Chapter 96
Xia Juhua quickly found a good excuse for herself, shaking her head and saying, "Deputy Director Qi, I'm not a member of the Party, so I can't be the team leader."
"The team leader is not the team secretary, and he is not required to be a party member. Li Changshun used to be the team leader of Ping'anzhuang team. If you are worried about this, you can consider asking Hongxing Commune to assign you a secretary to work with." It can be seen that Deputy Director Qi is determined to let Xia Juhua be the team leader.
Seeing that Xia Juhua still didn't nod, Deputy Director Qi used his trump card: "There is no precedent for the production team to purchase tractors. Our production data is distributed to the brigade at most, and then the brigade distributes it to the subordinate production team according to production needs."
"So if you want to buy a tractor, you must report it to the county revolutionary committee in the name of Ping'anzhuang Brigade. I just met with the county director, and we can consider allocating two tractors to your Ping'anzhuang Brigade, and the Red Star Commune Agricultural Machinery Station will guarantee your oil."
Not one tractor, but two, and the oil is guaranteed!
Xia Juhua was moved. In the past year, the members of Ping'an Village had used the energy they saved from plowing and watering the land to build a powder room, a yard, and Liu Lizhu's classroom. She had witnessed many things that she had never dared to think of before. If there were two tractors...
"Then Deputy Director Qi, do we have to buy the diesel ourselves?"
Deputy Director Qi, who always assigned tasks to others and made sure they completed them, looked at Xia Juhua speechlessly and said, "Do you know how expensive the oil consumption of a tractor is for the commune's agricultural machinery station? They have to save money from their own mouths to give to Ping'an Village. Do you still want to take it for free?"
It didn't seem to make sense, Xia Juhua said awkwardly: "Can I go back and think about it?"
Deputy Director Qi shook his head and said, "I had to persuade the county director with great difficulty. If other communes or brigades knew about it, you Ping'an Village wouldn't even get one tractor, let alone two."
Xia Juhua, dazzled by the two tractors, had not noticed that Deputy Director Qi had mentioned Ping An Village, and had not added the suffix of production team or brigade. She asked with a bit of guilt, "Then the diesel supplied to us by the Agricultural Machinery Station is affordable, right?"
Xia Juhua was charged a price adjustment at the noodle factory last time, and she was not indifferent about it. There will be many places using diesel in the future, so she has to ask in advance.
Deputy Director Qi nodded with amusement: "Of course it's at parity."
Xia Juhua smiled and nodded, and Deputy Director Qi took it as her agreement: "Since you agree, go back and submit the report to the commune as soon as possible. I remind you that if time is delayed and the tractor project fails, don't come to the county revolutionary committee again."
Seeing Xia Juhua still nodding, Deputy Director Qi smiled secretly and told her: "Go back to Red Star Commune directly. Li Changshun is waiting for you there. Discuss with Director Zhang and submit the report as soon as possible. The reason you just mentioned, that is, to preserve agricultural modernization, will do."
Like Director Zhang, Deputy Director Qi still hasn't figured out how Xia Juhua linked the purchase of tractors with agricultural modernization. However, with this big hat put on her head, any opposing voices were suppressed.
If Xia Juhua knew that Director Zhang and Deputy Director Qi were both quibbling over why she brought up agricultural modernization, she might have generously told them that she had watched television for the first time in her life in the late 1980s, when the propaganda for agricultural modernization was very strong, so she was now applying what she had learned.
However, Director Zhang and Deputy Director Qi did not ask, so Xia Juhua did not have a chance to answer. Now it was her turn to be confused: "Captain, I agreed to submit the report in the name of the brigade, so how come we have to do the handover at the commune office?"
Li Changshun smiled with wrinkles on his face: "Why can't we meet at the commune? If there is no handover, how can I just bring the brigade seal to the commune?" No one would accept a report without the official seal.
Accountant Chang was holding the brigade's account book and was about to hand it to Xia Juhua: "Captain Xia, this is the brigade's account book. If you don't understand anything, I'll explain it to you."
Xia Juhua had to ask Li Changshun: "Captain, you know I want to buy a tractor, right? Just now, Deputy Director Qi of the County Revolutionary Committee said that he could give two tractors to the Ping'anzhuang Brigade."
"I'm not afraid that you think I'm selfish. Our Ping'an Village production team has to keep one machine, and the other four production teams can use the remaining machine as they please. But Deputy Director Qi said that we have to report to the commune in the name of our team. Let's ask Accountant Chang to write the report first?"
"Don't worry, take a look at the account book first. If you don't understand something, ask Accountant Chang." Li Changshun said that he was not someone who could be easily fooled. He knew that the main point of today was to let Xia Juhua take over the Ping'anzhuang Brigade.
