Chapter 24 Part Two (2) - The "Cultural Revolution" officially started, and the mother was hanged with a big name

The bitter drama of the "Cultural Revolution" officially started, and my mother was hung with a big sign of the counter-revolutionary family around her neck Because the vast majority of us, although we have dreamed of breaking Wushan, but because we are intellectuals who grew up in the 1950s, the historical birthmark that cannot be removed often makes us passionate about life, and dreams of Mandarin that no longer exist. The lotus root is broken. Almost without exception, Chinese political movements started with literature and art. In 1964, it began to criticize the ghost drama "Li Huiniang", and then immediately continued with a large number of dark dramas "Xie Yaohuan", "Early Spring and February", "Northern Jiangnan"... In November 1965, Yao Wenyuan's "Comment on the New Historical Drama" Hai The release of Rui Dismissed from Office has actually opened the prelude to the "Cultural Revolution".Those of us in the "Second Labor Reform" have to read newspapers every night to study; but I don't know whether our nerves have been numb by the class struggle, or because we can sometimes enjoy ourselves in the "Peach Blossom Spring", we don't read between the lines of the newspaper. , sniffing out the beginnings of a bloody disaster in China.It was not until the summer of 1966, when Beijing smashed the "Four Olds", that we woke up like a dream.The first person in our Taoyuan class who had problems at home was Chen Yuncheng. He was not a rightist, but he was the son of a high-ranking Kuomintang official in Taiwan. So his wife, who was teaching at the No. 6 Middle School in Beijing, was imprisoned by the Red Guards in No. 6 Middle School for violent criticism. .At night, the Red Guards mischievously threw urine and stones at her who was detained on the concrete floor of the classroom from the window.Chen originally had a family to return to - now he has become a person who dare not go home.

I naturally think of mother and son.Although my father died in the Kuomintang prison (because he was going to Yan'an), I was born in a landlord family, and Zhang Hu and I both entered the labor camp, so it was inevitable that the "Cultural Revolution" would affect them.The squadron adopted the method of taking one day off every two weeks to protect our safety; as everyone knew, this made me and my colleagues even more anxious.I finally looked forward to the day of rest. I dared not go home directly, but first rode to the Dongsi People’s Market, and found my neighbor, Mrs. Liu, who worked as a salesperson in the same courtyard, and asked about my mother’s situation.

She avoided the other salesmen and said to me in the softest voice: "Don't rush back, you won't be too late when it gets dark. A few days ago, your mother was hanged by the Red Guards on a big wooden card. I secretly went to see your mother in the house at night, and she is in good spirits." "Did you steal the house?" "I searched again, but luckily you don't have anything at home." Aunt Liu said, "It's not your mother who is worrying. The Red Guards are threatening to go to the farm to fight you!" "Sister-in-law Liu, in the reform-through-labor team of the Public Security Bureau, she has already accepted dictatorship. You can rest assured that there is currently a safe there.,,

"That's good." Aunt Liu said, "This is your mother's biggest concern." I didn't dare to stay by Mrs. Liu's side, but it got dark late in summer. After leaving the People's Market, I wandered along the small alleys for a long time, and only sneaked into the courtyard after it was dark.The door was not closed, I pushed lightly and entered the room.Really, the one who knows my son best is my mother. She heard my footsteps and walked out of the back room.To this day, I still remember my first impression of my mother at that time: she didn’t have the wooden shackle that Su Sanqi untied in her hand, and she didn’t have Su San’s colorful clothes on her body; but the big wooden plaque hanging around her neck was completely similar to the prisoner Su San Like the wooden shackles around the neck.What particularly moved me was that the big wooden sign was not tied with a rope, but hung around the neck with a wire.Because the wooden sign was so big and heavy, my mother’s neck was strangled by the wire into a deep groove—so my first reaction was to pick off the sign on her neck with my hands.My mother pushed my hand away and said, "No! No!" I said, "No one comes at night, what are you afraid of!"

"The neighbors on the other side of the wall are the Red Guards. Come whenever you say so. You'd better stop causing trouble!" I couldn't hold back my mother, so I had to let go of my hand.Then I took a piece of cloth and put it on my mother's neck-this can relieve her pain a little.My mother listened out of the window worriedly, and said to me in horror: "If you didn't hit me, it would be Amitabha - listen, the Wu family in the East Courtyard is beating someone!" I listened carefully, and it was really a scene of howling ghosts and howling wolves.When I entered the house just now, I was so nervous that I didn't hear this creepy sound.

