Chapter 97 (1)
When Chen Qiu Sheng answered the women's questions in front of Xia Juhua, it was equivalent to Xia Juhua endorsing Chen Qiu Sheng. If any problems really arise in the future, the women can drag Chen Qiu Sheng to confront Xia Juhua.
Anyway, Xia Juhua is the captain of Ping'anzhuang Brigade, so how can she control Chen Qiu Sheng, a production captain?
It was with this mentality that the women left contentedly after receiving Chen Qiu Sheng's answer. Only Zhao Xianzhi and a few others were still reluctant to leave and surrounded Xia Juhua.
"Captain, please come to our house for dinner tonight." Zhao Xianzhi suddenly had an idea and invited Xia Juhua.
"If you want to come, just come to my house. Sister-in-law, you haven't been back to the old courtyard to eat for many years. Bring the children to my house for dinner tonight." An Baoling thought Zhao Xianzhi's idea was good and accepted it without hesitation.
Chang Xiancao chose to form a united front with Zhao Xianzhi: "Why go to the old house? It's just your old lady. If the captain goes there, he will definitely lose face. How can the captain be at peace? It's better to go to Xianzhi's house. I will join in the fun."
Xia Juhua quickly stopped them from thinking this: "I'm not going to anyone's house, so you should go back and make baskets. If you delay the order, I will punish you if Qiu Sheng doesn't."
Zhao Xianzhi pulled Chang Xiancao and walked quickly toward the yard while turning around and shouting at Xia Juhua: "You have to go even if you don't want to. Not only you, but present has to go. If anyone doesn't go, I will stand on the street and curse you, so that you won't be the captain."
Faced with such threats, Xia Juhua was really helpless. An Baoling and the others urged her, "Sister-in-law, go ahead. We have wanted to treat you to a good meal for a long time. We all know how tired you are and how much you have worried about this year. We are not eating Zhao Xianzhi's food for nothing. Let's just split the bill. Whoever goes will get his own food."
In the end, Xia Juhua couldn't refuse the meal. Anyone who invited someone to his home for dinner at this time was really asking with the greatest sincerity. Even if it was just to have a bowl of porridge, Xia Juhua had to be there.
Unexpectedly, Li Changwang was driven away by Zhao Xianzhi to accompany Li Changman, and the children were also taken away by Li Changwang, leaving only Xia Juhua and a few other women at home. For the dishes, Zhao Xianzhi killed a chicken herself, Chang Xiancao fried a few eggs, An Baoling brought pickled meat, and Li Daya brought enough noodles for several people...
"Captain, I tell you, I admire you from the bottom of my heart. Thanks to following you, I feel that my life has not been lived in vain." Zhao Xianzhi trembled as soon as he spoke: "Although I have never been scared in front of Li Changwang before, I have never felt so confident as I do this year."
Chang Xiancao and the others nodded, and An Baoling also said, "Sister-in-law, I used to think you were hard-hearted. You are capable, but to our mother-in-law... This year, when Sanzhuang got into trouble, I finally understood how you felt at the time. Don't blame me for being ignorant before."
If there was anyone in Ping An Manor that Xia Juhua was concerned about, An Baoling would definitely be at the top of the list. So after hearing An Baoling's self-blaming words, Xia Juhua didn't let her continue: "If you hadn't kept talking to me in the past few years, I might not have been able to make it through."
Li Daya said somewhat embarrassedly: "Sister-in-law, I am not good at speaking..."
Xia Juhua quickly shook her head: "We have been together for so many years, we all know each other's personality. You and Erzhuang have taken good care of us in those years."
But if Liu Erzhuang was the production team leader, Liu Hongling would not be able to become the production team accountant - on the one hand, Liu Erzhuang had never thought of letting the children in the production team learn to read in all these years, and on the other hand, he was the production team leader and Liu Hongling was not suitable to be an accountant.
Zhang Cuiping's eyes were red: "Captain, even though Chen Qiusheng is the production captain, I still feel at ease when you are the production captain."
"What nonsense are you talking about? If Qiu Sheng hears you, he will definitely fight with you." Xia Juhua joked with Zhang Cuiping and then said, "Although I am the team leader, I still live in the Ping'anzhuang Production Team. If there is anything, we can talk about it when we meet."
