Chapter 88
The Red Team had never encountered a situation like Xia Juhua before, where she asked them to verify it in person, and they could not help but look at each other in bewilderment. They had all heard from Director Wang of the Agriculture and Forestry Bureau that the Red Team subsidies this year were less than in previous years because Xia Juhua from Ping'an Village insisted on leading the members to dig a well, which occupied all the funds of the Agriculture and Forestry Bureau.
Therefore, before coming here, several people discussed that they had to teach Xia Juhua a lesson, and it would be best if she was also arrested and sent to the study class. As for how to arrest Xia Juhua and send her to the study class, do you still need to ask? The Red Team is very good at making random accusations.
Who would have thought that Xia Juhua would not panic when she heard that she was accused of defaming the collective, and she even asked the entire production team to testify for her. Even if a person has good relationships with others, a production team leader can still avoid offending two people. How could she guarantee that everyone in the production team would do as she wished?
What the Red Team didn't expect was that without Liu Zhishuang having to go out and call for help, many members had already surrounded the Liu family compound. After hearing what Xia Juhua said, they started to shout, "We are running out of food. The bran we eat now was bought for us by the team leader before the New Year. If you don't believe me, go and see!"
It wasn't just one or two people shouting, and the voices were loud enough to break the sky. The Red Team was at a loss and all looked at the leader. The leader was also startled by the combined voices and said sinisterly, "Captain Xia, are you going to fight against the young revolutionary?"
When Xia Juhua spoke to the leading Red Team, her face remained calm and her voice was neither too high nor too low: "The elders once taught us that without investigation and research, we have no right to speak. We, the members of Ping'an Village, are now actively helping the Red Team to conduct research on grain storage. How can we be regarded as those who are against the revolutionary young generals?"
Speechless, the leader of the Red Team found that he could not even find his voice in front of a rural woman. He looked at the increasing number of members outside the yard, listened to the increasingly loud shouts, and managed to calm himself down, showing Xia Juhua an ugly smile:
"Captain Xia, we are here to help Ping'an Village eliminate bad elements that are sabotaging drought relief production, not to investigate how much surplus food Ping'an Village members have. You see, it's getting late, shouldn't we let the members rest early so as not to delay the production team's drought relief tomorrow?"
Xia Juhua waved her hands toward the outside of the courtyard, and the noise suddenly became much quieter. The people standing outside were still arguing, but when they noticed that the person in front of them had stopped talking, they slowly shut up.
Then Xia Juhua said loudly: "The comrades of the Red Team said that we can't delay everyone's drought relief tomorrow, so let everyone go home and rest."
"Why rest? I was so hungry that I finally fell asleep. How can I sleep again after being woken up? No need to rest. I'd better ask the comrades of the Red Team to see how many handfuls of corn are left in our barn and give us some relief food."
"Yes, comrades of the Red Team, please give us some relief rations." Many people agreed with the first person, which almost made the Red Team very angry: Are they here to distribute relief rations? No, they are here to catch bad elements!
He still had to ask Xia Juhua how he had gone from catching bad elements to distributing relief rations, but Xia Juhua acted as if she hadn't noticed the Red Team's questions and was persuading the members to listen to the Red Team and go home and rest quickly.
Just as the Red Team had expected, the members did not obey Xia Juhua's words. They were hungry, so hungry that they could not sleep, and they urgently needed relief food to soothe their stomachs, and they would not leave until they got the relief food.
Finally, after the Red Team had to agree to report the situation in Ping'an Village to the County Revolutionary Committee, the members left the Liu Family Old House one by one in disappointment. However, Xia Juhua could not leave with the members, as she had to ask the Red Team about the arrangements for Liu Sizhuang and his wife in the county town.
The Red Team had lost their initial arrogance and their tone of voice was much better when they answered: "Bad elements like this must be further reformed through labor. It just so happens that there are several public toilets in the county without regular people to clean them, so we handed them over to the couple."
