Chapter 98 (1)
When Qi Weidong heard Xia Juhua suddenly ask him what he talked about with Liu Zhiquan, his face blushed for a rare moment: "Nothing, nothing, I was just chatting with my elder brother." As he came to the Liu family more and more often, Qi Weidong had become familiar with the Liu Zhiquan brothers and treated them as brothers.
It would be strange if Xia Juhua could trust him: "It's fine as long as it's nothing. Zhiquan is simple-minded and soft-hearted. He takes everything people say seriously. So even though he has two children, he still needs me to give him advice when something happens."
So, don't think that what Liu Zhiquan has agreed to is set in stone. I have the final say on whether it will work or not.
Although the words were not explained, Qi Weidong understood them and his face turned green. He complained, "Auntie, how come you see everything so clearly? How can others dare to deal with you?"
Xia Juhua just looked at him quietly, which made Qi Weidong feel guilty: "Auntie, why are you looking at me?"
Xia Juhua still didn't say anything, so Qi Weidong could only confess that Xia Juhua was not at home after he arrived, so Wang Caifeng called Liu Zhiquan back so that he could talk to him. Liu Zhiquan himself was not good at speaking, so he just listened to Qi Weidong bragging about his brilliant achievements in the black market.
Qi Weidong became happier the more he talked, and suddenly he told Liu Zhiquan about how he made money from selling vermicelli last year. Liu Zhiquan only knew that he could earn processing fees by selling vermicelli, but he didn't expect that selling vermicelli would earn him more money than earning processing fees, so he asked if vermicelli was easy to sell and whether he was afraid of losing money.
Qi Weidong didn't think much about it and just talked about how he was proud of himself. However, Liu Zhiquan became more and more excited as he listened, and asked if he could make money by selling vermicelli with Qi Weidong. Qi Weidong was very puzzled. Based on his understanding of the Liu family, even if someone wanted to make money by selling vermicelli with him, it should be Liu Zhishuang instead of Liu Zhiquan. So he asked Liu Zhiquan why he suddenly wanted to sell vermicelli with him.
It turned out that Liu Zhiquan was stimulated by the incident on the day of the dividend distribution. He felt bad that his two children had to rely on their mother and brothers to pay for their food. He wanted to follow Qi Weidong to sell vermicelli on the black market so that he could make money as soon as possible to return it to his mother and brothers. This would also save him from having to rely on his mother and brothers to support him every year.
Qi Weidong thought that it was okay for him to take Liu Zhiquan with him - Liu Zhiquan was a way for me to make money, and Xia Juhua's burden would be much lighter in the future, so how could Xia Juhua not be willing? As a result, Liu Zhiquan reminded Qi Weidong that Xia Juhua was now the captain of the Ping'an Village Brigade, and she even refused to accept two eggs from the production team, so it was better not to let her know.
Qi Weidong patted his chest and assured Liu Zhiquan that if Liu Zhiquan wanted to work with him, he would make Liu Zhiquan earn a lot of money and eat the best food and drink the spicy drinks. By the time Xia Juhua came back, Liu Zhiquan was already confused and he became dizzy and showed scars after Xia Juhua entered the hospital.
It was all because Liu Zhiquan was so determined in the east room that he felt guilty when he saw his mother, and Xia Juhua noticed something was wrong. Qi Weidong said with some regret: "Auntie, if Zhiquan follows me, I dare not say more, but I will let him earn in two months the same amount of bonus as he would in your production team in a year, and there will be no problem at all."
Xia Juhua naturally believed this, but she had to ask these two people what they wanted to do. If she didn't ask, she wouldn't know. Once she asked, she realized that Qi Weidong had a big appetite. He not only focused on the vermicelli from Ping'an Village, but also included the vermicelli from the four production teams.
"I thought of asking Zhiquan to quietly collect vermicelli from each production team, and I would give him five cents per pound as a running errand fee." Under Xia Juhua's gaze, Qi Weidong told Xia Juhua everything he had discussed with Liu Zhiquan.
