Chapter 90 (1)
When Xia Juhua heard Uncle San ask her, she understood what he was thinking and knew what attitude she should have. She called out, "Uncle San," and then told him the truth:
"Xia Long and the others told you about the starch leakage in our production team last year, right? The most time-consuming part of the starch leakage is drying the clarified starch. Now some people in our production team have started to make it, but we have to wait until the winter when we have time to make large quantities."
"Last year, everyone vacated their houses to bake starch. I felt that it was not a good thing for people to live together all the time, so I wanted to build a few more houses to bake starch. Adobe bricks can be used, but they are not as strong as fired bricks, and they don't last as long. That's why I came back to ask you for help today."
Xia Juhua said to her uncle sincerely, "Don't worry, Uncle San. Whether you are the one who burns or you bring Mantun to burn, you will be given ten work points for one day according to the work points of Ping'an Village." She lowered her voice a little and said, "Those ten work points are exchanged with your production team. In addition, you will be given a subsidy of two yuan a day, which is for you personally."
Uncle San's eyes widened. This Juhua was too bold to say anything. Xia Juhua understood Uncle San's expression and smiled at him nonchalantly: "Whether the craftsmanship is popular or not, our production team has been making things for such a long time, how can I not know?"
Uncle San was speechless, still staring at Xia Juhua in disbelief. Mantun only listened halfway, and came over to ask affectionately: "Uncle San, can I learn to make bricks from you?"
Uncle San sighed and said, "Your aunt is just daydreaming. To make bricks, you need more than just adobes. You also need coal. Besides, if she only asked people to remove the adobes, then the house would only need bricks. What kind of house would it be if the brick walls were not covered with tiles and the roof was covered with straw?"
"Uncle San, can you also make tiles?" This time it was Xia Juhua's turn to be wide-eyed. After asking, she realized that she had asked a stupid question, because if someone could make bricks, he could make tiles!
"I'll let them make the tiles when I get back." Xia Juhua wanted to stand up and go back to Ping'an Village right now: "It's still easy to dig mud in the river now. Once the bricks are baked, it's time to make the tiles."
With such a quick-witted personality, it's no wonder that she can accomplish things that seem extremely difficult to others. Uncle San sighed in his heart and splashed cool water on Xia Juhua: "Do you think that making tiles is the same as making bricks, and that you only need a square frame?" That requires a special tool!
Xia Juhua didn't feel despised at all. She asked with a smile: "Uncle San, just tell me where the mold is. As long as you tell me the place, I can find it." Only after she said that she realized that there was sympathy in her uncle's eyes when he looked at her.
After listening to Uncle San's explanation of where the tile molds were, Xia Juhua finally understood where the sympathy in his eyes came from: the reason why the Xiawo Brigade only burns bricks and not tiles now is because the tile molds were stolen by the Red Team when the movement started, and it is unknown whether they still exist now.
"Then can we find someone to make two new ones?" Xia Juhua asked her uncle spinelessly, based on the principle of not having to deal with the Red Team if possible.
Uncle San just kept shaking his head: "It's not easy. The people I know who can make molds are almost gone, and the rest can't even hold a saw. I don't know if the skills have been passed down."
Xia Juhua was disappointed, but she had finally achieved her first goal of burning bricks, so her disappointment was only for a short while and not that intense. Uncle San had been observing her the whole time, and when he saw that she had quickly recovered, he nodded in his heart.
Since she had agreed to make bricks for Ping'an Village, Third Uncle gave Xia Juhua serious instructions and told her to find the captain of the Xiawo Brigade as soon as possible - opening a kiln was not something that Third Uncle could decide alone, as brick kilns were now collective property and had to be approved by the brigade.
Xia Juhua hurriedly ate two steamed buns and rode her bicycle to the Xiawo Brigade Headquarters. Unexpectedly, in the brigade had gone home to eat, and there was no one to be seen.
After waiting for nearly an hour, someone finally entered and left the Xia Kuo Brigade Headquarters. The brigade accountant recognized Xia Juhua at a glance and asked, "Captain Xia, what brings you here?"
