Author: Yan Maochun.
On March 1, 1969, in response to the call of the most knowledgeable young people to go to the mountains and the countryside to receive the re-education of poor and middle peasants", I set off with a group of educated youths in Wuxi to go to the Wutuhe Farm in Guanyun County, Guanyun County, Huaiyin Region, together with a group of educated youths in Wuxi, where I worked and lived for about two years. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. There are a few things that I still remember to this day.
A gust of wind. On June 1, 1969, I was transferred from the 1st Company to the 30th Company as a platoon commander. We were working on the salt flats that day as usual. Suddenly, a large dark cloud pressed towards us from a distance, and the experienced company cadres immediately called for everyone to hurry back to the dormitory.
It can be said that it was too late and that it was fast, and in an instant, the wind was fierce, and all the reed mats covering the salt piles that had been inserted with thick bamboo chisels were lifted up at once. Suddenly, salt grains flew all over the sky, and the heavy rain made people hurt. At the beginning, the intellectuals still wanted to grab the reed mats and cover the salt pile, because it was the fruit of everyone's labor, but it was completely impossible, and the power of nature really let us see it once. At that time, people could no longer walk upright, but could only lie on the ground and "crawl forward". From the salt flats back to the dormitory, you have to cross a small river, and there is a small bridge dozens of centimeters wide on the river, and people are still blown into the river by the wind.
When I returned to the dormitory, the roof of the thatched hut had long been torn off by the wind, and the bedding on the earthen kang was soaked. The educated youths were not depressed because of this, and they made fun of each other, which is really a teenager who doesn't know what it feels like.
A cucumber. It was more than 20 miles from the 30th Company to the regimental headquarters, and it took more than an hour to walk. Once, I went to the regiment headquarters with the company commander for a meeting, and halfway to the Eighth Company vegetable field located in Xiaonangou. We were a little tired, so we sat on the side of the road and rested. The company commander went down to the ground, plucked a green onion, and gnawed it. I couldn't enjoy such food, but I picked a cucumber, washed it in the Wutu River, and ate it with a belt. I didn't want to have a stomach on the same day, so I pulled it more than ten times in one night.
The next day, he was sent to Xiaonangou Hospital, and after examination, he was found to have amoebic dysentery, and he was "tenesmus" every day, and he was hospitalized for more than 10 days with injections and medicines, and finally stopped with poppy husks. At that time, there were often wild poppies behind the local roadside houses, and their flowers and husks were soaked in water to drink, and it had a miraculous effect on curing diarrhea. I was in a hurry to be discharged from the hospital, and then I fell with chronic enteritis. For nearly a year, I had to pull it several times a day, and taking medicine didn't work. Later, someone taught me to eat raw garlic, I was afraid of spicy, so I ate it in a steamed bun, and it was better to pour it slowly.
During that time I was skinny and skinny, 1He is 78 meters tall and weighs less than 100 pounds. I deliberately took a ** as a souvenir, I have been cherishing it for many years, and I don't want to lose it once I moved, which is really a pity.
A meal of iced porridge. The salt field is heavily saline-alkali land, and the water of the small river in front of the gate is also salty and cannot be eaten. No other vegetables can grow on saline-alkali ground, only leeks are resistant to salinity, so most of the time we fry leeks at noon and eat with leek soup at night. The company canteen had to drive a small boat to the Wutu River every day to draw fresh water, and in a few days use the boat to go to the vegetable team to pull some vegetables back to eat.
The winter of 1969 was particularly cold. One day, when I woke up in the morning, I found that the creek in front of the door was frozen, and I didn't even have water to cook breakfast. The comrades in the canteen tried their best to go to the river to knock on the ice water and cook a pot of porridge for everyone to drink. I thought that the ice would probably not be salty, but it turned out to be salty, astringent and bitter when I drank it. This special breakfast was eaten at home, and after eating, there was a smile and a smile to work on the salt flats.
Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future.. On the occasion of commemorating the 40th anniversary of going to the countryside, I record these few small things, one is to encourage myself and my children not to forget the past and change their true colors; Second, I also want to review and reminisce with my partners back then. It may add a little different color to our lives today.