The mood of several people was much better because of Xia Juhua's words. While eating, they talked about the changes of the women in Pingan Village. It was unexpected that the changes of the women in Pingan Village were really great:
First of all, women earn as much as men do. The key is that they can see the money on a regular basis, unlike men who have to wait until the dividends are distributed to see the money. This makes women speak more confidently at home, and even men going into the kitchen to cook is taken for granted. In the past, which woman would dare to think of men going into the kitchen?
Then, there are no conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in every family: no matter whether it is the mother-in-law or the daughter-in-law, they are all busy weaving mats and baskets, and they work together every day. After getting along with each other for a year, everyone knows clearly who does what and what kind of person they are. If there is anyone who wants to make trouble behind the scenes, there are eight pairs of eyes watching them, and no one with a little dignity will do that.
The biggest change is that the women have begun to learn to read, and because they know how to read, they attach importance to their children's learning. It is said that all the children who study under Liu Lizhu will go to the brigade primary school after the New Year. No family would stop their children from going to school because they want them to help with housework.
"They were attracted by the idea that Hongling could become an accountant just because she could read. Otherwise, some families would want to let their children go and earn work points right away." Zhao Xianzhi expressed her contempt for such people.
Xia Juhua knew how much disadvantages would befall those who could not read in the future, and she agreed with Zhao Xianzhi's viewpoint: "For children under ten years old, even if they work in the fields, if they can earn four work points a day, it's considered high. Besides, if they work in the fields too early, their bodies will be exhausted, and they will not grow tall in the future, and it will be difficult for them to find a wife."
Why are children born in the 1980s and 1990s taller than those born in the 1970s? In addition to better nutrition, a large part of the reason is that they started working late. Now, every member of Pingan Village has the conditions to let their children work two years later. We can't lose the big picture while gaining the small details.
Time passed quickly while they were chatting and laughing. It felt like they hadn't said anything when Liu Zhishuang knocked on the door. He smiled and said to Zhao Xianzhi who opened the door, "Auntie, you guys are too talkative. You're not going to work tomorrow? My mother said she's staying. It's getting dark and she can't see the road anymore. Let her go home with me first."
"Stop pretending to be filial. Your mother eats well and speaks well with me. Why do you come to pick her up now?" Because of Xia Juhua, Zhao Xianzhi was particularly fond of the Liu family, and she spoke very impolitely to Liu Zhishuang.
Liu Zhishuang shook his head a little embarrassedly, and said anxiously: "Auntie, there is something wrong in our family. My brother, sister-in-law and I don't know what to do. We have to let my mother go back and make a decision."
Since the Liu family had something urgent to do, Zhao Xianzhi couldn't keep Xia Juhua any longer, so several people sent her out together and asked Liu Zhishuang what happened at home. Liu Zhishuang glanced at Xia Juhua and said, "Mom, you will know when you go back and take a look."
When Xia Juhua got home, she understood why Liu Zhishuang didn't say it in front of others: as soon as they saw her coming back, Wang Caifeng and Liu Zhiquan started moving things from the east room to the main room, including eggs, noodles, brown sugar, all packed in basins, and even two old hens.
"Where did this come from?" Even though she had thought about it in her mind, Xia Juhua still asked with some disbelief.
Wang Caifeng said with some embarrassment and pride: "Before it got dark, Grandma Qi came with ten eggs, and then Old Master Dong brought some noodles, and then they kept coming from one family to another. We originally thought that it was rare for you to talk to someone and relax, so we didn't want to call you, but now there are more and more of these things, we are a little scared, so we asked Zhishuang..."
Xia Juhua asked helplessly: "Who sent what? Did you remember everything?" The same thing happened to everyone last year. This year, Wang Caifeng and the others were careless at the beginning, and when they wanted to refuse, it was obvious that they could no longer stop.
Liu Zhiquan said in a solemn voice: "Caifeng and Zhishuang remember it."
Liu Zhishuang handed over two pieces of paper with the names of the people and the gifts written on them in pencil. The handwriting was not very pretty, but it was very clear, and there would not be the same problem as last year where he remembered things in a confused way.
