Such stars and such moons: Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang's unparalleled love

Chapter 20 Experience the vicissitudes of life: the unbearable weight of the world (1)
living hell
In May [-], the unprecedented "Cultural Revolution" swept across and ruthlessly spread across the land of China.

This year, Zhong Shu was 56 years old and Yang Jiang was 55 years old.Although they have long since put down their pens and kept silent about politics, and although Qian Zhongshu also warned his friends to "Wave likes to shake people, wait for it to be settled", these "old gentlemen" without exception, were involved in the In the vortex of disaster.

This time, Mingzhe couldn't protect himself, and this time, they were doomed.

At this time, one of Qian Zhongshu's legs suddenly couldn't walk, Yang Jiang quickly asked for leave for him, and helped him go to the hospital for medical treatment.A well-meaning coachman, Mr. Wang, took the initiative to send them to the hospital, but he refused to collect money. He said, "I will send Mr. Qian to see a doctor. No money is required."
Under Yang Jiang's repeated insistence, Lao Wang reluctantly accepted the money.At that time, they didn't know that they would be hurt in the "Cultural Revolution", and they didn't know that this kind driver would bring them eggs and sesame oil when they were in the most difficult time, behind the supervision of the rebels.

On August [-], [-], Yang Jiang, who had just returned home from get off work, said to Qian Zhongshu, "I've been "picked out" today, how about you?" Zhongshu replied, "Not yet, soon?" Yes, soon.They are husband and wife, and belong to the same school, so the wheel of fate will naturally run over together.Three days later, he was also "dragged" out.

Yang Jiang asked again: "How did you "find it out"?"
"Probably someone posted some big-character posters on me."
He doesn't know how he got it out, and it's not that important. At a time like this, it's inevitable to get it out, and the reason and process are not so attractive.

But Yang Jiang, a delicate woman, remembers it very clearly.Although the big-character poster accusing her had not yet been posted, a document was passed around during a meeting, and it was skipped when it was near her, as if there was no such person as her.At the next meeting, someone suddenly asked: "Yang Jikang, who is she?"
No one defined it, and no one answered it, but she didn't have to attend future meetings.At this time, she already vaguely knew that something was wrong.Sure enough, within a few days, big-character posters accusing her were posted.

In this way, they were picked out, although their identities were not clear yet.At that time, the revolutionary mass meeting was held every day, and slogans were shouted from time to time, while the "old gentlemen" who had been convicted were sitting in empty offices waiting for their punishment.Sitting on the cold bench, she only felt that the red and green banners were shocking:

"After the enemies with guns are eliminated, the enemies without guns still exist."
It turned out that they had become enemies, enemies without guns, enemies with no power to restrain chickens.

The "May [-] Notice", the programmatic document of the "Cultural Revolution", was published in the newspaper.They passed around in the deserted office, studied carefully, and whispered in private, thinking that according to the spirit of the notice, they had no problem and should be able to rejoin the revolutionary ranks.

Unexpectedly, at the meeting, those people looked heinous and accused them of various crimes.At this moment, they are finally willing to believe that this disaster cannot be avoided, and they have become "ghosts and monsters".

Finally, the meeting announced their future treatment: [-]. No wages, but a monthly living allowance of several yuan; Labor teams, operating under command and supervised by a "supervisory team".

After the meeting, they went home, and after a hasty dinner, they began to make handmade signs like elementary school students.Yang Jiang found a small rectangular board for Qian Zhongshu, and he himself cut a circle on the hard paper. The two of them followed the regulations and carefully made the sign, and then wrote down their crimes in neat script. .

They were still childish, and after the charges were written, they each wore ropes and hung them on their chests, and they also commented and appreciated each other, just like Alice in Wonderland. On a whim, they even quoted Alice's famous quote: Curiouser and curiouser!

On the second day, he went to clean the yard, and she went to clean the women's toilet.The two people who are over half a century old have been devoting themselves to academic research, when did they do such a job!It's just that they had to do it under the spurning of the revolutionary crowd.

Everything is just the beginning, and there are more undignified tricks waiting for them.One day, when it was raining suddenly and it was cold, a group of rebel Red Guards broke in from their school, summoned those who had been caught out into the big mat shed, put on pointed top hats made of newspapers on them, and then, in the midst of swearing, , Put them on stage to show the public.

