Scarlet Romance

Chapter 8
The sky is leaden gray, the ground is yellow and clear, and there are mottled residual snow accumulated in the far and near ravines. The bitter cold wind blows from the Mu Us Desert in the north, rolling grass leaves and fine dust. There was a whirling sound in the wilderness, and after a while, a thick layer of loess landed on people's bodies.

In winter in northern Shaanxi, the sun is either covered by yellow dust, or the sky is filled with haze.

Ten educated youths led by Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong were assigned to settle in Shichuan Village, which is located in the middle of Suide and Jingbian, where a tributary of Wuding River and Dali River meets, and they make a 10-degree turn along the mountain. Flow east.Shichuan Village is tens of miles away from Jingbian County, which is a small county on the edge of the Mu Us Desert.Anbian, Dingbian, and Jingbian are collectively referred to as the three sides, and they are all along the side wall. Judging from the words "An", "Ding" and "Jing", these places are border areas where the ancient court appeasement.The strata in Jingbian are all made of yellow sand. There are no cave dwellings here, and almost all flat-roofed mud houses.Shichuan Village, 90 kilometers away from Jingbian, is located on the Loess Mound on the south bank of a tributary of the Dali River. Here is a typical landform of the Qin-Jin Plateau. The loess layer was cut into ravines by rainwater. Make the landforms on both sides of the Strait distinct.

Zhong Yuemin, 7 men and 3 women, a total of 10 educated youths, boarded the cart sent by Shichuan Village and headed for Shichuan Village under the heavy yellow dust all the way.The driver was an old man surnamed Du, dressed in a typical northern Shaanxi peasant dress, wearing a bare goatskin jacket, with a white goat belly towel tied on his head, but the so-called white goat belly towel was so dirty that it couldn't be seen that it was once white. Turned into a dark gray.Old man Du was not very talkative, and when the educated youths asked him to answer, he seemed very reserved. He really couldn't understand why these educated youths came to Shichuan Village when they were not staying in the capital.

None of these 10 educated youths came from the same school, and they didn’t know each other. Zhong Yuemin was not interested in those boys, because at first glance, he knew that these boys were law-abiding students before they went to the countryside, not stubborn masters. Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong has no common language with them.However, Zhong Yuemin took a closer look at the three girls and found that two of them looked good. He was quite satisfied, and turned to Zheng Tong and said: "The cadres of the County Educated Youth Office are not bad for our buddies in Shichuan Village. Give us a few girls who don't eat pigs or dogs, otherwise it will be terrible. This is a poor place, and we will guard some ugly girls all day long. No, how do you live today?"

The boys on the cart all laughed, but the three girls kept their faces sullen and silent.

Zhong Yuemin lay on the luggage bag and continued to complain: "This damn place is really boring. I haven't even seen a tree after walking for a long time. Yo, is that river in front of you the Yellow River? Why is the water so yellow?"

Zheng Tong took out the atlas and looked at it: "You are all geographically blind. The Yellow River is at the junction of Shanxi and Shaanxi. It is far away from here. This river may be Wuding River."

Zhong Yuemin stood up abruptly: "Wuding River?' Poor Wuding River's bone, still the person in the dream of a girl in spring." This is the river mentioned in the Tang poem? Damn, I said something was wrong, and I made a fuss for a long time In ancient times, this place was a place where exiles were dispatched. Well, if you send my brothers here, if there is any trouble, it will become a bone by the Wuding River.”

Zheng Tong smiled and said: "You are still in the dream of the spring girl, what about me? Unclaimed bones."

A bell rang on the road ahead, a young farmer led a donkey, and a young woman sat on the donkey's back, like a young couple returning to their natal home.The educated youths found it fresh, and stretched their necks to stare at the young couple.

The old man Du who was driving the car suddenly opened his mouth with missing front teeth, and sang a sour tune at the top of his voice:

Come in the first month, it’s the New Year,

I came to pay New Year's greetings to my father-in-law.

Carrying a jug of four liang of wine,

I kowtow to my father-in-law

…………

The old man Du's sudden roar really made Zhong Yuemin dumbfounded. This is a real and original northern Shaanxi folk song, sung from the mouth of a native old farmer. The taste is imitated by any professional singer in a song and dance troupe. no.

…………

In February, the dragon raises its head,
The father-in-law took his daughter-in-law's hand,

pull pull pull eat a mouthful,
The soft hands of other dolls
…………

Zhong Yuemin was so happy that he fell down on the luggage bag: "This old man is crawling ashes, and he is not afraid that his son will fight him hard..."

…………

Peach and apricot blossoms in March,

The daughter-in-law wears date red shoes again,
Walking and swaying with the wind,
Love makes my father-in-law fall back and forth
…………

The young couple who returned to their natal home were far away, and the jingle of the bell hanging on the donkey's head could still be heard faintly, and Old Man Du stopped singing.

Zheng Tong whispered: "This old man hooked up with someone's new wife. Huh? Yuemin, what's the matter with you, stupid?"

Zhong Yuemin stared blankly at Old Man Du, he hadn't woken up from this sour song...

On the threshing ground of Shichuan Village, a meeting of all members was being held, and a line of words was written crookedly on a tattered red banner: Warmly welcome the educated youth from Beijing to jump in and settle in Shichuan Village.

The villagers in ragged clothes had dull eyes and numb expressions. They sat scattered on the threshing floor. The women held the soles of their shoes and the men smoked tobacco. Chasing and playing in the haystacks.

Zhong Yuemin, Zheng Tong, and seven or eight educated youths sat on the ground and whispered to each other.

Chang Gui, secretary of the Party branch of Shichuan Village, is speaking.He is over 50 years old, with criss-cross wrinkles on his face, and a pair of small eyes shining with sly light. Compared with the dull-eyed villagers around him, such a person should be a village cadre in the countryside.Chang Gui also wore a white sheep belly handkerchief that was so dirty that he couldn't see the color, and he wore a bare old sheepskin jacket. He looked similar to the old man Du who was driving the car, except that he held two feet in his hand. What a long pipe.

Chang Gui knocked on the broken table in front of him with his cigarette pipe, cleared his throat, spit out a mouthful of thick phlegm two meters away, and then began to speak: "Folks, the meeting is now, everyone, please be quiet and don't talk. Today, 10 educated youths from Beijing came to our village, and I represent the Party branch of Shichuan Village... Huh? Goofy, I’m fucking your mother, why are you still talking like a donkey? Are you talking about the leader’s talk? Be careful, I’ll drive you away A donkey day critique meeting."

Northern Shaanxi is poor, and the main means of transportation is donkeys. Because donkeys are easy to raise, there are many donkeys in northern Shaanxi, and people love donkeys. Therefore, people open and close their mouths as "donkey day". Sometimes this is not necessarily a curse, it may be A modal particle expressing affection.

The villagers seem to have gotten used to it, and the meeting place is still noisy.

The educated youths couldn't help laughing when they heard the branch secretary scolding people.

Seeing the educated youths laughing, Chang Gui quickly explained: "Don't laugh, kids, you'll know after a long time. There are some donkeys in our village who belong to donkeys. You have to take the sour jujube tree and keep smoking That's fine. Let's go on, um, what are you talking about?"

The villagers and educated youths burst into laughter again.

Zheng Tong said: "Secretary Chang, you said there was a Gouwa from Donkey Day?"

The laughter grew louder.

