Chapter 99
Li Changshun thought he knew why Xia Juhua was so unwilling to be the team leader. Why didn't he realize that Li Daniu was so ignorant before? "You dare to say that you collect vermicelli? Remember this, the vermicelli of Ping'anzhuang team is all for their own consumption. We have never sold it before, and we will not sell even a pound in the future. No one has ever collected vermicelli in any production team!"
After he finished yelling while panting, Li Changshun had only one thought in mind, that is, he had to be like the fifth master of Ping'an Village and not come to the brigade headquarters anymore. Instead, he would watch Li Daniu and the people of the production team in the small village every day to see if they dared to say anything.
If he didn't shut them up, Li Changshun would not be able to see Xia Juhua again.
Thinking of this, Li Changshun suddenly remembered that Li Daniu from Xiaozhuangtou was like this, so did the people from Team 4 and Team 5 also want to stop Xia Juhua and ask for an explanation like Li Daniu?
Oh my God, those two guys should quiet down a bit. Li Daniu alone is already annoying enough. If those two were to do the same as Li Daniu and ask Xia Juhua in person, Li Changshun would feel that Xia Juhua would have to take over.
If Li Changshun knew that what he was worried about had become a reality, and that Xia Juhua was now standing and talking with the production team leaders of Team 4, he would probably have to bypass Xia Juhua and hold a meeting with those production team leaders to teach them what they could and could not say to Xia Juhua.
Fortunately, the fourth team leader was a few years older than Li Daniu and was much more tactful. When he saw Xia Juhua riding a bicycle past his production team, he stopped her with a smile and said, "Captain, you are here to instruct our production team again?"
Xia Juhua smiled helplessly: "You are the old production team leader. You have more experience than me in everything you do. Do you still need my guidance?"
The fourth team leader was annoyed when he heard this: "You can't say that. Even though I have been the production team leader for more years than you, compared to you, I feel that all these years I have been the team leader have been in vain."
"Come on, come on, Captain, come sit in our production team for a while." The fourth captain did not give Xia Juhua a chance to refuse, and started to help Xia Juhua push the bicycle. Xia Juhua held the handlebars tightly and asked directly: "Fourth captain, if you have anything to say, just say it here, I still have to go to the commune."
When he heard that Xia Juhua was going to the commune, the fourth team leader's eyes lit up: "Captain, are you going to ask for a tractor? If a tractor comes, can our team use it to repair the canal?"
"There are only two tractors, and we haven't even chosen the tractor operator yet. Once we choose one, we need to train it for a while. It's not like we can use it right away." Xia Juhua thought it was time to choose another tractor operator. But she had to listen to the opinions of Li Changshun and others before choosing, and she was afraid that there would be another argument.
The fourth captain smiled and said, "No matter who you choose as the tractor driver, they will definitely be smart and capable and will learn it quickly."
Xia Juhua didn't know whether to accept the flattery from the captain who was a few years older than her. Just as she was feeling awkward, an old man from the fourth team slowly walked over and asked, "Captain, is this our new captain?"
The fourth captain nodded: "Yes. This is our Captain Xia."
"Captain Xia, you are a good man." After the old man shouted this, his legs went weak and he actually knelt down in front of Xia Juhua. Xia Juhua was so scared that she didn't even care about her bicycle and hurried forward to help the old man.
The old man refused to get up and said with tears in his eyes: "We old guys have heard from the captain that it was you, Captain Xia, who asked him to give each of us three pounds of white flour. Captain, I have lived to such an old age and have never eaten noodles made of pure white flour. Thanks to you, I can eat them now."
"Grandpa, please get up quickly. If you continue to behave like this, I won't dare to come to Team 4 again." Xia Juhua and the captain of Team 4 finally managed to get the old man up. The old man was still muttering to thank Xia Juhua.