"Hello, Accountant. I'm here to discuss something with Captain Xia. I just want to ask if the kiln in the brigade is available and if you can burn some bricks for our production team." Xia Juhua greeted him politely and asked, "Will the captain come to the brigade headquarters this afternoon?"
"Come, why not come?" The accountant opened the door and let Xia Juhua in, and poured her a glass of water. The treatment she received was much better than when she went to Ping'an Village. However, the questions he asked were similar to those of Uncle San, that is, whether Ping'an Village Brigade, specifically Ping'an Village Production Team, would pay public rations, and what standards they would use to pay public rations.
Because the brigade had not yet reached a consensus, Xia Juhua's answer was ambiguous: "We have to wait for the notice from the commune. We will pay whatever the higher-ups decide."
Well, asking yourself is the same as not asking at all. The accountant of Xiawo Brigade is patient and good-tempered like all accountants. He didn't ignore Xia Juhua just because she didn't give an accurate answer. He even asked her what she did with burning bricks.
Xia Juhua could answer this, so she did. Xia Kuo Brigade accountant was envious: "We all know about your production team leaking powder last year. I even asked Xia Long to leak some for me. It's just that we found out too late, so not much was leaked."
"If nothing happens now, we can dry the sweet potato starch out first, so that it will be easier to leak in the future." Xia Juhua talked about her own experience: "It takes too much time to dry the starch in winter, otherwise we don't have to build a house to dry the starch."
"Then why don't your production teams dry the starch now?" The accountant asked casually. Xia Juhua couldn't tell him because she was afraid that Uncle Qi would not let Ping An Zhuang off this year and let Ping An Zhuang turn all the sweet potatoes in the county into powder. Then it would be useless for Ping An Zhuang to rot all the sweet potatoes now.
It's time to be busy in winter.
"Isn't it because we are worried that we will have to repair the canal right after the fall? Who will have time to do this after the canal is built?"
The accountant nodded and said, "That's right. By the way, Captain Xia, I heard that other production teams in your brigade have learned how to leak powder from you. If others want to learn it this year, will you still teach them?"
Xia Juhua was a little embarrassed: "Accountant, I'll tell you the truth, if you learned it last year, I could still teach you. But you know this year's harvest, vermicelli is not as good as sweet potatoes. The members of our production team all leak a little less at home, who knows when they will leak." They can't turn all their sweet into potatoes powder just to teach you.
Although the people from Ping An Zhuang were planning to do so this year, Xia Juhua didn't want everyone to think that learning how to leak powder was something they could learn as long as they went to Ping An Zhuang - if someone had relatives willing to teach, that was their relationship, and she, as the production team leader, would not make the decision.
Seeing that the accountant finally showed a disappointed expression on his face, Xia Juhua whispered: "Accountant, if you want to leak it, just go find Xia Long and the others. They all learned it last year." It would be possible to give Xia Long and the others some help in being the team accountant.
"I'm just worried that Xia Long and the others are too tired." The accountant looked considerate.
Xia Juhua continued in a low voice: "Then let someone help them. Leaking powder is a laborious job. It's not difficult. You can learn it after watching it for a few times."
The accountant smiled after hearing the explanation: "Okay, I will continue to trouble Xia Long and the others."
"Who did you tell so happily?" Captain Xia Hongmin asked the accountant as he entered the room. When he saw Xia Juhua, he also greeted her happily: "When did you come? Why didn't you tell me you would come to my house to find me? You haven't eaten yet, right? Come to my house and I'll ask your sister-in-law to make you noodles."
After hearing Xia Juhua say that she had already eaten at Xia Long's house, Xia Hongmin complained regretfully that Xia Juhua was too distant with him. Since she had something to ask him, why didn't she come to his house for a meal?
"It's not that I'm being formal with the team leader. You said that I went back to Xiajiazhuang, but didn't eat at my brothers' homes in my mother's family, but went to the team leader's house to eat. People must have wondered if my brothers' wives have a problem with me, their sister-in-law, and they are reluctant to give me a meal." Xia Juhua made a joke before talking to Xia Hongmin about business.
