Chapter 87
Li Changshun did not feel embarrassed about being exposed. Instead, he nodded in agreement and said, "Leader, you don't know that the wells in our brigade were only dug after Comrade Xia Juhua's guidance. At that time, she was busy with the affairs of Ping'an Village and had to help other production teams. If our brigade was prosperous, I would like to give her some subsidies."
The county director smiled and said, "Captain Li is right. As far as I know, the location of the well of the Xiajiazhuang production team was also determined by Comrade Xia Juhua."
"No, no," Xia Juhua waved her hands anxiously, "That's because I'm more familiar with the situations of these two production teams. Otherwise, how would a rural woman like me know where to dig wells?" She didn't want people to think that she really knew how to find directions. What if the leader asked her to dig wells everywhere?
Li Changshun also regretted what he had said. He looked at Xia Juhua with guilt and said to the district director and others, "It was all because I didn't make my words clear. I apologize to the leaders."
Fortunately, the leaders noticed Xia Juhua's embarrassed expression and did not mention the matter of her looking at the location of the well. Instead, they went to the pigpen of Ping'an Village together and found an old lady sitting in the shade and taking a nap, and another member was pouring food into the pig trough.
"Sun, is this how you accept supervised labor?" Li Changshun angrily yelled at the dozing Sun.
Sun was startled by the yelling, and she rubbed her eyes to see the people standing in front of her clearly. Only Xia Juhua and Li Changshun were people she knew, so she stood up quickly. I have to admit that even if she went to Liu Erzhuang's house from time to time to eat, Sun still looked very old after the class, and her situation didn't seem much better than that of the fifth master.
Without waiting for the district director to ask, Li Changshun whispered about the relationship between Sun and Sun Guizhi, and mentioned that Sun was also receiving supervised labor. Seeing that the district director looked unhappy again, Xia Juhua hurriedly said:
"Director, you can see that she is old and can't do much work. And although she and the couple are subject to supervised labor, she doesn't cause trouble, so the production team turns a blind eye to her."
Just because Sun didn't cause trouble, Xia Juhua felt that she could tolerate Sun's laziness. This female production team leader was too kind.
The district director was very moved by Xia Juhua's kindness: "Captain Xia, you can treat bad elements differently. Under your leadership, the Ping'an Village production team will definitely be able to get through this disaster smoothly."
When Xia Juhua thanked the leaders for their trust, Sun quietly retreated and started to chop sweet potato leaves for the first time. Xia Juhua didn't bother with her, and the leaders just looked at the piglets growing well in the pigpen and left.
After they left, Sun was still upset. Even though Li Changshun's words were half-complete, she still heard that Sun Guizhi had caused trouble again. Not only did Sun Guizhi cause trouble, she almost implicated her and Liu Sizhuang.
Fortunately, Sun Shi heaved a of relief when she heard Xia Juhua's words that sigh she was not going to be treated the same as Sun Guizhi. She didn't care at all about what kind of punishment Sun Guizhi would receive. Who made Sun Guizhi complain about the bad food every day and always wanted her to ask Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang for food?
If she could get food, would Sun still have to look at Li Daya's face when it was time to eat? !
Sun Guizhi kept reminding him of things that he already knew. Instigated by Sun Guizhi, Liu Sizhuang also felt that his mother no longer loved him. It would be strange if Sun Shi cared about Sun Guizhi's life or death.
Sun, who didn't want to care about Sun Guizhi's life or death, was met with an angry Liu Sizhuang: "Mom, what should we do? Sun Guizhi, that wasteful woman, has sued Xia Juhua again, and the leader said that she and I should go to the Red Team training class in the county!"
"What? She sued Xia Juhua, so why do you have to go to the remedial class too?" Mrs. Sun asked in confusion, looking at her beloved little son whom she had raised since childhood.
Liu Sizhuang didn't know how things turned out like this, and continued angrily, "How would I know? Mom, now while the leader hasn't left yet, go and beg Xia Juhua, tell her that I don't know what Sun Guizhi did, and ask her to tell the leader to keep me in Ping'an Village."
Although staying in Pingan Village meant picking up excrement from every household and being stinky all day long, it was better than going to a training class. Liu Sizhuang, who had been to the training class in the commune, thought that the training class in the county would kill him.
