Ghost Blowing Lamp II

Chapter 20 A Letter from the Prairie (Part [-])
I cut a few more pieces and smelled my fingers, which made me frown immediately. I beat my sore neck and looked at the silent mountains outside the village. I suddenly felt an inexplicable loss. Could it be that I Are you going to spend your whole life cutting grave bricks and looking at forest farms in the mountains?Although this really trains people, it is too far from my ideal after all. I was too young at the time, and I was very anxious about my future. When I thought about living in a ravine for the rest of my life and not being able to join the army and fight to realize my ambition, deep down in my heart Immediately there were bursts of panic, my nose was sour, and my tears almost didn't fall.

The fat man saw that I looked weird, so he asked me what I was thinking.Why are you so sad all day?I sighed and replied: "Damn it, you are just worrying about the liberation of the people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America." The fat man advised me: "Don't worry, people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America How the people's lives are going, we can't take care of them, maybe they don't need us to worry about them, they are about to leave work, I will invite you to eat donkeys in the evening, when the time comes, open them up and eat them. Just don’t talk outside the box, but you can make it with strength.”

I wiped my runny nose, and was about to discuss with the fat man how to pack the donkey into the water. At this time, the old branch secretary came back. He went to the brigade to handle some errands, and brought back a few postal packages for the educated youths. The transportation in this mountain is inconvenient. Let’s come I have been in the queue for several months, and I have almost lost contact with the outside world. It is the first time I see a parcel letter, how can I not be overjoyed, and immediately put everything behind me. Fatty and I are most concerned about the situation at home, but The branch secretary rummaged for a long time and told us that there was no mail package from us, but that it belonged to a few other educated youths.

Although I know that my family members are now quarantined, and of course I have no chance to send anything, I still feel very uncomfortable. I was about to turn around and leave when the old branch secretary called us back again. He held a letter in his hand, Said only this letter was addressed to both of you.

Fatty and I were slightly taken aback, and rushed over to snatch the letter. We were still very puzzled, why did the two of us share a letter?Swallow was also very curious, and came over to read the letter with us. I suppressed my excitement and couldn't wait to look at the envelope. The letter was forwarded from the messenger office of our hometown military area, so there was an envelope inside that was the original. The sender didn't know the address where Fatty and I jumped in line to settle down, so he sent the letter to the military region, and then it was forwarded.

I opened the letter and read it carefully word by word. It turned out that the sender was me and Fatty, a comrade-in-arms Ding Sitian I met on the train. She was about the same age as us and a top literary artist. In the hometown of the chairman, each of us grabbed a handful of local soil and didn’t let go all day and night. As a result, our hands were swollen. In Yan’an, the holy land of revolution, we shared a piece of dry food in a cave dwelling. We are still there, and we keep each other It's been a long time since I found out the mailing address, and I never expected to receive a letter from her in the mountains today.

Ding Sitian’s parents are both museum staff. Ding’s family has a total of four children named “Yi Ku Si Tian” respectively, which was also the mainstream of naming children back then. She mentioned in her letter to us: To my closest revolutionary comrades-in-arms, Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan, since we parted ways in the great capital Beijing, I have missed us day and night all the time, and I have long wanted to write to you, but many things have happened at home ..., I think you must have enlisted in the army as you wished. It is also my dream to join the Chinese People's Liberation Army gloriously and become a revolutionary soldier. I hope you can send me photos of wearing military uniforms and let me share your joy …Finally, please don’t forget the revolutionary friendship between us, and wish it to be higher than mountains and farther than roads, evergreen and never fade.

I learned from the letter that Ding Sitian, who wanted to join the army, had to go to Inner Mongolia Kelun Zuoqi to jump in the queue due to her family background and many other reasons, and she obviously didn't know that the fat man and I had the same experience as her, and I didn't join the army either. I was sent to Daxing'anling to jump in the queue. After reading the letter, the fat man and I didn't talk for a long time. I really didn't have the face to reply to Ding Sitian's letter, and how could I send her a photo in military uniform.

From Ding Sitian’s letter, I feel that she is very lonely. Perhaps the life in Kelun Zuoqi is more monotonous than in the mountains. Although Kelun Zuoqi belongs to Inner Mongolia like Ganggang Yingzi where I live, it does not belong to the same Meng, Kelun Zuoqi is a pastoral area on the grassland, the environment is harsh, the population is even sparser, and it is far away from Xing'an League Road. Ding Sitian can sing and dance well. It is unimaginable for her to graze on the grassland. How can people Can you rest assured?When I was thinking about it, I found that the fat man was looking for paper to write a reply to, so I said to him: "Don't look for it, I don't even have butt wipe paper, where can I find letter paper, I think we are going to be stupid in the mountains, why don't we go to Go play around on the grassland, and stop by to see our close comrades in arms."

Swallow heard me say that I was going to the grassland, and asked in surprise: "What? Go to the grassland of Kelun Zuoqi? You couldn't make half a round trip for ten days and a half months. If you don't work for so many days, your work points will be lost? After returning What are you eating?"

I nodded to Yanzi. Of course I have to consider this issue. Work points are the lifeblood of educated youths. The division is the unit, and there are regiments, battalions, companies, platoons, squads and other standard military organizational systems below. The members of the Corps are provided with food and housing and have a monthly allowance of [-] yuan. The advantage of the Corps is that it has a fixed income. The disadvantage is that it lacks Freedom, you can’t come and go when you want, and the educated youth implements the work point system, the disadvantage is that the income is not reliable, the advantage is that they can come and go freely, and it is very convenient to ask for leave.Some people may find it strange that since educated youths are so free, why don't they return to the city?This is mainly because there was no ration when I went back, and the so-called jumping in the queue means that the household registration has already fallen to the countryside, which is regarded as a rural household registration, and you are also a black household when you go back. There is no such number as you in the city, and it is impossible to find a job. After all, people depend on food God, people can't live without eating, and if they don't have work points, they won't have food rations, so they are tied down.

A few days ago we picked up a lot of golden beans at the Tuanshanzi Forest Farm. Of course we didn’t dare to keep them privately. Months of work points, save for a long vacation when I go back to visit relatives during the Chinese New Year.In other words, Fatty and I can not work for two months. We got tired of staying in the mountains and missed Ding Sitian, so we decided to take a walk on the grassland.

(End of this chapter)