The fourth captain listened to him nagging endlessly and said to the old man in embarrassment: "Second uncle, you should go back first. Captain Xia has something important to do. If you mess up her business, you won't get any flour next time."
When he heard that he would no longer be given white flour, the old man said, "I'm content to have gotten this once. I've never seen a captain who treats us old fools like human beings." Having said this, he still walked towards the village.
"Captain Four, your production team paid for the bran, and you sifted out the flour yourselves. Even how much to distribute to the elderly was decided by your production team. How can you attribute the credit to me?" Xia Juhua felt very troubled.
The fourth team leader smiled and said, "Captain, you don't know, ever since we brought back the sweet potato vines from Ping'an Village in the spring and planted them according to the method you taught us in Ping'an Village, everyone in our production team is willing to believe what you say."
"Originally, when those people saw the white flour being sifted out, they all wanted to get some for themselves. Even if each person could only get a handful, they were willing to take it for themselves. I had no choice but to say that it was you who said that the white flour should be given priority to the elderly over 65 years old. That's why..."
Xia Juhua was speechless, so she wanted to ask the fourth captain: Who taught you to blame her for the split because you were afraid that the members would have opinions?
But Captain Four had already spoken, and Xia Juhua couldn't take it back even if she didn't admit it, so she could only smile bitterly: "Captain Four, you're forcing me to never dare to come to Team Four again."
The fourth team leader was not afraid of Xia Juhua's threats at all: "If you don't dare to come to the fourth team, I will go to Ping'an Village to find you. I have thought about it. After the task of repairing the canal comes, I will repair it for five days in Ping'an Village first, and then repair the canal of our production team."
Your good attitude is a little scary. Seeing that the fourth team leader didn't seem to be joking, Xia Juhua nodded: "As long as you production team members have no objection, it's fine."
"Why would they have any objections?" The fourth captain said with a smile, "If it weren't for the fact that they are not allowed to relocate their household registration now, they would be eager to relocate their household registration to your Ping'an Village. By the way, Captain Xia, your two nieces should find a husband, right? We have a few good young men in our production team. I'll bring them to you when we build the canal."
These words frightened Xia Juhua so much that she quickly got on her bike and ran away, only caring about what Captain Four said: "That's my niece, not my daughter. If you take someone with you, you have to find her parents."
The fourth captain looked at Xia Juhua's panicked back with a smile, wondering which people he should take to build the canal for Ping'an Village.
Xia Juhua could not have imagined that the fourth team leader was so persistent. Director Zhang could not have imagined that Xia Juhua wanted the tractor so urgently: "The county agricultural machinery station just issued a notice to ask the commune agricultural machinery station to bring back the tractor. Why are you here so soon? You have such long ears."
Xia Juhua smiled apologetically: "It's almost time to repair the canal. Since they said they would give us a tractor, we should drive it back earlier so that the tractor operator can get familiar with it for two days."
Director Zhang had to remind Xia Juhua: "Even if the tractors are given to the Ping'anzhuang Brigade, the two tractor operators must not both be from the Ping'anzhuang Production Team."
Xia Juhua had also thought of this, and she had been thinking about another candidate for the tractor driver. But today she came to the commune to find Director Zhang and ask when the tractor would arrive, which was just a cover: "Director Zhang, I have something to report to you."
I told him about the militiamen who patrolled on an empty stomach every day and were not very motivated, fearing accidents. Director Zhang was also troubled when he heard it: "It's not just your brigade, other brigades have this situation too. But the reserve grain cannot be moved in any brigade. As for the granaries of the production teams, I think except for your Ping'anzhuang Brigade, the grain in the granaries of other brigades is not as much as the grain in the rat hole."
"There is not much food in the granaries of the production teams in our brigade." Xia Juhua quickly stated.
Director Zhang was too angry to care and walked back and forth in his office, saying, "The relief rations must not be moved. Other brigades are counting on them. By the way, I heard that you guys have come forward from the wheat bran screening?"
