Chapter 82
Like Li Changshun, everyone felt that no matter how capable Xia Juhua was, when it came to determining the location for digging a well, they would rather trust the two educated technicians Xue Lin than believe that Xia Juhua could find the location for digging a well herself.
The two really felt a lot of pressure, and looked at Xia Juhua with helplessness. Xia Juhua lightly naturally: "Yes, since the two technicians came to our production team to guide agricultural production, they have treated our members' affairs as their own."
Even though what she said was a little vague, the four production team leaders all looked at the two technicians with envy, and some came up to them, passing cigarettes and trying to get close to them.
Only the captain of Team 3 asked Xia Juhua: "Captain Xia, how much did your production team spend on these materials?"
Chen Qiu Sheng had already calculated the amount of money before Xia Juhua bought the things, so Xia Juhua told the captain of Team 3 very clearly that the total cost of all the materials was 174 yuan.
"More than 170?" The third team leader felt that he was stimulated: "Your production team has more than 500 acres of land. Just digging one well is definitely not enough. At least 7 or 8 wells are needed. Doesn't that mean more than 1,000 yuan?"
Xia Juhua pointed to the canal in the distance and said, "We don't need to draw so much water. The water in the canal can also be used."
The captain of the third team smiled bitterly and said, "You are so close to the Xihe River that you can hardly use the canal, and our production team can't be relied on at all." It turned out that the captain of the third team was not calculating the account of Ping'an Village, but the account of his own production team.
Xia Juhua had a better impression of the captain of Team 3 than the three production captains, and she whispered to him, "If you want to dig a well, you should do it quickly while you can buy the materials."
After persuading the captain of Team 3 to dig a well as soon as possible, Xia Juhua felt a little uneasy. How other production teams arranged their own production and guaranteed the lives of their members was their internal affairs, and what she said was a bit too much.
However, the captain of the third team has always admired Xia Juhua since he sold the reed poles to Ping An Village. He did not feel disgusted, but felt that Xia Juhua did not treat him as an outsider by saying this to him: "I think so too. Captain Xia, can you tell me where you bought these things, so that I don't have to go the wrong way."
Xia Juhua was able to buy so many things because Qi Weidong took her to find places. She didn't know if the captain of the third team could buy them if he went there by himself, or if he could buy them at the price he wanted. But she was the one who persuaded him to do so, so she told the captain of the third team all the places one by one.
"The water delivery man is here, come up and have a drink of water before you continue digging." Chen Qiu Sheng saw people carrying carrying poles coming from a distance, so he lay down beside the pit that was already five or six meters deep and called for them to come up and rest for a while.
Liu Zhiquan refused and said, "Let Zhishuang and the others drink first. After they finish, we will go upstairs. It's a good opportunity to rest for a while."
Liu Zhishuang also agreed: "Okay, let's finish the drink quickly for you."
The conversation between the two brothers made other production team leaders jealous. The members of their production team were so busy working that they wanted to use scales to measure who had worked more and who had worked less. There was no such thing as them competing with each other for work.
When the water deliverymen came closer, they saw that they were all girls. They looked thin, but the loads on their shoulders were heavy. Four of them carried four hot water bottles on one side, and a pile of rough bowls on the other side.
Xia Juhua saw that the two sisters Liu Hongling and Chen Xiaoman were delivering water, so she said to the captain of the third team and went to greet them: "Why are you the ones delivering water?"
Liu Hongling smiled at the old lady and said, "My mother and her friends are busy grinding wheat bran. We have nothing to do after thinning out the seedlings, and it won't be tiring for us to deliver water."
It was said to be at the edge of the village, but it was almost a mile away from the village, and we had to cross the canal and the ditches, and it was not easy to walk with the heavy things on the shoulders. Xia Juhua took the bag from Liu Hongcui's shoulders and said, "Hongcui, don't follow your sister to deliver water next time, you won't grow taller if you are pressed down again."