Seeing that her mother-in-law was just looking at the list without saying anything, Wang Caifeng asked with some concern: "Mom, are we going to save these for Master Wu's birthday? Will we add more dishes for everyone?"
Xia Juhua shook her head: "No, I can't add more dishes to Fifth Master this time. I used to be the production team leader of Ping'an Village, and the people from the production team ate all the food they sent, which was like meat rotting in the pot. But now I am the leader of the Ping'an Village Brigade, not only the people from the Ping'an Village production team look after our family, but also the people from the other four production teams."
Wang Caifeng herself felt that when her mother-in-law suggested adding more food to the Fifth Master's meal last year, everyone in the production team contributed their own food. They all gathered together to eat and chat. The scene was lively and nostalgic, and she wished that it would happen again this year.
Wang Caifeng had more than one or two people who shared the same idea, so the next day Chen Qiu Sheng blew the whistle and asked everyone to hold a meeting before going to work. Then everyone found out that the so-called meeting was Xia Juhua bringing her family, and they were asked to take back the things they had given to Xia Juhua according to the list, and no one wanted to accept it.
"Captain, I didn't really give this to you. I gave it to you as a birthday treat for Master Wu."
"Yes, yes. We still have to celebrate Fifth Master's birthday. I was afraid I would forget, so I saved it at your house first and we can just take it to the stove together when the time comes."
One person said this, and two people said this. Xia Juhua had to frown: "I appreciate everyone's kindness, but I really can't accept this. If you want to add dishes for Master Wu's birthday, just send them over on that day."
"Think about it, if I collect an egg or a handful of noodles, and if something happens in the brigade in the future and I speak up for Ping An Village, will the people in the four production teams think that I am speaking up for Ping An Village because I took their things?"
Although Zhao Xianzhi did not participate in the delivery of gifts yesterday, he felt that Xia Juhua had worked hard for the people of Ping'an Village for a year, making everyone's lives visibly better and better. Collecting a few gifts was nothing. "They can think whatever they want. At most, you can just stop being the captain."
"Nonsense." After hearing the news, the Fifth Master came over with Liu Daxi. He just happened to hear Zhao Xianzhi encouraging Xia Juhua not to be the team leader again. He couldn't help but frown and scare Zhao Xianzhi first: "If she doesn't become the team leader, those two tractors can't become the Ping'an Village team? Without the tractors, you will have to turn the soil by yourselves next year and carry water on your shoulders to water the soil. Are you willing to go through that again?"
Xia Juhua didn't notice and let the Fifth Master tell her the reason why she had to be the captain of Ping'an Village. Everyone in the Ping'an Village production team was stunned. Then several women's eyes turned red: their job as captain was so difficult. In order to prevent the people of Ping'an Village from getting tired, she had to endure more fatigue herself!
"I'm sorry for making things difficult for Juhua. I'll take my things back first." Seventh Auntie stood up and slowly walked to the table where the things were placed. She said to Wang Caifeng, "Caifeng, Seventh Auntie took ten eggs yesterday."
Wang Caifeng counted out ten eggs and handed them to Seventh Grandma, bowing slightly to the old lady. Fifth Grandma smiled and said, "In the future, if your mother-in-law is busy and the two children are making trouble and you can't take care of them alone, you can send them to Fifth Grandma. Seventh Grandma can't do anything else, except taking care of the children."
Wang Caifeng smiled at Qi Nai again, and when she saw someone else coming over, she lowered her head to look at the thing behind the name written on the paper, and whispered to Liu Zhiquan what it was. Liu Zhiquan then took the thing out and handed it to the person.
Seeing the Liu family members cooperating in an orderly manner, the Fifth Master said to Xia Juhua standing beside him, "You are right. People still need to be able to read. Look at so many people and so many things. Zhiquan and his wife sent them back without any confusion. They couldn't have done that before when they didn't know how to read."
Xia Juhua saw Liu Liqun approaching from a distance and knew that he was looking for her. She smiled and said to Master Wu: "Why else should I tell everyone to learn as many words as possible? Master Wu, Captain Liu is here. I have to go to the brigade."