Xia Juhua nodded and asked, "Can we buy some more bran?"
Director Zhang shook his head: "Impossible. Last time you brought so many people to the noodle factory, the factory manager called me right away and said he would rather not eat fried peanuts than have anything to do with you."
Well, Xia Juhua didn't think it was possible for her to have dealings with the noodle factory again - at least not in an open way.
Then Director Zhang continued, "The noodle factory was criticized by the county for filtering noodles from wheat bran. They said they were not careful in their work and it resulted in waste. Do you think you can still sell wheat bran?"
If they don't want to buy it, then they don't want to buy it. But the problem of the militia patrolling at night with hunger still needs to be solved. Xia Juhua asked, "Director Zhang, I heard that the Red Team gets subsidies every day?"
Director Zhang told her to quickly dispel this idea: "Official members of the Red Team will each be given ten work points per day in the production team where their household registration is located, and the commune will also give them a subsidy of half a pound of grain coupons. This is a unified regulation of the county. Basic militia patrols also have their work points recorded separately, and their nature is the same as that of the Red Team."
It's the same, but every grassroots militiaman is a person who lives a serious life. They are different from the Red Team. Many people in the Red Team just live from day to day and don't even care whether their parents have food to eat.
"Director, I'm worried that the relief rations won't last long. Once they're gone, someone will come up with other solutions. The militia will be hungry themselves, and what will they do if they're instigated by others? Besides, our brigade can still think of solutions on its own, but other brigades may not even be able to keep the little relief rations they have."