Chang Gui lit a pot of cigarettes: "That's not it, oh, today is to welcome the educated youth from Beijing to our village. It was Chairman Mao's idea for the educated youth to settle in the countryside. Since Chairman Mao said it, our Shichuan Village has nothing to say, and we have to accept it." If you don’t accept it, you have to accept it. There is nothing else in our Shichuan Village, but there are too many people and less land, and there is not enough food. Now we have added 10 more mouths. What should I do? I can’t help it. Our village has registered permanent residence, and we have to give Chairman Mao face no matter how tight the food is. Our village has a total of 10 people, men, women and children, how much is it if we add 417 people? Accountant Zhang, how much is it?"

A middle-aged man with a shaved pot head stood up and answered, "427."

Chang Gui said, "Yes, 427...who is this?"

An old sow looking for food was pushing Changgui's crotch with its mouth, and the villagers and educated youths burst into laughter again.

Chang Gui kicked the old sow hard, and the old sow ran away howling.He continued to speak: "The population of our village is really too large. Going back 20 years, our village's food supply has not been so tight. Back then, there were not so many people. Now it is good, there is no more land, but there are 200 more people. Too much mouth. What's the matter? I have to blame the mother-in-law and aunt, who are addicted to giving birth to a baby, like an old sow cuddling in a nest, and can't keep it in her life. Let's talk about Gouwa's mother-in-law and aunt, who still feeds the baby in her hands , I am pregnant again, this is the seventh one, are you still finished?"

It seems that this dog boy is Changgui's punching bag, and he is often picked out and scolded. The educated youths stretched their necks to look into the crowd, but they didn't know which one was the dog boy, but they saw an aunt in her 40s standing up and cursing back. : "Chang Laogui, fart your mother, is it a matter for one person to give birth to a baby? Which of you men is not a greedy cat who steals your mouth, who smells fishy smell and then pushes up? Now you are pushing on your mother-in-law again? "

It seemed that this was Gouwa's daughter-in-law. The villagers and the male educated youths burst into laughter, and the female educated youths bowed their heads in embarrassment.

Chang Gui looked like an adult who didn't remember the villain's past, just grabbed Gouwa and said, "A good man doesn't fight with women, I won't tell you. Gouwa, you don't like me, why don't you talk? Your mother-in-law Contrary to the leader, you are the aunt who disciplines you, and you have no law?"

A short man in his 40s stood up from the crowd: "Secretary Chang, my mother-in-law and aunt are in charge of the house, and I can't count what I say."

The villagers and educated youths burst into laughter again...

Chang Gui hated iron and steel and said, "You bastard, why did you let your mother-in-law seize power? What can you do if you beat her up? Can you not be allowed to go to the kang at night? Let's not talk about it, let's Seriously, folks, I beg you, old man, don't give birth..."

laugh...

"Our Shichuan Village only has this little land, so we can't support so many people. No, we have added 10 more mouths. When the spring is green next year, I have to take the villagers out to beg for food. Well, it doesn't matter if the educated youths come. Those who can read and speak well are better at begging than the people in our village. Last year Shuanzhu took people to Mizhi to beg for food, and they couldn’t even speak a whole sentence. It’s a shame. Lead the team, let’s let people see, our Ishikawa village is not incompetent..."

Zhong Yuemin stood up: "Secretary Chang, how about I lead the team to beg for food next spring?"

Chang Gui said happily: "Good boy, if you have the guts, it's you."

Zhong Yuemin said respectfully: "Thank you for the trust of the leaders. I will work hard to beg for food and never let down the trust of the village leaders."

Chang Gui asked, "What's your baby's name? Are you a party member?"

"Zhong Yuemin is not a party member."

"Well, do a good job and let you join the party next year."

"Thank you branch secretary for cultivation."

Chang Gui roared: "The meeting is over!"

The educated youth camp in Shichuan Village is located in two dilapidated cave dwellings. These two cave dwellings used to be the property of an old bachelor in the village. After his death, the cave dwellings were gradually abandoned. Solved the housing problem of 10 educated youths, and paid them housing allowances according to state regulations. With Chang Gui's shrewdness, of course he would not use this money to build new cave dwellings for educated youths. He asked someone to repair the two dilapidated cave dwellings. It is to complete the task explained above.According to his understanding, these educated youths don't stay long. They think it's easy to be a farmer?If you don't have the ability to bear hunger, pack your bed early.

The night before the educated youths came, Zhang Jinsuo, the accountant of the village, knocked on the window of Chang Gui's house to ask for instructions, asking what to do with the food distributed to the educated youths by the county educated youth office.

Chang Gui said, "Didn't I tell you? Give them half of it."

Accountant Zhang hesitated and said, "This... I'm afraid it won't be worth the wheat harvest."

Chang Gui replied disapprovingly: "Which family in our village can top up the wheat harvest? Beg for food when there is nothing to eat. Isn't it like this in previous years?"

Accountant Zhang was a little timid: "I'm afraid the higher-ups will blame me and say that we withheld food from the educated youth..."

Chang Gui kept his promise: "The higher ups still care about so much? I have the final say on our village's affairs, so let's do it like this."

Chang Gui has been Party Secretary in Shichuan Village for more than ten years, and he is used to this way of thinking. After leaving Shichuan Village, he has nothing to do, but in the three-acre area of ​​Shichuan Village, his words are imperial edicts.

The first night when the educated youths arrived in Shichuan Village, they were not in a good mood. Although they were mentally prepared before going to the countryside, they knew that northern Shaanxi was a poor area. It was even worse than imagined.First of all, the two dilapidated cave dwellings surprised them. There was a 1 cm wide gap in the top of one of the cave dwellings. The broken doors and windows could not block the wind at all.Zhong Yuemin carried a bundle of sorghum stalks and wanted to burn the kang, but who knew that the smoke from the flue was pouring backwards, and everyone was smoked into the open air, so the educated youths had no choice but to give up.

Among the educated youths, only Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong were in a good mood, because they had already learned to have fun in the midst of suffering, and they knew in their hearts that worrying was useless, so it was better to find something happy on their own. Of course, it would be even better if they could make others happy.

Zhong Yuemin suggested that the educated youths hold a meeting first to discuss their future life. In fact, no one chose him as the person in charge, but he felt that he had this responsibility.

The male and female educated youths sat cross-legged on the kang. At first, no one spoke, and their mood was very low.

Zhong Yuemin was the first to speak with full of emotion: "I said students, from now on we will be in the same pot with spoons. Everyone is not familiar with it yet, and they are not from the same school. How about this, let me introduce myself, my name is Zhong Yuemin, This is Zheng Tong, we are all from Yuying School. Let me see, there are 10 of us, 7 males and 3 females, alas, there are more wolves and less meat, how about the three female students introduce themselves first?"

The girls had to introduce themselves.

"My name is Li Ping, from Cuiwei Road Middle School."

"My name is Wang Hong, from the High School Affiliated to the National People's Congress."

"My name is Jiang Biyun, from the High School Attached to the Normal University. Zhong Yuemin, what did you mean when you said that there are more wolves and less meat?" A girl with delicate eyebrows was obviously harsh on Zhong Yuemin's words.

Zhong Yuemin explained solemnly: "This is obvious. Since we want to take root in the countryside all our lives, the ratio of men and women must be reasonable. For example, in our educated youth spots, we should have 5 men and 5 women. It is not easy to fight. Look, like this With 7 men and 3 women, there must be 4 men who are single, isn’t that more wolves and less flesh?”

Jiang Biyun glared at him angrily: "Zhong Yuemin, why are you talking so rascally?"

"Hey, you really have eyesight, how can you tell that I'm a hooligan at a glance? I'm so sorry."

