Chapter 79 78. Little Sisters of Grassland Heroes——Collective Spirit in the Snowstorm

More than 40 years ago, Longmei and Yurong, the "Little Sisters of Grassland Heroes", wrote a heroic hymn with blood and life to protect the collective flock of sheep and fight to the death against the blizzard.Their names and heroic deeds spread from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia to the north and south of the river. Their stories were made into movies, put on stage, composed into songs, and written into textbooks... More than 40 years have passed, and the little heroes of those days are raising them in this land. On the grassland, they regard themselves as ordinary people, silently dedicating and struggling in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia.

Little Sisters of Grassland Heroes: Sister Longmei, female, Mongolian, from Fuxin County, Liaoning Province, a member of the Communist Party of China, born in 1952, is currently the chairman of the CPPCC Donghe District, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; younger sister Yurong, female, Mongolian, Fuxin, Liaoning Province A native of the county, a member of the Communist Party of China, born in 1955, is currently the deputy director of the General Office of the CPPCC in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and the director of the Ethnic and Religious Committee. On February 9, 1964, the little sister volunteered to herd sheep for the production team during the holiday. At that time, Long Mei was 11 years old and Yu Rong was not yet 9 years old.At noon, the low-hanging clouds sprinkled strings of snow goose feathers, and the howling wind swept the flying snowflakes.In an instant, the white-haired wind engulfed the vast grassland: a blizzard is coming!Long Mei and Yu Rong hurriedly hugged the flock of sheep, turned around and drove the sheep back.But the blizzard was like an invisible wall, blocking the return of the flock, and the flock ran wildly against the wind.At this critical moment, Long Mei said to her sister: "Go and ask Dad to help us catch the sheep!" After listening to her sister's words, Xiao Yurong turned her head and ran desperately against the wind and snow, and fell down before running very far.She got up and looked back, her sister was alone in the blizzard, holding a sheep whip in her left hand and blocking the left and right with the leather jacket she had taken off with her right hand. Without her helper, the flock of sheep became more and more chaotic.Xiao Yurong didn't bother to call her father, and immediately returned to the flock, waving a small leather hat in her hand and shouting continuously.

Long Mei and Yurong blocked for a while, followed and ran for a while, then continued to block, and then followed, I don't know how many blocks, and I don't know how long they ran.After the first round of fighting against the snowstorm, Longmei and Yurong finally gathered the scattered sheep together.Storms are all diffuse and directionless, and they appear more fearful and lonely in the wind and cold, even for adults.Not to mention children?The blizzard seemed even crazier at night.They identified their flocks by the reflection of the snow on the ground, and the flocks were still rushing towards the southeast amidst the whistling wind and snow.While chasing the flock of sheep closely, the two sisters were afraid of being separated, so they tactfully shouted to each other: "Long-mei" and "Yu-rong", caring for and motivating each other.

From noon to dawn the next day, the sisters struggled for more than 20 hours.Cold, fear, hunger, fatigue, and sense of responsibility all concentrated on the two little girls.Finally, Yurong passed out and was dying on the snow; her sister Longmei was not much better, but she still followed behind the flock.Because the railway workers and the secretary of the commune who were looking for them arrived in time, the two sisters and the sheep escaped safely. The Central Committee of the Communist Youth League wrote a letter on March 20 of that year to praise their noble deeds, and at the same time warmly congratulated them on joining the Chinese Young Pioneers. "People's Daily" reported their touching stories under the title "The Brightest Flower", and they were hailed as "Sisters of Grassland Heroes".

After the blizzard, the little sister was first treated in Baiyun Obo Mine Hospital, and then transferred to Hohhot for further treatment and recuperation.Due to severe frostbite, Long Mei lost her left big toe, and Yurong's right leg below the knee joint and left leg below the ankle joint were amputated.After the little sister was discharged from the hospital, under the care of the government, the little sister returned to her hometown to start studying. Her older sister, Long Mei, joined the army when she was 16 years old, and then went to Baotou Medical College and Inner Mongolia Mongolian College to study. In 1982, she was transferred to work in Donghe District, Baotou City. In 1988, she served as the chairman of the Donghe District CPPCC.In the same year when my sister became the chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Wang Rong and other comrades jointly established the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Disabled Persons' Federation, and has served as the vice chairman of the Disabled Persons' Federation until now.

The two sisters were elected as representatives of the 4th and 5th National People's Congress. Yurong was a representative of the 11th and 12th National Congress of the Communist Youth League, and a representative of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd sessions of the China Disabled Persons' Federation. .Long Mei has also visited France and Japan, and Yurong has visited Romania and South Korea. For more than 30 years, the sisters have been the focus of media attention.They warmly received every visitor, and every visitor could feel the sincerity and generosity of the sisters. In 2008, the sisters were honored to be the torchbearers of the Beijing Olympic Games.