The most virtuous wife, the most talented woman: the biography of Yang Jiang

Chapter 20 Hope and Sigh · Joy in Bitterness Is Sweet (2)
Yang Jiang recalled: "I couldn't fit it in my pocket, so I had to take out the letter and hide it in my handbag. My body was light, but my heart was heavy. In the end, I had to harden my heart. When I accumulated more letters, I burned them." She Naturally, my heart is full of reluctance. If I keep it until now, it will be such a special memory.

Two months passed, and the task of going to the countryside ended one month ahead of schedule.Before leaving, everyone must have a "comment" about going to the countryside. Yang Jiang's content is that she can "get along with" the fellow villagers. This is the recognition of going to the countryside to receive education, and Yang Jiang is a little proud.

Yang Jiang and Qian Zhongshu returned to Beijing one after the other and continued to live.Ah Yuan's job became a big problem. At that time, the job was assigned by the school, and the volunteer she filled in was "Banbian".Thinking of her daughter going to the "side" where she doesn't know, parents are 1 reluctant.But when the work assigned by the school finally came to an end, the family cheered up, because the school arranged for Yuan to stay at the school as a teaching assistant, which means that the daughter does not have to leave and the family can still be together.

At that time, the aunt in the family was not very good at cooking, so the family of three went to restaurants.Ordering food is a skill, Qian Zhongshu can always choose delicious dishes, just like picking out books, he can always choose what he likes, and his daughter also has this ability, but Yang Jiang always chooses dishes that are not good for him.

But this does not affect the mood of the family eating, because they have another great pleasure, which is to observe the guests at other tables. Qian Zhongshu and A Yuan can always infer many things from the details, and they can also make up the front and back. Eye-catching.After a meal, it's like watching a big show, as long as "the three of us" are there, happiness is there.

In [-], Yang Jiang and Qian Zhongshu were also supervised one after the other.There is no salary, deposits are frozen, and only some living expenses are given. Food is also restricted. Only steamed bread, pickles, and potatoes are allowed to eat. Clothes and clothing are all restricted.

Both of them also have new jobs, Qian Zhongshu cleans the yard, and Yang Jiang cleans the women's toilet.The two also made their own tools, and they did a good job.Some people say that Yang Jiang cleaned up the toilet so that there was no dust on the drawstring of the water tank, and the porcelain pit and basin were polished brightly, and the toilet "looked brand new".

But the matter has not come to an end, the "battle" is still going on, and the struggle will become a routine, every now and again, exhausting both physically and mentally.

At that time, there were many ways to persecute intellectuals. Qian Zhongshu's hair was shaved off in two vertical and horizontal stripes, and a "cross" character appeared. This was the so-called "weird head" at that time.How can this be seen, but fortunately, Yang Jiang has a way to smooth out this "weird head", that is, to shave it all, what a coup.

But within two days, Yang Jiang also received this kind of "treatment" and had half of her head shaved off. Qian Zhongshu was so anxious that she didn't know what to do. She couldn't get a monk's head like herself!Yang Jiang comforted him that there would always be a way, "Soldiers come to block, water comes to cover".

She really thought of a way. A Yuan had cut her big braid once before, but she kept it, wrapped it in a handkerchief and put it under the cabinet.She found it out, and stayed up all night to make a rough wig. She also joked that she envied her younger brother to shave his head when she was a child, and now she has fulfilled "half" her wish.

But after wearing it, I realized that the real hair wig was very different. It was summer, and after wearing it, it was not ventilated at all, and the color was different. It turned yellow after a long time, but there was no way, this was the only trick she thought of. up.

The next day, she bit the bullet and went out. When she was on the bus, she was spotted by the conductor and shouted: "Humph! You gangster! Do you still want to get on the bus?" Yang Jiang was angry and annoyed, and said, "I Not gangsters!"
Everyone in the car looked at her, and she didn't have the heart to explain any more, so she got out of the car and walked.People on the street also noticed her strange hair and pointed at her.When buying vegetables, people were unwilling to sell them to her. Later, Qian Zhongshu went to buy vegetables every day, and she was only responsible for going out once a week to buy coal.

She still trembles when she walks on the street, afraid that something will happen again.She also asked someone to buy a blue cloth hat. The children have sharp eyes and can always recognize it, and then they reach out to grab her wig, so she sees that the children are hiding far away, but Qian Zhongshu walks with her without any scruples. At the same time, but he is also a bald man, and he can't protect himself, let alone Yang Jiang.

vegetable garden date

In [-], intellectuals such as Yang Jiang and his wife were brought together to live together. Because they were considered older, they were more relaxed. They were allowed to return to their own places to live, but they also had to participate in group study and training. .