"I think you'd better go back to the farm overnight!" Mother begged me, "Once they know you're back, they will come to arrest you. Listen to Mom, you see that Mom didn't hurt an arm or a leg, and you don't have to." Don’t worry. If you put up a sign, hang the sign, and sweep the street, as long as there are people, it’s more important than anything else.” Only then did I realize that my son was not in the house.My mother told me that she didn't want her grandson to see grandma like this, and she sent her grandson to grandpa's house as soon as the exercise came.I was a little surprised that my mother could face the troubled times so calmly and soberly.Thinking about it carefully, it seems that it is not difficult to find a basis for life: I lost my father when I was four years old, and my mother and I depended on each other (I have no siblings, I am an only child).When I was in middle school, there was a period of time when my mother relied on the income from being a nanny to support me in school.It can be said that she has suffered from the torment of life since she was young; I only brought my mother to Beijing from her hometown in Hebei in 1955. She had not lived a good life for two days before the anti-rightist movement in 1957 began.Both Zhang Hu and I were sent to the reform-through-labor team, leaving behind a child under one year old at home—by 1966, she had brought her grandson with her, and she had been suffering for seven years.Perhaps only those who swim through the bitter waters have the ability to respond to all kinds of sudden sufferings.I stared blankly at my miserable mother, and tears immediately filled my eyes. I really wanted to take off the big plaque of the counter-revolutionary family on her neck and hang it around my neck.However, being sentimental can't solve the practical problem—I had no choice but to comfort her by saying, "Mom, I must spend the night with you. It's so late, and no one will come to me."

"Did anyone see you when you entered the courtyard?" She stared into my eyes uneasily, as if she wanted to judge the truthfulness of my words from my answer: "In the family in the outer courtyard, there is a middle school student who became a celebrity. When the guards—the Red Guards came to search our house, she came with them.” I continued to comfort my mother and said, "I slipped in quietly, and no one saw me." This is a sleepless night, not to mention the Wu family on the other side of the wall, the sound of fighting makes people unable to sleep peacefully; even if there is no sound, I will not feel sleepy.Before my mother and I were lying on the bed together, my mother refused to take off the wooden plaque around her neck. I just took it off my mother's neck and promised her to put it on her again as soon as she heard a human voice. on the neck—the mother got on the wooden bed.

My mother said: "The rebel Red Guards said that the counter-revolutionary family members and landlady wives cannot live in this courtyard-the proletariat in the city must live in it." I said, "Mom, you have to listen to them, or you will suffer." "You won't send me back to your hometown, will you?" Mom said, "It's okay for me to go back to my hometown alone, but what should I do if I leave the minority? His grandma and grandpa are both sick, and the child is in primary school. This is not a worry." dead!" "Let's take one step at a time." I said full of worry, "It's really not possible, follow me to the labor camp."

"That's not okay, he's still a baby." I said, "In Chadian, I brought my son and daughter with me—he is a teaching assistant at Peking University." "I would rather take him to beg for food than let him go to your place." The mother's tone was very firm, "You two are just such a child, you can't learn well in it. I will give up my life to make him an adult. " Until 3 o'clock in the morning, the main topic of discussion between my mother and I was the whereabouts of my youngest son in case of any accident.Meanwhile, my mother kept turning on the flashlight and looking at the alarm clock on the table—she didn't dare to turn on the light for fear of alarming the neighbors.It was about 4 o'clock, and my mother urged me to return to the venue immediately.When I went home last night, I didn't dare to push my bicycle through the gate of the yard. I spent a lot of time trying not to lose my bicycle.While walking up and down the alley, I saw a pharmacy with a small window open at night—I had to jump into the river, close my eyes, and put my bicycle at the door of that pharmacy.When I went home in the past, my mother would cook for me in the morning; at this moment, there was no such possibility—like a thief leaving a black shop, I hurried out of the house in a daze and went straight to the pharmacy where I left the car.God was kind enough not to let me return by car - that would be late.I got on my bicycle and left Dongsi North Street.