"Go ahead. You've already promised them, so why shouldn't you go? Don't worry about the production team. Qiu Sheng and I are here." Fifth Master also saw Liu Liqun, nodded at him, and let Xia Juhua leave.
Liu Liqun came to look for Xia Juhua because Li Changshun saw that it was time to go to work, but Xia Juhua had not yet arrived at the brigade headquarters. He was afraid that Xia Juhua might still be resistant to being the brigade leader, so he asked Liu Liqun to come and look for her.
Unexpectedly, he saw people from Ping'an Village taking things from the Liu family one after another. Liu Liqun naturally asked what was going on, and Xia Juhua briefly explained the situation.
Liu Liqun was very emotional when he heard this and said, "The members of Ping An Village are grateful to you. In fact, the members of the production team also remember your kindness and will not give you any problems at work in the future."
I hope so. Xia Juhua hoped that nothing would happen to the production teams. She followed Liu Liqun to the brigade headquarters, where Li Changshun and accountant Chang were already waiting for her. The money was better, and the brigade's things were better. The handover was not difficult and was completed in less than half a day.
"Chrysanthemum, what do you want to do next? What should each production team do?" Li Changshun smiled kindly.
Xia Juhua had thought about it herself, and said she would go to each production team to take a look and understand the situation. Li Changshun thought about it and said to Liu Liqun: "My legs are not good, you go with Juhua."
Xia Juhua and Liu Liqun looked at Li Changshun with reproach, and he beat his injured leg vigorously. Xia Juhua and Liu Liqun had no choice but to push their own bicycles to the small village first.
Accountant Chang waited until the two men left the brigade headquarters before asking, "Captain, is there still hope for our girl and Liu Zhishuang? If not, I will find someone else for her."
Li Changshun was unsure when talking about this: "Who knows what Xia Gongzi is thinking? I mentioned it to her several times, but she always said it depends on Liu Zhishuang's own opinion."
Accountant Chang sucked his teeth after hearing this: "What can we do? I have already told our daughter about this, and it seems that she likes Liu Zhishuang. Now Xia Juhua has become the team leader. I heard that the leader of the Pinganzhuang production team has been replaced by Chen Qiusheng, and the accountant is Liu Hongling. Her two sons have done nothing."
"She is a very cautious person and would never do anything that would cause people to talk about her." The more Li Changshun thought about it, the more he felt that there was something fishy about Liu Zhishuang and Chang Chunya. "She avoided suspicion even in the Ping'anzhuang Production Team. You are the team leader and the team accountant respectively. You should talk to the girl about this when you get home. There are many good guys. Liu Zhishuang is a second marriage and is not that good."
After Xia Juhua and Liu Liqun, Accountant Chang also looked at Li Changshun with condemnation.
Xia Juhua and Liu Liqun have now arrived at Xiaozhuangtou and are listening to Li Daniu talking about the situation in Xiaozhuangtou: "There are only 103 households and 977 people in our production team, and we have more than 120 yuan in our account. You all know the work points this year, which cannot be compared with Pinganzhuang."
Who can compare with Ping An Manor? Liu Liqun's family is in the fourth team, and he also looked at Xia Juhua with some envy as Li Daniu said. Xia Juhua felt a little pressured, and asked a question to divert the two people's attention: "What have you been doing during this time?"
"What else can we do?" Li Daniu pointed at the people working in the fields and said, "Our production team is now digging out the stubble in the ground and leveling the land. In a few days, the brigade will start arranging the canal repair and then we will continue the repair."
Xia Juhua nodded and asked, "You have sifted all the wheat bran. How much flour did you get? How do you plan to use it?"
Speaking of this, Li Daniu smiled a little: "Captain, you know what, we really sifted out 150 kilograms of flour. It's all in the production team's granary, and many people are clamoring to share it. Captain, how did you divide it in Pingan Village?"
Still want to share? Xia Juhua could only shake her head: "We didn't share the ones we screened out last year, and we don't plan to share them this year. There are hundreds of households in a production team, so how much can each family get? This year, we plan to give three kilograms of the ones we screened out to each elderly person over 65 years old, and put the rest in the hands of the production team so that they can use them if they encounter any problems next year."