Zheng Tong smiled and said: "You are a good person, no matter how you pretend to be a good person, you can't pretend to be a good person. You have revealed your secrets in just one day, right? Students, this is a well-known hooligan in our school. He has fought and molested women many times. Detained by the public security organ, please be more vigilant in the future, especially the female students."

The male educated youths all laughed, and Jiang Biyun turned away contemptuously.

Zheng Tong pointed to a few boys and said: "Yuemin, I talked with these guys just now, let me introduce you, this is Qian Zhimin, from Haidian Middle School; this is Zhang Guangzhi, this is Cao Gang, from Petroleum From the attached middle school; this is Zhao Dayong, this is Guo Jie, and they are from Bei'anhe Middle School."

Everyone shook hands one by one.

Cao Gang looked at Zhong Yuemin and said, "I've seen you. Someone fought with Liu Lihua in our school. Did you go too?"

Zhong Yuemin said: "I went to your school to fight, why can't I remember?"

Cao Gang said with certainty: "That's right, it's you. That day you were dressed as a general, carrying a kitchen knife, and kept saying that you were going to chop Liu Lihua up."

Zhong Yuemin recalled that this was the case, he waved his hand and said, "Don't mention it, don't mention it, it's all before joining the revolution, He Long even played with a kitchen knife."

Zheng Tong asked: "Yuemin, the County Educated Youth Office doesn't distribute much food to us. I calculated it. No matter how I save it, I won't be able to eat wheat."

"It's easy to handle. If you have it, eat your fill. If you don't have it, let's find a way." Zhong Yuemin didn't want to worry about it.

Guo Jie said seriously: "I can think of any way, I can't really go beg for food, can I?"

Zhong Yuemin beamed with joy when he heard it: "Why not? I heard from my father that there is a tradition of farmers in this area going out in groups to beg for food when there is no harvest. I have long wanted to taste the taste of begging. If we were in Beijing, where would we go?" Looking for this opportunity?"

Jiang Biyun seemed to annoy Zhong Yuemin the most, and she immediately said: "Who is coming up with such a bad idea? Whoever wants to beg for food will go by himself. I won't go anyway."

Zhong Yuemin didn't want to argue with her: "It's easy to handle. Let's share the grain and join forces voluntarily. Student Jiang, you can share more than 60 catties of grain. If you can eat 2 liang of grain a day, it should be no problem to reach the wheat harvest."

Qian Zhimin said: "I suggest that we men and women have separate kitchens, so that the women won't say that we are taking advantage."

Cao Gang also agreed: "This is a way, I agree."

The male educated youths agreed one after another.

Jiang Biyun snorted: "If we separate, we will separate, what's the big deal."

Zhong Yuemin said with a playful smile: "Shall I partner with you? If you agree, I will immediately break up with their male classmates. How about the four of us?"

Zheng Tong didn't miss any chance to attack Zhong Yuemin: "Yuemin, you'd better move to the women's dormitory, we are more relaxed here."

The male educated youths roared with laughter.

Zhong Yuemin didn't change his face: "I have no objection to this, but it depends on whether the female students agree or not."

Jiang Biyun turned pale with anger: "Rogue..."

Zheng Tong said: "That's Zhong Yuemin's nickname..."

The male educated youths laughed.

Jiang Biyun was so angry that she shed tears...

When Zhou Xiaobai and Luo Yun joined the army, Yuan Jun was still hanging out in the society. Unexpectedly, a week after they left, Yuan Jun joined the army as a "backdoor soldier". These recruits belonged to a field army, but they didn't know each other.

When Zhou Xiaobai met Yuan Jun, it was already two months after the recruit company's training.Zhou Xiaobai and Luo Yun were assigned to the hospital, Zhou Xiaobai worked as a hygienist in the internal medicine department, and Luo Yun was assigned to the pharmacy.And Yuan Jun was assigned to the tank regiment as a loader.When they were in Beijing, although they knew each other very well, none of them talked about their family situation. In fact, the fathers of all three of them had a deep connection with the army.A unit commanded by Zhou Xiaobai's father, Zhou Zhennan, during the Anti-Japanese War was incorporated into the army during the War of Liberation and became a main division of the army. Therefore, many of the army, division, and regiment cadres in this army were veterans of Zhou Zhennan. underlings.Luo Yun's father and deputy political commissar Shao of this army were old comrades in arms, and the two had been partners in a regiment in the late period of the War of Liberation.Luo Yun's father was the regiment commander, and the current Deputy Political Commissar Shao was the former regiment political commissar.Yuan Jun's father, Yuan Beiguang, was simply an old buddy of the army. He had been in the army since he joined the army in 3, and he hadn't moved anywhere for more than 1938 years.This army is Yuan Beiguang's natal family. The current army commander Li Zhenyun used to be Yuan Beiguang's platoon leader. It was in Jizhong in 20. Now Yuan Jun is serving in his father's old army. His uncles and uncles are almost everywhere in the divisions, which is similar to going back to his hometown.Many uncles and uncles met Yuan Jun and mentioned his bad deeds in childhood, saying that Yuan Jun set fire to the stage curtain in the auditorium of the military headquarters. At that time, Yuan Beiguang was so angry that he almost went crazy, tied Yuan Jun to a bench and whipped him for 1959 times with a belt. As a result, he lay on the bed for half a month.

That day Yuan Jun went to the military department to see his father's old comrade-in-arms, Deputy Commander Yao, and had a meal at Deputy Commander Yao's house at noon. During the meal, Deputy Commander Yao took out a bottle of Wuliangye and poured Yuan Jun a glass.Yuan Jun hesitated, he was afraid that it would be difficult to explain when he returned to the company.

Deputy Commander Yao glared: "You can drink as soon as you ask, and your company commander will ask him to come to me if he has something to say. What kind of friendship is there with your father? A life-threatening friendship! In 1941, I was the one who took him out of the dead. He didn’t owe me anything, he took a bullet for me in 1942, and we were even. I haven’t seen the old man for several years. I want to have a good drink with him, but I don’t have a chance Ah, it’s all right now, it’s called the father’s debt, and when Lao Tzu is away, you should drink for him as a son.”

So Yuan Jun immediately put his heart into his stomach, and put Deputy Commander Yao down for his father in two or three strokes.In fact, Deputy Commander Yao didn't drink much, and he couldn't find the bedroom door after drinking three or two drinks.Yuan Jun was also a little swayed under the influence of alcohol. At this time, in his feeling, no one would be a problem. If he could meet his company commander at this moment, he might just slap him in the face. How dare you care about me? ?It's against you, isn't this looking for a hammer?Grandpa, so what if I drink alcohol?
Yuan Jun wandered into the military service agency in the military headquarters compound, wanting to buy some letter paper and envelopes.He found a recruit who was also shopping at the counter.The recruit looked back at Yuan Jun and looked him up and down unreasonably.

Yuan Jun glanced at him, and the words came out sideways: "What's wrong with being sick, what are you doing wrong?"

The recruits also spoke with a Beijing accent: "Are you a Beijing soldier?"

"what's wrong?"

"Do you still know me? Who did you squeeze against at the Shichahai Ice Rink last year?"

Yuan Jun said arrogantly: "I beat so many people on the ice rink that I can't remember who you are. Who are you?"

"I'm Xiao Ming who pretends to be the secretary, do you remember?" The recruit rolled up his sleeves.

Yuan Jun smiled contemptuously: "I haven't heard of it, what do you want to do? You have something to say, and you have to fart."

"We still have a bill to settle. We let you run away on the ice rink last time. It's really hard to turn around. We met here!"

Yuan Jun smiled: "What's the matter? Look at the meaning, you want to practice alone with me? Let's find a place."

