Chapter 81

Xia Juhua really wanted to tell Chen Qiu Sheng that the land in Ping'an Village would not be flooded this year, but when she saw his eager eyes, she swallowed her words: It is better to have hope than to have no hope at all.

Therefore, he nodded to Chen Qiu Sheng and asked him to discuss it with Technician Lin. He then walked slowly along the canal to see how the sweet potato seedlings that had already been planted were growing.

Soon, they reached the end of the canal. The canal was still full of water. Xia Juhua wanted to dig a cellar to store the water.

Yes, if we dig a water cellar, we can store some water while the water from the Xihe River can still flow into the canal. Even if people can't use it for drinking, we can use it to water the land, right?

Xia Juhua tried hard to recall whether she had watched TV in her previous life and whether there was any talk about how to build a water cellar. Unfortunately, her impression was too vague and she had no idea. This made Xia Juhua very regretful. How could she have only watched TV dramas in her previous life and not watched any popular science programs or something like that?

Unfortunately, there is no place in the world to buy regret medicine.

Although there is no such thing as regretful selling medicine in the world, Xia Juhua now has a technician named Xue by her side, and she can consult him.

After hearing Xia Juhua's idea, Technician Xue didn't show up at Ping'an Village for two days, which made Chen Qiusheng very anxious. Ping'an Village completed the spring ploughing smoothly this year, which saved everyone unprecedented energy. Technicians Xue and Lin made great contributions. If Technician Xue never came to Ping'an Village again, Chen Qiusheng felt it would be a huge loss.

Fortunately, on the third day, Technician Xue came again with a tractor. Not only did he come, he also brought a message from Wang Caixia to Xia Juhua: "The supply and marketing cooperative has a batch of fertilizers. Deputy Director Wang wants you to bring people back as soon as possible."

Fertilizer is a good thing. The increasing grain production in the past century has a lot to do with various highly targeted fertilizers. This news made Xia Juhua forget to ask Technician Xue if he had found any good solutions in the past two days, and she set out with the 20 members of Ping'an Village.

As soon as she arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, she was naturally scolded by Wang Caixia, who said that Xia Juhua had not been to the supply and marketing cooperative for a long time and that the mats in the cooperative were almost sold out.

Xia Juhua had to explain to Wang Caixia: "The reeds have slowly started to change color. The mats made from them are not white, and the words are not clear. So our production team has stopped making them. If you still want them, don't order too much. Otherwise, you will be criticized if you can't sell them."

Seeing Xia Juhua explaining to her so seriously, Wang Caixia was very happy: "I know, how could I not know that you would not really forget me, it's just that I haven't seen you for such a long time, I miss you so much."

"Captain Xia." Chen Xiaoman also came forward to greet Xia Juhua: "I heard that you all supplied Ping'an Village's seats to the county supply and marketing cooperative. Did you forget about our Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative?"

After not seeing each other for a few months, Chen Xiaoman was no longer as cautious as when she was trying to perform well in the hope of getting a permanent job. She spoke much faster than when they first met. Xia Juhua continued to smile and said to her, "How could I forget you? Even if I forget the Red Star Supply and Marketing Cooperative, I can't forget the salesperson Chen." The wheat bran that the Ping'an Village Brigade bought was originally the idea provided by Chen Xiaoman.

Wang Caixia asked Chen Xiaoman to take the members of Ping'an Village to pick up fertilizers, and she continued to talk to Xia Juhua: "Caifeng's Lele will soon be one month old. I will go to see her on the day of the full moon. I really can't leave now."

Xia Juhua knew that as a leader, she had to keep an eye on Wang Caixia when others were resting, so she smiled and told her not to worry about her, and took the opportunity to thank her for distributing the first batch of fertilizers to Ping'an Village.

Wang Caixia smiled and refused to take credit for the work: "The county supply and marketing cooperative and Director Zhang of the commune have told us that Ping'an Village is working hard to carry out a pilot project this year, and asked us to give priority to your supply of any production materials we have."