Only give it to people over 65? Li Daniu thought it was a bit unreliable: "What if others have opinions?"
Xia Juhua asked in confusion: "Why do you have such an opinion? They themselves are not old yet, or do they think they will not live to be 65? Everyone will get old one day. The elderly have suffered hardships all their lives, so what's wrong with collectively taking care of them?"
Not to mention Li Daniu, Liu Liqun was also stunned by what he said. After a while, he reacted and said to Li Daniu: "I think what the captain said makes sense. Everyone gets old one day. If someone has an opinion about letting the elderly eat dumplings during the New Year, he is still a human being."
Xia Juhua said hurriedly: "We in Ping'an Village have no objections, and the elderly are also very happy. But each production team has its own situation. How your production team will deal with the noodles is something you should discuss among yourselves."
"What are we discussing?" Li Daniu slapped his thigh and said, "If anyone has an opinion against me, I won't believe it." After saying that, he realized that he was too excited. He smiled at Xia Juhua and asked, "Captain, when will your Ping'an Village leak vermicelli this year? Do you keep the vermicelli for yourselves?"
Xia Juhua put on a serious face and said, "Of course I eat it myself. The purpose of leaking the flour is to prevent food shortages during the lean period next year."
Okay, you keep your mouth shut. Li Daniu glanced at the silent Liu Liqun and didn't ask any further questions. He wanted to wait until one day when he could meet Xia Juhua alone to find out more about her. Last year, the grain station asked Ping'anzhuang to leak the flour. Did they really eat all the flour they leaked?
"Captain, there is one more thing. I heard that the children in your production team can recognize a lot of words. Look at our production team..." Li Daniu had too many questions today and he wished Xia Juhua could answer all of them.
Xia Juhua did have something to say to him: "Ping An Village gives Liu Lizhu ten work points every day. He is very motivated and works day and night to teach both adults and children. Didn't your production team have people who went to junior high school before? Take advantage of the winter when you are not busy to teach the children to read, so that the children won't be unable to keep up with the school when the brigade opens a primary school in the spring."
Li Daniu grinned and said, "Our two production teams are so close to each other. Besides, there is no house big enough in the small village to accommodate so many old children."
Xia Juhua's expression remained unchanged: "If there is no house that big, we just build it. In the hot summer, the members of our Pingan Village worked under the sun every day to build the bricks. Not only did we build a place for the children to have classes, we also built a yard and a powder room. Although the weather is a little cold now, we are still exposed to the sun."
Liu Liqun coughed and reminded Xia Juhua that she was now the captain of the entire Pinganzhuang team, so she had better not be so proud when talking about the Pinganzhuang production team. Li Daniu was also upset: "I am not as thoughtful as you think. It is so difficult to remove the bricks now, and it is too late to build them."
Xia Juhua turned around to look at the people working in the fields of Xiaozhuangtou. They were all digging for stubble with their heads down. After digging it out, they had to knock the soil off with the handle of the hoe, and finally carry it back to the production team by carrying or pushing it.
The crops in Ping'an Village had already been distributed to each household. The land in Xiaozhuangtou seemed to have been only half dug. Xia Juhua was puzzled: "How many sweet potatoes did your production team plant this year?" The crops in Ping'an Village were harvested quickly because corn and sorghum were planted in small quantities and were easier to manage.
Li Daniu regretted thinking about this: "We planted 160 acres."
No wonder, as each production team had about 500 mu of land. In the early spring, Ping'an Village planted more than 300 mu of sweet potatoes, which was twice as much as Xiaozhuangtou.
All Xia Juhua could say was: "Then you won't have to worry about leaking powder this winter."
Li Daniu didn't want to talk to Xia Juhua at all, but he had to put on a smile and asked, "Captain, when will those two tractors arrive? Do you think the plow you used to turn the soil in Ping'an Village in the spring can turn over the stubble?"
It turned out that this was his idea. Xia Juhua looked at Li Daniu with a half-smile: "That plow was designed by Technician Xue to turn over flat land, not to turn over stubble land."
Li Daniu said with disappointment, and there was nothing else to say. He didn't say anything, and the situation in Xiaozhuangtou was basically understood. Xia Juhua and Liu Liqun rode their bicycles to the third team again.