Hongcui was more shy than Hongling, and followed Xia Juhua silently except saying "nothing". There was another girl Xia Juhua didn't know very well, and only knew that she was the daughter of Zhao Huajiang's family. After quietly asking Liu Hongling, she found out that her name was Zhao Wenying.
"Wenying, put down your carrying pole quickly. Are you tired?" Xia Juhua was unwilling to neglect any of the good girls who took the initiative to participate in the collective labor, so she smiled and helped Xiaoman and Wenying put down their carrying poles.
Liu Zhishuang and his friends gathered around, vying to get water out of the thermos. Li Daniu was jealous: "Captain Xia, you guys in Pingan Village are having a good time. Where did you buy these old thermoses?" They all looked quite new.
"They are all members' homes. We use the water from whoever delivers it." Xia Juhua answered casually.
It happened so inadvertently that the other four production teams understood that all the ordinary members of Ping'an Village were using new hot water kettles, and they didn't feel bad about giving them away for free for collective use.
Look at how aware the members are!
"Brother Zhishuang, here you go." Xiaoman poured hot water into a rough bowl and handed it to Liu Zhishuang before Liu Zhishuang could make a move. Liu Zhishuang glanced at her, took the water but didn't drink it himself, found his mother, and handed it to Xia Juhua: "Mom, you drink first."
Xia Juhua didn't think much about it and took it and held it in her hand. Then she saw Liu Hongling and Chen Xiaoman handed Liu Zhishuang a bowl of water at the same time. Liu Zhishuang took the one from Liu Hongling as a matter of course. There was something wrong with the expression on Chen Xiaoman's face.
What happened? Xia Juhua calmly brought the bowl to her lips and blew on it, then she remembered the other four production team leaders. When she wanted to let them go, she found that they had already walked a long way away.
"Hey, Captain Li, have a drink of water before you go." Xia Juhua forgot about the feeling of being uneasy just now and hurriedly greeted the people who were walking away.
Li Daniu turned around and waved to Xia Juhua, then turned to the leader of Team 5 who was closest to him and said, "Look at the life of Ping An Village, and look at how united their members are. How can I have the face to drink their water?"
The other three felt similar to Li Daniu and were reflecting on why the people in their production team were not as united as those in Ping'an Village. They concluded that they, as production team leaders, were not as prestigious as Xia Juhua, who had just taken office for more than half a year, because they were not as capable as Xia Juhua in leading the members to a better life.
After coming to such a frustrating conclusion, the captain of Team 3 became more determined to follow Ping An Village's footsteps and dig a well. He planned to go to the county town tomorrow to see if he could buy all the materials. If he couldn't come up with a good idea himself, and didn't follow others' ideas when they did, wouldn't he be a fool?
While the captain of Team Three was buying materials, the well in Ping'an Village had been dug nearly twenty meters deep, but apart from the fact that the soil was a little wetter than before, there was still no sign of water.
Wu Ye, who had been squatting by the side watching people dig the well since early morning, put his pipe on his waist, walked over and leaned down to ask, "Da Xi, what's wrong?"
Liu Daxi's voice came from below: "Nothing has happened yet, but the soil is a little wet again."
Xia Juhua was so scared that she stepped forward to support Wu Ye, and pulled him back two steps. Then she imitated Wu Ye's behavior and shouted to the people in the well: "Dig slower, and dig in the places with more moisture."
Last time, the well in this land seemed to have water after being dug to a depth of about 23 or 24 meters. Later, it took another half meter to produce a lot of water. Now the soil that is brought up is getting wetter each time. Xia Juhua feels that good news is not far away.
"Alas, this happened to me when I was digging a well. I only saw wet soil but no water. I dug two meters downstream but still couldn't find any water." Master Wu seemed to be in a bad mood, and the people waiting for their shift change felt depressed as well.
"Fifth Master, I think there is water coming out from here, look." Xia Juhua showed the wet soil she had just brought up to Fifth Master: "This soil is almost turning into mud, water should be coming out soon."