While crossing Nanchang Street, I saw a horrible scene: a group of Red Guards were fighting an old lady lying in the middle of the street just before dawn.Look at that formation, it was an overnight criticism meeting, no matter whether it was the fighters or the fighters, their demeanors were out of shape.Although the belt and chain were still beating the old lady, they were already weak.Of course, the old lady who was beaten was like a dead dog at this time. I couldn't tell if she was still breathing—I guess she was still alive, otherwise the Red Guards should have dispersed long ago.Probably to improve fighting spirit, a male Red Guard suddenly yelled:

"Hey! It's time for you long-haired ones to show their power, 'Half the Sky' can't just stand and cheer! Give me—" Several female Red Guards who had been standing on the outside crowded forward together.They didn't beat the old lady, but it stimulated the central nervous system more than those who beat with belts and chains. One of the brave ones among them even jumped on the fat belly of the old lady, as if jumping. Stepping on it like a tap dance.While stepping on it, she yelled at the old man: "You are so stubborn, let's see if you hand over the house deed? If you don't hand it over, you, a capitalist, will be trampled to death!" I boldly poked my head and glanced at the old lady.It turned out that the old man who was being fought was holding a piece of paper in his hand—it might be the house deed demanded by the Red Guards.She might be dead, if not, why wouldn't those belts and chains keep her from letting go?Of course, it is not ruled out that the old lady is a property owner like "Grandet", who would rather risk her life than give up the deed - I couldn't bear to take another look, jumped on the bicycle and left in panic. Along the way, I thought a lot: whether the old man belonged to the "Grandet" type or not, it is undoubtedly going to the "heaven" she should go to; but how could the girl think of kicking on the old lady's belly? What about stepping on this method? !In terms of age, she is only sixteen or seventeen years old, and she has just entered the blooming season of life; the teacher will not teach her, and her parents will not tell her—then why she has such an amazing performance, is it because of historical performances? The role of abettor?The good and evil hidden in human beings, under normal circumstances, it is difficult to have very outrageous behaviors.According to the book "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich", those German soldiers who took pleasure in killing were originally very kind children-but Hitler, the devil, set off a sinful war, and the national fanaticism of "Great Germania" After being induced, the evil potential of the Germans themselves was brought into play to the extreme and deformed. Can the performance of the girl dancing on the belly of the old man be inspired by the German history of World War II? Woolen cloth! For some reason, the shadow of that female Red Guard always hovered in my mind along the way.She has a mother, and she will be a mother in the future—if this "Cultural Revolution" hadn't happened, she would have given up her seat to the old lady on the bus, or called grandma by the way—at this moment, in her heart Her goodness is completely covered by evil, and the original barbarism is unrestrained; and her spiritual dislocation is both human and historical-a character who was originally great but was later deified, in this particular In the 1980s, the energy of the national fanaticism induced was so great that it could call the wind and rain, and turn beans into soldiers.This girl's instant performance can be described as a typical example of the transmutation of a shemale.Really, from seeing this scene, I no longer just feel sad for my own mother—but also feel sad for mothers all over China. Back at the farm, I was drenched in sweat.Going to work in Taoyuan on an empty stomach is a double torment both mentally and physically.Mr. Lu Fengnian hurried over to look for me, he said: "I'm afraid the Yang family will be implicated by me, what do you think I should do?" I said, "I can't even cry over my own grave, and my family members are probably no exception." "What a world! I feel a little sorry for him." "The question is up to Yang Chunying. What is her attitude?" Although I myself have fallen into a quagmire and cannot extricate myself, the fate of the same kind still instinctively arouses my uneasiness. "She loves me very much, nothing will happen." Lu Fengnian said, "But she still has parents, I can't ignore her survival!" I have no words to answer - because I can't come up with a good life equation.Not only can I not get it out, even if Sun Wukong is alive, his avatar technique may also fail in this troubled world. "The first two people heard that some people from the Northwest came to the venue and wanted to mobilize us to go to the branch there. Have you heard that?" Lu said, "It is said that when you get there, you can completely change your identity and become a real citizen." I've heard about this a long time ago, but I wasn't moved at all.The reason is very simple, the old and the young in my family and Zhang Hu who is still in Chadian are the whole content of my life.Without