Chapter 148
An Baoling was not worried that there was anyone else in Ping'an Manor who was making Xia Juhua angry. She was just afraid that someone would say something unpleasant to make Xia Juhua angry. When she just left the hospital, she saw from a distance that Sun was walking towards Xia Juhua.
Xia Juhua paused for a moment and said, "Who can say anything bad? I heard that Seventh Grandma also wanted to raise funds, so I wanted to persuade her not to do so. But she didn't do it, and I felt a little sorry for her."
An Baoling was relieved, and took Xia Juhua to the west wing of the old courtyard to sit down, and said carefully: "Sister-in-law, how much money do you think I should collect?"
Xia Juhua was a little surprised: "Didn't I say that the amount of money raised is voluntary and must be based on your own family's money."
"But sister-in-law, you were the one who proposed this. If our family doesn't raise enough money, won't others think you are gossiping? They will think that no one in the family believes in you and doesn't join in the fundraising. How can the road be built?" An Baoling expressed her concerns.
Xia Juhua never took what others said to heart: "Whoever wants to say it can say it, I am not afraid of it myself, so why should you be afraid?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Li Daya asked An Baoling at the door if her sister-in-law had come. After getting an affirmative answer, she came in and asked the same question as An Baoling.
Xia Juhua said to the two people, "Don't think that you have a burden just because I proposed this. Don't worry that you will not collect enough and people will think that you don't support my work. I don't know your situation. Aren't you all thinking about building the house in autumn? Just build it when it's time. Nothing is more important than building a house."
As soon as the words fell, there was a clang in the yard, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground. Li Daya happened to be standing at the door. She looked into the yard and saw Sun standing in the yard in a daze, with a basket of scattered sweet potato vines under her feet. Her eyes were looking towards the west room, and they met Li Daya's gaze.
Then they both looked at the sweet potato vines and baskets scattered on the ground, and no one said anything. When Sun looked up at Li Daya again, she saw that she had turned her head and went into the house, without even asking why she picked the sweet potato vines and why she scattered them on the ground. She felt mixed emotions.
After Li Daya entered the house and whispered to Xia Juhua and An Baoling about the situation in the yard, the three of them remained silent. What were they talking about? Now it seemed that Sun Shi was indeed a bit pitiful, but the three people in the house were all victims of the things she had done with Liu Sizhuang and his wife in the past few years, and no one could pretend that it had never happened. Not actively looking for trouble with Sun Shi and the others was already their last bottom line.
Only when the sound of picking up sweet potato leaves could be heard in the yard and then disappeared without a sound did Xia Juhua say to Li Daya, "Whatever you and Baoling do, don't consider me. Discuss it with Erzhuang and Sanzhuang first."
The two were in no mood to argue with Xia Juhua anymore. They sent the man out of the courtyard, smiled bitterly at each other, and both felt that what Xia Juhua said made sense: they should build a house quickly and move out. This old courtyard was no longer habitable.
Soon, Hong Ling summarized the data on the possible fundraising of the Ping An Zhuang production team and reported it to Xia Juhua: together with her 5,000 yuan, the Ping An Zhuang production team is expected to raise 47,100 yuan, with an average of 500 yuan per household!
Xia Juhua, who heard this number, thought the same thing as Li Changshun and the others when they heard Xia Juhua say that they could raise 5,000 yuan. They asked Hong Ling, "Did you calculate correctly?"
Hongling smiled and said, "Auntie, I've calculated it several times, and I'm sure it's correct." Then she handed Xia Juhua the list of people who wanted to raise how much money.
After taking it and looking at it, Xia Juhua asked, "Why did you collect so much? Did you collect all the money you saved? What will you use as your dowry when the wedding date is set? Your parents are going to build a house, so I'm afraid they won't be able to give you much."
Hong Ling didn't take it seriously at all: "Auntie, what are you talking about? Our family doesn't ask for a dowry from Xiao Zhao. Just give as much as you can. What can their family complain about? Besides, this money is my own savings. My parents didn't ask for it. I can spend it however I want. I raised the money for a year and there is interest. Isn't it free?"
