Chapter 295 Jealous People
Jiang Haitang's eyes sparkled with excitement. She took Lu Liangchen's hand and said, "Liangchen, we should push our fine embroidery products to a higher-end market! Maybe we can bring these to this year's Canton Fair."
Lu Liangchen looked at Jiang Haitang's excitement, smiled dotingly and said, "Haitang, the most important thing for you now is to take care of the baby. Don't worry too much. Just leave these things to me."
"Where do you have the time? You should arrange someone else to do it." How could Jiang Haitang not know how busy Lu Liangchen was.
"There is an officer in the factory office. I will arrange for her to take charge of this matter." Lu Liangchen thought about it and agreed.
It would be better to arrange a female comrade to do the embroidery.
Jiang Haitang ignored Lu Liangchen and turned to Aunt Cai, "Aunt, do you know anyone else in our team whose cooking skills are comparable to yours?"
Aunt Cai thought for a moment and said, "There are a few good ones. Zhao Daming's wife has good craftsmanship, as do Wang Wujia and Widow Li. There are also a few who do fine work, and their skills are no worse than mine."
The more Jiang Haitang listened, the more excited she became. "Great! I'll get someone in touch and get this done. It's just that time is a bit tight, as the Canton Fair is coming up soon."
Lu Liangchen shook his head helplessly, pulled Jiang Haitang and said, "You just can't sit still. You can worry about this if you want, but you have to promise me that you won't overwork yourself."
This time, the news was brought back to Qingshuigou by Dazhu. Dazhu had some good ideas about farm tools and planned to tinker with them in the village. He took advantage of the break to return to Qingshuigou.
The news spread back to Qingshuigou, causing quite a stir.
"What? Let us embroider a picture? Will this be considered capitalism?" Zhao San's wife couldn't believe her ears.
In recent years, I dare not do this. Occasionally, if there is a hole in my clothes, I try to simply mend it and dare not embroider.
Wang Wujia was very calm: "The textile factory said it can be done, there must be a basis for it. What do we have to be afraid of?"
Widow Li asked timidly, "Then...if I can't embroider it well, will it bring shame to the country?"
Everyone became worried again because of what Widow Li said. What if the embroidery is not done well when selling it to foreigners?
After more than a year of training, Zhao Zhijian has become more responsible than before. He spoke directly, "This is a political task! It not only concerns the honor of our brigade, but also the image of the country! Anyone who can't embroider well will never be able to take on any embroidery work again!"
The women were both excited and nervous. They dug out the silk threads from the bottom of their boxes, found the thinnest embroidery needles, and worked day and night.
Aunt Cai was also busy. She embroidered a painting called "Pine and Crane Prolonging Life". The pine trees are vigorous and the cranes are lively, symbolizing good luck and longevity.
A month later, more than a dozen embroidery pieces were delivered to the textile factory.
Jiang Haitang and Shen Yuliang, the factory secretary, carefully examined each piece. Each piece was a work of art, with exquisite needlework and profound artistic conception.
The most amazing thing is the Great Wall embroidered by Widow Li. It must be said that Widow Li is truly an expert. Although she has never seen the real Great Wall, she embroidered the magnificence of the Great Wall based on her imagination and hearsay.
"So beautiful!" Jiang Haitang exclaimed. "I think there will definitely be a market for these works if we bring them to the Canton Fair."
After the two people discussed together, these embroidery works were processed again into various exquisite small ornaments, which were evolved from the ornaments that Jiang Haitang had seen in later generations.
Only the large works were left as is, as we didn't know what potential clients would want. We would wait for someone to take a liking to them and then process them to their specifications.
These embroidery products were taken to the Canton Fair along with the people from the textile factory. Soon, news came that foreigners had taken a fancy to these embroidery products and placed orders.
The other party ordered 300 small-sized ornaments, 100 medium-sized embroidery patterns, and 30 large-sized embroidery pieces.
This is not a lot for the entire Canton Fair, but it cannot withstand the high prices of embroidery.
A medium-sized embroidery piece sells for 150 yuan at the Canton Fair. Even a small one costs 80 yuan each. Excluding the cost, the profit is not small.
When the news reached Qingshuigou, the whole brigade was in an uproar!
Zhao Zhijian excitedly rang the bell to call the assemblies together: "Comrades! Our Qingshuigou embroidery is going abroad! This is an opportunity given to us by the New China under the leadership of Chairman Mao! We must complete the task with guaranteed quality and quantity!"
The women cheered and those who were chosen were so excited that they burst into tears.
Wang Wujia stood up and said, "Captain, I suggest setting up an embroidery team to be responsible for this foreign trade order."
This suggestion was immediately approved by everyone.
Zhao Zhijian, in particular, was already extremely excited. He felt that these matters involved the country's reputation and was still thinking about how to solve them.
"These jobs require high standards. You have to calm down and embroider slowly. You can't rush it like you would embroider a trademark. Moreover, the women who join the embroidery group won't have to work in the future. Farm work can easily make their hands rough and scratch the embroidery." Zhao Zhijian made a suggestion.
He was the team leader, and the suggestions he put forward were reasonable, so naturally others would not object, and it was quickly decided.
After things are settled, the next step is to decide on the people.
An embroidery group was quickly formed, with eight women with the most exquisite craftsmanship joining.
This is a good thing, but no matter what time it is, there will always be people who are unhappy.
Those who are unhappy are because their families are not able to participate.
They were unhappy, so they went to find Zhao Zhijian.