these kinship factors, I might be willing to be a dandelion traveling all over the world—I am in a different situation from Lu Fengnian, so my thoughts are naturally different; I would rather be a "second labor reform" in Beijing than Go to the far frontier to be some legal citizen. If my memory is not wrong, it was a day in mid-August 1966. Except for the prisoners in the southern district and the Laoyou who had not been lifted from Sanshezhuang in the northern district, all other "agricultural workers" stopped production and held meetings.When I got up that morning, I was located in the square of the headquarters of the agricultural and industrial brigade, and there was the sound of a loudspeaker.This wired broadcast speaker used to broadcast news about the Cultural Revolution every day, such as Chairman Mao’s meeting with Red Guards at Tiananmen Square, and editorials from People’s Daily, etc.; The loudspeaker suddenly played the song "Our Good Place in Xinjiang" uncharacteristically, which means that the work of recruiting agricultural workers from the Northwest will start today. The big meeting was very grand.Almost all the leaders in the field appeared on the temporary rostrum. Besides, there were a few strangers in green military uniforms who were not worthy of red cap badges and red collar badges. around.The meeting started straight to the point, calling on men who are interested in opening up the frontier to support the construction of the frontier.The condition is that those who perform well on the farm must go to the frontier after voluntary application and review by the farm department.All approved agricultural workers will change their status and political treatment when they arrive there.A general meeting will be held in the morning, and a small meeting will be held in the afternoon—each class will hold a separate meeting to discuss and submit the registration list. In my memory, before the meeting ended, there were activists who took the stage to speak out. Except for one or two criminals whose ban was lifted, those who expressed their willingness to go to the sidelines were almost all rightists who took off their hats on the spot.I am not familiar with those who express their opinions among criminal prisoners, but I know more about those who express their opinions among the old right—almost all of them are from other places.I think that the reason why they voluntarily went to Zhibian is that first, their enthusiasm for the motherland has not been frozen by the cold reality; The fundamental reason - at the foot of the imperial city of Beijing, unable to change one's political outlook, perhaps going far away is the best choice. That afternoon, at our team meeting, Mr. Lu Fengnian was the first to express his opinion.He has a very good eloquence, and he uttered many heroic words of the revolution -- but I am the only one who can understand his inner world. He is eager to change his political situation, so he has such a strong and fierce speech; It is because he cherishes his honey nest very much, and tried every means to protect this love nest, which was precarious in the "Cultural Revolution", that he made an application that was not completely voluntary-by leaving the love nest to express a person's reluctance to love the nest , This is really the sad vibrato of life in the times.At that time, I felt infinite sadness for this friend of mine. After the meeting was over, I purposely found him in an unoccupied corner at the back of the cell, and gave him an exhortation.I said, "There is only one policy in the world, and that is the party's policy. In Beijing, it is one. In the border areas, it is impossible to change it to one plus one equals two, or one minus one equals zero. You have to think twice." "Big luck, I think I have to do this to be worthy of the Yang family's true feelings." He said, "I am no longer involved, and the Red Guards may not trouble the Yang family anymore." "I understand your feelings very well; but you have considered the relationship between you and Yang Chunying after you leave..." "She won't change her mind." "If you are forced by the situation and have to break up, what will you do?" "Didn't you hear the song I often sing, 'If there is a soulmate, just marry him.' No one can predict the fate of a person. I hope God has eyes and can fulfill me and her. Of course, I will go to After arriving there, financially, I have to tighten my belt and send her some money on a monthly basis; I still have to try to visit my relatives once a year——Didn’t the people from the Northwest say that they will be treated in various ways when they arrive there? , better than here!" I think Mr. Fengnian has made up his mind to go, and anything else is superfluous.Maybe my view is wrong, and the heart-to-heart conversation has to stop here.That night, I remember that other classmates in the class also raised doubts about his decision, but Fengnian was as bold as he was when he ate the "five poisons" - he handed in the application form of Zhibian.Since a large number of "Second Labor Reform" was about to go to the frontier, we chatted around this topic without exception when we were working in Taoyuan for a few days.On the morning of August 17, Yang Chunying showed up in Taoyuan for