Hong Ling is no longer the beautiful girl who was given a little more than one yuan by her mother. It is written in black and white that she needs to raise 300 yuan. This money must have been earned after she joined the editing team.
Hearing that she had her own ideas and said things in a set way, Xia Juhua did not try to persuade her - she had turned a blind eye to the two children she gave birth to, and no matter how sensible her niece Hongling was, she could only remind her at most: "I can see that your parents didn't ask for your work points. No other daughter can compare to you. Don't forget how good your parents are to you."
Although Xia Juhua no longer advised Hong Ling not to raise funds, she still had to say what she should say on behalf of Li Daya and her husband.
Even in the Ping'anzhuang production team, the money earned by the unmarried girls in the mat-making group was only given to the girls by Li Daya and her husband. They let the girls keep it all for themselves, and the rest was taken by their parents to support their brothers at home - habitual thinking formed over many years cannot be changed overnight.
"Auntie, I know everything." Hong Ling came up and sat next to Xia Juhua. "My parents love me and Hong Cui, and we all remember it in our hearts. Let me tell you, Auntie, I raised all my money and left a hundred yuan. I will give it to my parents when they build a house. It means that my parents have not raised me in vain."
Therefore, among family members, no one side is allowed to give all the time. Look, Li Daya and her husband love their daughter, and doesn't Hongling love her parents in the same way?
"Sister, are you also going to raise funds?" Hong Cui suddenly came into the room and shouted at Hong Ling: "Why didn't you tell me?"
Yes. This was also the one that Li Daya and her husband felt sorry for, as she was considered a wealthy girl.
Hongcui has grown up a lot in the past two years. As the accountant of the editing team, she has to record the rations for the women every day. She has been trained to speak and do things more smoothly than before: "Auntie, don't always side with my sister. Yes, she is getting married, but she is still a member of the family. Besides, road construction is a time when money is needed, so I have to do my part. Auntie, I want to help you build the road."
It would be a lie to say that she was not moved. Xia Juhua felt that if she rejected her niece's request, which cared so much about her, it would hurt the child even more. So it would be better to accept the fundraising money now. There would be interest every year anyway, so she could just consider it as saving money for them.
When they got married, Xia Juhua wanted to bring a generous gift so that they would feel more confident.
After hearing that Xia Juhua had agreed, Hong Ling no longer objected and wrote down the 200 yuan that Hong Cui was going to raise. Accountant Chang also compiled a list of the money that the other four production teams might raise:
Team 3 raised the most money, 12,050 yuan, followed by Team 1, Team 4, and Team 5, all of which raised less than 10,000 yuan. Among them, Team 1 raised the most money, and it was expected to raise 9,500 yuan.
Seeing that Li Changshun seemed a little dissatisfied with the amount of money raised by Xiaozhuangtou, Xia Juhua advised him: "It is said that the fundraising is voluntary, so should contribute as much as they are willing to. If you have to compete with each other, won't it become a stall? In my opinion, the whole brigade can raise more than 80,000 yuan, which is already a lot."
Li Changshun wanted to say that the Ping'anzhuang production team accounted for half of the more than 80,000 yuan, but when he thought of the 5,000 yuan that Xia Juhua paid out of her own pocket, he swallowed his words.
Xia Juhua was right. In this era, every family in Ping'an Village had extra money and was willing to spend it to repair a road that they might not walk on many times. The members had already done their best. It would be a bit unreasonable to compare the amount of money that each production team could raise.
After all, everyone was still worried about hunger in the past two years. Normally, if they had a little extra money, they would want to hide it, and even their family members didn't know where to put it. Now, with Xia Juhua's call, they had to take out the money they had hidden with great difficulty. Every member who wanted to participate in the fund-raising had made a great determination.
Don't those members who are ready to participate in the fundraising still believe in Xia Juhua?
