紅小隊也能把人給領回來。正好我有點兒東西也被紅小隊拉走了，想去問問啥時候能拉回來，才自己過去的。”
說完向夏菊花小聲笑着說：“這是我小叔不知道夏嬸子你跟林主任關系這麽好，要是知道的話，肯定早發話讓紅小隊把人給放了。”在他小叔心裏，夏菊花可是整個平德縣的大功臣，哪怕現在功勞沒法對外說，可他小叔都記在心裏呢。
行吧，你們叔侄一向都這麽牛。夏菊花見齊衛東怕自己有心理負擔，也就沒在這件事兒上多說啥，問了問齊衛東現在沒啥需要平安莊辦的事兒，騎上自行車回平安莊安排明天拉席的事兒。
第二天供銷社來拉席的人，仍是林主任，他沒帶什麽東西，也沒解釋拉席的為啥換成了他，見到夏菊花只說了一句：“夏隊長，現在我說啥都是虛的。以後你有什麽需要我辦的事兒只管開口，我挖門盜洞也得替你辦成。”
就拉個席，是大家都有經驗的事兒，哪兒用得着林主任挖門盜洞，夏菊花帶着他到場院點完數、結算好錢，也就把人送走了。
此時的夏菊花還不知道，因為她找齊衛東把林樹亮救出紅小隊的舉動，為自己将來的合作社提前收攏了一名忠心耿耿的人才。
眼前夏菊花需要操心的就是紅薯種進地裏的事兒，因為林技術員育出來的紅薯育已經藤已經足有一米長，已經變成老藤，是時候剪秧種下了。
把紅薯藤剪到長短合适、留出足夠的長度埋進土裏的活，被交給了不再編席的婦女們。趙仙枝仍然做組長，來回走動着檢查大家剪的是不是合格：
“看着點兒看着點兒，不能齊根剪，得留出四五片葉子來。”她沖着沒剪對的人高聲嚷嚷：“你把藤剪那麽齊幹啥，沒聽林技術員說得斜着剪嗎？”
四個生産隊長都帶着社員過來挑紅薯苗，見平安莊就把一堆剪好的藤給自己裝進筐裏，全都一臉遲疑。不過生産隊長們見識過夏菊花的戰鬥力，不敢當面質疑平安莊是不是在逗四個生産隊玩，個個用眼睛去看李長順。
林技術員已經給李長順解釋過好幾遍，所以現在李長順還能沉得住氣，見分苗沒啥問題，沖着四個生産隊長吼一聲：“剛才林技術員說的你們都記住了沒有，頭一茬水一定要澆透了，要是澆不透水苗活不了，就是你們自己的事兒。”
李大牛讓自己隊裏的社員排着隊，趁大家眼睛都盯在紅薯藤上，自己悄悄來到平安莊栽紅薯的地頭，發現地垅早打好了，好些個社員蹲在地上，把跟別的生産隊一樣的紅薯藤，小心的斜放進挖好的小坑裏，只留下最頭上的幾片葉子在外頭。
剛把土埋好，跟在後頭的人就一瓢水澆下去，前頭的人已經栽第二棵紅薯秧。每一垅都是兩人配合着，也沒見他們說什麽話，進度卻飛快。
邊上林技術員還在不時提醒着：“都記着啊，一插二躺三擡頭，哪一步也別做錯了。別心疼水，頭一茬水澆透了，過上三五天就紮根了。要是澆不透，想補苗又得十來天。”
還能補苗，李大牛覺得這個消息好，這樣他就不擔心自己生産隊沒操作好的話，缺苗少苗把地給耽誤了。
一會兒五爺跟李長順也都背着手出現在地頭，兩人誰也沒看李大牛，只說他們自己的：“這麽栽行不行，要真行的話咱們以前不是白浪費那麽多紅薯種了？”問的是李長順。
五爺更有信心一點兒：“前幾天林技術員已經教給大喜他們在我家後院試過一回，栽的時候天兒比現在還冷呢。昨天我拔出一棵看了，還真開始長根了。”
李長順還有些不信：“這垅也比往年密似的，能行？”
The Fifth Master was not sure: "It should be possible. Technician Lin is a very learned man. Together with Technician Xue, they can turn the soil for the entire production team."
That's because they have a tractor, right? Li Daniu felt that Master Wu had a blind trust in Technician Lin, but when he heard him say that he had sweet potatoes that had already taken root in his backyard, he finally felt a little relieved.
Apart from Lin the technician, the person who felt most confident was Xia Juhua. She and the members of Ping'an Village spent three days distributing the seedlings to each production team. By the time Ping'an Village had finished planting half of the 300 acres of sweet potatoes it had planned to plant.
Chen Qiusheng discussed with Xia Juhua: "Technician Lin happens to be free, can we ask him to show us how to drain the water if the ground is flooded?"