Hearing that Ping An Manor wanted to burn some bricks, Xia Hongmin agreed without thinking: "The kiln is idle anyway, as long as Third Uncle agrees to watch the fire for you, you can go ahead and burn it."
Xia Juhua hurriedly thanked Xia Hongmin and made it clear that she wanted to exchange work with the Xiajiazhuang production team. Xia Hongmin repeatedly refused: "That's not possible. You helped Xiajiazhuang so much in the spring. Their production team produces much more food than other production teams. How can you give work points to your uncle?"
He smiled and said, "But if you really feel bad, I have something to ask of you."
Xia Juhua was alarmed, fearing that Xia Hongmin, like the accountant, wanted in the Xiawu Brigade to go to Ping'an Village to learn how to make flour. But Xia Hongmin said, "I heard that you planted sweet potatoes this spring using a new method learned from the technicians at the Agricultural Technology Station. It can save you money. Can you teach us next spring?"
That's no problem.
Xia Hongmin's expression of gratitude became even stronger: "I'm telling you, otherwise we wouldn't be able to hire technicians from the Agricultural Technology Station."
Xia Juhua disagrees: "I think the comrades at the Agricultural Technology Station are all very patient. It's just that we have never dealt with them before, so we think they are difficult to approach."
Xia Hongmin did not refute Xia Juhua's words. In his heart, he still decided that he would establish a good relationship with the forest technician through Xia Juhua in the early spring of next year.
Having agreed with the Xiawu Brigade about opening a kiln, Xia Juhua had to arrange for the purchase of coal. Not giving up, she even went to the Red Team of the commune to ask if they still had the molds for making tiles. Uncle San was right. If they could build a tile house in one go, who would want to have a brick wall with a straw hat on top?
Chen Qiu Sheng started to lead people to transport adobe bricks to Xiajiazhuang, and Xia Juhua rode her bicycle to the commune by herself. The first place she stopped at was naturally the supply and marketing cooperative. This time, she brought Wang Caixia some sweet potato cakes that she had made herself.
After taking a bite, Wang Caixia gave Xia Juhua a thumbs up and said, "Your cooking skills are amazing. I've been eating sweet potatoes for many years, but I never thought of cooking them like this."
Xia Juhua smiled softly and said, "It's made of both white flour and oil. I only made it for you." Wang Caixia was so angry that she bumped into her and said, "It must be my nephew who wants to eat it. You can also make two for me."
Even if what she said was the truth, Xia Juhua didn't want to admit it. She urged Wang Caixia to finish the meal while it was still hot before asking her if there was any way to get some coal. Wang Caixia was also at a loss, but she gave Xia Juhua a suggestion, which was to go to Director Zhang of the Commune Revolutionary Committee: "The grain station and the noodle factory have coal quotas every year. They haven't been working much this year. Once the director asks, whoever gives you coal will be enough for you."
The coal used to burn bricks in the kiln is not enough if everyone contributes a little, but Xia Juhua thinks she can give it a try: it’s not too much or too little, so just buy as much as you can.
There was no guard at the gate of the commune, so Xia Juhua couldn't just push the door open. After a lot of effort, someone came out of the office, and Xia Juhua hurriedly asked if Director Zhang was there.
Hearing that she was looking for the director of the Revolutionary Committee, the man looked at Xia Juhua with great caution. Noticing that she looked calm and natural, and didn't look like someone who was going to complain to a leader, he asked, "What do you want to talk to Director Zhang about?"
Xia Juhua nodded and explained her purpose. The man immediately became polite: "So you are Captain Xia of the Ping'an Village Production Team. I'm sorry, but the main reason is that the harvests of the various production teams are not good. Many farmers have called Director Zhang one after another to ask for relief food. It has made it impossible for him to do his normal work. That's why we..."