Then he asked Xia Juhua: "When did you become a pilot project? Why are you still working so hard on the pilot project? Is it just your production team or are there other production teams? If there are other production teams, I have to keep some for them when the next batch of fertilizers arrives."

Xia Juhua was very impressed by the fact that the leaders had come up with a pilot project to legitimately take care of the Ping An Village production team. She was even more confident that Ping An Village could survive this drought and said with a smile:

"I just heard about it, too. I don't know if there are other production teams. But I feel relieved to have you in the supply and marketing cooperative. Don't forget to let me know if there are any good things."

"Don't worry." Wang Caixia assured her: "Even if the leader didn't say hello, I would have informed you. Now that the leader has said hello, it's easier for me to explain to others."

Wang Caixia was good at explaining to people, and so was Xia Juhua. Along the way, there were about 20 people from Ping'an Village, each carrying two bags of fertilizer, and they walked with great momentum. This momentum made the passing production teams jealous, and they all asked Xia Juhua, the leader, whether the supply and marketing cooperative still had fertilizers and how their production team had obtained the quota.

Xia Juhua immediately told everyone who asked that the Ping'anzhuang production team was a pilot project. Although no one had heard of the name of the pilot project, there were pilot projects everywhere, so maybe it was just inconvenient for the group to communicate?

It has to be said that people in this era are very secretive. They dare to keep secrets about issues they don't understand. The way they looked at the Ping An Village team changed, as they thought Ping An Village was going to test some difficult mission for the organization.

As luck would have it, even Li Changshun only came to Ping'an Village to take a look at the fertilizers piled up in the warehouse and told Xia Juhua to use the fertilizers well. He did not, as he had done in the past, want Ping'an Village to distribute the fertilizers to the other four production teams.

Xia Juhua certainly wouldn't mention it, and she didn't say anything except to assure Li Changshun that it wouldn't be wasted. Li Changshun went to the field to check the growth of the sweet potatoes and then went back to the team, which made Xia Juhua feel uneasy.

Chen Qiusheng found it funny: "Captain, the captain didn't care about our little fertilizer, why are you not happy?"

"If he still cares about me, I have something else to say to him and he can't pull me away. But now that he doesn't care about me anymore, I feel like the captain has become a different person." Xia Juhua had a lingering fear on her face.

Chen Qiusheng felt that Li Changshun might not care about the fertilizer in Pingan Village: "I heard that the fourth team has started to grind wheat bran."

Grinding wheat bran now? Xia Juhua looked at Chen Qiusheng in disbelief: "I remember that Team 4 seemed to have missed 70,000 to 80,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes. Why are they grinding wheat bran now?"

Chen Qiusheng looked around and whispered, "Team Four sold a lot of surplus grain before the New Year. I heard that some families stopped eating dry grain before the end of the first month of the lunar year."

It was not a pity that the family had run out of dry grain. Otherwise, the spring ploughing was very busy and the work was heavy. Even a strong worker would not have enough food for a pound and a half a day. But selling the surplus grain was everyone's choice. Xia Juhua had no place to intervene, so she could only remind Chen Qiusheng: "Keep an eye on Uncle Dong and Aunt Qi's families. If they are short of food, tell me quickly."

The two elderly people didn't even have any children, so they couldn't go hungry even if they lacked food. Although Ping'an Village planted more sweet potatoes this year than in previous years, the amount of sweet potato seeds used was much less than in previous years. The part of sweet potatoes that the production team withheld from the two batches before the New Year was almost not used, and it was enough to support the two lonely elderly people.

Chen Qiusheng asked, "I heard that Team 4 wants to mix wheat bran with sweet potato leaves and corn cobs to make flour. Our production team doesn't have much work in the fields right now, so why don't we grind the wheat bran and do less work?"

Mixed noodles! Xia Juhua shook her head just by hearing the word: everyone has eaten mixed noodles in difficult times. The bitter and dry feeling lingers in the mouth as soon as it is mentioned, and it is difficult to digest in the stomach. When going to the toilet, one feels like he wants to break open his stomach and grab the noodles out. Xia Juhua herself does not want to experience it again, and does not want anyone in Ping'an Village to experience it.