the first time—she was seeing off Lu Fengnian. At 4:00 p.m., people from each team going to the border will gather here to board the train and rush to Beijing Railway Station.The terminal of the branch train is Turpan in Xinjiang. The reason why Yang Chunying came to Taoyuan was to find a quiet place to say goodbye to Lu.Originally, Lu was preparing his luggage in the prison cell, but most of the people were planning to travel far away. Instead of saying goodbye there, it would be better to say goodbye to the "Peach Blossom Spring".In my memory, it was a scorching sun, and we were taking a bath in the cold pool next to the water pump. I don’t know who heard the voice of a woman first, so we hid behind the pump room one by one, busy washing and dressing .Because it was not my turn to wash, I had the opportunity to see the images of Lu and Yang when they came to Taoyuan: Lu was still in the same peasant clothes, so I don’t need to spend more words, but Yang left a deep impression on my mind that day.Although she was not a Red Guard, I don't know if it was out of the instinct to protect herself, she wore the green clothes that were popular at that time.What is extremely incongruous with the protective colors of the era is that she is carrying a small blue package under her arm. At that time, sunglasses were also included in the "Four Olds". She could no longer cover her eyes with sunglasses, so she exposed her Blind eye only.Even so, her slender figure and fair complexion still amazed the "Adams" in Men's Country. After Lu Jun introduced Yang to us who were about to call it a day and go to feed our bellies, he said to Taoyuan guard Wu Fang: "I want to borrow your guard room for a while, we can't afford to lose Tao Zi." Needless to say, we all know the meaning of such words.Wu Fang washed some of the largest peaches for him and her with the cold water that was just pumped up by the pump, and handed them to them: "We have nothing else to say goodbye to you, and this peach is just right—I wish you forever Heart to heart." Yang Chunying's eye circles turned red immediately, and she lowered her head.Lu Junfengnian forced a smile on his face, and repeatedly expressed his gratitude to the members of his class before parting.I didn't say much—although I was a matchmaker between him and her, my heart was filled with a kind of sadness.In a few hours, her and him will leave. Who can predict the future of him and her, what kind of ending will it be? !When we arrived in Taoyuan after work in the afternoon, when he and she shook hands and said goodbye to us, I shook Mr. Lu's hand and said: "Sincerely wish your dreams come true!" ... He choked his throat, but tears dripped down. We broke up like this—because we had labor tasks and couldn’t go to see us off (this parting lasted for 13 years, when he came back from Xinjiang in 1979 and passed by Beijing, he came to sit at my house. He told me very sadly , he shouldn’t go to the border in a fever. His love nest had set itself on fire a few years ago—because he didn’t change anything because he went there. The lover who broke up - she showed the bicycle to the hospital outside the Sino-Soviet Friendship Hospital. Sad). At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, among my kind, there were dozens of people who went to Xinjiang at the same time as Lu Fengnian, and most of them were rightists who came from various universities and lived in cities outside the city.Among them, I am familiar with Yu Liren, Zhuo Jingxing, Liu Shikang, Guo Jiquan, Ha Changlin, Wu Huaizu... Later, in 1970, Yao Zuyi, Wang Tongzhu, Sun Benqiao, and Lu Lushan were shot in Nanjing. Among them, Sun Benqiao and Wang Tongzhu, It was also with this train that they went to the frontier—there were very few who belonged to the old revolutionary status, and it seemed that only Chen Ye from the former China Youth Daily, for some reason, he also boarded the northbound train in a daze (Later he found out that he had been deceived. He did not change his political status when he arrived there. He fled from the frontier to the interior. After being arrested, he was hanged from a tree and beaten severely, as described later). They left for a few days, at noon one day, Dong Weisen called me to the team office: "Has your home been hit?" I said, "Yes, the wooden sign of 'Counter-Revolutionary Families' was hung around my mother's neck." He was silent for a long time, and asked me: "Do you have any relatives in your hometown?" I told him no, but there were relatives.Only then did he tell me that the local police station received a phone call, and the revolutionary masses demanded that my mother be moved back to her hometown.Facing such a large mass movement, although Dong cherished his talents, he had no good strategy to find.I quickly agreed to do it and get it done.He reminded me: "When you go home, don't act emotionally; you also know the current situation. Acting emotionally will only intensify the conflict. It will not do you or your mother any good—one step is one step, and everything has to go. Look at it from a distance. Go home and deal with this matter in the afternoon!" My mother was hanged with a big wooden sign, so it was not the end - when I walked out of the office, my heart was about to break...