The recruit grabbed Yuan Jun's collar and said, "Let's go, let's make an agreement, if you see blood, you have to say that you didn't pay attention."

Yuan Jun twisted his wrist: "No problem, the tooth fell out and swallowed, who said who is the grandson, let's go..."

Zhou Xiaobai also happened to go to the military service agency that day, and as soon as she entered, she saw two recruits walking out, talking nonsense.Zhou Xiaobai was taken aback, why is this voice so familiar?She immediately realized, isn't this Yuan Jun? Why did this guy come here?She blurted out: "Yuan Jun."

At this moment, Yuan Jun's wine was welling up, and Wuliangye wine had a lot of stamina. He didn't feel any better just now, but now he felt a little bit out of sorts.He looked back and felt that the female soldier looked familiar, and his mind was a little confused. He couldn't remember who it was for a while, so he thought that the female soldier was here to persuade the fight, and he said drunkenly: "Don't worry about anyone. Who cares who I'm in a hurry with."

Zhou Xiaobai understood in his heart when he saw the smell of alcohol in his mouth.She shouted: "Yuan Jun, I'm Zhou Xiaobai, you can see clearly."

Yuan Jun was still confused: "What... Bai? I don't know."

Zhou Xiaobai was angry and funny, this bastard was confused, he didn't even recognize her, she shook Yuan Jun's shoulder and shouted: "Zhong Yuemin, do you always remember?"

Thankfully, Yuan Jun has not forgotten Zhong Yuemin at last. He tried his best to control his gradually blurred thinking, and only remembered Zhou Xiaobai from Zhong Yuemin: "Oh... I remembered, there seems to be such a person... called Zhou... what is it?"

The recruit from Beijing got impatient: "Hey, are you going or not, what are you talking about here?"

Zhou Xiaobai grabbed Yuan Jun and said to the recruit, "Do you want to take advantage of him to rob him when he is drunk? Which unit do you belong to? Do you dare to tell me?"

The recruit didn't want to make matters worse, so he went down the steps himself: "Well, let him remember that he still owes me a debt, and I will ask him to pay it back at any time in the future." After speaking, he turned his head and left.

Zhou Xiaobai dragged Yuan Jun to the hospital involuntarily. She knew that if Yuan Jun returned to the company drunk like this, he would be in serious trouble. She had to sober up this guy.

On the way, Yuan Jun asked in a daze, "Yuemin is here too, which unit is he assigned to?"

Zhou Xiaobai said angrily, "He's assigned to the headquarters, he's the commander of the army."

"No, Zhong Yuemin can be the commander of the army? Isn't the commander Li Zhenyun... Don't fool me... Zhong Yuemin's grandson... can be a deputy political commissar at most..."

Zhou Xiaobai was amused: "You are really flattering him, Zhong Yuemin is the political commissar of Dangdang your group, it's not enough to make troubles in Beijing, and the troops are here again, what should I say about you?"

That day Zhou Xiaobai took Yuan Jun to an empty ward in the hospital's internal medicine department and lay there for two hours before Yuan Jun woke up.Fortunately, the nurse on duty was her good friend, otherwise even Zhou Xiaobai would not be able to explain where this drunk came from.

Fortunately, I met Zhou Xiaobai, otherwise it would be difficult for Yuan Jun to return to the company.He has only been in the army for a few months, and he has already become a backward model of the tank regiment. From the regiment to the company, the leaders pay close attention to him.Usually nothing happened, the leaders kept calm, just waiting for him to commit a crime. Once he was caught breaking the discipline, the company would use him as a model.This is due to grassroots cadres' prejudice against backdoor soldiers, because in their eyes, enlisting in the army is a very honorable thing, and many outstanding young people can't get this opportunity, but these cadres' children easily come to the army, And they are all assigned to the best department, which makes them psychologically unbalanced.People from the lower class often have a strong desire for equality, but in real life, it is impossible to achieve complete equality.Therefore, backdoor soldiers like Yuan Jun are destined to attract attention.

Yuan Jun is a veritable backdoor soldier. He came from Beijing by himself by train one month after the recruit company started training. When he came, he went directly to the army headquarters, and he wanted to see the army commander.It just so happened that several chiefs of the army were not there that day, and it was a director surnamed Zhao from the Military Affairs Department who received him.Director Zhao was transferred from the military region a few years ago, so he didn't know Yuan Beiguang's name. He recently received several similar backdoor soldiers, which annoyed him.The children of some leading cadres often come from Beijing to ask to be soldiers only by a handwritten letter to the head of the army. The number two commander has a very large spectrum. The army commander and the political commissar are very annoyed by this, and they really can't refuse, so they often push Director Zhao to receive and arrange, but this Director Zhao is a combat staff officer. Why did he lead soldiers in the army? Compared with cadres at the same level, what he lacks is the intricate personnel relations in the army, and he also lacks the necessary tolerance for this.He was extremely disgusted with this kind of ethos of joining the army through the back door. These cadres and children simply regarded the army as a big car shop, coming and leaving whenever they wanted, and they didn't plan to go through any formalities for enlistment.

A few days ago, Director Zhao received two young men from Beijing. When arranging their work, he was polite and asked them what they thought. The two young men told him bluntly that they only wanted to stay in the army. Ministry of agencies, do not want to leave the company.Director Zhao held back his breath and asked them what they were doing in the office. The two young men thought for a while and said, go to the communication station. Because the wired connection often climbs the electric pole, it is better to connect wirelessly.Director Zhao was almost mad with anger, but he didn't dare to attack. He knew that since these two guys dared to be so arrogant, it meant that their background was very strong, and it would be unwise to offend them.He finally assigned them to the wireless company to learn radio maintenance, but he felt as if he had eaten a fly in his heart, and he felt uncomfortable for several days. Before he could recover, Yuan Jun arrived again.

Yuan Jun didn't know Director Zhao's views on people like him. He only remembered that this army was his hometown. He was born in the military camp and grew up in the military kindergarten. The feeling of joining the army is only the feeling of returning to my hometown.Therefore, when he heard that the heads of No. 6 and No. 1955 were not there, he asked in a grandiose manner, "Are No. [-], No. [-], and No. [-] here? Anyone among them is fine." Suddenly feel bad.In particular, Yuan Jun wore a yellow woolen military uniform under the soldier's uniform that day very inappropriately. The woolen military uniform with shoulder pads held up the soldier's uniform outside. After a while, he knew that this kind of military uniform was issued to general officers when they were awarded the rank in [-]. Director Zhao was only a lieutenant at the time, and he was not qualified to enjoy the treatment of wearing a woolen uniform. The recruit in front of him dared to wear this Joining the army in military uniform is clearly an act of challenging grassroots cadres.

Director Zhao decided to make things difficult for this ignorant brat without showing his face.After listening to Yuan Jun's self-introduction, he said politely, "The army commander and the political commissar are not here today. I am the chief of military affairs. This is my job. Please show me your enlistment procedures."

Yuan Jun was taken aback, he didn't seem to have the concept of enlistment procedures in his consciousness, he remembered that his father Yuan Beiguang only made a long-distance call to the army commander Li Zhenyun, and the army commander said, "Welcome your son to join the army, and I will say hello to the comrades who will receive the army." That's enough." As for the procedures for the cadres who received the troops, Yuan Jun couldn't afford to worry about them.At this moment, the chief of military affairs actually asked him for the formalities, which made Yuan Jun very unhappy. He said casually, "I am originally from here, and I only left when I was in the kindergarten of the military department."

Director Zhao said neither humble nor overbearing: "You can't have military status when you go to kindergarten, right? I'm asking about your enlistment notice."

