Chapter 75 Chapter 75 1st update Even
though Mao Jianxin and Jin Caifei were not happy, Shen Moer still took the time to see the factory under construction. The commune allocated a circle of land outside the textile factory for the embroidery factory. In addition to the factory currently under construction, a piece of land was reserved nearby for building employee dormitories.
Mao Jianxin was probably afraid that Shen Moer would intervene and make suggestions, so his expression was very stiff throughout the whole process. Who knew that Shen Moer just took a casual look and went back without saying anything.
In fact, Shen Moer didn't understand what Mao Jianxin and Jin Caifei were worried about. The construction of the factory was indeed a great achievement, but the factory was built for production. If production was not done well, what was the use of building a good factory?
They were willing to work diligently and cover their faces in dust at the construction site every day to watch the factory building. In fact, Shen Moer was eager to do so. It was obvious that the two really wanted to achieve something, so they watched very carefully. After watching this,
Shen Moer decided not to care about it. After all, she was actually very busy.
Not only did she have to attend classes, but she also had to arrange for those people who had learned embroidery from her in the Yangliu Brigade to go to other brigades to "pass on the knowledge", and then she had to go back to the Yangliu Brigade on weekends to answer their questions and help them improve their level. She also had to take time out to draw the drawings of the first batch of products in the factory.
In short, she was busy every day.
Fu Mingze was also busy. The experimental field of Yangliu Brigade was expanded. It was not the three or five mu that Zhou Mancang had originally planned, but was directly expanded to thirty mu. This was required by the commune. Zhou Mancang was really worried every day, fearing that something would go wrong with the thirty mu of land, so he kept nagging Fu Mingze.
Fu Mingze not only had to study fertilizer and water supply with agricultural technicians, but also had to screen seeds everywhere. He often left before dawn and came back only after it was completely dark.
In comparison, Shen Shaoyuan was the most idle of the three people in the family.
The busy time passed by very quickly, as if the weather had suddenly become hot. The heavy cotton jackets were put away, and every household began to plan to make summer clothes. I heard that the supply and marketing cooperative had recently received a batch of Dacron fabrics, and they were almost going crazy for it.
Because Liuqiao Commune had a textile factory, the cloth coupons issued by various enterprises and institutions in the commune were sufficient. The cloth that Shen Moer and her family of three saved was just enough for each of them to make a Dacron shirt. The cloth
was bought by Liu Guizhi from next door. Their food station and the supply and marketing cooperative were real brother units, and they kept in close contact. It was no big deal to save some cloth.
A while ago, Shen Moer applied for a sewing machine ticket from the embroidery factory. The embroidery factory had a close relationship with the sewing machine factory due to work needs, so it was easy to get a sewing machine ticket. After Shen Moer got the ticket, she used the salary she had saved in the past few months to buy a sewing machine.
The sewing machine is also one of the three major items. In addition to the ticket, a sewing machine costs nearly two hundred yuan, and a better one even costs nearly three hundred yuan. Shen Moer compared them and finally spent one hundred and eighty yuan to buy a mid-range one.
After buying the sewing machine, Shen Moer asked her sister-in-law who knew how to operate a sewing machine in the family compound to teach her, and she learned it quickly. It was easy to make something after that. Three dacron shirts were made in a few days.
Although the weather was getting hot, it was not time to wear short-sleeved shirts yet. Shen Moer asked Fu Mingze and Shen Shaoyuan to try them on. They were ready to put them away when they were the right size. Liu Guizhi, who was visiting, saw them. She wondered why the shirts made by Shen Moer looked so good and energetic, even though they were all simple shirts.
Of course, her energetic appearance was also a factor, but the shape of the clothes was also good, and the length and size were really suitable.
The next day, Liu Guizhi brought a pig ear to the door and begged Shen Moer to cut some cloth for their old Zhou. She knew Shen Moer was busy, so she didn't dare to ask them to make it for her. Anyway, the quality of the clothes' shape mainly depends on the cutting.
Shen Moer had a good relationship with Liu Guizhi recently, and often asked her to help with things. She readily agreed. After a long shove, Shen Moer reluctantly accepted the pig ears and returned the gift with a pickled wild boar.
So when Zhou Xingwang came home from overtime, Liu Guizhi dragged him to Shen Moer's house.
Zhou Xingwang is the deputy director of the commune in charge of agriculture. When he saw Fu Mingze when he entered the room, he could not help but start talking about work: "Fu Zhiqing, how is the wheat in your village's experimental field growing? Are
you confident that you can increase production?" Liu Guizhi rolled her eyes and slapped him on the shoulder: "Open your arms, I'm measuring you! Wheat, wheat, it's not time to harvest wheat yet. How does Fu Zhiqing know whether the production can be increased? Work hard during work, and don't talk about work after work."
Zhou Xingwang: "This tiger woman! Okay, okay, Fu Zhiqing, let's talk about it at the regular meeting." He
opened his hands obediently. Liu Guizhi took a ruler and measured it around, and asked Shen Moer who was standing next to him: "Is that so?"
Shen Moer responded, and when Liu Guizhi reported the number to her, she wrote it down in the notebook.