Captain Niu was also leading the members to dig stubble. When he saw the two men coming, he immediately smiled and said, "Captain, Captain Liu, you are here. Come on, let's go to the production team and take a break."
There was no need to rest, it was more important to understand the situation. Relatively speaking, the third team had the smallest population and the least land among the five teams in Ping'an Village. Before Xia Juhua came, she had prepared for the third team's financial situation, so she was not too surprised when Captain Niu said that the third team only had more than 70 yuan in its account.
After Team Niu finished speaking, he saw that Xia Juhua looked calm and was a little confused: "Captain, how much money is on the account of Ping An Zhuang?"
Liu Liqun looked at Captain Niu with sympathy, but couldn't tell him that Xia Juhua, who was standing in front of him, had originally planned to buy a tractor for the Ping An Zhuang production team. Xia Juhua didn't want to hit Captain Niu too hard, so she just said that the money in Ping An Zhuang's account was not much more than that of the third team.
Although he didn't believe it in his heart, Captain Niu didn't ask any more questions. He pulled Xia Juhua aside and asked the same question as Li Daniu, which was whether Liu Lizhu could also teach the children of Team 3.
Xia Juhua was more supportive of Captain Niu and said with a smile, "There are educated people in your production team, so just let them teach you. If you think there is no place, you can still dig mud in the Xihe River. Adobe bricks are difficult to dry, but you can make do with them after they are exposed to the sun for a few days."
Liu Liqun glanced at Xia Juhua, then turned to look at Captain Niu who was deep in thought, and said nothing. Captain Niu had figured it out: "Okay, I'll arrange for someone to remove the adobe bricks right away. Captain, can you talk to the Xiawo Brigade and ask them to open a kiln and make some bricks for us?"
Xia Juhua was a little embarrassed: "That's easy to say, but coal is hard to find. The last time we bought coal in Ping'an Village, it was from the noodle factory, and we paid the adjusted price."
When Captain Niu heard that the money was from the noodle factory, his eyes began to dim. When he heard the word "price adjustment", he completely gave up hope - price adjustment meant spending more money, and with the limited assets of the Third Team, even if they took out all the money, it would not be enough to burn two kilns of bricks.
Forget it, adobe bricks can get us through this winter, and the brigade primary school will start accepting students next year.
After consoling himself, Captain Niu asked again, "Captain, I heard that Ping'an Village gave three pounds of flour to every elderly person over 65 years old. Can our production team also do the same?"
Liu Liqun finally understood why Xia Juhua treated Captain Niu and Li Daniu differently. Captain Niu was determined to follow Ping'an Village's footsteps and took one step at a time. Xia Juhua was willing to give this man some advice.
Xia Juhua nodded with a smile: "What's wrong with that? If I think something is not good, can I give it to the elderly in Pingan Village? The elderly will be in a good mood, less stubborn, and more receptive to advice. If their children do something they don't like, they will be able to tolerate it, and there will be fewer conflicts in the family. If there are no quarrels at home, the members will have less worries when they go to the fields to work."
This is the truth, but how many people can understand it? Captain Niu looked at Xia Juhua with even more admiration, and even asked whether Ping'an Village would let the old man take the baby himself or the team cadres would send him home.
When leaving Team 3, Liu Liqun looked back and saw that Captain Niu was still waving at the two of them. He couldn't help but smile: "We used to call Lao Niu Niu Laobie, thinking that he was always being rude to others, but I didn't expect that he would become a smooth-talking donkey after seeing you."
Since Xia Juhua had been dealing with Captain Niu, she really didn't think he was weird: "I think Captain Niu is quite reasonable. Why do you think he is weird?"
Liu Liqun told Xia Juhua about Captain Niu's awkward deeds. For example, when the team arranged to repair the canal during the winter, he insisted that the work in the fields of Team 3 had not been completed and they had to finish all the other work before repairing the canal.
For example, when the brigade asked everyone to pay the public rations together to look more powerful, Team 3 insisted on paying on their own because they felt that their production team did not have as much public rations as other production teams and they were afraid that people would laugh at them. As a result, from then on, each production team in Ping'anzhuang Brigade paid its own public rations and the whole brigade never acted together again...