Xia Juhua nodded in understanding and said, "It's not easy for either of them." It's not easy to be a leader, and it's not easy for the hungry farmers either.
The man nodded and said, "Who said it wasn't true? Director Zhang hasn't slept much these days. He's worried about finding food every day." He then took Xia Juhua to the door of Director Zhang's office and knocked on the door for her.
After getting the reply that she was allowed to enter, Xia Juhua nodded to the person who showed her the way, and then she pushed the door open and went in. Director Zhang was different from the first time she met him. The current Director Zhang had messy hair, a large stubble on his chin, and a red bloodshot in his eyes, looking a bit wolfish.
"Captain Xia, why are you here? Come on, come on, sit down." Director Zhang hoarsely asked Xia Juhua to sit down, then asked, "What's the matter?"
Xia Juhua looked at Director Zhang with some sympathy. She felt that she would be adding more trouble to him if she went to him now, and she was a little embarrassed to speak up. Director Zhang saw that she was looking at the ground without saying anything, so he smiled:
"Just tell me what you want to say. It doesn't matter if you tell me one or two things. You are definitely not here to ask me for food. Otherwise, I would have kicked you out when I saw you just now."
Although it was a joke, Director Zhang still showed a bitter smile. Xia Juhua had no choice but to speak out that she wanted to burn some bricks and build a house specifically for baking starch, but had no place to buy coal.
"Use coal." Director Zhang touched the stubble on his chin and said after a while, "Have you figured out how many tons you used?"
"At least four tons." Xia Juhua didn't set any ambush this time and stated her needs directly.
"Four tons." Director Zhang continued to stroke his beard, then stood up, picked up the phone on the table and dialed. After the call was connected, he exchanged a few words with the person on the other end before getting down to business:
"You don't need them now, so give some to Ping An Village first. Yes, it's Captain Xia who helped you fry peanuts last year. They don't need much. Okay, I'll pay you according to the price. Okay, I'll ask Captain Xia to fry more peanuts for you this year."
After hanging up the phone, Director Zhang spat, "Taking advantage of someone's misfortune." Then he turned to Xia Juhua and said, "You know where the noodle factory is. I've just talked to the factory manager. You can go there anytime to get some coal."
Xia Juhua was about to say something to thank him, but Director Zhang waved his hand before she could open her mouth and said, "Don't be too happy. That thing is not worth a damn. We have to sell it to you at the transfer price. It's obvious that their noodle factory has no work this year, and the coal is just sitting there for nothing, yet they still want to transfer the price. And they still have the nerve to ask you to fry peanuts for them."
As long as she could buy coal, compared to paying a little more money and having her members suffer less, Xia Juhua chose the latter without hesitation - making money is all about living a good life.
Seeing Xia Juhua agreed so readily, Director Zhang suddenly asked, "Your production team must have made a lot of money making those things this year, right?"
This sentence made Xia Juhua look alert: "How much money can we make as a small gang? We can only give a little bonus to the members for the New Year. We can't pay the public grain this year. Apart from the few pigs in the pen, there is no other way to make money."
Director Zhang was amused: "I'm just asking, I don't care about your production team asking for money, why scare you like that?"
Xia Juhua said she couldn't help but be frightened: "We rural people don't have a salary like you do every month, and we don't have commercial food to eat. We all rely on this little money to live."
Yes, who doesn't rely on money to live? Xia Juhua decided that after returning to the production team, she would let Chen Qiusheng settle the accounts, and when she bought coal and went back, she would give everyone dividends, so that everyone would feel that good days were not far away!
Thinking of good days, Xia Juhua tentatively mentioned to Director Zhang that she wanted to ask the Red Team for tile molds, which made Director Zhang laugh at her: "You have so many things to do, one after another, why haven't you finished them yet?" After saying that, he asked Captain Xia of the Red Team to come to his office quickly.
It was a rare opportunity that Captain Xia did not bring people to catch bad guys. He actually came over quickly. When he saw Xia Juhua was also in the director's office, he couldn't hold back his smile when he entered the room. He still greeted the director first: "Director Zhang, are you looking for me?"