Liu Guizhi thought that she was going to trouble others anyway, so she gritted her teeth and gathered some cloth coupons to make another pair of pants for Zhou Xingwang, just enough for one set, so she measured the hip circumference, trouser length and everything else. Shen Moer wrote down everything and agreed with Liu Guizhi to cut the cloth for her within three days. After
measuring the sizes, Liu Guizhi and Zhou Xingwang returned to their own home. When Zhou Xingwang entered the house and saw his son Zhou Ping'an sitting there reading a book, he said, "Actually, I have clothes. You and Ping'an should make new ones."
Liu Guizhi didn't care: "After all, you are an official. You can't wear a washed-out shirt all day long. I can wear whatever I want in the store. I wanted to make one for Ping'an and let him go next door, but he refused to go and insisted on making it according to the original clothes."
Zhou Ping'an moved his legs, looked up at Liu Guizhi, and said nothing.
Liu Guizhi sighed inwardly, but said, "It's okay, it doesn't matter what the child wears, it's good to have a new piece of clothing."
On the other side, Shen Moer packed up the notebook and the cloth given by Liu Guizhi and put them aside, turned around and asked Shen Shaoyuan who was writing at the dining table, "Dad, are you going to the brigade tomorrow?"
Since living in the commune, Shen Moer and Shen Shaoyuan have deeply felt why everyone here wants to move to the city. Although the commune is not actually a city, it is really much more convenient than the village.
First of all, the commune has electricity. Electricity is not a thing, but it is cool. Although Shen Moer and Shen Shaoyuan have experienced the benefits of electricity before, whether they were on business trips or at work, the days of being able to use electricity all day long, especially at home, are only available after moving to the commune.
Then there are running water and toilets. In short, life has become much more convenient, so Shen Shaoyuan goes back less often now.
"Let's go. I'll borrow a bicycle from Xu Weiguo. We'll come back at night. I can still find time to chat with Old Wangtou."
So the next day, the family of three rode two bicycles back to the village.
Fu Mingze always eats in the village at noon. Sometimes when he is busy, he also eats dinner in the village. He usually cleans the house all the time, so there is no situation where the house is dusty after not living for a long time.
Not long after entering the door, Li Xinmei and her friends came. The group of women soldiers all looked energetic.
Since the beginning of the year, this group of "direct disciples" have been training the pre-selected personnel of other brigades. They have also been promoted to masters. They are respected and their abilities are recognized by others, which makes them unprecedentedly confident.
It is said that even Xing Fangjie, who usually speaks softly at home, speaks loudly. Once Cheng Tao met Shen Moer and complained to her with a smile, saying that Xing Fangjie's temper has been getting worse since she was "recruited" by her.
Li Xinmei and her friends pulled Shen Moer to ask questions, and Wang Qiutong grabbed Shen Shaoyuan for advice.
Wang Qiutong is now a private teacher in the commune primary school, which is equivalent to taking up Shen Moer's previous quota. However, she not only has to teach art, but also has to teach some of the main courses.
The main team considered that the school would have four grades in the next semester. With more classes, there would naturally be more classes to schedule. In another year, the five grades would be full, and there would be even more classes to schedule. It would be a bit too busy for Cheng Tao and Shen Lingling to teach the main classes. In
addition, Shen Lingling was pregnant. She also mentioned it to the team leader and Cheng Tao, saying that she was weak and could not continue to teach full classes after pregnancy, and asked to reduce her workload. Zhou Mancang and Cheng Tao discussed it with Wang Qiutong, who naturally had no objection. She would wake up laughing in her dreams at night if she could become a primary school teacher. Teaching a few more classes was nothing.
Wang Qiutong's grades were average when she was in school, but she was more than capable of teaching elementary school students. She was not very interested in Chinese and mathematics, but after learning to paint for a while, she was still quite interested in painting. She thought that if she learned better, she could teach the children better, and maybe she could win a prize in the next competition.
Shen Shaoyuan was free anyway, so he was happy to teach her.
He didn't like those women who were full of calculations. Wang Qiutong's simple and straightforward personality was quite suitable for his temper. Besides, Wang Qiutong had a good relationship with Shen Moer. In Shen Shaoyuan's eyes, they were the sisters of the ladies. It was nothing for the sisters of the ladies to learn something from him.
Both sides were learning very hard. Fu Mingze glanced at Shen Moer who was surrounded by everyone, smiled, and turned to leave the yard.
Fu Mingze walked all the way to the experimental field. From a distance, he saw Zheng Jiamin sitting on the ridge with his head drooping. When he got closer, he saw that he had been pulling weeds beside the ridge. There was already a small pile of weeds on the ground beside him.
Fu Mingze couldn't help but said, "If you want to pull weeds, go into the field."
Why pull the weeds outside the ridge? They are growing well by the roadside and have not run into the field to compete with the wheat for water and fertilizer.
Zheng Jiamin looked at the weeds on the ground, scratched his head and said, "Yes, why should I pull the weeds outside? But there is no weed in the field. The experimental field support team headed by Comrade Zhang Zhiqiang gets up early and works in the dark every day to pull weeds, for fear that the weeds will take away the precious fertilizer of the wheat. How can there be any weeds in this field?"
