In the evening, the soft sunset shone obliquely over Lhasa, and at the gate of the Jokhang Temple, many women knelt on the polished stone slabs and kowtowed.
There was a young girl in the crowd, trembling and lying on the ground, kowtowing three times reverently, and muttering prayers as she prayed. She is Ma Sha, who grew up under the leather whip of the aristocratic Zhonglu family.
Martha lost both of her parents when she was a child. Fourteen years ago, the orphan was stolen from the steppe by a lama like a lamb and sold to the nobleman Zhonglu for two silver dollars.
Since then, Martha has lived a life of slavery that is inferior to a dog. She worked hard during the day and was locked up in a dark hole at night, not knowing how many times she was beaten or starved.
She heard the lama say, "Happiness is to cultivate in this life and the next, to endure suffering in this life, and to go to heaven after death." "What is heaven?Martha was at a loss. But she also heard people say, "You can find happiness in the holy land of Lhasa." So she fled from Zhonglu's house.
Now, Ma Sha has kowtowed a lot at the gate of the Jokhang Temple, but the more she kowtows, the more hungry she becomes, and the more she kowtows, the more she blooms. She stood up, dragged her numb legs, and staggered toward the city.
In this strange city, Martha has no relatives or friends, and she doesn't know anyoneAnd happiness, and I don't know in**. She was walking down the street in a trance when she accidentally bumped into the body of a PLA soldier.
Martha was terrified, cowering in the corner and shivering. Due to her unintentional negligence in Zhonglu's family, she didn't know how many beatings and scoldings she received. But this time to her surprise, the PLA soldiers smiled affectionately at her and left solemnly.
In the evening, it was windy and rainy. The streets were deserted. What to do?What about going to ** to find happiness?She covered her face and cried for a while, and then fell asleep in a groggy corner of the wall.
In the middle of the night, the rain stopped, and the moon peeked out from the clouds;The wind is cool and blowing. A drunken Tibetan soldier burped and staggered over and tripped over Martha at a corner turn.
Martha screamed and flinched back in fright. The Tibetan soldier got up, snorted, looked at her, approached step by step, and then pounced. Martha resisted desperately, struggled desperately, but it was useless...
The next morning, the Tibetan soldier came again, and he stood beside Martha for a long time, looked at her tear-stained face, and said, "Be my wife." Martha didn't move, she closed her eyes. The humiliation and grief broke her heart.
The Tibetan soldiers are gone. But after a while, he brought a pot of butter tea and a small bag of tsampa, poured the tsampa into the bowl, carefully served it, and said softly, "Oh, eat!."But Martha didn't even look up.
The Tibetan soldiers stopped for a moment and then left Martha. When the sound of heavy footsteps disappeared in the distance, Martha combed her loose hair with trembling hands, picked up the bowl blankly, tears rolled down in strings, and her hands trembled, and the wooden bowl fell to the ground.
In the afternoon of the same day, the Tibetan soldiers brought a small tent on their backs. Silently, he cleared an open field in the square, carried stones and straw, set up a tent, and placed a small flower in a can at the door.
Then, patting his clothes and wiping the beads of sweat from his face, he came over and picked up Martha, and went into the tent.
From then on, Martha lived with the Tibetan soldiers. It wasn't until a long time before Martha learned that her husband's name was Tuden, and Tuden knew that his wife's name was Martha.
Thubten leaves early and returns late every day, sometimes late at night, and Martha never asks what he does. What are you asking all this for?She was so disgusted with everything, she just lived in silence.
Time was like dust, slowly filling the potholes in Martha's heart. Gradually, Martha was worried about her husband's hot and cold, and worried about his healthIn the morning, she escorted him out of the tent, and in the evening waited for him to return at the door. She also advised him again and again to quit drinking.
The days pass monotonously like stagnant water in the gutter. Ten months later, Martha gave birth to a daughter. This little life brought joy to Martha. Tuden didn't even look at the child. He still goes out in the morning and crashes home drunk at night.