Xia Juhua still looked at the leader, who laughed self-deprecatingly: "Don't worry, Captain Xia, the Red Team can also find wheat bran, and they won't starve to death."
Regardless of how Liu Sizhuang and his wife felt after hearing this, except for Sun and Liu Hongjuan, everyone else felt relieved. When Xia Juhua heard that the Red Team would not take away their family's wheat bran, she yawned. The leader of the Red Team waved to everyone, and several people pushed their bicycles.
Xia Juhua looked in disbelief as the Red Team members rode their bikes at very fast speeds. The two at the back were pulling a rope tied to the hands of Liu Sizhuang and his wife. In order to avoid being pulled down, the couple had to run after them. For the first time, she felt admiration for the Red Team.
"Auntie..." Xia Juhua, who was admiring the Red Team, heard someone calling her. She looked around and found it was Liu Hongjuan. The fear on her face was still there and there were some tears in her eyes. She was looking at Xia Juhua with the same pleading eyes as Sun Guizhi did during the day.
Before Xia Juhua could say anything, Liu Zhiliang covered Liu Hongjuan's mouth with his hand and said to Xia Juhua with a red face, "Auntie, if they didn't take away our wheat bran, I could still pull sweet potato leaves every day and let grandma and the others have food to eat."
Is this what Liu Zhiliang said? Xia Juhua glanced at Li Daya, then at An Baoling. Both of them nodded slightly to her, as if to tell her that Liu Zhiliang was really different from Liu Sizhuang and his family.
No matter how different he is, he is just a child of twelve or thirteen years old.
Xia Juhua thought for a moment and said, "Your parents made a mistake, and some people in the village might say something bad about them. You are still young, so don't take it to heart. The production team will not ignore you."
Liu Zhiliang said stubbornly: "I can provide them both with food." After saying that, he couldn't help but his eyes turned red.
"Okay, if you have something to do, go find Chen Qiu Sheng." Xia Juhua felt that she could understand Liu Zhiliang's mood at the moment, and she didn't ask him to find her. Letting him find Chen Qiu Sheng could at least provide some relief.
Liu Erzhuang wanted to say something to Xia Juhua, but was stopped by Li Daya. Li Daya was really afraid that her husband would not be sober again and say something hurtful to Xia Juhua - just because his sister-in-law spoke kindly to Liu Zhiliang because he had started to understand things, it did not mean that Liu Erzhuang could use this to ask his sister-in-law to treat Liu Sizhuang's family the same way.
There is only one person in that family, Liu Zhiliang. The rest, including the Sun family, are inhumane and not worthy of being treated as human beings by the sister-in-law!
After returning home, Xia Juhua thought about Liu Zhiliang over and over for a long time - she couldn't understand when Liu Zhiliang, who was able to push Liu Hongjuan to the Red Team, dared to take the initiative to say that he could provide Liu Hongjuan and Sun with food.
Because he had been thinking for too long, Xia Juhua appeared in front of Director Lin with bloodshot eyes, which made him imagine the scene of all the women in Ping'an Village staying up late to weave roosters.
It's okay to fill in the blanks, it's not a bad thing. Xia Juhua looked at Chen Qiusheng counting the cash brought by Director Lin with excitement, and smiled: "The members of our production team are all very hard-working, but no matter how hard it is, we have to complete Director Lin's task."
Director Lin smiled and waited for Chen Qiusheng to finish counting the money before asking, "Captain Xia, is your production team busy now? If not, would you like to fry some sugar-coated peanuts for the county supply and marketing cooperative?"
Chen Qiusheng, who had already deposited the money, objected: "It's so hot, and you still let the captain stand in front of the stove to fry peanuts? Besides, that stuff can't be kept in the summer, it will get damp in a few days."
The production team had to take care of the work, and I couldn't stop earning money for my retirement, right? Moreover, Xia Juhua saw that Director Lin hesitated for a while before asking her to fry peanuts, so she asked, "Why are you frying peanuts at this time?"