Seeing that the soil being brought up was getting wetter and wetter, Fifth Master was even more reluctant to leave. He waited until Liu Daxixi shouted from below, "There's water, there's water." The old man rushed to the well again and lay flat on the ground.
"Is there really water?" Fifth Master asked in disbelief. For many years, Ping'an Village had not dug a new well except for the two old wells. Some families went directly to the Xihe River to fetch water for convenience, except in winter.
Now, a well has actually been dug out of the ground!
Wu Ye turned around to look at Xia Juhua who insisted on digging the well, but he forgot that he was now lying on the edge of the well. When he turned his head, he felt his neck was stretched, and he quickly turned back to wait for Liu Daxi's answer.
Liu Daxi looked up and could see a round sky, but now there was a missing piece of it, blocked by his grandfather. However, Liu Daxi did not dare to complain, and shouted in the same excited voice as the fifth grandfather:
"It's really flooding, Grandpa. As soon as I dug with the hoe, water started to seep out. Grandpa, hurry up and you can pull it out when the water gets higher."
Someone had already helped Master Wu up, and everyone in the well was anxiously waiting for the next basket of soil to be brought up. Unfortunately, only half of the soil was brought up, and Liu Daxi, who was in the well, laughed and scolded: "Hurry up and put a bucket down, we are all soaked."
Liu Zhishuang shouted into the well from above: "Uncle Daxi, come up, it's our turn to dig."
"What the hell are you digging for?" Liu Da happily scolded him, "You want to get out of the water now, no way. You have to stand in the mud for a while."
The people at the well burst into laughter, and no one thought that Liu Daxi was deliberately making things difficult for them - there was really water, Ping'an Village had dug a well in such dry weather, and everyone was so happy that they couldn't help but laugh at each other.
Hearing that water had been found in the well, two technicians, Xue Lin, were also called in. The two inexperienced people were completely flattered by the people of Ping An Village and were at a loss as to what to do. They asked Xia Juhua with a guilty conscience, "Are we still going to dig a well?"
Xia Juhua faintly confidently: "Of course we have to. This year's harvest of Ping'an Village depends entirely on these wells."
Not just one mouthful, but several mouthfuls. Now Xia Juhua had the confidence to say this, but the two technicians felt that they were even more guilty. What was going on?
But the people of Ping'an Village believed that the entire Ping'an Village team, seeing the well water becoming clearer and clearer, also believed that Ping'an Village could dig more wells.
Just when Xia Juhua was preparing to go to the county town for the second time to buy materials for digging a well, the captain of the third team came to her and said, "Captain Xia, you are going to buy materials, can you take me with you? I didn't buy a lot of things last time."
Xia Juhua looked at the captain of Team 3 with some embarrassment and asked, "What else do you want to buy? How about I bring it back to you today?" The fewer people who know Qi Weidong's secret, the better.
The captain of the third team was a wise man. After hearing what Xia Juhua said, he recalled the bad experience he had the last time he went to the county town to buy things. He nodded at Xia Juhua and said, "Okay, it will be easier if you bring it back to me. You are going to buy materials for a few more wells this time. Our production team must drill at least two wells. Can one tractor bring them back?"
The captain of the third team didn't have to worry about whether the truck could be brought back or not. If Technician Xue really couldn't bring it back, Qi Weidong could find another car to bring it back for Xia Juhua. However, Xia Juhua decided to settle accounts with her brother, so she showed the captain of the third team the account book of the last purchase.
The captain of the third team was a little embarrassed to look at it, but he also wanted to know how much the well in Ping'an Village cost. He hesitated and postponed it, and then looked at it. He didn't know many words, but he could recognize all the numbers. He memorized the prices of several main items and returned the account book to Xia Juhua: "Captain Xia, take this two hundred yuan first, we need..."
Chen Qiu Sheng listened to what the captain of Team 3 said and wrote it down on a piece of paper. By the time he finished speaking, he had already calculated the approximate amount of money and said to Xia Juhua, "Captain, if the price of these things for Team 3 doesn't increase, about 150 yuan will be enough." It turns out you didn't buy anything last time.