One day, Thubten suddenly returned in the afternoon. His face was gloomy, his eyes were full of blood, and he fell to the ground for a long time without speaking.
Martha carefully brought him a bowl of tea, but Tuden kicked it over, jumped up and shouted through his teeth, pressed the hilt of the knife, and rushed out.
On the night of the third day, Tuden had a blue nose and swollen face, bruises all over his body, his clothes were torn to shreds, and his knife was gone, and he staggered back. As soon as he entered the tent, he fell down with a thud. Martha bent her chest and leaned over him and cried.
From this day on, in order to feed her children and recuperate her husband's injuries, Martha had to go all over the place to carry stones, mix clay, do laundry, and carry goods, and do all kinds of hard labor.
Anxiety and poverty make Martha thin day by day. During one of the carrying of goods, she actually passed out on the ground. No one hired her since.
Martha had no choice but to hold the child and beg along the street. The ** in the satin robe and the nobleman in the top hat walked past her as if he had not seen her.
When a PLA soldier walked past her, he stopped and asked her why she was begging and if she would like to work, and told her that she could go to the "Bayi" farm to find a job. The warrior's sincere and affectionate smile suddenly reminded her of the only person she had smiled at a year ago, and her eyes moistened.
In this way, Martha walked into the "Bayi" farm. The director received her warmly and arranged her work with her.
A week later, for the first time, Martha received the payment for her labor. She clutched a dozen silver dollars tightly in her hand, and along the way she excitedly calculated: first, to heal her husband's wounds, let him eat better, and then to make a new dress for the child.
Martha returned home with great joy and spread the silver dollar in front of her husband with a clatter. Thubden narrowed his eyes suspiciously and asked, "You say, where did you get so much money?"”
Martha explained. But before the words fell, Thubten threw a fist at her face and yelled, "Shameless, bitch!."Go hook up with the PLA!”
Martha silently watched Thubden. She hated him and pitied him. She didn't say anything, just hugged the child and wept.
In the evening, most of his anger was gone, and he pulled her hair and told her not to go to the farm again. Martha felt that Thubten could be gentle with her, which was her happiness, so she agreed to his request.
But the whole family has to eat. After a few days, the family ran out of food, and Martha remembered the farm. So, she looked at her husband and went quietly again.
Along the way, she was distraught, thinking from her husband to her daughter, and from her daughter to her husband, and even more worried that the farm would not want her because she was out of work.
She walked into the farm in trepidation. To her surprise, instead of reproaching her, everyone warmly gathered around her, bringing food and drink, and constantly greeting her. This made Martha ashamed and grateful.
On the farm, Martha met many people, including Tibetan cadres and workers, as well as PLA officers and soldiers, some of whom were party members and some of whom were league members. She felt that these people were different from her former master and her current husband.
The people here are like brothers and sisters, they don't beat or scold, they happily work together, and sometimes they ask "what do you think?" Martha never thought about what she had an "opinion" before. She only felt that life here was strange and warm, different from the outside world.
Martha began to like this strange and warm life. Is this happiness?But why did her husband stop her and not let her come? She couldn't figure this out.
Martha wanted to make it clear to Tudden, but Tuden didn't want to know, and if she said it, she would inevitably be beaten. She had no choice but to look at her husband and say that she was doing a small job, and she didn't dare to give her husband so much at once.
But one day, the matter finally came to light. When she lifted her clothes to breastfeed the child, she accidentally spilled the silver dollar out of her pocket with a "bang".
Thubden's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he asked loudly, "Where did all this money come from?"Martha had no choice but to tell the truth. Thubten snatched the child away, threw her aside, grabbed her by the hair, scolded her viciously, and beat her severely. Martha resisted and struggled desperately.
Tired from the fight, Thubden fell to the ground, gasping for air. Martha shuddered and straightened her hair, picked up her crying daughter, and sobbed.