"Did someone really make fun of Team Three?" Xia Juhua asked, thinking that Captain Niu would not say such a thing for no reason.
Liu Liqun thought about it and said, "Maybe someone was joking with him during a meeting. Who would have thought that he would take the joke seriously and keep it to himself for so many years?"
The production team has little land, a small population, and a thin financial situation. Being a production team leader is inherently insecure, and one might think that others are talking about his own production team when they say something irrelevant, let alone being exposed in person during a meeting?
However, Liu Liqun obviously felt that Captain Niu was making a big deal out of nothing, so Xia Juhua did not argue with him on this issue. She was talking about something else: "Captain Liu, I heard that petty thieves have appeared in other brigades. As winter is approaching and everyone goes to bed early, how many times do our militia patrol every day?"
Liu Liqun also had a headache when talking about this: "The commune said it was distributing relief rations, but we all know that relief rations can only keep people from starving to death. It's a dream to expect people to eat well and have enough. When people are extremely hungry, they won't care about anything else. Now the militias of each production team patrol twice every night, and everyone is a little resentful."
"What's the grievance?" The basic militia can record work points for patrolling, and the militia in Ping'an Village are very active in patrolling.
Liu Liqun smiled bitterly and said, "Nowadays, everyone has to eat porridge at night. It's okay if you sleep on the kang, and you can get by with a nap. But the militia patrols in the middle of the night in the cold weather and with no food in their stomachs. How can they not feel resentful?"
"Then how much reserve food does our brigade have?" Xia Juhua asked a question that Liu Liqun had not expected.
Liu Liqun said as he rode his bike: "How would I know? Shouldn't Accountant Chang have told you everything?"
Xia Juhua said somewhat embarrassedly: "I wasn't paying attention." Generally speaking, the brigade's reserve rations cannot be moved, and Xia Juhua had no interest in things that could not be moved.
Fortunately, Accountant Chang was still at the brigade headquarters. After asking, he learned that the brigade still had more than 6,000 kilograms of reserve rations. Xia Juhua was a little surprised: "Why is there so much? What is it?"
Accountant Chang explained everything to her one by one. Xia Juhua discovered that the brigade's reserve grains were actually staple grains, so she asked Accountant Chang: "How often do reserve grains usually get replaced?"
"It should be replaced once a year. This year is a bad year, and our brigade has only paid half of the public rations, so there is no new rations to replace the reserve rations."
"What if the commune inspects?" Xia Juhua wanted to ask, other brigades have also been cut off from food, are they really keeping the reserve grain and not distributing it to the members? The reason they dare not distribute it to the members is probably because they are afraid of inspections from their superiors.
Accountant Chang shook his head and said, "As long as there is enough food in the granary, the commune generally does not care whether it is new or old. Besides, who dares to cheat now? The Red Team would like to blame the brigade for its mistakes."
Yes, there is also a Red Squad. Xia Juhua had almost forgotten about the Red Squad these days, and had also forgotten everyone's fear of the Red Squad at that time.
"It's no big deal for the patrol militia to be hungry. If there are thieves, they will be so hungry that they can't catch up with them." Xia Juhua was still thinking about storing food, but she didn't dare to act rashly when she thought about the Red Team lurking in unknown corners. She wanted to hear Li Changshun's opinion.
This was the first time Li Changshun had heard such a question. He didn't show his shame on his face, thinking that he was not as meticulous as Xia Juhua in his work, nor as good as Xia Juhua in finding problems: "The reserve grain cannot be moved. But I heard that the Red Team in the commune receives grain coupons every day. Our team..."
Xia Juhua thought it was not feasible: "The food in the granaries of each production team is for emergency use during the next year's shortage period. Who would be willing to give it to the militia?" The militia were all strong and hardworking people who earned all the work points. They generally would not have insufficient work points to exchange for food.
"Forget it. I'll go to the commune and talk to Director Zhang about a solution." Feeling guilty, Li Changshun gave Xia Juhua an answer that satisfied her.
"Then let Ping'an Village's oxcart take you there." Xia Juhua advised Li Changshun: "You can't ride a bicycle, and it's inconvenient for your legs to walk."