Director Zhang nodded and asked, "Captain Xia's production team is going to make tiles. I heard that you have collected several sets of molds. Where are they? Find them for her."
As expected, nothing good would happen if he met this rural woman. Captain Xia gave Xia Juhua a veiled look and said, "That thing was stolen in the early days of the movement. I don't know where it's been stored. I'll have someone look for it one day and send it to Captain Xia."
Such excuses were not effective in front of Director Zhang: "Your two warehouses will be searched in a few days. If you don't have time, ask Captain Xia to send someone from their production team to look for them."
Being forced into no choice, Captain Xia had to take Xia Juhua to open the door that had been locked for who knows how long. He sneered and said, "Captain Xia, Director Zhang told you to look for it yourself, so you'll have to work hard." After that, he turned around and left without caring how Xia Juhua looked.
In order to prevent Xia Juhua from asking him questions, that guy actually took all the Red Teams to the streets to catch bad elements.
Xia Juhua was both angry and amused by this childish tantrum. But when she thought that since the members of the Red Team were not around to urge her, she would have more time to look for it and might find it, she immediately calmed down.
When she was a child, Xia Juhua had seen her uncle making tiles, so she had some impression of the mold. She groped her way to the place where the wooden tools were piled and slowly turned them over. Soon, Xia Juhua overturned her childish idea of the Red Team. Looking at the broken farm tools one by one, she just wanted to curse.
Many good household items were smashed to pieces, with their heads and tails missing and their teeth broken. Even if those items were originally used by the landlords, they eventually became collective property, right? How could they be wasted like this?
Feeling distressed, Xia Juhua picked up all the things that looked like they could be used for repairs and continued to look for the mold for making tiles. When she finally found it, she breathed a sigh of relief: Fortunately, I found it, fortunately it is not damaged, fortunately I found it halfway through the search, otherwise Xia Juhua would be heartbroken just looking at the farm tools she had picked out.
You prodigal son, do you know how much labor and materials it takes to make these things? The key is the same as the mold for making tiles. Maybe no one knows how to make many of these things anymore!
No, she has to take all these things back.
How could she take away something that was obviously not a tile mold right under the noses of the Red Team? It really put Xia Juhua in a difficult position - although the Red Team might not know what a tile mold was, the one Xia Juhua turned out was obviously not from the same thing, how could they not see that?
After thinking about it, Xia Juhua really remembered a person, that is, the driver of the car who went to Ping'an Village with Wang Caixia to transport the reed banquet. He is Captain Xia's uncle. If he was asked to transport things for him, Captain Xia would not and would not dare to object.
Fearing that the members of the Red Team might suddenly come back, Xia Juhua ran to the supply and marketing cooperative without even locking the door. When boss Xia drove the carriage with her back to the Red Team, Captain Xia was standing in front of the door with a gloomy face.
"Captain Xia, you just look for something, but you leave without saying goodbye or locking the door. What if you lose something?!"
"With your broken copper and rotten iron, who would dare to steal? Besides, haven't you arrested all the bad elements? Who would dare to come to the Red Team to steal things?" Boss Xia Che was not used to his nephew, so he said what Xia Juhua didn't dare to say.
Captain Xia couldn't do anything to his uncle, and this year was a bad year, so he didn't dare to argue with his uncle: "Uncle, I'm not afraid..."
"It's already this time and you're still afraid of this and that. If you're really scared, just go home and farm. You're over 20 years old, and you're leading a bunch of hooligans around to offend people every day. I can't afford to lose face for you!" After saying this, Boss Xiache pushed his nephew aside and opened the door again without caring about his nephew's expression.
Not only did he go in by himself, he also called out to Xia Juhua, "Captain Xia, tell me what these things are, and I'll help you move them to the car."
Xia Juhua was enjoying what he was saying, and was stunned for a moment when he called her. She nodded slightly at Captain Xia, walked in, and pointed at the things piled at the door and said, "Can these fit?"