After finishing speaking, Qi Weidong looked at Xia Juhua with a guilty conscience, fearing that if she was unhappy, she would not even sell Pingan Manor's vermicelli to him. But Xia Juhua lowered her head and could not see her expression at all, and no one knew what she was thinking.
Xia Juhua didn't even raise her head until Liu Zhiquan called Chen Qiu Sheng over, but Qi Weidong was so frightened that even the way he looked at Liu Zhiquan became strange, thinking that he had been implicated by him.
Liu Zhiquan was already feeling guilty, and when Qi Weidong looked at him like that, his face turned pale, and he whispered, "Mom, Brother Qiu Sheng is here."
Xia Juhua then raised her head, without even looking at Liu Zhiquan, and asked Chen Qiusheng to sit on the edge of the kang, "How much flour has been leaked from these few days? Xiao Qi is waiting for it. It's agreed to be 75 cents per pound. I think the price is okay."
If you said the price was okay, then it was okay. Why did you suddenly look at Qi Weidong? Qi Weidong and Liu Zhiquan both shuddered. Even Li Lin and Xie Hongbing, who had been playing dumb, felt a chill down their spines.
Chen Qiusheng calculated in his mind for a while before saying, "I think if everyone puts their food together, we can have about 700 to 800 kilograms. But captain, everyone knows that Ping An Village has started to leak vermicelli. If we give all our vermicelli to Xiao Qi at once, and others ask about it..."
See, Chen Qiu Sheng is so thoughtful. Xia Juhua looked at him approvingly, then looked at Qi Weidong: "Tell Qiu Sheng what you just thought."
What was he thinking just now? Qi Weidong looked at Xia Juhua with a confused face, and found that she was looking at him teasingly. He suddenly realized what he had discussed with Liu Zhiquan in the east room.
Liu Zhiquan's face was too ugly to look at. Just now, when Xia Juhua asked him to call Chen Qiusheng, he was a little nervous. He was hoping that Qi Weidong, who had been in the black market for so many years, could hold out for a while. He didn't expect that Qi Weidong had sold him out in the short time he had been calling for help.
"Mom..." Liu Zhiquan's voice trembled.
"What do you think?" Xia Juhua looked at her eldest son, her expression neither brightened nor darkened. She just asked Liu Zhiquan what he thought. Although Xia Juhua had just said something decisive in front of Qi Weidong, she still hoped that Liu Zhiquan could have his own ideas. After all, the family would definitely be divided in the future, and Liu Zhiquan would have to take on the responsibility of being the pillar of the family.
Liu Zhiquan felt relieved when his mother called him by her name. He gritted his teeth and said, "Mom, Lele is still young, and Caifeng needs another two years to work in the fields. I can't let you and Zhishuang earn money for them every year - Zhishuang has to get married in the future. So I thought that Zhishuang and I can finish the sweet potatoes in our house in two days, and I want to earn some money with Xiaoqi in the rest of the time."
Chen Qiu Sheng looked at Liu Zhiquan in surprise, then at Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua was not as furious as she had imagined. She only asked, "You said you wanted to make money with Xiao Qi. You need to have money to collect vermicelli from others, and you can't let others know. You have to do it secretly at night. Can you bear the hardship?"
Chen Qiu Sheng wanted to leave the main house very much, but he sat there motionless as a mountain - the captain dared to let him listen to such private family affairs, which showed that he did not consider himself an outsider at all. If he left, he would never be able to step into the Liu family again.
So Chen Qiusheng sat very steadily, and even interrupted Liu Zhiquan to ask: "Zhiquan, if you don't have enough money, I can help you."
Liu Zhiquan smiled gratefully at Chen Qiusheng and said, "No need. I dare not charge too much at the beginning. I will charge as much as I can. Xiao Qi will not deduct money from me. I will continue to charge after I make some money."
After talking to Chen Qiu Sheng, he looked at Xia Juhua carefully.
Xia Juhua had just thought a lot, and now she told Liu Zhiquan bit by bit: "You can go and collect vermicelli if you want, but you can't go door to door. If you want to collect vermicelli from a production team, just go directly to the team leader of that production team."
Chen Qiusheng couldn't help but shout "Captain". Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he hurriedly said, "Let Zhiquan go find the captains of each production team. What if others think that you asked them to collect the crops?"