This is why Li Changshun insisted that Xia Juhua come up with a recipe for wheat bran. Everyone had eaten wheat bran during difficult times, and even at that time, wheat bran was considered a good thing. It was just a good thing, and it was still difficult to digest after being eaten. Li Changshun asked Xia Juhua to think about how to make wheat bran more palatable.

"Let's arrange a few people to grind out 5,000 kilograms of wheat bran." Xia Juhua sighed and said, "Although everyone doesn't have much surplus grain to sell, there was a limit to how much each family could have left last year. Now let's start mixing less wheat bran into the grain, so that we don't have to eat only that stuff when the time comes."

"Oh, by the way, let's not save our energy and grind it a few more times." Xia Juhua thought for a while and asked Chen Qiusheng, "Do you think we can get starch if we soak the bran for a few days like we are leaking flour?"

No one has ever tried this. When people are hungry, they just want to fill their stomachs, not care about the taste. Chen Qiusheng thought for a while before saying, "Why don't we sieve it twice before grinding it? I think we can sieve out some flour."

Indeed, when the members were picking bran, their hair and eyebrows were all white, which must have contained a lot of starch. Xia Juhua was a man of action, so she asked Chen Qiusheng to blow the whistle and call for help.

The crops had just been planted, and it was not yet time to hoe the fields. There were not many members in the fields, and many were assigned to build classrooms for Liu Lizhu and the children. Hearing Chen Qiusheng's whistle, those who stayed in the village quickly gathered at the production team, waiting for Xia Juhua or Chen Qiusheng to assign them tasks.

When they heard that they had to sift the starch from the bran, no one complained. Only Zhao Xianzhi asked, "Captain, as women, are we thinning out the seedlings or helping to sift the flour?" She trusted Xia Juhua the most, so even if Chen Qiu Sheng had made it clear, she would still ask Xia Juhua before she felt at ease.

Chen Qiusheng was used to it. Seeing that Xia Juhua did not respond to Zhao Xianzhi's question, he said with a smile, "Ten of you will help sift the bran, and the rest will continue to thin out the seedlings."

哪怕不是夏菊花回答的，陳秋生在回答之前看過夏菊花，趙仙枝就當是夏菊花回答了一樣，自己帶着婦女們到邊上分人去了。

李常旺也拿自己媳婦沒法兒，等人少的時候湊到陳秋生面前說：“秋生，她就是那個脾氣，不是不信你，你別往心裏去。”現在隊長啥事兒都跟陳秋生商量，可別啥時候悄悄給媳婦上眼藥。

陳秋生不當一回事兒的說：“我媳婦不也這樣，咱們又說不聽，她們願意咋地就咋地吧。”聽隊長的又沒虧吃。

聽夏菊花的當然沒虧吃，一頓猛篩下來，一萬二千斤的麥麸，生生被平安莊社員篩出了三百來斤面粉，這粉是黑了點兒，可那也是白面呀！

五爺摸着面粉的手都舍不得離開，興致勃勃的問夏菊花：“還能去挂面廠買點兒麥麸不？”

別怪五爺貪得無厭，麥麸是啥價，三百斤面粉又是啥價。

夏菊花并不抱希望：“現在是個人都能看出來，天旱是肯定的，挂面廠的麥麸怕是得搶破了頭。”就算各生産隊沒想起來買麥麸，齊小叔那人能放過挂面廠？

“也是。”五爺有些遺憾年前買少了，不過馬上就振奮起來：“這也不錯了，四隊那些人光想着咋分麥麸，都沒想着先篩篩。”

平安莊的社員全都佩服的看向夏菊花，把她看的連忙拉陳秋生過來：“過篩的主意是秋生先提的，沒我啥事兒。”