In the evening, Thubten became as warm as usual, and he rubbed Martha: "Martha, farewell, you are my wife, you should listen to me." The hearts of the Han people are completely black, and there is no good person... Huh?Still going?Martha said firmly, "Go!."Still going!”
Thubden sat up suddenly, clenched his fists and bared his teeth, and said, "You go, you dare to go!."Go, I'll kill you!Martha said motionlessly, "No, who will feed the children and feed you?"If it weren't for me, you'd have starved to death!”
Although Tuden had a hard mouth, he was obviously discouraged, his voice was quiet, and his fists were released. Pull the head and hair flutes.
The next morning, Martha picked up the baby and went to work as usual. Along the way, Martha's heart was so disgusted and irritable that she really wanted to vomit.
After this, Thubten never talked about the farm again, but only took all of Martha's salary on a monthly basis, and drank and gambled all day.
Martha's abuse was found out by the people on the farm, and everyone was very angry and aggrieved for her, and a Tibetan female tractor driver persuaded her to take Thubten away. Martha felt that the child could not live without a father, and that she should have a husband herself, she shook her head and smiled bitterly.
Soon after, the rumors in Lhasa suddenly tightened, and the reactionary elements in the upper echelons actively carried out criminal activities of betraying the motherland. Many fortifications began to be built on the farm. Martha was very scared and went to ask the field manager, who said, "It's nothing, the bad guys are going to make trouble, and it will be fine in a few days." ”
Martha thought: The field manager is always true when he speaks, and if he says that he is a bad person, then he must not be a good person. Therefore, as soon as she finished her work, she followed everyone to repair the fortifications, getting up early and going to bed late and repairing very seriously.
In this tense time, Thubten suddenly became active, and he often did not return home, and came back in woolen clothes, with a knife hanging from his waist. One day, on his way home, he ran into Martha, who shook his head and said to her, "Don't go to the Communist farm again, there is going to be a war." ”
Martha was surprised and wanted to ask for clarification, but when she saw her husband's energy, she was so disgusted that she didn't say anything more. The next morning, she picked up the baby and went to work on time.
The comrades on the farm repeatedly persuaded Martha to move in, and the Tibetan female tractor driver even pulled her back. But Martha just shook her head, and she thought, "Although Thubden is not good, after all, he set up the little tent, after all, he is his own husband." ”
In the evening, she returned late, and when she entered the door, she saw her husband wiping a shiny shell gun. Martha screamed, and was about to say something, when Thubden glared and cursed.
Thubten said viciously: "Tell you, you are not allowed to go from now on, I have money." Martha said while feeding the child, "Money, money, you only know money." If I don't get money from the farm, I'm going to go. You don't care!”
Tu Deng pulled out his knife and scolded: "Stinky girl, you are under the magic of the Communist People's Liberation Army, if you go again, you will cut off your legs!."Send you into the scorpion hole!Martha greeted her angrily: "You cut, you cut .........."
Tuden narrowed his eyes and froze, he didn't expect her to be afraid of death. He felt that Martha had changed. Immediately afterward, Thubden pounced like a wolf, punching and kicking Martha unconscious.
When Martha awoke, Thubten was no longer there, and the child was asleep on the ground. She struggled to get up, but she couldn't stand up, and her whole body hurt like she was falling apart, and now she really couldn't go to work on the farm.
It took a few days for Martha to recover. That afternoon, Thubden came back suddenly, drunkenly patting the gun in his arms and shouting to Martha, "Go, march!."Women are all participating. With that, he picked up Martha and dragged her out the door, and Martha was dragged out into the street by Tuden. She saw groups of men and women, crying and screaming in the smoke and dust, "*Independence!.""The Communists, the Han get out!.""The chaotic crowd, some cut down the telephone poles, some trampled on the children, some pressed the women down... Martha had a nightmare.