"Is that all?" The coachman said somewhat dissatisfiedly, "Why do I feel that all these can be used?" After saying that, he marked the things that Xia Juhua had not had time to pick out, and squeezed his eyes at Xia Juhua.
Although the uncle had his back to him, what he said still made Captain Xia furious: "Uncle, there are only one or two molds for making tiles, how come they are so old?"
"You say it's not, but what's wrong? Come, come, point it out to me. I tell you, if Captain Xia finds that thing can't be used after he goes back, don't say I didn't remind you when he comes to you again." Boss Che was very good at confronting his nephew.
Xia Juhua didn't care about the quarrel between the uncle and nephew. She moved the mold onto the carriage first, and then came back to move other things. The coachman was also not idle. He picked up something that looked like it was being polished, walked out of the house and put it into the carriage.
Captain Xia saw that neither of the two took his words seriously, and wanted to shout that his uncle was moving with them. If he didn't shout, he would lose face, so he could only turn his back and go back to the Red Team's office to get out of the way.
After he entered the house, the boss of the car whispered to Xia Juhua: "You are too honest. They have stolen a lot of things. How much are these stupid things worth to you?"
Xia Juhua also whispered: "I'll be satisfied if I can take all these back. I don't even know what to do with some of these things. I have to go back and show them to the old man."
The car owner stopped moving things out and started rummaging through the books, muttering as he turned them over: "Why are there still a bunch of old books? Didn't they all get burned?"
Hearing that there were books, Xia Juhua became excited. Although she could not read, she had heard many rumors about the value of ancient books in her life. She went up to the coachman and took a look. What he opened was a broken wooden box, which was full of books neatly arranged inside.
"The children in our production team are in need of books. Can I move these too?" Xia Juhua looked at the yellowed bookcase and felt that her eyes must have turned green.
The coachman said nonchalantly: "What's wrong with that? If we leave them here they will be used for lighting in the winter. Why not let the children in your production team learn to read?" After that, he slammed the lid of the box and lifted it up with all his strength. Xia Juhua hurriedly gave him a hand and helped him put it on her shoulders and put them on the carriage together.
It was not until Xia Juhua arrived at the office door and greeted Captain Xia, saying that she had picked out all the things and asked him to check them, that all she got was "Let's go." She didn't even get a look at Captain Xia.
It was better not to meet, so Xia Juhua thanked the people in the house sincerely and got on the carriage. The coachman shouted "Go", and the horse snorted and kicked and soon walked on the dirt road to Ping'an Village.
"Brother Xia, thank you for your help today, otherwise I really don't know if I can get these things back." Xia Juhua sincerely thanked the car owner.
The driver thought she was being polite: "We've dealt with each other so many times, we know each other. If you really want to thank me, when our production team distributes the sweet potatoes, just fry them into noodles for me. And fry some more of the peanuts you fried last year. I took them to visit relatives during the Chinese New Year last year, and everyone said they were delicious."
This was no problem for Xia Juhua. She agreed immediately and told the coachman not to get peanuts for her because she could deliver them herself.
The car owner, who also came from a peasant family, of course was unwilling to take advantage of Xia Juhua and insisted that he would deliver the peanuts to Xia Juhua in two days. As a result, the two of them kept pushing and pulling all the way, and it was still unclear whether the peanuts would be delivered or not.
Regardless of whether or not there were peanuts, Xia Juhua would not let the driver just unload the things and leave: she took out a piece of pickled meat from the jar and fried it into a dish, and then fried an egg into another dish, and added some peanuts and mixed some cold vegetables to make a total of four dishes. She invited Wu Ye and Chen Qiusheng to accompany her, and they talked a lot about how Xia Juhua had brought back so many things today.
Only after he sent the coachman to the entrance of the village and watched the man drive the carriage away did Fifth Master ask, "Is this man reliable? We talked a lot about him at the dinner table. Captain Xia is his nephew after all. What if I learn this from him when I go back?"