After hearing this, Sun took a step back and said, "What good would it do if I asked her for help? She hasn't said a word to me since the family split."
"How could I not tell you, mother? Didn't you say that after Liu Zhishuang got married, she came to see you?" Liu Sizhuang was worried about his mother's memory.
Sun Shi had not forgotten that Xia Juhua had come to visit her, nor had she forgotten how she had treated Xia Juhua at that time. Perhaps it was that time that made Xia Juhua feel that there was no hope of repair, and that was why she ignored her and Liu Sizhuang's family.
That's right, in Sun's view, Xia Juhua's treatment of her and Liu Sizhuang's family was the same as if the Ping'an Village production team didn't have these people. It was this kind of neglect that made Sun dare not agree to Liu Sizhuang's request to ask Xia Juhua for mercy.
No matter if a person herself likes you or hates you, he will always pay attention to your affairs. But will Xia Juhua's disregard for change even if Sun cried her eyes out for Liu Sizhuang's family?
Deep down, Sun was a man who was very aware of the current affairs.
In the past, Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang had some expectations of her, and she dared to peel off a layer of skin from them to support Liu Sizhuang. When Liu Sanzhuang ignored even Sun Shi, she only dared to eat in the east room where Liu Erzhuang lived, and never mentioned asking Liu Erzhuang to take food to support Liu Sizhuang's room.
Similarly, she would not take the risk of offending Xia Juhua in front of Li Changshun for Liu Sizhuang. If Xia Juhua had not said that she was too old, Sun would have to go to the county town to study. If Li Changshun wanted to vent Xia Juhua's anger, she would come to him herself, which would allow her to be with Liu Sizhuang.
Therefore, Sun's response to Liu Sizhuang was silence again.
As the youngest son whom Sun had loved for many years, Liu Sizhuang knew Sun better than his brothers and sisters. Seeing that she had been silent, he had a good idea of her thoughts:
"Mom, are you really not going to take care of me anymore? Don't forget that Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang separated you from me. You have lived with me, and only I can take care of you when you are old."
Sun thought to herself that these days your family has been drinking wheat bran porridge every day, with at most some sweet potato leaves added to it. If I hadn't been shameless enough to go to Liu Erzhuang's house every day to eat, I would have starved to death. Why are you supporting me?
A coward raised by a coward can only be a coward. Sun, who was trying to protect herself, felt sorry for Liu Sizhuang. Apart from yelling at Sun for a while, he never thought of going to those big leaders to explain that he knew nothing about what Sun Guizhi had done.
Even if he thought of it now, it was too late, because Xia Juhua had already sent the leaders to the car, facing the raised dust, and waved vigorously towards the jeep.
"You can water the ground with peace of mind this time." Li Changshun put his hand down earlier than Xia Juhua and said this without thinking.
They were all in the same brigade and not far away. Technician Xue drove the tractor and followed Xia Juhua back and forth to the county town without deliberately hiding it from anyone. Li Changshun was not surprised to know that Ping'an Village bought diesel.
She smiled at Li Changshun and said, "What's the point of just watering the fields? There are plenty of jobs out there. No one can just sit at home and rest." She then acted viciously deliberately.
Li Changshun also laughed: "You people in Pingan Village are very tight-lipped. It wasn't them who told me. It was Director Zhang who told me that Deputy Director Qi approved diesel for your production team and asked me why I didn't go to him at that time."
Xia Juhua, who had just thought of a bunch of excuses for the members of Ping An Zhuang, felt that this was the most pleasing sentence Li Changshun had said in the past few days. She put away her vicious expression and put on a smile again:
"Captain, I'm not lying to you. I have a lot of things planned for them. I can't sit still."
Li Changshun asked unhappily, "Although the crops have grown, they still need to do farm management, such as weeding and weeding. What other work have you arranged for them?"
Xia Juhua said, "It's rare that there hasn't been much rain this year, and half of the Xihe River is dry. I want to bring some mud back to make some adobe bricks." The river mud can be used to make adobe bricks, and the bricks made after drying in the sun everyone are finer and firmer than those made from dry soil.