Xia Juhua chuckled: "As long as Liu Zhiquan collects the vermicelli, others will think that I asked him to do it. I thought about it. The dividends of the four production teams are too small. Let alone the New Year, I am afraid that everyone can't even afford a new bowl."
"I asked Zhiquan to go to the leaders of each production team because I was afraid that there would be people in each production team who were not honest and would talk nonsense. Even if the leaders of each production team had opinions about me, they knew the importance of them, and I also wanted everyone to have some money. When the members have a way out of vermicelli, they will thank their respective leaders, and Zhiquan will not be so conspicuous."
Liu Zhiquan was so excited: "Mom, don't worry, I will be careful."
"I don't care whether you are careful or not, but you can't cheat others. You know better than me how much hardship we farmers have to endure when we leak a little flour, so you can't make money by cheating others."
Qi Weidong looked at Xia Juhua and wanted to say that he had never defeated Ping An Zhuang, but he could only open his mouth and swallow the words back into his stomach.
Liu Zhiquan was in charge of the other production teams, while Chen Qiusheng was in charge of the Pingan Village production team. After dinner, everyone started to work. Within two hours, each household in Pingan Village had delivered 600 kilograms of vermicelli, and they all promised that they had some in stock to cover up the truth.
Qi Weidong didn't expect it to be so smooth, and he smiled from ear to ear: "Auntie, did you see my scale just now? Is it enough?"
Xia Juhua nodded absentmindedly, listening to the movements on the street.
In winter, it gets dark early. After nine o'clock, there are no people walking on the street. You can hear any movement clearly. Half an hour later, the sound of a bicycle approaching in the distance was heard. Xie Hongbing ran out quickly and opened the gate.