Director Lin looked at Xia Juhua with some embarrassment and said, "I heard that the director of the district revolutionary committee had eaten the sugar-coated peanuts sent by the county supply and marketing cooperative last year, and mentioned it to the county leaders when he came to Pingde this time. Isn't this..."
Xia Juhua asked: "How much do you need to fry?" The leader alone can't eat much, right?
Director Lin shook his head and smiled: "Five hundred kilograms will be enough."
The leader is a big eater. Xia Juhua thought to herself, nodding her head: "Okay, just bring me the peanuts one day."
Director Lin glanced at Chen Qiusheng and asked him to leave the production team to check on the watering of the fields. Then he whispered to Xia Juhua, "If you still have peanuts, just fry them together. It's not good to leave peanuts all summer anyway."
Director Lin knew that in addition to the processing fee, Xia Juhua's team could also earn some peanuts, but he had always turned a blind eye to it. Since Director Lin did not treat her as an outsider, Xia Juhua told him the truth: "I only have more than 20 kilograms of peanuts left, so it's not worth mixing them in. I have replaced the rest of the peanuts with oil, otherwise I won't get any oil all year round."
As for where it was exchanged, considering what happened to the brother who was rescued last time, does Xia Juhua need to tell Director Lin clearly?
After hearing her say that there was no money to be made, Director Lin had an idea in mind: "Then next time I deliver peanuts, I'll bring you some meat tickets. Talk to Director Zheng to bring more internal tickets."
In the middle of summer, no production team would be willing to kill half-grown pigs, and the meat doesn't last long. Xia Juhua really hasn't eaten meat for a long time. She smiled bluntly and said to Director Lin, "That's great. If you can get an internal ticket, please give us more. The wheat harvest is coming soon, so we need everyone to save their energy."