"What's the point of taking off those adobe bricks? Our brigade doesn't even have a brick kiln." Li Changshun said with some regret.
However, Xia Juhua's eyes lit up: "There is a brick kiln in Xiawo Brigade." How could she have forgotten this? Remember, you must remember it. When the spring breeze blows again, let Xia Long and Xia Hu boldly contract the brick kiln. At that time, construction will be carried out everywhere. Why would she be afraid that Xia Long and his brothers would not be able to make money and live a good life?
Thinking of this, Li Changshun couldn't stand the smile on Xia Juhua's face: "How many adobe bricks can your production team produce? Without the Xiawo Brigade, can they open kilns for you?"
Xia Juhua confidently calculated the cost for Li Changshun: Even though the classroom where Liu Lizhu teaches the children has been repaired, if bricks can be made, of course all the adobes will have to be replaced.
The yard also had to be fenced with bricks, leaving doors and windows to build fire walls, so that the women would not freeze when weaving mats in winter. After Xia Juhua finished speaking, she smiled mysteriously at Li Changshun and said, "Captain, think about it, if our production team built a few rooms specifically for drying sweet potato starch, if everyone leaks starch again this winter, wouldn't the whole family not have to squeeze on the same kang?"
According to this calculation, even if the Xiaowo Brigade fired four or five kilns, let alone one brick kiln, it would not be enough for Ping'an Village.
When Li Changshun heard Xia Juhua mention the powder leak, his eyes lit up: "If those production teams..."
Xia Juhua shook her head like a wave drum: "Team leader, the Xiawo Brigade is willing to build a kiln for our production team, but I have to make them remember that I was looking after the well for Xiajiazhuang, so that I can ask for it. But those production teams..." What's the benefit of going to the Xiawo Brigade? They should build a kiln for them as well?
"And I've thought about it. They pay for the kiln with their skills, and I'll just pay them in cash based on their previous earnings in a single day." Xia Juhua simply blurted out the truth. Don't think that she can really control the Xiawo Brigade based on past events alone.
At this point, Xia Juhua was very happy that the county director and Uncle Qi had asked the Agriculture and Forestry Bureau to solve the problem of well digging materials. Otherwise, just buying bricks would cost Ping'an Village a lot of money, and there would be nowhere to buy them.
The same is true of Xiakuo Brigade. They have a kiln and members who can make bricks, but they refuse to open the kiln to make bricks. If they did, how much agricultural supplies could they get in exchange? Even if they don't exchange for supplies, wouldn't it be better to make cash?
Li Changshun looked at Xia Juhua's changing expression and reminded her, "In Xiawo Brigade, only your third cousin who is not more than five generations of kin can make bricks. In the past, he was not a leader for a landlord, and he was severely beaten at the beginning. I'm afraid he won't be willing to make bricks for you easily."
Without Li Changshun saying anything more, Xia Juhua also knew that it would be quite difficult to ask the Xiawo Brigade to burn bricks for Ping'an Village: a brick kiln is not like a wood stove at home, which has to burn coal, and not just a little bit, and once the kiln is started, it cannot be stopped.
Xia Juhua, who had brought diesel back from the county town, nodded confidently to Li Changshun: "I think he will open the kiln for me in the fall."
It was me, not Ping'an Village. Xia Juhua had this confidence because she pointed out the locations of seven wells in Xiajia Village. As long as Xiajia Village's harvest this year was higher than that of other production teams, the members would know who brought the harvest.
Xia Juhua's third cousin is no exception.
With such confidence, Ping'an Village made adjustments to its production the next day: Liu Daxi brought ten members and took turns watering the land with Technician Xue; Chen Qiu Sheng, Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang brought 150 people to plow the land under the guidance of Technician Lin; brothers Liu Zhiquan and Liu Zhishuang brought 30 strong laborers to push back river mud from the Xihe River to make adobe bricks.
Now, apart from helping out when the sweet potatoes are being pulled, the women spend the rest of their time weaving baskets: after testing, it has been found that the reed bark needs to be soaked for three days before it completely changes color and does not fall off, and it needs to be air-dried for a day and a half before it is 90% dry. Fully dried reed bark becomes brittle and easy to break, while 90% dried reed bark is easier to weave and easier to shape.