"Haha, you two have collected quite a lot." His exclamation to Liu Zhiquan and Li Lin who were pushing their bicycles into the yard finally put Xia Juhua's heart at ease.
Wang Caifeng had also come out of the east room. She walked over to help Liu Zhiquan unload the vermicelli and asked, "Which team did you collect this from? Why is this one so old?"
Liu Zhiquan said with some pride: "We collected 220 kilograms from Team 3."
二百二十斤，只出門三個小時的劉志全，就掙了十一塊錢。王彩鳳有些不可思議的看着眼前的粉條，有些不敢往下卸了——要是弄折了，小齊不要了咋辦。
好在劉志全沒王彩鳳想的多，幫着李林一起，粗手粗腳的把粉條拎進了廚房裏，才樂呵呵的跑到夏菊花面前報喜：“娘，我跟李林一共收了四百二十斤粉條。”
剛才劉志全和王彩鳳的對話，夏菊花和齊衛東都聽見了，不想他進來說的數跟王彩鳳說的不一樣，夏菊花就要問問為啥了。
李林沒用劉志全開口，直接告訴夏菊花：“大哥太見外了，我就是跟他去做個伴，他非得說這是我們兩個人收的，誰帶回來的粉條算誰的。早知道我就不跟大哥一起去了。”
齊衛東聽了忙勸劉志全：“大哥，李林和謝紅兵我每次都給他們分錢，這回收來的粉條，都得算你的。”說着就示意謝紅兵掏錢給劉志全。
夏菊花沖着齊衛東擺擺手：“就按志全說的辦。他說的沒錯，不是李林跟他去，他自己也就能帶回二百來斤粉條，剩下的都是李林帶回來的，憑啥給志全錢。”
劉志全跟王彩鳳都點頭，劉志雙有些羨慕的看着謝紅兵手裏的錢，不過沒插嘴，眼看着齊衛東擰不過夏菊花和劉志全兩個，真的只付給劉志全十一塊錢。
“加起來一千多斤粉條，你們仨能帶回去嘛？”夏菊花有些替齊衛東犯愁。
齊衛東笑了一聲，說：“嬸子要是心疼我們怕我們累着，就讓志雙跟我們跑一趟。”
四個人四輛自行車，分到每輛自行車上是二百多斤，綁好了大小夥子帶起來真沒啥問題。劉志全就說：“要不還是我送你們回去吧。”
夏菊花就說：“算了，你跑了一晚上也累了，讓志雙送送他們。”
剛被卸下的粉條，又被悄沒聲的綁到了自行車上，劉志全挨個車後架晃了晃，覺得綁得挺牢實，就對劉志雙說：“你騎車的時候小心點兒，可別二半夜自己往回騎，在小齊衛那對付一會兒，等明天起早回來。”
劉志雙聽了一樂，回頭看了親娘一眼，見親娘沖他微微點頭，臉上露出笑來，黑暗裏只能看到他的白牙，多少有點兒詭異。
夏菊花連忙小聲說：“你們快走吧。要是路上碰着人了別理。要是紅小隊的話，寧可自行車和粉條都不要了，也別跟他們沖突。”
“得了嬸子，”齊衛東的白牙也露出來了：“你快回屋歇着吧，那幾個紅小隊不敢把我們咋樣。”
是了，自己咋又忘了齊衛東是能指揮得了紅小隊的人了。夏菊花自失的一笑，還是看着幾人悄悄出了家門，聽着街上沒了動靜，才躺下休息。
第二天天剛麻麻亮，劉志雙就在外頭敲門，并沒睡好的夏菊花起身要開門的時候，聽到劉志全已經把人放進來了，還問：“咋這時候就回來了，也不說多睡會兒。”
劉志雙就說：“怕回來晚了路上讓人看見，不好說。娘還沒起呢？”
劉志全悶悶的說：“沒起呢。老二，我跟你嫂子商量了，昨天本來應該我去送齊衛東，卻讓你跑一趟，那昨天掙的錢就有你一份。這是五塊錢，我占你一塊錢便宜。”
本想出門問問情況的夏菊花，手停在了門闩上，耳朵支棱起來聽劉志雙咋說。
劉志雙已經快炸毛了：“哥，你是瞧不起我，還是覺得我是見錢眼開的人。小齊是因為跟娘熟悉了，才一直跟咱們收粉條，那我送送他們不是應該的？我也是娘的兒子。”
不善言辭的劉志全除了“不是”“不能讓你白跑”外，說不出別的話來，兩兄弟小聲的在院子裏撕巴了起來。
夏菊花一拉門闩把門打開，院子裏的兩兄弟一下子都停下了動作。夏菊花小聲說：“你們兩上街上撕巴去，讓人都知道你們兩長能耐了。”
“娘，不是那回事兒。”劉志全臉有些紅。
劉志雙就笑嘻嘻的說：“我哥非得跟我見外，我這不是不想讓他跟我分家嘛。”
劉志全一聽急了：“誰說要跟你分家來着。”
“那你跟我丁是丁卯是卯的。”
“都給我進來。”夏菊花見劉志全被劉志雙堵的沒話說，好氣又好笑的沖兩人低吼了一句，兩個人同時低了頭，跟着她進了屋。
剛才起的匆忙，夏菊花連窗簾都沒拉，進屋裏還有些暗。她一邊上炕把窗簾拉起來，一邊問：“你們昨天啥時候到了縣城，路上沒碰着啥人吧？”
劉志雙臉上的笑就沒下去過：“沒碰着人，一道上可清靜了，十點兒多就到了小齊家，沒耽誤睡覺。”
