My lover's name is Zhao Fangmin, and he and I were high school classmates, and we also went to the countryside together to join the queue to receive re-education from poor and middle peasants. During my time at school, I didn't have a good relationship with him, and sometimes I bullied him with a few female classmates. In the end, the reason why we were able to walk together was because I encountered an embarrassing and frightening "** incident" during the period of going to the countryside to cut the queue, and he stepped forward to carry the black pot for me at the critical moment.
Listen to what happened, listen to me slowly tell you about it.
I will never forget that in August 1974, it was in the early autumn of that scorching heat, dozens of our classmates took a car in Jinan all the way, and finally came to Shen County in Liaocheng area.
The villagers of the Xujiaji brigade are particularly enthusiastic, Captain Li and several members just pulled our luggage into the yard, the villagers came to help us carry the luggage, help us put the luggage, the captain aunt also brought most of the pot of mung bean soup from home, she said that the mung bean soup quenched the heat and quenched the thirst, so that the young people drank half a bowl of mung bean soup.
The first dinner was made by the captain's aunt and several sisters-in-law, we ate egg marinade noodles, the noodles were hand-rolled, cooked and scooped into warm water for a while, and then poured into the bowl with egg marinade, which was particularly delicious. When I was 17 years old, I had the most delicious lo mein I ever eaten.
After dinner, Captain Li briefly said a few polite words, and then asked all of us to elect one person to be the leader of the educated youth group. Because Zhao Fangmin is big and has a cheerful personality, everyone elected him as the leader of the six teams of educated youth.
Everything was arranged, Captain Li assigned a sister-in-law to help us cook, and he also personally helped us buy labor tools, we rested at home for a day, and on the third day, we went to work in the fields with the members.
At that time, the team did not have any important farm work, that is, they went to the corn field, the millet field, weeding (pulling weeds), hoeing the field, watering the vegetable field and loosening the soil, and a few young members dug the soil and accumulated fertilizer by the river (using river mud and grass to make manure together). We educated youths had no labor experience and no strength, so Captain Li arranged for us to weed in the crop fields, and after finishing work, we had to send the grass we pulled to the cowshed to feed the cattle. The amount of work was not large, and it was not tiring, but it was hot at that time, and everyone said that the most unbearable thing was the heat. At noon and in the early afternoon, there was a feeling that I was about to get sunburned.
At that time, there was no entertainment, and after dinner, one of us chatted in the courtyard with a pampa fan, and some of us sat under the oil lamp and read. Although Zhao Fangmin has a cheerful personality and loves to talk and laugh, he loves to read more. At that time, there were very few books, and Zhang Fangmin had high school textbooks in addition to his own junior high school textbooks and a Chinese pinyin dictionary. Looking at textbooks every day, after a long time, I feel that there is nothing new.
When I came to Xujiaji, I also brought junior high school textbooks and high school textbooks, in addition to textbooks, I also brought a few **, including "The Quiet Don River", "How Steel is Made", "My Childhood", "A Pair of Embroidered Shoes" and "The Second Handshake", a total of five books. At that time, I was considered rich, because none of our classmates who went to the countryside to cut the queue together could come up with five **.
In my spare time, my classmates borrowed my few ** books, "The Second Handshake" is a manuscript, the font is neat, and it took me many nights. In order to copy this **, I was named and criticized by the teacher several times before graduating from high school, which also affected my learning in class.
When I graduated from high school, I also heard from my teachers and classmates that some books are poisonous weeds and yellow books, some of them are poisonous, some of them are reactionary, and the state has banned them from publishing and disseminating, and bookstores do not allow them, let alone circulate them. If you find that someone is secretly in possession of ** or circulating** and yellow books, you will face severe punishment and may ruin your future. I really don't know too well whether the books I carry with me are poisonous or not, and whether they are ** yellow books or not.
At the beginning, it was just our girls who borrowed my **, and then the boys also came to borrow them, so I told them not to lend the books to outsiders, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble. The students are also very cautious, only reading books in the courtyard of our educated youth, and never taking books out of the educated youth point.