The two people are from different units, so the training places are not in the same place, but they both eat in the cafeteria, so occasionally they can make appointments and talk in the cafeteria.

On November [-]rd of this year, the weather was already very cold. Yang Jiang was waiting for the bus at the gate of the school. The crowd noticed Qian Zhongshu walking towards him in a hurry.

Yang Jiang knew something was going on when he saw his expression, he leaned over and said in a low voice, "I'll tell you something important later", and followed Yang Jiang on the bus that came.

He told Yang Jiang that the organization arranged for him to go to the cadre school, and he would leave on the eleventh of this month. Yang Jiang was shocked when he heard that, it was so sudden.I thought I could celebrate Qian Zhongshu's 60th birthday and eat longevity noodles with Qian Zhongshu, but such a simple wish was in vain.

This time the cadre school is different from the previous ones. This time it is the so-called "even pot end". Not only people go there, but also luggage and belongings go with them. This also means that the return day is far away.

The turbulent years have left people with no time and energy to live the life they want to live. Just after the torture of the war, they have encountered successive "storms". When life is already precarious in the wind and rain, all the good things seem very precious.

Yang Jiang helped him pack his things and brought a lot of processed clothes, because the purpose of this trip was to exercise and work, so Yang Jiang reprocessed all the clothes.First, she gathered a lot of silk and joined them together with a sewing machine to make a dirt-resistant blanket cover; she also thickened the part of a pair of trousers that is prone to wear and tear, with horizontal and vertical threads interlaced, making it very thick. Qian Zhongshu admired it very much, saying that it was like a cushion that he took wherever he went.

Qian Yuan did not get married until eight years after graduating from university. In December 59, she married Wang Deyi, who was in the history department of the same school. Later, he stayed in school and became a teacher.At that time, there was a legend among the classmates of the [-]th class about the four generals of the art team "demons and ghosts". Among them, Wang Deyi had his own nickname because the "one" in his name was often pronounced as "demon". Can change "magic" skills, the one in the biology department has long been known as "little ghost".Among the four, Qian Yuan, as the only female, didn't have a nickname at first, but since she was ranked fourth, people forced the word "weird" on her head. "Demons" and "monsters" have been in contact for many years, fell in love, and then got married, which is jokingly called "marriage of monsters".The originally happy marriage was terminated because of the "suppression" activities in a special period.

At that time, Yang Jiang led his daughter and son-in-law to the station to send Qian Zhongshu off. As the train left, Qian Zhongshu seemed to take Yang Jiang's heart away.

The place he went to was the May [-]th Cadre School in Daluoshan County, a very remote place with difficult conditions.The two still keep in touch by letter, which is a habit they have had for many years and cannot be changed.

Yang Jiang's life in Beijing was also difficult. Although she was not starved of food, she had been learning and improving. At that time, the place where she was was assigned to dig an air-raid shelter and then transport books into it.This is a big project, and it is still a physical effort. Yang Jiang, who is small and thin, is also considered old, so it is a bit difficult to do it.

In her daily life, she is kind and generous, and many people have accepted her help.In the place where she lives, if anyone has difficulties, she tries her best to help.When the mother of a colleague was ill, she also helped to seek medical advice; when the family of the neighbors was not well off, she bought an extra copy for them, and sent money for the New Year. She herself was not rich at that time.It's these little things that left a deep impression on the people around.

People around saw that her "task" in the air-raid shelter was not enough, so they all wanted to help her. She said that she would help the other party make a sweater as a reward, but the other party insisted on not wanting it, but it was not easy to see her alone.Later, when it was her turn to go to the cadre school, the young people in the station helped to pack the luggage and sent it away. In that era when everyone "looked good on their own", this was already very rare.

But at this time, another tragedy happened.Her son-in-law, Ah Yuan's husband Wang Deyi was also implicated in this "wave", saying that he was an organizer of "excessive leftism", restricted his freedom, and threatened him to hand over the list.He once said to Yang Jiang: "I must not fabricate a list to harm others, and I will not lie."
On the eve of Yang Jiang's graduation from the cadre school, Wang Deyi left with a grievance.This is not the only tragedy. Yang Jiang's younger sister Yang Bi also died of acute heart failure, the tombs of her parents and third aunt were also destroyed, and many friends were wronged and left. All this made Yang Jiang want to cry without tears.