The words may sound alarmist, but they are not impossible. Director Zhang paced around the room again, and after a while he finally picked up the phone and made a call. Xia Juhua could tell that he was talking to Deputy Director Qi.
夏菊花慢慢推門出去，等在辦公室外頭。好一會兒張主任在屋裏喊了一聲夏大隊長，夏菊花才重新進來：“張主任，縣裏咋說？”
張主任搖了搖頭：“縣裏也沒啥好辦法，還得你們大隊自己解決。”
“那我們先借糧行不行？”
“夏菊花同志。”張主任嚴肅的叫了夏菊花的名字：“你不要犯錯誤。”
“好吧。”夏菊花除了答應，還能說什麽？
她慢慢騎着自行車回平安莊，地裏随處可見社員刨茬子的身影。春天的時候大家帶着希望把種子種到地裏，從春到秋不敢耽誤一點兒功夫的伺候，最終收獲的不是癟籽就是幹巴巴的穗子，現在還得把茬子刨出來，為來年的春耕做好準備。
靠天吃飯的農民真是太苦了。
看到的景象讓夏菊花本就低落的心情更加難受起來，回到大隊部後跟常會計打了一聲招呼，又騎上自行車回家了。
常會計在夏菊花走後，已經聽李長順說了劉志雙和小滿的事兒，也沒心情跟夏菊花寒喧，直到人走遠了才想起來，還沒問夏菊花去公社的結果。
事兒沒辦成的結果，夏菊花誰也不想告訴，直到看到又出現在自家的齊衛東，才有了點兒精神：“你咋又來了，昨天不是把粉條都收了嗎？”
齊衛東沖着夏菊花笑的一臉谄媚：“嬸子，昨天大哥才收了一個生産隊的，不是還有三個生産隊呢嘛。我想着今天晚上再辛苦大哥跑一趟。”
夏菊花心裏一動，問：“小齊，你還能不能搞到紅薯？”別看今年平安莊大隊紅薯收成不少，跟去年把全縣的紅薯都漏個遍還真沒法比。
齊衛東也撓頭：“嬸子，你知道今年除了你們大隊和夏家莊，別處都沒啥收成。不光平德縣，整個承平地區都一樣，還真沒處找紅薯去。”
“那別的糧食呢？”夏菊花覺得齊衛東在黑市這麽些年，不可能只做平德縣的買賣，否則去年也不會想到把粉條賣到承平地區去。
齊衛東有些不解：“家裏糧食不夠吃嗎，嬸子你想要啥糧食，不行我給你送點兒細糧來？”
夏菊花搖頭說：“不用非得上細糧。你都知道平安莊大隊今年有收成，現在外頭人眼睛都盯着平安莊大隊呢，全仗着民兵每天晚上巡邏，才把這點兒糧食守住了。平安莊還好，那幾個生産隊的民兵家裏晚上舍不得吃幹的，都餓着肚子巡邏，用不了幾天人就該受不了了。”
“那也不能讓嬸子你想辦法。”齊衛東剛說這麽一句，就被夏菊花瞪的不敢往下說了——再說下去齊小叔那個罪魁禍首，又得被夏菊花拉出來說道說道。
夏菊花給齊衛東解釋，各生産隊其實今年分的糧食都夠吃了，只不過大家對旱災持續到啥時候心裏沒底，就想着趁有糧食的時候省一口是一口，來年能多撐一段時間。
“我覺得咋也旱不到明年秋天去，可說出去誰信呢。”夏菊花有點失落。
聽着兩人對話的劉志全很想告訴親娘，如果她說的話，平安莊的人都能信，就是三隊的人也能信一大半。
對此完全沒有認知的夏菊花還在對齊衛東說：“既然明年秋天能有收成，那現在省着把身體都熬壞了，不是自己糟蹋自己嗎？可大家都舍不得，不如我們大隊悄悄買上點兒糧食，每天晚上給巡邏的民兵吃上一口。”
聽到夏菊花說旱災持續不了多久，齊衛東也很高興，他願意相信夏菊花的話——旱災農民手裏沒錢，有點兒糧食雞蛋也舍不得往出賣，他的買賣同樣不好幹。
“行，嬸子，那我給你想想辦法。”想到以後的買賣能好幹，齊衛東臉上笑藏都藏不住，應的也痛快。
他痛快，夏菊花也痛快：“行，那咱們趕緊吃飯，吃了飯就讓志全去四隊。”
“去四隊？”劉志全疑惑的問：“小莊頭離咱們生産隊近，咋不先去小莊頭？”
“人家四隊長今天和我說了，要先給咱們修五天渠再修他們生産隊的，你早點兒收他們生産隊的粉條咋啦？”夏菊花看了劉志全一眼說：“你跟四隊隊長說，一斤粉條得扣出三分錢來，問他同不同意。”
見齊衛東跟劉志全一起看自己，夏菊花不得不說：“大隊出買糧食的錢咋記帳，那粉條都是各家漏出來的，吃到各家人的肚子裏，不過是把他們自己舍不得吃的，逼着他們吃了。”
