Chapter 5 Learn to grow melons from a nurse

When Zhou Enlai was a child, his biological mother, Wanshi, was weak and sickly and had no milk to feed him.His stepmother, Chen, hired Jiang Jiang, a peasant woman in her twenties, as a wet nurse for Enlai.Jiang Jiang lived in Shijia Lane west of Huangxiaozifang, the south gate of the old city of Huai'an. Her husband was a bearer and also a tailor. She had two children and her family was poor.Jiang Jiangshi was hardworking, frugal, kind-hearted, and sympathized with the orphans and widows from the bottom of his heart. He sincerely treated Enlai as his own son, and Enlai always affectionately called her "Mother Jiang".In the process of feeding Xiao Enlai with milk, Jiang's mother instilled in him the honest and simple class feelings of the working people with her words and deeds, and taught Enlai a lot of farming knowledge that could not be learned from books.

For example: About the rice that I eat every day, I often hear from Wan's mother, how much is a load of rice, and how much polished round-grained rice is required to entertain guests... He is not very interested in these things.Chen's mother taught him to recite "the day of hoeing at noon", "every grain is hard work", and he only found it fluent and interesting. As for why it was "hard work", he couldn't understand; will get bored.However, being with Mother Jiang is different.She never tires of satisfying his curiosity, and he almost never tires of it, and she answers all kinds of questions, and she speaks beautifully.From planting rice to pounding rice, you have to go through more than a dozen passes, and almost every pass has a lot of interesting things.If one pass is not good, you will not be able to eat rice.This was something he had never heard of before, but it was a pity that he could not see it with his own eyes.

Due to poor family conditions and unable to make ends meet, the wet nurse Jiang Jiang set up a small vegetable garden of about half an mu in front of the kitchen in the backyard of her former residence to supplement Zhou's food.At that time, under the care of Jiang's mother, the place was evergreen all the year round and there were endless vegetables.There are black vegetables and green garlic in spring, eggplant and pepper in summer, yellow sprouts in autumn, and spinach in winter.Xiao Enlai often followed Mother Jiang to plant vegetables, weed, water, and catch insects in this half-acre small vegetable garden, experiencing the hardships of labor.Once, Jiang’s mother brought a big pumpkin from the country, and while cutting it, she told how the pumpkin grew up, explaining the truth of “If you plant melons, you will get melons, and if you sow beans, you will get beans”.Afterwards, Da Luan secretly buried a melon seed in the flower bed and watered it every day.Hope, hope, but no seedlings emerge.He couldn't wait any longer, so he went to ask Mother Jiang.Jiang's mother said: "Silly boy, it's winter now. You need to plant them in spring!" The next spring, Jiang's mother helped him plant a few pumpkin seeds in the flower bed, and the seedlings really emerged.He watered, manured, kept busy, and finally he got several big pumpkins.He was very happy, and felt that if Jiang's mother had the ability, others would not help him grow big pumpkins.Since then, Xiao Enlai has further increased his perceptual understanding of "spring planting and autumn harvesting, spring blossoms and autumn fruits".He became more interested in labor and had a deeper class affection for the working people.

Daluan likes to go to the streets with Jiang's mother.He saw all kinds of people, all kinds of things, and asked endlessly; Jiang's mother answered everything, never blaming him.Once I saw a fat man in a rickshaw, and a skinny man was pulling him. Da Luan asked, "Why can't he leave?" Jiang's mother said, "The fat man is rich, and the thin man is poor... When you grow up and earn a lot of money, you will You can take a rickshaw instead of walking." Da Luan shook his head and said, "No, I will go." He didn't like to hear people asking him to be an official.

Mother Jiang is very kind.When she returned home, she would often ask Mrs. Chen to take Da Luan to her house for a day or two - that was a place Da Luan liked to go very much. Mother Jiang's house has three north rooms and two kitchens, forming a small courtyard.She has two children: a daughter who is a few months older than Da Luan, and a boy who is two or three years older.Uncle Jiang is a hardworking and loyal person, and he also likes Da Luan very much.Daluan had a very interesting time at Mother Jiang's house.During the day, I catch bugs and feed the chickens with my younger brother and younger sister, and play hide-and-seek games; at night, I listen to Jiang’s mother telling stories-Liang Hongyu’s war, "Long Mao"’s rebellion... It’s very interesting.

Although the food at Jiang's mother's house was slightly worse than his own, he ate with great relish.Sometimes, Uncle Jiang said: "Fry some side dishes for the little guests!" Jiang's mother said: "I know, Daluan eats everything, there are green vegetables, radishes and pickles, and just light an egg... The child is also pitiful, saying It looks like it belongs to a rich family, but there is nothing good to eat at home..." Then they talked about the decline of the Zhou family.At this time, Daluan ran to the yard, avoided their discussion, and played with the kitchen wall.It turned out that the wall was a reed fence made of mud, so Da Luan used his hands to play with the reed sticks.Jiang's mother saw it and said, "Daluan, you can't smoke! If you smoke through, the wall will collapse." Daluan said, "Mom, if it falls down, I will build you a new house when I grow up." Jiang's mother was happy. He hugged Daluan in his arms and said: "Okay, kid, don't forget when you grow up!" He was shy, broke free, and took his little brother out to play.

After Da Luan grew up, although he did not realize his promise to build a new house for Jiang's mother, his friendship with Jiang's mother can be said to be as high as a mountain and as a river.There are two things that Jiang's mother always remembered during her lifetime.One is: when Da Luan was studying at Gong’s house in the east gate, one evening, it was windy and rainy again, and Jiang’s mother picked him up with an umbrella and was going to carry him on her back, but he supported her and said, “Mom! , I’ll walk with you, the road is slippery!” Another thing is: when Da Luan grew up and went to Tianjin Nankai Middle School to study, Jiang’s mother borrowed usury for money, went through all kinds of difficulties, and ran to see him.The two met, hugged each other and cried, and greeted each other about the situation after parting.Although Zhou Enlai was busy with the student movement at that time, he still stayed with Jiang's mother to live in Tianjin for five days; before leaving, Zhou Enlai asked his fourth uncle to buy a boat ticket for Jiang's mother and gave her dozens of yuan.Knowing that Mama Jiang had the habit of fasting and being a vegetarian, she asked her to bring an enamel crock and a towel for meals on the way.Decades later, Zhou Enlai, who had already served as the Premier of the State Council and managed a lot of affairs, asked the cadres from his hometown who went to Beijing many times about the situation of Jiang Mama and her descendants, and deeply missed her.

The love between Da Luan and the wet nurse is deep and special.Just like "spring blossoms and autumn fruits", what bears is an inevitable emotional fruit.