Xia Juhua felt that there was no need to worry: "He is a man who knows right from wrong." If he didn't, she wouldn't be now trying to persuade her seemingly powerful nephew to give up his position as the leader of a popular team and go home to farm.
The advantage of having good credit is that no matter what you say, others will choose to believe it. Xia Juhua's face showed her sincere recognition of Xia Che's boss, which made Wu Ye agree with her.
"That's right. If you can't tell right from wrong, we won't be able to get your things back for you as soon as you look for them." said Master Wu.
But Xia Juhua felt that Fifth Master's standards were a bit strange - the things that Xia Che boss brought back for Xia Juhua were not just molds for making tiles. He did not distinguish between right and wrong and just took as many as he could.
But as long as Fifth Master could be assured, Xia Juhua still had a lot of things to arrange, the most important of which was to bring back coal from the noodle factory. Chen Qiusheng couldn't take anyone with him for this matter, because the noodle factory had said that they wanted Xia Juhua to fry peanuts, so she had to make it clear to them in person to reassure them.
Fortunately, the transfer price requested by the noodle factory director was not outrageous, and he made his point clear: "Captain Xia, it's not that I have to ask for the extra two yuan, it's mainly because there is always some loss when the coal is transported, and our factory cannot account for this loss."
Xia Juhua nodded to show her understanding: "Director, I know all about it. It's the same as when our production team collects grain and puts it in the granary, the amount is different from when it was first collected."
Director of the noodle factory: I think you are implicating me, but I have no evidence.
In the end, the two reached a verbal agreement, that is, Xia Juhua had to fry 2,000 kilograms of peanuts for the noodle factory within ten days. As for why the peanuts had to be fried so old and in such a hurry, the factory manager did not hide it from Xia Juhua:
"Your sugar-coated peanuts are famous. All the factories that do business with us want to try them. I have no choice. If I don't send them, they will hold back on paying us."
Xia Juhua was moved: "If we don't pay for the goods, how can we buy wheat and grind flour for the noodle factory? How can we start work without flour? That won't work. Then the workers will have nothing to eat."
The factory manager's eyes changed when he looked at Xia Juhua. He was no longer condescending, but looked at her with some scrutiny. Xia Juhua felt that she was just speaking from her heart and was not afraid of being judged by others at all.
"By the way, Captain Xia, your production team seemed to have bought a lot of wheat bran last year. Do you still need it this year?" the factory manager suddenly asked.
Xia Juhua nodded frantically: "Of course we need it. Director, let me tell you, last year the wheat bran saved the lives of our production team members. We all survived this year by eating wheat bran."
The factory director nodded and said, "Okay, I'll ask Section Chief Chen, if there's any left, I can give you some." Then he looked at the oxcart that was already loaded with coal and asked Xia Juhua, "You can't carry much with this car."
She only bought four tons of coal, and with the baffles raised, it could fit in an oxcart. Xia Juhua didn't think it was too little: "It's OK. The coal is heavy and doesn't take up much space. It looks like it's too little."
The factory manager said, "Wheat bran is light and takes up a lot of space. Next time Captain Xia comes to haul it, you should bring a few more trucks to avoid people seeing you come to the noodle factory and causing misunderstandings."
"The factory director is really thoughtful. I feel bad for always causing trouble for him. If the factory director is in trouble, we can come back to get the bran a few days later." Xia Juhua looked concerned for the factory director and gave him some advice: "Or we can come in the evening."
The factory director lost several confrontations. He was the one who brought up the wheat bran issue again. Xia Juhua still had to fry the peanuts. His expression was a little strange: "That's not necessary. We are supporting our farmer brothers openly. There's no need to act like thieves."
After that, he smiled and said goodbye to Xia Juhua. Xia Juhua once again sincerely thanked the factory director for his wholehearted service to the farmers, and then followed the ox cart back step by step.
Liu Zhishuang, who came with the truck to load the truck, couldn't help but ask, "Mom, why do I feel like the factory manager is talking in a weird way?"