Xia Juhua also heard it, took the money without hesitation, and said to the captain of the third team: "Then I will take the money first."
Take it, Xia Juhua can buy all the things for Team 3 with the money. Team 3's leader smiled so hard that wrinkles appeared on his face: "Okay, then I'll have our production team wait here in the afternoon so that we can pick up the things and take them back."
Xia Juhua still had something to do and didn't have time to be polite with the captain of Team 3. After greeting him, she got on the tractor that Technician Xue had already started and headed towards the county town.
The captain of the third team looked at the tractor emitting black smoke and running away with envy, then asked Chen Qiu Sheng: "Qiu Sheng, is the pilot project of your production team to see if we can dig a well?" Otherwise, how come he couldn't buy what Xia Juhua could buy even after searching the entire county?
Chen Qiusheng, who had received instructions, shook his head mysteriously and said, "I don't really know, anyway, I just do whatever our captain tells me to do."
The more mysterious it is, the more people want to explore what the secret is. Unfortunately, Chen Qiu Sheng is extremely tight-lipped. In the end, the captains of the three teams had to guess that whether Ping An Village used a new method to grow sweet potatoes or suddenly dug a well, it all had a lot to do with that pilot project.
The captain of Team 3 was secretly delighted. When they used a new method to plant sweet potatoes, Team 3 followed suit. When they needed to dig a well, Team 3 also followed suit. This meant that Team 3 also participated in the pilot project.
If the experiment is really successful in the future, will the three teams also be recognized by their superiors?
The captain of Team 3 thought more and more about it, but he overlooked a problem. That is, the place where Ping'an Village would dig the well was actually designated by Xia Juhua. So who should he ask to mark the place where Team 3 would dig the well to ensure that water could be pumped out?
The captain of the third team didn't expect it, but Uncle Qi did. He was staring at Xia Juhua and asked, "Captain Xia, if your production team's well can pump out water, then is it possible for other production teams and even the entire Pingde County to pump out water?"
Xia Juhua wanted to beat Qi Weidong in her heart - this kid was too quick to talk. Why did he tell Uncle Qi about her purchase of materials for digging a well? Not only that, but today when she wanted him to help her buy some more things, he took her directly to Uncle Qi's office.
A bitter smile that had not appeared for a long time appeared on Xia Juhua's face again: "Director Qi, you think too highly of me. I have lived in Ping'an Village all my life and am familiar with all the land there. I even remember which place has better crops in years with less rain than other places. But I am not familiar with other production teams. I told the two technicians what I remembered, and they decided on the place to dig the well after discussing it." So I was not the only one who decided on the place to dig the well.
Xia Juhua is making her final struggle.
Uncle Qi was obviously skeptical about her statement: "Can you judge whether a place is suitable for digging a well just by looking at the growth of crops in years with little rain?" Uncle Qi was very good at seeing through phenomena and seeing the essence of things, and automatically ignored the two technicians mentioned by Xia Juhua.
It has to be. Xia Juhua's bitter smile widened. She couldn't tell Uncle Qi that she remembered the locations of all the wells in Ping'an Manor. She could only talk about the growth of crops - in places with groundwater, even if there is less rain, crops grow better than in other places. This is common sense, and Deputy Director Qi, who is in charge of agriculture, should know it.
Uncle Qi looked thoughtful: "What about your mother's hometown, Xiajiazhuang? You have lived there for almost twenty years. You should know where to get water, right?" After saying that, he looked at Xia Juhua expectantly.
Needless to say, Xia Juhua really knew it. After all, she had not been in touch with her brothers since the late 1980s. The wells in Xiajiazhuang had been drilled long ago, and she roughly remembered their locations.
Seeing Uncle Qi worrying about the crops, Xia Juhua couldn't shake her head and said hesitantly, "Although I haven't worked in Xiajiazhuang for more than 20 years, I think if I go to the fields, maybe I can remember it."