Uncle Qi was also very surprised at Xia Juhua's appeal - he knew that Xia Juhua had a high reputation in the Ping'anzhuang Brigade, but he didn't expect it to be so high.
Nearly 83,000 yuan, if she holds on tight, she can really build this road.
So Uncle Qi read the report written by Liu Lizhu carefully, and asked very carefully about the parts he didn't understand. Then he asked Xia Juhua to wait for him in the office and went out with the report.
Not long after, the messenger came to inform Xia Juhua that Uncle Qi asked her to go to the secretary's office. Xia Juhua was nervous, but she walked into the door the messenger knocked on with a calm face. She heard Uncle Qi introduce her: "This is our Secretary Chen. Secretary, this is Comrade Xia Juhua, the captain of Ping'an Village."
Secretary Chen shook hands with Xia Juhua cordially, asked her to sit down, and then asked her why she wanted to build a road, what standard of road she wanted to build, how she planned to build it, where the funds would come from, whether she planned to repay the debt, etc. All of these were in the report, and since the secretary wanted to listen to it again, Xia Juhua naturally had to explain them in detail one by one.
Secretary Chen did not answer immediately after listening. He paused for a while before saying, "Comrade Xia Juhua, in order to ensure the agricultural and sideline production of Ping'anzhuang Brigade, you are going to lead the members of Ping'anzhuang Brigade to build roads. You are so active and proactive in your work. County Chief Qi and I are very moved."
"This reminds me of the Red Flag Canal. I never thought that Pingde County would also have a heroine who built a bridge between the city and the countryside. Well, this is a good idea. Under your leadership, the members of Ping'anzhuang Brigade have such a high level of awareness and have taken the initiative to raise funds to develop the agricultural and sideline production of Ping'anzhuang Brigade. At the same time, you have solved problems for the troops and the county. This is a great feat. Mayor Qi and I, on behalf of the people of the entire county, thank you."
Xia Juhua was confused at first, but she understood after hearing the last two sentences. It turned out that the leader was setting the tone for their behavior - building the road in Ping'anzhuang Brigade was not just her own fantasy, but the decision of all members of Ping'anzhuang Brigade for the purpose of better developing agricultural and sideline production.
She said to Secretary Chen with gratitude: "Yes, all members of our Ping'anzhuang Brigade are willing to contribute to the construction of the army and the county."
Seeing that Xia Juhua obviously understood what he meant, Secretary Chen smiled even more. He pushed the cup on the tea table towards Xia Juhua and said, "Of course, the county should fully support your brigade's plan to build a road. But County Magistrate Qi should have told you that our county's funds are limited and the supply and marketing cooperative's coordination ability is also limited. I'm afraid that apart from supporting Ping'an Village in terms of manpower, you will have to figure out the material resources on your own."
As long as the county agreed to allow the road to be built, it would be fine. It was more than 30 kilometers from Ping'an Village to the county seat, and the road was not used by only one brigade in Ping'an Village. It would inevitably cause inconvenience to the brigades passing through for a period of time. If the county agreed, it would help coordinate conflicts in the future to avoid the road being unable to be built.
Xia Juhua nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "We have thought about it. No matter which brigade the road is built to, we will use the labor of that brigade and exchange labor with them." The attitude that should be expressed must be expressed so that the leadership will not have difficulty in telling other brigades when coordinating.
"That's great," Secretary Chen agreed with every idea Xia Juhua had. "Using the labor of the brigade to build roads can increase the income of their members and effectively avoid conflicts. By the way, do you have any ideas about supplies?"
Could Xia Juhua not consider this problem? She told the secretary that one of her two sons worked in the provincial supply and marketing system and the other worked in a regional supply and marketing cooperative. Yesterday, she had called both sons and asked them to help her find out where she could buy stones and cement for road construction.
Secretary Chen smiled and asked, "I heard that the leaders of the provincial supply and marketing system have always been concerned about the development of Ping'anzhuang Brigade. Have you ever thought of asking them for help?" Xia Juhua dared to build the road with the strength of a brigade and was able to coordinate and communicate with the provincial supply and marketing system. This should be her confidence. Why didn't she think of using it?