Standing in the line, Yang Jiang secretly glanced at the "titles" on the hats of his companions, such as "gangster", "KMT spy", "reactionary academic authority", and so on.Seeing the "bourgeois academic authority" on the head of Zhong's book, she couldn't help guessing her name.When the meeting was over, she took off her top hat while pushing and rubbing. It turned out that her work was a "bourgeois scholar", but within a few days, her work also became a "bourgeois academic authority".

After cursing and pushing, they became monsters and monsters that everyone could bully.Yang Jiang said: "My friends and I went to the shed in the rain, only to worry about being drowned. Unexpectedly, we have since become "dogs in water". Everyone can bully and insult them, and they are called "pull bulls."
Once when Zhong Shu went out, someone shaved off his vertical and horizontal hair, which became the so-called "weird head". Fortunately, Yang Jiang has always been his barber, so he quickly shaved him into a "monk's head" and wiped the word "ten".At that time, one of their accomplices also had his "strange head" shaved and went to the barber shop for a haircut. Instead of getting a haircut, he was asked to wear a wastebasket with writing on it and go home.

It was a really embarrassing time.One night, they were gathered in the compound to criticize. Someone took a waist belt and lashed at them, and someone smeared saliva, snot and paste on the back of Zhong Shu. Someone cut off a section of Yang Jiang's hair... …

Before the wave subsided, another wave came again. After they were criticized, they were ordered to take off their shoes and socks, hunched over, lined up, and ran around the circular flower fence in the courtyard. Whoever straightened up or stopped If you don't move forward, you will be whipped.Round and round, they kept running while laughing and cursing. When they stood up straight, most of the people in the yard had dispersed, and their shoes and socks had disappeared.

This group of half-old "ghosts and snake gods" has many prohibitions, although I don't know who formulated them, and I don't know why they are enacted. They are not allowed to wear leather shoes, hold parasols, or wear straw hats. They are not allowed to eat fish, meat and eggs, and are not allowed to drink alcohol. Milk, only corn bread, pickles and potatoes, etc., are really weird and unimaginable.

Yang Jiang said sarcastically: "Our group of "ghosts and snake gods" are the most docile and docile criminals. No matter who orders, we will follow them one by one. Because once "caught out", they are not among the people, but among the people. In addition, if one refuses to resist orders, one is openly making enemies of the people and "self-defeating from the people."
Later, they learned the reason why Qian Zhongshu was "pushed out". It turned out that several people jointly wrote a letter denouncing "Qian Zhongshu's contempt for the leader's writings" and posted a big-character poster.Yang Jiang was furious at this, and scolded these Red Guards for daring to catch wind even if they couldn't see it.She said: "If Mo Cun said this, it must not be in this tone, he would say it more playfully."
The two people who couldn't swallow their breath planned to write a small-character poster and pasted it under the big-character poster. They provided all the clues they knew and asked for on-the-spot investigations. There was a fight.

They said that although there was no evidence, someone had reported on Qian Zhongshu, and there must be a reason for the incident, so Qian Zhongshu was guilty.Such an unfounded reason is too far-fetched, but at that time someone said it with confidence.

In addition to being criticized, they also have to fight with them.Once, the Red Guards found that Yang Jiang, who was bowing her head to accompany the fight in the audience, dozed off, and angrily took her to the stage, hung up a sign, put on a tall hat, and condemned her, shouting sharply:

"Yang Jiang, who was the one who tipped off Qian Zhongshu?"
"it's me."
"Who is it that is posting small-character posters with a flashlight?"
"It's me—in order to provide clues to comrades, to investigate according to the facts."
For so many days, they have experienced the cruelty of the world and the vicissitudes of life.This is a dark hell. If they didn't support each other, they would not have the courage to face such a helpless world.This time, she was really tired. How long will they have such an unreasonable life?
How did the Red Guards understand her chilling heart?Perhaps, they just don't want to understand, because if they don't understand, they can continue to be arrogant and domineering under the banner of justice.Hearing her disdainful answer, the Red Guards who were watching the theater scolded Mao: "Who is your comrade!"
They handed her a gong and bade her ring it.Yang Jiang, who was furious, didn't care too much, and beat the mallet desperately to vent his dissatisfaction.This time, the Red Guards really fell out. They hung her with black and smelly wooden boards and escorted her to the school compound for a parade.

The Red Guards ordered her to beat the gong twice every few steps she took before reporting her crimes.Our gentle and intelligent Yang Jiang changed from her past humiliation. She beat the gong vigorously and shouted: "I am a bourgeois intellectual!" charges.