Uncle Qi slammed the table excitedly and said, "That's great, Comrade Xia Juhua. Even if you only found a place for the two production teams in Ping'an Village and Xiajia Village to dig wells, you have solved the problem of grain production for the two production teams. Wait a minute, I need to report to the director."
Before Xia Juhua could react, Uncle Qi had already disappeared. Don't blame Uncle Qi for being anxious. The farmers could see that the drought was devastating this year, but could the county leaders not see it? The crops planted in the fields began to wilt as soon as they emerged. The communes and brigades that had built canals near the river could still organize their members to carry water to irrigate the fields, but the leaders of the communes and brigades that were not near the river were almost squeezing the county revolutionary committee to pieces these days.
Everyone asked the county to distribute relief grain as soon as possible, because the surplus grain harvested before the New Year was so thick that the porridge in many farmers' homes was almost enough to reflect their reflections.
But the food in the county's granary had already been transported to the disaster-stricken areas in the south, and there was nothing left except the vermicelli that leaked from the Ping'an Village Brigade. The director of the county's revolutionary committee, based on past experience, thought that the granary was full of rotten sweet potatoes, so he cursed at anyone who came to ask for relief food and drove them away, with several blisters on his mouth.
Uncle Qi felt that the time was right, so he assigned himself to the Ping'anzhuang team and reported to the director that the sweet potatoes from various communes had been turned into vermicelli. He also conducted a self-examination: "In previous years, a large number of sweet potatoes were thrown away, and I felt so bad. I heard that the Ping'anzhuang production team could make vermicelli, and the quality was not bad, so I let them give it a try."
"But the county's sweet potato reserves are too large for one production team to drain all of them, so I arranged for the Ping'an Village team to drain the vermicelli collectively. Because I didn't know if I could drain them all on time and whether it would cause new waste, I didn't dare report it to the director. Please criticize me. I will make a deep self-examination at the life meeting."
The director stood up from behind his desk, walked over to Uncle Qi, held his hand and shook it, then shook it again, and said in a heavy voice: "Your decision has saved the farmers of the whole county from food shortages. I want to thank you, on behalf of the people of the whole county, how could I criticize you?"
Uncle Qi shook the director's hand tightly and said, "I know that before the New Year, the director was criticized by his superiors for only pulling the cart with his head down and not looking up at the road. So I made the decision myself about the leaking vermicelli. I thought that if something happened and you didn't know about it, it would be my personal decision and I would bear all the responsibility alone, so..."
The director was even more moved after hearing this, but he didn't say anything else. He let go of Uncle Qi's hand and sat back at the table: "With these vermicelli, when there is a real shortage of food, we can at least give the people something to eat. With this food, we can get through to the autumn harvest..."
At this point, the director stopped talking. It was clear that this year's autumn harvest could not be counted on. When the autumn harvest really came, the farmers would still have nothing to eat.
Uncle Qi smiled, and after being glared at by the director, he said, "The Ping'an Village production team that helped the people of the whole county to make money dug a deep well in the field yesterday. I heard that the water output is very large, enough to irrigate the surrounding 60 to 70 acres of land."
"Ping'an Village Production Team?" The director thought for a moment and asked uncertainly, "Is it the Ping'an Village under the Red Star Commune? I remember that they seemed to be good at making reed mats. The regional supply and marketing cooperatives asked the county supply and marketing cooperatives to hand over more reed mats."
"Yes, it's Ping'an Village." Uncle Qi told the director everything he knew about Xia Juhua with a proud expression: "This female comrade is not simple, she is a thoughtful person. She was able to determine the location of the deep well just by observing the growth of crops, and actually pumped out water. She is braver than the male production team leader."
The director nodded in agreement and said, "She is such an amazing woman. It is rare that there are still people who trust the technicians at the Agricultural Technology Station and their planting methods."
Uncle Lian Qi also admired this and said with a smile: "So I took the initiative again and gave their production team a task of hard work and trial. I hope that they can succeed in growing sweet potatoes with the new method this year. In this way, at least the county will not have to worry about the food for Ping'an Village Brigade."
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