Although Zhao Zhijian is a bit soft-hearted as the team leader, perhaps the person who serves as the team leader is cunning enough.
Of course he knew why this family was not selected. Wasn't it because they had treated Haitang badly earlier?
But that's not the way to say it. Zhao Zhijian quickly found a reason to criticize the embroidery made by these people.
In a nutshell, the things they embroider think are good, but foreigners don't like them.
These words were, of course, nonsense. Zhao Zhijian certainly didn't know whether foreigners would appreciate them. However, these people had offended Haitang and hadn't shown any remorse for such a long time. He couldn't let these people get close to Haitang and cause trouble for her.
After these people were sent away, people from other brigades soon came to inquire about the news. Zhao Zhijian was able to firmly refuse at the beginning, but later, the commune stepped in and Zhao Zhijian could not withstand the pressure.
But this was the benefit that Jiang Haitang had obtained for their team, and Zhao Zhijian had no intention of giving it up.
In the end, he could only go to Jiang Haitang for help.
At this time, Jiang Haitang was chatting with Aunt Cai.
Aunt Cai was embroidering and said with emotion, "Haitang, do you think the things we embroider can really earn foreign exchange for the country?"
Although it had been a while since the incident, Aunt Cai still found it hard to believe.
Jiang Haitang smiled and nodded: "Yes, Auntie, what's wrong with rural people? Rural people can also contribute to the country."
Jiang Haitang couldn't say that this was just the beginning. After another year or two, when reform and opening up began, there would be more opportunities, and Qingshuigou was just at the forefront.
Zhao Zhijian was planning to look for Jiang Haitang, but because of the autumn harvest, he had not yet had time to spare when the storm quietly arrived.
That day, the Embroidery Committee suddenly came to Qingshuigou and said that they had received a report that the Qingshuigou Brigade was engaging in capitalist operations and that all embroidery production must be stopped immediately.
Zhao Zhijian was working in the fields. When he suddenly heard the news, he was stunned for a moment.
But Zhao Zhijian, who had seen the world, did not panic. Instead, he arranged for the accountant Wang Liang to find a way to pass the message to the textile factory for help, while he himself went to meet the people from the committee.
The people from the County Revolutionary Committee had a very tough attitude. They were led by Liu Changhe, deputy director of the Production Office.
With a stern face, he slammed a notice on the table: "Comrade Zhao Zhijian, we have received reports from the masses. After investigation, we have found that the Qingshuigou Brigade has seriously deviated from the socialist path! All embroidery production must be halted immediately and subject to investigation!"
She argued: "We are a collective sideline business, which complies with policy! Moreover, our embroidery earns foreign exchange for the country, which is a patriotic act!"
Zhao Zhijian would definitely not admit this. If he admitted it, not only Zhao Zhijian himself, but the entire Qingshuigou Brigade would have to bear the consequences.
Liu Changhe took a hard line: "What kind of patriotic act is this? It's just disguised capitalism! Rural areas not engaging in agricultural production, but instead engaging in these fancy things, are taking the capitalist road!"
Wang Wujia and the other embroiderers hid outside the door, terrified by what they heard.
Widow Li was trembling with fear: "What should we do? Will they arrest us?"
"What are you afraid of! We haven't done anything wrong!" Although Wang Wujia said this, his palms were sweating.
"Why are we being targeted?" Widow Li asked, "Who has such a bad conscience that they can report us?"
Wang Wujia thought about it and suddenly realized something.
"I'll go find Patriarch Zhao and Patriarch Wang. Isn't it clear who reported it?"
There are only a few troublemakers in the brigade. I'm afraid this incident just wants to bring bad luck to the Qingshuigou Brigade and make everyone live a miserable life without enough food or warm clothes.
Dazhu had just returned from the machinery factory to visit his relatives and was tinkering with farm tools at home. When he heard the news, he hurried back.
"Leader, is there some misunderstanding here? Our Qingshuigou embroidery does earn foreign exchange for the country, and we've even signed orders at the Canton Fair."
Liu Changhe glanced at him and said with disdain, "Who are you? Do you have the right to speak here?"
"I'm Zhao Dazhu, a worker at the Jincheng Machinery Factory," Dazhu said calmly. "I can testify that Qingshuigou embroidery is indeed exported abroad."
"Comrade worker, don't be deceived." Liu Changhe's tone softened slightly, but remained firm. "Grain should be the primary focus of rural development. Engaging in these crooked practices is simply wrong!"
Jincheng Machinery Factory is one of the largest enterprises in the province. The factory has very good performance. Moreover, in the past two years, it has been extremely successful. It can win a large number of orders at the Canton Fair every year and is highly valued in the province.
That would be fine, but the director of the machinery factory is known for protecting his subordinates. If you offend the workers in the machinery factory, you might suffer losses.
But now that I'm here, I can't just go back like this. I still have to find a way to make some noise. Otherwise, how can I get back in the future?
The situation was at a stalemate for a while.
Zhao Zhijian suddenly had an idea: "Director Liu, you must have come all this way here. Why don't you go to the brigade headquarters to rest and have a drink? I'll have someone prepare some light meals..."
"Don't try that!" Liu Changhe said righteously, "We are here to work, not to eat! Stop production immediately and seal up all the embroidery!"
The atmosphere became tense.
Zhao Zhijian gritted his teeth and said stubbornly, "Director Liu, it's okay to seal the embroidery and stop production, but it's a breach of contract. How do we deal with this and have to pay compensation to foreigners?"
"What's the value of your little tricks? Don't try to put a big hat on me. I didn't grow up to be scared."
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