Li Changshun wanted to refuse, but Liu Liqun and Accountant Chang agreed with Xia Juhua, so he agreed. After all the hard work, it was time for dinner. It was agreed that Xia Juhua would bring the ox cart from Ping'an Village to the brigade headquarters tomorrow, and then everyone went home to eat.
Riding a bicycle to the entrance of Ping'an Village, Xia Juhua looked at the familiar streets and houses and felt a little dazed, as if she had been away from Ping'an Village for a long time rather than just half a day. Everything she saw seemed so familiar.
"Sister-in-law, you're back." Qi Xile ran over to greet Xia Juhua, which made Xia Juhua stunned for a moment: "What time is it? Why are you here instead of having dinner at home?"
Qixi looked at her in confusion: "Have you forgotten? Last year, Shuanzhu and I were watching people at the village entrance every day. This year, it's just us again."
Xia Juhua laughed: "Look at my memory. If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten. Is everything going on in the production team? Are there any outsiders?"
Qixi shook his head and nodded again: "There is nothing to do in the production team. Everyone is doing what they should do. A few relatives came to borrow food, but except for the old Chen family, there is still one relative who stayed, and the rest have left."
After the autumn harvest, even though the people of Pinganzhuang put on a few shows in front of their relatives who came to borrow food, as the food supply of other brigades became less and less, the Pinganzhuang brigade with a good harvest became more and more conspicuous. Especially the Pinganzhuang production team with the best harvest, almost every day someone's relatives would come to borrow food.
"Oh, sister-in-law, Qi Weidong just came." Qi Xi remembered something important and hurriedly informed Xia Juhua, "He brought two people with him. They will arrive in the afternoon."
Hearing that Qi Weidong had arrived, Xia Juhua immediately got on her bike again, told Qixi not to miss the shift change and lunch, and rode back to her home quickly.
When they entered the courtyard, they only saw three parked bicycles, but no sign of Qi Weidong and the others. Xia Juhua shouted, "Caifeng, didn't you say Xiao Qi is here? Where is he?"
Wang Caifeng poked her head out of the kitchen: "Mom, you're back. Zhiquan is talking to Xiaoqi in our room. My hot and sour noodles will be ready soon."
"Okay, you go ahead and do your thing first." While Xia Juhua asked Wang Caifeng to continue cooking, Qi Weidong, Li Lin and Xie Hongbing had already come out of the east room, followed by Liu Zhiquan who looked dazed.
Seeing Liu Zhiquan's expression, Xia Juhua said in her heart that something was wrong. Liu Zhiquan worked very hard, but his brain was no match for Qi Weidong. Don't let Qi Weidong fool him.
"Auntie, I heard that you got a promotion. You can't just give us hot and sour noodles today, right?" Qi Weidong greeted her with a smile, as if he didn't notice the wariness in Xia Juhua's eyes.
Xia Juhua smiled at him and said, "How did I become the captain of this team? Didn't your uncle tell you?"
Qi Weidong smiled a little sheepishly: "Well, my uncle and his friends also think that you are capable. Besides, you know that my uncle is a ruthless person who would even cheat me."
It was true. If Uncle Qi hadn't tricked Qi Weidong last year, Xia Juhua and his friends wouldn't have been able to save the village, and they wouldn't have lost more than 100,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes. Xia Juhua thought about her conversation with Uncle Qi at the County Revolutionary Committee, and felt that Qi Weidong was no match for his uncle. She said sympathetically, "Your uncle..."
Qi Weidong said cheerfully, "Yeah, I also think my uncle is ruthless sometimes, and I don't understand what he is thinking. What does it have to do with him whether those people can have food or not? Maybe when they eat vermicelli to save their lives, they don't even know that it was my uncle who forced you to leak the vermicelli to save their lives."
If your uncle hadn't come up with this idea, maybe some people in Pingde County wouldn't have been able to get the relief rations. Xia Juhua's anger suddenly subsided. She knew that her awareness was not comparable to Uncle Qi's, and she also understood why Uncle Qi and Director Zhang insisted on letting her be the captain.
"You are Shang Chengping
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