Fu Mingze did not comment, walked around the perimeter along the ridge of the field, and carefully observed the small weeds in each plot. After learning about Mr. Mai's condition, he walked back to Zheng Jiamin and asked, "What's the matter?"
Zheng Jiamin scratched his head and rubbed his face. After a while, he said, "My family sent me a letter saying that my father fell and is in the hospital. My sister-in-law is pregnant again. I'm afraid they won't be able to send me much money in the next few months."
Fu Mingze looked at him and said, "Your family sent you a lot of money before. Didn't you save any money?"
If it were someone else, Zheng Jiamin would definitely not say it. Fu Mingze When asked by Zheng Jiamin, he hesitated for a moment, but still said: "Some of the bills I saved before were borrowed by Xu Wei."
Fu Mingze had expected it and asked: "How much was borrowed?"
Zheng Jiamin rubbed his face again, and after a long while, he said in a muffled voice: "I can't count the bills, they are all small and scattered. As for the money, it should be more than one hundred all added up."
In fact, Zheng Jiamin didn't keep a record of the one or two yuan that Xu Wei borrowed at the beginning, and he didn't think about asking her to pay it back. Later, she said Zhou Chuntao was very ill and needed to go to the county hospital for treatment. Zheng Jiamin saw that she was very anxious, so he gave her 30 yuan at once. Not long after that, Xu Qi broke her leg again and went to the county hospital for treatment. Zheng Jiamin gave her another 30 yuan. The main expenses were these two times. Later, he borrowed a lot of money from her many times, such as buying cooking oil, making soy sauce, buying kerosene, grinding rice, and so on.
Zheng Jiamin was not stupid, and he soon came to his senses. Several times, he said that he had no money. Xu Wei rolled up her sleeves and showed him the bruises on her arm, saying that her mother blamed her for being useless and that she would be beaten if she could not borrow money.
Zheng Jiamin couldn't bear to see this, he didn't expect Zhou Chuntao to be so cruel, but he thought that the amount he borrowed was not much, so he gave it anyway.
But he kept a record of all these.
Later, Xu Wei came again to say that her brother was sick, and Zheng Jiamin stopped giving money.
Originally, his family sent him money checks every month, Zheng Jiamin thought that his life was better than theirs, an orphan and a widow, and he didn't think about asking them for money. Now that he received a letter from his family, he also counted the money he had sent before, and said that he would not send money in the next few months.
But where did Zheng Jiamin have the extra money?
His family didn't know when they would send him money checks again. Not to mention spending money like before, even buying soap and socks would cost money, and the few dollars he had on hand were not worth using.
Zheng Jiamin, who had always been well-off, suddenly became a penniless pauper, which made him very uneasy. He always felt that he would face a few months of cold wind and rain, or even longer.
Fu Mingze was puzzled by his sad face: "In this case, why don't you ask Xu Wei to return the money you lent her?"
It was unlikely that the money would be returned, after all, the family had no channels to get money, but it was not difficult to get the money back. It was more than a hundred yuan, and they couldn't have spent all of it. Even if she was really sick, a visit to the county hospital would only cost her 10 yuan at most, and 30 yuan would only cover two-thirds of the cost. Moreover, according to Fu Mingze, this illness was probably exaggerated. She might really be sick, but it was definitely not as serious as people said.
A family of orphans and widows could not be completely ruthless. They spent all the 100 yuan they got immediately, and they probably kept some. Even
if Zhou Chuntao still didn't pay, she still had her brothers. Zhou Qingguo and Zhou Weiguo were not unreasonable people.
Zheng Jiamin: "I actually asked her for money."
He actually went to ask Xu Wei for money yesterday, but he didn't ask for much. He wanted her to pay him back thirty or fifty yuan. As a result, Xu Wei cried in front of him and swore to the heavens that her family really had no money. If she had money, she would be beaten to death by Zhou Chuntao. In the end, she even asked him if he could lend her two yuan to buy a few boxes of matches. Zheng Jiamin was speechless and realized that he might not get the money back.
No wonder Wang Qiutong said he was a sucker.
He actually thought of his own little sister when he saw Xu Wei like this.
There are three siblings in his family. The eldest brother is older and married. Zheng Jiamin is the second oldest. The youngest sister is the same age as Xu Wei. At that time, the Youth Educated Office came to their home every day to urge them to go to the countryside. His old man was an eighth-level worker and he definitely couldn't work. His mother couldn't give up her job to two people, so one of them had to go to the countryside.
Zheng Jiamin had already prepared himself mentally for going to the countryside, but his youngest sister secretly went to the Youth Educated Office to sign up for going to the countryside. If the neighbors hadn't seen it by chance, the girl might have really gone to the countryside.
When he went to the countryside, the little girl hugged him and cried, saying that her second brother suffered for her. In fact, Zheng Jiamin was worried about her. She was so soft-hearted, and he didn't know if she was bullied at work.
Fu Mingze looked at him and said, "You didn't come back, so why not go and ask for it today?"
Then he turned and walked towards the village.
Zheng Jiamin was stunned for a few seconds, then stood up and followed him.