Xia Juhua smiled a little embarrassedly and said, "I don't know whether the county agrees with us to build the road, so I don't want to bother the leaders of the supply and marketing system. I'm afraid that if the road can't be built, the supply and marketing cooperative will help coordinate it, then it would be a waste of trouble for them."
"What about the troops? It can be said that the damage to the road in Ping'an Village has a lot to do with the troops constantly transporting sweet potatoes and hot and sour noodles. Have you ever thought about asking them to do their part?" Secretary Chen asked another question after hearing Xia Juhua say that she hadn't decided whether to trouble the provincial supply and marketing system.
Although the person asking the question was a county party secretary, Xia Juhua still straightened her face and said in a serious tone: "Although the bad road is related to the large trucks, the troops did not do it on purpose. The troops are busy with the important matter of protecting the country, so how can we cause trouble for such a small matter? They asked us to help process the hot and sour noodles because they trust Ping An Village, not because we want to ask for favors from them."
"Good!" Secretary Chen patted the tea table gently and said, "Comrade Xia Juhua, your awareness is really admirable. Indeed, the troops are busy with the important matter of protecting our country. We should not think that we can take advantage of the troops just because we have done a little work for them."
The problem is that I have never thought of taking advantage of the troops, you were the one who brought it up first. Xia Juhua looked at Secretary Chen with some suspicion, and found that he was staring at her with a sharp gaze. She suddenly realized that Secretary Chen was reminding her that once the troops found out that Ping'an Village was building a road, they must not think that the road was built to transport supplies for the troops.
Although she felt a little aggrieved, Xia Juhua still nodded to Secretary Chen, indicating that she understood what the leader meant. Secretary Chen stood up with satisfaction and said:
"Well, now that you have thought it through, the county will report your road construction plan to the district as soon as possible. But don't hold your hopes too high. The district will definitely agree to your road construction, but funding is also tight, so they may not provide you with any substantial help."
Xia Juhua thought that as long as the county agreed, they could start building the road. She didn't take it seriously when Uncle Qi said that he would report it to the district. Now when she heard Secretary Chen also said that he would report it to the district, she was a little confused: "We don't expect the district to pay, so do we still need to report it to them?"
Uncle Qi laughed and said, "This is a work procedure. You can't not report it to the higher authorities just because you raised the funds yourself. What if your road is repaired and the local authorities don't know that a high-grade rural road has appeared in the area they manage? That would be ridiculous."
This is the truth. Xia Juhua asked worriedly, "Can we start preparing now, or do we have to wait for the approval from the district government?"
Secretary Chen and Uncle Qi looked at each other, nodded to Xia Juhua and said, "We can start preparing now. By the way, have you contacted the Transportation Bureau and asked them to come over to survey the area?"
Xia Juhua shook her head again: "Why do we need to find someone to survey the road if we are not just repairing it on the original road?"
Uncle Qi looked at the report in his hand. It really didn't mention when the survey was conducted. He knew that Xia Juhua really didn't understand. He shook his head helplessly and said, "Secretary, I think you exaggerated just now. She didn't think things through. She just acted out of sheer courage and did what she wanted to do."
Secretary Chen made excuses for Xia Juhua, saying, "Ping'an Village Brigade has always been engaged in agricultural production. This is the first time for them to build a road. They don't know whether they should survey the roadbed first or even straighten the bend. This is normal. Can you coordinate this matter for Ping'an Village?"
Although he mocked Xia Juhua, Uncle Qi did not shirk the responsibility of coordination. After taking Xia Juhua back to his office, he made a phone call, and soon the Director of Transportation came to his office.
When the director of the Transportation Bureau heard that the Ping'an Village Brigade was going to build the road themselves, he was also surprised. When he heard that the county's main leaders all supported it, he immediately agreed to send two highly skilled technicians to help Ping'an Village with the survey.