It was strange, Xia Juhua glanced at her son. Was his cleverness not working? Then she explained to him: "Think about it, coal is not food. It will lose its weight if it is exposed to the wind and the sun. He insisted that there was loss and charged us two yuan more per ton, and he wanted us to thank him."
"If they didn't charge us the extra two yuan, we should of course thank them for sharing the coal. But if they charged more, it would be a transaction. Why should they ask us for a favor? They asked me to fry peanuts in order to have a good relationship with the buyer of noodles and settle the payment. It is beneficial to both him and me. But in the end they still have to make me thank them. Why? Without the peanuts I fried, their noodle factory couldn't collect the payment, so how could they pay the workers?" Xia Juhua snorted.
No, did my mother and the factory manager just say these words? Liu Zhishuang felt that he might not have heard everything, and looked at his mother who was walking in front of him with doubts, hoping from the bottom of his heart that he just missed it. Otherwise, why did the factory manager of the noodle factory suddenly take the initiative to ask Ping An Village if it still wanted wheat bran without my mother telling him?
When they were almost at Ping'an Village, Xia Juhua woke up Liu Zhishuang who had been in a daze all the way and said, "Go to the brigade headquarters and tell Captain Li that the noodle factory still wants to sell us some wheat bran. Ask him to ask those production teams if they want to buy some as well."
Liu Zhishuang, who hadn't figured it out all the way, agreed and walked away. Then he remembered that the factory manager seemed to have only asked whether Ping'anzhuang production needed bran, but did not ask whether the entire Ping'anzhuang team needed it.
Li Changshun and Xia Juhua thought the same thing. The factory director was talking about Ping'anzhuang, and the Ping'anzhuang Brigade was also called Ping'anzhuang. There would be no problem if a few more cars went there. At worst, they would just not buy more in the future - could God continue to cause droughts?
"I understand. Go back and tell your mother that she has done a great job this time. I will have the four production teams repair five canals for your production team." Li Changshun patted Liu Zhishuang on the shoulder and said, "Boy, learn something from your mother. Learn a lot from her in the future."
Xia Juhua accomplished so many things that he, the team leader, could not do. Li Changshun even wished he could send those production team leaders to learn from Xia Juhua every day.
Unfortunately, Xia Juhua was unwilling to come to the brigade now, and she would ask Chen Qiusheng to come whenever there was a meeting. But she was indeed busy. If she came to the brigade for meetings all the time, where would she get the coal from, and where would she get the bran for the production teams?
Li Changshun, who had figured it out, had wrinkles on his eyes. He asked Liu Liqun, "If I tell the commune now that Xia Juhua should be the team leader, will they agree?"
Liu Liqun shook his head and said, "You'd better not tell me. I'm afraid that if the commune agrees, Xia Juhua will even quit her position as the production team leader of Ping'an Village." That means he is not someone who wants to be an official.
After being reminded by Liu Liqun, Li Changshun felt that this possibility was very high: "Why does she have such a temper? If she were the team leader, Ping'anzhuang Team would have to stand ahead of the commune in everything."
Liu Liqun usually doesn't talk much, but today he answered Li Changshun's question: "I think Xia Juhua is a person who treats people well. She has always lived in Ping'an Village and is willing to lead the people of Ping'an Village forward. But she doesn't know the people in other production teams very well, so why should she lead you?"
People's feelings are developed through getting along with each other. You can't just open your heart to someone for no reason. Moreover, at the beginning, the four production team leaders looked down on Xia Juhua, a woman, as a production team leader. Couldn't Xia Juhua feel it?
Isn't it that something happened now, Xia Juhua was willing to lead three teams, but the other production teams had to be led because Li Changshun pressured them?
Li Changshun sighed and said, "What can I do? Which production team would not push the problem to the main team if it has problems?"
When there was something wrong with Pingan Village, Xia Juhua found a way to solve it herself. Liu Liqun thought so in his heart, but didn't say it out loud for Li Changshun's sake. How could Li Changshun not think of it himself?
"You said that I've never seen her go out before, when did she become so capable?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