十點兒多倒不算太晚，夏菊花邊疊被邊漫不經心的問：“那小齊給你多少辛苦錢呀？”
劉志雙從兜裏掏出張票子來，往親娘面前一遞：“給了我五塊錢。我說不要，他說娘你準知道他得給我錢，同意讓我送他回去，就是讓我收下這錢呢。”要不昨晚走的時候，娘能沖自己點頭？
劉志全有些吃驚的問：“那小齊還能掙錢嘛？”收粉條的價格本來就不低，一斤給自己五分差價，劉志雙送一回又給五塊跑腿錢，咋算咋虧了。
他有些埋怨的看向夏菊花：“娘，你真同意老二收下這錢呀？”
看着處事明顯不同的兩個兒子，夏菊花不介意向劉志全解釋清楚：“人家小齊這是會辦事兒。他怕你掙了錢志雙心裏不舒服，才非得讓志雙送他們一趟。要不三個大小夥子，把粉條綁結實點兒，還帶不了一千斤粉條？”
劉志全覺得自己有點兒委屈：“那錢我又不會自己都拿了。要不下回讓志雙替他收粉條吧。”
劉志雙忙說：“我可沒空，我還得跟着秋生哥學記帳呢。等拖拉機來了，我就得鼓搗拖拉機了，哪有空兒天天替他收粉條。”
這話說的夏菊花十分欣慰：“嗯，志雙知道心疼你養兩孩子不容易，你不用心裏覺得過不去。還有，告訴彩鳳別老替志雙洗衣裳，他那麽大個人自己還揉不了兩件衣裳了？”
眼見着親娘又把槍口對準自己，劉志雙一點兒委屈的表情都不敢露出來：“對，哥你跟嫂子說，她天天看兩個孩子帶做飯，挺累的別替我洗衣裳了。”
劉志全想不明白明明是說分錢的事兒，話題咋突然轉移到王彩鳳幫劉志雙洗衣裳上頭去了，帶着些不在意說：“她天天在家沒事兒……”
剛說到這兒就覺得有一道犀利的目光盯上了自己，一看正是親娘沉着臉看着自己往下說，他哪兒還敢說得下去，嗫嚅了兩下閉了嘴。
“得了，都回去洗漱去吧。該挑水的挑水該掃院子的掃院子。志全，今天要是小莊頭和四隊五隊有人問你收粉條的事兒，你知道咋說不？”對大兒子的大男子主義，夏菊花都懶得說啥了，只問自己擔心的問題。
話題跳來跳去的，真讓劉志全有些招架不住，帶着些茫然說：“小齊今天又不來，還收啥粉條。”
嗯，夏菊花心裏點了點頭，臉色也好看了不少：“雖然牛隊長嘴嚴，可他們生産隊賣粉條的人嘴不一定都嚴，你象剛才那麽跟人說就行。”
意思是親娘認可自己的回答了？劉志全覺得自己剛才的是在回答親娘的問題，而不是預演咋回應另外三個生産隊的隊長，咋就讓親娘認可了呢？
他得回去好好琢磨琢磨，實在不行跟媳婦商量一下。
帶着疑惑的劉志全走了，劉志雙還留在正房。夏菊花有些不解的看他一眼：“你還不快洗漱去，一會兒你嫂子做飯沒水，可別怪我削你。”
劉志雙就把那五塊錢又遞到親娘面前：“娘，這錢你收着。你放心，大哥現在負擔重，他多掙點兒錢養孩子，最後咱們也能省點兒心，我不會為這個對小齊或是對你有意見。”
你有得着嗎？夏菊花鄙視的看了劉志雙一眼，把眼前的五塊錢一推：“你自己的辛苦錢自己拿着吧。小齊賠不了錢，我也不缺這五塊錢花。”
劉志雙沒再推讓，笑着裝起錢說：“那行，晚上我請娘吃炖肉。”
夏菊花沒說拒絕的話，兒子掙了錢請全家吃頓好的，有啥可推辭的。
裝起錢來的劉志雙，還是不走，夏菊花真的奇怪了：“還有事兒？”
劉志雙罕見的吱唔了起來：“娘，你說老讓嫂子替我洗衣裳，不是回事兒是吧？”
當然不是回事兒，夏菊花有點兒警覺的看向劉志雙：“你自己不會勤快點兒，別把髒衣裳都堆到一塊，讓你嫂子看不過眼？”
“娘，其實吧，你說要是，是吧？”劉志雙看了親娘一眼，臉上有點兒發燙也沒把話說清楚。
要不說是親娘呢。這麽吱吱唔唔的，夏菊花竟然聽懂了劉志雙想表達的意思：“咋地，你想重新相看媳婦啦？”
此時天已經大亮，可以看到劉志雙的臉紅的跟塊紅布一樣了，不過他還是堅持着把話說明白：“就是我覺得，咱們兩家隔壁住着，人啥樣、家兒啥樣都清楚，沒那些攪家的事兒……”
“你給我等會兒，”夏菊花聽出不對勁來了：“你看上誰了？”
“就是，就是陳叔家的小滿。”劉志雙咬咬牙，把話說明白了。
夏菊花揚了揚自己手裏的掃炕笤帚，又無力的放下了：“小滿比你小三歲呢，比紅玲才大多少。”說到這兒夏菊花不說了，畢竟小三歲并沒小多少。
“小滿自己知道嗎？”這一點很重要。
劉志雙嘴角就想往上扯，強忍住了回答親娘的問題：“那天陳嬸子要讓小滿去小莊頭相看，她不願意，問我來着。”
明白了，夏菊花長出一口氣，沒好氣的問：“啥時候的事兒？”
“就是娘你去買拖拉機那天的事兒。”劉志雙終于沒忍住，一擡頭露出白牙：“我沒敢跟她說啥，就說得回來問問你。”
你問個屁！夏菊花恍惚記起來，那天宣布陳秋生當生産隊長的時候，別的小姑娘都圍着自己說話，小滿竟然沒跟劉紅玲幾個一起，只站在外圍看着自己。
敢情小丫頭那時候就以為劉志雙跟自己說過了，才不敢正面自己吧。
夏菊花不由嘆了一口氣：“你陳叔他們怕是看不上你。”你可是離過一次婚的人。哪怕夏菊花上輩子喝藥的時候，離婚在農村來說還會讓人議論，何況是在人們思想更加保守的七十年代。