When Yang Jiang recalled the past, she still humorously said: "The farce was really wonderful. I can still see that funny team in my imagination, and I am the leader of that team!"
She is still the witty and optimistic Yang Jiang, but behind that optimism, there is clearly an unbearable look back laced with blood and tears.

But the devastation of the "Cultural Revolution" was not limited to this.Their homes were also ransacked, and Zhong Shu's leather shoes, ties, printers, and many precious books, letters, and manuscripts were all looted.If it is said that physical torture can be endured with the will, how about mental torture?
They were afraid that those written materials would be destroyed or become evidence of "reactionary" crimes if they fell into the hands of the Red Guards, so they hardened their hearts and secretly destroyed many of them, not even daring to keep the candy wrappers.And Qian Zhongshu's reading notes for so many years, condensed too much wisdom and hard work, they were reluctant to burn them, so Yang Jiang locked them in the original home.

Once the criticism was over, someone gave an order: "Hand over all your black manuscripts!" She was afraid that the manuscripts would be destroyed when the Red Guards ransacked the house, so she used the translation of "Don Quixote" that had been painstakingly created for several years. Wrapped in kraft paper and tied tightly, reluctantly handed in.

She only prayed that the Red Guards would not destroy the manuscript, even if it was forgotten in a corner.Fortunately, in the end she saw this manuscript that condensed countless emotions and painstaking efforts, and with the help of the secretary of the Western Literature Group, she happily took it home.

In this hell on earth, they endured the unbearable burden of the world, but they just endured. Their personalities are still tall, and their feelings are still sticky and intimate.They are close lovers, as long as they hold hands and shoulder to shoulder, they can survive all hardships.People often say enviously behind their backs: "Look at Qian Zhongshu and Yang Jiang as a couple, the older they get, the younger they get, and the older they get, the more romantic they are!"
This is them, silent, neither humble nor overbearing.

Can't bear to leave
Who touched the vulnerable heartstrings?Who made them see the black and white upside down in this world?The journey is unknown, the time is hard to bear, and they walk alone in the chaotic and difficult days.

In [-], intellectuals from their classmate department received "re-education" from the "workers and the PLA Propaganda Team".They left home and lived together with other "educated people" in offices, some with six or seven people, some with nine or ten people.

In this "concentration camp"-like office, they spent seven months of imprisonment-like life. In addition to criticizing and fighting every day, they had to practice collectively in the early morning and study in three units: morning, afternoon and after dinner.The content of study is nothing more than Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought and various program spirits.

At that time, apart from the leader's writings and various document instructions, they could not read other books.Therefore, Qian Zhongshu dug out an original German version of "The Collection of Letters of Marx and Engels" and read it with relish.

Marx was an advocate of socialism and communism, his books are "legal and reasonable", and Zhong Shu will not be criticized.And Marx was also the greatest German thinker in the nineteenth century, with dialectical thought that should not be underestimated.Therefore, Qian Zhongshu began to study in a grand manner, not only reviewed the long-lost German, but also gained a lot of benefit.

After a period of time, the "Military Propaganda Team" specially allowed the elderly and infirm to go home to live, so the half-old couple ended their "concentration camp" life and only came to class in two units in the morning and afternoon.

It's just that their reunion didn't last long. In November [-], Qian Zhongshu received a notice that he would be sent to Luoshan County, Henan Province as the "advanced team" of the Institute of Literature, and began to live in a cadre school.They knew that the cadre schools were going to be devolved, but they didn't know it was coming so fast.

Yang Jiang said sadly: "Although I was waiting for the departure date every day, I felt like I had a Jiao Lei on the top of my head when I heard the news. In a few days, it will be Mo Cunxu's 70th birthday. Eat birthday noodles to celebrate. Waiting for the [-]th birthday, I'm afraid it won't be our turn. But it's only a few days away, and if he can't wait for this birthday, he will have to leave the cadre school."
She is not an "advance team" and will continue to receive "re-education" in the foreign language institute, so she cannot accompany him to the countryside for the time being.It's just that she couldn't bear to leave, and couldn't bear to let the old man go alone, because this time the cadre school was the so-called "continuous pot end", which meant that she was ordered to leave forever.