In the middle of the night, the so-called "independence" of the ** upper rebels was fired. Thubten did not return for the night. Fearful, Martha hid in her tent and prayed in a low voice, "God, bless me..."
Before dawn, a few old Tibetan soldiers broke into the tent, snatching things and looking for food. Suddenly, one of the bandits was surprised and said, "Huh!Isn't this the Martha of the Zhonglu family?How did you get here?Pretty woman. Take it away!”
The rebels snatched the child from Martha's hand and threw her to the ground, then dragged her out of the tent. Martha looked back at the child who had fallen to her death, and her heart was like a thousand steel knives, and she cried out in grief.
After crossing the Lhasa River, crossing the Brahmaputra River, and crossing mountains and mountains, the fleeing rebels took Martha to a huge castle.
Walking into the castle, where a dozen skeletons hung in the aisle, Martha's eyes widened as she looked at everything that seemed strange and familiar. She struggled to recall, and finally, she remembered.
This is Zhonglu's home. Yes, it's Zhonglu's home!"Martha clearly remembers the years of suffering she endured here, and it was in this cave that she saw with her own eyes how many serfs had their eyes gouged out and their wrists cut off...
When an escaped slave falls back into the hands of his master, the fate is clear. In the drowsy smoke, Zhonglu appeared in front of her eyes. He grabbed Martha fiercely and roared, "Tie up!."”
Zhonglu grabbed the leather whip in his hand and whipped Martha like crazy. At this time, there was a loud gunfire outside the castle, and the first sound roared, and it turned out that the castle was surrounded by the People's Liberation Army...
The bandits were in a mess, and they rushed several times but did not break out of the castle. Later, Zhonglu came up with a solution, he put Martha in front, led it with a rope, and then the fish came out. They didn't expect the PLA to shoot Martha.
Sure enough, the gunfire stopped. Martha walked ahead, her heart churning like a tide. After walking a few steps, she suddenly stopped, and she made up her mind: she must destroy these wild beasts!The painful days cannot be allowed to come back. She jerked her head up and shouted, "Comrades, shoot, shoot!".”
Martha's firm and loud voice resounded through the night sky. The bandits were like startled rabbits, rolling and crawling to pull her, and ran back with all their might.
Zhonglu fled into the castle and wanted to swallow Martha in one gulp. Picking up the iron rod, he hit Martha without a head or a face. Martha struggled to get up, but the world swirled and she fell.
When she woke up, it was already dark at night. She was aching and distraught. She thought a lot, and the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army and the people on the farm, one by one, their kind faces appeared in front of her eyes.
Who treated her as a relative, who abused her as a slave, who killed her children... All this burned in Martha's heart. She tried her best to help the People's Liberation Army do something, and when she thought about it, a thought flashed through her mind, and she smiled.
Martha crawled into the familiar kitchen step by step, and the excruciating pain caused her to faint and wake up, and wake up and pass out again. Finally, with trembling hands, she turned off the flames in the stove, lit the torch, and lit the pile of dry wood.
Tongues of fire stretched out into the large living room with carved beams, and the fire enveloped the entire castle, and smoke rose in the fierce wind. At this moment, the majestic military horn sounded, and the PLA soldiers heroically rushed to the ancient castle.
Martha stood up like a giant, holding a torch and shaking it everywhere to light a fire, she was going to turn all sin into ashes... However, Zhonglu, who was unenlightened to death, touched him from behind and raised his hand, "Bang, bang!.""Shot her twice.
Just as the shots rang out, the PLA stormed the castle. The rebels fled like a wasp that had fallen into its nest. At that moment a warrior ran up to inspect Martha's wounds.
Martha struggled to sit up, opened her eyes and smiled kindly at the warrior, and asked in a weak voice, "Comrade, can I still ... Can you live?The warrior hurriedly comforted her: "Yes!."Sister-in-law, it doesn't matter if you are injured, we will send you to the hospital for treatment immediately, and it will be fine soon. ”