The women who had woven mats learned to weave baskets very quickly. If the dyeing experiment had not wasted time, they would have been able to complete the orders from the supply and marketing cooperative. What surprised Xia Juhua even more was Seventh Grandma. She did not weave baskets with the others, but used red, yellow and green to weave a big rooster!
The yellow chicken head is topped with a bright red comb, the lower part is made of natural reed skin with a touch of red, gradually turning into a bright red chicken body, and then a high-flying green tail. The color combination is very abrupt yet extremely harmonious, and it was passed around by women as soon as it was made up.
It was just the time when Director Lin came to Ping An Village to check the results. This big rooster made Director Lin much more satisfied than the little blue one that had changed color: "Captain Xia, I can make the decision myself. How about you make another 100 roosters like this, 2.5 yuan each?"
Xia Juhua looked at Qi Nai in embarrassment. She couldn't force her to teach everyone the roosters that the old lady had made herself. But the time for the Expo had been set long ago, and the district supply and marketing cooperative had also set a time to participate in the provincial selection. In such a short time, Qi Nai couldn't make a hundred roosters by herself.
"How about three yuan?" Director Lin thought Xia Juhua thought the price was too low and didn't want to make a deal. He looked at the rooster in his hand and felt that two yuan and fifty cents was a little too little: it was obvious that this thing took both time and effort. He didn't even know how many work points Ping An Village had to record.
"Okay, three pieces is fine, Captain." Grandma Qi suddenly spoke and nodded to Xia Juhua who looked over.
Xia Juhua waited until Director Lin left before she said embarrassedly, "Seventh Aunt, you came up with this idea yourself."
"Didn't you come up with the word 'Xi', or was 'Lan Zi' thought up by Hong Ling and the other girls? You can teach everyone, but your seventh grandmother has to keep it to herself?" There was a hint of blame in his words, but it sounded so heart-wrenching that it made one want to cry.
Zhao Xianzhi gently pulled Xia Juhua and said to Seventh Grandma with a smile: "Seventh Grandma, you just stay here for a few days to teach us how to weave roosters. I will take care of your three meals."
"That won't work. Grandma Qi has bad teeth and can't chew your cakes. I have to make noodles for her to eat at night." Zhang Cuiping asked Grandma Qi with a smile: "Am I right, Grandma Qi?"
What is right? Seventh Grandma looked at Zhao Xianzhi and Zhang Cuiping who were waiting for her answer, pursed her teeth and said, "You are so crazy, you can just say this in the village, but you can't spread it outside. Other production teams are almost out of food, and you still complain about the hard cakes. Aren't you afraid that others will beat you if they hear it?"
Never mind whether outsiders would beat her or not after hearing this. After a while, Seventh Grandma had a supply of food for the next ten days. In order to get her agreement, Xia Juhua even said that if Seventh Grandma didn't go to each other's homes for meals, she would not let anyone learn how to weave a rooster.
"Alas," Seventh Grandma wiped the tears from her eyes and said to Xia Juhua, "How can you be so soft-hearted? In the old days, people like me could only wait to starve to death. But you have people come to see me every day, and you give me all the money for the mats I made. I finally remembered the patterns I made in the past, and I can teach you. It shows that I am still useful. I am very happy. How can I eat your food again?"
Xia Juhua also began to feel sad: "Seventh Grandma, please stop saying such things. No one is old yet. If no one cares about anyone when they are old, then what's the point of living?" Wouldn't it be like she was in her previous life, taking medicine by herself?
Director Lin took the finished rooster back to the county town to show it to Director Zheng. Grandma Qi was sad for a while and then used the dyed reed bark to weave a new one.
Xia Juhua watched and learned at the side, and almost finished weaving together with Qi Nai: it actually didn't take much longer to weave a rooster than to weave a basket. If you were quick with your hands, you could weave one in a day.
It was five days later when Director Lin found out about the speed of the women in the Ping'anzhuang production team. He thought he could only bring half of the order to the district supply and marketing cooperative, but he didn't expect that the Ping'anzhuang production team gave him a big surprise.