聽到這兒劉志雙白牙全都被掩蓋了起來：“娘，那你說咋辦？”
能咋辦？夏菊花還想問他呢：“你自己呢，是覺得小滿自己跟你說了，又不好意思拒絕，還是真想跟小滿好好過日子？”想起劉志雙的前科，夏菊花不能不有這樣的擔心。
劉志雙擡眼看了親娘一眼，才說：“娘，我覺得小滿挺聰明的，在力柱叔那兒學東西也學的挺快，陳叔和陳嬸也不是事兒多的人。”
就是你真看上人家閨女了呗。夏菊花讓劉志雙去洗漱他的，自己要好好想一想。劉志雙有點兒急了：“娘，我這回是真自己想清楚了，不會再……我看小滿也不是多嘴多舌的人。”
“知道啦，刷你的牙去。”夏菊花不耐煩的往出趕人。一直沒見夏菊花出門的王彩鳳，正把水燒開了想給她灌暖壺，聽她好象跟劉志雙生氣的樣子，想到劉志全剛才回屋跟自己說的話，不由當起和事佬來：“娘，開水燒好了，我給你灌上？”
劉志雙祈求的看了夏菊花一眼，沒得到回應，只好低着頭出門，見王彩鳳擔心的看自己，帶着些不好意思叫聲嫂子，馬上回自己屋拿臉盆去了。
“娘，志雙這是還生志全的氣呢？”王彩鳳有些不安的看着劉志雙的背影問。
夏菊花口氣仍不算好：“他有啥可生氣的，天天不氣死我就算好的了。”
王彩鳳聽出婆婆不高興，不敢再問，灌完暖壺之後回屋邊伺候孩子邊自己納悶去了。
吃完飯夏菊花就去找五爺——此時的農村雖然也提倡自由戀愛，可不管是不是自由戀愛，最終婚禮上是要有一個媒人，才讓大家覺得正式合規矩。加之劉志雙離過婚，還不知道人家陳冬生兩口子是個啥想法，更得有一個德高望重的人做媒才有份量。
五爺聽了倒挺樂呵：“志雙這一年幹的不錯，人也長得精神，再說還有你這麽一個能幹的婆婆，誰家閨女嫁了志雙都是掉進福窩裏去了。冬生兩口子會同意的。”
夏菊花卻沒五爺那麽樂觀：“人家要是看得上志雙，還能讓小滿相看小莊頭的小夥子？”
五爺覺得夏菊花太貶低劉志雙了，帶些不滿說：“你們家的條件在那兒擺着呢，說不定人家兩口子怕攀不上你們家，都沒敢考慮志雙呢。”你還是親娘嗎，咋就那麽看不上自己的親兒子呢。
夏菊花能告訴五爺自己上輩子就知道小兒子不靠譜嘛？她只能請五爺悄悄試探一下陳冬生兩口子的意思，等她從大隊回來了，再聽結果。
這麽一折騰，夏菊花到大隊的時間就有些晚了，李長順、劉力群幾個大隊幹部都已經來了。別人不會問夏菊花為啥來晚，李長順卻能問：“平安莊有啥事兒嗎？”
夏菊花搖頭：“沒有，是我家那個不省心的志雙，天天淨惹人生氣。”
“我看志雙挺好的，他能惹你生氣？”李長順不信，從關注夏菊花那天起，連帶着夏菊花的兩個兒子他也關注了，都是幹活不惜力的好小子。
被李長順這麽一說，夏菊花都要懷疑自己是不是劉志雙的親娘了：“大隊長，你不知道那小子……”夏菊花剛說到這兒，覺得自己家的破事兒不該在大隊部說，就搖頭不說了。
很看好劉志雙的常會計有些焦急的看了李長順一眼，見人微微向自己搖頭，強忍住沒有問出聲。李長順看出夏菊花不想說，就問：“上回我去平安莊，你不是說想讓建啥幼兒園嘛，咋樣了？”
“人選還沒定呢，不過問過幾個孩子小的婦女，都願意跟別人換工。”小孩子睡的時間長，有人在旁邊照看一眼就行，婦女們相互間幫把手，很可以騰出手來做點兒別的事兒。
李長順聽了就點頭說：“那四個生産隊我也跟他們說了，三隊說也要學着平安莊搞一個，小莊頭和四隊都心動，不過得再問問那些帶孩子的。你知道他們都是大老爺們，問這話不如你方便。”
夏菊花越聽越不對勁：“大隊長，我記得咱們大隊應該有一個婦女主任呀，咋沒見人呢？”要是有個婦女主任，不就不擔心大老爺們不好問這些問題了嘛。
劉力群有些想笑的看了李長順一眼，發現他的老臉有些發紅，扭頭裝做沒聽到夏菊花的問題。常會計覺得屋裏一直靜着不是回事兒，笑了一下說：“前兩年倒是有婦女主任，可工作太不積極，還老是這事兒那事兒的，大隊長覺得不用婦女主任也能做好工作，就……”
明白了，就是嫌棄女人事兒多，礙手礙腳呗。夏菊花有些不解的看向李長順，很想問問他既然覺得女人礙事，那咋非得讓自己這個女的當大隊長呢？
不過婦女主任沒人也不是回事兒，夏菊花有理由相信，如果大隊的婦女主任一直空缺，以後碰到關于婦女工作的問題，這幾個人一定會推到自己頭上。
她的預感是正确的，李長順已經開口說：“要不你上各生産隊問問？”
夏菊花堅決搖頭：“我今天還想去問問張主任，啥時候能把拖拉機給咱們送過來呢，沒空兒。”
劉力群又在強忍笑，常會計也把臉扭到一邊去了，李長順自己有些尴尬的說：“你不是才當上大隊長兩天嘛。”着什麽急。
夏菊花很淡定的說：“是呀，我才當大隊長兩天，連各生産隊的人還沒認識幾個呢，哪兒知道誰家有多大的孩子？”
李長順無話可說了。夏菊花不想在這裏多呆，起身想離開大隊部，不想李長順又從後頭追上來叫住了她：“我看你今天心氣不順，真讓志雙氣着啦？”