After the basket and rooster were collected, Xia Juhua did not want to keep all the money in the production team, but wanted to give some to the people who did it secretly. It was said to be secret, because all the women in the village participated in it, that is, it was kept secret from outsiders.
所以對這個決定，全平安莊生産隊的社員沒有不擁護的，大家才不會跟外頭人說呢——沒見平安莊的婦女，除了娘家有紅白喜事，就沒有請假的，都怕自己到了娘家忍不住炫耀呢。
對于夏菊花時刻想着平安莊的社員，林主任深有體會，并不覺得她想多要肉票是過份的事兒，只想着自己該咋說動主任，把內部票多送給平安莊一些。
靠着林主任的努力，就在全平德縣的農民都對着幹旱的土地憂心重重的時候，平安莊的社員已經抹掉嘴角的油，把鐮刀磨的飛快，準備收割那五十畝麥子了。
五爺這次徹底在磨盤上坐不住了，別着煙袋鍋子繞着麥地走了一圈後，掐下田邊的一根麥穗，用蒼老的手用力搓掉皮，把麥粒都放到嘴裏嚼了起來。
他的牙已經掉的沒剩下幾顆，嚼起東西來有些費勁，好一會兒才咽下去，向劉大喜說：“挺實成。”
劉大喜點着頭說：“還能不實成？為了這五十畝麥子，光柴油燒了多少。也就是隊長嫂子有本事兒，要光靠挑水的話，得減産兩成。”
“是呀，剛種麥子的時候，哪敢想今年還有這麽好的收成。”五爺摸着手邊的麥穗，舍不得把手拿開。
其實跟往年比起來，已經減産了一成多，可跟別的生産隊比起來，已經強的不是一點兒半點兒，再跟別的大隊比……算了，還是別比了，真比的話平安莊就樹大招風了。
“去把你隊長嫂子和陳秋生叫來。”五爺突然給劉大喜下命令。劉大喜連為啥都不問，轉身就往紅薯地那邊走。
等夏菊花和陳秋生被找來的時候，五爺已經自己轉到玉米地那邊去了，劉大喜沒見到人臉吓的煞白，喊了幾聲聽到他爺回應，才重新轉回顏色來。
“爺，你咋自己瞎走呢？”劉大喜想把親爺拉回家裏，讓他老實呆着別出門了，剛才那一出太吓人。
五爺理都不理他，指着地裏的麥子問夏菊花：“你看看今年一畝能打多少？”
夏菊花早自己估過，一點兒嗑巴不打的說：“咋也能有四百斤吧。”別看天旱，可平安莊的水澆的及時量足，化肥又使的足，跟去年畝産四百五十多斤比不了，四百斤還是能達到的。
五爺點頭同意：“我估摸着也差不多。你就打算這麽收回去？”
麥子已經泛黃三天，再不收回去就怕掉粒或被家雀給叨了，可聽五爺的話頭咋不大對勁呢？夏菊花不解的看着五爺。
這一看可把五爺看生氣了，明明平時挺精明的人，這點兒事咋想不明白了呢：“你看過小莊頭的地沒，看過三隊的麥子沒，他們今年一畝能打上三百斤不？”
那肯定達不到。夏菊花明白五爺的意思了，平安莊從去年開始，就把別的生産隊落到了後頭，從今年春耕起，農機站的技術員和拖拉機、農技站的技術員都長住在平安莊，他們打的井又比別的生産隊多，怕是有不少眼紅的等着麥收，要看平安莊一畝能打多少麥子呢。
比別的生産隊打的多應該，如果超出的水平不多，那些人會覺得平安莊也不過那樣。可要是超的多了，大隊和公社會不會又跟以前的李長順一樣，覺得平安莊應該照顧一下兄弟生産隊？
此時別的生産隊真的出現了斷糧的人家，真正意義上的斷糧。
不是沒有閨女嫁進平安莊的人家，不止一次拖家帶口來平安莊借糧，借不到總能全家吃上一頓飽飯。鬧的好些婦女不得不充當起了惡婆婆，當着兒媳婦娘家人的面，對兒媳婦呼來喝去，指桑罵槐。或是婆婆的娘家人來了，兒媳婦摔盆打碗罵吃閑飯的老不死的，幾次之後來平安莊借糧的人才少些。
畢竟人都是要臉的，大部分人家不太把閨女當回事兒，可也不願意閨女從此以後在婆家（或兒媳婦面前）擡不起頭來。
夏菊花不敢想象，如果平安莊糧食只比常年減産一成多的消息傳開，會有多少人出現在向平安莊社員借糧的隊伍裏。
“五爺，那咋辦？”
“鋤地，鋤頭底下三分雨，剛才我嚼啦，麥粒還不太成呢，還能在地裏多長兩天，那就鋤鋤地，讓麥子再長實成點兒。”五爺很有氣勢的向着麥地揚了下手，如果可能的話，他想把所有麥子都抱在懷裏。