She packed his luggage for him, taking precious books, notes, clothes he wore or not, bits and pieces, everything, one by one, with him.She looked at the wooden and iron boxes one by one, and looked at the pile of packed luggage, feeling sad: "These wooden boxes and iron boxes are not as durable as flesh and blood!"
The day of separation always comes so fast.On the [-]th, he left. Yang Jiang saw off with his daughter A Yuan and son-in-law Wang Deyi.Two years ago, when his daughter married him, the old couple said with great satisfaction: "Deyi (this is the number Qian Zhongshu bestowed on his son-in-law, and Yang Jiang always uses "Deyi" to refer to his son-in-law in his articles) is kind and honest, Ah Yuan has We can rest assured that he is together."
The son-in-law squeezed into the crowded platform with big and small luggage, and sent Zhong Shu to the car.Before getting into the car, Zhongshu said to the three of them, go back and don't wait any longer.They looked at each other from a distance, only to feel thousands of words choked in their throats, and Yang Jiang went home silently, not because she couldn't wait, but because she was afraid that Zhong Shu would not be able to let go of her thoughts when she looked at their sad faces.

Farewell tears, don't feel pain.It's just that in this era of flying banners, their Lishang had to be buried in their hearts. She continued to cooperate and step up "re-education", and he also wanted to start a cadre school life in the poor and remote Luoshan Mountain.

It's just that in their spare time, they still don't forget the swan geese to pass on the book.He told her about the freezing weather in Dongyue, and told her some trivial things about life.At that time, the cadre school needed them to build by themselves, stripping bricks, building bricks, building houses, everything had to be done by themselves, and Zhong Shu belonged to the ranks of "old, weak, sick and disabled", so he only did some odd jobs.

It's just that he is still infatuated, even if it is an easy job, he still makes a joke.Once, he and Mr. Ding Shengshu were assigned to boil water. The two of them were so busy that they were in a mess, but they didn't boil the water for most of the day...

Because of this, the two old gentlemen were dubbed "Qian Bankai" and "Ding Bankai".And Yang Jiang, who is far away in Beijing, heard such a joke, and did not forget to defend his wife: the boiler is set in the open air, and it is not easy to boil a boiler of water in the wind and snow.

On July 33, [-], Yang Jiang and the others "even" also set off to devolve to the cadre school.When Zhong Shu left, the three members of the family saw her off, and when she left, only her daughter, A Yuan, saw her off silently. Her son-in-law, De Yi, had committed suicide a month ago.At that time, Madoka was [-] years old.

Yang Jiang still remembers the last time she saw him, De told her: "Mom, I can't treat the public badly, and I can't contradict the propaganda team; but I must never fabricate a list to hurt people, and I will not lie." He is an honest and honest person, but in this raging class struggle, everything is in vain.

He committed suicide, defending his dignity with death, and seeking relief with death, but the dead died and the living suffered. Yang Jiang was worried about her daughter who had just lost her lover, although she knew that her daughter was never a fragile girl.However, sitting in the train carriage and seeing her daughter standing alone on the platform, she felt sad.

She hurriedly closed her eyes, letting the tears flow down her eyes.The train left, the platform slowly receded, and A Yuan's back could no longer be seen outside the train window... She left her home in Beijing like this, and went to the next journey. She knew that her Zhong Shu was looking forward to it at the cadre school.

It has been eight months since we last said goodbye.After traveling through thousands of mountains and rivers, she finally arrived at the cadre school and met the husband she missed so much. But looking at him, who was dark and thin, with pustules on his face, she felt very distressed.She said: "Mo Cun from the cadre school is dark and thin, and he looks completely different. The strange thing is that I knew him right away."
In the vast sea of ​​people, no matter what he looks like, they can still recognize each other at a glance.This is not surprising, because they have a lifetime of love as husband and wife.It's just that although she recognizes it at the first sight, others may not necessarily recognize it!
Once, Qian Zhongshu went to see a doctor from Dr. Huang of Yangjiang Cadre School. Seeing the name he wrote on the autograph book, the outspoken doctor couldn't help but angrily said: "Nonsense! What are you Qian Zhongshu! I know Qian Zhongshu! "Afterwards, when Yang Jiang mentioned it, Doctor Huang covered his mouth with a smile and said, "What's the matter, it doesn't look like it at all."
Although the two are not in the same cadre school, they are only less than an hour away, and they can always meet and get together on the rest day once every ten days.Yang Jiang said that compared to her daughter who is alone in Beijing, they are considered to be together.

Because of her weak health, Yang Jiang was assigned to the vegetable garden class. She only did some light work every day and learned to grow vegetables.At this time, Zhong Shu was assigned as a full-time correspondent, and when he received newspaper letters every day, he could always pass by Yang Jiang's vegetable field.

(End of this chapter)