Yuan Jun said carelessly: "No one gave me a notice. Commander Li asked me to come. All my enlistment procedures should be in your military affairs department."

Director Zhao seemed very patient: "Young man, I don't have your enlistment procedures here."

Yuan Jun shrugged his shoulders indifferently: "Then you can ask the army commander. Of course, the political commissar is also fine. Since they are not here, I will stay and wait. Anyway, the recruits will not finish their training for two months. Don't worry. Director Zhao, go do your work."

He spoke very arrogantly, but he didn't realize it. This sentence offended Director Zhao. It was unprecedented in the history of this army that a recruit dared to speak to a regimental cadre in such a tone.However, Director Zhao didn't show his anger, he just nodded and told Yuan Jun to go to the guest house.He can't offend these cadres and children. He knows the intricate relationship in the army too well. A recruit is nothing to worry about, but you can't tell the relationship between his old man and the chief. What if his old man had a pot with the chief? If you have stirred a spoon in the kitchen, or saved the chief's life on the battlefield, if you offend him, it is tantamount to offending the chief.Director Zhao would not do such a stupid thing. He decided to treat Yuan Jun coldly. He would neither offend him nor help him. Let him wait in the guest house.

Director Zhao, who was full of resentment, really threw Yuan Jun in the guest house for 3 days. Fortunately, Deputy Commander Yao came back 3 days later, and Yuan Jun was assigned to the recruit company.After the recruit company's training, Yuan Jun was assigned to the tank regiment, and Director Zhao privately told the regiment's cadres about his performance.Therefore, before Yuan Jun joined the tank regiment, everyone in the regiment already knew about him.

Yuan Jun somewhat regretted joining the army. He felt that life in the army was unbearably boring. The key was that there was no group of friends with whom he could get along well. He felt that everyone in the company was watching him, and his every move All of them received attention. From the company commander Ji Changhe, the instructor Wu Yunguo to Duan Tiezhu, the squad leader of Yuan Jun's second squad, their attitude towards Yuan Jun was not lukewarm.They all know Yuan Jun's family background, especially the relationship between his father and the army commander, but no grassroots cadres accept this, and they even dislike him more and more. This seems to be a natural prejudice, and it is also a part of the army. a common phenomenon.There is a natural barrier between soldiers who enlist from the countryside and those who enlist from the city, and this barrier is difficult to eliminate in a peaceful environment.

Yuan Jun lived in the barracks since he was a child and was familiar with the life of the army. He knew that he had to go through the life of recruits. After a year, the next batch of recruits entered the barracks before he could survive.The army is like this, even if the army commander is your father's old comrade-in-arms, he can't protect you in everything, and the squad leader is an official, you can't make it through no matter what.Yuan Jun understands this, he thinks that after becoming a soldier, he has already restrained himself, and he even hopes to establish a good relationship with Duan Tiezhu, the squad leader, to improve his current situation, but Duan Tiezhu dismisses Yuan Jun's olive branch and is still very strict with him .Yuan Jun hated the squad leader ever since.

Duan Tiezhu, the second squad leader, looks very similar to his name. He is 1.7 meters tall, as thick as a cannonball, and has a very hot temper. He, the company commander Ji Changhe, and the instructor Wu Yunguo are all from Shandong, and they are all from the same county. Since they are fellow villagers, they usually walk around more among themselves, which makes them feel like they are forming cliques.Yuan Jun believes that this company has been controlled by the Shandong gang, and non-Shandong fighters will not be able to get ahead in this company.Regarding the temper of squad leader Duan Tiezhu, Yuan Jun sees it this way. This old-fashioned brat with a head full of sorghum must have been a good-tempered person before he joined the army. He became like this after he became the squad leader in the army. There is only one conclusion. The boy spoiled the recruits so much that they couldn't hug anyone they saw.Yuan Jun decided to wait until the time was right before looking for an opportunity to deal with him, so that he could understand exactly how many eyes Lord Ma had.

In the past few days, the relationship between Yuan Jun and the squad leader has reached the point where fire and water are incompatible.Yuan Jun worked as a loader on the No. 103 tank. Among the four crew members of the Type 59 tank, this was the most thankless job.Needless to say, the captain of the car is the commander of the whole car, and everyone has to obey.Drivers and gunners are technical jobs, so they are naturally more respected, especially drivers. Soldiers enlisted in the countryside are willing to do it, because after demobilization, they can drive crawler tractors, which is a respected occupation in the countryside.After all the calculations, it turns out that the job of the loader is not very good. In name, he is a reserve gunner, but if he really wants to touch the gun, unless the gunner is killed in battle.In other words, if the gunner is alive and well, Yuan Jun will only have to pout his buttocks to load the shells.He had never noticed before that the cockpit of a majestic-looking tank was so narrow. In such a narrow space, the loader had to use his arms to push a 4-kilogram shell into the barrel. Yuan Jun thought that this was simply not a job. people did it.He knew in his heart that he was the only back door soldier in this company, and he was sure to do the loader.

Yuan Jun practiced loading shells over and over again in the cockpit, and his whole body was already drenched in sweat. It was really miserable for a 30-kilogram training shell to be repeatedly pushed into the barrel and then withdrawn.He felt that the cockpit cover was opened, and a ray of sunlight shone into the cockpit. He didn't look up, and continued to load.

"Yuan Jun, is there anyone who loads shells like this? How did the gunner teach you?" Duan Tiezhu said from the cockpit.

Yuan Jun didn't even raise his head: "Squad leader, just say what you have to say, there is no need to set the stage, what exactly do you want to say?"

"How many times have I told you that your thumb should protect the fuze of the shell, especially when the shell is pushed into the chamber, and the fuse of the shell with the safety cap removed, the collision force of a few kilograms can cause an explosion." Duan Tiezhu taught.

"I said monitor, isn't this a coach bomb, it seems like it won't blow up?"

Duan Tiezhu's voice became severe: "What did the instructor say? Sweat more in normal times and bleed less in wartime. You must treat every exercise as actual combat in your mind, and you just ignore the words of the company chief like this?"

"Hey, I'm still the chief. Why do I feel so awkward when I hear this? It's fine to call me the company commander or the instructor. Don't you think it's a little disgusting to be the chief? If I hurry up tomorrow, I'll call you the squad leader too." Yuan Jun Said bitterly.

"Yuan Jun, as a recruit, you have a serious tone. Don't think that your father is an official and you can ignore the grassroots leaders. I'm afraid it won't do you any good if you continue like this."

"Okay, why don't you find a cool place to stay later? What are you looking for? Right now, my temper is much better. In the past, I would have made you find your teeth all over the place."

"What did you say? Dare you say it again?"

Yuan Jun picked up a large wrench and slowly crawled towards the cockpit opening: "Let's talk outside."

"What's the matter, you still want to hit someone? You wait, I'll go to the instructor, I can't take this soldier..."

The canopy was closed with a bang, and Duan Tiezhu went to the company headquarters to file a complaint.

Yuan Jun sat down weakly, and said bitterly: "It's really fucking bullied by dogs in Pingyang..."

Zhou Xiaobai finally received Zhong Yuemin's letter. She was so excited that she grabbed the envelope and ran all the way to the garden in the rest area.She sat on the bench and tore open the envelope so frantically that the letter paper was torn.Zhong Yuemin's letter was very simple, dry, without any emotional color.

Xiaobai:

Hello there!