大家還是佩服的看夏菊花：你要是不同意，陳秋生有一百個主意也沒用。

得了，覺得自己說不清的夏菊花，讓劉志全背上一背蒌麥麸回家去了。進門發現薛技術員仰臉坐在院子裏，眼睛半睜半閉的曬着太陽。劉保國則圍着他坐的小板凳轉圈子，不時推一下薛技術員，似乎想把小板凳搶回來。

“奶，我的。”劉保國見到親奶奶，馬上向她控訴薛技術員搶自己小板凳的惡劣行徑。

夏菊花接過他的小手，笑着跟他說：“保國會替奶奶招待客人啦，真厲害。”

本在告狀劉保國馬上把小胸脯挺的老高，笑着拍了一下肉巴掌：“請坐，喝水。”

“對，家裏來了客人要請坐，給客人倒水。”夏菊花繼續跟劉保國對話，聽的劉志全覺得自己和劉志雙應該不是親生的，要不他們小時候，娘咋沒這麽耐心的教過他們咋招待客人呢。

薛技術員人也坐直了，眼睛也睜開了，對夏菊花笑着說：“夏隊長對孩子教育的真好。”

夏菊花并不否認，微笑着拉過一條板凳來，跟薛技術員坐到對面問：“你想出辦法來了？”

那天只顧着拉化肥，還真沒來得及問薛技術員關于水窖的事兒。劉志全一聽親娘跟薛技術員有話說的樣子，忙拉着劉保國回東廂房，不一會兒屋裏就傳出樂樂的哭聲，顯然又在睡夢中被劉保國給捅咕醒了。

夏菊花就跟沒聽到孫女哭一樣，定定的看着薛技術員等着他的答案。

薛技術員向她搖着頭說：“我想了幾天，如果用現有窪地的話，想儲存下水不現實——天越來越熱，除了日曬水還要往地下滲，用不了幾天就得幹了。”

“那要是用水泥把窪地先抹一遍呢？”夏菊花這些天也在盡力回想上輩子看過的電視，最終想出這麽一個辦法。

薛技術員對夏菊花脫口說出水泥來，還是有些驚訝的，畢竟現在水泥的産量太低，只有一些重點建設項目或是大城市的建設中，才會用到水泥，遠遠不是一個農村婦女就能脫口而出的。

不過想想夏菊花跟別的婦女不同之處，薛技術員也沒多想，只搖頭說：“別說現在平德縣的水泥都是按計劃分配的，就算是能弄到水泥，用來抹盛水的水窖也太浪費了。”

是呀，現在不是自己家裝修都能随便買到水泥的時代。夏菊花聽後嘆一口氣，有些沮喪的說：“真一點兒辦法也沒有？”真把水存下，還怕啥旱災。

薛技術員笑了一下說：“咱們做不成水窖，可以打深水井呀。只要找準了位置，多打兩口深水井，不是比做水窖裝一窖死水強。”

對呀。夏菊花猛地一拍大腿，自己光想着把水存起來，咋沒想過多打兩口井讓它一直出水呢？上輩子大包幹後，整個平安莊大隊的水渠計劃就沒人管了，所以沒能實現最初各生産隊水渠聯通的目标。為了增産增收，農技站的人就帶着大家打了些深水井用于灌溉。

平安莊在哪兒打的井，打多深見的水，她全都記着呢。

難得見到夏菊花有這麽失态的時候，薛技術員樂呵呵的問：“夏隊長，你也覺得打井的事兒可行，是不是？林技術員還說打井太耗費人力了，可跟吃水、澆地相比，我覺得今年費點時間精力，以後一直能用，還是劃算的。”

一直以來跟夏菊花打交道，不管幹啥她都要先算算劃不劃算，薛技術員算是知道咋說動夏菊花了。

其實根本不用他勸，夏菊花自己已經開始算計着應該在哪兒打頭一口井——第一口井必須出水，還得快速的出水，免得打擊了大家接着打井的積極性。

越想越激動的夏菊花，在家根本坐不住，讓薛技術員自己坐着，就去找五爺和陳秋生商量打井的事兒。五爺再次嘬起他的煙袋鍋子，不确定的問：“咱們村沒有會看地方的人，真能打出水來？”