資歷和歲數在那兒擺着呢，夏菊花也不好真給李長順掉臉色，簡單的說了一下劉志雙和小滿的事兒：“我倒不是生他的氣，就怕這事兒不成的話，我和招弟兩個不好見面了。”孫招弟也是一個上輩子對夏菊花懷有善意的人，夏菊花不想這輩子反而無法和她好好相處。
李長順聽了心裏叫苦，嘴上還得勸夏菊花：“兒孫自有兒孫福，真成了是他的福氣，不成的話，陳冬生兩口子也怪不到你頭上——又不是志雙先找的小滿。”
正說着，就見李大牛忽匆匆進了大隊部，一見李長順和夏菊花都在院子裏站着，停下腳步打了一聲招呼：“大隊長。”也不知道他叫的是誰。
李長順見他來得匆忙，開口就問：“你們生産隊出啥事兒了，咋這麽急三火四的？”
李大牛就看了夏菊花一眼，夏菊花十分不解的回看他，看的李大牛有些着急，也不顧李長順還有邊上就問：“大隊長，聽說昨天晚上志全去三隊收粉條了？”
“啥？”李長順跟着李大牛一起看夏菊花，把人看的一臉無辜：“志全去三隊收粉條，我咋不知道？”
李大牛見夏菊花竟不承認，急了：“大隊長，咱可不能不認帳呀。是，牛老別啥事兒都跟着平安莊走，可我們不也學着幹呢，你不能只管三隊不管我們生産隊。”
李長順就看着夏菊花不說話。
夏菊花早知道有這一出，臉上平靜的跟聽別人的事兒似的：“誰跟你說的，讓他來咱們當面說清楚。”
Li Daniu was silent for a moment. He was also digging for stubs when he heard people from the production team whispering that because of his strained relationship with Xia Juhua, the production team next to each other would rather accept vermicelli from the third team than from the small village. Li Daniu was anxious and ran to Xia Juhua to verify it.
If I really told Xia Juhua what happened and called those members who were gossiping about it to confront them, would Xia Juhua think that Xiao Zhuangtou was spreading rumors and would she really not care about Xiao Zhuangtou anymore?
This man sent both his mother-in-law and brother-in-law to remedial classes. It has been a year now, and Liu Sizhuang and his wife have not returned from the classes yet.
Li Changshun was so angry that he yelled at Li Daniu in a low voice: "You have no brains, you just believe whatever others say. You're collecting vermicelli. The sweet potatoes they grow in Ping'an Village are leaking vermicelli, how can they have the time to collect vermicelli from Team 3?"
Xia Juhua pretended she didn't hear Li Changshun's words of admonition and said to Li Daniu, "If Captain Li doesn't believe it and doesn't want to ask his own production team to come and explain it to me in person, then why don't we go to Team Three and take a look. According to what you said, Zhiquan took the vermicelli from Team Three, so Team Three must be out of vermicelli now. If there is any left, Captain Li should..."