"For Pingde County, the road construction by Ping'anzhuang Brigade is a pioneering effort. It is also a great thing for connecting the city and the countryside, and it also reduces the burden on your Transportation Bureau."
Uncle Qi was very satisfied with the traffic director's actions. His words were both affirmative and encouraging: "So you guys in the bureau should also cooperate. After all, the road is repaired, and it's not just for the Ping'anzhuang Brigade. You have to solve the personnel problem, and you have to solve the personnel salary problem yourself."
The two technicians were paid the same salary by the Transportation Bureau whether they were drinking tea or reading newspapers in the office or surveying roads, so the director patted his chest and said, "Please rest assured, Mayor. Although our Transportation Bureau has limited funds, we can still spare some people to help Ping An Village solve its technical problems."
Uncle Qi can see the effect of this, but Xia Juhua enthusiastically assured the director that Ping'an Village would take good care of the lives of the two technicians - both Technician Xue and Technician Lin were of great help to Ping'an Village, so when Xia Juhua heard that the people who were going were technicians, she felt close to them before she even met them.
Since the county had agreed to build the road and arranged technicians, Xia Juhua struck while the iron was hot and asked Li Daniu and Liu Zhifu to pick up the technicians to Ping'an Village that day. She arranged the two technicians in the house where Lin Hongliang and his partner used to live in the brigade headquarters, and even hosted a welcome party for the two at her home in the evening.
Sun Zhaodi has been running back and forth between the two hospitals to take care of Xiaoman since she began her confinement. When she heard that Xia Juhua was going to host a reception for the road surveying technicians, she ran back to her home to harm the old hens she raised. Xia Juhua stopped her and said, "You'd better spare those chickens. From the time Xiaoman began her confinement to now, your chickens have been almost eaten up. You can't kill them today no matter what."
Sun Zhaodi wanted to laugh at what she said: "Look for yourself, those thirty chickens were not raised by me. I can still kill them and eat their meat at the end of the year." After saying that, she pulled Xia Juhua to go and see her chicken coop.
Xia Juhua was unmoved and told Sun Zhaodi that she had asked Liu Zhifu to buy the meat. Sun Zhaodi gave up because she didn't want to let the two technicians down. For dinner, Xia Juhua went to the kitchen herself and cooked a pot of braised pork, fried eggplant with meat and cabbage, and scrambled golden eggs, which surprised the two technicians from the Transportation Bureau.
No wonder the Ping'anzhuang Brigade dared to build the road themselves; it turns out their lives are already so good.
Don't blame the two technicians for being careless. Although the situation is much more relaxed now than it was a decade ago, you still need meat coupons to buy meat whether in the city or in the countryside. These salaried people can't even afford to eat such a big pot of real braised pork once in a year.
Not to mention that in addition to the braised pork, there was also minced meat and eggplant. They had never seen this way of eating.
Xue Lin and the other technicians who were called by Xia Juhua to have dinner together saw the shock of the technicians from the Transportation Bureau, and smiled as they acted as hosts, offering food and dishes to the two of them, saving Xia Juhua the trouble.
"Let me tell you, the best dish at my aunt's house is not the braised pork in brown sauce," Technician Xue swallowed a mouthful of meat, savored it unconvincingly, and said to the two technicians from the Transportation Bureau, "It's the hot and sour rice noodles that my aunt prepared freshly."
Xia Juhua asked him with amusement: "I feed you hot and sour rice noodles every day, why don't you eat braised pork?"
Technician Xue said nonchalantly, "Red-braised pork can be made anywhere, but the hot and sour rice noodles you make are still the best. When I was leaving for Beijing, I kept thinking about when I could eat enough hot and sour rice noodles."
"Haven't you eaten enough these days?" Xia Juhua found it even more amusing: "Didn't I send you some in the mail?"
"How can it taste the same?" Technician Xue raised his voice, "I'm talking about the one you made right now. After I return to the capital this time, I'll have to miss the hot and sour rice noodles from Ping'an Village for a long time."
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