"Captain Xia, you haven't had any rest these days, have you?" Director Lin thought that since the manuscript was so fast, it must have been compiled by the women of the Ping'anzhuang production team who worked long hours to complete it.
Xia Juhua's eyes were definitely red from staying up all night, but unlike what Director Lin thought, she did it for Liu Sizhuang and his wife.
Because last night, members of the county's Red Team suddenly appeared in Ping'an Village, knocked open the door of the Liu family's old house, and wanted to take Liu Sizhuang and his wife to a training class.
There was no movement for a few days after the leader left. Xia Juhua thought that the county director had just casually agreed to the district director and had forgotten about Liu Sizhuang and his wife. She never expected that the Red Team would launch a surprise attack.
Sun Guizhi's crying in the middle of the night was heard by the whole Pingan Village, and Xia Juhua, the production team leader, had to get up to see what was going on. When they arrived at the old courtyard, Liu Sizhuang and his wife had been tied up with coarse hemp ropes by the Red Team. The food storage in the fourth room was opened again, and the empty bags were thrown everywhere.
Liu Zhiliang and Liu Hongjuan hid under the wall and dared not say a word. Sun, who used to rush to the front to protect Liu Sizhuang when he got into trouble, stood a little further away from Liu Zhiliang and his sister, and shivered like a chicken hit by rain, not making a sound.
Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang were both standing in the middle of the yard. Liu Sanzhuang, as usual, said nothing and just stood there to give Liu Erzhuang courage. Liu Erzhuang tried to get the Red Team to let Liu Sizhuang go.
Seeing that Li Daya, An Baoling and several other children had not come out, Xia Juhua secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She asked Liu Zhishuang, who had to follow them, to move aside, and she came to the front of the Red Team.
"Who are you?" She had to first ask whether the people who came were the Red Team from the commune or the Red Team from the county.
The first one looked at him with a flashlight and asked, "Are you Captain Xia?"
Xia Juhua nodded: "I am Xia Juhua from the Ping'an Village production team."
"Well, the county revolutionary committee learned that someone was sabotaging the anti-drought work of the Ping'anzhuang production team, and asked us to take the bad elements to the study class for enhanced education." Upon hearing that it was really Xia Juhua, the leader looked unhappy, but his tone was still polite.
Xia Juhua pointed to a pile of grain bags on the ground and said, "The director said the other day that Liu Sizhuang and his wife don't need to bring food when they go to class. Besides, there is an elderly person and two children in their family. If you take away all their food, what will the three of them eat?" Doesn't the production team have to find a solution for them?
Liu Erzhuang looked at Xia Juhua with gratitude in his eyes. The doors of the east and west rooms opened at the same time, and Li Daya and An Baoling walked out together. Xia Juhua winked at them, not letting them go forward: the Red Team is not a reasonable person. If they think someone's eyes are wrong and take them to the study class, Xia Juhua will be distressed.
The Red Team member who was talking to Xia Juhua looked at the bag of food on the ground with disdain and said, "They only have a little bit of bran, and we won't take it even if they beg us to. Captain Xia, these two people are from your Ping'an Village production team after all. You can't really watch them go to the study class and not even have food to eat, right?"
Starving to death would save people from harm. Xia Juhua glanced at Liu Sizhuang and his wife. Liu Sizhuang used to play dead dog when he saw someone coming forward. Sun Guizhi thought she saw hope: "Sister-in-law, I won't dare to do it again next time. Tell them not to catch us."
Xia Juhua looked back at the Red Team indifferently: "This is the situation in our production team. The food we were given last year is almost gone..."
"Xia Juhua, you are slandering the great achievements of the collective." The Red Team suddenly shouted, which scared Xia Juhua. She couldn't figure out which of her words was slanderous.
The Red Team proudly grinned at Xia Juhua: "With a collective leader, do you dare to say that the members' food is almost gone?"
Saying that you are unreasonable is a compliment, right?
Xia Juhua waved her hand at Liu Erzhuang and Liu Sanzhuang and said, "You two, open your own warehouses and let the Red Team comrades see how much food you have. Liu Zhishuang, go get everyone in the production team to get up, open the warehouses and let the Red Team comrades see if I am lying."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