Li Changshun slapped Li Daniu in the face, then turned to Xia Juhua and forced a smile: "If you just listen to his nonsense, you don't have to do anything else. Go and do your thing."
Xia Juhua looked at Li Daniu again and found that his head was almost down to his chest, so she pushed her bicycle out of the brigade. When she got on the bicycle, she heard Li Changshun scolding Li Daniu in a full-throated voice: "You have no brains!"
Li Daniu was a little unconvinced: "I'm just anxious. The work points this year are low, and we don't even have money for the New Year. Everyone heard that the vermicelli from Team 3 was taken away yesterday, and they were eager to find out when we can go to Xiaozhuang to collect the vermicelli."
"Then why are you questioning them in public? Xia Juhua owes you money, so why should she accept vermicelli from you? Besides, can this matter be discussed openly? If the people in your production team are talking about it, you should scold them and tell them to stop talking nonsense."
"How nice of you to come and ask for them. Even if they accept it in the future, will they dare to accept it from the small manor? Don't you think about it? Last year, no one could have guessed that Ping An Manor would definitely sell vermicelli, but did you see anyone from Ping An Manor come out and say anything? You can't even control your mouth, who would dare to deal with you?"
The more Li Daniu listened, the more he regretted it: "Captain, you think Xia Juhua won't really hate us, right? We just don't have any money, and I'm worried too."
"If you don't want others to hate you, then do what Xia Juhua asks you to do. She is a practical person. No matter how well you talk, she won't see it if you don't do the work in a practical way." If Li Changshun had a bad leg, he would have wanted to give Li Daniu a kick.
"Xia Juhua didn't tell us what to do." Li Daniu tried to recall what Xia Juhua said to him yesterday after she came to the village. From beginning to end, Xia Juhua said, "It depends on the situation."