In the spring of the following year, I heard the news that "The Second Handshake" was banned, and I was also flustered at that time, and it was said that the consequences of private possession were very serious. Not long after, I heard that "A Pair of Embroidered Shoes" was also banned, saying that it was a yellow book. Now I'm even more scared, I have two copies by myself, "** If it is discovered, the consequences will be unimaginable."
To be on the safe side, I put these two books in my bag and never borrowed them again. Zhao Fangmin also reminded me that he heard that ** was found in other educated youth spots, and the classmates who hid ** were severely punished and left a case record, which may affect joining the party and even affect the future.
I remember that one day in the early summer of 1976, after lunch, a classmate who had settled in the second team ran to our educated youth point out of breath, and he said that six or seven people from the commune's educated youth office and the revolutionary committee went to their educated youth point and searched the house, and it was said that the commune had received an anonymous letter, as if it had reported something wrong. He told us to prepare in advance, just in case.
Suddenly I got this news, I was so frightened that my legs were weak, did the commune cadres come down to search **?
When the classmate left, I ran to the gate of the courtyard to take a look, and saw a group of people pushing bicycles not far away from the fifth team of educated youth.
I hurriedly ran back to the house, and took out the two copies of "The Second Handshake" and "A Pair of Embroidered Shoes" from the bottom of my bag, and I didn't know where to hide it to be safe. After thinking about it, I decided to stuff it in the pit and burn it to avoid future troubles.
As soon as I walked out of the door, I heard the sound of bicycle bells outside, and the commune cadres had already arrived at the gate. It was too late to get into the kitchen, so I hurried into the bathroom. Look at the toilet where there is no place to hide books, there is already a sound of talking in the courtyard outside, in a panic, I threw my two beloved ** into the boys' toilet across the wall.
After calming down in the toilet and seeing that the commune cadres and Captain Li had entered the boys' dormitory, I hurriedly ran back to our girls' dormitory.
After a while, I only heard Captain Li shouting in the courtyard: "Everyone come out, Director Zhang of the Revolutionary Committee and Director Yang of the Youth Office have come to visit you." ”
Soon, we educated youths all came to the courtyard, and Deputy Director Zhang of the Revolutionary Committee first affirmed the achievements of our educated youths, such as running literacy classes, such as running experimental fields, and building bridges in Nangou. Then Director Yang of the Educated Youth Office said a few more words: "Students, if anyone has difficulties in the future, go to the Educated Youth Office to find me, I will try my best to help everyone solve the difficulties, and don't write anonymous letters to the superiors, which will have a ......bad impact on our commune."”
Because I have a ghost in my heart, I can't remember what Director Yang said later. Just when the commune cadres were about to leave, a young cadre suddenly went to the boys' toilet, and after a while, he ran out of the toilet, holding the two books in his hand, and said while flipping through them: "Director Yang, I found two books in the toilet, both are **, or yellow books......."”
Director Yang took the two books and looked at them, and asked loudly, "Whose book is this?"Who is so bold as to dare to hide it privately**. Whose book?Hurry up and stand up!Otherwise, all the personnel of your six teams of educated youth points will be punished, and none of you will plan to recruit workers and return to the city in the future......”
Just when everyone turned their eyes to me, Zhao Fangmin suddenly stood up, and he whispered: "Director Yang, these two books were picked up near the post and telecommunications office when I went to the commune post and telecommunications office to send letters, and I also knew that they were poisonous books, but we didn't read them, so we threw them into the thatched house, ready to be used as paper ......."”
Director Yang asked the young cadre to make a record and wrote down Zhao Fangmin's name, if it weren't for Captain Li and the secretary of the brigade who had a personal relationship with Deputy Director Zhang, Zhao Fangmin would have been taken away by the commune cadres.