They were in a conference room of the Red Star Commune. Director Zhang had to work, so they couldn't really hand over the work in his office. Given Li Changshun's relationship with Director Zhang, it was not a problem to borrow a conference room. There were only three people from their Ping'an Village Brigade. Xia Juhua was not afraid of being overheard, so she said to Li Changshun:
"Captain, think about it. If our team had two tractors, wouldn't it be easier for the production teams to repair canals or water the land? I pretended to agree just for the sake of these two tractors. Don't worry, I will never be the captain. When the tractors are driven back to the Ping'anzhuang team, I will explain it to Director Zhang and the others."
Anyway, the tractor driven back to Ping'anzhuang belongs to Ping'anzhuang. Can the leaders of the commune and the county revolutionary committee still steal the farmers' things?
Seeing Xia Juhua being so smart in every aspect over the past year, Li Changshun put away a little smile on his face: "Dear Dazhuang, I have been holding on for the past few years. If it weren't for their incompetence, I would have to drag my crippled legs to hold on for so many years. You are finally more capable than them, why can't you take over this position as the captain?"
"You said you promised the county revolutionary committee and the commune. If you change your mind at will, what will you do if they change their mind too? For example, the county is embarrassed to ask for the tractor back, but the agricultural machinery station refuses to sell diesel to us. How can you run your tractor?"
Xia Juhua was speechless. She wanted to buy a tractor, of course not for its appearance but to have it do work. If it couldn't be started, wouldn't it be a waste of money?
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Li Changshun struck while the iron was hot: "I know you are worried that there are people like Sun in each production team, and maybe they don't believe you and won't listen to you. But don't you think that it's enough for Li Daniu and the others to listen to you? With them managing the members for you, as long as you let the members see that your life is getting better and better after you become the team leader, can they still sing against you?"
Xia Juhua remained silent. She was afraid that she didn't have the ability to make everyone's life better. Compared with worrying about the future, the tractor in front of her made her more excited and it was difficult to choose.
"Take a look first. There is only a few dollars in our team's account. Maybe even less than your Ping'an Village production team." Li Changshun took the account book from Accountant Chang and handed it to Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua took the account book in a daze, and subconsciously turned to the last page. She was really surprised to see the number on it: "Only 1,700 yuan?" This should include the reserve funds submitted by each production team.
Li Changshun nodded solemnly: "So think about it, if we rely on the brigade's financial resources, when can we afford to buy two tractors? Now the county is allocating two tractors to us for free."
If it weren't for these two tractors, would Xia Juhua have to be in such a dilemma? She looked at Li Changshun and said, "Captain, you can't just ignore everything."
Li Changshun smiled: "How could I not care about anything? I would get angry if you really didn't let me take care of it. Doesn't Fifth Master care about the Ping'anzhuang production team's affairs?" The old man has been living more and more energetic in the past year.
Xia Juhua finally had some idea in her mind: "Then let's write a report to the commune first? How do we write this report..."
Accountant Chang took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Xia Juhua. When she took it, she saw the word "Report" on it, which was very direct and clear.
The report was handed over to Director Zhang, who encouraged Xia Juhua with a smile: "Comrade Xia Juhua, the burden on your shoulders will be even heavier in the future. I hope you will continue to work hard and lead the entire Ping'anzhuang Brigade to make the brigade's agricultural production the best in the entire Red Star Commune."
Xia Juhua's smile was uglier than crying: "Please ask the Commune Revolutionary Committee to give us more guidance on the work of the Ping'an Village Brigade."
Director Zhang smiled warmly and said, "Okay, when the tractor arrives in two days, I will personally take it to Ping'an Village and hold a meeting for you to announce that you have become the captain."
If Xia Juhua were to say, she would rather as few people as possible knew about her being the captain, and it would be best if no one knew about it, and she would just focus on the affairs of Ping'an Village.
But the commune and Li Changshun obviously didn't think so. That night, the brigade gathered several production team leaders and informed them that Xia Juhua would immediately take over as the team leader of Ping'anzhuang Brigade.
The person who came to the meeting from the Pingan Village production team was Chen Qiusheng. Although he had already known the news, he did not expect it to come so soon. After Li Changshun announced the "good news", he immediately stood up and asked: "Captain, what about our production team? Who will be the captain of our production team?"
Li Changshun said as a matter of course: "You have to ask Captain Xia. I am no longer the captain. From now on, you should report anything to Captain Xia."
Old comrade, are you forgetting what you said too quickly?
Xia Juhua glanced at Li Changshun, and said to Li Daniu and the others without feeling guilty, "Don't be dissatisfied just because Captain Xia is a female comrade. She is much better than you. If she can learn half of what she has learned, your production team will have a good life."