打井可不是鬧着玩兒的，地方選不好不出水來說，萬一塌方了就是人命。

夏菊花很有把握的說：“咱們離湙河這麽近，地下水應該不會太深。就算今年雨水少，不過多挖一兩米就能見水。要是生産隊多打出幾口井來，地裏說不定還能有些收成。”

陳秋生有些心動：“真不用找人選地方？要是咱們自己社員挖的話，的确花不了多少錢。”生産隊現在有多少錢陳秋生心裏最有數，加上最後一批葦席結的錢，已經有近七千塊了，足夠買打井的材料。

“還是晚上開個會吧。”五爺謹慎了一輩子，覺得要征求一下大家的意見。

可是他忘記自去年夏菊花被推舉為生産隊長以來，在社員中的威望一日高過一日，就算今天大家都看到夏菊花讓大兒子背了麥麸回家，也沒一個人覺得她是在私拿，而是心裏篤定他們隊長怕是要試試麥麸咋做好吃——沒聽生産隊下一步就讓大家磨麥麸了嘛。

被盲目相信的夏菊花提出打井，社員們除了舉手贊成，還會有別的反應嗎？

當然劉四壯兩口子是想反對的，可現在他們就是監督勞動對象，連個發言權都沒有，在心裏反對誰也聽不見。

于是平安莊要打水井的消息，就在平安大隊傳開了。李長順過來的時候，生産隊連打井的人都選好了，一共十二個壯勞力，分成三組輪班挖井。

“你們自己找個地方，它就能出水？”李長順真不相信說出這話的是夏菊花：“平安莊幾輩子都吃這兩口井的水，老輩人不比你有見識？”

夏菊花知道不把水打出來，說啥都是白扯，只能說：“大隊長，你發沒發現水渠裏的水已經淺下去了，紅薯地還好說，小麥地二茬水都沒着落。我看這天也不象是能下雨的樣兒，就想趁着大家還有力氣，帶着大家試一試。”

為啥現在還有力氣，因為大家還有一口吃的。可老天一直不下雨，地裏莊稼澆不上水的話，長不出糧食大家肚裏沒食，到時再想挖井都沒力氣了。

李長順沉默了，這個道理他懂，不放心的也是這個：挖井是個力氣活，剛春耕完的社員們有那個體力打井嗎？

“人家技術員是咋說的？”李長順此時覺得技術員要比夏菊花可靠，畢竟人家都是拿得起書本的人。

夏菊花拉過薛林兩位技術員給自己背書，那兩位自然點頭：“我們覺得夏隊長的想法很好，平安莊的地離湙河都不遠，地裏打井出水沒啥問題。”

得到背書的李長順只放下一半的心——他自然願意看到平安莊打井成功，如果真能成功的話其他四個生産隊也可以跟着打井。

只是打井不是動動嘴皮子就行的，夏菊花由薛技術員開拖拉機帶着，突突突跑了三天，才算是把支架、木板、輔料和管材都買齊了，将來砌井壁的磚也有了着落，只等着拉回來。

為了讓大家相信平安莊真的只是試一試，夏菊花沒敢多買，只買了夠打一口井的材料。就這也讓五爺心疼，他看着那些材料，恨不得自己不睡覺也得看牢了，生怕哪個眼皮子淺的把東西拿回自己家去。

夏菊花聽說後還得勸他：“五爺，用不着你在這兒守着，七喜他們四個天天輪班看着呢。”生産隊現在不漏粉兒了，七喜他們四個原來守村口的孩子，成了看材料最好的人選。

The fifth master was still worried: "They are little kids, what if they fall asleep without someone watching them?"

In order to reassure the old man, the first well was dug in Pingan Village the next day. As the depth increased, the four production team leaders could not wait and came to Pingan Village to watch: "Captain Xia, was it Technicians Xue and Lin who decided to dig a well here?"