On the day of leaving the cadre school, Ah Yuan came to see Yang Jiang off alone. Seeing her daughter's lonely figure, all kinds of feelings came to her heart.She asked Ah Yuan to go back, but Ah Yuan refused again.Sitting in the car, Yang Jiang closed her eyes, not daring to look at the trembling figure of her daughter outside the window, but the scene of her daughter cleaning up the room alone in the messy home appeared in her mind.He hurriedly opened his eyes to look for Ah Yuan, but couldn't find her, so tears came down, streaming down his face and dripping into his heart.

When Yang Jiang saw Qian Zhongshu again after a long time, she seemed to be a different person, dark and thin, and seemed to have suffered a lot.Later I heard that he was given preferential treatment there, he only needed to look at things, watch the night, and occasionally work as a "messenger", which was regarded as a leisurely job.

The cadre school she went to was not in the same place as Qian Zhongshu, it was an hour's drive away.At that time, it was stipulated that they were not allowed to walk around without special matters, and they could only continue to exchange letters.At that time, Yang Jiang was assigned to the "vegetable garden class", where she squatted next to the vegetable field and guarded it 24 hours a day.

Qian Zhongshu's path as a "messenger" happened to pass by the vegetable field guarded by Yang Jiang, so he could pass by here every time he came, dating and chatting with Yang Jiang's field.In the rest of the time, Yang Jiang used it to read books and write letters, recording everything he thought of and experienced on paper, and handed it over to Qian Zhongshu when he came.Yang Jiang once recorded the dating during this period: "Our old couple can often meet in the vegetable garden, which is far better than the lovers who date privately in the back garden in old novels and dramas."
Once, everyone was working in the field, and Yang Jiang was among them. At this time, someone found a grave next to the vegetable field. Yang Jiang murmured, "It's so cold for the dead, and there is no grass in the grave!" Everyone was a little surprised, it was midsummer, why did she lament the cold?It was later known that Yang Jiang got the news that her son-in-law Wang Deyi committed suicide in the face of humiliation during the criticism.

When she came here, she just "come here, and you will be safe". Although the conditions were not as convenient as when she was in school, she did not give up her creative career.Based on these experiences in the cadre school, she later created "Six Chapters of the Cadre School", which vividly recorded the events at that time.Yang's style of articles uses plain language to cover up a lot of bloody and brutal realities, and also reflects her optimistic character. Like creating comedies before, she uses her attitude to record reality.

Once, Yang Jiang complained to Qian Zhongshu that a cat gave her a gift today, and the gift was two bloody mice, which were placed on her bed.At the beginning, she didn't turn on the light, but she poked it with her hand in a daze. After turning on the light, she was so frightened that she couldn't stay out of her mind.

She got up early the next morning before dawn, and started to wash the sheets with buckets of water. She didn't remember how many times she washed them, but she only remembered that the blood on the sheets could not be washed off.

Qian Zhongshu comforted her: "This is a good omen, maybe you have to leave this place. The dead rat's internal organs and body are divided into two piles, from the same place; those who belong to it are from the place."
One sentence made Yang Jiang laugh out loud, and Qian Zhongshu's far-fetched explanation made her unbelievable, but his serious appearance seemed to be the truth. This was a tacit understanding between them, and one sentence made her relax a lot.

At the end of this year, a piece of news seemed to confirm Qian Zhongshu's explanation.That day Qian Zhongshu came to Tianbian to find Yang Jiang, and he also brought news. Someone told him that a group of "old, weak, sick and disabled" wanted to be sent back to Beijing when someone called from Beijing. Qian Zhongshu was on the list.

Yang Jiang was naturally happy when he heard that, Qian Zhongshu was in poor health, and the living conditions in the cadre school were very limited. When he went back, he would still have someone to accompany Ah Yuan, and she would have the opportunity to visit relatives once a year.

Because a friend told him the news before, when Qian Zhongshu got back the confirmation list from the Post Office, he saw that his name was indeed on the list, so he made a special trip to Tianbian to tell Yang Jiang.

When the list was announced, it was found that the word "Qian Zhongshu" could not be found at all, and it is unknown what happened in the middle.

Winter is here, can spring be far behind?Spring has really come, but thanks to the foreshadowing before winter, it makes this moment more moving.After going through strong winds and waves, I know that peace is also rare; after going through storms, I know that being calm is a kind of detachment.

Because of the respect for life and the persistence of dreams, Yang Jiang's family walked hand in hand through the darkness before dawn. In the darkness, the family members held hands with each other so that they would not be separated. You sheltered me from the wind and rain, and tired me Be your big tree backer, shed tears together, wipe each other dry, smile together, and accompany each other.Family, thank you for always being there.

(End of this chapter)