陳秋生看着為難的夏菊花，竟沒接着問下去，垂頭喪氣的坐在那裏摳桌子縫。等會開完，一起往平安莊走的時候，陳秋生才問：“隊長，他們是不是……”
對已經做出的決定，夏菊花并不後悔，直接告訴陳秋生：“縣裏同意調撥給平安莊大隊兩臺拖拉機，公社農機站還會保證這兩臺拖拉機用油，我就答應了。”
陳秋生還能說什麽？當大隊長又不是啥壞事兒，還白得兩臺拖拉機，要是讓他碰見了，一臺拖拉機他都肯當。
五爺聽了跟陳秋生的意見差不多：“我覺得挺劃算。不就是當大隊長嘛，你這下真不用下地了，天天各生産隊轉一轉就行。你又有自行車，也不費多大事。”
其實屋裏的三個人都清楚，根本的不在夏菊花自己費不費事兒上，而是平安莊生産隊咋辦。好一會兒五爺才接着開口說：“我看要不就讓秋生接着當隊長，這一年你咋幹的他都清楚着呢。”
陳秋生連連擺手：“五爺，你知道我也就是會組織個人派個工啥的，農活上我真不如隊長。再說我當生産隊長的話，會計咋辦？”
為難的事兒一件接着一件，夏菊花想了想說：“咱們生産隊的人現在心齊，也不是非得你帶着頭拼命大家才幹活。你能把活兒安排明白了，該掙的錢掙了就行。”
五爺開始擺弄着他的旱煙袋：“會計的話，志雙他們不是都跟力柱認字呢嘛，要不讓志雙幹得了。”
夏菊花連忙搖頭：“志雙的性子太活，坐不住幹不了會計。他跟我說過想開拖拉機，原來我想着磨磨他，現在有兩臺拖拉機的話，讓他開一臺也行。”
“其實紅玲、小滿她們幾個小閨女學的都不錯，就是都快說婆婆家了，一結婚又得重新挑人。”陳秋生有些遺憾的說：“翠萍說她們幾個比她學的還好呢。”
夏菊花跟着點頭，紅玲幾個十分珍惜自己的學習機會，加上張翠萍對夏菊花每天檢查的命令，執行的十分徹底，幾個小姑娘想不好好學都不行。
能自己想出編新樣式籃子的姑娘，能是笨人嗎？
夏菊花想了想說：“不行就從她們幾個人裏選一個先幹着，等她們真結婚了再想辦法。本來翠萍能幹，可秋生當生産隊長，翠萍當會計不合适。”
陳秋生連忙說：“就她那個性子，說風就是雨的哪兒幹得了。”
五爺則點頭贊同夏菊花的說法：“那就讓紅玲先幹着，那丫頭腦了靈不說，嘴也緊，見人說話也不打憷，我覺得比她兩個哥哥都強。”
所謂紅玲的兩個哥哥，指的就是劉志全和劉志雙兩個，夏菊花并不覺得五爺是在貶低自己的兒子——那兩本來就不是當會計的料。
第二天陳秋生照例早早吹起上工哨，還讓沉浸在絞紅薯漿或是編籃子的平安莊人吃驚了一下：這些天大家都趁着天氣好，盡可能多的絞紅薯漿，澄澱粉，突然間生産隊要開會，大家都有點兒不習慣了。
等聽說夏菊花要不當生産隊長，哪怕她是去當大隊長，平安莊的人還是急了。
趙仙枝頭一個跳起來：“憑啥呀，隊長幹的好好的，說不讓幹就不讓幹？誰說當大隊長就不能接着當生産隊長了？”
常仙草幾個也吵吵，都覺得夏菊花不當平安莊生産隊隊長，那整個生産隊就得散攤子了，以後平安莊人還咋掙錢，還咋種地？
夏菊花使勁拍了拍桌子：“你們都吵吵啥。人家秋生這一年幹的少啦，你們幹的哪樣活，不是人家秋生幫着算計着才做成的。再說我不是還在平安莊住着呢嘛，又不是一走多遠。”
趙仙枝還是不服氣：“那你也能一邊當着大隊長一邊當生産隊長，憑啥他們想要掙錢就得讓你當大隊長？那幾個生産隊，好幾個出了名的不講理，你又不會跟人吵架，不是受欺負去啦？”
“你怕隊長受欺負，你跟着她當保镖得了。”有人在後頭開趙仙枝的玩笑，可把趙仙枝的火給拱起來了，回頭惡狠狠的想把說話的人找出來，沒找出來也不洩氣：“我就要隊長走哪兒跟到哪兒，咋地。”
你牛，連李常旺者治不了你，別人還能咋地？
見沒人搭話，趙仙枝越想越覺得自己剛才的話的道理：“隊長，要不我跟你去大隊吧，省得他們看你一個女的欺負你。我去大隊掃地不記工分都行，讓我跟着就行。”
“你快給我拉倒吧。”李常旺拿這個二愣子媳婦一點兒辦法也沒有：“隊長是去當大隊長，別人都得聽她的，誰能欺負得了她。”
“你知道個屁。”趙仙枝可算是找到對手了：“別當我不知道，當初隊長剛當生産隊長的時候，你們男人都可不服氣了。要不是隊長帶着我們婦女編席掙了錢，還教給你們漏粉，你們能這麽……”