Zheng Tong and I have settled down in northern Shaanxi, which is very close to the Mu Us Desert, so there is a lot of wind and sand.The mountains in northern Shaanxi are all piles of loose loess soil. Due to the drought and lack of rain, each hill is a big pile of ash. When people walk up, it is like walking into a pile of loose cement. The dust is flying and the sky is blocked out.

There are a total of 10 people in our educated youth spot, all from different schools in Haidian District. We didn’t know each other before, and now we have nothing to talk about. Only Zheng Tong can talk to me.

The life of the farmers here is very hard, basically relying on the sky for food.There are no irrigation channels, not even decent flat land, let alone terraced fields.Sow the grain seeds on the loess slope in spring, and the rest is to wait for the rain. If there is no rain within 20 days, the seeds will die of drought, and there will be no harvest this year, even in the best harvest year , The grain is only enough to last for eight or nine months.Every year when there is no harvest, the whole village will go out to beg together, which has become a tradition in Shichuan Village.Our educated youths currently have enough food for a week or two. When the food runs out, everyone should go out to beg for food.Zheng Tong and I are discussing whether to prepare some programs, such as model plays or something, and we can also perform as a performer while begging.This kid Zheng Tong is thinking about foolish tricks all day long. He says he wants to practice swallowing iron balls, and he wants to get some gasoline to practice breathing fire. Come to northern Shaanxi to fool fellow villagers.I once proposed to perform hard qigong and put a few bad bricks on his head to practice opening bricks, but Zheng Tong resolutely refused, and I haven't come up with any more creative ideas until now.

I am now learning to sing Xintianyou with the old man Du in the village. This old man is like a grocery store in his stomach. He can sing seven or eight versions of the same lyrics in different tunes.The old man never left his cigarette pipe, and he suffered from emphysema from smoking. He could hear his lungs rumbling when he gasped, and his voice was like a leaking bellows.But his broken gong voice singing folk songs in northern Shaanxi is simply a masterpiece. I almost shed tears when I heard it several times. The unique charm is really unforgettable. I am obsessed with Xintianyou.

We have started spring sowing now, and it seems that there will be no rain for the next few days, and the sown grain seeds are likely to die of drought. The village party secretary is secretly preparing for the rain prayer ceremony, because he is a party member and cannot openly participate in such activities. Activity.

In short, although life is a bit bitter, I am very happy, especially when I quarrel with Zheng Tong every day before going to bed, it is a lot of fun. This guy has become more and more eloquent recently.

I'm sleepy, and the oil lamp is almost out of oil, so I'll write next time.

Celebration

all the best.

Zhong Yuemin

1969-04-15
As far as this dry letter is concerned, there is no greeting or any expression of emotion. If an unrelated person reads it, they will think it is a correspondence between two men.However, Zhou Xiaobai was already very content. She was fascinated by watching, sometimes burst into laughter, and sometimes shed tears.She was shocked by the level of poverty in the rural areas of northern Shaanxi, which was beyond her imagination.She couldn't imagine what would happen if she was in that environment.Zhong Yuemin's letter contained only plain narration, and did not show the psychological state of people enduring suffering in the slightest. She seemed to be able to see the scene of Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong, the two living treasures, enjoying themselves in pain.Zhou Xiaobai wanted to know their living environment, what they ate as their staple food, whether they had vegetables, and whether they were tired from working, but these details were not mentioned in the letter.Zhou Xiaobai suddenly discovered that she really liked Zhong Yuemin. This guy has a very special temperament, which is both romantic and realistic, and even has a bit of rascal, a bit of cynicism, and a bit of a life attitude of playing with life.This guy is a fantastic mix, and you'll be happy with him.He found something interesting to do wherever he went, and he was playing with gusto and seriousness, just like that.A person who was once obsessed with Tchaikovsky's music turned out to be obsessed with folk songs in northern Shaanxi in a remote area, and he still doesn't know how to solve his rations for the next month.Zhou Xiaobai believes that begging is a painful and helpless thing, and the dignity and self-confidence of a normal person will be replaced by humiliation, but Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong actually regard begging as a carnival festival, and even prepare for the street festival in a serious manner. Performing arts, they had a really good time, they really deserved to be stubborn masters, this is Zhong Yuemin.

Zhou Xiaobai suddenly felt a surge of tenderness in her heart. She carefully put the letter into the pocket of her close-fitting shirt, thinking in her heart that she must find time to write him a long letter, and hoped that he would not get carried away and forget himself. .

At this time, Zhong Yuemin was sitting cross-legged on a kang and playing chess with Cao Gang at the educated youth spot of Shichuan Village in northern Shaanxi.This is a game of gambling, the bet for each chess game is a dime, Zhong Yuemin has already lost two games in a row, and the third game seems to be hanging.When he was inattentive, Cao Gang made an afterthought, and Cao Gang jumped off the kang overjoyed: "Ha, where are you running? An afterthought, you are finished."

Zhong Yuemin quickly regretted the move: "Oh, where is your horse? I didn't see it, no, no, no, I won't take this step."

"Are you regretting the game again? No, we're hanging up the gamble. You already owe me 3 bucks. What's the point of reneging?"

Zhong Yuemin said: "Okay, okay, it's not bad, let's continue, isn't it just three corn buns?"

Cao Gang stretched out his hand: "Hey, this store doesn't owe you credit at all, so let's settle the account first."

Zhong Yuemin said anxiously with a pale face: "I'll give you dinner in a while, what are you in a hurry for? Come, come again, I'll go first, and take the lead."

Cao Gang shook his head and said: "No more, let's talk after dinner. If you lose this game again, you won't even have anything to do with dinner. I can't bear to let you watch me eat. When the time comes, I will soften my heart. If I give you back another cornbow, didn’t I win in vain?”

"I'm happy if I'm hungry, don't be soft-hearted, why don't you just carry two meals? Xiaoyi, come on, keep coming."

Zheng Tong walked into the cave and said, "Yuemin, you cooked the meal yesterday, right? You didn't say hello in advance when the food ran out?"

Zhong Yuemin slapped his forehead: "Is there no food? Oh, I remembered, I forgot, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, there's nothing left? Can you make do with it?"

Zheng Tong said angrily: "There is not even a bit of fucking scum left."

Cao Gang suddenly realized: "Damn it, I said why are you not in a hurry after losing 3 Wotou in a row, you are fooling me for making trouble for a long time."

Zhong Yuemin quickly explained: "Whoever fooled you is the grandson, I really forgot."

Zheng Tong said with a smile: "Don't you guys want to lead a team to beg for food? Let's go, borrow a few ragged cotton jackets from the villagers to wear them, and get a dog-beating stick for each person, and beg for food. Beg for food. You can't be vague about this outfit."

Zhong Yuemin scratched his scalp: "Even if you go to beg for food, you have to go tomorrow. How do you live today? There is still a dinner. Huh? This smells really delicious, who cooks?"

Cao Gang said: "Those three girls."

In the kitchen of the educated youth spot, just as Jiang Biyun turned on the steaming steamer, Zhong Yuemin slipped in like a stroll and said, "Hey, it smells so good, what are you doing?"

Jiang Biyun didn't even lift her eyelids: "What else can I do? Wotou."

Zhong Yuemin scowled and said, "Can I have a taste?"

"No."

"Don't be so stingy. After all, they are all from Haidian, Beijing, and they came here by another train. As the saying goes, when a fellow countryman sees a fellow countryman, his tears are tearful. Look, my tears are about to flow down..."

"Stop using magnets, talk about things if you have something to do." Jiang Biyun replied bluntly.