得了，明白了，更明白夏菊花為啥非得讓先收四隊的了——四隊長今天等于向夏菊花投誠了，很可能答應一斤粉條扣三分錢的條件，而小莊頭的李大牛，可就不一定了。
齊衛東還是不解：“嬸子，那直接告訴那個生産隊長，一斤粉條就是七毛二不就行了，還能讓他們心裏舒服一點兒。”
夏菊花自有她的道理：“那将來的糧食咋解釋，大隊光給基幹民兵晚上加餐，糧食是哪兒來的？”
“那大哥你可得跟那個生産隊長說好了，讓他的嘴嚴實一點兒。”齊衛東還是覺得夏菊花有點兒冒險了，可她的性格就是這樣，想到的事兒一定要做成，齊衛東完全放棄勸說的念頭。
他的話音剛落，劉志雙進來了：“娘，你回來啦，今天咋回來的這麽早呢。剛才我碰着七喜了，說是五爺讓你回來了去他家一趟呢。”
五爺找自己做什麽，夏菊花心裏有數，讓劉志全兄弟陪齊衛東說着話，她自己來到五爺家，發現陳冬生和孫招弟兩口子竟然也在。
劉志雙這臭小子剛才可沒說這兩口子在五爺家。
在先回家打劉志雙一頓，還是直面陳冬生兩口子之間，夏菊花艱難選擇了後者，就是笑的有點兒尴尬。
孫招弟可沒覺得尴尬，看着夏菊花笑的跟朵花兒似的：“你說你跟我還見啥外，直接跟我說就行，還麻煩五爺這麽大歲數替咱們操心。”
更加尴尬的夏菊花笑的跟含了半截黃連一樣：“我這不是聽說你已經給小滿相看別人家了嘛，怕你對志雙不滿意，就……”
陳冬生看了五爺一眼，才對夏菊花說：“咱們做這些年鄰居，孩子們是啥樣我們心裏都有數。以前的事兒也怪不到志雙頭上，他能相中小滿，我們都替小滿高興。”
不是，劉志雙的行情這麽好，夏菊花自己咋不知道呢？她試探着說：“按理我當娘的不該說，可小滿也是我看着長大的，那孩子性子好，腦子也靈，我怕委屈了她。”
“不委屈不委屈。”孫招弟還在笑：“你可不知道，我們小滿天天有家裏誇你呢，恨不得你是她親娘。你看看彩鳳過的是啥日子，村裏哪個小媳婦不願意過彩鳳那樣的日子。”
得了，夏菊花要是再說劉志雙不好，那就不是貶低他一個人的事兒，而是連自己都貶低了。
不過話還得說清楚：“招弟，當着你我也不瞞着。志雙以前娶過一個媳婦，彩禮家裏給他出過一回了。所以他離婚的時候，我當着他哥哥嫂子的面說過，以後他再娶媳婦，彩禮都是他自己出。我那時候也不知道他能跟小滿……”
孫招弟聽了臉上的笑變淡，陳冬生卻開口了：“啥彩禮不彩禮的，他們兩個結婚後能過好比啥都強。就是一分錢彩禮沒有，我們隔壁住着聽他們小兩口熱熱鬧鬧過日子，心裏也高興。”
“你……”孫招弟想不明白，原本一心想給小滿相看一個能多出些彩禮婆家的陳冬生，咋姑爺人選變成劉志雙，就說一分錢彩禮沒有都行了呢。
陳冬生瞪了媳婦一眼，拿出了當家人的氣勢：“當着五爺我這麽說，回家了我還是這麽說。養閨女是為了讓她過好日子的，不是為了用她換彩禮的。”
五爺一直笑眯眯聽着幾個人說話，似乎就是給兩家提供一個場地。直到陳冬生說出這番話來，才笑着說：“冬生這話說到我心裏去了。咱們平安莊這些年本來小子就多，閨女們還都往外村嫁，我看好幾個到年紀的小夥子，都犯愁找對象呢。”
“小滿和志雙的事兒要是成了，把小日子過的紅紅火火的，也讓那些一心想用閨女換彩禮的人看看，是閨女把日子過順心了好，還是換了彩禮跟娘家結仇了好。”
陳冬生見孫招弟還想張嘴，完全不給她說話的機會：“可不就跟五爺說的似的，孩子們把日子過好了，比啥都強。咱們要不是隊長張羅了一年，敢給小滿和她哥一起相看？”
終于找到機會說話的夏菊花開口了：“剛才可能是我沒把話說清楚，讓志雙自己出彩禮，不是不出彩禮。這兩年我們家誰的分紅錢，誰自己拿着一半，志雙自己手裏也有一點兒錢，就是多少你們別挑理。”
Sun Zhaodi's smile widened again, and she pulled Xia Juhua and said a little embarrassedly: "Don't think I'm greedy. The main thing is that other people's daughters have dowries when they get married, but if our Xiaoman doesn't have a dowry, she's afraid that people will laugh at her and say she's worthless. As long as there's a dowry, even if it's just one dollar, it's fine."
Xia Juhua smiled awkwardly but politely.