姜還是老的辣呀。夏菊花和陳秋生對視一眼，從對方眼裏看到了對五爺的敬佩之情。
很快，鄰近生産隊的人就發現，平安莊的社員為了讓小麥增産，竟然給已經發黃的麥子又鋤了一遍地。他們不光鋤地，還人人背着個大筐，不時把鋤掉的雜草拾在筐裏，生怕被鋤掉的雜草重新紮根搶麥子的養份。
該，讓平安莊的人仗着公社的拖拉機，天天不是給麥子澆水就是給玉米澆，沒啥澆的還給紅薯也灌點兒，結果莊稼是長的好，可地裏雜草也多呀。眼看着該收麥子，還得再鋤一遍地，原來省的那點兒事都找補回來了吧。
等到時候平安莊打麥子，他們非得看看這麽伺候的小麥一畝能打多少——水澆的再多，只澆在平安莊地裏，還能跟整個承平地區的幹旱抗衡？就不信他們不減産。
要是跟自己生産隊一樣減産的厲害，才叫他們白看了個笑話呢。
鄰近幾個生産隊的人都默默注意着平安莊的麥收，平安莊生産隊的麥地終于重新鋤過一遍，又過兩天，那磨得飛快的鐮刀終于派上了用場。
五十畝小麥對于幾十個壯勞力來說，也就是半天的活兒，加上運到場院裏晾的時間，半下午也就全都攤平到場院裏了。
虧得場院現在還沒被圍起來，要不晾麥子還真得重新壓個場院才行——晾糧食得通風，揚場更得通風，要不一揚揚自己一身，誰也不愛幹這個活。
麥子一開打，李長順就跟五爺倆坐在場院邊上看着，不停的吆喝着讓大家別惜力，打的幹淨點兒。五爺還問：“地裏有人去拾麥穗了沒？”
劉大喜看了李長順一眼才小聲說：“有人去了，七喜他們幾個也在那兒看着呢，不會讓別的生産隊的人撿去。”
李長順眼睛盯着慢慢堆高的麥堆，仿佛沒聽到劉大喜說的話。五爺表示自己聽到了，不光聽到了還告訴劉大喜：“跟你隊長嫂子說，是得讓人多看着點兒。今年糧食金貴，不能跟往年似的誰撿算誰的，那都是平安莊生産隊的。”
很想把親爺捂住的劉大喜，在五爺的瞪視下不得不點頭：“知道了。”
“知道了你還不快去，我在這看着也就算了，我是個老廢物啥也幹不了，只能在這兒看看熱鬧，你也跟我這偷懶幹啥？一天白給你記那老些工分了。”
劉大喜不想理越來越不講理的親爺，跑去找夏菊花傳達五爺的重要指示去了。李長順終于把眼睛從麥堆上移回五爺的臉上：“你今天說話咋雜槍帶棒的，中署啦？”
“你才中署了呢。”五爺沒好氣的指了指麥子堆：“你看看，五十畝地才打了多少麥子，從七零年以後咱們打過這麽少的麥子嗎？今年折騰的不輕吧，又打井，又挑水澆地，化肥上的也不老少，可這麽點兒麥子，能夠交公糧嗎？！”
“唉，費這麽大勁，也這麽大力，種一季麥子自己吃不上一口，我憑啥不能說兩句？”五爺掏出煙袋來，看看身邊的麥稭，又別回腰裏。
本想說平安莊的收成已經，那一堆麥子交公糧富富有餘的李長順，默默閉了嘴，等待着過稱的結果。
畝産三百六十一斤！
正如五爺所說，自七零年以後，北部平原的小麥畝産已經達到了四百四五十斤，平安莊今年的小麥足足減産了兩成多！
聽到結果後五爺轉身就往家走，李長順拍了拍他的肩膀：“得啦，剛才我又不是沒跟你說過，小莊頭前天打麥子，才收了三百零二斤，三隊更少，二百八十多斤。四隊五隊還沒開鐮，估摸着比三隊好不到哪兒去。”
“他們受的罪，跟平安莊人能比嗎？”五爺一臉不願意接受現實的神情：“從春到夏，平安莊的人歇過一天沒？”
是沒歇過，可別的生産隊的社員，也天天長在地裏不是？李長順覺得五爺現在有點兒老不講理，由着他走了。夏菊花直到五爺走開，才心虛的過來跟李長順打招呼，小心的問：“五爺生氣啦？”
李長順有些同情的看着夏菊花，問她：“這幾天他脾氣都這樣啊？”
夏菊花心有餘悸的點頭：“看到我就沒好臉色，覺得我把人使的太狠了，結果才比別人多打了一成糧食，這回更該有話說我了。”
說完夏菊花更犯愁：“大隊長，你看要不我們把麥子給各家分點兒？也好讓大家見見正經糧食。”
"What should we do when the commune asks us to hand over public grain?" Li Changshun was also worried: the old farmers had been planting for half a year, but in the end they couldn't get any share of the wheat. When it came to this, both the team leader and the production team leader were so worried that their hair turned white.