Zhong Yuemin said unyieldingly: "Well, let's not talk about fellow villagers, we are neighbors after all, right? The two dormitories are next to each other, isn't there a wall in between? What did Grandma Li say in "Red Lantern"? We are one family after tearing down the wall, and Tiemei’s words are even more extreme. Guess what she said? She said that we are one family if we don’t tear down the wall..."

"Zhong Yuemin, you've been talking glibly for a long time, but you just want to eat something?"

"Don't put it so harshly, I just want to borrow some food, you see, one is rubbing, the other is borrowing, there is an essential difference between the two..." Zhong Yuemin muttered.

Jiang Biyun refused bluntly: "No."

"Or, it's a usury, how about borrowing one catty and paying two catties?"

"I do not care."

Zhong Yuemin wanted to explode but held back, and left resentfully.Jiang Biyun looked at Zhong Yuemin's back with a contemptuous expression on his face.

Chang Gui, the village party secretary, was eating at his kang table. There were several corn buns on the table. He, his wife and children were each holding a big bowl and drinking wild vegetable mush.

Zhong Yuemin shouted outside: "Is Secretary Chang at home?"

Chang Gui whispered nervously, "Put it away quickly."

The mother-in-law quickly took away the leftovers, and Chang Gui walked out in an old sheepskin jacket: "It's Yuemin, sitting in the kiln."

Zhong Yuemin walked into the cave, and Chang Gui greeted him according to the village idioms: "Have you eaten yet?"

"No. Secretary Chang, have you eaten yet?"

Chang Gui showed a helpless look: "What do you want to eat? My house is broken."

Zhong Yuemin didn't seem to expect it, he was stunned for a moment, hesitated to speak, he carefully examined Chang Gui, Chang Gui also narrowed his small eyes and looked at Zhong Yuemin nonchalantly.

Zhong Yuemin suddenly smiled: "Since that's the case, then I don't need to say anything. Secretary Chang, if we go to beg for food tomorrow, who else in the village will go with us?"

Chang Gui squatted in front of the kang, filled a pot with tobacco leaves and lit it on fire, saying: "Bring the old, weak, sick and disabled, this is the rule."

Zhong Yuemin said in a begging tone: "Secretary Chang, we are going to have a hard time today. Can the village lend us some food first? Let's get through today first."

Chang Gui was unmoved: "Where is there any food? It is common for people in our village to go hungry for a day or two. It's nothing, just get used to it."

Zhong Yuemin had no choice but to stand up and say goodbye. He stopped at the door and turned around: "Secretary, did the Japanese devils come to our village? During the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese never crossed the Yellow River. Where did our village learn this?" The Kung Fu of "Strengthening the Wall and Clearing the Field?"

Chang Gui pretended to be confused: "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't say anything, branch secretary, you rest, I'm leaving."

Zhong Yuemin didn't expect the food shortage to come so quickly, nor did he think that the consequences would be so serious if there was no food.Since finding out that the rations had been used up at noon, and going to bed at night, the male educated youth borrowed food everywhere, but he didn't borrow a grain of food. Everyone was hungry for two meals.Zhong Yuemin understands that the peasants here are frightened by hunger, and they value food more than their lives. It is easier to ask him to borrow his wife than to borrow food.Besides, some peasants' families must have already had a break. Since Zhong Yuemin had promised the branch secretary in a big way to lead a team to beg for food, the villagers just waited obediently.Zhong Yuemin used to think that everything is the same, that there must be a way for a car to reach the mountain, but he didn't expect that all the roads are blocked now, and there is no place to steal even if he wants to.

In the evening, Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong walked more than ten miles to steal chickens in the adjacent Xujiaweizi. Unexpectedly, chickens are more expensive than phoenixes in poverty-stricken areas. Being watched by the villagers, people were watching wherever he went, and he had no chance to do anything.After strolling for a while, they found that many villagers were looking at them with poles and sickles in their hands. Zhong Yuemin knew that stealing chickens was out of the question today. house.Unexpectedly, the two of them lost their energy when they walked halfway, so they had to walk for a while and rest for a while, and it took two hours to walk back to the village.

In the male dormitory of the educated youth spot, the male educated youths lay on the kang and tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Zheng Tong said weakly: "Yuemin, I'm tired and my head is a little dizzy."

Zhong Yuemin said: "This is a symptom of hypoglycemia. You won't feel it when you fall asleep. Go to sleep."

"Bullshit, can I sleep? My stomach is on fire. What is this? Who did we provoke? Send us to this ghost place to starve." Zheng Tong complained loudly.

Zhong Yuemin said dissatisfiedly: "Zheng Tong, are you annoying? You can't bear it after only two meals, or you can eat me up."

Zheng Tong sat up from the bed: "Hey, don't be greedy for me, if you have the ability, cut off a piece of meat from your butt, whoever doesn't eat it is a grandson."

Qian Zhimin couldn't sleep either, so he simply sat up: "Fuck, if I knew I would come here to starve, I wouldn't come if I was killed. Sun Hong of our school just didn't sign up. Teachers, classmates, and old ladies from the neighborhood committee, He came to his house like a lantern to mobilize. This grandson is really calm. You say nothing, but he just doesn't say a word. At night, this buddy starts to take off his clothes and go to bed, saying, "Lesbians, please stay away." , I don't have any underpants on'."

The male educated youths laughed.

Cao Gang said: "Our group of people are idiots. As soon as they were mobilized, they came here like crazy. I heard that those who couldn't come were assigned jobs in Beijing."

Guo Jie asked: "Yuemin, Zheng Tong, not many people from your Yuying School have gone to the countryside, and most of them have gone to serve as soldiers. Why didn't you serve as soldiers?"

Zhong Yuemin asked back: "Didn't you go too?"

Guo Jie said: "We are the children of ordinary people, so we should have jumped in line."

Zheng Tong interjected: "We are not as good as civilian children, we are 'children who can be educated well', and we are not even allowed to participate in the bloody conscription medical examination."

Guo Jie sighed: "I figured it out. People should die when comparing people, and throw away goods when comparing goods. How can there be any equality in the world? There are many levels of human status. For example, I live on the first floor, and Yuemin lives on the second floor. One day, there was a hole in the floor on the second floor, and Yuemin accidentally fell down, and it just leveled with me. If there is a hole in my floor, well, I should have fallen into the basement."

Qian Zhimin also joined the discussion: "That's right, if Yuemin broke free and went back to the second floor along the hole, you must still be listening to the crickets in the basement. Man, you can't fight for your life, because Not on the same starting line."

Zhong Yuemin felt that this kind of topic was boring, so he quickly changed the subject: "I said how many brothers are not hungry, what's the matter? Say a few words, save some energy, and there are still more than 40 miles to the county seat tomorrow."

Qian Zhimin said disheartenedly: "Fuck it, if I can't walk, I'll be a 'lost'. Anyway, it's boring to live."

Guo Jie seemed to think of something suddenly: "Those three women are really dishonest. Seeing that we are starving and don't borrow food, the women are picky."

Zhong Yuemin said nonchalantly: "We are the ones who proposed to split the gang. Even if we starve to death now, we can't speak soft words. We can't do things that lose our share."

In fact, they misunderstood the three female educated youths. At this time, they were cooking in the kitchen of the educated youths.Wang Hong and Li Ping are posting pancakes, and they have already taken out all the food.Jiang Biyun was sitting by the stove pulling the bellows, the blazing fire reflected her melancholy face red.She regretted her attitude towards Zhong Yuemin at noon today. She is not a stingy person, and she also knows that no matter how much food is saved, it will not last for a few days. They will have to beg for food sooner or later. She is angry with Zhong Yuemin and intends to make things difficult for him.