When the commune cadres left, Captain Li said to Deputy Director Zhang: "Director Zhang, you know that I can't read, give me these two books, I'll take them home and let your sister-in-law clip the shoe sample, here we are, it's really hard to find a shoe clip book." ”
Deputy Director Zhang waved at the young cadre, and Captain Li quickly took the two books, sandwiched them under his arm, and followed everyone out of the educated youth point.
After sending off the commune cadres, Captain Li came to the Zhiqing Point, returned the book to Zhao Fangmin and said, "Fang Min, what kind of book is this?"If you are useful, put it away, if you don't have it, you can't throw it away, fortunately, Deputy Director Zhang is here today, if he doesn't come, it will be troublesome, that Director Yang is not affectionate at all, we are not familiar with him, he is a cadre from the county. ”
That night, Zhao Fangmin returned the two books to me and told me that I would put them away and never lend them to others again. I caused such a big disaster but let Zhao Fangmin carry the black pot for me, I am grateful to him from the bottom of my heart, and I feel sorry for him from the bottom of my heart. It's all because I was too selfish to do things, and I almost let my classmates suffer with it. The commune cadres didn't go to our girls' dormitory that day, nor did they come to search **, I don't have three hundred taels of silver here.
After a few days, the Xu Jiaji brigade got a recruitment quota, which was to work at the county post and telecommunications bureau, and the secretary of the brigade gave the recruitment approval form to Zhao Fangmin, but the director of the commune youth office Yang did not give a seal, on the grounds that he had a private possession, and told him to go back and reflect on it, and he would not be allowed to work in the city in a short time.
In the two subsequent recruitments, Director Yang of the Educated Youth Office did not let him go, and if he did not stamp it, Zhao Fangmin could not go to the city to work. I blamed myself for this for a long time.
In the autumn of that year, the Xu Jiaji Brigade got a quota for a worker, peasant and soldier cadet, and all the members and cadres of the brigade recommended Zhao Fangmin to go to university, but Zhao Fangmin gave me this hard-won quota of worker, peasant and soldier cadets, and he said that if Director Yang did not agree, he would be blind to this quota of workers, peasants and soldiers.
I caught the last train recommended to go to university and became a worker, peasant and soldier college student of Shandong Normal University, and I was also the only worker, peasant and soldier college student recommended by the Xujiaji Brigade.
By the autumn of 1977, there were still five Jinan educated youths who had settled in the Xujiaji Brigade, and some of the others were recruited to work in the city as workers, some became cadres, and some returned to Jinan to work. Zhao Fangmin has not been able to recruit workers into the city because of the ** incident.
In August of that year, I returned to Xujiaji to visit Zhao Fangmin, and he said that he was used to being a farmer if he couldn't go to the city to work. I also met Captain Li that day, and Captain Li told him that it would be easier to do it in the future, Director Yang of the Educated Youth Office was transferred back to the county, and if there was a recruitment quota, Zhao Fangmin would be able to work in the city.
Just when Zhao Fangmin was preparing to work in Jinan National Cotton Factory, the college entrance examination that had been interrupted for more than ten years was finally resumed, and I told Zhao Fangmin the news for the first time, Zhao Fangmin gave up the opportunity to work in Jinan National Cotton Factory, and he decided to prepare for the college entrance examination with all his might.
In the spring of 1978, Zhao Fangmin was admitted to Shandong University with excellent results, and the Jinan educated youth who settled in Xujiaji that year was admitted to a key university by Zhao Fangmin.
After graduating from university, I was assigned to a high school as a teacher, and Zhao Fangmin graduated from college and started working for less than a year, and we received a marriage certificate and entered the palace of marriage. The life after marriage is very harmonious and happy, during the queue, the simple and kind Zhao Fangmin was wronged for me, in the days to come, I will use my life to repay this true feeling, for the rest of my life, I will love him well.
This is my experience of the past and emotional life of the educated youth, during the period of going to the countryside to cut the queue, the villagers gave us the meticulous care and love of the educated youth, and the classmates also helped each other, and I will always remember the true feelings. I will never forget my second hometown and the simple and kind folks.
Author: Grassroots writer (based on Liang Xiaoyan's narration).