五爺瞪了趙仙枝一眼，趙仙枝一下子啞火了，狠狠瞪了自家男人一眼，眼神期盼的看向夏菊花，很希望她答應自己跟着去大隊。
夏菊花自然不可能同意：“你去了大隊，咱們婦女編席、編籃子的事兒誰管，你想讓大家好好的手藝都白瞎了？”
見趙仙枝說不出話來了，夏菊花才對聽着的社員說：“秋生這些年當會計，他的人品啥樣大家都知道。我也知道大家都在擔心啥，我相信秋生，他的心裏跟我一樣，都想帶着大家過好日子。大家要是覺得秋生能幹好生産隊長的，就舉手，要是覺得還有比秋生更合适的人，也可以提出來。”
沉默，直到五爺把手舉起來，劉姓這邊才慢慢有人跟着舉手。早就想舉手的陳姓人看了，自然把手舉的高高的，而雜姓那邊，趙仙枝常仙草等人随着慢慢也舉了手。
跟陳秋生當隊長被質疑相比，劉紅玲當會計幾乎沒人提出反對，唯一質疑的是李大丫：“嫂子，紅玲才認幾個字，能行嗎？”
“有啥不行的。”夏菊花這個時候才不會說出，對紅玲将來結婚得另挑人選的擔心：“紅玲學東西快，字也認全了，再跟秋生學學打算盤，趁着現在不忙學着記記帳，很快就能上手。”
劉紅玲眼圈都紅了，她從來沒想到大娘如此信任自己，心裏正發誓一定不能給大娘丢臉，就見夏菊花向她招手。邁着忐忑的步子走到夏菊花身邊，劉紅玲後知後覺的發現，此時的夏菊花站在全生産隊人的對面，相當于她也站在了全體社員面前。
臉紅，心跳，手心出汗，劉紅玲盡量想着自己在夏菊花院裏跟她相處的情景，使勁讓自己的聲音不那麽打顫：“大娘？”
夏菊花沖劉紅玲笑笑，讓她別背對着大家，而是直接面向社員，告訴她：“雖然你是大夥看着長大的，可是現在你要當會計了，得向大家表一下态，讓他們相信你能幹好，會幹好。”
不能給大娘丢臉，不能給大娘丢臉，心裏默默念叨着這一句話，劉紅玲慢慢擡起了頭。她的小臉紅通通的，眼睛裏閃着從來沒有過的光：“大爺大娘，叔叔嬸子們，我當了會計後，一定好好幹，認真記帳，不算差錢，自己不拿公家一分錢。”
“好。”夏菊花帶頭拍起巴掌：“最後一句話最重要，你要記住了，大家也都替你記住了。”
社員們臉上都浮起善意的笑容，誰不願意看到孩子們的成長呢。
李大丫一個忍不住，嗚咽了一聲，安寶玲連忙拉了她一把：“二嫂，這可是好事兒。”
好事兒，當然是好事兒。原本只在家裏做點兒家務的閨女，不知不覺就學會了編席，自己會編新樣式籃子，得了五塊錢的獎勵。李大丫本來以為那就是閨女的極限了，不承想閨女竟然當了生産隊的會計。
這可比劉二壯當生産隊長，還讓李大丫高興。
那麽老些人，憑啥讓她一個小丫頭當會計？李大丫自認為是沾了夏菊花的光，是夏菊花在照顧侄女呢。她哽咽着對安寶玲說：“以後我要是有對不起嫂子的地方，你可得提醒我。”
安寶玲太了解這個相處多年的妯娌了：“你想感謝嫂子，也別在這兒哭天抹淚的，不知道的還以為嫂子給你委屈受了呢。”
李大丫連忙擦幹眼淚，推了回到自己身邊的劉紅玲一把：“以後你要是敢不好好幹，給你大娘丢人，我就先把你腿打折了。”
沒有人關心李大丫咋囑咐閨女，人們的注意力還停留在夏菊花身上，見她宣布散會，婦女們一下子都圍了上去，七嘴八舌的問起自己關心的問題。
她們關心的無非是幾樣，一個是籃子要不要繼續編，二是工分會不會出現變動，三是以後再有訂單，還能不能按着現在一樣，悄悄給編的人一些獎勵。
When the women were about to gather around, Xia Juhua held Chen Qiu Sheng back and stopped him from leaving. She also asked Chen Qiu Sheng to answer their questions one by one. Now Chen Qiu Sheng is the leader of the Ping'an Village production team, and Xia Juhua wanted the women to listen to Chen Qiu Sheng more so that they would be able to talk better when they met in the future.