Jiang Biyun's father is a professor of biology at the university, and her mother is a lecturer in the same department as her father. She was a good student with good character and learning in school since she was a child. Such good students have always had prejudices against bad children like Zhong Yuemin, let alone their background Children from high-level intellectual families have always looked down on children from cadre families.They have been instilled by their parents with a set of concepts since they were young: families like ours have no power and power, and your parents can't help you, and you can only rely on your own struggle in the future.Jiang Biyun grew up under this kind of education. She has a very extreme view of the children of cadres. The children of the Eight Banners and the Yamen like to brag about their parents' status. They are arrogant, ignorant, vain and superficial. , inherited the disposition of their bumpkin parents, and took pride in ignorance.

In August 1966, when the Red Guards movement rose, Jiang Biyun’s parents were quarreled. At that time, she was still in school following the Red Guards to “break the four olds.” People like her who were not from the “Five Reds” were not eligible to participate As a Red Guard, she can only participate in the "Red Perimeter".She was very grateful to the Red Guards for giving her the opportunity to participate in the revolution, so she lived in school almost every day and seldom went home.It wasn't until one day that her parents' work unit notified her to deal with their funeral that Jiang Biyun knew that both her parents had committed suicide by taking poison and their bodies had been cremated.After hearing the news, Jiang Biyun suddenly collapsed. She returned home like crazy, searched the house for a whole day, but found nothing, and her parents just left without a single suicide note. Leave.From then on, Jiang Biyun never smiled again.

From then on, Jiang Biyun began to develop a strong hatred towards the Red Guards, and then expanded to the group of cadres' children.On the first day of her arrival, she began to hate Zhong Yuemin, treating him as a rascal, and Zhong Yuemin also seemed to intentionally act like a rascal to annoy her, that's how the hatred was forged.

After Li Ping and Wang Hong learned about Zhong Yuemin’s borrowing of food, they both complained that Jiang Biyun had gone too far. Wang Hong said very dissatisfied: “Biyun, you shouldn’t be like this. ?"

Li Ping sighed and said: "These boys are really pitiful. They haven't eaten for two meals. Zhong Yuemin is a person with a good face. Before he borrowed food, he must have been in a dilemma. He must have had a lot of courage to open his mouth. You will kill him immediately." If it reaches the south wall, he will not beg us if he starves to death."

Jiang Biyun suddenly felt very isolated. It turned out that Li Ping and Wang Hong had a good impression of Zhong Yuemin. They might really think that Jiang Biyun was reluctant to borrow food and regarded her as a cheapskate. Jiang Biyun was so wronged that he covered his face and cried.

In the male educated youth dormitory, everyone was bored talking, Zheng Tong kept turning over and sighing.

Zhong Yuemin kicked him: "Zheng Tong, can you fucking be quiet, why are you always squeezing me?"

Zheng Tong said weakly: "I remembered that time when I bought ice cream with Yuan Jun. At that time, I ate so much that my brothers had diarrhea. I swore at that time that I would never eat ice cream again. Now that I think about it, if there is ice cream, my brother can eat it." Eat a bucket."

Zhong Yuemin sat up and said: "Zheng Tong, I know you are hungry, but you have to learn to be patient, and you have to be patient if you can't help it. Not only do you have to endure tonight, but you also have to endure to the county seat tomorrow. Can you ask for food when you arrive in the county seat?" Not necessarily, even if we want some food, we can’t eat it, because there are old people and children in the village, we have to endure it. Not for anything else, because we are men, do you understand?”

"Understood, I will bear it in this life, and I will not be a man if I am killed in the next life. Yuemin, is there any way to prevent me from becoming a man?"

Zhong Yuemin smiled: "There is a way, Cao Gang, do you still have your sickle? Bring it here, I will castrate this kid."

The male educated youths booed: "Yes, eunuch."

Everyone was arguing, Zheng Tong heard someone knocking on the door, and Jiang Biyun's voice came from outside the door: "It's me, Jiang Biyun."

Zhong Yuemin roared: "We'll talk about it tomorrow, we don't have any clothes on, so don't invite us to make mistakes."

Jiang Biyun did not show weakness, she shouted: "Zhong Yuemin, you bastard, open the door."

Zheng Tong stuck his head out of the quilt and coaxed: "Comrade Jiang Biyun, we can't do it anymore. Farewell. I still have [-] cents on me. Let it count as my party fee for this month. Don't be too sad and bury our bodies. Go ahead, wait until the day when all mankind is liberated, and don't forget to lay a bouquet of flowers in front of our grave..."

Wang Hong laughed and scolded outside the door: "I'm so hungry that I can't get up, and I'm still poor. We still have something to eat here. If you don't open the door, we can leave."

The male educated youths jumped up like burning their buttocks, and hurriedly put on their clothes.

The door opened and three girls walked in carrying some cornmeal pancakes.Li Ping smiled and said, "Aren't you hungry? We deliberately came later to let you be hungry for a while, so that you don't cherish it. Let's all get up and eat, we have used up all the food, and we will go begging together tomorrow."

The male educated youths cheered the girl long live, grabbed the pancakes and devoured them. Only Zhong Yuemin covered his head with a quilt and pretended to be asleep.Jiang Biyun pushed him over and said, "Zhong Yuemin, what are you pretending to be? Get up and eat."

Zhong Yuemin turned over, turned his face inward and said, "I'm not hungry, a gentleman doesn't eat food that comes cheap."

"Then who went to my place during the day to grab a meal?"

"This time and that time."

"How do you say this?"

Zhong Yuemin sat up helplessly and said: "At that time I took you as a revolutionary comrade and borrowed food from you, but now the nature is different. It is like a landlord giving alms to the poor. We are poor and ambitious."

Jiang Biyun whispered, "Do you want me to beg you?"

"Don't, I'm not hungry, I just didn't eat for a day, so I can't bear it anymore. I want to experience the feeling of the Red Army's Long March."

Jiang Biyun said in a soft voice: "Zhong Yuemin, I know I hurt you today, and I apologize to you. You eat first, and we can talk about other things later, okay?"

"Where is it? You have the right not to borrow your food. This is only right and proper, and there is no need to apologize."

Jiang Biyun's voice was clearly pleading: "Yuemin, eat, I beg you."

"I'm really not hungry, thank you."

Jiang Biyun suddenly broke out: "Zhong Yuemin, put away your self-esteem. You think you are the only one with self-esteem? Why don't you care about other people's feelings? What I despise the most is your arrogance, which is deeply rooted. arrogance."

Zhong Yuemin looked at Jiang Biyun suspiciously: "You are not sick, why are you acting so bitter?"

"It's because I can't understand you. I have prejudices against you cadres and children. In the "Red August" in 1966, you ransacked your home and beat people. When the disaster touched your own family, you put on a cynical look. He even pretends to be a hooligan and laughs at everything to show that he is different."

"You can have your own opinions, but why did you send us food again, are you trying to laugh at me?"

"You're wrong. I'm not so narrow-minded. I suddenly figured it out. I think it's boring to go on like this. The 10 of us are a group. Since the society has thrown us into such a remote place, who else can we count on? It's too contemptuous to be intriguing."

Zhong Yuemin seemed to be shocked, he was silent for a moment, picked up a pancake and took a bite.

Jiang Biyun's eyes were red: "Yuemin, thank you, did you forgive me?"

Zhong Yuemin nodded with difficulty, his eyes were a little moist.

Jiang Biyun burst into tears in an instant: "Yuemin, I'm sorry..."

The educated youths were all in tears, they seemed to have matured suddenly, and life seemed not an easy task.

It was windy outside the cave.

(End of this chapter)